Sophia diamond necklace
Lab-Grown Conflict Free Diamond 
Eco Sterling Silver and 9ct Gold
Hallmarked

In modern spirituality movements, there is increased talk of the ‘divine feminine’. Many look East to Hinduism or Taoism for representations of the female personification of God, and yet here in the West, there was once a deep tradition of worship and reverence for the feminine in the form of Sophia.

In Christianity, Sophia exists as a representation of the female aspect of the divine, the feminine counterpart to the paternalistic father. She is the ‘holy wisdom’ that basks in the love and joy found in human lives and as the loving guide towards spiritual truth, creation and wholeness. Many early Christian mystics believed that Sophia represented the ‘holy spirit’ in the Trinity.

In the Old Testament, Sophia says, ‘When he prepared the heavens, I was there...Then I was by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight’. Yet despite this reference to Sophia being at God’s side at the beginning of creation, Sophia has been buried beneath centuries of religious oppression and persecution.

As appeals to a harsh and unforgiving Old Testament God are being used to justify all manner of bloodshed, it is important that we reintegrate the feminine aspect of the divine. Despite persecution, Christian mystics and Gnostics have kept the tradition of study and worship of Sophia alive.

Swiss psychologist Carl Jung understood the power of the Sophia archetype better than anyone, not only for women but also for fully integrated men. He saw Sophia as the archetype of the highest stage of the anima (the female aspect of each individual’s soul). He stressed the importance of recognising this inner feminine archetype and engaging with it in the pursuit of wholeness. This divine feminine within was capable of guiding us through the dark valleys of our inner shadow and guiding us back to our soul.

To me, Sophia represents a stage of spiritual development that focuses on self-forgiveness, beauty, creativity and gentleness. It emerges when we let go of the punitive judgements we have of ourselves and others; it allows us to rest fully in who we are without shame and encourages us to face our emotional pain with gentleness.

Whether this personification is worshipped as something outside the self or as an archetype within matters little to me. Like Carl Jung, I believe the inner world of the psyche to be just as valid and real as the outer; we all contain a cosmos inside of us.

Sophia is a guide back to ourselves, and in this climate of unfettered pursuit of self-interest and an immature conception of masculinity, it is one we need more than ever.