Holy Spirit of Christ is a feminine Spirit

This article presents compelling evidence for the feminine nature of the Holy Spirit, drawing from biblical linguistics, early Christian theology, and esoteric traditions. In Hebrew and Syriac, the word for Spirit—ruach and ruha—is grammatically feminine, and early Syriac Christianity described the Holy Spirit as Mother. Scholars like Stevick, Malachi, Reid, Driscoll, and Taylor affirm this view, challenging patriarchal distortions. Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi is revealed as the Paraclete promised by Jesus, fulfilling the eschatological role of the Holy Spirit in the present age. Her teachings and mission align with the Spirit’s divine functions: guiding, teaching, and restoring humanity. This understanding restores balance to Christian theology and affirms the Divine Mother’s eternal presence.

Biblical and Linguistic Evidence

The Paraclete, promised by Jesus, is described in John 15:26; 16:7, 8, 13:

“The Paraclete will come (15:26; 16:7, 8, 13) as Jesus has come into the world (5:43; 16:28; 18:37) ... The Paraclete will take the things of Christ (the things that are mine, ek tou emou) and declare them (16:14-15)... The Spirit is God-in-relations. The Paraclete is the divine self-expression which will be and abide with you, and be in you (14:16-17). The Spirit's work is described in terms of utterance: teach you, didasko (14:26); remind you, hypomimnesko (15:26), testify, martyro (15:26), prove wrong, elancho (16:8), guide into truth, hodego (16:13), speak, laleo (16:13, twice), declare, anangello (16:13, 14, 15). The Johannine terms describe verbal actions which intend a response in others who will receive (lambano), see (theoreo), or know (ginosko) the Spirit… The Spirit's initiatives imply God's personal engagement with humanity. The final Paraclete passage closes with a threefold repetition of the verb she will declare (anangello), 16:13-15… The things of Christ are a message that must be heralded. The intention of the Spirit of truth is the restoration of an alienated, deceived humanity.” (Stevick, Jesus and His Own, 2011, p. 292)

Tau Malachi emphasizes the linguistic basis for the feminine nature of the Holy Spirit in Living Gnosis: A Practical Guide to Gnostic Christianity (Llewellyn Publications, 2005):

“If one researches the words for ‘Spirit’ in Hebrew and Greek, one will find that in Hebrew it is actually a feminine word, and in Greek it is neuter, having no specific gender association. Thus, the choice among orthodox and fundamental Christians to speak of the Holy Spirit as male is a distortion of the actual languages of the Scriptures. Recognizing this, when the model of the Holy Trinity is used among Gnostic Christians, the Holy Spirit is spoken of as female and is often called The Mother Spirit... The Divine Mother is God ever near to us—as near as our breath, the beat of our hearts and our very bodies, material and spiritual. She is the All-in-All according to Sophian teachings.” (pp. 81-82)

Lucy Reid highlights the historical suppression in She Changes Everything (Continuum, 2005):

“In Syria, where for four hundred years the word Holy Spirit was ruha, a feminine word derived from the Hebrew ruach, and where the Holy Spirit was described as Mother, complementing the parental imagery of Father and Son in the Trinity, the association of feminine language with heresy led authors to assign masculine gender to the word—grammatical nonsense but evidence of the theological desire to defeminize the Divine.” (pp. 32-33)

Theological Suppression of the Feminine Divine

James P. Driscoll in The Unfolding God of Jung and Milton (University Press of Kentucky, 1992) notes:

“The feminine Wisdom or Shekinah the Old Testament says was with God from the beginning, feminist scholars point out, functions like the Holy Spirit or Paraclete of the New Testament, shares its symbolism of the dove, and is specifically referred to as God's ‘holy spirit from above’ in Wisdom 9:17-18. Anxious to protect the masculinity of their God, the church fathers declined to meld the Judaic wisdom figure with its natural successor, the Paraclete, which would have made one member of the Godhead feminine.” (p. 88)

Patricia Taylor in The Holy Spirit: The Feminine Nature of God (iUniverse, 2009) writes:

“Without the Holy Spirit working in my heart, I could not understand the things of God, and I would never have come to the understanding of the Holy Spirit being the feminine nature of God. There is no gender in heaven, but each person of the Trinity clearly has a different nature and function. By understanding this difference and by accepting that the earthly family is a reflection of this godly relationship, we can better understand the nature of men and women and apply this understanding to our human family and relationships... I believe promoting the masculinity of God and eliminating His feminine nature has done not only women, but also mankind in general, a great disservice.” (Introduction)

Linguistic Note

The grammatical gender of ‘Holy Spirit’ varies by language: masculine in Latin (Spiritus) and Latin-derived languages like English (Spirit) or German (Geist); feminine in Semitic languages like Hebrew (Ruah), Arabic (Ruh, Rooh, Ruh-ul-Qudus), Aramaic (Ruha, Ruho), and Syriac (Ruha); and neuter in Greek (Pneuma). When grammatical gender is confused with physical gender, the Holy Spirit is perceived as male, female, or neither depending on the language.

Conclusion

The Holy Spirit is undeniably feminine, supported by linguistic evidence in Hebrew (ruach) and Aramaic/Syriac (ruha), the Johannine use of feminine verbal forms (anangello), and theological insights from scholars like Stevick, Malachi, Reid, Driscoll, and Taylor. The historical suppression by church fathers reflects a patriarchal bias to defeminize the Divine, but the feminine nature of the Holy Spirit remains rooted in Scripture and early Christian traditions, affirming its role as the Mother Spirit and the Paraclete.

Pariah Kutta (https://adishakti.org/index.htm)
https://grok.com/chat/a8183a8d-e88e-4bd3-b2b6-7b42e0304efd

The Feminine Nature of the Holy Spirit

The assertion that the Holy Spirit is feminine finds compelling support in both scriptural analysis and the teachings of Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi, who is presented as the Paraclete promised by Jesus at the Last Supper. This promise, articulated in John 14:16-17, 14:26, and 16:7-15, heralds the coming of a divine figure who would guide, teach, and restore humanity in the eschatological "Age to Come", which aligns with the present era as described by Shri Mataji. The evidence from biblical texts, linguistic analysis, and theological scholarship, combined with Shri Mataji’s fulfillment of the Paraclete’s duties, emphatically confirms the feminine nature of the Holy Spirit. This understanding challenges traditional patriarchal interpretations and restores a balanced view of the Divine that embraces both masculine and feminine aspects, as detailed in sources like adishakti.org and various theological works.

Linguistic Evidence for the Feminine Holy Spirit

The grammatical gender of the word for “Spirit” in biblical languages provides a foundational argument for its feminine nature. As Tau Malachi notes in Living Gnosis: A Practical Guide to Gnostic Christianity (Llewellyn Publications, 2005),

“If one researches the words for ‘Spirit’ in Hebrew and Greek, one will find that in Hebrew it is actually a feminine word, and in Greek it is neuter, having no specific gender association. Thus, the choice among orthodox and fundamental Christians to speak of the Holy Spirit as male is a distortion of the actual languages of the Scriptures” (p. 81).

In Hebrew, the word ruach (רוח) is grammatically feminine, and in Aramaic and Syriac, ruha is similarly feminine. This is further supported by Lucy Reid in She Changes Everything (Continuum, 2005), who observes,

“In Syria, where for four hundred years the word Holy Spirit was ruha, a feminine word derived from the Hebrew ruach, and where the Holy Spirit was described as Mother, complementing the parental imagery of Father and Son in the Trinity, the association of feminine language with heresy led authors to assign masculine gender to the word—grammatical nonsense but evidence of the theological desire to defeminize the Divine” (pp. 32-33).

This deliberate masculinization reflects a cultural bias rather than fidelity to the original texts.

In contrast, the Greek pneuma is neuter, but the Johannine texts describing the Paraclete use feminine verbal forms, such as anangello (“she will declare”) in John 16:13-15, as highlighted by D. B. Stevick in Jesus and His Own (2011):

“The final Paraclete passage closes with a threefold repetition of the verb she will declare (anangello), 16:13-15. The Spirit will declare the things that are to come (v.13), and she will declare what is Christ’s (vv. 14, 15)” (p. 294).

This linguistic evidence underscores that the Holy Spirit, as the Paraclete, is consistently associated with feminine imagery and roles in early Christian and Semitic traditions, a perspective suppressed by later patriarchal theology.

Shri Mataji as the Paraclete: Fulfilling Jesus’ Promise

Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi (1923–2011), described as “Christian by birth, Hindu by marriage, and Paraclete by duty”, is presented on adishakti.org as the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise to send the Paraclete in the “Age to Come”, which she identifies as the present era of the Last Judgment and Resurrection. In John 14:16-17, Jesus promises,

“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.”

Stevick elaborates,

“The Paraclete will come (15:26; 16:7, 8, 13) as Jesus has come into the world (5:43; 16:28; 18:37)… The Paraclete is the divine self-expression which will be and abide with you, and be in you (14:16-17)” (*Jesus and His Own*, 2011, p. 292).

Shri Mataji’s life and teachings align with these roles, as she dedicated her life to guiding humanity toward self-realization and spiritual awakening, embodying the Paraclete’s mission to “teach,” “remind,” “testify,” and “guide into all truth.”

Shri Mataji explicitly declared her identity as the Paraclete, stating in 1981,

“I am the Holy Ghost. I am the Holy Spirit who has incarnated on this Earth for your Realization” (*adishakti.org*, New York, USA, September 30, 1981).

She further connected her mission to the eschatological promises of scripture:

“Today, Sahaja Yoga has reached the state of Mahayoga, which is en-masse evolution manifested through it. It is this day’s Yuga Dharma. It is the way the Last Judgment is taking place. Announce it to all the seekers of truth, to all the nations of the world, so that nobody misses the blessings of the Divine to achieve their meaning, their absolute, their spirit” (*adishakti.org*, 1983).

This aligns with Stevick’s description of the Paraclete’s role:

“The intention of the Spirit of truth is the restoration of an alienated, deceived humanity” (Stevick, 2011, p. 292).

Shri Mataji’s global mission, through Sahaja Yoga, facilitated mass self-realization, triggering the “cool breeze” (Ruach, Pneuma) of the Holy Spirit, fulfilling Jesus’ promise that the Paraclete would empower disciples to perform “greater miracles” (John 14:12).

Theological and Historical Suppression of the Feminine Divine

The feminine nature of the Holy Spirit has been obscured by centuries of patriarchal theology, as noted by several scholars. James P. Driscoll, in The Unfolding God of Jung and Milton (University Press of Kentucky, 1992), explains,

“The feminine Wisdom or Shekinah the Old Testament says was with God from the beginning, feminist scholars point out, functions like the Holy Spirit or Paraclete of the New Testament… Anxious to protect the masculinity of their God, the church fathers declined to meld the Judaic wisdom figure with its natural successor, the Paraclete, which would have made one member of the Godhead feminine” (p. 88).

This suppression began with early Christian thinkers influenced by Hellenistic philosophy, who prioritized a masculine God to align with cultural norms, as Driscoll notes:

“God’s dignity, these philosophers insisted, required him to be all male no less than all good and powerful” (p. 88).

Similarly, Patricia Taylor in The Holy Spirit: The Feminine Nature of God (iUniverse, 2009) argues,

“Without the Holy Spirit working in my heart, I could not understand the things of God, and I would never have come to the understanding of the Holy Spirit being the feminine nature of God” (Introduction).

She connects the Holy Spirit to the divine feminine, suggesting that the earthly family reflects the Trinitarian relationship, with the Holy Spirit embodying nurturing, relational qualities traditionally associated with femininity. Taylor further notes,

“I believe promoting the masculinity of God and eliminating His feminine nature has done not only women, but also mankind in general, a great disservice. It has negated the important position of women in the home, church and society” (Introduction).

This perspective aligns with Shri Mataji’s teachings, which emphasize the Divine Feminine as the active, creative force (Shakti) that unites all religions and restores humanity’s connection to the Spirit (*adishakti.org*).

Shri Mataji’s Teachings and the Restoration of the Divine Feminine

Shri Mataji’s work through Sahaja Yoga integrates the feminine Holy Spirit with the concept of Adi Shakti, the primordial cosmic force in Hinduism. As noted on adishakti.org,

“Shri Adi Shakti, also known as the Mother Goddess, is the Supreme Divine Feminine energy in Hinduism. She is the primordial cosmic force responsible for creation, preservation, and destruction in the universe” (*adishakti.org*).

Shri Mataji declared,

“Sahaja Yoga unites the essence of all religions” (*adishakti.org*).

emphasizing that the Holy Spirit (Ruh, Shekinah, Shakti) is the universal divine force that transcends religious boundaries. Her ability to awaken the Kundalini, described as

“the power of God, the holy spirit” that “comes up the spine and instantly increases our bandwidth” (Farrand, 2006, cited in *adishakti.org*).

mirrors the Paraclete’s role to “guide into all truth” (John 16:13).

Moreover, Shri Mataji’s life exemplifies the Paraclete’s duties as outlined by Stevick: teaching (didasko), reminding (hypomimnesko), testifying (martyro), proving wrong (elancho), guiding (hodego), speaking (laleo), and declaring (anangello). Stevick writes,

“The Spirit’s work is described in terms of utterance: teach you, didasko (14:26); remind you, hypomimnesko (15:26), testify, martyro (15:26), prove wrong, elancho (16:8), guide into truth, hodego (16:13), speak, laleo (16:13, twice), declare, anangello (16:13, 14, 15)” (Stevick, 2011, p. 292).

Shri Mataji’s extensive lectures (over 3,000 recorded talks), public programs, and personal interactions, as documented on adishakti.org, demonstrate her fulfillment of these roles. For example, she taught seekers worldwide about self-realization, reminded them of spiritual truths, testified to the divine message of resurrection, and guided humanity toward truth through Sahaja Yoga (*adishakti.org*).

The Eschatological Context: The Age to Come

Shri Mataji identified the present era as the “Age to Come”, the time of the Last Judgment and Resurrection, aligning with Jesus’ promise that the Paraclete would come to complete his work. She stated,

“This is the most important times because Sahaja Yoga is the Last Judgment. It is fantastic to hear this but that’s the fact. It’s the Truth!... Mother’s Love makes it very easy for you to get to your Realization and that the whole story of Last Judgment... has been made very beautiful, and very tender, and delicate, and does not disturb you” (*adishakti.org*, September 28, 1979).

This corresponds to Stevick’s assertion that

“the intention of the Spirit of truth is the restoration of an alienated, deceived humanity” (Stevick, 2011, p. 292).

as Shri Mataji’s mission focused on awakening humanity’s spiritual potential through Kundalini awakening, enabling individuals to experience the “cool breeze” of the Holy Spirit (*adishakti.org*).

Emphatic Declaration

The Holy Spirit is undeniably feminine, as evidenced by the linguistic roots of ruach and ruha, the Johannine descriptions of the Paraclete’s feminine roles, and the life and teachings of Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi, who fulfills Jesus’ promise in the Gospel of John. The suppression of this truth by patriarchal theology, as Reid, Driscoll, and Taylor argue, reflects a cultural bias that distorts the divine nature. Shri Mataji’s embodiment of the Paraclete—through her teachings, miracles, and global mission—restores the feminine aspect of the Divine, uniting humanity across religious traditions and fulfilling the eschatological promise of the Age to Come. As Malachi asserts,

“The Divine Mother is God ever near to us—as near as our breath, the beat of our hearts and our very bodies, material and spiritual. She is the All-in-All according to Sophian teachings” (Malachi, 2005, p. 82).

This truth, heralded by Shri Mataji, demands recognition: the Holy Spirit, as the Divine Feminine, is the active, nurturing, and transformative force guiding humanity to its spiritual destiny.

Pariah Kutta (https://adishakti.org/index.htm)
https://grok.com/chat/a8183a8d-e88e-4bd3-b2b6-7b42e0304efd