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INTRODUCTION

This is not merely a book of artistic, nude photography- it is an initiation.

There is an understanding amongst mystic adepts that the Mother aspect of the Godhead is actually everything that exists, for they have found intimacy with Her in all things, including their own beings. Because of this the ancient Goddess worshippers knew that when they worshipped Her, they were worshipping the earth, their homes, and their very own flesh. 

In this sense one could say that the Mother Goddess is what is. Though in more obvious ways She is unequivocally manifest in all human mothers. Therefore let us remember that these women are beautiful, sexual, and sensuous lovers, and not just caregivers and suffering child-bearers.

Towards that end I have assimilated these pictures of Tanis, who, between the ages of forty-one and forty-four, when these photos were taken, had been a mother for nearly a decade.

I have loved Tanis as I have loved the Mother Earth. Both are sensuous, sexual, sublime and substantial mothers. Both have made me aghast in wonder at their beauty and mystery. Both have embraced me and joined me in the mystic dance of the flesh, where substance is spirit and spirit is soul.

Tanis is my soror mystica (my alchemical mystical sister), as well as my mate, peer, companion, twin-soul, and lover. She is perhaps the most dedicated and determined alchemical and Jungian scholar I know. She is incredibly lucid when interpreting dreams, has an inherent shamanic nature, and a great gift of penmanship. She is a brilliant, intense, indefatigable student of the great work, as alchemy is often called, and is relentlessly reading arcane tomes on mysticism, esoterica, shamanism, and the like. She is a great companion on journeys both in the outer world, and inwards towards the nebulous self.

In the text accompanying the photos, I have included quotes from various spiritual sources, as well as excerpts from Tanis’ early writings. I have chosen these specific excerpted selections because of realizations I came upon while doing research for this book; what I came to understand was that throughout history there has been a divine feminine archetype which has been lost from this world. Originally this aspect of the feminine was brought to light in the apocryphal story of Lilith, Adam’s first wife, who, after rejecting his attempts at domination, flew away from the earth and has ever since been free and yet derelict in the cosmos. And then Adam’s second wife, Eve, after partaking of the forbidden fruit, was thrown out of Heaven and became derelict on earth. Thus the divine feminine was divided into two separate aspects: one flew, the other fell. This is the dual nature of the forsaken Goddess which then leads to the myth of Sophia.

According to Gnostic scriptures, Sophia is the female aspect of God who has fallen from heaven and must be redeemed. However, and paradoxically, Sophia is also the redeemer, for she is the Shakti (the female power of God), the Goddess, without which God remains impotent.

It is therefore one of our highest, human endeavors to return Sophia to Her rightful heritage, and so to unify Heaven and Earth.

This comes about through a lengthy, mystical, alchemical process within each one of us, as well as within the cosmos at large; through this process we descend from non-being, our Lilith selves, into being, our Eve selves, so as to discover and recover the whole Goddess, who is of this earth, this life, this flesh, and much more as well. We descend into Her so as to become one with Her, for to become Her is to set Her free. This is the union of spirit and flesh.

As each individual uncovers the lost Goddess within their very own being, She, the Goddess, emerges more and more into the greater consciousness of all humanity, and therefore She once again becomes an operational power within this world and beyond.

As the archetypical layers of the Goddess re-unite, and Lilith and Eve (the flown and the fallen) come together, Sophia awakens as Gaia, the Goddess who is Mother Earth. Gaia then grows back into her former stature as Sophia, the Cosmic Goddess, known in the past under many names, including Durga in India, Isis in Egypt, Tara in Tibet, Shechinah in the Kabbalah, and Inanna in Sumeria. In this way the universe returns to macrocosmic wholeness.

On a microcosmic level I have witnessed a very similar metaphysical process within Tanis, for I have seen her go through a profound archetypical and mythological journey, in that she has often been a free spirit, lifted off of the earth, away from the constrictions and confines of matter, who then floats freely and yet without grounding through life, as in Lilith, and yet she has also been Eve, a mother made of flesh and bone, who is one with Gaia, the very Mother Earth Herself. Tanis is therefore a living bridge between the Lilith and Eve. This living bridge is Sophia.

Therefore, along with the photos, I have interwoven some of Tanis’ writings which are specific to this theme, with quotes from various metaphysical sources, so as to document the process of the divine feminine returning to Her true glory.

In many ways, the act of taking the photographs became a spiritual journey similar to the mythological drama I have just described. This is because Tanis is for the most part a very shy and secretive person, a Lilith, and so the process of watching her slowly open up and reveal herself to the world has been like watching a rose grow from a little green bud into a remarkable blossom, a Gaia in full bloom.

It is this revealing of ‘sacred innocence’ which I find so astonishing in these photos, for it is through the process of allowing her nude body to be exposed to the world that her naked soul is also revealed.

I see now why Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden, after God saw that they were ashamed of their nudity; and I see also why Christ later stated that one would return to the Kingdom of Heaven only “After you take off your clothes and are not ashamed.” It is interesting indeed that both the Fall and the Redemption are recognized by this essential state of unashamed nudity.

To be naked is to be exposed without anywhere to hide. This is innocence. And it is only through such innocence that we return to our true, unashamed, divine nature.

These pictures, therefore, are both artistic and alchemical; the photos reveal the sublime physical story of a mystical rose blossoming, while the text charts a metaphysical path of transformation and awakening. Both of these forms of expression lead the reader on a journey toward the emancipation of the Goddess, and therefore the healing of Gaia, the physical body of Sophia.

I believe that, beyond our personal journeys upon this wonderful globe, the healing of the planet, of Her, will only be prioritized when we no longer perceive the Earth solely as our home and Mother, but also as our lover and mate. I say this because many times I have experienced a very sensuous relationship with the Earth. I have become intimate with Her. I am a lover of the earth. I am the earth’s husband, as much as I am the husband of Tanis, for they are one. To be a husband, etymologically, is to look after that which is in your care; not because it is your property, but because you love that which is in your care. I love Tanis, and I love the earth.  I see them as separate, beautiful, bewildering entities, and I see them as the same. No doubt this explains why, over the centuries, the nude female form has fit so well with artistic images of the naked earth- for they are one.  And so I believe we must now learn to make love to the earth as intimately and often as we would to our own cherished spouse. In doing so we transform our relationship with matter, the Mater, the Mother, and thus bridge the gap which has been destroying us both. The dew must moisten the earth if the Tree of Life is to bare fruit.

In keeping with this theme of loving the earth, most of these photographs were taken in the wild areas of British Columbia, Hawaii, Ireland, and the American desert. They represent the joyous documentation of a petite incarnation of the Goddess, naked on the sacred naked mother earth. The fruit and the soil, the dew the sky.

J. Haas

HER: the sacred naked mother earth, and the divine feminine soul

large format, 8.5" × 11",  full color book: $29.50, ebook: $14.95

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more images:

gallery 1   gallery 2   gallery 3   gallery 4   gallery 5   gallery 6   gallery 7  

gallery 8   gallery 9   gallery 10   gallery 11   gallery 12   gallery 13   gallery 14  

gallery 15   gallery 16   gallery 17   gallery 18   gallery 19   gallery 20   gallery 21  

gallery 22   gallery 23   yoni tantra