Feminine Unity's Featured Guest, Peter Canova
Many of us have referred -- jokingly and seriously -- to God as being a woman. This is definitely a feminine spirit to behold as we speculate about religion and spirituality, and the feminine role on Earth. What if one role was that of Pope?
Pope Annalisa is a story written by Peter Canova, the winner of two Nautilus Awards for Visionary Fiction and Spirituality, including the Nautilus Gold Award. Annalisa Basanjo is an African nun who rises from obscurity to become the most influential figure in modern times as the first female pope of the Catholic Church. But Annalisa is a force as well as a person, a force that originates in dimensions beyond the material earth plane. Part of her story deals with the nature of good and evil and the relationship of these forces to each other.
First, the story is about people caught up in dramatic and life-changing events where many lives and the course of human history are at stake. It is about a woman who is attempting to alter our very perception of existence. It is about us as human beings trying to determine if her course of action will lead to our renewal or destruction. Ultimately, the story is a speculation on the origin and destiny of the human soul and our capacity to touch the divine and evolve into a new state of consciousness.
The story of Pope Annalisa is part of a cycle called The First Souls. It spans the near future and the historical past as well as other dimensions of existence, but the essence of the story is rooted in historical facts and events. It is based on known history and once-lost documents unearthed in modern times.
Pope Annalisa and the First Souls are rooted in Judeo-Christian history, and the beliefs of these religions form the backdrop of the story, but it is more accurate to say that the First Souls trilogy is focused on the universal underpinnings of human spirituality. The story deals with forces that can be identified in the mystical core of the world’s major religions and philosophical systems. It also overlaps with speculative sciences such as theoretical physics and depth psychology.
This story is connected to the Divine Feminine and the Lost Goddess, but it comes from an entirely different perspective than any other work of which we are aware. Again, the First Souls’ roots are in our spiritual origins so the feminine aspect of God is traced from its source in the spiritual realms to its manifestations on earth. Furthermore, the story does not idealize the feminine as do so many current works, but rather it portrays the feminine spiritual force in all its bittersweet paradoxes. The First Souls is ultimately about the fragmentation and reunion of the male and female forces to create a new human consciousness.
Peter Canova explores an ancient spiritual tradition, which cut across Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, as well as the so-called pagan mystery schools of ancient days.
From the time he first experienced phenomena such as telepathy, remote viewing, intuitive medical readings, and psychic healing, he has spent much of his life seeking to understand the forces that link humanity together at an unseen level.
Peter’s former businesses (hotel development, shipping and import/exporting) carried him around the world, where he met a variety of spiritual figures. Each figure appeared in his life unsolicited and confirmed his conviction that spirit transcends the religious beliefs that tend to divide people.
Pope Annalisa is a fascinating character. It seems that a woman could have imagined such a character to add flavor to our male dominated culture. Since my focus is Feminine Unity and uniting feminine spirits, I could not help but wonder how Peter felt about feminine spirits and Feminine Unity. Here are Peter’s thoughts derived from a short Q & A.
How does Pope Ann
alisa and First Souls offer insight into feminine spirits?
Pope Annalisa seeks to restore a genesis story that shows the female aspect of God leading the way into material creation, eventually becoming the actual planetary soul. It's about the suppressed role of women in spiritual history and how that came about to our detriment. It's about balancing our notion of God's full presence, not the one we were given by the Church. It's about using the feminine qualities of intuition, heartfelt desire, love, and creative birthing to reach personal enlightenment through actual experience with the divine energy. Experience leads to knowledge that replaces faith. The masculine qualities are the guidance system that can focus our intent; the feminine qualities are the fuel that provides the heartfelt desire for enlightened experience that leads to spiritual growth.
What does feminine unity mean to you?
I'm going to be honest with you, and perhaps this is not the answer you're seeking, but I'm not a woman, so feminine unity has no connotation of sisterhood to me. The key word in your question for me is unity. We live in a culture of extremes-- male dominated culture/feminist movement; Iron John Brotherhood/feminine unity. We can only become whole by seeking a balance. In the Gnostic gospels, Jesus is always saying the two must become one. This means we must balance the male and female energies or qualities within each of us. I see a feminine tide rising to (hopefully) restore the balance, not tip the scales to another extreme, the current extreme being patriarchal. Logic/intuition; heart based feeling/linear intellect; creativity/order-- these are the polar male/female energies we must all use to spiritually evolve. So feminine unity with the male counterpart energies is the meaning here for me.
What was the lost feminine component of early Christian spiritual belief?
See the answers above.
Were women such as Mary Magdalene the real leaders of the early Church and what happened to them?
There is no documental smoking gun that answers this definitively, but we can extrapolate a convincing case from existing gospels and writings. The bible itself shows women supporting Jesus and the disciples. Jesus' acceptance of women and his actions toward them were incredibly radical. He clearly placed a high value on women to so openly flaunt Jewish custom, which viewed women as tainted by Eve's transgressions. Mary was the first to see the risen Jesus, and the women were the only ones to stay by him during the crucifixion when the disciples fled.
The Gnostic gospels are much more explicit. Mary Magdalene was shown to be the foremost disciple who received the secret mystical tradition of Jesus' oral message. She was held by many to be his full counterpart as the embodiment of the Holy Spirit. At the very least, she was portrayed as his constant companion. It appears there may have been at least 7 female disciples, some of them named-- Salome, Susannah, Ruth-- but Mary stood above all the others in her comprehension of Jesus' high esoteric teaching and confidence.
The early Church evolved along two main branches, Gnostic and orthodox. The orthodox were very much influenced by the Jewish customs of patriarchal dominance and by the patriarchal Jewish God of the Old Testament. The Gnostic rejected all this in favor of an interpretation much close to the ancient Earth Mother (Magna Mater) form of deity in which God in shown in both male and female aspects. As the orthodox prevailed they sought to become the dominant religion of the Roman Empire, a clearly patriarchal culture, so it was an embarrassment to have so many female leaders and orientations. Women were gradually pushed aside and there seems to be good evidence they were written out of the bible and Church history in what became the orthodox Roman Catholic Church.
There is a "Pope Annalisa FAQ" section on Peter's website and he has addressed many questions. Due to the Catholic Church's stance on certain subjects and the audacious topic of an African female pope, many have asked what I consider a very good question. "Is Pope Annalisa and the First Souls an attack on or condemnation of the Catholic Church or fundamental Christianity?"
Visit www.popeannalisa.com for the answer to this question and to learn about Pope Annalisa, First Souls, Mary Magdalene, and more.
As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts. Your information will not be shared with anyone. If you want your thoughts posted anonymously, please say so. Peacefully yours, Tonja