In Her Image: Finding Heavenly Mother in Scripture, Scholarship, the Arts, Mythology & Everyday Life – Details, episodes & analysis

We are so grateful to Aspen Moore, Rebecca Young, and Carol Robins for providing an inclusive version of the Book of Mormon. Here are some resources they shared during the interview and their Instagram information:

Heavenly Parents: An Inclusive Book of Mormon Reading

The easiest way to read it is on your phone through the Medium app or on your computer @ Medium.com

Those interested can download the Medium app on their phones which has a black background with a white capital M and 1/2 of a lowercase e.

They can also create a free account (scroll down to the bottom of the registration page to find the free option)

and follow Heavenly Parents Project which houses Heavenly Parents: An Inclusive Book of Mormon Reading

Additionally, here are a couple links to resources that have more information about Heavenly Mother from the LDS Church that we used during our discussion.

A Mother There - BYU Studies Article

A Mother in Heaven - Gospel Topics Essay

The Heavenly Parents Book of Mormon instagram page is @heavenly.parents.bom

Rebecca's instagram page is @our.heavenly.parents

Aspen's instagram page is @seeking.her.wisdom

Continuing the conversation from the last episode #123, Jessica Woodbury interviews artists turned curators and art exhibition co-founders Laura Erekson and Nicole Woodbury. They have been putting on the Certain Women Art show in Utah for the past 5 years. In today's half of the conversation, Laura and Nicole share how they came to the themes for the more recent Certain Women installment. They discuss their own pieces from the current show and share their journeys with coming to know Heavenly Mother for themselves. Each of their powerful witnesses of Her comes through their artwork and their words here in this podcast.

The current Certain Women exhibition can be seen until June 7th at the JKR gallery in Provo, Utah. The theme is "The Measure of Her Creation".

The artwork from the 2021 exhibit "Reflections on a Mother in Heaven" has been published in this beautiful book: https://a.co/d/5qNRBsC

In this episode, Martin Pulido shares about his experience researching, publishing, and presenting his findings on the historical teachings on Heavenly Mother in the BYU Studies Article "A Mother There", referenced in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' Gospel Topics Essay "Mother in Heaven". He shares how he came to know his Heavenly Mother intellectually and on a personal, relational level. Martin discusses how he thinks boys and men benefit from gaining a knowledge of and relationship with their Mother God. He describes his work co-authoring A Boy's Guide to Heavenly Mother, and shares ways we can all better acknowledge and treasure the feminine half of deity. 

A Boy's Guide to Heavenly Mother: https://deseretbook.com/p/boys-guide-to-heavenly-mother?queryID=bfb943f3325eae24d6bf4aad78fe2617&variant_id=194660-hardcover

"A Mother There: A Survey of Historical Teachings about Mother in Heaven": https://byustudies.byu.edu/article/a-mother-there-a-survey-of-historical-teachings-about-mother-in-heaven/

Jess interviews her husband, Seth Burdette, on what it's like being married to someone on a Divine Feminine journey. Seth shares analogies he has used to encourage Jess at different points along her path. They discuss what the process of implementing more dialogue around Heavenly Mother has looked like in their ward. As a member of their bishopric, Seth has had unique opportunities to help the ward better include and listen to women's voices and start to shift the perception of God to include the Mother. He shares some ideas of how to go about inspiring change in a positive way. 

In this episode, Jess and Kate interview psychotherapist Dr. Julie Hanks! Doctor Hanks discusses her personal mission helping women step into their power and changing the current structure to better embrace women's power and authority. She gives a glimpse into how the inclusion of Heavenly Mother in our dialogue as church members plays a role in that two-part mission. Doctor Hanks suggests ways to talk to church leaders about Heavenly Mother, and what to do when faced with rejection. She relates what she has done when personal and general revelation conflict. She inspires a desire to step into one's own power, and articulates why claiming our power is such an important part of life in the long run.

Dr. Hanks' programs, podcast, and blog can be found at her website: https://www.drjuliehanks.com. 

Julie read some of the lyrics from her song, Mother Where Art Thou, as the anchor for this episode. 

The song can be found on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/track/6Mxw1s6l7PD0tjzO01BIMt

or on Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/album/mother-where-art-thou/1291730037?i=1291730042

Other resources: 

A Girl's Guide to Heavenly Mother: https://deseretbook.com/p/girls-guide-to-heavenly-mother?queryID=1cb3df66c81409044e4ea2936691a311&variant_id=194661-hardcover

A Boy's Guide to Heavenly Mother: https://deseretbook.com/p/boys-guide-to-heavenly-mother?queryID=1cb3df66c81409044e4ea2936691a311&variant_id=194660-hardcover

Jess welcomes her new co-host, Kate, to the podcast!  Kate discusses her passion for Women's health, body literacy and what it means to live in harmony with your cycles and recognize how you were literally created in God's image. Kate shares how her appreciation for her body preceded her search for Mother God and how the two met in the middle. She explains balancing the Divine Masculine and Divine Feminine energies in all of us and in the world.  Whether you are a man or woman, whether you are currently menstruating or not, we can all follow the divine patterns our Heavenly Parents have given us such as multiplying and replenishing (not just about having kids), and spiritual and physical creation.

For more from Kate you can follow @daughterofmother_earth on Instagram and you can listen to episode 19 of In Her Image.

Other References:

Period Repair Manual  (Book)
Taking Charge of Your Fertility (Book)

In this episode, Sara talks about her journey to becoming involved in birth work, and the way it connects her with Mother God. Jess and Sara discuss how Heavenly Mother invites all of us to birth new life, whether it's our own new lives or children or other creations. The episode ends with an important announcement from Sara.

With Thanksgiving and Christmas coming up, we'll be taking a break from publishing new episodes of In Her Image until January 2022. Take this time to go back and listen to episodes you missed or re-listen to your favorites! If you have ideas for podcast episodes or would like to be a guest on the podcast, send us an email to inherimagepodcast@gmail.com! Happy Holidays!

Today’s episode is with Bethany Brady Spalding, co-author of the bestselling Girls Who Choose God series and the Guide Books to Heavenly Mother. In this episode, she tells Sara how each of her children’s books came to be. Originally inspired by an inquisitive 3 year old, these books portray a healthy balance in the male and female divine. The purposeful order and progression of the books, culminating in the Girl’s and Boy’s Guides to Heavenly Mother, is absolutely fascinating to hear spelled out. Bethany shares her wisdom with fellow pioneers blazing the trail in uncovering Heavenly Mother, inspiring persistence and faith in positive changes to come.

As we mentioned in episode 28 with Bethany’s co-author McArthur Krishna, A GIrl’s Guide for Heavenly Mother and A Boy’s Guide to Heavenly Mother are now being sold through Deseret Book! If you, like us, appreciate these books being carried by a church-owned bookstore, please send an email to Deseret Book retailbuying@deseretbook.com letting them know.

Unfortunately, the article Bethany mentions that she wrote for Exponent II about her daughter's entrance into young womanhood is not accessible without a subscription, but we hope the ideas she shares here help spark your own meaningful rituals and traditions.

Bethany's children's books can be found at Deseret Book through the following links:

A Girl's Guide to Heavenly Mother

https://deseretbook.com/p/girls-guide-to-heavenly-mother?queryID=4044744900145169cc4429b8b0864511&variant_id=194661-hardcover

A Boy's Guide to Heavenly Mother

https://deseretbook.com/p/boys-guide-to-heavenly-mother?queryID=4044744900145169cc4429b8b0864511&variant_id=194660-hardcover

Our Earthly Family, Our Heavenly Families

https://deseretbook.com/p/our-heavenly-family-our-earthly-families?query=earthly%2520family%2520Heav&variant_id=135731-hardcover

Girls Who Choose God

https://deseretbook.com/p/girls-who-choose-god-mcarthur-krishna-92526?queryID=b6c17c97bc556b69abb82724a7e24b65&variant_id=3041-hardcover

Sara is on Instagram as @my.mother.is.the.queen, and her co-host Jess is @her.scriptures.

Carol Lynn Pearson has been a pioneer in finding Mother God and inspiring others to do so for decades. In this episode, Sara asks about her journey writing and performing her one-woman play Mother Wove the Morning in the late 80’s and 90’s, and about her more recent publication, Finding Mother God, a book of poetry published in 2020. Carol Lynn recites some of her favorite poems from that book with all the eloquence and bravado of a stage performer, yet the sincerity and humility of a true seeker. She offers encouragement for others hoping to find and share about Heavenly Mother, urging us not to be afraid to use our voices and step outside the lines to make our desires known for greater church-wide recognition of the female half of God.

Visit https://carollynnpearson.com to find Carol Lynn's works, including Mother Wove the Morning in video format and Finding Mother God (autographed!) 

Sara is on Instagram as @my.mother.is.the.queen, and her co-host Jess is on Instagram as @her.scriptures.