oa The Indescribable Sophia and the Semiotics of Gender: A Brief Excursion

The mysterious figure of Sophia the Wisdom of God has long been the subject of speculation, lapsing occasionally into heterodoxy, in the Eastern Orthodox world. As late as 1935 Father Sergius Bulgakov, one of the leading Russian theologians of the twentieth century was accused of heresy for his writings on Divine Wisdom. Down to the present it remains a source of inspiration for new ideas and images, carrying a special attraction for those with an antipathy towards binary ontologies. This article explores some aspects of the topic, focusing on its mystical, artistic but also its political dimension.