Giving Biblical Women a Voice: Cami Sanders on the Divine Feminine, Heavenly Mother, and What We Have Been Missing

Cami Sanders started asking questions about the divine feminine as she observed and listened to her daughters. As ambitious and curious ten and eleven year olds, they started noticing that the only place they felt limited for being girls was at church. Instead of giving them the short answer, Cami stepped into curiosity herself.

✨Listen to the full episode or read for the breakdown.

The Myth That We Should Not Talk About Heavenly Mother

Cami's first real entry point was a research paper published in BYU Studies called A Mother There, which compiled quotes from prophets and apostles about Heavenly Mother and refuted the idea that she is too sacred to discuss. In fact, the paper argued the opposite.

She is sacred, which is exactly why we should be talking about her.

From there Cami started reading scripture differently. In Genesis, the word spirit in the phrase the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters is a feminine noun in both Hebrew and Greek. The word Elohim is plural for gods. And the word translated as virtuous in Proverbs 31, the famous who can find a virtuous woman, comes from a Hebrew root meaning capable, valiant, and noble in character, not simply chaste. The woman described in that chapter buys and sells land, runs a business, speaks with wisdom, and is praised by her husband and children.

She is not limited. She is everything.

The Women We Were Never Taught About

Cami shared that she made it through her entire life attending church, seminary, institute, and Sunday school before learning in her mid-thirties that there are prophetesses named specifically in the Old Testament. Deborah. Miriam. There are women named as apostles in the New Testament. Junia. Phoebe, whom Paul calls a deacon and minister. And Mary Magdalene, who was the apostle to the apostles, the one Jesus entrusted to tell his disciples he had risen.

She was with him through almost his entire ministry.

There is also a Gospel of Mary found in Egypt in the Berlin Codex. Fragments, but enough to give real insight into her relationship with the apostles and the early church. These women were not footnotes. They were central figures whose roles have been quietly minimized over centuries of translation and interpretation.

"The word virtuous in Proverbs 31 does not mean chaste. It means capable, valiant, and noble in character. That woman bought land, ran a business, and was praised by everyone around her."

Eve Saw a Higher Way

"Adam was correct. Eve saw a higher way. She stepped beyond the temporary rules of the garden because she understood that humanity needed to progress."

Cami offered one of the most meaningful reframes of the Fall I have heard. The word transgression in Latin means to go beyond, to step beyond. It is a policy violation, not a moral failure. The speed limit, not a commandment.

Eve, faced with a choice, saw that humanity needed to progress. She understood that opposition was necessary, that pain and joy would both have to exist, and she made a hard decision to move beyond the temporary rules of the garden toward something larger.

Adam was correct. Eve saw a higher way.

And in Moroni's first appearance to Joseph Smith, the scripture he chose to open with was Joel 2:28. Your sons and your daughters will prophesy. Not just sons. Not just men.

What True Power Looks Like

Cami pointed to societies in ancient Turkey that were matrilocal rather than matriarchal, where land passed through women and men moved into the women's family rather than the reverse. Archaeological evidence suggests lower rates of violent death, similar house sizes indicating more economic equality, and a general picture of a society where men chose to set aside physical dominance for the good of the whole.

Having power and choosing not to use it to dominate. That is the model Jesus gave us.

The most powerful being in the universe chose to lower himself below all of us and die for us. That is not weakness. That is the highest use of power. And Cami believes that is the model for how both men and women can show up for each other, not to plug women into an existing hierarchy, but to build something that has not existed yet.

"God does not hand his child something until he has a pocket to hold it. All of us asking these questions tells Heavenly Father we are ready for the answers."

Asking the Questions Is How We Get the Answers

Cami quoted a Scottish preacher who said God does not hand his child something until he has a pocket to hold it. The women of the church who are asking these questions are telling Heavenly Father they are ready for the answers.

All of us asking tells God we are ready.

Change in the church is slow and sometimes feels like it is not happening fast enough. But Cami and I both find ourselves here, in the middle, grateful and hopeful and unwilling to pretend the questions are not real. The veil over the earth is beginning to thin. More light is getting through. And the invitation to ask, to seek, to knock has always been for sons and daughters alike.

Let's get to it 💗

Brynne

Cami's Amazing Resources:

A Mother There - David Paulsen

Women at Church - Neylan McBaine

"Nephi and His Asherah" by Daniel C. Peterson

Eve and the Choice Made in Eden - Beverly Campbell

Eve & Adam: Discovering the Beautiful Balance - Melinda Wheelwright Brown

Mother of the Lord - Margaret Barker

A Girl's Guide to Heavenly Mother - McArthur Krishna

A Boy's Guide to Heavenly Mother - McArthur Krishna

Mormon Feminism - Joanna Brooks, Rachel Hunt, Hannah Wheelwright

Fifty Years of Exponent II - Katie Ludlow Rich, Heather Sundahl, and Laurel Thatcher Ulrich

The Mother Tree - Kathryn Knight Sonntag

What Did Josiah Reform? The Earlier Religion of Israel | BYU Speeches

When Women Were Priests - Karen Jo Torjesen

The Gospel of Mary - Full text & free downloadable pdf

The Gospel of Mary of Magdala - Karen L. King

Finding Mother God: Poems to Heal the World - Carol Lynn Pearson

Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History - Laurel Thatcher Ulrich

Jesus Feminist - Sarah Bessey

Podcasts, Videos, and Classes

Mandy Green

Jesus’s Female Disciples Documentary

Talking Scripture - Easter & Mary Magdalene

https://www.dearmormonman.com/

Breaking Down Patriarchy
(so many wonderful episodes, these are just a few on women in religion)

Episode 9: When Women Were Priests - with Dr. Karen Jo Torjesen

Episode 15: The Gospel of Mary Magdalene

Episode 17: Roar Like A Goddess - with author Acharya Shunya

Episode 30: Revisiting the Virgin Mary - with mythographer Marina Warner

Episode 39: 50 Years of Mormon Feminism - with Heather Sundahl & Katie Ludlow Rich

Episode 48: Breaking Down Patriarchy with Mormon Women

Thanks for Being Here

Hi, I’m Brynne. I share my journey of becoming through stories and reflection - guided by a higher power as I explore identity, faith, and everyday life, inviting you to grow alongside me.

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