In some religious traditions or movements, Heavenly Mother is the wife or feminine counterpart of the Sky father or God the Father. Teachings about the Heavenly Mother are promulgated by various religious groups, to one degree or another.
Orthodox Christians believe Mary received her resurrection early near after her death, while Roman Catholics generally believe that Mary was assumed, body and soul without death or the need for resurrection, into Heaven, referred to as the Assumption of Mary. This could make her a "heavenly mother" of sorts, as she gave birth to Jesus, and was confirmed to bear the title Theotokos at the Council of Ephesus in AD 431. However, she is more often referred to as "Our Mother", since Christians alike refer to themselves as "Brothers and Sisters in Christ". There is a parallel in calling Mary "Our Mother" as calling God "Our Father", though there is a Pater Noster but no Mater Nostra. Mary is not considered the "Heavenly Mother", the same way that God the Father is referred to as the "Heavenly Father". In Roman Catholic belief Mary, although highly venerated as the first among the Saints, is never viewed on an equal status with God, rather she is viewed by some Catholics, but not as a matter of dogma, as Mediatrix and Co-Redemptrix with Christ.
In the Latter Day Saint movement, particularly The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, many adherents believe in a Heavenly Mother as the wife of God the Father. The theology varies, however, according to denomination. The only clear declaration regarding a Heavenly Mother figure is that she exists. Some offshoot denominations disavow a belief in her, some do not make her a part of the official doctrine, and others openly acknowledge her.
Collyridianism
was a heretical Christian sect. Collyridians worshipped the Virgin Mary as their Heavenly Mother and as a Goddess. The Catholic Church condemned the Collyridians of Marian Heresies, holding that Mary was to be venerated but not adored like God. The Collyridian service was similar to that of the Catholic Mass, except that the sacramental bread was not considered Christ, or a sacrifice to God, but a sacrifice to the Virgin Mary. Epiphanius of Salamis wrote about the Collyridianism and their multiple heresies against the Catholic Church in his work entitled Panarion.
In the Unification Church some members occasionally address God as "Heavenly Mother" when emphasizing the divine attribute of femininity, but not indicating a distinct person. Unificationists consider God a unified being of masculine and feminine characteristics, but they nearly always address God using masculine references and refer to Him as "Father" or "Heavenly Father."
In the Hindu context, the worship of the Mother deity can be traced back to early Vedic culture, and perhaps even before. The Rigveda calls the divine female power Mahimata, literally Great Mother and also called Mother Earth. In places, the Vedic literature alludes to her as Viraj, the universal mother, as Aditi, the mother of gods, and as Ambhrini, the one born of the Primeval Ocean. Durga, the wife of Shiva, is a warrior goddess who represents the empowering and protective nature of motherhood. An incarnation of Durga is Kali, who came from her forehead during war. Durga and her incarnations are particularly worshipped in Bengal. Today, Devi is seen in manifold forms, all representing the creative force in the world, as Maya and prakṛti, the force that galvanizes the divine ground of existence into self-projection as the cosmos. She is not merely the Earth, though even this perspective is covered by Parvati. All the various Hindu female entities are seen as forming many faces of the same female Divinity.
In popular culture
Examples of God having wives or other feminine counterparts have appeared in popular culture. In the series Supernatural, God has a sister known as the Darkness. She is the yin to God's yang, described by God in the series as being to 'nothingness' as God himself is to 'being' and to 'darkness' as God himself is to 'light.' In the series Lucifer, based on the comic of the same name, God has an exiled wife. She is described in the series as the mother of the angels and co-creator of the universe.
