Ken Haley about “Tahirih Thealogy” by Starr* Saffa

Starr* Saffa introduces Tahirih Thealogy with this challenge: “You may think that this book has little to do with you or your reality.”

“That’s right,” my conscious mind interjected, but in a matter of pages I realized that Ms. Saffa’s inspired argument has very much to do with my reality.

Thealogy is described as the Divine Female Mouthpiece of God, with Tahirih (aka Qurratu’l-Ayn) the exemplar of that station in the present age. Baha’is of course are familiar with Tahirih, one of the Letters of the Living who first recognized the station of the Bab, the precursor to Baha’U’llah, the founding messenger of the Baha’i movement. Ms. Saffa posits the theory that Tahirih’s purpose and influence reach beyond the parenthetical corner of religious history that Baha’i writers have restricted her. 

Tahirih “closed the past and opened the door to a new Dispensation for the collective life of humankind,” Ms. Saffa declares, and adds, “Her true station as a Manifestation of God/ess… has hitherto been mostly concealed.”

Concealed no longer. “Tahirih Thealogy” rips the veil off the premise by most world religions (including Baha’i) that Messengerhood is a bonding of a male God with a male Manifestation. Ms. Saffa produces a joyful reconfiguration of that notion, and raises the banner of Spiritual Feminism through an enlightening array of historical examples and spiritual research.

My reality hasn’t been the same since.

Ken Haley

Ken’s bio and credentials:

Baha’i since birth. Foreign pioneered to Honduras and Mexico. Homefront pioneered to Arizona. Currently resides in Eugene, Oregon.

Baha’i administrative posts held: 

Local Assemblies: Bisbee, Arizona; Ensenada, Mexico; San Jose, California. 
Teaching committees: Tulsa, Oklahoma; Southern Arizona; Baja California, Mexico.
Border Liaison in northern Mexico.
Indigenous Liaison in Baja California, Mexico.

Writing achievements:

Five unpublished novels.
Several published poems.
Newspaper reporter and columnist for Bisbee Review.
Completed two courses at Institute of Children’s Writing.
Certificate Program for Translator at the University of California at San Diego.
Brochure designer at Maxwell International Baha’i School.
Translator for El Ruiseñor Baha’i magazine.

Travels: Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Israel, Canada.

Joyous Journey! Starr*
Her Splendor lives in all that is!
email: starr@tahirih-starr.org
Order "Tahirih Thealogy" direct on line at:
http://www.zeus-publications.com/tahirih_thealogy.htm

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