Thousands of years ago, the Goddess was viewed as an autonomous entity worthy
of respect from men and women alike. Because of societal changes caused by
Eastern influence, a patriarchical system conquered all aspects of life
including religion. Today, the loss of a strong female presence in
Judeo-Christian beliefs has prompted believers to look to other sources that
celebrate the role of women. Goddess religion and feminist spirituality have
increasingly been embraced by men and women as an alternative to the patriarchy
found in traditional biblical religion.
Within a few thousand years the
first recognizable human society developed worship of the Great Goddess or Great
Mother. For these people, deity was female. The importance of fertility in
crops, domesticated animals, wild animals and in the tribe itself were of
paramount importance to their survival. Thus, the Female life-giving principle
was considered divine and an
enigma.
This culture lasted for tens of
thousands of years, generally living in peace. Males and females were treated
equally. Their society was matrilineal--children took their mothers\' names, but
not a matriarchy (Christ 58-59). Life and time was experienced as a repetitive
cycle, not linearly as is accepted today.
However, Easterners soon brought
modern civilization to this culture, including war, belief in male Gods,
exploitation of nature, and knowledge of the male role in procreation. Goddess
worship was gradually combined with worship of male Gods to produce a variety of
Pagan religions, thus losing some of its singular focus on the female as a
deity.
Goddess Worship during the Christian Era was molded by more dominant
outside forces. As Judaism, Christianity & eventually Islam evolved, the
Pagan religions were suppressed and the female principle was gradually driven
out of religion. Consequently women were reduced to a level inferior to men. The
God, King, Priest & Father replaced the Goddess, Queen, Priestess &
Mother. A woman\'s testimony was not considered significant in courts, women
were not allowed to speak in churches, and positions of authority in the church
were (almost without exception) limited to men. A feminine presence was added to
Christianity when the Virgin Mary was named Theotokos (Mother of God). However,
her role was heavily restricted and included none of the fertility components
present in Pagan religions. A low point in the fortunes of women was reached
during the Renaissance, when hundreds of thousands of suspected female witches
were exterminated by burning and hanging. These combined factors propelled women
who did not find traditional structures, views, and rituals fulfilling to return
to a feminine based spirituality more suited to their specific needs.
At the
turn of the century, scholars began writing about a “Mother Goddess”. By the
1950s, Gerald Gardner claimed initiation into a coven of English witches in
England. He began publicizing this \"Old Religion\" of Wicca. Gardnerian
Witchcraft recognized a Goddess of Earth-moon-sea as well as the Horned-hunt-sun
God (Corbett, 290). Women could be High Priestesses, but much sexism still
prevailed.
Wicca schismed after Gardner\'s death, but these traditions
continued to be founded by and named after men. Meanwhile, women in the US and
elsewhere were beginning the feminist movement. Defining ‘patriarchy’ as the
oppressive force they were battling, they began reexamining all aspects of their
lives, including religion. In the 1970s, women began using the concept of
\"Goddess\" as part of the feminist movement. DianicWicca began: a women-only
version that eliminated the God and all male aspects, as well as many
‘traditional’ Wiccan elements such as hierarchies, secrecy, and
formality.
During the 1980s, while the name Wicca remained, many groups began using the
term \"neo-Pagan\" which retains the God as well as the Goddess, but
incorporates the increased status given to the Goddess and women. The Goddess is
oftenidentified with the Earth and elements in nature explicitly. It has been
referred to as \"eco-feminism\" to reflect this increased emphasis. This stems
from the Wiccan ideology that people have a unique responsibility toward the
environment because of our ability to make conscious choices (Corbett 292).
Goddess worship broadened to include African, Asian, and Native American
ideals
beyond the classic Wiccan deities. It became\"politically correct\"
by beginning to include gays and lesbians (formerly neglected with the emphasis
on male-female fertility) as well as the ecological movement and an openness to
people of color and other minorities.
Now considered the fastest growing
religion in America by some scholars, neo-Pagans were represented at the World
Council of Religions in 1993. Despite the spread of feminist and goddess belief,
many witches still face discrimination because of their faith. People outside
the neo-Pagan community still often confuse Wicca with Satanism, feeling that
witchcraft is not a valid religion and should not be afforded the same
protections as more \'mainstream\', consensus religions. However, Wicca and
other goddess religions are not Satanistic. Satanism focuses on the Christian
idea of the devil, whereas these spiritualities predate Christianity and have no
link to those beliefs (Corbett 292).
Another common misconception is that
witches cast spells in order to hurtothers for their own or someone else’s
benefit. This myth has developed through years of media and literary
misrepresentation. While Wicca does not have many concrete beliefs, a universal
code for behavior does exist. Best exemplified in the Wiccan Rede (An ye harm
none, do what ye will) and the Threefold Law (Whatever we do returns to us three
times over, be it good or ill), personal freedom and choice are essential to
Wiccan morality and ethics (Corbett 292).
Modern Goddess worship today can
best be described as a renaissance of Paganism. Its worship of Goddesses and
Gods occurred in the middle of this century with the reemergence of Wicca. With
the rise of feminism, new traditions within Wicca were created in which the
Goddess grew in importance, and the role of the God shrank into obscurity.
The Goddess in both Goddess Worship and Neo-Paganism is often visualized in
three aspects: Maiden, Mother and Crone (Corbett 290). Her aspects are mirrored
in the phases of the moon: waxing, full and waning. The Maiden represents youth,
emerging sexuality, and the independence from men found in virginity. The Mother
symbolizes feminine power, fertility, and nurturing. The Crone is the wisdom and
compassion which evolves from experience, and the one who guides women through
the death experience. Although not all followers of the goddess are Wiccan,
virtually all Wiccans are worshipers of the goddess (Corbett 291).
Beliefs
of Goddess religion and Feminist Spiritualities are not absolute or definite. No
official doctrine exists uniting the many branches and forms falling under these
categories of faith. Almost all include a female creator, usually with some male
counterpart. Feminist spirituality acknowledges that female power is
independent from all outside forces. It is an important and intense entity that
can be called upon through rituals, dance, prayer, chants, or meditation. Its
message clearly states female ambition will not be subjugated in a “man’s
world”.
Images are of paramount importance to these religions. The portrayal
of women in a positive way reinforces autonomy, beauty of the female figure, and
elegance of each woman’s soul. It calls participants to recognize the goddess
within and celebrate their own connections to time and nature. Goddess images
resacrilize the female body, enabling women to take pride in
themselves and
encouraging men and children to respect their feminine power (Christ, 165).
Symbols and rituals are an essential component in goddess religion and
feminist spirituality. They demonstrate our interconnectedness to all that is,
and also how diversity and difference should be celebrated. Symbols evoke
respect for the Goddess, Her role in nature, and the female form in general.
Rituals reinforce these values as an outward sign of commitment and
remembrance. This combination of rituals and symbols brings Her power into
believers’ lives. Ritual also creates long lasting moods and motivations which
shape wisdom and become second nature for practitioners (Christ, 25).
A very
ancient tradition which creates a sacred space for the Goddess is the creation
of a home altar. Images, candles, books, and symbols can be incorporated to
personalize and add meaning to the space. Rituals may be done in solitude or
within a gathering of believer to invoke the power of the Goddess. Other times,
pilgrimages are taken to sacred places which have made a personal impact on
the believer. Because there is no liturgy or official order of worship, these
rituals can be molded to suit individual needs. The rituals may change each time
to allow for innovation and spontaneity. Certain groups follow an established
traditional pattern for times, dates, and practices of the rituals (Christ 29).
Holidays and festivals are integral to goddess worship. They are special
times of reflection on our connection to the cyclical patterns of nature and
time. Some Goddess holidays and festivals are celebrated at corresponding times
and dates to Judeo-Christian feast days and holidays. This correspondence
originates from the alignment of religious holidays to the natural rhythms of
seasons and nature including the equinoxes, the solstices, and the holidays
falling exactly in between, dividing the year into eight seasons. Others are
held in relation to new and full moons, recognizing the nexus between women’s
cycles and the position of the moon (Christ 28-29).
The ethos that these
symbols and rituals create provides a sense of reality and a plan of action to
live by. Individual choice and society’s reactions and decision making are
heavily emphasized. Carol P. Christ lists nine “touchstones” which can be
consulted when attempting to maintain the ethics held in Goddess worship:
nurture life, walk in love and beauty, trust the knowledge that comes through
the body, speak the truth about conflict, pain, and suffering, take only what
you need, think about the consequences ofyour actions for seven generations,
approach the taking of life with great restraint, practice great generosity, and
repair relations between all people peacefully (167). These “touchstones” are
not commandments, only a
guideline for virtuous and moral living.
Organization and practices often coincide. Since there is no official leader
or hierarchical system, counting members is nearly impossible. Reluctance to
identify with the feminist spirituality movement stems from the negative
associations people make with witchcraft. However, an estimated 50,000 American
believers have been recorded (Corbett 294).
Practitioners often gather in
small groups (between three and twenty people) called covens. Others are
solitaries who practice alone depending on location, personal choice, or other
circumstances. Covens are usually all female, but some are mixed or male only.
Many of the larger organizations have adopted home-study programs, museums,
libraries, and stores for those interested in learning more about the beliefs of
Goddess religion. Others hold conferences and celebrations to join the smaller,
fragmented groups. Some groups strive to emphasize one specific aspect of their
beliefs, such as Dianic Wicca does with feminism (Corbett 294-95). Although the
popularity and acceptance of feminist spirituality seems to be increasing, Wicca
and other groups are still not afforded the same status and recognition as other
religions. Many misconceptions still exist today about the beliefs, practices,
and organizations which are categorized as Goddess religion. The followers of
these traditions do not see themselves as contradicting more mainstream
religious beliefs. They view their spirituality as a refocusing and
reprioritizing of values forgotten by a patriarchical society over thousands of
years.
Works Cited
1. Christ, Carol P. “Why Women Need
the Goddess: Phenomenal, Psychological, and Political Reflections” in
Womanspirit Rising: A Feminist Reader in Religion, ed. Carol. P. Christ and
Judith Plaskow. San Francisco: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1979. pp276-285
2. Christ, Carol P. Rebirth of the Goddess: Finding Meaning in
Feminist Spirituality. New York City: Routledge, 1997.
3. Corbett,
Julia Mitchell. Religion in America-4th edition. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey:
Prentice Hall, 2000.
4. Starhawk (Miriam Stamos). The Spiral Dance:
A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Great Goddess. San Francisco: Harper
& Row, Publishers, 1979.
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