"The Goddess" refers to the female divine principle, or a supreme deity worshipped by many people around the world for thousands of years until She was silenced by patriarchal religions. In recent years the Goddess has experienced a resurgence in popularity, by feminists seeking a spiritual dimension to their political causes, by those interested in the ancient earth religions, including Pagans and Wiccans, and by everyday women and men who feel that something is missing in today's prominent organized religions.

The Goddess is difficult to define or sum up in a few paragraphs, but versatility is one of Her most outstanding traits. For some people, She is the feminine side of God. For others, She is the only god. She is not necessarily one person, but a mulitfaceted force of energy which expresses itself in a variety of forms and can go by many different names. She has been called Ishtar, Astarte, Inanna, Lillith, Isis, Maat, Brigid, Cerridwen, Gaia, Demeter, Aphrodite, Venus, Artemis, Athena, Kali, Lakshmi, Quan-Yin, Pele and even Mary, among many others. Many symbols, such as serpents, birds, the moon and the Earth, have been attributed to Her.

The Goddess is the creator of all things AND She is the destroyer. Everything comes from Her and everything returns to Her. She is alive within everything, living and unliving, on Earth and in the heavens. She is not distant and untouchable, like the Judeo-Christian God. She is HERE- with us, in us. She is maiden, mother and crone. She is virgin and whore. She is you, She is me, She is everyone and everything.

The Goddess is great because She can be whatever you want Her to be. But most followers of the Goddess do share a few common beliefs. Starhawk, a modern day witch and author of The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Great Goddess, writes that the three core principles of Goddess religion are immanence, interconnection and community. Immanence means that the Goddess is embodied in the Earth and in us. Nature, culture and life are sacred. We must take action to preserve the Earth and to live with integrity and responsibility. Interconnection means that all beings are interrelated and that we are linked with the cosmos. We should strive towards compassion and justice. With community, growth and transformation come through intimate interactions and common struggles. Basically, though, the law of the Goddess is love- unconditional love. She has no commandments to follow. She does not demand sacrifice.

Misconceptions:

I would not call Goddess religion male-bashing, although I would call it patriarchy bashing, which is not the same thing. Both women and men can be guilty of giving in to patriarchy. Goddess religion is open to people of both sexes, though. More information on how the Goddess appeals to men can be found further down the page.

The last misconception of Goddess religion I will discuss actually comes from feminists. They say that the Goddess is a sexist model because the symbolism associated with her is similar to traditional feminine ideals like motherhood, nuturance and fertility, which have been used to keep women "in their place." They also cite that Goddess symbolism points out differences between men and women in terms of the female body, intuition, menstruation, etc. These criticisms probably come from the school of feminism that believes that women and men should be regarded as equals under all circumstances and any differences between the sexes aren't important. Although Goddess symbolism does include many references to fertility, menstruation and mothering, the whole point is to place these qualities in a positive light. The Goddess shows women that they should not be ashamed of their bodies and their sexuality because it is beautiful, sacred and powerful. In fact, when evidence of past Goddess worship was first discovered, the male scholars of the time simply dismissed it all as "fertility cults." Obviously, this view is quite limiting. Many female deities were known as lawmakers, inventors, healers, huntresses, and brave warrior women. They were highly respected and revered. Other goddesses, such as the Greek Artemis, were regarded as virgin goddesses, not meaning that they were virgins, but that they were never married or tied down to a man. Clearly, the Goddess does not have to conform to sterotypical gender roles. Again, she can be whatever you want Her to be.

Why learn about The Goddess?

Such limiting roles offer few role models for young women trying to find their place in the world. Many girls suffer from low self-esteem and a negative self-image, because to them, what is there to be proud about? They're "just a girl." They're not special or sacred. All the gods, prophets and disciples are male. Patriarchal religions constantly refer to the Divine in male terms, such as "Lord", "Father","He" and "Him." Many churches still refuse to ordain women as priests and ministers.

Carol Christ, author of "Why Women Need the Goddess," part of Woman Spirit Rising: A Feminist Reader is Religion, which she co-editted, agrees. She states, "Religions centered on the worship of a male God create moods and motivations that keep women in a state of psychological dependence on men and male authority, while at the same time legitimating the political and social authority of fathers and sons in the institutions of society,". She also says, "Even people who no longer believe in God or participate in the institutional structure of patriarchal religion still may not be free of the power of the symbolism of God the Father,". Indeed, people who don't practice a set religion but grow up in mainstream society have absorbed ideas that male power is superior and beneficial and female power is inferior and dangerous. Women are not taught to love their bodies, to follow their intuition or to trust themselves.

The Goddess, however, can liberate the minds, bodies and spirits of women. Starhawk sums it up beautifully in The Spiral Dance,"The Importance of the Goddess symbol for women cannot be overstressed. The image of the Goddess inspires women to see ourselves as divine, our bodies as sacred, the changing phases of our lives as holy, our aggression as healthy, our anger as purifying and our power to nurture and create but also to limit and destroy when necessary, as the very force that sustains all life. Through the Goddess, we can discover our strength, enlighten our minds, own our bodies and celebrate our emotions. We can move beyond narrow constricting roles and become whole,".

Where do men fit in?

Males may feel just as out-of-touch with patriarchal religions as women do, and can receive liberation through the Goddess. In the major religions today, males are expected to be the leader of the household, providing discipline, order and financial support, a role some guys aren't comfortable with. Guys also often feel out of touch with their emotions and feel unable to express their feelings well because they have been taught not to. By invoking the Goddess, men can reconnect with this hidden side of themselves. Starhawk says,"The symbol of the Goddess allows men to experience and integrate the feminie side of their nature, the deepest and most sensitive aspect of self. The Goddess does not exclude the male, She contains him, as a pregnant woman contains her male child," (The Spiral Dance.)

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