The Goddess and goddesses
The term “The Goddess” often refers to the concept of a single, supreme female divinity that transcends and encompasses all other goddesses. This idea is often associated with nature, fertility, creativity, and spirituality. The concept of The Goddess has been influential in various forms of feminism, particularly ecofeminism and spiritual feminism. These movements seek to reclaim the feminine aspects of the divine that have been marginalized or suppressed by patriarchal religions.
Some popular writers like Barbara G. Walker argue that the ancient view of the Goddess differs from contemporary male interpretations. Not to be confused with goddesses, Walker says the Goddess was seen by the ancients as a Great Creative Source of All Being.
Nicole Loraux in Duby and Perrot’s A History of Women, Vol. I points out that, with the exception of Sappho, there’s a dearth of women writers in the ancient world, making our view of the ancient understanding of The Goddess come from mostly male accounts.
Walker says that contemporary spirituality would more correctly depict the Deity with female instead of male terms and images.
Along these lines, some feminist writers believe that the idea of the Goddess emerged before and is more authentic than male God imagery. Other feminists look back to cultures where the Goddess or women were apparently dominant (e.g. Samos, Amazonia) to promote alternatives to male-influenced God images.
By contrast, many goddesses are connected to specific aspects of life, such as love, war, wisdom, healing, or death. Many goddesses are also linked to particular regions, landscapes, animals, or seasons. Some goddesses are part of a larger pantheon of gods and goddesses, while others are independent or supreme in their own right.
Marija Gimbutas
The celebrated archeologist Marija Gimbutas (1921-1994) argued that behind all representations of prehistoric goddesses lies a single, Great Goddess.
Gimbutas did identify the diverse and complex Paleolithic and Neolithic female representations she recognized as depicting a single universal Great Goddess, but also as manifesting a range of female deities: snake goddess, bee goddess, bird goddess, mountain goddess, Mistress of the Animals, etc., which were not necessarily ubiquitous throughout Europe.
In a tape entitled “The Age of the Great Goddess,” Gimbutas discusses the various manifestations of the Goddess which occur and stresses the ultimate unity behind them all of the Earth as feminine.¹
Gimbutas also believed that excavations from Neolithic sites in Europe and Lithuania suggest a society where women were dominant, in both the worldly and spiritual sense. Although her views are still debated among scholars, they gave great impetus to aspects of the feminist movement, mostly among women scholars, academics, and intellectuals who shared her point of view.
Jungians and critics of Jung
The Jungian Erich Neumann sees The Goddess as an archetype of the Great Mother. Meanwhile, Naomi Goldenberg rejects Jung’s entire idea of the archetype, especially archetypes pertaining to an “eternal feminine.” Goldenberg says these constructs are overly generalized, unduly metaphysical, and sexist.
In The End of God (1982) Goldenberg suggests the need for depth psychology to develop perspectives about the imaginal (symbolic, inspirational) and literal (physical, social and political) realities of women who find traditional goddess imagery to be an outdated patriarchal legacy.
Apart from the idea of ‘The Goddess’ we also find the minor, small-‘g’ goddess—that is, a female god. Contemporary archaeology points to a tremendous diversity of attributes for a plethora of goddess statues and images discovered around the world. To some, attributing all of these different manifestations to a single “Goddess” seems questionable.
Most scholars – male and female – agree that a good number of goddesses are localized, individual deities that emerged from various prototypes, while other goddesses are indeed more universal.
Perhaps most interesting, some goddesses are vindictive, petty, lustful and cruel, just like many of their male counterparts. Meanwhile, others goddesses and gods alike are nurturing, loving, chaste and compassionate. So the gender issue arguably could take the form of equality being the right for women to be just as kind or cruel as men have always been (but this still doesn’t make being cruel ethically acceptable—for women or for men).
The Goddess is also understood as major small-‘g’ goddesses. These major goddesses are often associated with fertility deities in agrarian societies. Some suggest that small-‘g’ goddesses are prominent in matriarchal rather than patriarchal cultures.
Graham Harvey outlines several different attitudes toward The Goddess.
- The concept refers to a spiritual unity (Goddess) in plurality (goddesses), where the plurality is encountered more often than the unity
- Harvey says some contemporary women advocate traditional notions of “femininity” in contrast to the idea of “empowerment” as found within academic Goddess theology. We see this celebration of the traditional feminine perhaps in the widespread fame of Ursula Andress as the “bikini goddess” who like the Greek Aphrodite, emerges from the sea
- Harvey notes that Cynthia Eller implies that Feminist Goddess discourse dislocates women from ordinary time and traps them in an obsession with a comforting but mythical “Golden Age.”²
- Harvey also mentions Emily Erwin Culpepper, who challenges those who gloss over diversity in favor of some kind of mythical unity:
“[With] any monotheism of ‘The Goddess’…She tends to become ‘The Great Mother’ and sweep diverse realities into one cosmically large stereotype.”³
Religious Studies
From the overall perspective of religious studies, The Goddess and many goddesses are not necessarily mutually exclusive or contradictory concepts. Rather, they represent different ways of understanding and relating to the sacred feminine in various historical and cultural contexts.
As we’ve seen, some scholars argue that The Goddess is a universal archetype that manifests in different forms and names across time and space. Others suggest that The Goddess is a modern construct that reflects the needs and values of contemporary women who seek spiritual empowerment and ecological awareness. Some scholars also explore the similarities and differences between The Goddess and many goddesses in terms of their origins, functions, symbols, rituals, and ethics.
We could end here but that would be insufficient. There’s another important point that probably wouldn’t fly in the secular, politically correct world of academia, and that has to do with the so-called “watering down” of Christianity in contemporary Goddess discourse, specifically within Catholicism and Orthodox Christianity.
One way to illustrate this point is to look at the misappropriation of The Virgin Mary.
The Virgin Mary
Some mythographers say or imply that the Virgin Mary is a goddess not unlike the Egyptian Isis, the Hindu Kali or the East Asian Kwan Yin.
However, Catholic teaching clearly states that Mary is not a goddess but a “mediatrix” (mediator) between God and mankind. While Catholic rosary devotions are directed to Mary, these emphasize her humility and “fullness of Grace.”
Unlike a The Goddess or a goddess, Mary is a saint and cannot bestow boons through her own power. Indeed, Catholicism clearly indicates that all honor, power, and glory belong to God. The Eastern Orthodox church has a similar take on Mary. Any powers of intercession she exhibits come from God, not her.
Put simply, Mary is the greatest saint in Catholic and Orthodox circles but not a goddess or The Goddess as some seem to suggest.
¹ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marija_Gimbutas
² Contemporary Paganism: Listening People Speaking Earth. New York: New York University Press, 2000, p. 82.
³ Cited in Contemporary Paganism, p. 83.
Related » History, Great Mother
Earthpages.org 
While seeking editing suggestions Bing Chat came up with this, based on just two of my paragraphs.
My paragraphs:
Along these lines, some feminist writers believe that the idea of the Goddess emerged before and is more authentic than male God imagery. Other feminists look back to cultures where the Goddess or women were apparently dominant (e.g. Samos, Amazonia) to promote alternatives to male-influenced God images.
By contrast, many goddesses are connected to specific aspects of life, such as love, war, wisdom, healing, or death. Many goddesses are also linked to particular regions, landscapes, animals, or seasons. Some goddesses are part of a larger pantheon of gods and goddesses, while others are independent or supreme in their own right.
Bing’s surprising suggestions:
One possible way to approach the topic of goddesses in different cultures and religions is to examine how they relate to the concept of the divine feminine. The divine feminine is a term that refers to the sacred or spiritual qualities that are associated with femininity, such as creativity, nurturing, compassion, intuition, and wisdom. Some scholars argue that the divine feminine is a universal archetype that transcends cultural and historical boundaries and expresses the essence of womanhood.
Along these lines, some feminist writers believe that the idea of the Goddess emerged before and is more authentic than male God imagery. They claim that the Goddess represents the original and primal source of life, nature, and spirituality and that she was worshipped by ancient peoples in various forms and names. They also suggest that the Goddess was suppressed or replaced by patriarchal religions that imposed a hierarchical and dualistic view of reality, where God is seen as transcendent, masculine, and separate from creation.
Other feminists look back to cultures where the Goddess or women were apparently dominant (e.g. Samos, Amazonia) to promote alternatives to male-influenced God images. They argue that these cultures were more egalitarian, peaceful, and harmonious than those that followed them, and that they offer models for a more balanced and holistic way of living. They also advocate for the revival or reconstruction of goddess traditions that honor the diversity and complexity of female experience and expression.
By contrast, many goddesses are connected to specific aspects of life, such as love, war, wisdom, healing, or death. These goddesses are often seen as manifestations or embodiments of certain forces or energies that shape human existence. They may also reflect the roles and expectations that women have in different societies and contexts. For example, Aphrodite is the goddess of love and beauty in Greek mythology, but she also has aspects of lust, seduction, and jealousy. Athena is the goddess of wisdom and war in Greek mythology, but she also represents strategy, crafts, and justice.
Many goddesses are also linked to particular regions, landscapes, animals, or seasons. These goddesses are usually associated with the natural environment and its cycles and rhythms. They may also symbolize the connection between humans and nature, or the sacredness of life itself. For example, Isis is the goddess of magic and motherhood in Egyptian mythology, but she also rules over the Nile river and its fertility. Demeter is the goddess of agriculture and harvest in Greek mythology, but she also controls the seasons and their changes.
Some goddesses are part of a larger pantheon of gods and goddesses, while others are independent or supreme in their own right. These goddesses may have different relationships with other deities, such as being their consorts, sisters, daughters, mothers, or rivals. They may also have different levels of power and influence over the cosmos and human affairs. For example, Kali is a goddess of destruction and transformation in Hinduism, but she is also one of the forms of Shakti, the supreme feminine energy that animates all existence. Gaia is the goddess of the earth in Greek mythology, but she is also the primordial mother of all living beings.
In conclusion, goddesses are diverse and multifaceted figures that reflect various aspects of femininity and divinity. They can be seen as sources of inspiration, empowerment, challenge, or guidance for those who seek to understand themselves and their place in the world.
—
Another time I tried this, Bing took a deep dive into Feminist theology. And a third time, it focussed more on balancing male and female images of the divine.
Very interesting!
LikeLike