Goddess

Ceres, the Roman goddess of agriculture.

A goddess is a female deity, in contrast with a male deity known as a "god". A great many cultures have goddesses, sometimes alone, but more often as part of a larger pantheon that includes both of the conventional genders and in some cases even hermaphroditic (or gender neutral) deities.

As the concept of monotheism and polytheism is relativistic, so the related concepts of god and goddess can be culturally misunderstood. The concept of gender as applied to a god and goddess, may connote deeper tendencies of patriarchy and matriarchy, which may have equivalence to the rift between monotheism and polytheism. The Goddess concept is advocated by modern matriarchs and pantheists as a female version of, or analogue to God, (i.e., the Abrahamic god) who in feminist and other circles is perceived as being rooted in patriarchal concept of dominance— to the exclusion of feminine concepts.

The feminine-masculine relationship between deifications is sometimes rooted in monism, ("One-ism") rather than through a definitive and rigid concept of monotheism versus polytheism, wherein the Goddess and God are seen as the genders of one transcendental monad.

Ancient Near East

Egypt

The Goddess Isis

*Isis
*Bastet
*Sekhmet
*Hathor
*Nephthys
*Wadjet

Mesopotamia

Lilit

*Ninhursag
*Tiamat
*Ishtar
*Lilith

Arabia

In the religion prevalent in Arabia before Islam, a number of goddesses were worshipped, including the three referred to as daughters of God: Al-Lat, Al-Uzza and Manah, the three chief goddesses of Mecca.

Indo-European religion

Dharmic religions

Hinduism

Hinduism is a complex of various belief systems that sees many gods and goddesses as being representative of and/or emanative from a single source, Brahman, understood either as a formless, infinite, impersonal monad in the Advaita tradition or as a dual God in the form of Lakshmi-Vishnu, Radha-Krishna, Devi-Shiva in Dvaita traditions. Shaktas, worshippers of the Goddess, equate this God with Devi, the mother goddess. Such aspects of One God as male God (Shaktiman) and female energy (Shakti), working as a pair are often envisioned as male gods and their wives or consorts and provide many analogues between passive male ground and dynamic female energy.

For example, Brahma pairs with Sarasvati. Shiva likewise pairs with Uma who later is represented through a number of avatars (incarnations): Parvati and the warrior figures, Durga and Kali. All goddesses in Hinduism are sometimes grouped together as the great goddess, Devi.

A further step was taken by the idea of the Shaktis. Their ideology based mainly on tantras sees Shakti as the principle of energy through which all divinity functions, thus showing the masculine to be dependent on the feminine. Indeed, in the great shakta scripture known as the Devi Mahatmya, all the goddesses are shown to be aspects of one presiding female force, one in truth and many in expression, giving the world and the cosmos the galvanic energy for motion. It is expressed through both philosophical tracts and metaphor that the potentiality of masculine being is given actuation by the feminine divine.

Local deities of different village regions in India were often identified with "mainstream" Hindu deities, a process that has been called "Sanskritization". Others attribute it to the influence of monism or Advaita which discounts polytheist or monotheist categorization.

While the monist forces have led to a fusion between some of the goddesses (108 names are common for many goddesses), centrifugal forces have also resulted in new goddesses and rituals gaining ascendance among the laity in different parts of Hindu world. Thus, the immensely popular goddess Durga was a pre-Vedic goddess who was later fused with Parvati, a process that can be traced through texts such as Kalika Purana (10th century), Durgabhaktitarangini (Vidyapati 15th century), Chandimangal (16th century) etc.

Graeco-Roman religion

*Eleusinian Mysteries: Persephone, Demeter, Baubo
*Potnia Theron
*Cybele
*Artemis

Celtic religion

*Dea Matrona
*Sulis, Verbeia
*Brigid
*Agrona, Mórrígan

Germanic religion

Surviving accounts of indigenous Germanic paganism contain numerous female deities, giantesses and goddesses.
*Freya
*Frigg
*Fulla
*Gná
*Gullveig
*Hel
*Hlín
*Iðunn
*Nanna
*Nerthus
*Norns
*Nótt
*Skaði
*Sol

Abrahamic religions

Monotheist cultures, which recognise only one central deity, generally do characterize that deity as male, implicitly already grammatically by using masculine gender, but also explicitly by terms such as "Father" or "Lord". In all monotheist religions, however, there are mystic undercurrents which emphasize the feminine aspects of the godhead, e.g. the Collyridians in the time of early Christianity, who viewed Mary as a Goddess, the medieval visionary Julian of Norwich, the Judaic Shekinah and the Gnostic Sophia traditions, and some Sufi texts in Islam.

Judaism

Ancient Hebrew, as well as Modern Hebrew have no neuter gender, only masculine and feminine. Although Judaism uses masculine words to describe God, Judaism maintains that God has no gender. A balance was undertaken where God would be referred to in a masculine role, the majority of objects related to worship in Judaism such as the Torah would be referred to in the feminine gender.

Christianity

Belief in a feminine deity under Christianity was usually deemed heretical, and characteristic of heresy, though veneration for Mary, the mother of Jesus has continued since the beginning of the Christian faith.Since the 1980s Christian feminists have challenged this view; some such as Mary Daly no longer consider themselves Christian but others continue to seek room within their traditions for the Divine Feminine and for female spiritual leadership. (See thealogy.)

However, it is also worth noting that, while explicit use of the term "Goddess" is rare in Christianity, the belief that God transcends gender, possessing aspects of both the masculine and feminine, is fairly common. Feminine pronouns have historically been used to refer to the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Christian Trinity. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that God is not male, but that his role in our world makes the term "Father" more appropriate than "Mother", although both terms remain informative.

Also, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints believe in, but do not worship, a Heavenly Mother, the wife and female counterpart and equal of the Heavenly Father.

Islam

Salman Rushdie's 1988 novel The Satanic Verses brought to the limelight the issue of remnants of pre-Islamic female deities in Islam. At the core of Rushdie's argument is the following apocryphal verse:

(tilk-al-gharaniq al-'ula wa inna shafa'ata-hunna la-turtaja - p.340 Viking, New York) meaning "These are the exalted gharaniq [perhaps "cranes"] whose intercession is to be desired." (In Arabic تلك الغرانيق العلى وإن شفاعتهن لترتجى.)

These lines are an antithesis of the strong monotheism that is Islam, and attributing it to the Prophet is blasphemy. The lines however, are part of a historical debate – they appear in the work of two early Arab historians (al-Waqidi, 747–823, and at-Tabari, 839–923), but repudiated by later Islamic scholars. The controversial sentence, known as the Satanic Verses in the debate, was well known to Rushdie who wrote a paper on Muhammad for his Cambridge tripos in history. The story is that these lines were inserted into the Qur'an by Muhammad so as to alleviate the persecution of the faithful by those who believed strongly in these goddesses. However, later these lines were recanted:

He stands in front of the statues of the Three and announces the abrogation of the verses which Shaitan (Satan) whispered in his ear. These verses are banished from the true recitation, al qur'an. New verses are thundered in their place. 'Shall He have daughters and you sons?' Mahound recites. 'That would be a fine division! These are but names you have dreamed of, and your fathers. Allah vests no authority on them.' – p.124

Muhammad Husayn Haykal (author of the Life of Muhammad) comments that "the story arrested the attention of the western Orientalists who took it as true and repeated it ad nauseam." (Haykal 105). According to Haykal, The controversy over what is known as the "Gharaniq incident" is that it is a fabrication created by the unbelievers of Mecca in the early days of Islam. The main argument against the authenticity of the two verses in Haykal's work and elsewhere is that "its incoherence is evident upon the least scrutiny. It contradicts the infallibility of every prophet in conveying the message of His Lord." (Haykal 107). Haykal then concludes that "this story of the goddesses is a fabrication and a forgery, authored by the enemies of Islam after the first century of Hijrah" (Haykal 144). Article at Satanic Verses blog

No early Islamic scholars questioned either al-Waqidi or at-Tabar's work, or described them as "enemies of Muhammad" or of Islam, and their works are otherwise treated as legitimate historical sources.Encyclopedia Brittanica article about al-Waqidi and Encyclopedia Brittanica article about at-Tabari

New religious movements

Discordianism

In Discordianism, Eris or Discordia, is generally venerated as Goddess, as illustrated in the first clause of the Pentabarf:"There is no Goddess but Goddess and She is Your Goddess. There is no Erisian Movement but The Erisian Movement and it is The Erisian Movement. And every Golden Apple Corps is the beloved home of a Golden Worm."She is generally described as a quick-tempered woman who spreads chaos and discord, which are fundamental to life and creativity. However, due to the nature of the religion, this is open to individual interpretation.

Many people liken Eris to a concept or idea, though this may be considered blasphemy by some.

Neopaganism

Certain neopagans (some Germanic neopagans, for example) are interested in maintaining as much historical accuracy as possible in reconstructing various ancient pagan religions directly.

Wicca

In the neopagan religion of Wicca "the Goddess" or "the Lady" is a deity of prime importance, along with her consort the Horned God. In early Wiccan sources she is described as a kind of tribal Goddess of the witch-cult, who seems largely to be modelled on Aradia, the messianic daughter of Diana described in Charles Leland's Aradia. She was held to be neither omnipotent nor universal, and it was recognised that there was a greater "Prime Mover", although the witches did not concern themselves much with this being.

Within many traditions of Wicca the Goddess has come to be considered as a universal deity, more in line with her description in the Charge of the Goddess, a key Wiccan text. In this guise she is the "Queen of Heaven", similar to Isis; she also encompasses and conceives all life, much like Gaia. Much like Isis and certain late Classical conceptions of Selene, she is held to be the summation of all other goddesses, who represent her different names and aspects across the different cultures.

The Goddess is often portrayed with strong lunar symbolism, drawing on Classical deities such as Diana, Hecate and Isis, and is often depicted as the Maiden, Mother and Crone triad popularised by Robert Graves (see Triple Goddess below). Many depictions of her also draw strongly on Celtic goddesses.

Some Wiccans believe there are many goddesses, and in some forms of Wicca, notably Dianic Wicca, the Goddess alone is worshipped, and the God is not acknowledged.

Triple Goddess

The lunar Triple Goddess symbol.

Goddesses or demi-goddesses appear in sets of three in a number of ancient European pagan mythologies; these include the Greek Erinyes (Furies) and Moirae (Fates); the Norse Norns (Fates); Brighid and her two sisters, also called Brighid, from Irish or Keltoi mythology, and so on. One might also see the three witches in Shakespeare's Macbeth as following this pattern. Robert Graves popularised the triad of "Maiden" (or "Virgin"), "Mother" and "Crone", and while this idea did not rest on sound scholarship, his poetic inspiration has gained a tenacious hold. Considerable variation in the precise conceptions of these figures exists, as typically occurs in Neopaganism and indeed in pagan religions in general. Some choose to interpret them as three stages in a woman's life, separated by menarche and menopause. Others find this too biologically based and rigid, and prefer a freer interpretation, with the Maiden as birth (independent, self-centred, seeking), the Mother as giving birth (interrelated, compassionate nurturing, creating), and the Crone as death and renewal (wholistic, remote, unknowable) — and all three erotic and wise.

In dominantly Hellenic derived religions and in subsequent New Age and Wiccan religions, often three of the four phases of the moon (waxing, full, waning) symbolise the three aspects of the Triple Goddess: put together they appear in a single symbol comprising a circle flanked by two mirrored crescents. Some, however, find the triple incomplete, and prefer to add a fourth aspect. This might be a "Dark Goddess" or "Wisewoman", perhaps as suggested by the missing dark of the moon in the symbolism above, or it might be a specifically erotic goddess standing for a phase of life between Maiden (Virgin) and Mother, or a Warrior between Mother and Crone. There is a male counterpart of this in the English poem "The Parlement of the Thre Ages".

The Triple Goddess as Maiden, Mother and Crone has also reached modern popular culture, such as Neil Gaiman's own conception of the Furies in The Sandman, and elsewhere.

Religious feminism

At least since first-wave feminism in the United States, there has been interest in analyzing religion to see if and how doctrines and practices treat women unfairly, as in Elizabeth Cady Stanton's The Woman's Bible. Again in second wave feminism in the U.S., as well as in many European and other countries, religion became the focus of some feminist analysis in Judaism, Christianity, and other religions, and some women turned to ancient Goddess religions as an alternative to Abrahamic religions (Womanspirit Rising 1979; Weaving the Visions 1989). Today both women and men continue to be involved in the Goddess movement (Christ 1997).

While much of the attempt at gender equity in mainstream Judaism and Christianity is aimed at reinterpreting scripture and degenderizing language used to name and describe the divine (Ruether, 1984; Plaskow, 1991), there are a growing number of people who identify as Christians or Jews who are trying to integrate Goddess imagery into their religions (Kien, 2000; Kidd 1996, "Goddess Christians Yahoogroup").

Metaphorical reference

The term "goddess" has also been adapted to poetic and secular use as a complimentary description of a non-mythological woman. For example, Shakespeare had several of his male characters address female characters as goddesses, including Demetrius to Helena (to tease her) in A Midsummer Night's Dream ("O Helen, goddess, nymph, perfect, divine!"), Berowne to Rosaline in Love's Labour's Lost ("A woman I forswore; but I will prove, Thou being a goddess, I forswore not thee"), and Bertram to Diana in All's Well That Ends Well. Pisanio also compares Imogen to a goddess to describe her composure under duress in Cymbeline. More recently, CBS News correspondent Bob Simon described Aishwarya Rai as "a Greek goddess with an Indian spirit" while interviewing her on 60 Minutes. 60 Minutes, January 2, 2005

References

* Christ, Carol P., Rebirth of the Goddess, Addison-Wesley 1997.
* Kidd, Sue Monk, The Dance of the Dissident Daughter, HarperSanFrancisco 1996.
* Jenny Kien, Reinstating the Divine Woman in Judaism, Universal 2000.
* David Kinsley, Hindu Goddesses: Vision of the Divine Feminine in the Hindu Religious Traditions, ISBN 8120803795.
* Plaskow, Judith, Standing Again at Sinai, HarperCollins 1991.
* Ruether, Rosemary Radford, Woman-Church, Harper & Row 1984.
* Womanspirit Rising, ed. Carol P. Christ and Judith Plaskow, Harper & Row 1979.
* Weaving the Visions, ed. Judith Plaskow and Carol P. Christ, Harper & Row 1989.

Goddess: Encyclopedia BETA

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