BY PEGI EYERS
"Gather the Women" embroidery on mixed media by Pegi Eyers “The women’s movement has evolved because the crisis of the eternal world is calling for the rise of the Goddess to restore the balance of nature. All the evidence indicates that the feminine archtype is returning. This is perhaps the most important event of the last 5000 years, and its consequences may well have an immense, unimaginable effect on cultural and ecological evolution.” Jean Houston
As a devotee of the Goddess, I have found a spiritual path that fills my soul completely and gives me great joy. My reverence for the Divine Feminine is the ongoing inspiration for my creativity, and fires up my experience of the sacred ie. the “Great Mystery”, “Mother-Father God” or “Universe of Infinite Solutions” (I like that one!). In response to those who have been asking “What is Goddess Spirituality?” I hope to share with you the foundation myth and core principles of the most exciting matriarchal spiritual movement in history.
Goddess Spirituality is currently one of the fastest-growing religions, and with its appealing lack of dogma, is intended to be a highly individualized set of beliefs and practices. With roots in contemporary feminism, Goddess Spirituality is closely linked to Neo-Pagan and Wiccan practices, but Goddess worshippers can be Christian or Buddhist or from any other tradition. If you ask 100 people who practice Goddess Spirituality what it is, you will likely get 100 different answers! However, all agree on the primacy of the Divine Feminine energy which manifests in different forms as individual Goddesses all over the world.
Goddess Spirituality is currently one of the fastest-growing religions, and with its appealing lack of dogma, is intended to be a highly individualized set of beliefs and practices. With roots in contemporary feminism, Goddess Spirituality is closely linked to Neo-Pagan and Wiccan practices, but Goddess worshippers can be Christian or Buddhist or from any other tradition. If you ask 100 people who practice Goddess Spirituality what it is, you will likely get 100 different answers! However, all agree on the primacy of the Divine Feminine energy which manifests in different forms as individual Goddesses all over the world.
Goddess Spirituality's Foundational Myth
A surprising and wonderful thing happened over 40 years ago in the early days of the feminist revolution. Drawing on obscure texts, books like “The First Sex” (1971) and “When God Was a Woman” (1976) described ancient matriarchal societies that revered the balance of nature and the power of the Divine Feminine in their Goddesses, priestesses and cultural leaders. These peaceful egalitarian societies were eventually overthrown by violent male-dominated warrior-clans that developed into the monotheistic patriarchies we have today, who control the social order by military rule, organized religion and profit-driven economies. Marija Gimbutas’ “The Civilization of the Goddess” (1991), outlines the archeological record of Old Europe and the history of matriarchal societies, and is considered to be the milestone of feminist scholarly research. This sacred history, or foundation myth, underpins the political and religious tenets of Goddess Spirituality today.
As an alternative to the patriarchal worldview that excluded, alienated and persecuted women for centuries, these new versions of history are incredibly empowering, and women everywhere continue to rediscover and develop the language that speaks to their own experience. New versions of woman-centric mythologies and history have been unearthed, with more coming to light all the time. Building on 40 years of scholarship, there is now a plethora of academic conferences and books being published each year, and Matriarchal Studies is considered an official university curriculum. The interest in the Divine Feminine has also been steadily growing among Jungian psychoanalysts, historians, archaeologists, anthropologists, theologians, community leaders, environmentalists, holistic practitioners, artists, writers, visionaries and cultural creatives everywhere.
As an alternative to the patriarchal worldview that excluded, alienated and persecuted women for centuries, these new versions of history are incredibly empowering, and women everywhere continue to rediscover and develop the language that speaks to their own experience. New versions of woman-centric mythologies and history have been unearthed, with more coming to light all the time. Building on 40 years of scholarship, there is now a plethora of academic conferences and books being published each year, and Matriarchal Studies is considered an official university curriculum. The interest in the Divine Feminine has also been steadily growing among Jungian psychoanalysts, historians, archaeologists, anthropologists, theologians, community leaders, environmentalists, holistic practitioners, artists, writers, visionaries and cultural creatives everywhere.
Contemporary Practice
“The symbolism of the Goddess is not parallel to the symbolism of God the Father. The Goddess does not rule the world. She IS the world. Manifest in each of us, She can be known internally by every individual, in all of her magnificent diversity.” Starhawk
Goddess Spirituality continues to grow as more and more women are being drawn to an alternative view of the Divine. Believing both in the one Goddess and her many manifestations worldwide, practitioners define Her as “The One and the Many”. She is both immanent and transcendent at the same time, and monotheism is avoided by the awareness that all the different Goddesses evoke similar cosmic principles of universal love, fertility and abundance, and the upholding of balance and truth.
By identifying with the Goddess(es) specific to one’s own tradition and life experience, the Divine Feminine becomes an individualized path of exploration, inner knowing, self-care and regeneration. Healing modalities for body/mind/spirit, psychic abilities, oracular work, sacred music and dance, dreamwork, a love of the natural world, recovering indigenous mind, rituals, ceremonies and creative expression can all be aspects of Goddess Spirituality. Whatever form it takes, Goddess worship is very empowering for women! By healing our body/mind/spirit and reclaiming our personal sovereignty, we are the first generation in millennia to recover from the patriarchal damage perpetuated on ourselves and our ancestral motherline.
I will never forget my own electric moment of seeing the ancient matriarchal carvings and Paleolithic goddesses for the first time in Lucy Lippard’s “Overlay”. In the college library that day, the door opened to a NEW version of history - a woman-empowered history – a feminine view of Diety – a model of feminine POWER. THERE SHE WAS - She had been there all along, waiting. The Goddess embraced me and I embraced HER with all of my body, mind and soul!
Goddess Spirituality continues to grow as more and more women are being drawn to an alternative view of the Divine. Believing both in the one Goddess and her many manifestations worldwide, practitioners define Her as “The One and the Many”. She is both immanent and transcendent at the same time, and monotheism is avoided by the awareness that all the different Goddesses evoke similar cosmic principles of universal love, fertility and abundance, and the upholding of balance and truth.
By identifying with the Goddess(es) specific to one’s own tradition and life experience, the Divine Feminine becomes an individualized path of exploration, inner knowing, self-care and regeneration. Healing modalities for body/mind/spirit, psychic abilities, oracular work, sacred music and dance, dreamwork, a love of the natural world, recovering indigenous mind, rituals, ceremonies and creative expression can all be aspects of Goddess Spirituality. Whatever form it takes, Goddess worship is very empowering for women! By healing our body/mind/spirit and reclaiming our personal sovereignty, we are the first generation in millennia to recover from the patriarchal damage perpetuated on ourselves and our ancestral motherline.
I will never forget my own electric moment of seeing the ancient matriarchal carvings and Paleolithic goddesses for the first time in Lucy Lippard’s “Overlay”. In the college library that day, the door opened to a NEW version of history - a woman-empowered history – a feminine view of Diety – a model of feminine POWER. THERE SHE WAS - She had been there all along, waiting. The Goddess embraced me and I embraced HER with all of my body, mind and soul!
Goddess Spirituality as Earth Path
Those on the Goddess Path see themselves as part of the interconnected web of life, and speak of the Earth as the body of the Goddess Herself. Spending time in nature, it has become abundantly clear to me that the Divine Presence emanating from and animating the natural world and indeed, the entire universe, is FEMININE - abundant, fertile, yin, cyclic, ever-renewing, forgiving, and above all, loving and nurturing. All things are born and nurtured by a mother - this love and nurture is the great cosmic principle of all life. It is so obvious, yet our civilization, based on 2000-plus years of patriarchal rule, has tried very hard to conceal this great and beautiful feminine truth. It is time to realign ourselves, men or women, with the Great Mother, to bring the principles of the Divine Feminine back into our lives, to recover what has been lost, and to bring a much-needed balance to the world. For practitioners today, Goddess Spirituality merges spirituality and politics, and makes for a strong involvement in environmental and social justice issues as part of a holistic way of life.
Core Beliefs and Values of Goddess Spirituality
The Goddess movement is not uniform, however, there are common beliefs and values:
1) The basic tenet of Goddess Spirituality is a reverence and respect for all life. This is the basic tenet of all forms of indigenous knowledge.
2) Holding a reverence for the Goddess and an awareness that the Divine Feminine is the ultimate creative power in the Universe.
3) To hold that the Earth is the Sacred Mother of All, the source of all life and joy. To honor Our Blessed Gaia and support the interconnected web of life that sustains us all.
4) To know that the Goddess manifests in diverse forms worldwide, and to focus on the matriarchal values of respect and nurture in self, culture and the natural world.
5) To realize that the animals, plants, elements and humanity are all kindred spirits, and our common destinies are linked together.
6) To emphasize a personal relationship with the Sacred through prayer, intuition or creative ritual, without intermediaries or dogma.
7) To uphold freedom of belief and respect for each individual’s experience of the Sacred.
8) To work for basic human rights and empowerment for women worldwide, and to contribute to the work of freeing all beings and the earth from the dominance of a patriarchal system.
1) The basic tenet of Goddess Spirituality is a reverence and respect for all life. This is the basic tenet of all forms of indigenous knowledge.
2) Holding a reverence for the Goddess and an awareness that the Divine Feminine is the ultimate creative power in the Universe.
3) To hold that the Earth is the Sacred Mother of All, the source of all life and joy. To honor Our Blessed Gaia and support the interconnected web of life that sustains us all.
4) To know that the Goddess manifests in diverse forms worldwide, and to focus on the matriarchal values of respect and nurture in self, culture and the natural world.
5) To realize that the animals, plants, elements and humanity are all kindred spirits, and our common destinies are linked together.
6) To emphasize a personal relationship with the Sacred through prayer, intuition or creative ritual, without intermediaries or dogma.
7) To uphold freedom of belief and respect for each individual’s experience of the Sacred.
8) To work for basic human rights and empowerment for women worldwide, and to contribute to the work of freeing all beings and the earth from the dominance of a patriarchal system.
Embracing and embodying the Goddess and working with the Divine Feminine energies allows women to reclaim their feminine power and realize the sacredness of their own bodies, minds, voices and spirits. The resurgence of the Goddess in our time will give us the wisdom, strength, courage and joy that is deeply needed to revitalize ourselves, our communities and the world.
© Pegi Eyers 2017
© Pegi Eyers 2017
 | Pegi Eyers is the author of "Ancient Spirit Rising: Reclaiming Your Roots & Restoring Earth Community," a new book that explores strategies for intercultural competency, healing our relationships with Turtle Island First Nations, decolonization, recovering an ecocentric worldview, rewilding, creating a sustainable future and reclaiming peaceful co-existence in Earth Community. |
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