The Goddess, Introduction and History
Introduction
In Neo-pagan Witchcraft the Goddess is the very essence or central figure of
the Craft and worship. She is the Great Mother, representing the fertility
which brings forth all life; as Mother Nature she is the living biosphere of
both the planets and the forces of the elements; she has roles of both
creator and destroyer; she is the Queen of Heaven; and she is the moon. She
possesses magical powers and is emotion, intuition and psychic faculty.
The Divine Force within the Goddess is believed to be genderless, but within
the universe it is manifested as male and female principles. Often within
the worship of the Divine Force the Goddess, or the female principle, is
emphasized to the exclusion of The Horned God, or the male principle. But,
theoretically both are recognized.
The Goddess has many facets, names and aspects. Although in witchcraft and
Neo-paganism she is mainly worshiped in her aspects of the triple Goddess:
Virgin, Mother and Crone.
History
Goddess worship dates back to Paleolithic times. Many anthropologists
speculate the first "God " or gods of the peoples were feminine. This
coincides with ancient creation myths and beliefs that creation was achieved
through self-fertilization. Within the concept of creation the participation
of the male principle was not known or recognized yet. The Goddess was
believed to have created the universe by herself alone.
From this belief came the agricultural religions. It was thought that the
gods only prospered by the beneficence and wisdom which the Goddess showered
on them. Evidence appears to indicate most ancient tribes and cultures were
matriarchal.
Although this maybe true, there seems to be little evidence that the
feminine portions of these societies held themselves superior over their
male counterparts. Generally Goddess worship had been balanced by the
honoring of both the male and female Deities. This is illustrated by the
belief in and the observance of the sacred marriage of the Sky God and Earth
Mother in many global societies.
Among the first human images discovered are the "Venus figures," nude female
figures having exaggerated sexual parts that date back to the Cro-Magnons of
the Upper Paleolithic period between 35,000 and 10,000 BC.
In southern France is the Venus of Laussel which is carved in basrelief in a
rock shelter. This appears once to have been a hunting shrine which dates to
around 19,000 BC. In this carving the woman is painted red, perhaps to
suggest blood, and holds a bison horn in one hand.
Also in Cro-Magnon cave paintings women are depicted giving birth. "A naked
Goddess appears to have been the patroness of the hunt to mammoth hunters in
the Pyrenees and was also protectress of the hearth and lady of the wild
things."
Other female figurines were discovered dating back to the proto-Neolithic
period of ca, 9000 - 7000 BC, the Middle Neolithic period of ca. 6000 - 5000
BC, and the Higher Neolithic period of ca. 4500 - 3500 BC. Some of these
figurines were decorated as if they had been objects of worship. In black
Africa were discovered cave images of the Horned Goddess (later Isis, ca.
7000 - 6000 BC). The Black Goddess images appeared to represent a bisexual,
self-fertilizing woman.
During the predynastic Egyptian period, prior to 3110 BC, the Goddess was
known as Ta-Urt (Great One) and was portrayed as a pregnant hippopotamus
stand on her hind legs.
The Halaf culture around the Tigris River, ca. 5000 - 4000 BC, had Goddess
figurines associated with the cow, serpent, humped ox, sheep, goat, pig,
bull, dove and double ax. These things were known to the people and became
symbols representing the Goddess.
In the Sumerian civilization, ca. 4000 BC, the princesses or queens of
cities were associated with the Goddess. A king was associated with God.
Throughout the eons of history the Goddess assumed many aspects. She was
seen as the creatress, virgin, mother, destroyer, warrior, huntress,
homemaker, wife, artist, jurist, healer and sorcerer. Her roles or abilities
increased with the advancement of the cultures which worshipped her.
She could represent a queen with a consort, or lover. She might bear a son
who died young or was sacrificed only to rise again representing the annual
birth-death-rebirth cycle of the seasons.
Throughout the centuries the Goddess has acquired a thousand names and a
thousand faces but most always she has represented nature, she is associated
with both the sun and moon, the earth and the shy. The Goddess religion,
usually in all forms, is a nature religion. Those worshipping the Goddess
worship or care for nature too.
It might be acknowledged that author Barbara G. Walker made two comments
concerning the thousand names of the Goddess. The first is that "Every
female divinity in the present Encyclopedia (Source: 56) may be correctly
regarded as only another aspect of the core concept of a female Supreme
Being." The author's other comment is, "If such a system had been applied to
the usual concept of God, (giving him the different names and titles which
people throughout the centuries have attributed to him), there would now be
a multitude of separate 'gods' with names like Almighty, Yahweh, Lord, Holy
Ghost, Sun of Righteousness, Christ, Creator, Lawgiver, Jehovah, Providence,
Allah, Savior, Redeemer, Paraclete, Heavenly Father, and so on, ad
infinitum, each one assigned to a particular function in the world
pantheon."
Both comments may be considered correct when it is recognized that humankind
is only able to speak of God, the Supreme Being and the gods in
anthropomorphic terms. As it has been noted elsewhere, the human mind is
unable to comprehend any godhead without the aid of anthropomorphism. But,
many people such as Simon Magus have gotten themselves in serious trouble
when calling God by another name. The early Church Father Hippolytus
condemned Simon for referring to God as the Infinite Force.
The beginning of the Hebrew religion with its God Yahweh is said to have
marked the end of the Goddess' Golden Age. Approximately this was between
1800 - 1500 BC when the prophet Abraham lived in Canaan.
The Christian Church, and especially the Roman Catholic Church, has fought
hard to suppress or root out all Goddess worship. The Goddess along with all
pagan deities were labeled as evil. But, little proof has been offered for
this. One notable example is The Canon Episcopi.
Even though the Church attempted to completely abolish Goddess worship it
never successfully did so. Remnants of it remained within the hearts of the
people. An example of such devotion is seen within the actions of the people
during the Church Council of Ephesus (432 AD). Until Christianized Ephesus
had been a sacred city where the Divine Mother was worshiped by "all Asia
and the world" (Acts 19:27). Also in this city of Ephesus, as elsewhere, she
was called Mother of Animals. "Her most famous Ephesus image had a torso
covered with breasts, showing her ability to nurture the whole world."
During this council of bishops people rioted in the streets demanding the
worshipping of the Goddess be restored. The prime candidate was Mary, the
Virgin and Mother of Christ. The bishops conceded so far in allowing Mary to
be called the Mother of God, but the forbade her to be called Mother Goddess
or Goddess.
To the very present many, both Catholics and especially Protestants, wonder
why Catholics have a great devotion toward the Virgin Mary. Few know the
occurrences at Ephesus, and that this devotion is probably the long
surviving remnant of their early ancestors' devotion to the Goddess.
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