A Brief History to the History of the Goddess Adapted from the writing of Miranda Shaw, Ph.D. Visit MirandaShaw.com
PALEOLITHIC The earliest religious expression, or faith, of humankind, going back at least 28,000 years, is the reverence for femaleness.
90% of the ancient religious symbols are female.
Especially the down-turned triangle, the womb/pudendum, or the source of life often with life emerging from it such as a sun, fish, plant, alligator, or human figure.
Female figures: who are they, or who is she?
Characteristics of the Goddess Pregnant belly, heavy breasts, well-delineated pudendum, all associated with birthing and succor but no face! she is the mother of all life; not human, but universal we wonder: How abstract was their religious understanding? Is this simply a biological mother, the source and substance of creation, or something beyond this as well?
Our clue is the presence of a horn/moon (generally held in her hand), and thirteen markings (the lunar cycle) – showing she is associated with the passage of time, the heavens, the cosmic rhythms...she is the overarching cosmic being.
NEOLITHIC Moving into the proto-historical period, in around 7000 B.C., but later in some regions, the nature of the sacred female becomes more well articulated:
* She has a face, with features of different animals * She is associated with birds – may have wings, a beak, feather markings, egg motifs on her body or in womb, birds around her.
Possible meaning: Birds attributed with wisdom, perhaps because of their ability to soar high above the earth, to travel vast distances, to encompass heaven and earth in their vision.
* She is associated with snakes - she may hold snakes, be adorned with snakes, have a snake in her crown, or her body may be a coiled snake. Possible meanings: Snakes have a natural spiral shape and the capacity to renew and regenerate themselves, undergoing continuous rebirth, just as the goddess constantly regenerates life. Also, snakes move freely through the body of the goddess air, trees, water, and of course into the earth, where they gain special knowledge, by communing with the goddess. So the snake was attributed with knowledge and magical powers brought back from the depths of the earth and, we might say, from the heart of the goddess.
* She is associated with stars – celestial phenomena – the moon – found on her body or clothing, under her feet or on her crown, or held in her hands. We see a recurrence of thirteen. Again, her association with the heavens and cosmic cycles. Our word “galaxy” comes from “lactos”—the stars are her mother’s milk.
* She is associated with water – seen flowing in or from her womb. Rivers, oceans, and ponds are her womb water, brimming with new life
* She is a mistress of the animals - shown with features of, or accompanied by, or holding and even suckling different animals, both domesticated and wild – wolves, panthers, mountain goats, sheep, bulls, bears, frogs, fish, dolphins (the list goes on) – Clearly an expression that she is the mother of all life.
* She is associated with plant life – plants are shown springing from or entwined with her body – often the staple plants of the group producing the image, such as grain, or grapes, or fruiting vines, or plants that flourish when rainfall is plentiful, such as lilies or lotuses, showing the abundance of life that flourishes under her care.
* Worship in womblike spaces – caves or built structures in circular formations, with dark, earthy interiors – the idea that the womb is the most sacred space and hence the ideal place for communion with the divine
* Burial in womblike spaces – caves or circular earthen or rock formations, the deceased in a fetal curl, covered with red powder symbolizing womb blood, perhaps expressing an idea of rebirth in the body of the great mother
BRONZE AGE about 3000-1500 B.C. During the Bronze Age, we find the first temples, the first writing, and the earliest religious hymns, all devoted to goddesses The temples of this period were presided over by priestesses, as “mothers of the people,” who played a leading role in their culture because the temples were centers of every aspect of civic life:
* The economy – temples were the economic centers - crops, herds, and vineyards were owned by the temple and used for the common welfare. Products such as oil, wine, grain, and other foodstuffs were stored in temple storerooms and distributed to the people throughout the year. (We find very detailed temple records to this effect.)
* Healing and medicine – priestesses played a healing role, both in their knowledge and use of medicinal substances and in the realm of ritual and spiritual healing
* Legal – temples were places of counsel and adjudication ... conflict mediation and resolution ... so they were the center of legal life, the courts, as it were. Even today, we see images of the Greek goddess, Justice, in many courthouses.
* Artistic production – There were rooms in temples for weaving, pottery, and other arts.
* Religious – of course, the temples were centers of religious life, with rooms for worship and ritual. Rituals were timed to the lunar calendar, the menstrual cycle of the goddess. Our word “ritual” comes from (the Indo-European) “ritu,” which means “menstruation,” because rituals were timed to the menstrual cycle of the goddess...the new and full moons and the solstices and equinoxes.
Our word “sabbath” comes from (the Hebrew) “sabbatu,” which also means menstruation and carries its meaning of a periodic, sacred event.
Priestesses presided over every aspect of life in their societies as the earthly representatives of the goddess. Men also played ritual roles, as servants of the goddess, but the women were her embodiments and the direct channels of her wisdom, guidance, and maternal care for the people.
Some of the great goddesses of this period were Isis, Hathor, and Inanna, who were the supreme deities of their cultures for thousands of years. So we are not talking about minor figures. We are talking about a time when people envisioned God as female. The Goddess was not simply the mother of life in a physical sense but a cosmic figure, the source of the moral order of law, agriculture, cultural life. The Goddess was the throne to sit on the throne was to sit on her lap, supported by her. We also see a pattern of male rulers during this period. Although a man might sit on the throne, he was chosen, guided, and succored by the goddess and served at the approval of the priestesses.
The goddess was “the mother of the city.” Many cities of the Bronze Age world were named after their presiding goddess. We see this in the case of Athens, named after Athena, and this pattern continued into later Europe, which is named after the goddess Europa, and many cities had the Virgin Mary as their divine protector and patron. The Goddess was a figure of great majesty, but she was also the source of dance and song and loved celebration and feasting. So a great deal of the religious worship was celebratory in nature celebrating the beauty, abundance, and joy of life.
During the GREEK CITY-STATE PERIOD, different aspects of the goddess became individual goddesses. Athena – wisdom; Hera – motherhood, Demeter – giver of grain, etc. It is really fascinating to look at the Greek goddesses in this light.
MOVING FORWARD: we have the Virgin Mary as the great goddess of the Christian world, and there is a fascinating history there of the different aspects, roles, and symbols of the earlier goddesses that she inherited.
