The resurrection of the ancient concept of ‘goddess’ in mass human consciousness is both imminent and necessary. The goddess with her face of a million facets is not a philosophy exclusively for women. These concepts extend beyond simple gender differences and celebrate the actual and symbolic process of aliveness, grace, fertility and connectedness. I feel that environmental and anti globalization movements can be perceived as an unconscious upsurge of interest in goddess philosophy.
The modern western concept of ‘goddess’ in popular culture is a reflection of a Greek patriarchal idealization of the feminine form. In other cultures the iconographic/mythological concept of goddess was/is a lot more multidimensional, encompassing the big questions of life, death. Decay and resurrection.
The goddess in modern western culture is being understood primarily through images and icons and stories, rather than intellectual ideas. Spiritual icons and deities from all cultures and traditions can have remarkable similarities. You do not need to be from the culture of origin to understand them. There is a reason why so many deities, mythical beings and legends are so similar in cultures that are racially and geographically distanced from each other. It is because they tap into the same metaphysical reality. We are all part of the tapestry that constructs the whole web of consciousness. We share so many conceptualizations with the rest of humanity. This is why we perceive archetypes in similar ways. Archetypes are born on the level of the collective soul, but are enacted by individual souls. Archetypes are vital to understand who we are; they are individual expressions of the collective unconscious. Any icon or focus of divine energy can be said to reflect or represent an aspect of the human psyche. Jung talks about the collective unconscious. This is a concept that suggests that there are ideas or archetypes that exist outside the individual mind. These can be tapped into by any individual.
If one has a framework of monotheistic spirituality, it will be difficult to understand the true archetypal nature(s) of the Goddess. We are limited to a small repertoire of icons (in Islam and Judaism there are none). The catholic “Our Lady" although beautiful is one-sided, passive, idealized, virgin mother. She is to patriarchal standards in many respects the perfect woman. Some women struggle to understand their divine selves, because they have no iconic/ spiritual role model. The ultimate spirituality is represented as male in the religions of the book. We are all affected by the ideas and practices of religions, which can be both spiritual and oppressive. Whether or not you are religious, Religion has affected many aspects of our lives.
We are also experiencing in the world a rise of fundamentalist spirituality. This is the diametrical opposition to any thing that will make human kind really happy. Religions of the book seem to all produce adherents that create unhelpful and negative ideas regarding sexuality. How strange when the urge that created us can be so hated, distorted and disconnected from other aspects of our reality. Religions of the book suppress or distort the erotic and hag component of female divinity. This is damaging to the female psyche and to the male anima (inner female). The result is a male centered world where competition is more important than cooperation . The imbalance is manifesting itself in the destruction of the environment. The Goddess is making her presence known to try to correct the imbalance.
In ancient times in Britain statues of males with erect phalli were worshiped with pregnant, voluptuous, dancing, female figures. It was not till the penny dropped concerning the biological truth about childbirth and the rise of agriculture and technology that women became perceived as the inferior sex. This coincides, according to Friedrich Engels (and others), with monogamy and inheritance of wealth. Men needed to know that they were the father so began to exert more personal and social control over women. Perhaps this is how male centered monotheistic religions could become so powerful. Religions like Islam and Christianity seem to portray woman as being represented by the body and man as being symbolized by the mind. Bodily processes (especially a woman's) are regarded with disgust. The woman's body is perceived as something that can be owned by men. In Genesis, God said to women about childbirth that, ‘in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children and thy desire should be to thy husband and he shall rule over thee'. This is in contrast with the former Goddess religions who regarded the process of human creation and procreation with awe and respect. Ironically Jesus has feminine traits and his attitude to Mary Madeline shows his lack of misogyny. Islam’s symbol of the Moon and Friday as a holy day hark to ancient remnants of early goddess religion.
Goddess icons can become keys that if studied can lead us into realizations and awareness that are difficult to describe. As you think so shall you be. In contemporary western society we are not exposed to the Goddess as an integral part of life. In the past images of women pregnant, naked or even exposing genitalia would have been common place. Now they are primarily found in pornography and medical text books. The Anglo Celtic fertility Goddess ‘Sheila-na-gig,’ is a strange little, squatting figure, worshiped before Christianity. She appears to be giving birth to the Universe. Interestingly she was integrated into early British and Irish Christianity. Her image can still be seen in some old churches today.
Christianity inspired the Descartian principles that separated mind and body. It is this mistaken belief in separateness that prevents the worship of the body as a spiritual vehicle. In the final analysis every molecule is imbued with the life force of the Goddess/God. It is ironic that we have put so much of our faith in the mind(male) and put the body (female) as a lesser entity. The body is far more truthful than the mind. The mind for so many of us is our tormenter. The body is without guile and if you listen to it you will be guided by its wisdom.
Men are oppressed by modern society as much as women. In the West, male suicides are rising as are other psychiatric disorders. Having to live a life of repressed emotions is unhealthy and ultimately often results in psychotic behavior expressed on an interpersonal and global level.
Ultimately spirit is androgynous and in the none-dual realm. The universe began when the one split into two to create the three dimensional reality we are in Now. The feminine aspect in men and women has been undervalued only in modern society. The female aspects have been disempowered, leading to psychological problems and global catastrophes and a lack of awareness in recognizing that ‘ I ‘ am also the ‘ other ‘. We are seduced into the belief that spirituality can only exist after death, preventing people experiencing spirit and life NOW!
Dance in its truest form is an expression of this life force. In the East this has been known for thousands of years. In the 'Tao of Physics', Fritjof Kapra shows an ancient Indian picture describing the dance of Shiva. Amazingly the patterns around the figure described exactly the complex pathways and patterns of subatomic particles that have only recently been discovered. We are a culture of disembodied heads, cut off from the wisdom of our most truthful of servants - the body. The mind has become the driver who if we let it, will ride us all the way to hell.
Shekina is the Hebrew soul of God. Cabbalists believed that the loss of Shekina from God is what has brought all the evils to this world .This is why early cabbalists taught that it is essential to put male and female forces back again, as do those who practice a Tantric way. The idea of the unification of opposites as represented by the alchemical blending of the sexes ,is common in the occult or mystic sides of all religions.
There are many ways souls can connect to goddess or god archetypes. For me the body recreating the universal sacred shapes in dance is my prayer and devotion.
Paula-Ishtar Staunton is a psychology teacher, international workshop leader, guest lecturer in universities in the U.K. and USA, and international dance performer. She ws the editor of two music /arts/ culture magazines in Liverpool, Quiggin’s News and Ova and Out, and her work has been featured in Cosmopolitan, Women’s Weekly, and local papers and magazines including Liverpool Echo, Merseymart, Wirral Globe, Daily Post, and Kerrange. You can visit her at www.ishtar.tv.
