How Did You Enter the World of Goddess?

Did that entry point for Goddess determine what you learned or didn't learn about Her?

In the early days before my understanding of sacred feminine liberation thealogy was developed I was startled by a respected friend announcing she was leaving what we loosely called Goddess Spirituality because it lacked substance. Besides the Wiccan Rede, she felt what we were learning about Goddess Spirituality didn’t delve enough into ethics, morality and social justice. Learning about individual pantheons, the Threefold Law or the Wheel of the Year was not really providing us adequate guidance as a template for living. Her decision stuck with me because I believed she had a point and I kept mulling it over for some time. Yes, there was so much to learn - tarot, doing ritual, herstory, astrology, women’s blood mysteries, herbology, study of various traditions, sacred sites, which goddess called us, etc. But what about making the ancient teachings relevant to help counter our contemporary patriarchal world? What did Goddess Spirituality offer to help humanity ascend and evolve? I set out on a quest to answer that question.

Did you learn about Her Sacred Trident?

Few people in the West realize all the people around the world who still have a goddess in their spiritual universe. India has never forgotten their goddesses though most female deities have been reduced to shadows of their former glory as they are spousified or domesticated. Mexico has Guadalupe. The Shinto in Japan has Amaterasu, the Sun Goddess, who is displayed in plain sight on their national flag. Polynesians have Pele whose volcanoes erupt demanding our attention. Brigit is a goddess and a saint in Ireland. Mary, mother of Jesus and Mary Magdalene have taken on Goddess status in recent years. Kwan Yin is huge in Asia where people also have the Rice Goddesses who provide all they need to sustain themselves. Our indigenous neighbors have never forgotten White Buffalo Woman and Spider Grandmother who created the universe.

We know societies that revered Goddess were often egalitarian in nature, where women could own businesses, run countries, divorce their husbands and choose their role in life. And sociologists tell us women often fared better in countries that retained a feminine face of god. Still, in the West, the majority of people only know the big three Abrahamic religions of Christianity, Islam, Judaism - patriarchal religions that have led to male leadership in all phases of life, leaving women second class citizens, where to too many women’s roles are determined by their biology. Goddesses aren’t thought about much beyond elementary school where Hera is marginalized to a jealous wife chasing after her philandering husband and Aphrodite is little more than a symbol for romance, love and sex. It’s forgotten, if ever known, Demeter and Persephone were revered for over 2000 years in the Eleusinian Mystery religion. Pretty significant when you consider the age of the United States is nearing only 250 years young. Pagan cultures brought us democracy, helped civilize the world, brought us engineering, architecture, medicine and science. Then a new era dawned – the Dark Ages of Christianity, and that knowledge was rejected – not unlike many rejecting science for ideology or self-serving beliefs today.

What also jumped out on this quest was those who discover Goddess do so in so many varied ways. People may discover Goddess through their family heritage, Red Tents, Wicca, art history, as they deconstruct or rebel against the religion they grew up with, by way of spiritual psychology, feminism, mythology or history. That entry point may determine what they learn about Goddess. Pro and con, with no one holy book like a bible, Wiccans, Pagans and Goddess Advocates may very well have different way showers, elders and foremothers who determine what they learn about Goddess Spirituality.

I realized the Goddess-curious or practitioner might not ever become aware of spiritual psychology, liberation thealogy, patriarchal conditioning, women’s blood mysteries, comparative religions, the four phases of a woman’s life, embodiment or energetics. Likewise, for some there was a fork in the road as some practitioners never recognized or took that path of activism and social justice that some find crucial as a goddess advocate. (Could that be because of the firewall between Church and State? That has not stopped Christians from learning who to support from their church’s pulpit, leading to Christian Nationalists making policy in the White House.)

As my own books reflect, my growth as a Priestess became more than making ancient rituals relevant for contemporary devotees. The spirituality was also about freedom and liberation, as Christianity was in the early days when it attracted the poor, women and slaves. Sacred Feminine liberation thealogy is at the crossroads of politics, social justice, spirituality and personal transformation. Getting beyond the basics, Goddess Spirituality is the new liberation thealogy of our time. Goddess sets us free from domination and patriarchal oppression! 

Now with certainty I could counter my friends’ faulty conclusion Goddess Spirituality lacked substance. The Sacred Trident of the Divine Feminine, as deity, archetype and ideal, does in fact teach us quite a lot about how to live a peaceful, joyous, empowered and sustainable life when one knows where to look – and you can find out more with my new book, Divine Feminine: Deity, Archetype and Ideal, now available to pre-order.  If you care to be well-rounded when it comes to Goddess, check it out!  And while you’re at it, buy your best friend a copy, too! Why not start a book club!