Goddess Worship (ritual, Creator, blood, creation, experience)

[Lightkeeper]

Early religions worshipped the Goddess, probably because the woman gives life. Do you think this will come to be again? I have noticed a trend toward Goddess worship is some religions. Assuming this would happen, how do you think this would change religion as we know it?

[SaraLee]

Interesting question. It made me wonder if the goddess of past gave any wisdom or if they were just an image or idea that people worshipped. I mean, did any of them give sage wisdom that was written down for us to use today? If not, I doubt it would make much of a difference if people began making a god-dess the center of worship. But I'd like to know if any of those female gods had any good advice that can help us live a good life in our daily life.
SaraLee

[huajiro]

Originally Posted by Lightkeeper

Early religions worshipped the Goddess, probably because the woman gives life. Do you think this will come to be again? I have noticed a trend toward Goddess worship is some religions. Assuming this would happen, how do you think this would change religion as we know it?

I would have no problem worshipping a Goddess, as far as I am concerned, the planet is covered with them . A woman gives life, but so does a man. Anytime I see a statement like that, I feel the need to respond at how important the Father is in a child's creation and development.

[linwood]

Originally Posted by Lightkeeper

Early religions worshipped the Goddess, probably because the woman gives life. Do you think this will come to be again? I have noticed a trend toward Goddess worship is some religions. Assuming this would happen, how do you think this would change religion as we know it?

I think it would make great inroads towards equality and tolerence.

The few small cultures that worship within a matriarchal society today have entirely different views on family and are as gender equal as is possible.

I don`t think it`ll happen on a large scale but even a small influx of a matriarchal religion into our western culture would be a great thing.

[Lightkeeper]

Originally Posted by SaraLee

Interesting question. It made me wonder if the goddess of past gave any wisdom or if they were just an image or idea that people worshipped. I mean, did any of them give sage wisdom that was written down for us to use today? If not, I doubt it would make much of a difference if people began making a god-dess the center of worship. But I'd like to know if any of those female gods had any good advice that can help us live a good life in our daily life.
SaraLee

Your question is difficult to answer about very early man and his religion, since all we have is cave paintings and artifacts. Here is a website that says "wisdom is always female."
http://www.amaranthine.freeserve.co...._of_wisdom.htm

[Master Vigil]

Even lao tzu was a feminist. He said to know the masculine, but embrace the feminine. But I am not sure if I enjoy worshipping a god, or goddess with gender. The divine cannot have gender. It is completely illogical. So I do not believe that god is he, or she. I believe god is "it." Would it change our culture? Sure it would. But again, who knows?

[linwood]

Here are some examples of a Culture influenced by a "Goddess" centered religion.

Some quotes...

In such societies sexuality and creativity are freely expressed by both women and men without the confines of mandatory monogamy, and the institution of "fatherhood" does not exist.

Property belongs to the family and the mother is in control; children belong to the maternal family and never have to leave home. The mother's brother helps to raise her children, as do all members of each extended family. Pregnancy belongs to women -- it is "forbidden" for men to get involved from pregnancy to the birth of a child. Professor Du raised provocative questions, such as, "Why do you have to love only one person in your life?" and, "Why do you have to get married and turn a pair of lovers into enemies?"

...the word for woman in the Kabyle language is the same as the word for language, and that "the spoken word is the carrier of culture." Calling what women do "ritualized work," she described the social organization around cycles of the moon and the female blood mysteries (menarche, birth). Like the Mosuo people, men are forbidden to be at the birth ritual, which is geared to help a woman "discover that she is a creator," a "religious experience!" She mentioned that Kabyle women coming to the U.S. and seeing our birthing practices are completely shocked and furious, and also that there is no such thing as a "single mother" for Kabyle people because "the child is part of the village."
http://www.universitadelledonne.it/noble.htm

Other examples of matriarchal societies..
http://www.museum.upenn.edu/new/rese...research.shtml

They love without monogamy and the family stability is founded completely alien to our way...but seem to have a different concept of love.

The society is woman centered to the point that instead of a man and woman joining together to raise a family the offspring of any relationship are raised by the womans family unit whether the man is a part of that or not.

Which makes the geneology of thier family trees truly female centered since instead of a woman taking a mans name in marraige and therefore passing that name down through the ages the family "name" is passed down through the matriarchal(female) side through the ages.

[painted wolf]

While I don't know about goddess worship, women have always had an important role in Native American spirituality.
Many Native American nations were matriarchal, but still held the genders to be equil. Property was the womans save for the man's personal posessions. (his weapons, cloths and sacrid objects) In some nations the woman could choose to 'divorce' her husband and take a new one should the old one be abusive or incapable of caring for her and her children. Women often served in leadership positions, (often, equil to but seperate from the male leader) a fact that was ingnored or misinterpreted by Eurpoean settlers. Infact in order to be reccognized as a soverin 'friendly' nation (and thus keep thier indipendance) by the fledgling USA the Cherokee had to eleminate this role for women in their constitution. Eventually the USA broke this treaty wich resulted in the trail of tears and in the 1980's a woman did rise to power as the leader of the Cherokee nation. Her name is Wilma Mankiller.

wa:do

[huajiro]

Originally Posted by painted wolf

While I don't know about goddess worship, women have always had an important role in Native American spirituality.
Many Native American nations were matriarchal, but still held the genders to be equil. Property was the womans save for the man's personal posessions. (his weapons, cloths and sacrid objects) In some nations the woman could choose to 'divorce' her husband and take a new one should the old one be abusive or incapable of caring for her and her children. Women often served in leadership positions, (often, equil to but seperate from the male leader) a fact that was ingnored or misinterpreted by Eurpoean settlers. Infact in order to be reccognized as a soverin 'friendly' nation (and thus keep thier indipendance) by the fledgling USA the Cherokee had to eleminate this role for women in their constitution. Eventually the USA broke this treaty wich resulted in the trail of tears and in the 1980's a woman did rise to power as the leader of the Cherokee nation. Her name is Wilma Mankiller.

wa:do

I am more and more interested in your religion when I see your posts. Could you tell me where to get more information about it?

[SoulTYPE]

Is it the Native Americans that say "He who Speaks loudest, says nothing" ?

That's a great quote.