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On "God" being a male term

Aštra’el

Aštara, Blade of Aštoreth
It is universal that sky and sun are seen as the more powerful or or higher elements while Earth and moon are the lesser elements, which is precisely why earth are moon were demoted to the feminine while Sun and sky were promoted to Sun and Sky.

Some possible Sumerian and Babylonian perspectives on this subject...


An is heaven and is male
Ki is earth and is female

Anu is the sky god/ Heavenly Father/ ruler of Heaven, etc... and is male

Nanna/ Sin is the moon god and is male
Shamash/ Utu is the sun god and is male

(There are also many other prominent Sumerian and Babylonian gods... such as Enlil, Enki, Ishtar, Ereshkigal, Nergal, etc... but let us remain on subject)



Absu was the freshwater primordial waters, and was male

Tiamat was the primordial waters and the ultimate embodiment of primeval chaos. Within Tiamat was the entire cosmos. Her archetype was also about Creation. From Tiamat, all other gods were born, and she only turned on them when Enki (god of wisdom and sorcery) rose up against and defeated her mate Abzu. Tiamat was arguably the most powerful deity in the Babylonian pantheon... and was female.

Marduk's attributes (at least, in the Enuma Elis) appear to reflect an archetype of Order over Chaos, Creation and Destruction. In the Babylonian Creation epic (the Enuma Elis) Marduk only defeated Tiamat by absorbing power from many of the greatest Mesopotamian gods...



 
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GoodbyeDave

Well-Known Member
For a feminine Sun and a masculine Moon, you don't have to go far. That's the way Heathenry does it, hence the Man in the Moon and their gender in German die Sonne and der Mond.
 

Unveiled Artist

Veteran Member
i noticed when talking about Filianism/Deanism when using the term "God" people will get very flustered and confused. One of the most said phrases is "Why do they use a male term for a female God"?
If you look up the word "God" it says : "The creator and ruler of the universe and source of all moral authority; the supreme being." Which is basically what God is. There is no mention anywhere of it saying "A MALE creator of the universe" etc. Another point i want to make is though we do see God as being a purely feminine spirit, she is just that- a spirit. meaning she is not Female, as she has no genitalia. Blessings

I think the god being male is political rather than purely cultural. Men still have an authority in Western society and everything is seen through male authority one way or another. If god was gender neutral, it would be hard to influence people to believe in god but because god is set to be male, his authority would be mouthed by men on earth.

If I anthropomorphize god, she would be female because only female gives life. I don't understand how god can be supreme nor do I understand how being an entity or spirit is different than our being a spirit. Who was he a spirit of? Is he just floating in the air? So, I don't know how the word he came to be unlike ancestral spirits who are male and female.
 

Liu

Well-Known Member
Actually the word god was of neuter gender in Germanic times and even in Old Norse still; it probably was Christian influence due to which it became a masculine noun.
But luckily we also have the word deity, which I'd consider as gender neutral as language gets. Considering my deity to be beyond the duality of gender I dislike calling it a god when using English, and also in German I'd rather say "Gottheit" (deity, but a feminine noun), instead of Gott or Göttin, if it didn't feel that clumsy to use.
 

VioletVortex

Well-Known Member
"Ess" is a common suffix for a feminine version of a title. Female gods are commonly referred to as "goddesses" to distinguish them from their male counterparts.
 

Furball

Member
The way I learned it, in the earliest days the deity(s) worshipped was/were female(s). They were referred to as sky mothers. Males were in subject to these female deities and didn't like it, so eventually as man wrote their own scriptures, god became man/masculine while the female god(s) were thrown out. Myself, I prefer to think of god as feminine. Women give birth to life/creation as the female god gives birth to life/creation. It only makes sense that god is of feminine quality.
 

Callisto

Hellenismos, BTW
The definition for "Goddess" is :
"A female deity in polytheistic religions"

Yes, a lot of wiccans do use the word "Goddess" because Many of them are polytheistic/duo theistic and believe "God" is male and "Goddess" is his second or female version of God. I also think its good to note that wicca revolves around the patriarchal greeks and romans. In a pure Non-patriarchal and monotheistic religion She is to be referred to as God- the creator and sustainer of the universe. She is also not "Female" in any sense of the term.

This is not correct. Firstly, there are significant differences between actual (aka "traditional") Wicca and the eclectic neopagan witchcraft that borrows from it (aka "solitary" or "eclectic"). That said, the gods of Wicca are not named publicly by initiates so substitute terms are used publicly such as "The Goddess & God" or "Lady and Lord" as well as some others. The gods of Wicca are also specific deities, not a random mix-n-match from various pantheons.

Also, the Wiccan Goddess isn't secondary or a consort. Ever.

Nor is Wicca patriarchal but arguably matrifocal and initiation is cross-gender.
 

Spiderman

Veteran Member
I notice I get most grace when I pray to murdered girls. I keep pictures of them with candles in my room and make shrines to them in the woods. They have become nothing short of Godesses to me. I also love the Rosary and the female Saints. Spirituality aint nothin without women!!!
 

Callisto

Hellenismos, BTW
Hah... I doubt if anyone in this DIR believes that Abrahamic religions own the word "god" (proper case or otherwise). That said, I also think most of us recognize that we're going to have to constantly explain ourselves in an Abrahamic overculture whether we want to or not. This happens not just for words like "god," but a ton of other words too. I don't see that changing within my lifetime. :sweat:
The word is gender neutral in origin, basically meaning "that which is invoked". But as mentioned in other posts, we live in a culture that is dominated by a particular strain of religion which influences use and perception.
 

Callisto

Hellenismos, BTW
Actually, no. Wicca started as an attempt at Celtic reconstructionism. Some Wiccans incorperate other pantheons into their practice now but classical Gardnerian Wicca has nothing to do with the Greeks or Romans.

Wicca did not start as an attempt at Celtic reconstructionism, it's British. It's a form of witchcraft that originated in a specific part of England. While there may be use of some Celtic words, such as the name of sabbats, it's British.
 

Nietzsche

The Last Prussian
Premium Member
Wicca did not start as an attempt at Celtic reconstructionism, it's British. It's a form of witchcraft that originated in a specific part of England. While there may be use of some Celtic words, such as the name of sabbats, it's British.
Do you know where we get the word "British"? It's a Latinized descendant of a Celtic word for the main British island. As for Wicca being an attempt at Celtic Reconstruction, that was the stated goal of Gerald Gardner. Period.
 

Callisto

Hellenismos, BTW
Do you know where we get the word "British"? It's a Latinized descendant of a Celtic word for the main British island. As for Wicca being an attempt at Celtic Reconstruction, that was the stated goal of Gerald Gardner. Period.
Source?
 

The Emperor of Mankind

Currently the galaxy's spookiest paraplegic
Do you know where we get the word "British"? It's a Latinized descendant of a Celtic word for the main British island. As for Wicca being an attempt at Celtic Reconstruction, that was the stated goal of Gerald Gardner. Period.

I thought it was a Latinized descendant of the Greek word for these isles: Pretani.
 

EverChanging

Well-Known Member
The term "God" is not etmologically male. I use it as a gender neutral term in my prayers along with masculine, feminine, and gender-queer language.
 
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