The Best Gods are Female

[epronovost]

No...there was also the Goddess Mother, who was anything but virgin.
The Goddess Mother was the most worshiped...it was identified with Hera, Zeus' wife or Cybele, a goddess from Phrygia. Or Demeter...the goddess of cereals.
They were all sexually active ...

Except as mentionned before Hera is also a virgin Goddess since she recovers her virginity by bathing every year in a sacred pond. This is also the source of her power. Note that Hera is also the butt of the joke in Olympus, due to the constant ridicule brought upon her by Zeus's infidelities hence her terrible vengeful streak.

Note that mother goddesses are also all subordinate to a masculine deity. In the case of Hera and Demeter Zeus whome had Demeter as a prior consort and Hera as his wife. Demeter herself is basically the concept of female fertility given a more symbolic form and extanded to fertility in general in nature, thus closely associated to harvest, cereal and agriculture a dominion that she also partially shared with Apollo when it comes to cereals. Mother goddesses aren't rulling queens, they are you perfect stereotypical nurturing mothers often with a moody and overprotective streak. Though they are indeed a common exception to the idea of goddesses as an erotised ideal to pursue. They are more a representation of motherhood in all its vice and virtues.

 

[Estro Felino]

Except as mentionned before Hera is also a virgin Goddess since she recovers her virginity by bathing every year in a sacred pond. This is also the source of her power. Note that Hera is also the butt of the joke in Olympus, due to the constant ridicule brought upon her by Zeus's infidelities hence her terrible vengeful streak.

Note that mother goddesses are also all subordinate to a masculine deity. In the case of Hera and Demeter Zeus whome had Demeter as a prior consort and Hera as his wife. Demeter herself is basically the concept of female fertility given a more symbolic form and extanded to fertility in general in nature, thus closely associated to harvest, cereal and agriculture a dominion that she also partially shared with Apollo when it comes to cereals. Mother goddesses aren't rulling queens, they are you perfect stereotypical nurturing mothers often with a moody and overprotective streak. Though they are indeed a common exception to the idea of goddesses as an erotised ideal to pursue. They are more a representation of motherhood in all its vice and virtues.

Exactly...but not always. You are speaking of Classical Greece. I am speaking of Post-Hellenism and Imperial Rome whete the most worshiped deities were Cybele and Isis. Both two heroines...more important than their own husbands....Cybele is on a throne, her husband Attis is not.

 

[epronovost]

Exactly...but not always. You are speaking of Classical Greece. I am speaking of Post-Hellenism and Imperial Rome whete the most worshiped deities were Cybele and Isis. Both two heroines...more important than their own husbands....Cybele is on a throne, her husband Attis is not.

I doubt Isis could be called "more important" than her Husband Osiris or her son Horus in terms pantheonic position or even in egyptian mythology. A deity's popularity isn't always representative of its importance in theology. Hades, for example, is a notoriously unpopular deity though he is extremely important as the master of the underworld while Asclepios is extremely popular as a god of medecine though he is only a demi-god who got himself punished for raising back a man from the dead (thus pissing off Hades). Hestia (Vesta for the Romans) in Olympianism isn't very important, she isn't always considered one of the twelve olympian herself, but she was by far the most revered deity of Greece and Rome as she was the protector of the hearth and of the familly and nothing was more important to a Roman or a Greek than home and familly. No need to go that far either. In traditionnal Roman Catholicism, Mary enjoys a status that is pretty much at par with Jesus himself due to her position as an intercessor and mother quasi-deity.

Cybele is probably a very interesting exception. I don't know much about her cult though. Though Attis is often described as Cybele's son not her husband. In one myth she absolutely freakes out when he decides to get married leading to his death and Cybele's chagrin at her temporary insanity at seeing one of her children outgrow her (a common theme amongst mother deities).

 

[Aupmanyav]

Nyx, primordial goddess of night.
One of the very few deities in Greek mythology who even Zeus was afraid to challenge.

RigVEda, Prayer to night

HYMN CXXVII. Night.
1. WITH all her eyes the Goddess Night looks forth approaching many a spot:
She hath put all her glories on.
2 Immortal. she hath filled the waste, the Goddess hath filled height and depth:
She conquers darkness with her light.
3 The Goddess as she comes hath set the Dawn her Sister in her place:
And then the darkness vanishes.
4 So favour us this night, O thou whose pathways we have visited
As birds their nest upon the tree.
5 The villagers have sought their homes, and all that walks and all that flies,
Even the falcons fain for prey.
6 Keep off the she-wolf and the wolf, O Urmya, keep the thief away;
Easy be thou for us to pass.
7 Clearly hath she come nigh to me who decks the dark with richest hues:
O Morning, cancel it like debts.
8 These have I brought to thee like kine. O Night, thou Child of Heaven, accept
This laud as for a conqueror.
Rig Veda: Rig-Veda, Book 10: HYMN CXXVII. Night.

 

[Heyo]

In traditionnal Roman Catholicism, Mary enjoys a status that is pretty much at par with Jesus himself due to her position as an intercessor and mother quasi-deity.

Does she, though?
The Christian pantheon of the trinity is a sausage fest. The saints, of whom Mary is the most important, I give you that, are only on par with demi gods compared to paganism. And what are her powers and her domain?

 

[DagonVarunaMitraApolloZan]

Mother goddesses aren't rulling queens, they are you perfect stereotypical nurturing mothers often with a moody and overprotective streak. Though they are indeed a common exception to the idea of goddesses as an erotised ideal to pursue. They are more a representation of motherhood in all its vice and virtues.

So Hera isn't a G.I.L.F?

 

[DagonVarunaMitraApolloZan]

Does she, though?
The Christian pantheon of the trinity is a sausage fest. The saints, of whom Mary is the most important, I give you that, are only on par with demi gods compared to paganism. And what are her powers and her domain?

There is a trend in some Christian writing to feminize oneself (symbolically) in order to sort of love and receive (a male idea of) God and Christ. Even earlier than that trend among Christian writers, there seems to exist a feminizing trend among the Israelites as well, where their nation as a whole made up of their people, seems to be feminized in terminology in its relationship with God, and other feminine terminology is used for treacherous acts committed by them (and many males) of the nation. As far as I recall, that sort of language doesn't seem to appear as much in the Qur'an, and there didn't seem to be as strong of a trend, though it did seem to emerge to some degree in some of the writings out of Persia, who may have already been at it to some degree prior to Islam with Ahura Mazda, but I don't have much of any evidence for that which I've seen which shows the Zoroastrians as self-feminizing in language or ideas as far as I recall (maybe someone could find something though). The feminine (even though they are touted as very progressive people and female rights advocates by some people who seem like they are just fantasizing most likely) in Persia was quite often demonized (as it was elsewhere), and many feminine things were associated with pollution and evil, as well as evil entities. Homosexuality was also considered something that the Daevas were up to and up to inspiring as well, and was more than likely perceived as a feminizing of at least one in the party at the time they are being sodomized or whatever.

I never found the Christian writings which sort of make the devotee out to be feminine in their relationship to God to be appealing at all. It is quite possible that the writers might have been certain kinds of homosexually repressed people.

 

[wellwisher]

The goddesses were actually projections from the male psyche of that time. Each of us; humans, have both male and female DNA, that we get from our biological parents. Our conscious mind; ego, is connected to the half of our DNA that defines our biological sex.

The other half of our DNA, that is from the opposite sex parent, is not inert, but is connected to the unconscious mind. In a man, the DNA from his mother become his female side or anima. In the female, the DNA from her father becomes her male side or animus. The homosexual has more cross contamination from their unconscious minds onto their conscious mind.

The anima of the male is part of the operating system of the male brain. It is middle level firmware. When a male falls in love or infatuation, his anima will often project onto a biological female, allowing him to see what is inside himself. He may try to change her into this image. The same is true of the animus of the female, which projects and tries to change the male into that image. Behind every great man is the animus of a woman making itself manifest in him.

The goddesses were collective projections from the male psyche. They reflected higher human potential that was semi-conscious, but required the "goddess" within the male psyche; anima, to animate and project before it became manifest. Ships and cars are called she based on the anima of the male.The gods and goddess of mythology were real in the sense of NIT or neuro-information technology.

The gods changed over time; Titans to Olympians, etc., due to updates in the brain's operating system; moving consciousness from lower to middle level firmware. Moving from the polytheism of ancient mythology to the monotheism of modern religion, reflected the unconscious projection shifting from the middle level firmware, to higher level firmware and then the inner self.

 

[Wandering Monk]

Humans have deified or anthropomorphized abstract concepts for ages.
And except for some misogynistic goat herders women have been associated
with the more noble concepts through different cultures.

Goddess of Wisdom: Athena

Goddess of Beauty and Love: Aphrodite/Venus

Concept of Justice:

Concept of Liberty:

Goddess of Time, Creation, Destruction and Power: Kali

Even Death looks good when she's female:

Do you agree?
Have more examples?
Object?

You left out the troublemakers, like Hera.

 

[Estro Felino]

I doubt Isis could be called "more important" than her Husband Osiris or her son Horus in terms pantheonic position or even in egyptian mythology. A deity's popularity isn't always representative of its importance in theology. Hades, for example, is a notoriously unpopular deity though he is extremely important as the master of the underworld while Asclepios is extremely popular as a god of medecine though he is only a demi-god who got himself punished for raising back a man from the dead (thus pissing off Hades). Hestia (Vesta for the Romans) in Olympianism isn't very important, she isn't always considered one of the twelve olympian herself, but she was by far the most revered deity of Greece and Rome as she was the protector of the hearth and of the familly and nothing was more important to a Roman or a Greek than home and familly. No need to go that far either. In traditionnal Roman Catholicism, Mary enjoys a status that is pretty much at par with Jesus himself due to her position as an intercessor and mother quasi-deity.

Cybele is probably a very interesting exception. I don't know much about her cult though. Though Attis is often described as Cybele's son not her husband. In one myth she absolutely freakes out when he decides to get married leading to his death and Cybele's chagrin at her temporary insanity at seeing one of her children outgrow her (a common theme amongst mother deities).

@Heyo has had a terrific idea with this thread...because I wanted to explore the anthropological relation between mythology and peoples.
Ancient Rome used to have a feminine identity since its symbol was (and still is) the shewolf suckling two twins. A clear example of the Goddess Mother; this confirms the fact that Roman males were very fond of the woman seen as mother. Often represented as voluptuous junoesque woman...
All this was replaced, during Christianity by our Lady, Mary breastfeeding baby Jesus.
But this obsession with motherhood is what distinguishes the Meditetranean peoples from the Nordic ones.
Well...I think it is females who really rule here in our Med cultures...who force males to be romantic...who mold them.
Even by blackmailing them. Something like : " no romance? No sex".

 

[Goddess Kit]

Present company, me, included.

 

[epronovost]

But this obsession with motherhood is what distinguishes the Meditetranean peoples from the Nordic ones.

This twin obsession for virginity and motherhood are defining traits of European misogyny. Those who would not conform to those two archetypes were relegated in the much reviled and detested third one, that of the prostitute.

 

[Estro Felino]

This twin obsession for virginity and motherhood are defining traits of European misogyny. Those who would not conform to those two archetypes were relegated in the much reviled and detested third one, that of the prostitute.

There is no misogyny in Europe, I can promise you that.

 

[epronovost]

There is no misogyny in Europe, I can promise you that.

I can promise you that you are absolutely, completely wrong on many, many accounts.

 

[Augustus]

Humans have deified or anthropomorphized abstract concepts for ages.
And except for some misogynistic goat herders women have been associated
with the more noble concepts through different cultures.

Goddess of Wisdom: Athena

Not sure any of the gods were particularly noble though

Athena turned a priestess into Medusa then sent Perseus after her to chop off her head. The priestess' crime: she was unable to stop Poseidon raping her in her temple.

 

[Heyo]

Not sure any of the gods were particularly noble though

Athena turned a priestess into Medusa then sent Perseus after her to chop off her head. The priestess' crime: she was unable to stop Poseidon raping her in her temple.

Actually, she didn't send Perseus, though she helped him.

 

[epronovost]

Not sure any of the gods were particularly noble though

Athena turned a priestess into Medusa then sent Perseus after her to chop off her head. The priestess' crime: she was unable to stop Poseidon raping her in her temple.

This was actually a later addition by Roman author Ovid. In ancient Greece, her origin story is more mundane. She is simply a Chtonic monster born out of two minor sea deities. She also had two sister in Greek mythos.

Also, Poseidon had Medusa's consent for the sexual intercourse, but it still met the older definition of "rape" as more of an act of desecration than the action of sexual contact without one person's consent which we use more often today. It was a rape in the sense of "that show raped my childhood" more than a rape in the sense that "Bill Cosby is a rapist".

 

[Clara Tea]

The statue of liberty, motorized by Trump to bonk (with her torch) illegal aliens as they enter New York, doesn't seem to have to panache that she had in the old days (joking). When the motto was "give me your tired, your poor," they were just kidding.

Goddesses have a lot of male followers.

 

[Estro Felino]

This twin obsession for virginity and motherhood are defining traits of European misogyny. Those who would not conform to those two archetypes were relegated in the much reviled and detested third one, that of the prostitute.

I assure you there is no misogyny in Europe...but if you gave me an example I could change my mind

 

[epronovost]

I assure you there is no misogyny in Europe...but if you gave me an example I could change my mind

Lack of representation in institution of power, gender pay gap varying from 10 to 20% depending on the country, lack of abortion rights in several countries or access to it when legal, no mandatory comprehensive and science based sexual education in schools for teens in several European countries, Russia, Hungary and several other European country have little status to protect against domestic violence, half of European country bar women outright from some military and police positions, all European countries justice system struggle to present an adequate response to sexual violence against women, hypersexualisation and objectification of women, commonality of religiously motivated sexism toward women, workplace sexual harasment and sexism (which touches 6 out 10 women in Europe according to surveys on the subject). The list goes on.