I was thinking, it seems that our modern world is missing something? The modern consumer of superstition is bereft of a choice of a female Goddess. For a certain market segment, there may be people who find modern day religions are all too paternal. Now, perhaps this is a result of a survival of the fittest in superstitions, and, men are more powerful than women and so we are left with paternal religions? That doesn't mean that the market for female deities doesn't exist - just that they are not present in the market. I'd say the market has been manipulated and we're now used to the limited choice. If given freedom of choice, perhaps many consumers of superstition would like a female deity? What do you think? Think about this, pre history we have major female aspects to superstitions. Female fertility Goddesses play center stage - they are a VERY important roles. This means that we humans have evolved a propensity for this product (female deities). At the dawn of civilization, there's a switch and it's aggressive market capture and the rise of the alpha male. Historically after civiliaation: Egyptian pantheon = Divine male Pharaoh Buddhism = Buddha Judaism = Mosses Zoroastrianism = Zoroaster Xiantiy = Jesus Mohammadism = Mohammad. John Frumism = John Frum Mormonism = Joseph Smith, Jr. Bahai's Faith = Bahá'u'lláh Scientology = Ron Hubbard The Raëlian Movement = Claude Vorilhon OK, this probably did stabilize the market place. I mean, having an alpha male. But, over time the female is gone in all bu maybe Japan and India. YET, Long ago there were important female religous Icons all over the world, that were as great or if not greater than their male counterparts: - The Greek Goddess Athena - The Japanese Goddesses Amaterasu, - The Jewish Goddess Asherah - The Christian Goddesses Sophia (she once cut off YWAH’s balls… true story) - The Indian Goddesses Kali…. etc… Nowadays, there doesn’t seem to be any female Icons representative in modern day superstitions. But, does the consumer of superstitions want a female aspect to their mythology? Is this a market waiting to be blown open? An untapped market nich of female deities? What do you think? Would you like to see more female aspect to your superstition? Michael PS: I'm not catholic but it seems Mary does somewhat serve this purpose in the Catholic mythologies. Is that true? if so maybe they have a clever market strategy?
There are plenty of people who believe in Goddesses, either in conjunction with or without male deities.
Not so much in America or Europe - and these could be great wealthy markets to sell in. Then there's the ME, but at present they have an embargo on female deities, if you get caught selling.... could be a problem.
Hmm, I don't know. If you think about some, don't we sort of "worship" lots of women now ...at least in the western world? Models, movie stars, rock stars, singers, strippers, whores, sluts,.......? Perhaps what we've done is make that substitution ...because in modern society, women are now far more "available" than they were in the past. Just a thought, of course. Baron Max
It is a growing market in the West. Feminists have for quite a while been introducing godesses. Much has been made of the work of Marija Gimbutas http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marija_Gimbutas but also the whole pagan, neopagan revival, wicca and the people interested in magical traditions tend to have female deities. I mean these religions and goddesses were violently suppressed via murder, torture, forced conversion, rape, genocide...... In many places in the US a goddess worshipper does risk being seen as a Satanist and deal with with violence. But if you walk into most bookstores especially in major cities you will see a rather large and popular selection of books dealing with goddesses and female deities and spirits etc.
Paris Hilton the modern equivalent of Aphrodite??? *shudders in revolution* Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! That's true.
There are a growing amount of neopagans and Wiccans in the US and Europe. To whom the belief in female deities in conjunction with male gods is a core belief. However, it has to be stated for the record that Wiccans who claim to worship only or believe only in a Goddess are not Wiccans. Wicca's core theology is veneration of a god and goddess that personify nature and magic. Now, there are forms of religious witchcraft and paganism that do worship only a female deity; that is Dianic witchcraft, not Wicca. I think the problem in the naming comes from people thinking Wicca and witchcraft are the same thing- they're not. Witchcraft is a set of ritual behaviours involving folk magic and esoteric practices, often but not necessarily of a religious nature. Wicca is a specific religion that uses witchcraft as a core part of religious practice, but has many other particular core beliefs that make it more than just practice of witchcraft.
Well, although I don't believe Isis is literally God,I have always had a special place in my heart for her and her mythology. Known as Aset by the Egyptians and incorporated into the Greek and Roman pantheons. She seems to be a "complete" Goddess in that she, over time, has become more maternal and absorbed other qualities attributed to other Goddesses. As a guy I sometimes get ribbed by other men,and some women about my adoration for her. *lol* A good and mainly unbiased study of her history was done by R.E Witt in his book, "Isis in the Ancient World". Some other books are good but many are pagan reconstructionist attempts to combine actual history of her with new age beliefs and perhaps wishfull thinking on the part of the authors.
I'd also point out that the Goddess does not refer to a specific entity or being, but rather as an analog for the divine in general. The God is another aspect of the divine. Wicca is a very interesting religion.
With Wicca, it varies from individual to individual. Our theology is not really set in stone. It greatly depends on the tradition, or lack thereof. Such as, British Traditional Wicca like Gardnerianism follows the line of thought that "The God" and "The Goddess" spoken of by Gerald Gardner were specific entities, but he could not reveal the deities' names publically, due to an oath of secrecy. Though there is some anecdotal evidence that may indicate that Gardner used "Cernunnos" and "Aradia" as the names of his gods. Later traditions, like Seax-Wica, decided upon a chief god and goddess from another pantheon to serve as their "Lord and Lady" pair. Many modern traditions, since the 1970's, have done so. And the practice has become even more widespread with the eclectic and Solitary movements. Still others view The God and The Goddess as you indicated, as an amalgamated description for the energy of all gods/goddesses. Others view them as archetypes, thoughtforms, etc. It varies greatly.
