I'm just curious. In the history of humankind, were there any significant monotheistic Goddess religions out there? Or at least anything that came close? Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
I agree that "mother nature" may be the closest we can get. To start with the easy (I'm not up to this research at the moment), I'll include a bit from Wikipedia:
I remember wathching a history channel special on early religion suggesting the "primal goddess" is supposed to be one of the earliest forms of monotheism predating christianity and relatively universal too. Makes sense since mom popped us out.
Saktha is one of the 6 major sects in Hinduism. Mother Goddess (Sakti) is considered to be the supreme and all other gods/goddesses were lesser aspects her. Entire universe is made up of conscious energy (Sakti) is the belief of the adherants of this sect.
The scriptures disagree plainly with the assertion that Solomon's temple was built to honour a female goddess;Asherah. False!! The Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream and asked him what would he like; riches and excessive wealth,the death of his enemies, fame,etc. Solomon replied that he wants an understanding heart or wisdom which made God pleased with him. Later on as God had told solomon's dad;King David, Solomon built the temple at jerusalem to this great God of israel ; Jehovah who had appeared to him. His first commandment was "have no other gods besides me". The hebrew worshipped other gods like the detestable Molech(who required blood sacrifices of infants) but they always got punished by their God; Yahweh. They constantly repented and returned to the God of their fathers abraham,Jacob who was Jehovah. ALL THIs WAS TO DIPUTE THE NOTION THAT SOLOMONS TEMPLE WHICH WAS BUILT IN JERUSALEM WAS ALSO IN HONOUR OF A FEMALE GODDESS. THE PUNISHMENT THEN WOULD HAVE BEEN DEATH BY STONING ACCORDING TO THE OLD TESTAMENT.(Thou shall have no other gods besides me,said the Lord ,creator of the universe.)
Sounds like a deal with the devil. Sounds like Solomon already had wisdom and greater than his god's.
There is still a religion for goddess worship please look at http://www.gnosticrob.com (Mother Goddess Gnostic Society) Thanks
Isn't the Mother goddess often portrayed as having a serpent husband? It was this earlier tradition that was turned upside down in the story of Adam and Eve when it was Eve who ate from the tree of knowledge and the serpent who coerced her into doing it. Is the serpent a god? Wouldn't this be dualistic?
<*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*><*> M*W: Since there was a snide comment about my userid, I created new one. invert_nexus, you have brought up a very good question. Instinctively, I've never been able to believe the traditional story about A&E. In those days (pre-OT times), I believe there is some alterations of the early Sumerian texts. Like the story of Noah and the Flood. Technically, I believe that story preceded A&E, but that's not why I'm here. In those days, the serpent was a god, maybe a male god, but not necessarily. This serpent god was all-powerful and knowing the truth. Some writers say he was the consort of Eve, but here's the interesting catch (no pun intended). Anyone speaking, reading and writing Hebrew, please help me out here. The Hebrew word for serpent is "hawwah." The Hebrew name for Eve is "Hawwah." And, of course, there's the old familiar "Yahweh" which is "Jehovah." Do you see the connection here? The story goes on... A&E had Qayin, Abvil and later on, Sayet. I'm not sure about the spellings, I'm writing this from memory. Qayin kills Abvil, Qayin haul's ass out to Nod, then Sayet comes along. The Egyptian form of Sayet is, of course, Set, god of the underworld. My perception of this "underworld" isn't exactly "hell," I believe it's Earth! Some scholars have said that Sayet is the offspring of Eve (Hawwah) and the serpent (hawwah). Interestingly, the meaning of the name "Adam" or "Adami" which means "Earthling" or "made from Earth's substance, i.e. dirt." My question: Where were A&E before they landed on Earth? Where did the serpent come from if it wasn't indigenous to Earth? The early, early matrilineal society carved robust women with serpent-like heads (i.e. Willendorf and Catyl Hayak, etc.). There is a connection to all of this, so I'm throwing it out there for comment about the goddess times. The symbolism of the serpent is that the serpent was a wise, godlike creature, as was Eve. So, what about Adam? What's his excuse?
Quick answer to the orginal question: NO. There were MANY polytheistic religions that celebrated a divine feminine, but none that were MONOtheistic.
Goddess religions invoke the divine feminine and they were monotheistic as well. Divine feminine features creativity. Divine masculinity features divine destruction.
