The death of the Goddess under exploitative economic,
religious and patriarchal systems and the need for her resurrection.
The psyche of human beings
is profoundly affected by the economic system that we live in. We are also
programmed by the religious beliefs that we are exposed to. The social, economic,
political and religious systems interact and function with each other The
macrocosmic structures in society programme our personalities and provide us
with roles and functions within society. I believe that human personal and
spiritual relationships are both reflective and supportive of the economic
system. These two things initially seem ethereal and created by forces outside
the social system. Research shows, human sexuality and spirituality have had
various forms and manifestations over the years. The human family and marriage
has altered in accordance to the development of the State. The ideas of the
creator(s) have changed from a universal conception of the femininity of the
divine spirit, to the contemporary global belief that the Great Spirit is male.
The transition from Mother God to Father God is correlated with the onset of
patriarchy and the development of the State. Feminist anthropologists and
historians have observed how this reflects the transition from a feminine
cooperative society to a male centred society based on exploitation. Society
must also reflect an element of the human psyche as it is we that construct it.
Engels- wrote in 1884 a book
called ‘The Origin of the Family, Private Property the State’. Although he
based his work on Morgan (an anthropologist who was deemed to be unscientific in
his research), the work is interesting and relevant to contemporary ideas.
Engels divides human history into epochs according to human beings relationship
to the means of production. Engels also analyses how human sexual relations and
family structures are related and change with different relationships to the
means of production. Engel’s argued that people are conditioned by their
relationship to the means of production. Like most Marxists, Engels is critical
of religious or spiritual phenomenon, regarding them
as superstitious and another element of social control. However Engels and
others have looked at how religious and mythological pantheons from a variety
of cultures indicate a transition from a state of mother centeredness to
control of the father. This coincided with the development of the State, which
in turn comes from a gradual development culminating in the creation of a
surplus. Archaeological and anthropological evidence indicates that in the
beginning people did not have a state because they did not own anything - they
were hunter-gatherers with little possessions and no land ownership.
In the early part of human
development motherhood was the only recognised bond of relationship. The primitive
human family was mother and offspring located in a group of other women and
their offspring men were not at this time integrated in the main stream of the
family. Kinship bonds are what held societies together - the connection between
sex and childbirth was unknown. The decline of the matriarchy is shown in all
cultures as a violent destruction or rape of the Goddess. As Engels noted ‘the
decline of the mother-right was the world-historical downfall of the female sex’.
Hunter-gathers consist of
the majority of human history. People of this epoch had detailed knowledge
concerning healing, poisonous and nutritious plants, the life cycles and habits
of game animals, the whereabouts of fresh water and raw materials to make tools
and utensils. The natural world was understood and relative to the social
world. Landscape was not a place of physical reality but a place of myth and
spirit. The development of societies from hunter gatherers to modern capitalist
have of course been unequal with some people today living nomadic
hunter-gatherer type existences.
Human beings have always
tried to come to terms with the complexities and finite natures of our
existence with mythology and religion. It is through these symbols and
archetypes that people make sense of the world. Many academics have
deconstructed myths to understand their psychological and sociological significance.
Engels looked at the work of Bachfen who interprets the ancient Greek Oresetia
of Aeschylus as metaphor of the dramatic decline of mother right over the new
father right that arose and triumphed in the heroic age. In this story
Clytemnestra slays her husband. She chooses a queen’s right to choose her
consort and each new one slays the old one. Her son Orates spoiled her plans by
killing his mother. The patriarchal god Apollo defended him, suggesting that
motherhood was not real parenthood. This myth indicates the human awareness of
fatherhood, which was not always evident.
All
authorities agree that all the worlds’ people in prehistoric times knew nothing
of man’s process in reproduction. Because there was not always a subsequent
pregnancy from copulation, metaphysical reasons were attributed to conception.
Women were revered and the only parent was the mother, as people did not pair
bond the father was not known. Children were brought up in a communal manner.
In some instances all the women in the group were regarded as ‘mother’ and
all the men as ‘father’. The reverence of the feminine of this time was reflected
in the statues and artefacts that people of this era created. Many of the
artefacts found from this time depict pregnant Goddess or female figures in
ecstatic poses. These early religious
icons feature goddesses as solitary figures who depict the great mother of
the tribe/universe. Interestingly the Palaeolithic image of the mother does
not show any corresponding father God.
Early creation myths often
involve the universe emanating from a female.
In Babylonia it was Traumata ( Tiamat ) that was 
the
primordial Goddess. In Egypt she was Tem. Most creation myths look at how
the dark formless mother splits and creates the universe. Illuminating the
formless black void with her presence. The biblical God who says “Let there
be light”, has borrowed these words from the Goddess. The oldest myths make
the Goddess the maker of heaven and earth. When male deities first came into
the picture they were as an inferior consort often her sons. If she creates
everything it stands to reason that she must even create her own lover. These
male figures provided a supporting role only. Frankfort said that the Goddess
was supreme in Mesopotamia because the source of all life is female “ Sags
said that she was the ”central figure in Neolithic religion in Egypt, she
was the creative ruling force of heaven earth and the underworld and every
creature and thing in them”.
The advent of monogamy came
late in human development nearly everywhere kinship bonds passed down the
female line. Women were the first to hoe the land, cross-fertilise seeds,
make clay pots etc. Generally all of very early technological advances stem
from women. Archaeological evidence
from Europe, China and the Middle East show how the mother’s name is mentioned
in ancestry, while the fathers’ are often left out. Engel’s argues that the
matrilineal decent and definition of the tribes of the Iroquois are identical
to ancient Greek and Roman clans and similar to Celtic and ancient British.
His research indicated that the Iroquois had a democratic social structure,
decision and power being shared within the sexes. He says gentes was organised
under ‘mother right’. Engels is scathing of the ‘civilisation of such people’
the power of their community being broken ‘by influences which from the very
start appear as degradation. “The lowest interests - base greed, brutal pleasure
seeking, sordid, averse, selfish robbery of common possessions – inaugurate
the new civilized class society”.
Modern male scholars often
indicate a distinct gender bias in their re writing of history. For example
Great Mother is often translated as God.
Gnostic creation myths of
the early Christian era were and are declared as heretical. They declared - “In
his madness Jehovah claimed to be the only God because he had forgotten the
mother who had brought him into being”. The description of the dying sun God
and other themes and stories from the bible were published well before the
bible in cuneiform - the language of ancient Mesopotamia. They are also
occurring in mythological stories from a variety of other cultures.
Besides creating the world
and everything in it the Goddess created the civilized arts, poetry, writing,
building and generally all the aspects that make up science and culture. Hindu
scriptures say that the Goddess invented alphabets, pictographs and mandalas.
The great mother/destroyer Goddess Kali created the Sanskrit letters and could
manifest phenomena just by proclaiming words. In the Middle East also numbers
and words were inventions of the Goddess and of special concern to priestesses.
Ancient beliefs from a variety of cultures linked women, linked motherhood, to
superior intelligence and reasoning power making it hard for men to oppose the
matrices. There may be real biological advantage to these beliefs being a
mother then and now requires responsive alertness if the child is to survive
and thrive.
Engels claimed that in primitive, communist societies the state
did not exist - kinship or family relations formed the basis of social
groupings. There was little division of labour and only a small amount of
surplus was produced. Only when a surplus was produced was it possible for a
state to arise. This also affected relationships because men wanted to be sure
that it was their children who inherited their land property etc. In primitive,
communist societies all individuals shared the same interests. In societies of
social stratification the exploited majority had to be held down with a variety
of legislative and diabolical frameworks that help the oppressed groups exert
the status quo. Engels believed that people progressed from primitive communism
to the social systems of barbarism, which moved to slavery, which evolved into
feudalism, which then developed into capitalism. Each society has the seed of
the next society within it. Engels described democracies as the highest form of
state. However because the general consensus by the population regarding such
democracies is that the government and ruling class
is exerting the wish of the people,
then the state does not need to exert much energy in the control or subjugation
of the masses. Engels believed democracy to be illusory as real power is held
in the hands of those who own and control society.
Marxist theory is clear on
how religion is used as an ideological apparatus to control behaviour and
induce submission. Pre-Christian/Islamic/Judaic religions were much more free,
and there was less emphasis on control and shame and more celebration of the
processes of life and nature. The celebration of the cycles of life was often
physically represented in the image of a Goddess. Religion has changed in
accordance to relationships to means of production, human intimate
relationships and the development of the state. In Marx’s words, ‘Religion is
the sigh of the oppressed creature, the sentiment of a heartless world and the
soul of soulless conditions’. And as his famous quote suggests - ‘the opium of
the people’.
From a Marxist perspective
religion has originated in oppressed classes. Religion can preserve
the social order, can dull the pain of life by promising eternal bliss for
those who follow the rules. Some religions make a virtue out of suffering and
equate poverty with a dignity (blessed are the poor for they shall inherit the
earth.) ’It is easier for a camel to enter the eye of a needle than a rich man
enter the Kingdom of Heaven”. Many religions offer a salvation for those that
will happen in a supernatural way. For example
President Bush is one of those Americans who believe in the ‘rapture’. This is
a strange phenomenon that is believed to happen to people of Bush’s style of
Christianity. Apparently all the good Christians in America will one day be
miraculously transported to heaven. Hence America’s lack of environmental
concern, for why should they care when they will be living it up in heaven. Jehovah’s
Witnesses look forward to a similar magical event that will create heaven on
earth (just for them).
Religion can explain and
justify social order. If God is all-powerful and makes the decisions then God
must ordain social order. In the Victorian hymn ‘All things bright and beautiful, - “The rich man in his castle
the poor man at his grate, God made them high and lowly and ordered their
estate“. This sort of belief allows people to accept their situation
philosophically. By justifying the social order it dissuades ideas to alter it.
By offering hope, it prevents a rebellious attitude. The ruling classes use
religion to justify their position to themselves and to others. The slave
owners in the southern states of America encouraged the conversion of black
slaves to Christianity believing it to be a controlling and gentling influence.
However religion can also be an impetuous for change. There are and has been a
variety of Christian socialist groups and Christians and other religious groups
have been instrumental in instilling positive social change for oppressed
groups and the poor and the suffering. Early spirituality emphasised
connection, there is no elite pyramid if every thing is essentially one.
The development of
patriarchy is correlated with the creation and development of the state Engels
observed that the husband and wife relationship reflects a micro cosmological
description of the dominant and subordinate class, the wife being the under
class. Although women ‘s position has improved somewhat since Engels made this statement,
some aspects of this relationship are still apparent. Engels argues that the
family is the smallest unit of capitalism, it is required to breed workers, to
propagate the systems ideology and be a unit of economic consumption. Moreover
at the core of patriarchy is the family. With the nuclear family originates the
desire to see property transmitted to ones biological descendants. Simone de
Beuvoir connects this desire with the longing for immorality. A crucial moment
then for the development of human society was the awareness that the child does
not come from the moon, spirits etc but from the seed originating from the male
and transmitted during the sex act. This awareness represents a turning point
in male/female relationships, which is then reflected in economic systems and
spiritual viewpoints alike. Power relationships become much more of an issue
now. Adrienne Rich argues, -‘power is both a primal word and primal
relationship under patriarchy’. Through control of the mother, the man assures
himself of control and ownership of the
children; through control of the children he assures the disposition of his
patrimony and the safe passage of his soul after death. It would seem therefore
that from very ancient times the very personality of the man depends on power,
that of power over others, beginning with a woman and her children”. Rich
argues that this relationship is reflected through the process of colonisation,
where each colonised people is defined by its conqueror as weak, feminine,
ignorant, uncultured and incapable of self government.
The transition from matriarchal to patriarchal societies usually
destroyed the natural mammalian systems of birth control, which is no sex
during pregnancy, and lactation, which could last for 6 years. Mainstream
religion supports control of women by men, God announces to Eve ‘I will greatly
multiply thy sorrow and thy conception, in sorrow thou shalt bring forth
children and thy desire shall be subject to thy husband and he shall rule over
thee.’ Control over women’s bodies is emphasised thus in a contemporary
context. ‘Birth control is nothing less than mutual masturbation or unnatural
lust‘ (according to Father Dominic Primmer in American Freedom and Catholic Power).
The issue of abortion is often connected to fundamentalist religion. The
ancients practised abortion and men did not see it as being any of their
business. Early ideas on the outlaw of abortion focused on magical ideas of
danger to the father. The male believing that destruction of his foetus could
have a negative impact on him. Catholicism initially believed that the soul
came from God and arrived in the foetus at the 5th month (the
quickening) changing its opinion in 1869 to the assertion that the soul is
apparent at conception. Philosophers and psychologists have revealed men’s envy
at women’s ability to create life. From at least as early as Aristotle who
attributed both spirit and form to male sperm whilst women merely provided the
‘matter’.
There is much evidence to
suggest that pagan and Goddess spirituality has been integrated in the Bible.
In the Jesus Mysteries and Jesus and the Goddess Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy
demonstrate clearly and unambiguously that pagan beliefs have been assimilated
into Christianity. The book is meticulously sourced and annotated to provide
compelling evidence of their thesis. For two thousand years the west has been
dominated by the idea that Christianity is sacred and unique whilst paganism is
primitive and the work of the devil .To recognise their connection is
unthinkable to some. To examine the evidence requests a break from the
traditions and norms of our culture. Evidence of ancient god men or son gods
from a variety of pre Christian / Islamic culture is prolific but often hidden by
Christian authorities. Various cultures talk of a god miraculously born on 25th
December, before three shepherds, who came as a redeemer. He is often
pictorially described as gentle looking with long hair. Famous mythographer,
Joseph Campbell has described these ‘son god’ entities as all having ‘the same
anatomy’.
Before Islam arrived in the
7th century, Arabia was matriarchal and royal descent was
matrilineal. Allah the name for God comes from the feminine Al-lat. At Mecca
the Goddess was Sheba. She was worshipped as a black anionic stone .The same
black stone now enshrined at the Ka’ba at Mecca. Although originally a feminine
symbol marked by the sign of the yoni and covered like the ancient mother by a
veil. No one seems to know what it represents today. The fact that Islamic
festivals are indicated by the phases of the moon is also reminiscent of the
background of goddess worship. The history of the prophet Mohammed shows his
own matrilineal family background. Female centred clans dominated pre-Islamic
Arabia. Marriages were matrifocal, inheritance matrilineal. Polyandry, several
husbands for one wife were common. The wife initiated divorce. As in Europe the
transition from matrifocal communities to patriarchal structures came about
gradually. Like Buddha, Jesus and Confucius, Mohammed lacks real justification. However the position in women in this
religion and so in general society is some times perceived as an inferior
species to males. In some mosques it is not uncommon to see the sign ‘ women
and dogs and other impure animals are not fit to enter’. Fatima who is Mohammed’s
daughter stems from goddess worship her name means the creatress. Her symbol as
holy virgin (the crescent moon) still appears on Islamic flags. Within Islam,
deviant sects continue to worship the feminine principle among them some Sufi mystics.
This is in a similar fashion to Gnostic Christians.
The Bible like the Koran
should not be considered to be an objective account of real events. The Bible
was translated within the framework of feudalism and patriarchy. The word for
the holy book came from the word Byblos or the city of the Great mother. The Bible
has been written, amended added to and parts deleted, in accordance to the
views held by the dominant social order. There are no known portions of the Bible
older than the 4th century AD. The revised New Testament published
in 1881 tried to correct errors and erased the spurious final twelve verses of
Mark. It added- ‘he that shall believeth not, shall be damned’. Traditionally
the church forbade not only research but also reading of the Bible by laymen.
Students of the Bible will no doubt be aware of the many contradictions it
contains. Organised religion had and has a vested interest in maintaining a
none critical and unscientific approach to the Bible. A lack of information on
the spiritual and mythological beliefs of other people creates a situation
where these people could not see the many clear similarities. The creation myths
detailing the fall from grace, virgin births, redeemers who rise from the dead,
all are apparent in a variety of other religions and mythologies. The only way
to heaven was through Christianity and the deities of other religions perceived
as devils. The myths and stories in the Bible are irrefutably true -
other religions false. It is widely believed that many feminine elements have
been weeded out by male interpreters of the Bible. These men wish to propagate
their perceived superior position . Only the Gnostic gospels contained hints
that Mary Magdalene may have been one of Jesus’ disciples. Some scholars suggest
that Jesus was closest to her. It is interesting that it is perceived as
blasphemy to some that Jesus should have a woman and supposed prostitute as his
favoured disciple.
Nearly all mythologies,
religions etc speak of a fall, a time when people lived harmoniously with the
land and nature and even had the power of magic. In Christianity it is depicted
as the Garden of Eden. In this story it is the woman Eve whose weak character
is seduced by the snake (knowledge) to taste the forbidden fruit and thus they
became ashamed etc. This could also represent the transition from a living in
and part of nature and the change of consciousness that creates the illusion
that we are living outside of it. Matrifocal societies were egalitarian yet
patriarchal societies insisted on pecking orders, violent overthrows and a
disconnection of people from the rest of the natural world. Neolithic village
cultures contained a spirit of life, loving and connectedness. Scholars who
examine such things frequently discover that life, sex, food production, family
life and spirituality are an integrated whole.
Clearly our ideas on social change, religion and human
relationships are influenced by our perceptions of morality. Morality is
subjective. There are no universal morals, only those that a culture
collectively agrees are the right ones. America at present rules the world and
seems intent on forcing its culture onto everyone. In America were moral values
are the most pressing issue of the day ( 22% of voters versus the economy 20%),
68 % of Americans believe in the devil. About half of Americans in certain
areas do not believe in evolution and believe fossils of ancient creatures to
be placed there by evil scientists to fool people. In Europe the church is
diminishing yet according to US author Jeremy Firkin religiosity lies at the heart
of the difference between America and Europe. In his book The European dream:
‘How Europe’s vision of the future is quietly eclipsing the American dream’,
Firkin presents the American value system as a ‘cryogenic wonder’. Firkin ( who
is president of the Foundation on Economic Trends) argues that the American
psyche perceives their god as “celebrating in the manifestation of
materialisation and perceived personal happiness”. “The American dream, says Firkin is ‘indistinguishable from our
religious beliefs’. He argues that Americans believe that God looks out for
America and that is why the American dream is so optimistic. Rican points out
those contemporary European values –inclusivity, sustainable development,
quality of life, peace, universal human rights are more Christian than America’s
guiding principles.
Humans have spent most of
their time on the planet living and co-existing with Nature. We have been
‘civilized’ for only a short amount of time. The rationalism that dominates
western thought processes, minimises the importance of life, which is often
beyond analysis. The earth is
symbolised by the feminine, it is no coincidence that the rationalistic stifled
polluted world is owned and controlled by male centred hierarchies at whose
pinnacle is a male god. Human sexual relationships although sometimes causing
happiness often create misery. One in three marriages end in divorce, one in
three women in Britain are the victims of domestic abuse and generally people
are often unhappy in their relationships. Surely the creator meant for us to be
happy in our intimate relationships? Perhaps people in simpler, more holistic
and integrated societies did not experience modern levels of personal
dissatisfaction many people feel today. We may find that with global warming,
and the decline of wetlands, forests and green spaces, that our dreams of a
technological, machine mediated immorality, may not only deplete resources but
also starve our souls and depress our minds.
As human economies have a
history of change and evolution it seems logical that this trend will continue.
Marxist predictions of a world wide economy based on socialism with an idea of
the state being ‘withered away’ may or may not happen. There does however seem
to be an international movement against globalisation, which is looking to
instigate a more humanitarian approach to the organisation of our world? Also
an escalating recognition that we are one world and every thing affects one
another. In two thousand years of Christianity, a religion of peace, war has consistently
been considered a solution to problems between countries. Gun crime is on the
up, as is depression and illness caused by stress. The dream of a
machine-mediated world is being paid for by a gradual destruction of a variety
of ecosystems and resources.
Goddess philosophies
represent a holism and connectedness that could be a salve to a world, who’s
human population has created a reality which for some is good but for many
others represents starvation, poverty and violence. People always assume that
the present is an improvement on the past. That modern religion is a more
civilised progression from ancient pagan religious ideas. Perhaps early
religious and social structures created happier people. The Goddess as represented
by the Irish Morrigan, the Indian Kali, and the Iraqi Ishtar is about the
acceptance of death and yet explaining the illusion of the belief that identity
ends with the demise of the material body. The Goddess teaches us to accept
physical death, to lay prostrate to the unpredictable forces of nature, to
accept our own mortality. We are all born to die we must accept that we like
all other life forms, are bodily creatures made to die so others can flourish.
Society must be organised with the benefit and sustenance of the land, its
people and other life forms. The dominance of materialism ironically creates a
rationale for environmental destruction and war as well as social inequality. Real
freedom does not come from dogma of any description. Mainstream religion
prevents the individual from connecting to divine consciousness by suggesting
the need for an intermediary. Conventional social systems reflect many of the hierarchical
and elitist aspects of monotheistic religions. Within these frameworks we can
only try to be strong enough to express our selves authentically and allow
others to do the same. The revolution begins with me in this simple
recognition. Perhaps one day we will be able to embrace both technology and
nature to accept the masculine, but also celebrate the feminine values embodied
by the goddess religions. The propagation of these ideas is what may save us.
These spiritual concepts (not dogma) with the political frameworks of
cooperation and mutual aid could be the things that save us from ourselves. We
should not be afraid of what we are and the beautiful earth that sustains
us.
Ishtar 2005
