Secret Garden of the Feminine

              Goddess Awakening

Humanity stands at the dawn of a new millennia with global information at our fingertips. There are now countless men and women who, when thinking of a nurturing, life-giving, creative presence–a deity who loves unconditionally–inevitably envision a maternal presence. It naturally follows that for us, the Great Mother is the heart of our worship and prayers. The Goddess is the feminine expression of Divinity. Numerous people have found the Goddess as a result of a long, arduous spiritual search.

The Goddess offers a spirituality, a tradition, a religion of celebration and regeneration in this world, rather than an other-world redemption. Through Gaia, the Earth Mother, she reveals to us the beauty and magnificence of our own divine nature. We see her countenance reflected in the play of the ocean, the majesty of a tree, the dancing colors of a sunset. In those moments we celebrate our oneness with nature and know, undoubtedly, our own amazing divinity.

In WomanSpirit Rising: A Feminist Reader in Religion, a collection of feminist essays, theologian Carol Christ’s brilliant discourse titled “Why Women Need the Goddess: Phenomenological, Psychological, and Political Reflections” states,  "The simplest and most basic meaning of the symbol of Goddess is the acknowledgment of the legitimacy of female power as a beneficent and independent power."  The woman who has reclaimed the Goddess "is saying that the divine principle, the saving and sustaining power, is in herself, that she will no longer look to men or male figures as saviors."[1]  The lineage of a "male savior" mythology is in abundant evidence in contemporary fairy tales. In most of those stories, we find the obedient daughter passively waiting for her prince to come and rescue her.

Women's spirituality is the natural offspring of feminism. As women continue to break the barriers restricting us, as we take our place in the world as the true partners we were meant to be, we have sought  a symbol for this powerful feminine energy. After achieving economic and political empowerment, many women are turning within and seeking spiritual empowerment. What we've found is that the concept and imagery of a male God is no longer adequate to represent us on a spiritual plane. We discovered (some might say remembered) the rich, multicultural, many-faceted Goddess known since ancient times as "She of Ten Thousand Names."  Awakening to the knowledge of Goddess and Goddess “herstory” dissolves the patriarchal distortions that restrict women in countless ways.

Others have reclaimed the archetype of the Great Goddess as the symbol of women's growing power both in themselves and in the world at large. In Megatrends for Women, Patricia Aburdene and John Naisbitt state, "Whether a woman espouses traditional religion, New Age spirituality or Atheism, her sense of personal power is enhanced by the mythology of the Goddess, which awakens confidence, belonging and self-esteem."[2]  

Identification with the divine feminine is an unparalleled act of empowerment. Miranda Shaw, discussing the gynocentric view of Tantric Buddhism in Passionate Enlightenment, says, “Women must discover the divine female essence within themselves. This should inspire self-respect, confidence, and the `divine pride’ that is necessary to traverse the tantric path. This pride is an antidote to self-doubt and discouragement. . .When a woman reclaims her divine identity, she does not need to seek outer sources of approval, for a bottomless reservoir of self-esteem emanates from the depths of her own being.”[3]

Modern women have taken up the ancient symbol of the Goddess as an emblem of their own undeniable feminine power. As the collective unconscious continues to awaken to this timeless and essential archetype, society will once again have a context for the balance needed to heal both the planet and the fractured psychological landscape of society.

Psychologists and other therapists are looking at the various archetypes of goddesses as a tool for understanding the psyche of women and how they develop relationships. In Goddesses in Everywoman, Jean Shinoda Bolen, M.D., creates an extraordinary  psychological picture, based on the better-known pantheon of Greek goddesses, by means of which women can begin to look at the energies and patterns in their lives. "Knowledge of the ‘goddesses' provides women with a means of understanding themselves and their relationships with men and women, with their parents, lovers, and children. These goddess patterns also offer insights into what is motivating (even compelling), frustrating, or satisfying to some women and not to others."[4]  This is a new psychological perspective based on the diversity of women as opposed to previous theories that sought to define what a "normal" woman is. This important work, along with others such as Clarissa Pinkola Estes's book Women Who Run with the Wolves, has given women stories and ancient archetypes by which we can begin to understand ourselves.