Karen Tate, Prs. Adept
The Isis Ancient Cultures & Religion
Society (IACRS)
Irvine, California
Dan
Brown's bestseller, The DaVinci Code, has piqued the curiosity of millions of all faiths with his accounts of the Sacred
Feminine. The long anticipated blockbuster movie hits the screen in May, with the inevitable release of
the DVD to come later, bringing this theme into the hearts, minds and living rooms of millions more. Despite
this book being a work of fiction, Christians with disdain for this movie are already organizing "truth squads"
to counter its message as the concepts within have struck a cord with the mainstream public. Among the
questions millions new to this subject will certainly have is who are these people advocating for the return to veneration
or ideals of a female face of God, called Goddess, the Divine Feminine or the Sacred Feminine? The answer
might best be answered by looking back before we look ahead.
Compared
to the estimated 30,000 years a goddess was venerated by humans on our planet, the concept of a monotheistic male god dominating
the landscape is a relatively new idea, only several thousand years old. Along the vast timeline of history,
across cultures and continents, humans believed the creatrix of all was either a female or a female in concert with a male
deity. The worship of the Egyptian goddess, Isis, and the sun god, Mithras, were significant religions
in ancient times, giving fledgling Christianity quite a challenge. Veneration of Isis
spread beyond Egypt, throughout the Mediterranean regions, and into what we now call Europe, the British Isles, Turkey and
the Middle East.
Isis
and her husband Osiris offered their devotees life after death and salvation, the message later advocated by Christians.
In fact, the image of Mary holding Jesus on her lap was co-opted from pagan images of Isis holding her son Horus.
Isis was a popular for many reasons, among them her seeming accessibility. A wife, mother, and lover
herself, followers felt she could identify with their concerns. Like most goddesses, she was very inclusive,
often sharing temples with other deities rather than sending the message that the people should worship no other goddess or
god but her.
History
is filled with tipping points. Cleopatra was a priestess of Isis, in fact, probably believed she
was the earthly embodiment of that Goddess. Considering the hold the mysteries of Isis had
on vast swaths of people across cultures and socio-economic lines, what if Cleopatra and Marc Antony had succeeded at the
battle of Actium and gone on to defeat Rome? What if the first printed book had been something other than
the Bible? What if Muhammad had not recanted his original position venerating goddesses
and the Korans advocating the importance of female deities had not been recalled? What if a side effect
of the industrial revolution had not been the growing detachment from Mother Nature and the resulting climate of greed and
exploitation of natural resources?
What
if some neolithic matrifocal societies, believed by many scholars to perpetuate peace, equality among the sexes and a female
face of god, might not have been obliterated? The controversial Marija Gimbutas determined the absence of fortifications and
weapons in these early societies were testaments to the peaceful coexistence of these egalitarian civilizations.
Anthropologist Ashley Montagu called her work "a benchmark in the history of civilization and knowledge."
The late Joseph Campbell compared her work to deciphering the Rosetta Stone. What if when ancient
translations of the Bible were made, the pronoun she had not been chanaged to he? What if the Christian
Church Fathers had not banned the Gnostic traditions which honored the feminine? We can only guess how
different life might look on the planet today.
This
is not to say that the panacea for the world's woes is in entirety a shift back toward devotion of the Sacred Feminine.
History has taught us that countries whose population worshipped a female god were far from utopias. Marija
Gimbutas' Old European Neolithic culture could not withstand Kurgan invaders and were obliterated or assimilated.
Contemporary devotion to Goddess among Hindus, Buddhists, Wiccans, Polynesians, Shinto, and Native Americans has not
solved society's ills in our patriarchal world.
However,
absent a feminine way of relating to the divine, coupled with a male-centered society, the natural order of life has been
thrown out of balance creating a Pandora's Box of problems, not the least of which is the female gender has been relegated
to second class or slave status for thousands of years. Women may have acid thrown in their face for not
bowing to male authority. In the United States, the hard fought battle for a woman to control her reproductive
rights might be slipping away.
To
clear up any misconceptions, advocates for reclaiming and redefining the veneration of Goddess are not just radical feminists.
Much is owed to those activists who sacrificed so much to achieve suffrage, economic parity and a woman's right
to choose, but readers should not fall prey to the spin that those advocating a return to Goddess are just angry, liberal
or radical women who want to run the world and subjugate men. Far from it. Even Gloria
Steinem spoke of the equality of the sexes and removing wedge issues that separated genders, cultures and peoples so
humanity could focus on real social progress. The truth is men and women advocating for embracing Goddess are interested
in a restoration of balance between what we recognize as male and female principles. (See Side Panel denoting male vs. female
principles.) They are advocates for wholeness. Compassion with a sword if necessary.
To quote Beatrice Bruteau, author of The Unknown Goddess, "If today's female archetype is to carry
all of society forward," it must come laden with the richness of the male, " the fruits of rationality, intelligence
and literacy."
Goddess
advocates are often environmentalists concerned that we may soon reach a point of no return on the issue of Global Warming.
Noted climatologists from NASA feel certain that within ten years life as we know it may cease to exist if something
significatant is not done to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
Devotees
of Goddess are those looking to imbue traditional religions with spiritual parity along gender lines. They
are concerned with the subjugation of women, the backbone of families and the fiber of society's core across the globe.
They understand the importance of honoring the wisewoman's age, experience and maturity as well as
female sexuality. The inclusive nature of Goddess ideals embrace diversity, and attracts the oppressed
who long for freedom. It is no wonder Lady Libertas, better known as the Statue of Liberty, is considered
the political goddess. Beginning in ancient Rome, where the idea of freedom was deified, through the ages
to this century, she has had her image used as a symbol or rallying point for those seeking change and fairness for the down
trodden.
Goddess
advocates tend to be seekers, mystics, and independent thinkers who honor the mysteries of life, often feeling lucky to know
the right questions, never believing they have all the answers. They have new ideas about shaping society,
such as one message that espouses a paradigm shift toward partnership rather than power over or survival of the fittest.
They speak of substitutes for capitalist heirarchy and competition, such as a compassionate or gift economy.
Absent a book dictating man-made doctrines or dogma that often are the source of division among peoples, some practitioners
of Goddess Spirituality follow a loose set of spiritual ideals while others are more comfortable to overlay the feminine in
their traditional worship. This manifests in some congregations with litury changing from gender specific
to gender neutral or the Father being spoken of alongside the Mother.
At
a recent worship service organized by Temple of the Goddess, an up and coming church presenting sacred goddess-oriented ritual
theatre at the Neighborhood Church in Pasadena, CA, their facilitators stated the principles of their church and their personal
beliefs:
*
We believe that every person is the living embodiment of the Divine and a manifestation of Divine Immanence.
*
We respect that every person is their own spiritual authority and no one can define the Sacred and Divine for any one
else.
*
We recognize that there are many paths to the Divine, symbolized by the many "goddesses" and "gods"
of all cultures and all lands.
*
We support an ideology and spirituality of partnership in relations based on equality, reciprocity and caring as opposed
to domination and control.
*
Though we recognize the Divine in many forms, the focus of that which we call the Divine is manifested in the feminine
as "Goddess."
*
We respect and love Mother Earth, Gaia, as a sacred entity who is part of and connected to a vast living cosmos.
We believe She is immanent in all of nature, life, and the cycles of life. We
honor the interdependence of the web of all existence of which we are each a strand.
*
We believe the loss of the feminine consciousness and ideologies have caused near irreparable damage to humanity and
the planet; and we believe the emergence of the feminine consciousness, in balance with the masculine, is the gratest hope
for humanity and the planet.
*
The feminine consciousness is the ability to create, nurture and enhance life and therefore respecting the feminine
nature in all beings and in all aspects of life has the power to greatly enhance healing and our quality of life on this planet,
and conversely, disrespecting the feminine has and can cause damage to all of life because of its interconnectedness.
*
We accept the abundant goodness of creation which purports that all beings are meant to life in joy, love, and harmony.
*
We believe in morality and ethics in which the primary imperative is to harm none.
*
We believe that the world of humanity is possessed of two wings; the male and the female. So long
as these two wings are not equivalent in strength, the bird will not fly.*
These
are the Goddess Advocates. They are your neighbors, friends, and co-workers. They are
men and women working side by side. They are artists, sanitation engineers, teachers, mothers and fathers,
actors, secretaries, ministers, environmentalists, activists, and waiters. They are black, white, and brown.
They are Buddhist, Native American, Shinto, Christian, Muslim, Jewish and more. In other words,
they are all of humanity seeking to embrace the Feminine to their breast, and in turn, perpetuate practices which might encourage
a climate of kindness, justice, fairness, and compassion in the world for themselves and their children. Many
devotees of the Feminine raise their heads and assess the political and social times we live in and cannot help but believe
that if Alla, Jehovah, Mary, Jesus or Muhammad would suddenly appear before civilization they would express sadness at how
their messages had been lost or distorted for power and control. Which brings us back to Goddess, the vehicle
upon which social change may arrive.
One
person's mythology is another's religion and vice versa. Seeking in todays patriarchal world and
finding few answers and little hope for change, many are trying alternative ideas and spiritualities.
The emergence of Goddess Spirituality, coupled with the information age over the last thirty-plus years, has helped
women make great strides socially, politically and economically. Men have begun to integrate and appreciate
those values identified as feminine. Whether Goddess is an archetype which reflects our potential within,
or a deity on high who holds the fate of humankind in her hands, it is yet to be seen if this resurging interest to embrace
the Mother, She of both Light and Dark, will be a tipping point for the salvation of earth and humanity.
Side Panel -- Feminine vs. Masculine Virtues
Feminine...
Passive,
soft, submissive, emotional, dependent, subjective, immanent, chaos, nature, intuitive, passive, compassionate, nurturing,
cooperative, relationship oriented, sympathetic, empathetic, creative on lower levels, impractical and conciliatory.
Masculine...
Active,
hard, dominant, rational, independent, objective, transcendent, order, culture/science, aggressive, competitive, practical,
heroism, risk taking, linear thinking, goal oriented, ability to organize and plan on a grand scale, protective, and courageous.
References:
Tate, Karen, Sacred Places of Goddess: 108
Destinations, San Francisco, CA, CCC Publishing, 2006
Andrae, Tor, Mohammed: The Man and His Faith, New York, Harper, 1960
Witt, R. E., Isis in the Ancient World, Baltimore and London,
The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1971
Gimbutas, Marija, The Civilization of the Goddess, Marler, Joan, editor,NY, Harper San Francisco, 1991
The Quran
www.templeofthegoddess.org
Torjesen, Karen Jo. When Women Were Priests, San Francisco, Harper Collins, 1995
Burdene, Patricia, Naisbitt, John, Megatrends
For Women, Villard Books, NY, 1992
* This final quote of Bahai leader, Abdul-Baha has become the motto for The Temple of the Goddess.
Author Biography:
A prolific writer, published author, and tour organizer, Karen's most recent work blends her experiences of women-centered
multiculturalism evident in archaeology, anthropology and mythology with her unique literary talents and travel experience
throughout the world to pen Sacred Places of Goddess: 108 Destinations. Her published articles have appeared in both
domestic and international publications since 1995 including Sacred History Magazine, Circle News, Goddessing, and The Beltane
Papers. She is a member of The International Women's Writing Guild. Sacred tours
she has led and organized have itineraries that circle the globe and through A Special Journey Travel, she continues bringing
the like-minded to sacred sites to experience the joy of purposeful travel.
An ordained minister, independent scholar of the
Sacred Feminine, and graduate of The Women's Thealogical Institute, specializing in Goddess and Women's Spirituality,
Karen's particular emphasis is on the roles of women and the study of comparative religions and ancient cultures in a
modern or reconstructed context. It is no surprise then that she is the founder of the educational, art, and cultural organization,
The Isis Ancient Cultures Society. An Adepta within the International Fellowship of Isis, Karen was ordained by one of the
founders, Lady Olivia Robertson, at Clonegal Castle in Ireland. More than a decade ago, the author began the Iseum of Isis
Navigatum, a hearth of the Goddess within the FOI, which continues to fulfill her calling to help mid-wife the rebirth of
the Divine Feminine in contemporary society.
You can purchase Sacred Places of Goddess: 108 Destinations from local and on-line book sellers or directly
from the author (www.karentate.com). The author can be contacted by emailing: karentate108@comcast.net
