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History of Goddess art and Goddess worship & religion, including Greek, Roman, Celtic & Norse Goddess myths
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The Goddess in History, Religion, and Art...
(From TheMystica.com)
See examples of ancient [Goddess Art] below
Goddess worship dates back to Paleolithic times. Many anthropologists speculate the first "God " or gods of the peoples were feminine. This coincides with ancient creation myths and beliefs that creation was achieved through self-fertilization. Within the concept of creation the participation of the male principle was not known or recognized yet. The Goddess was believed to have created the universe by herself alone.
From this belief came the agricultural religions. It was thought that the gods only prospered by the beneficence and wisdom which the Goddess showered on them. Evidence appears to indicate most ancient tribes and cultures were matriarchal.
Although this may be true, there seems to be little evidence that the feminine portions of these societies held themselves superior over their male counterparts. Generally Goddess worship had been balanced by the honoring of both the male and female Deities. This is illustrated by the belief in and the observance of the sacred marriage of the Sky God and Earth Mother in many global societies.
Among the first human images discovered are the "Venus figures", nude female figures having exaggerated sexual parts that date back to the Cro-Magnons of the Upper Paleolithic period between 35,000 and 10,000 BC.
In southern France is the Venus of Laussel which is carved in basrelief in a rock shelter. This appears once to have been a hunting shrine which dates to around 19,000 BC. In this carving the woman is painted red, perhaps to suggest blood, and holds a bison horn in one hand.
Also in Cro-Magnon cave paintings women are depicted giving birth. A naked Goddess appears to have been the patroness of the hunt to mammoth hunters in the Pyrenees and was also protectress of the hearth and lady of the wild things.
Other female figurines were discovered dating back to the proto-Neolithic period of ca. 9000 - 7000 BC, the Middle Neolithic period of ca. 6000 - 5000 BC, and the Higher Neolithic period of ca. 4500 - 3500 BC. Some of these figurines were decorated as if they had been objects of worship. In black Africa were discovered cave images of the Horned Goddess (later Isis, ca. 7000 - 6000 BC). The Black Goddess images appeared to represent a bisexual, self-fertilizing woman.
During the predynastic Egyptian period, prior to 3110 BC, the Goddess was known as Ta-Urt (Great One) and was portrayed as a pregnant hippopotamus standing on her hind legs.
The Halaf culture around the Tigris River, ca. 5000 - 4000 BC, had Goddess figurines associated with the cow, serpent, humped ox, sheep, goat, pig, bull, dove and double ax. These things were known to the people and became symbols representing the Goddess.
In the Sumerian civilization, ca. 4000 BC, the princesses or queens of cities were associated with the Goddess. A king was associated with God.
Throughout the eons of history the Goddess assumed many aspects. She was seen as the creatress, virgin, mother, destroyer, warrior, huntress, homemaker, wife, artist, jurist, healer and sorcerer. Her roles or abilities increased with the advancement of the cultures which worshipped her....
She could represent a queen with a consort, or lover. She might bear a son who died young or was sacrificed only to rise again representing the annual birth-death-rebirth cycle of the seasons.
Throughout the centuries the Goddess has acquired a thousand names and a thousand faces but most always she has represented nature, she is associated with both the sun and moon, the earth and the shy. The Goddess religion, usually in all forms, is a nature religion. Those worshipping the Goddess worship or care for nature too...
Read the full history at... [ TheMystica.com ]
There are additional well researched historical overviews at...
[TeachingReligion.com] [JBLStatue.com] [AdelphiaSophism.com]
You can read about the role of the "divine feminine" in today's world at... [The Modern Goddess]
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Some artistic depictions of the Goddess throughout history...
The images and descriptive text below are from
[ SacredSource.com ] -- this is a fantastic website for anyone who wishes to purchase art or information related to the role of the Goddess in human civilization.
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Ariadne
"The High Fruitful One," brings Rebirth. This lunar fertility Goddess was known for her athletic prowess. Serpents, symbols of rebirth, were ritually handled by her priestesses, whose bare-breasted costumes suggest the sacred role of sexuality in the Minoan culture.
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Astarte
Astarte was another name for Asherah, the consort of Baal, and one of the most deeply venerated fertility Goddesses of ancient Babylon. Gracefully swirling her patterned skirt, the Goddess waves sheaves of grain while dancing ecstatically.
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Brigid
The female heart of Ireland, though Her worship spread far beyond its borders. Bridget is Goddess of the Forge. She is the Mother of Inspiration, Healing, Poetry and Smithcraft. Known as a powerful Fire Goddess, Brigit she is also a Water Goddess, She presides over fertility and childbirth as well as all forms of creation. Cattle, horses, sacred wells, stones, herbs and trees are among the symbols most often associated with Brigid.
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Dakini
Dakini leads us through life's turning points. She is the supreme embodiment of highest wisdom and the most potent manifestation of feminine divinity in Tibetan Buddhism. Her name means Sky Dancer, with sky connoting creativity and potentiality. Dakini is an instigator who pushes the aspirant toward enlightenment.
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Freya
This Norse Goddess sometimes rode upon the boar, Hildisvini, probably a metaphorical image of sacred sexuality designed to bring crop fertility.
In her sacred sex goddess role she was closely involved in love, courtship and marriage rituals, while the procession of her statue by wagon from place to place was credited with the gift of prophecy, sexual potency and easing childbirth. Her fertility aspect was emphasized by various legends of promiscuity in Icelandic Sagas, especially with Loki.
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Hera
Regal and Powerful, this statue depicts Hera holding a flowering apple branch from her western orchard of immortality. Romans worshipped her as Juno. Amazon priestesses fought for matriarchy in Hera's name as recently as the time of Herodotus (450 BCE). As Goddesses everywhere lost power, Hera was forced into marriage with Zeus, but retained her position as Queen of the Gods. Her name is from the Aegean Greek for "Lady" or "Holy One."
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Inanna
Inanna was seen as the The Queen of Heaven and Earth. The flowering of Sumeria, its temples, ordered cities, irrigated fields, birthplace of cuneiform writing and codes of law, and mastery of terra-cotta arts, all offer tribute to this earliest named Great Goddess. Worshiped as early as 7000 BCE, Inanna was still widely revered after patriarchal incursions into the Euphrates plain. She descended from heaven to bring prosperity to Her people, then descended into the Realm of Death in a quest for wisdom. The annual sexual union with her lover and son Dumuzi was viewed as the source of fecundity and plenty.
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Isis
Egyptian Mother Goddess Isis. Her name comes from Egyptian Ashesh, which means both supporting and pouring out (of milk). Isis is called the Oldest of the Old, who existed from the beginning, the Goddess from whom all beginning arose.
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Labrys / Dictynna
Labrys Goddess of Crete, Dictynna, dances into our universe. Dressed in nets, She is neither naked nor clad, and lines of force surround Her. Double axes, or labryses, exclaim her active Feminine Energy.
The original "She who must be obeyed," Dictynna lived on top of Mount Dicta. Her powerful name lives on in our words "dictate" and "edict."
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Lilith
Lilith dates to 2300 BCE or earlier. This powerful dark-mother Goddess is referred to as a demon by Levite priests who wrote the Bible, likely due to her assertive behavior at a time when patriarchy was new. A Sumerian and Hebrew Goddess, she is referred to as the hand of Inanna, who gathered males into the temple for sacred sexual rites. In our tradition she was the original wife of Adam, with whom she claimed equality because they were created together in the image of Elohin (a word for "God" which had feminine as well as masculine linguistic roots). In her hands she holds the rod and ring of Sumerian royal authority (or glyph of 100,000).
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Parvati the Mountain Mother Goddess
Parvati is the consort of Shiva with whom she is often portrayed as an idealized divine family, along with their children Ganesh and Skanda. Parvati is a very benevolent goddess who absorbs Shiva's spiritual and sexual energy and releases it in the world for the benefit of all. Glowing skinned, Parvati is the daughter of the Himalayas.
In this beautifully adorned image, she stands with right hand raised as if holding a flower.
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Serpent Goddess
The Serpent Goddess promotes trance and dream time, the sources of transformation. The energy exuded by the snakes of this Cretan maiden exemplify sexuality, regeneration, and the mysterious otherworld of spirit journeying. This delicate Serpent Goddess was discovered in the underground repository of the Second Palace of Knossos (1600 BCE] and was worshiped in Crete as early as 6000 BCE. She depicts the benevolence and sacred power of the Life Force, holding high the two serpents of immortality. The tiny panther on her headdress may connect the Goddess to the fertility rites of the wine god Dionysos or denote an altered state of consciousness.
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Uma
This "Lady of the Mountains" shows us how to balance our many aspects. Beautiful and benignly powerful, she is also known as Parvati, the consort of Shiva. As the Mother of Ganesh, Kartikeya, Saraswati and Laxshmi, she encompasses their powers. Uma's image exudes a tranquil, serene beauty, and provides a calming effect in those hectic moments we all experience.
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Venus, Goddess of Sexual Love (Aphrodite)
Her famous Renaissance depiction, birthed from sea-foam, belies her earlier association with Artemis as a Lady of the Hunt. Her horned consort was Adonis, and her worship by the Romans included temple instruction in sacred sexual techniques for achieving heightened spiritual consciousness.
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Yemanja
Here Yemanja, Brazilian Goddess of the Ocean and Mother of Pearls, is shown standing on the waves offering her blessings for the families praying on the shore. She is the Orisha of procreation, gestation, and the family, and holds absolute reign over the hearth fire. Many in Brazil consider her to be the Mother of all Orishas. She is sometimes represented as a mermaid, a white seashell and the Virgin Mary.
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If you wish to purchase Goddess Art, go to...
[ SacredSource.com ]
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Worship of the Goddess in History, Art, Religion & Ancient Cultures
"The simplest and most basic meaning of the symbol of the Goddess is the acknowledgment
of the legitimacy of female power as a beneficent and independent power." ~ Carol P. Christ
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