The revival of Goddess religions

Abstract

The presentation examines the return of the religion of the Goddess (in Western cultures) as one of the most unexpected developments of the late twentieth century. Contemporary awareness and attention to gender difference theory have opened up new dimensions for spiritual expressions and spiritual practises, encouraging the development of new forms of female spirituality and the formation of new religious representations from a feminine perspective. Traditional forms of spirituality are clearly dualistic at their core, with the material world, physicality, and femininity on one side and transcendence, spirituality, and masculinity on the other. However, the tendency of modern forms of spirituality is to seek the sacred through and in solidarity, interdependence and holistic integrity. From this perspective, the Goddess movement, the revival of lost women’s folk religiosity and female pagan cults, thealogy and various other movements of women’s spirituality are analysed as a tool for reconstructing the past from a feminist perspective and in the process of transforming collective memory and current religious conceptualization. For the symbols and rituals of the Goddess religions bring the paradigm of the deep interconnectedness of all people and all beings in the web of life.