Introduction to Goddess Spirituality
"The spirit is really the bouquet of life. It is not something breathed into life, it comes out of life. This is one of the glorious things about the mother-goddess religions, where the world is the body of the Goddess, divine in itself, and divinity isn't something ruling over and above a fallen nature.... Our story of the fall in the Garden sees nature as corrupt; and that myth corrupts the whole world for us. Because nature is thought of as corrupt, every spontaneous act is sinful and must not be yielded to. You get a totally different civilization and a totally different way of living according to whether your myth presents nature as fallen or whether nature is in itself a manifestation of divinity, and the spirit is the revelation of the divinity that is inherent in nature." ~ Joseph Campbell
Goddess Spirituality is a movement … a practice … a belief system made up of women and men from all walks of life and all types of religious backgrounds and experiences. A belief in Goddess as the primary divinity, the Creatrix, is one of the common factors of those who identify with Goddess Spirituality. Our approach to spirituality and union with divinity is experienced through and informed by Goddess.
Ways of worship, ceremonial practices, and expression of Goddess Spirituality is fluid and reflects a “being-ness” rather than dogma and there are no set rules. Goddess Spirituality can exist within traditional religious frameworks and can also exist without any framework at all. In the end, it comes down to your personal relationship with Goddess and a female-centric approach to the world.
The roots of Goddess Spirituality and the Goddess Movement may be found in the feminist movement that sparked in the 1960's, sometimes called second wave feminism in deference to the work of the Suffragettes and Foremothers at the turn of the century. The inspiration for Goddess Spirituality may be sourced in many of the pre-Christian matriarchal societies and ancient Goddess/Pagan worship.
Throughout Goddess Spirituality, you will find circles, covens, Red Tents, groups, and informal gatherings of those who come together to celebrate Goddess through ritual, ceremony, and sisterhood. Many of these gatherings are woman-centric and focus on spiritual worship and female rites of passage and blood mysteries. Those involved in Goddess Spirituality may also identify as Pagan, Wiccan, Polytheistic, Shamanic, Lukumi (and other Afro-Caribbean religions), Monotheistic, and as part of traditional religions.
“The psyches and souls of women also have their own cycles and seasons of doing and solitude, running and staying, being involved and being removed, questing and resting, creating and incubating, being of the world and returning to the soul-place.” ~ Clarissa Pinkola Estés
Consider Goddess Spirituality a sacred container for your awakening to the Divine Feminine; a journey to reconnecting and re-membering the soul seeds of Goddess deep within you. There is no right or wrong when you approach Goddess with an open heart and desire to know Her more.
As you will see through the articles and offerings here, connection to Goddess is unique to each woman. Make it your own - Goddess is waiting.
Blessings on your path!
Kimberly
