What is the worship of the mother goddess about.?

Question

Can you also give a breif desription of the beliefs.

Answer 1

Goddess worship is a general description for the veneration of a female Goddess or goddesses. Many New Age Goddess devotees prefer the term goddess spirituality, avoiding the term "worship" for a faith that does not distance the Divine into a remote, hierarchical separation. Goddess veneration may be also used instead of "worship", as it can imply respect and intimacy without undue deference. In such contexts, "spirituality" is often preferred to "religion" because major organised religions have not typically nurtured goddess worship, with the notable exception of Hinduism.

Goddess worship can be conservative, supporting male dominance, state control, and empire building; or it can be radical, challenging those traditions. It can support women's authority. In Western society goddess worship has developed into a distinct culture since the mid-19th century. Goddess worship is not necessarily feminist, though in Western societies the feminist version is probably the most articulate.

Pagan and Neopagan religions or denominations generally recognise goddess worship as one of their few areas of consensus. However not all goddess worship is Pagan.

The female deity may be referred to in all inclusive terms, such as "The Great Goddess" or "Queen of Heaven", or she may be referred to in more specific terms: Kali, Isis, or Kwan Yin.

Some authors, the most notable of whom is Marija Gimbutas, believe goddess worship started in prehistoric times. They believe that artifacts from that period, such as the "Venus of Willendorf", may be representations of fertility goddesses. However, it is difficult to prove the role of these artifacts conclusively as evidence surrounding their place in their society is scanty. Scholars including Peter Ucko have asserted that the figurines in question were territorial markers, toys, sex aids, sex education models, and images of priestesses rather than goddesses. Such controversy tends, though, to assume that these artifacts were put to specific, single usage. It is quite possible that the same object served many functions, at different times, or even simultaneously.

Hinduism is the most prolific and oldest surviving religion incorporating formal goddess worship.

The Fellowship of Isis, based in Eire (Ireland), is an international network founded in the 1970s that spans all continents, but especially Europe and Africa. Members are both conservative and radical, Pagan and non-Pagan. There is a well developed liturgy, and well established support for home based temples or teaching centres.
http://www.fellowshipofisis.com/

Answer 2

Some pagan sects, Wiccans, too I hear, give their gods, or symbols if you like, both sexes. The goddess is the symbol of the feminine side of nature. You could almost transfer the label of mother nature to the goddess although there's a little more to it than that. The idea is a balance between opposites, day/night, right/left, up/down, fire and water, I'm sure you get the drift.

Answer 3

A mother goddess is a goddess, often portrayed as the Earth Mother, who serves as a general fertility deity, the bountiful embodiment of the earth. As such, not all goddesses should be viewed as manifestations of the mother goddess.

That's a *very* brief outline. Mother Goddesses are basically about female fertility and "mother nature". Ancient cultures used to see this as a central part of their faith, because they depended on nature every day for their survival, and because women bore children who kept their culture from dying out. Later on people forgot, as we learned how to preserve food to keep us through the lean times, and also as men took over positions of authority and put women in a suppressed condition. Nowadays the mother goddess is worshipped by a few revivalists in the west; however in Hinduism the concept has survived fairly well.

Answer 4

Venus the Goddess of Beauty and Love....
Below is a Bible verse which talks about people worshipping the planet Venus as the "Queen of Heaven." Jeremiah 44:17 (NIV) "We will certainly do everything we said we would: We will burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and will pour out drink offerings to her just as we and our fathers, our kings and our officials did in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. At that time we had plenty of food and were well off and suffered no harm." …There are those who claim that it's referring to Venus, Asherah, Ashtoreth, Ishtar, or Isis. They are all the same person. Venus is equivalent to the Egyptian Goddess Isis, the Phoenician Astarte and the Babylonian Ishtar. Venus is known as the Daughter of Heaven and Sea (Creation).

Answer 5

The mother was the 1st goddess, she lasted the longest in Africa. We started as hunt and gather society with woman doing most of the work, you needed to know the phases of the moon,and woman were the ones who could reproduce. As we moved toward a hunter society, we became more orientated towards male gods, as males became more valued for their ability to provide the food.

Answer 6

Mother-Child relatioship is universally accepted. All ancient civilisations have worshipped godesses. Perhaps there would have been less tension by adoption of a universal faith
D B Saxena

Answer 7

You come out of the womb at birth and go back into the womb at death.This is the mother Goddess. To see the goddess naked is to see Reality.

Answer 8

Pagans worshiped a female deity. Some Pagans refer to the moon as our mother the moon. Some say mother earth. In any case the thought of worshipping a female became very distasteful. Mostly it is just part of the progression leading up to the worship of one God.

Answer 9

In wiccan religion the mother godess is embodied by the moon. And when you pray to her you sort of direct your attention to the moon. Preferably full.