When I sat down to write this article, I consulted Wikipedia’s glossary of spiritual terms and discovered God but no Goddess under “G”. Although one of my readers immediately added a definition of the Goddess, I was deeply impacted by this omission. It verified what I’ve always known: in our modern sensibilities, God is the fundamental construct for Divinity, and the Goddess doesn’t even make the list. That’s not to say that the Goddess isn’t recognized and honored by many, but collectively we don’t identify with or adhere to a feminine concept of the Divine.
You may ask yourself: why does this matter? What do we gain from a feminine concept of the Divine? I could answer these questions from an intellectual perspective, but that doesn’t sit well with me. It’s like talking about someone in the third-person when they’re standing right beside you.
Beneath our everyday existence is a vast realm of mystery that is the between-the-worlds home of those we have named God and Goddess. We humans have always known this and have given voice to our connection to these otherworld beings by conceiving and naming their qualities, powers and gifts through our mythic storytelling and spiritual and religious practices. But the Gods and Goddesses exist in their own right, independent of our human conceptions.
Let’s return to the questions of why the Goddess matters, and what we gain from a feminine conception of the Divine. But rather than me answering these questions, I will do my best to get out of the way and let the Goddess speak for Herself:
I am the shining light in your cells and the beating love in your heart. My ethos is one of creation, of life giving birth to and nurturing life. Your body and soul are woven of my sacred essence, and the material world is the outer expression of my presence.
In your fear, you turned away from me, for I am also death, the struggle that comes from being born of flesh and beholden to the ways of the physical Universe, and the great unknown of the sacred dark. You cannot control me or escape me; nor can you control and escape these very things in yourself.
When you turn away from me, you forget your origins and essential nature:
That you were born from a mother and are nurtured and nourished from the Mother Earth, your home;
That you are made of flesh, of matter, of a thing that naturally grows old, decays and dies, and that this bittersweet reality is what makes life so precious and sacred;
That you are beautiful and perfect the way you are, and that your struggles are part of living and becoming more consciously and powerfully your Self;
That your deepest purpose is to become more fully your Self, and from this personal munificence, lavish your very best on the greater world;
That you are here to create beauty and spread love, to be kind and compassionate to your human companions, and to protect and help flourish the living land and all Her creatures;
That there is truly enough for all, enough beauty, enough love, enough nourishment, enough joy, enough recognition, enough power for everyone and everything.
It is time to wake up and remember. It is time to abandon your half-life based on your half-nature. It is time to make love and life the center of your existence, for your hands are my hands, your eyes are my eyes, your voice is my voice, and your heart is my heart. I cannot tend and nurture this world without you. And you cannot mend your soul and your human society without me.
These are the things that matter, not how you name or conceive me. My essence is inside of you, sourced from your best qualities and nature. Live these things, and I will awaken within your heart, your life and your world.
In whatever way these words speak to you, welcome the Goddess back into your life. Name and embrace Her as an actual being, an energetic force, an essential part of your human nature or however you most comfortably conceive Her.
Love matters. Goodness matters. Beauty matters. Care of others and our Earth home matter. Becoming fully, beautifully your Self matters. Live these things and the Goddess will awaken in you and our collective concept of the Divine.
Artwork by: Greg Spalenka