Goddess Spirituality

One of the common themes out there in the world of Paganism and alternative spirituality is the concept of generic Goddess spirituality.  There are many different things that people mean when they say that they follow Goddess spirituality rather than a specific religion or spiritual path.  In all honesty like all spiritual paths Goddess spirituality is a very personal path.  There are some common themes and traits among Goddess spirituality so I am going to cover a few of those themes today for you to follow and understand.

What is Goddess spirituality

What is goddess spirituality?  Goddess spirituality is in the end a relationship with one divine great Goddess.  This Goddess is the mother of everything.  She is the creator of everything.  She has no name but is mother to every one who follows her path.  The Great Goddess is both apart of this world and separate from this world.  The Goddess is in everything and is a part of everything.

Goddess spirituality is actually as old as time.  The earliest figures that we have found appear to be mother Goddess figures.  It is believed that because women are the ones to give life that the ancient and primitive cultures believed that it was a feminine divine entity that created life.  They also believed that it was to her that we returned when we die.  She was the womb and the tomb.

The great Goddess is a theme that comes in many different forms and styles.  Goddess spirituality is essentially focusing on the Goddess as the source of all life.  Its celebrating her form through all life.  The great Goddess in Goddess spirituality is the one who can heal, who can protect, and can do everything.

In Goddess based spirituality all you focus on is her energy.  The Goddess is the one who gifts you with everything that you need to have in life.  She is abundance.  She is sexuality, she is passion.  The Goddess is the fertile fields, the growing tree.  She is the laughter of children and the fiery protection that parents have for their children.  This Goddess is love and light but is also fierce and protective.  She is also darkness and fears.

Theism and Goddess spirituality

In many pagan paths you find the concept of polytheism.  That is a belief in many different Gods and Goddesses.  When it comes to traditions and practices of Goddess based spirituality it ca be hard to define exactly if it is a polytheistic path or not.  Goddess spirituality can be a polytheistic path or it can be simply a path with out any real form of theism.  For now I am going to cover a few of the different theistic or deity centered ways that Goddess spirituality can be experienced.

In Goddess spirituality there are several ways that it can manifest.  The primary form of Goddess spirituality is a form that is that of Panentheism.  Here they believe that the Goddess is everything in the universe and beyond the universe.  The great Goddess both made the universe and makes up the universe.  The Goddess is here at all times and everything.

A related view of Goddess spirituality is that of Pantheism.  In Pantheism the Goddess makes up all of the universe and all of the known reality we live in.  She is everything here.  The Goddess is the universe manifested.  Just by living and experiencing life we experience her.  There is no need for prayer or worship.  Simply live life and enjoy the beauty and you have found the Goddess.  The Goddess would be in all the food we eat, all the plants we see and any and all animals that you encounter.

Many people who follow Goddess spirituality are soft polytheists of sorts.  These people believe that the Great Goddess has many faces and names.  They believe that all Goddesses are aspects of the one Goddess.  In soft polytheism they believe that she is so vast and so great that as humans we can not fully understand or appreciator all that she has to offer or even all of her mystery.  So we created and experience her face in many different forms.  In short those who follow a soft polytheistic path believe that  no matter what name you use for the great Goddess you are worshiping her.

The other way that Goddess spirituality manifests soft polytheism is believing that one great Goddess created everything and that this Goddess is both male and female.  In other words its not just the Goddesses that make up the Great encompassing Goddess.  In this view they believe that even the Gods or male aspects of the divine make up aspects of the great Goddess as well as the feminine.  This great Goddess is male and female all at once.

Hard polytheism .  In Goddess worship through hard polytheism the great Goddess isn’t one Goddess.  In this form of Goddess spirituality you are contacting the feminine divine forces through individual Goddesses.  Some one who follows Goddess spirituality through the form of individual Goddesses as separate entities worships the Goddesses as feminine divine forms.  Here they may worship the individual Goddesses for different reasons for their associations or for what ever reasons the Goddesses they worship call to them.

Then you have monotheistic Goddess worshipers.  The monotheistic Goddess worshiper believes that there is only one divine force in the world.  That one divine force is the Goddess.  They believe that no other divine force in the universe.  All the divine power and all divine influences come from this Goddess.  They believe that everything came from this Goddess and to her everything will return.  This is probably the most common form of Great Goddess worship and Goddess spirituality.

How to practice Goddess Spirituality

In Goddess spirituality the idea is that there are many different ways to practice Goddess spirituality.  Like any spiritual and religious path it is going to be a very personal path and choice.  Like all paths there will be different ways that you can go out and find the Goddess.  There are many ways you can work and make a relationship with the great Goddess and be a part of Goddess spirituality.

The best advice I can give on Goddess spirituality and practicing it is to remember how important feminine energy is to life.  All things in this world need both masculine and feminine energy in order to produce offspring and thus survive.  Life is the gift of the Goddess.  By appreciating life and enjoying life you are living with the Goddess and enjoying all that the Goddess has to offer you.  That is a form of Goddess worship.

In the poem the charge of the Goddess there is a line that states “All acts of love and pleasure are my rituals”.  This is one of the truths about true divine Goddess spirituality.  In true Goddess spirituality doing the things that you enjoy, the things that move your spirit and make you feel whole are ways you can honor and be one with the Goddess.  Yes sex and sexuality are implied in that wording but it means more than that.  If you live to perform find ways to dedicate your performances to the Goddess.  If you paint involve her in your activities and let her direct your painting.  By being true to your inner self and your real joys and pleasures in life you are being true to her and letting her move you.

If you are the type of person who likes to do formal ritual than go for it.  Goddesses and the divine in general do enjoy formal worship.  When ever you are working with any sort of spirit of divine being its important to give them offerings of types at different times.  This is how you worship them and stay in their presences.  With the great Goddess and Goddess spirituality its not really any different.  It just depends on how you interpret the Goddess in your version of Goddess spirituality.

Now you may think that Goddess spirituality is just for women.  This is not true.  While you may find and will find a majority of Goddess central or Goddess based spiritual paths are women only, this is in part because the Goddess spiritual movement has been tied in with feminine power and movements to empower women.  Goddess spirituality also in many cases and ways focuses on women mysteries hence forth it is a female central path.  There are men on this path its just different for them and they often times feel out of place.

Paths and traditions

The following is a list of known Goddess central and Goddess spirituality based paths.

Dianic Wicca-Formed by Z Buddapest

Reclaiming- Starhawks tradition a mixture of Dianic Wicca and Feri witchcraft

Resources

Goddess spirituality is not one of my expertise.  It is an area that I have only done some vague research into.  I have presented you with the information I have found.  I am providing you with some resources now on Goddess spirituality that may be more beneficial to you,

Books:

The Spiral Dance by Starhawk

The Book of Womens Mysteries by Z. Buddapest

The White Goddess Robert Graves

Websites:

Goddess movement Wikipedia

Temple of Diana

If you have a book or link on Goddess spirituality that you would like to share comment and I will add it to the list. I will also add them to the links pages as I get those resource pages up and running.