A matriarchal religion is a religion that focuses on a goddess or goddesses. The term is most often used to refer to theories of prehistoric matriarchal religions that were proposed by scholars such as Johann Jakob Bachofen,

Jane Ellen Harrison Jane Ellen Harrison (9 September 1850 – 15 April 1928) was a British classical scholar and linguist. Harrison is one of the founders, with Karl Kerenyi and Walter Burkert, of modern studies in Ancient Greek religion and mythology. She ...

, and

Marija Gimbutas Marija Gimbutas ( lt, Marija Gimbutienė, ; January 23, 1921 – February 2, 1994) was a Lithuanian archaeologist and anthropologist known for her research into the Neolithic and Bronze Age cultures of " Old Europe" and for her Kurgan hypothesis ...

, and later popularized by

second-wave feminism Second-wave feminism was a period of feminist activity that began in the early 1960s and lasted roughly two decades. It took place throughout the Western world, and aimed to increase equality for women by building on previous feminist gains. ...

. In the 20th century, a movement to revive these practices resulted in the

Goddess movement The Goddess movement includes spiritual beliefs or practices (chiefly Neopagan) which emerged predominantly in North America, Western Europe, Australia, and New Zealand in the 1970s. The movement grew as a reaction to perceptions of predominant ...

History

The concept of a prehistoric

matriarchy Matriarchy is a social system in which women hold the primary power positions in roles of authority. In a broader sense it can also extend to moral authority, social privilege and control of property. While those definitions apply in general ...

was introduced in 1861 when Johann Jakob Bachofen published ''Mother Right: An Investigation of the Religious and Juridical Character of Matriarchy in the Ancient World''. He postulated that the historical patriarchates were a comparatively recent development, having replaced an earlier state of primeval

, and postulated a "chthonic-maternal" prehistoric religion. Bachofen presents a model where matriarchal society and chthonic mystery cults are the second of four stages of the historical development of religion. The first stage he called "Hetaerism", characterized as a paleolithic hunter-and-gatherer society practicing a polyamorous and communistic lifestyle. The second stage is the

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several pa ...

, a matriarchal lunar stage of agriculture with an early form of Demeter the dominant deity. This was followed by a "Dionysian" stage of emerging patriarchy, finally succeeded by the "Apollonian" stage of patriarchy and the appearance of civilization in

classical antiquity Classical antiquity (also the classical era, classical period or classical age) is the period of cultural history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD centred on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ...

. The idea that this time period was a golden age that was displaced with the advent of patriarchy was first described by

Friedrich Engels Friedrich Engels ( ,"Engels"
'' Arthur Evans, the main rediscoverer and promoter of Minoan civilization, believed that Minoan religion more or less exclusively worshiped a mother goddess, and his view held sway for the first part of the 20th century, with a wide-ranging influence on thinking in various fields. Modern scholars agree that a mother or nature goddess was probably a dominant deity, but that there were also male deities. In the early 1900s, historian Jane Ellen Harrison put forward the theory that the Olympian pantheon replaced an earlier worship of earth goddesses. Robert Graves postulated a prehistoric matriarchal religion in the 1950s, in his '' The Greek Myths'' and ''

The White Goddess ''The White Goddess: a Historical Grammar of Poetic Myth'' is a book-length essay on the nature of poetic myth-making by author and poet Robert Graves. First published in 1948, the book is based on earlier articles published in ''Wales'' magazi ...

'', and gave a detailed depiction of a future society with a matriarchal religion in his novel '' Seven Days in New Crete''. 1936-003 Paalen

Inspired by Graves and other sources was the Austrian Surrealist Wolfgang Paalen who, in his painting " Pays interdit" ("Forbidden Land"), draws an apocalyptic landscape dominated by a female goddess and, as symbols of the male gods, fallen, meteorite-like planets.

Second-wave feminism and the Goddess movement

The ideas of Bachofen and Graves were taken up in the 1970s by second-wave feminists, such as author Merlin Stone, who took the Paleolithic Venus figurines as evidence of prehistorical matriarchal religion. She presents matriarchal religions as involving a "cult of serpents" as a major symbol of spiritual wisdom, fertility, life, strength. Additionally, anthropologist

introduced the field of

feminist archaeology Feminist archaeology employs a feminist perspective in interpreting past societies. It often focuses on gender, but also considers gender in tandem with other factors, such as sexuality, race, or class. Feminist archaeology has critiqued the ...

in the 1970s. Her books ''The Goddesses and Gods of Old Europe'' (1974), ''The Language of the Goddess'' (1989), and ''The Civilization of the Goddess'' (1991) became standard works for the theory that a patriarchic or "androcratic" culture originated in the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

, replacing a Neolithic Goddess-centered worldview. These theories were presented as scholarly hypotheses, albeit from an ideological viewpoint, in the 1970s, but they also influenced feminist spirituality and especially feminist branches of Neo-paganism that also arose during the 1970s (see Dianic Wicca and Reclaiming (Neopaganism)), so that Matriarchal Religion is also a contemporary

new religious movement A new religious movement (NRM), also known as alternative spirituality or a new religion, is a religious or Spirituality, spiritual group that has modern origins and is peripheral to its society's dominant religious culture. NRMs can be novel in ...

within the larger field of neopaganism, generally known as the

. Most modern anthropologists reject the idea of a prehistoric matriarchy, but recognize

matrilineal Matrilineality is the tracing of kinship through the female line. It may also correlate with a social system in which each person is identified with their matriline – their mother's lineage – and which can involve the inheritance ...

and matrifocal groups throughout human history (although matrilineal descent does not necessarily imply matriarchal political rule). But it is worth noting that matrilineality or matrilocality, although found among hunter-gatherers and probably were common in ancient societies, such a model was not the only one. Modern anthropologists note a fairly flexible system of kinship and residence among hunter-gatherers (our ancestors). It can be matrilineal and/or patrilineal, matrilocal and/or patrilocal. A number of scientists also advocate the multilocality of hunter-gatherer communities, refuting the concepts of exclusive matrilocality (matrilineality) or patrilocality (patrilineality). Also, some scientific data refute the one-line theory of evolution, which claimed that the ancient society was exclusively matriarchal, and only after some cultural shifts it moved to patriarchy. Modern data call into question this point of view. At the same time, for example, pastoralists-farmers tend to be more patrilocal and patrilineal than non-pastoralists. In contemporary spirituality, the Goddess movement has been used a way for women to separate themselves from powerlessness they were put under and to accept and come to terms that they are powerful. Goddess Spirituality was not used early on in the feminist movement when it came to women expressing their spirituality because they did not see the correlation and saw it fit as a way to express different situations and events women faced. Also feminine spirituality and gerontology are closely derived or related to one another because feminine spirituality focuses very closely on newer generations and how they need to be in touch with themselves and the world around them. But it is also something that should be pushed onto older women because feminine spirituality, as spirituality is found in people of all ages. The Goddess Movement and Women’s Movement have at times been closely associated with one another. One example is the idea of bodily autonomy. Many feminist movements and leaders believe that women's bodies have been oppressed for many years, with accusations of slut shaming being aimed at some religious groups, for example. Members of this movement see women being fetishsized and exploited, and believe that it has played a large role in

violence against women Violence against women (VAW), also known as gender-based violence and sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), are violent acts primarily or exclusively committed against women or girls, usually by men or boys. Such violence is often c ...

Triple goddess and other deities

There is a deity known within the movement and other spiritual groups as the Triple Goddess, who is the representation of a woman's stages or life. Members say, it's not strictly for women but for a general guide through childhood, maturity and old age but it strongly correlates with women. The Triple Goddess is a deity that is worshiped by a large swath of neopagan groups; women, children and men. In these movements, she is seen as a deity that helps people understand what is happening in their lives in all ages. Many believe the stages within women that the Triple Goddess guides them through is maiden/youth, then mother and lover and finally wise woman. All of this is rooted from Pagan people and their beliefs but has gone through changes throughout time yet her main representation has remained the same. Triple Goddess Symbol Filled

* *Aphrodite - goddess of love * Aditi - mother of the gods * Calypso - goddess of silence * Durga - warrior goddess * Inanna - queen of heaven, goddess of rain and moonlight * Harmonia - goddess of harmony *Tripura Sundari - supreme almighty goddess

Cultural impact

The Mother Goddess is a widely recognized

archetype The concept of an archetype (; ) appears in areas relating to behavior, historical psychology, and literary analysis. An archetype can be any of the following: # a statement, pattern of behavior, prototype, "first" form, or a main model that ...

psychoanalysis PsychoanalysisFrom Greek: + . is a set of theories and therapeutic techniques"What is psychoanalysis? Of course, one is supposed to answer that it is many things — a theory, a research method, a therapy, a body of knowledge. In what might ...

, and worship of mother earth and sky goddesses is known from numerous religious traditions of historical polytheism, especially in classical civilizations, when temples were built to many Goddesses.

Criticism

Debate continues on whether ancient matriarchal religion historically existed. American scholar

Camille Paglia Camille Anna Paglia (; born April 2, 1947) is an American feminist academic and social critic. Paglia has been a professor at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, since 1984. She is critical of many aspects of modern cultu ...

has argued that "Not a shred of evidence supports the existence of matriarchy anywhere in the world at any time," and further that "The moral ambivalence of the great mother Goddesses has been conveniently forgotten by those American feminists who have resurrected them." In her book ''

The Myth of Matriarchal Prehistory ''The Myth of Matriarchal Prehistory: Why An Invented Past Will Not Give Women a Future'' is a 2000 book by Cynthia Eller that seeks to deconstruct the theory of a prehistoric matriarchy. This hypothesis, she says, developed in 19th century scho ...

'' (2000), scholar

Cynthia Eller ''The Myth of Matriarchal Prehistory: Why An Invented Past Will Not Give Women a Future'' is a 2000 book by Cynthia Eller that seeks to deconstruct the theory of a prehistoric matriarchy. This hypothesis, she says, developed in 19th century scho ...

discusses the origins of the idea of matriarchal prehistory, evidence for and against its historical accuracy, and whether the idea is good for modern feminism. Kavita Maya cites scholars pointing out a perceived lack of an ethnic mix in Goddess feminism, arguing that the Goddess movement incorporates "unequal relational dynamics between white Goddess feminists and women of colour", and states that it is influenced by colonial narratives, resulting in both "silencing and the romanticization of racial difference".

References