"There are thousands of Goddesses, from so many of the world’s traditions, known by different names and images, which represent the feminine aspects of divinity and also aspects of our humanity. Their images, energy and just the mere concept of female divinity can heal us, empower us, instruct us and help us find our way on life’s rocky path."

EXCERPTED FROM A Goddess Is A Girl’s Best Friend 
(Perigee Books, December 2002)

This Mother’s Day, as we stand poised on the threshold of a changing world, it seems a fitting time to remember the Divine Mother Goddess who helped bring forth the world.

We are at a point in history that calls both women and men to celebrate and elevate the energy of the feminine, along with the masculine. Spiritual law tells us that in order to find balance in our world and be whole and complete unto ourselves, we must embrace both the masculine and feminine aspects of ourselves. Acknowledging and embracing both our Divine Parents can help us on that journey.

WHO IS THE GODDESS?

Goddess history dates back to the earliest civilizations. It’s well documented that ancient societies worshiped feminine forms of God typically as mother, earth, nature, and the Holy Spirit, or as deities who personified feminine attributes. Our early ancestors saw the Divine Feminine as the source of all that is and they depended on her to sustain their very lives. Her power was expressed in the image and stories of literally thousands of Goddesses from cultures around the world.

Although many historians and archeologists place the heyday of Goddess worship about 5,000 years ago, the feminine divine was actively worshipped in some cultures just 2000 years ago. Egyptian pharaoh Cleopatra worshipped mother Goddess Isis, and saw herself as a divine female in human form ? only 36 years before the birth of Jesus Christ. Her beloved Julius Caesar, during his reign, erected temples to the Roman Goddess Venus, paying tribute to her as both a love Goddess and a mother Goddess, known as Venus Genetrix.

Ancient Goddesses were treated with the reverence modern religious culture now offers to Jesus, God, The Father, Allah, Krishna, and Buddha. And they were called upon for everything from ensuring fertile crops and easy childbirth to attaining wealth, health or, even, a peaceful death.

Worship of the Divine Mother permeated ancient societies. Her temples abounded. Her presence was expressed in the images, and stories that were passed along through many generations. Some of the most famous Goddesses such as Ishtar, Innana and Astarte once breathed life into the holy lands of the Middle-East many millennium ago; some of the old temples still stand.

As time marched on, many of the early Goddesses became archetypes for the west. Nike has her own running shoes and clothing line and Athena’s name is on everything from a pheromone product to Greek diner menus. Along with Venus, a world famous Goddess and archetype of love, sexuality and beauty, they have been relegated to mythology. But, as Joseph Campbell once reminded us, "one person’s mythology is another person’s religion." The Goddess was not a myth to our ancestors.

Many of the world’s cultures continue to worship, honor and pray to female deities. The Hindu, Buddhist, Tibetan, Native American, South American and African cultures are among those that always have, and continue to, commune with the Divine Feminine.