Goddesses in world religions and cultures Research Paper

Goddesses in world religions and cultures - Research Paper Example Divinity relates to the existence and our subsequent belief in God, Gods, and/or Goddesses. Various cultures have followed polytheistic and monotheistic ideals of divinity for centuries. Some still survive today and some do not. One such Deity representation which has become a symbol rather than actual worship in the modern world is the Goddess Culture, or Goddess centered worships. Though it has manifested itself in pop culture, mass consumerism, and various outspread ‘occult’ religions, it has powerful roots in practices of old. We know that civilization’s cradle was hunting and agriculture. These two aspects were attributed to male and female counterparts as part of a natural living arrangement. Women and agriculture were equated as being fertile, bringing forth new life and vitality. This gave way to perhaps a self-constructed notion of a female deity which was responsible for vegetative-ness. Though we may not see evidence of it in our current world surroundings, the European Goddess culture of old lasted for thousands of years and has managed to permeate into differing modern day contexts. The eventual suppression of Goddess worship came about as a result of a number of factors. Historians largely believe that the Eastern dominance of Europe had a major impact. They brought biological knowledge of male procreation as well as their own mostly patriarchal values to Europe. This slow evolvement of thought coupled with male brute strength eventually came to replace the concept of the Divine Feminine and render her inferior to men. The situation was intensified when the witch-hunts and witch-burnings of the Middle Ages began to take place all across Europe and America. These were the same women who were considered heretics, pagans, and followers of some unnatural nature religion. But prior to such suppression, somewhere during the pre-Christian era, polytheistic