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Father Sun, Mother Earth
Ancient cultures revered the mysterious forces that kept us alive. We relied upon the daily reappearance of the Sun. We no less depended upon the Earth as a fertile vessel, absorbing its rays and bearing the fruits of their union. The model was already there in our biology and society, and perhaps not surprisingly, these essential elements came to be understood in a ritual way as a union between male and female gods.
Early religions recognized the complementary aspect of male and female forces. This equilibrium was observed, from the Yin and Yang of Ancient China in the east to the Incas' Moon goddess, Quilla and her sun-god husband, Inti in the west. By understanding those forces in our own image, as a balance between male and female, we tried to come to terms with their power.
Why then, do many of the world's modern religions appear so resolutely patriarchal? Where is the Sacred Feminine?
The realm of the Earth goddess
We find much more evidence of the Sacred Feminine among earlier cultures, and those outside the influence of monotheistic faiths. The Venus of Willendorf is a statuette carved 25,000 years ago in what is now Austria. Her pronounced vulva, breasts, and swollen belly suggest a strong connection to fertility, leading some scholars to view her as an archetypal mother figure.
Fertility and nature goddesses abounded in the ancient world. Most travelled with the spread of cultures and were often very much the same in all but name. Anahita, a major goddess of the Persians was regarded as the consort of Mithra, worshipped as far and wide as India and Rome. Astarte was the Phoenician goddess of fertility and reproduction, adopted by the Ancient Greeks as Aphrodite, goddess of love. Artemis, goddess of the hunt, fertility and childbirth was the female twin of the Greco-Roman god Apollo. In Norse mythology, Freya was worshipped as a fertility goddess and the counterpart to her brother the fertility god Freyr... and so it goes on.
Fertility and nature goddesses abounded in the ancient world. Most travelled with the spread of cultures and were often very much the same in all but name. Anahita, a major goddess of the Persians was regarded as the consort of Mithra, worshipped as far and wide as India and Rome. Astarte was the Phoenician goddess of fertility and reproduction, adopted by the Ancient Greeks as Aphrodite, goddess of love. Artemis, goddess of the hunt, fertility and childbirth was the female twin of the Greco-Roman god Apollo. In Norse mythology, Freya was worshipped as a fertility goddess and the counterpart to her brother the fertility god Freyr... and so it goes on.
