Goddess Remembered: A Reflection on the 1989 Canadian Documentary

"If we are to survive, we should reclaim the lost Goddess and bring back the people into the fold of the nurturing embrace of Gaia, the Mother Nature."

“In the beginning, the Goddess created the sky. Then she put the stars, the sun, the moon and the planets. She was delighted with the heavenly bodies. But she wanted something special, so she gave birth to the earth; with all its bounty, the rivers, seas, oceans teeming with life. Then the trees, plants, with flowers in colorful blooms, animals both large and small. She was satisfied. She was about to rest, but she felt something was lacking. So she thought of someone that could be like her. She gave birth to a being, molded in her own image. She called her a WOMAN. She put her in the earth to nurture it and use it according to her needs. But the WOMAN was alone. The WOMAN wanted to have a partner. Out of her womb came a being whom she called MAN after her…” my own version of Creation.

I wrote it after watching the film documentary, Goddess Remembered. Aptly titled, the panelists Merlin Stone, Carol Christ, Luisah Teish, Starhawk, Charlene Spretnak, and Jean Bolen explained the transition of Goddess worship in the ancient civilization, particularly of Old European, towards the violent androcentric God. They also exchanged views on their feelings of the Goddess.
With a background on feminist theology, it is easy for me to internalize the beauty of the Goddess’s creation which is centered on nurturing nature as well as the egalitarian partnership between men and women. Nature and spirituality goes hand in hand. As one of the panelists says, the Goddess can be found anywhere. It is evident in the worship tradition of the tribal people whose gods and goddesses and ancestors reside in nature; a stone, a tree, brook or in the stars and moon. It is very much different from the so-called civilized people that see nature as source of industrial growth.

The Goddess worship was very prominent to the Minoan civilization of the island of Crete. It was also said that this civilization were peaceful and happy people, there also shown in their arts. To put it all, the rest of the world, from Asia to Africa were once Goddess worshippers. But as the civilization discovered metal, weapons of mass destruction were also developed. Thus, the phallic symbol became prominent. In many ancient drawings on walls, by 3000 BC the bloody transition begun. Pictures of resistance and domination of women were shown. There may be few resistance, and those were of the Amazons. In the pictures they were overpowered. Indeed, the bloody celebration of war and chaos became prominent in the recent civilizations.

But resurrecting the Goddess may not be difficult after all. We are now tired of the God whose power does not create goodness but destruction and domination. The Marian Cult for example is widely accepted in many countries were once goddess worshippers. In Mary (the mother of Jesus) we see life, creation and compassion. She is Isis, Astarte, and the many names of the goddess of long ago. She has an encompassing beauty, strength and goodness that triumph over death and chaos.
“The Woman and Man live peacefully with the creatures in the garden called Earth. There were no hunger and pain. But the Man disobeyed the Goddess. He created weapons and soon enough subdued nature… and the Woman. Ultimately, the Man changed the name of the Goddess into God… which the Man created in his own image… and the dark ages begun…”
If we are to survive, we should reclaim the lost Goddess and bring back the people into the fold of the nurturing embrace of Gaia, the Mother Nature.

Read more: http://cinemaroll.com/documentary/goddess-remembered-a-reflection-on-the...