In the Christian Bible it states that "God made man in his own image", but it would be more true to say that man created God in his image. Over the centuries we have created our Gods and Goddesses in human form, because we cannot understand or even imagine a intelligence greater or different from ourselves. So for this reason we have to see the intelligent that has created the universe as human. Because we have no other way of understanding or relating to it.
Attempts to go beyond the human image has failed as we can see in Taoism and Buddhism. Where the universal intelligent is referred to the Tao or Nirvana. In Buddhism it has become Buddha himself that has been worshiped like a God. While Taoism never got beyond the boundaries of China and was taken over in time by Buddhism. How we perceive what the Universal Intelligent to be like shapes our world-view. Which in turn influences how we run our societies and how we treat each other.
The first societies and civilizations worshiped the Great Mother but as this happened in prehistoric time, we today know very little about these societies. The oldest city ever discovered by archaeologist was Catal Huyuk, which is far older than either the Ancient Egyptian and Sumerian civilizations. Where they discovered a ancient city with no city wall or means to defend itself. Which points to the fact that the city existed for thousands of years in harmony and peace with its neighbours. So shocking was this discovery that the excavation was abandoned after only one acre of the mound was systematically recorded. Also thousand of pages of analysis still remains unpublished about the city. Today Catal Huyuk is hardly ever mentioned by archaeologists, as being the oldest city ever discovered by them. Recently excavation on the site has now reopened but it has created controversy with a Goddess group arguing with the archaeologists about the interpretation of what is being found.
The reason why knowledge of this discovery is so dangerous to the establishment is because it undermines the very foundation of patriarchy. Who blame all the wars, civil-wars, injustice, inequality and poverty in our society on to "human-nature". So for archaeologist to discover a society where it seems that wars and injustice did not exist. Points to the fact there is something very wrong with the way we have been running our societies for the last four thousand years or more. If this knowledge became wide-spread. Then in would create new political or religious movements far more dangerous to the establishment than what communism was.
What archaeologists also discovered about Catal Huyuk was that they worshiped the Great Mother. Which at first doesn't seem that important. Until you realize that the sex of the Deity that people believe to be the Creator of the world. Changes how they think and believe what the world they live in to be like. To examine these sexual differences we have to first accept that men and women are in-fact very different.
Women's liberationist in the 1960s put forward the concept that men and women are very similar. To counter men's criticism that women are too weak, too emotional, and less intelligent than men. So this has became the excepted dogma of the Feminist movement ever since. Then more recently scientists have done research that shows that the sexes are more different than people imagined. This research was suppressed for many years for fear of upsetting Feminists, until the evidence became overwhelming. What these scientists have discovered is that it is the hormone testosterone that turns a female embryo into a male embryo. This hormone makes a man physically bigger and stronger than a women. It also causes mental changes as the brain of a male is very different to that of a female. Making a man more aggressive, assertive and logically detached.
In the past men have claimed that their aggression and cold logic made them superior to women and for this reason it was right that they should rule society. This would be a very good argument if everyone was happy with the way society was run, but even men are not happy within it. As we can see in the number of violent revolutions in the recent past. Also workers having to go on strike to try and get a better deal. The great amount of criticism governments have to face about the way they are running counties. And the harsh and brutal methods, some countries have to employ to keep the people in order.
When we worship Gods and believe that the creator of the universe is a man. We assume that such a creator would be aggressive and judgmental towards us, as this is what men are like. We would expect him to lay down strict rules and laws and punish us if we do not obey them. Because this is the way male rulers on this Earth behave. So we would become fearful of our creator, it is not for nothing that many Christians even today call themselves "God fearing people". This world-view creates a fear-ridden society where people are not only frighten of God. Who they believe will destroy them and cast them in hell if they are not good. Also people become frighten of each other, because it is all right for the Creator to be aggressive and judgmental towards humankind. Then with this example in mind, it is then all right for normal people to behave in the same way to each other.
Jesus probably saw this problem very clearly and attempted to reform religion and society by introducing the concept of a loving and caring Father God. In attempt to break the cycle of fear generated by worshiping a angry and judgmental male God. This was only partly successful as the image of a aggressive and dogmatic God, proved to be far stronger than the image of the gentle and caring Father God advocated by Jesus. Which has resulted in most Christians having a image of God that comes from the Old Testament.
In the 19th and 20th centuries in the western world science broke the power of the Church. By putting forward the theory of "Evolution" and later the "Big-Bang" theory which "proved" that the universe and the life in it was created without a creator. The atheistic society encouraged by science has proven to be more humane than the fear-ridden medieval society that existed before it. As people have become more tolerant of each other, people have become aware of the injustices of society. Their has been attempts to create freer societies through Democracies and Republics. To create more equal societies though communism and socialism. Also people today are aware of other injustices like racism, sexism and even ageism.
In spite of the improvement in society created by atheistic science, it still reflects man's nature. The evolution theory talks about "the survival of the fittest" and "nature, tooth and claw". Claiming that all life is in competition with each other, with the strongest surviving and the weakest becoming extinct. Which is a very masculine point-of-view and reflects the way of thinking of the man who created this theory. Because men are naturally aggressive and competitive it is natural for him to look for this in the world he lives in. So when male scientists examine and observe nature they only see the conflict and completion within it. Failing completely to see the great harmony that holds everything together. Not realizing that without the great degree of co-operation and harmony that exists in all life and matter, their would only be chaos. No complex life-forms or intelligent could possibly exist without order. If the cells in our body stopped working together and co-operating with each other we would quickly die. The more complex and intelligent a orgasm becomes the greater the need for co-operation becomes to make it work. This has been clearly shown by the "Gaia" theory of James Lovelock, who took nearly 20 years to find some acceptance of his theory by other scientists and even today many still reject it.
So we can see that in worshiping a male God or believing in atheism gives a very negative world-view, which in turn has a negative effect on the way we run society and behave towards each other. Apart from the evidence from Catal Huyuk we have no way of knowing what worshiping a Mother Goddess would have on our world-view, society and personal lives. Because all knowledge of our prehistoric past has been destroyed, probably quite deliberately. As we know that both the Christians and Moslems made a point of destroying vast amounts of ancient manuscripts as well as the ancient Goddess Temples. While Judaism has suppressed all knowledge that the Jewish people once worshiped goddesses. The same is true in China where Emperors two thousand years ago made a point of destroying all ancient knowledge. If we are to except what the excavation of Catal Huyuk seems to show, that the city lived in peace and harmony for thousands of years. Then we have to try and understand what effect the worship of the Great Mother would have on people's consciousness.
It would be excepted by all people that the image of a mother is of someone who gives her children unconditional love. That she will always do the best for her children and will always be there to guide, protect and care for her children. If most of the people in a society was to except themselves as the children of the Great Mother and believe in her as the Creator of us all. Then we can see from the start what a feeling of protection, security and a sense of being loved that this belief would give us all. Also by the Great Mother giving us unconditional love we are encouraged to follow her example and give the same love to each other. This is the love that Jesus talked about in "Loving your neighbours as yourself" that never somehow caught on in patriarchal society.
This world-view also would give us all a sense of harmony in all things. Which would give us all a true understanding of what the world is really like. Both God worship and atheism encourages us all to look at the negative and chaotic side of life and to believe it to be all that there is. So we then take the harmony and co-operation and order that makes our universe and life possible, completely for granted. Not realizing that we are only concentrating on a small aspect of life and making it dominate our lives. We can see this clearly in newspapers and news reports where only the negative is reported. While the harmony and order that makes societies and civilizations possible is never even commented on and goes unrecognized.
By concentrating on conflict we attract it more and more into our lives. If we believe all people are aggressive and hostile then we are more likely to be hostile toward them. If we believe nature to be hostile towards us we also in turn attack nature. In the 1950s scientists would boast about there "conquest of nature". Today with all the problems of pollution and damage to the environment no scientist would make such a claim. As people realize that if nature is conquered then it will die, as we can see today with more and more species of animals and plants becoming extinct.
When we concentrate on the harmony of life then we begin to see it all around us and we are more likely to co-operate with this harmony. When we accept the unconditional love of the Great Mother, we begin to see it in others and give out our love in return. Which will create the virtuous cycle of love and caring. As opposed to the vicious cycle of hate and fear we saw in medieval times or even in extreme patriarchal countries of today.
The worship of the Great Mother in society will change the relationship between the sexes, men will no longer wish to dominate society. As he begins to realize that by imposing his nature on society he as created great conflict, fear and suffering onto it. While women will become more confident in themselves, as they realize that in following their own nature they can create a far better society then was ever created by men. They will also have the confidence to be themselves and not as in the past trying to follow man's lead. Or like today try to act and behave like men.
Women will in time learn to be assertive but yet still be able to love others unconditionally. By doing this they will be able to create a caring world that is unimaginable today.
This article is also published at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DivineGoddess
