Goddesses and the Divine Feminine: A Western Religious History
Goddesses and the Divine Feminine: A Western Religious History
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Abstract
This book presents the most illuminating portrait we have to date of goddesses and sacred female imagery in Western culture—from prehistory to contemporary goddess movements. It looks at the complexity of the social forces—mostly androcentric—that have shaped the symbolism of the sacred feminine. At the same time, it charts a new direction for finding a truly egalitarian vision of God and human relations through a feminist-ecological spirituality. The book begins its exploration of the divine feminine with an analysis of prehistoric archaeology that challenges the popular idea that, until their overthrow by male-dominated monotheism, many ancient societies were matriarchal in structure, governed by a feminine divinity and existing in harmony with nature. It argues that the historical evidence suggests that the reality about these societies is much more complex. It goes on to consider key myths and rituals from Sumerian, Babylonian, Egyptian, and Anatolian cultures; it examines the relationships among gender, deity, and nature in the Hebrew religion; and discusses the development of Mariology and female mysticism in medieval Catholicism, as well as the continuation of Wisdom mysticism in Protestantism. The book also analyzes the meeting of Aztec and Christian female symbols in Mexico and of today's neo-pagan movements in the United States.
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Front Matter
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Introduction
Rosemary Radford Ruether
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One
Gender and the Problem of Prehistory
Rosemary Radford Ruether
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Two
Goddesses and World Renewal in the Ancient Mediterranean
Rosemary Radford Ruether
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Three
The Hebrew God and Gender
Rosemary Radford Ruether
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Four
Savior Goddesses in the Mystery Religions and Gnosticism
Rosemary Radford Ruether
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Five
The Spiritual Feminine in New Testament and Patristic Christianity
Rosemary Radford Ruether
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Six
Feminine Symbols in Medieval Religious Literature
Rosemary Radford Ruether
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Seven
Tonantzin-Guadalupe: The Meeting of Aztec and Christian Female Symbols in Mexico
Rosemary Radford Ruether
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Eight
Mary and Wisdom in Protestant Mystical Millennialism
Rosemary Radford Ruether
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Nine
Contested Gender Status and Imagining Ancient Matriarchy
Rosemary Radford Ruether
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Ten
The Return of the Goddess
Rosemary Radford Ruether
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Conclusion
Rosemary Radford Ruether
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End Matter
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