Written by and in honor of Abby Willowroot – as found in the preface of The Great Goddess Mother of All
*See main picture credit below
A note by Caryn: “When I first found Women’s Circles back in 2014, I bought one of these statues! So lovely to find out who designed it! IN honor of Abby, a foremother paving the way.”
On many occasions I’ve been asked, “What is all this Goddess stuff about anyway?” Here is a brief attempt at an answer.
What is a Goddess?
The word goddess means a female divine being. Around the world for many thousands of years, the majority of our ancestors worshipped a Divine and powerful Mother-Goddess. She was honored as the Mother of all life. Modern archaeologists have discovered many statues and artifacts that verify the worship of ancient female deities.
Where did the idea of a Goddess come from?
Early humans depended on the earth for all things, food, shelter, and life itself. They noticed that all life was created within the bodies of females and so it was natural for them to see an all-powerful creator as female too. Cave paintings and rock carvings of Goddesses have been found that date back to 35,000 years B.C.E. or earlier. Many of these statues and painted images are often called “Venus”. The best known of these, is the Venus of Willendorf. Goddess images of great antiquity have been found all over the world. Most of the earliest images of a Goddess show an abundant, round, full figured and serene being. An ample form symbolized prosperity, freedom from hunger and security. It is not clear if early Goddess worshippers also practiced ancestor worship.
Is the Goddess only for women?
No, the Goddess was celebrated and revered by all members of early societies. Men, women and children were all under the protection of the ever-present powerful Mother Goddess; She was both nurturing and fierce. Today, as the culture of the Goddess is re-emerging, women, men and children celebrate divine female energy again, just as they did in early times.
Does anyone still believe in a Goddess?
Yes, many cultures around the world have never stopped worshipping Goddesses. The Hindus of India have a pantheon of many Goddesses and Gods. Today in Japan the great Sun Goddess, Amaterasu is honored as the Divine Mother of the Japanese people. The Goddess of Mercy, Kwan Yin (Quan Yin) has many devotees in China. The Inuit people (Eskimos) still honor the OceanMother Sedna. In South America Ijemanja (Yemaya) the Sea Mother-Goddess is honored with huge public processionals on January 1st each year. In Africa, the Orishas are honored as Gods and Goddesses. Modern Jewish tradition still honors the Shekhina and millions of Catholics honor the Virgin Mary as a Goddess. In the United States and other western countries, for the past twenty-five or thirty years there has been rapidly growing interest in Goddess religion. Many Christian traditions like Unity, have begun to incorporated the Goddess into their faith. The Unity blessing includes a Mother-Father-God. There are also many groups that honor the various forms of the Goddess. Still other traditions honor the Goddess, along with a God. Covenant of the Goddess (COG) is a national religious group whose membership comes from many different Goddess traditions.
Abby Willowroot was a prominent Pagan artist and sculptor known for creating the iconic Spiral Goddess statue (in picture above), designed in 1999 for the Goddess 2000 Project. Her work, including the Spiral, Labyrinth, and Pentacle Goddesses, is widely used as altar art to represent Divine Feminine energy in Wiccan and Pagan traditions. Reverend Abby Willowroot passed away on August 4, 2018.
Check out the website that Abby launched in 1997.
Marco Nektan is creator of the book referenced above. Marco answered me immediately about my query to do this post allowing me. Thank you! and check out Marco’s very cool website here performance artist.
A prayer by Abby
This post is part of Goddess 101 Texts – telling another side of Our Story.
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