The Great Goddess : Reverence of the Divine Feminine From the Paleolithic to the Present

A leading authority on pre-Christian civilization explores Goddess worship through the ages as revealed in myths, shrines, and sanctuaries. In Ancient Babylon She Was Anat, In Egypt, Isis And Hathor, Dana In Celtic Ireland, Rhea And Demeter In Greece, And In India, Anapurna The Provider. She Is The Great Goddess, The Symbol Of Earth And The Giver Of Life, The Vast Mother, Who Represented All The Powers And Mysteries Of Creation For Our Ancestors. In This Comprehensive Exploration Of The Goddess Figure, Jean Markale, One Of Today's Foremost Celtic Historians, Examines How Over Time Patriarchal Societies Tried To Force The Preeminent Power Of The Feminine Into An Obscure And Subservient Position, Shifting Her Solar Association Onto Masculine Deities And Discrediting Those Of Her Symbols, Like The Serpent, That Could Not Be Easily Assimilated. With Its Extensive Investigation Of All The Myths, Sites, And Sanctuaries Devoted To This Influential Figure, The Great Goddess Provides Us With Abundant Evidence Of The Extraordinary Permanence Of Her Worship--even At The Heart Of Those Religions That Tried To Destroy Her. Markale Explains How The Goddess Did Not Simply Disappear When Her Position Was Usurped, But Went Underground, Resurfacing Time And Again In Altered But Distinctly Recognizable Forms. The Great Solar Goddess Of Celtic Culture Reappears As The Mythical Grainne And In The Well-known Legend Of Tristan And Iseult. Features Of The Primordial Lilith, Relegated To Darkness In Rabbinical Tradition, Can Be Discerned In The Incomprehensible Black Virgins Of Christian Sanctuaries. And One Of The Key Figures Of Modern Christianity, The Virgin Mary, Possesses All The Characteristics Of The Ancient Mother Goddess: Wisdom, Beneficence, Nurturance, And Sacred Sexuality. Whether In Ancient Egypt, The Roman Empire, Celtic Europe, Or The Present Day, The Goddess Played, And Continues To Play, An Integral Part In Society's Need To Connect With The Source Of All Creation. Book Jacket.--jacket. Introduction: The Vast Mother 1 -- Part 1 Images And Sanctuaries Of The Goddess -- Part 2 Our Lady In All Things. Jean Markale ; Translated From The French By Jody Gladding. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. • A study of the primordial figure of the Great Goddess and her continued worship through time as shown by the myths, shrines, and sanctuaries around the world that honor this powerful symbol of creation. • A noted historian on pre-Christian societies provides an extensive worldwide listing of sites and sanctuaries associated with goddess worship. • Explores goddess worship in cultures around the world, including Native American, Egyptian, Indian, and Oriental civilizations. • Demonstrates that although her worship has sometimes been forced underground it has never disappeared. In ancient Babylon she was Anat, in Egypt, Isis and Hathor, Dana in Celtic Ireland, Rhea and Demeter in Greece, and in India, Anapurna the Provider. She is the Great Goddess, the Goddess of Beginnings, the symbol of Earth and the giver of life, the Vast Mother, who represents all the powers and mysteries of creation for early humanity. Shifting her solar association onto masculine deities and blackening those of her symbols that, like the serpent, could not be assimilated, patriarchal societies forced the preeminent power of the feminine into an obscure and subservient position. Yet, as shown by noted scholar Jean Markale, the Goddess did not simply disappear when her position was usurped, and the power she represents has been the source of continuous religious devotion from ancient times through the Middle Ages up to the present day. In looking at the plethora of myths, sites, and sanctuaries devoted to this powerful figure, The Great Goddess provides abundant evidence of the extraordinary permanence of her worship--even at the heart of those religions that tried to destroy her. 1 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 36 37 39 40 41 42 43 45 48 49 50 51 52 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 73 74 75 76 78 79 80 81 82 83 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 222 223 224 225 226 227 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 INDEX OF SITES, MUSEUMS, SANCTUARIES, AND PILGRIMAGES 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 INDEX OF SITES, MUSEUMS, SANCTUARIES, AND PILGRIMAGES 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266