The Mother Goddess

The Mother Goddess:

As She Appears in Cultures Around The World

Introduction
Myths and legends have no traceable beginnings, but when passed down through generations, the survival of certain myths shows a little about the value these stories hold in a society. The following is a collection of stories from differnt cultures that focuses on the idea of the Mother Goddess,* and her role in their respective cultures.

Why I Chose This Topic

The main reason why I chose this topic is because I am in the first generation that was born into the so-called Women's Movement of the 80's. I have grown up with people bombarding my age group with their ideas of what it means to be a woman, what feminism is, and what roles women should be playing in modern society. The women in my age group are in a real mess because of this. We don't want to be passive doormats, but we also don't want to be seen as femi-nazis; and we are wondering: where is the middle ground?

The Dilemma

Can a woman today be independent, outspoken, assertive, and pursue her goals without being criticized for not being "feminine enough"? Many Third Wave feminists downplay the role of motherhood as a somehow inferior role that women are forced to play because of their gender, and if they (unfortunately) have children, then they better dump those kids off at the daycare when they are six weeks old and get back to work, because somehow it would look bad if she stayed at home to be a housewife. This is not sisterhood. Fighting other women is not advancing the improvement of the status of women.

What I Hope to Accomplish

Because of this, I feel it is important to take a look at the roles women have played in the past, when it was popular for mythology to contain women who were just as strong as men, but in their own way- in a feminine way, in the true sense of the word. I think that everyone should feel welcome to read this. I hope men aren't scared away because I used the word "feminism" and I am talking about a "Mother Goddess."

I feel that the best way for women to acheive the equality they desire is to actively involve men in their work for equality. Men are not the enemy, and seeing as how men have a powerful role in society, would it not be wise to have the ones with power on your side? In the following stories, it is important to realize that these are not just stories that mothers paseed down to their daughters. This is also what men in the culture believe and have passed down through the ages of oral tradiotion. When people begin to realize that women have not been second-class citizens from the beginning of time, then maybe we will come full circle and recognize that both men and women have played, and will always play invaluable roles in every society.

General Site Information

This site has been created as a part of Dr. Laura Gibbs' class: Mythology and Folklore Fall 2003 class assignment at the University of Oklahoma, so I do not, in any way, claim to be an expert on any of the following stories.

I would like to emphasize that these are not traditional re-tellings of the original stories. In some cases, such as with the goddess Asherah, a narrative story has not survived up to today. All we have are archaeological remants of statues or writings elsewhere that mention the goddess, and that sort of thing. In these cases, which I make known in the text, I gathered the most information I could find about the goddess and told a story based on the facts I had about her.

For more detailed information and notees on specific stories, please see the Sources page.

About the Author

* For some, the idea of The Mother Goddess is a bit foreign, so I will give a brief overview of this concept. The Mother Goddess is sometimes seen at the metaphorical "Mother" of a particular culture, and she is also often seen as the caretaker of humanity. Many people have heard of Native Americans referring to "Mother Earth." This is because of the idea of what a mother is. A mother gives birth to life when she gives birth to a child. In the same way, a mother goddess gives birth to life in all kinds of respects. In this website, you will learn more of what the concept of the Mother Goddess is, and how cultures from around the world share this concept. This idea will be discussed in depth in the stories.