The gender of God changed on three occasions; it began with the evolution of humanity followed by multiple stages of religious development. At first, it was believed the creator of the universe was androgynous. In the second stage of evolution, a goddess reigned over the world, and in the third stage there emerged a male deity. Moreover, the connection between humanity, gods, and goddesses is an important concept in the development of thought, religion and mythology.
A large part of our religious doctrine and cultural heritage is formed by beliefs, myths, and practices that have been handed down through generations by oral tradition. Storytellers and minstrel-poets used the spoken word, music, and drama as a tool to teach about our past. These people were regarded as very important on account of their passing down knowledge, skills, and moral codes. Myth, legend, and folklore, are all part of the same oral tradition. They are all intertwined and influence each other. The ancients used mythology as vehicles for expressing profound truths and were often associated with religion. It is concerned with matters that shape the lives of humanity, creation of the world, the relationships between gods and humans, the origin of life, the meaning of death, and the battle between good and evil. This shows that such myths are attempts at explaining the great underlying truths of life. One of the greatest mysteries is how the world began - how the earth, sky, and heavenly bodies were formed, and how humanity was created. There are striking similarities between the creation myths of different lands. The universe was often seen as emerging from chaos, a vast formless ocean without light, or as hatching from an egg which contained the germs of creation. A supreme-being or a divine couple emerged to bring order out of chaos, and to create light and life. Few myths try to explain the origin of matter itself. Creation was usually seen as a rearrangement of existing matter into the shape of the known world. In most mythologies, the earth and sky were gods, as were the forces of nature, such as the sun and winds, which stirred up creation.
When did history begin?
Ancient history was often referred to as classical antiquity. It is closely associated with the traditional date of the founding of Rome in 753BC and the beginning of the archaic period in ancient Greece. The ending date of ancient history is disputed by some Western scholars who use the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476AD as a reference point. Other references include the closing of the Platonic Academy in Athens 529AD and the death of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I in 565AD. Still, other scholars believe the end date of ancient history began with the coming of Islam 1200AD, or the rise of Charlemagne in 768AD. Therefore, the actual account of history is flawed. The original recording of history can be found in different countries. In Greece and Rome for example, anthropological research discovered that from the sixth century BC onwards Greek cities had used stone and marble to record information which needed to be kept polished and available for reading. In the Hellenistic period 323 BC – 30 BC, with the widespread development of new cities, the areas where the inscription on stones were set up, grew in number and was adopted by continental Greece, Northwest Greece, southeastern Europe, southwest Asia, Syria, the Black Sea coast, Mesopotamia, and as far east as Northern Afghanistan and India. The use of inscriptions on stone and marble in these different places is subject to several limitations. First, one cannot always establish the date and proof of an inscription. A stone may have been moved, or its contents may give no indication of its date. As well, the method of lettering may not be understood. Furthermore, inscriptions with same names were sometimes recopied at a later date. Where common names (e.g. that of a king) are mentioned, it may be uncertain as to which of a number of kings it was meant. The purpose of inscriptions was to publicly communicate as a method to promote a belief based on thoughts, political ideals, covert resistance and propaganda. An example of beliefs based on conjecture and myth was written in 1642 when the Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge University, Dr. Lightfoot, proclaimed that the world was created at 9 a.m., on October 23, 4004 BC. This refined dating was based upon the slightly earlier work of Archbishop Ussher of Armagh, who had already decided upon the year 4004BC, though his studies and calculations were based upon the Old Testament of the Bible. Such authoritarian statements had heralded in the Age of Reason. The urge to reduce an enigma by labelling and filing it from a dogmatic or pre-contrived system, is one of the most dangerous, and inherently, weakening the powers of the intellect. How creation began is a mystery. Scientists believe life began in water. Perhaps as slime and gradually took on the distinctive qualities of life. Earth today does not have the same conditions that produced life in the beginning, nor is there evidence that show life can be reproduced from inorganic matter. The mystery of creation cannot be solved through dogma or evolutionary systems. It can only be approached through levels found in mythology, which speak directly to the imagination in timeless imagery and narrative. It comes from deep levels of consciousness which is at the heart of our being. If we lose contact with the key images within myth, or with mythic patterns, we will lose contact with a reality that transcends the short-sightedness of civilization. An example of thought is the distinctive characteristics of human social instincts which depend in turn, upon the prolonged association of the child under maternal teaching by the mother. It is also the extended immaturity of the child which exceeds anything found in the animal kingdom. It is possible that the first stages of human development consisted of small isolated groups corresponding in size to that of a family. However, such limited groups would not be able to offer scope for the development of social relations and instincts which are essential to human qualities. It is the communication and association between individuals within a larger community that such progress depends. Various groups probably evolved at the same time in different parts of the world. A reference can also be found in the Book of Geneses about Adam and Eve who gave birth to their sons Cain and Able. Cain, after killing his brother Able, moved away and joined a different family group where he raised his own family. The human mind is a social product, and at the same time, an organ capable of intimate communication. As a result, the culminating factors of language and conceptual thought were developed. Such development could not have taken place in isolated groups consisting of a few individuals only. Social evolution is dependent upon communities with larger groups of people rather than a single family unit. As a rule, larger groups have greater cultural and social development. It is almost impossible to identify human traits from the study of prehistoric records. The original location and date, the place of differentiation and the circumstances under which that transformation occurred requires further investigation. The formation of a larger community from the original family group according to Briffault (1921), might take place in two ways: either a number of neighbouring families might come together; or the mature offspring of the original family, instead of separating from their parents, might remain with them and found secondary families. In this respect, an ever-increasing group consisting of a number of associated families would result. Marriage with members from outside groups as well as within family units appears to have occurred as far back as 700BC. In ancient Greece intermarriage with non-Greek communities was recorded in the Battle of Selinus 409BC. The Greeks defeated Segesta, a political centre originally occupied by migrants from parts of Asia and Turkey. Later, Segesta became the political centre of Sicily. Where the Greeks shared a community with non-Greeks such as in Leontini, the most ancient of Greek colonies, founded by Indo-European people where intermarriage was permitted. However, intermarriage on a much more substantial scale is widely held to have been practiced by Greeks as the rule in their colonization. This history of creating new communities may also serve as a model for other cultures through war and commerce. It had been reported that in Greek colonizing expeditions only the men went, who then took native women as their wives. Herodotus tells us about what happened in the Persian invasion of Miletus, the greatest and wealthiest of Greek cities.
" …these men did not take women to the colony, but married Carian women, whose fathers they killed. Because of this killing the women themselves made a law and imposed an oath on themselves (which they handed down to their daughters), never to eat together with their husbands, not to call their own husband by his name…"
This passage relates to a foundation of the migratory period in Greece, and is presumably an explanation of a cause rather than historical fact. There is no evidence that show Greek colonists behaved in a way similar to Herodotus’ colonists at Miletus, and there are disagreements among scholars in regards to the belief that such behaviour was normal practice. The names of women and men on grave stones in Greek colonies were clearly Greek with no sign of foreign influence. Some of the graves date to the early days in the colony’s history and there are indications that show Greek women went on colonial expeditions with the men. Women played an important role in religion and politics during matriarchal times. There is evidence that show female prophets permeated every aspect of Greco-Roman social life. Prophetesses provided guidance for governments in the matter of military expeditions, the founding of colonies, advice for individuals in matters of marriage, travel, and the bearing of children.
Alexander the Great consulted the prophetess Sibyl, who provided oracles after his conquest of Egypt, and another woman received prophetic oracles she conveyed to the wife of Garius Marius, a Roman general and statesman who then assigned her as his religious adviser.
The late second century witnessed a revival of prophetic authority within Christianity, and women prophets again became prominent. In Phrygia, an ancient kingdom in Turkey, the prophecy movement was named after one of its founders, Montanus, a prophet who had previously worked closely with the two prophetesses Priscilla and Quintilla. Because their prophecies were received as oracles from God, they were carefully written down and preserved as a second Scripture by early Christians in Montanist communities. Reverence for the oracles of women prophets was chronicled by a bitter rival Hippolytus (170 – 235), a male Christian theologian in Rome, who was outraged by the fact that women were respected above the male apostles and that prophetesses were accepted as equal to that of Scripture.
Women prophets were teaching, baptizing, exorcising, and healing. There is a story about one female theologian who was also a leader of a gnostic congregation. She incensed Tertullian, an early prolific male Christian writer who used the term “Trinity” to promote patriarchal leadership.
The concept of a trinity began with the old sun-gods signifying birth, virility, and death, it was personified in the three individual facets of the one personification. In Christian theology we can see the remnants of triads in the Holy Trinity; God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Despite male dominance, the mysterious power of women shown in their ability to reproduce as if by magic, led to women being associated with the gods of fertility. It was believed that the intercourse between sun and moon caused the moon to scatter prolific principles over the earth creating life. As a result, ancient tribes worshipped the moon as a female principle. She had her temples, priests and priestesses. The goddess was the most important deity and ruler over all things. The creation of this analogous concept of a distinct female reproductive force led to strong dissatisfaction and opposition. In addition, there was visualized a conflict of the male and female deities for supremacy.
Hesiod (8th - 7th century BC) a Greek poet, in his Theogony testifies to the existence of such conflicts. Consequently, Ouranus, the god of fire, was hated by his consort Gaea (earth). He was accused of cruelty to his own progeny. As well, there is the account of Saturn emasculating the tyrant god, and asserting the female principle. This, in turn, was overwhelmed by the sect of Jupiter establishing the apparent superiority of the male principle, leaving only an optional pre-eminence to the female principle, exhibited in the mysteries associated with the worship of Ceres at Eleusis, an ancient Greek cult with beliefs in immortality.
A myth is a story embodying and declaring a relationship pattern between humanity and the environment. It includes continuity, composition and relationships, which form specific and recognisable patterns. The pattern of relationship in a myth is part of a sequence deriving from traditional roots deep in early human history. It is often a narrative and, more significantly, a visual exposition of specific concepts. These concepts are expressed as tales or verses concerning magic, metaphysics and energies of life and death.
This shows that the transition of goddesses to the emerging rule of male gods is the most momentous revolutions in the history of humanity.
Nevertheless, in the fifth century BC, the status of women found various expressions in ritual. Women had special goddesses by whom they swear, they had their own festivals at which they may leave their apartments and socialize. The most important of these is Thesmophoria, a festival held in Greek cities, in honour of the goddesses Demeter and her daughter Persephone. The women would live together for three days in temporary barracks electing presidents and forming their own state. Men were strictly excluded. The cities had its own common hearth, established as a centre for the magistrates and the members of the Council to dine together. There was also a temple of Apollo Patrons which means ‘from the fathers’ and in the market place a temple of the Mothers of the Gods. But the supreme authority rested with Athena, the goddess of the Acropolis. However, over against these female and peaceful aspects, the sixth century had already stressed the warlike features of the goddess. Images showing Athena the goddess striking down a giant, was the recurrent subject woven into body length garments.
Certain shared norms, inherent in shared customs and common values as expressed in a common language, provides a facet of cultural unity. Honour, justice, excellence, obligation, favour and other complex words denote values and expectations constitute a single interlocking system of thought and belief.
In When Sex Was Religion, the goddess changed her gender not because of forces of nature, but, because of common values that began and hinged on the evolution and aggressive nature of the patriarch. – Dr. Larry J. Falls, Ed.D., ACS
" …these men did not take women to the colony, but married Carian women, whose fathers they killed. Because of this killing the women themselves made a law and imposed an oath on themselves (which they handed down to their daughters), never to eat together with their husbands, not to call their own husband by his name…"
This passage relates to a foundation of the migratory period in Greece, and is presumably an explanation of a cause rather than historical fact. There is no evidence that show Greek colonists behaved in a way similar to Herodotus’ colonists at Miletus, and there are disagreements among scholars in regards to the belief that such behaviour was normal practice. The names of women and men on grave stones in Greek colonies were clearly Greek with no sign of foreign influence. Some of the graves date to the early days in the colony’s history and there are indications that show Greek women went on colonial expeditions with the men. Women played an important role in religion and politics during matriarchal times. There is evidence that show female prophets permeated every aspect of Greco-Roman social life. Prophetesses provided guidance for governments in the matter of military expeditions, the founding of colonies, advice for individuals in matters of marriage, travel, and the bearing of children.
Alexander the Great consulted the prophetess Sibyl, who provided oracles after his conquest of Egypt, and another woman received prophetic oracles she conveyed to the wife of Garius Marius, a Roman general and statesman who then assigned her as his religious adviser.
The late second century witnessed a revival of prophetic authority within Christianity, and women prophets again became prominent. In Phrygia, an ancient kingdom in Turkey, the prophecy movement was named after one of its founders, Montanus, a prophet who had previously worked closely with the two prophetesses Priscilla and Quintilla. Because their prophecies were received as oracles from God, they were carefully written down and preserved as a second Scripture by early Christians in Montanist communities. Reverence for the oracles of women prophets was chronicled by a bitter rival Hippolytus (170 – 235), a male Christian theologian in Rome, who was outraged by the fact that women were respected above the male apostles and that prophetesses were accepted as equal to that of Scripture.
Women prophets were teaching, baptizing, exorcising, and healing. There is a story about one female theologian who was also a leader of a gnostic congregation. She incensed Tertullian, an early prolific male Christian writer who used the term “Trinity” to promote patriarchal leadership.
The concept of a trinity began with the old sun-gods signifying birth, virility, and death, it was personified in the three individual facets of the one personification. In Christian theology we can see the remnants of triads in the Holy Trinity; God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Despite male dominance, the mysterious power of women shown in their ability to reproduce as if by magic, led to women being associated with the gods of fertility. It was believed that the intercourse between sun and moon caused the moon to scatter prolific principles over the earth creating life. As a result, ancient tribes worshipped the moon as a female principle. She had her temples, priests and priestesses. The goddess was the most important deity and ruler over all things. The creation of this analogous concept of a distinct female reproductive force led to strong dissatisfaction and opposition. In addition, there was visualized a conflict of the male and female deities for supremacy.
Hesiod (8th - 7th century BC) a Greek poet, in his Theogony testifies to the existence of such conflicts. Consequently, Ouranus, the god of fire, was hated by his consort Gaea (earth). He was accused of cruelty to his own progeny. As well, there is the account of Saturn emasculating the tyrant god, and asserting the female principle. This, in turn, was overwhelmed by the sect of Jupiter establishing the apparent superiority of the male principle, leaving only an optional pre-eminence to the female principle, exhibited in the mysteries associated with the worship of Ceres at Eleusis, an ancient Greek cult with beliefs in immortality.
A myth is a story embodying and declaring a relationship pattern between humanity and the environment. It includes continuity, composition and relationships, which form specific and recognisable patterns. The pattern of relationship in a myth is part of a sequence deriving from traditional roots deep in early human history. It is often a narrative and, more significantly, a visual exposition of specific concepts. These concepts are expressed as tales or verses concerning magic, metaphysics and energies of life and death.
This shows that the transition of goddesses to the emerging rule of male gods is the most momentous revolutions in the history of humanity.
Nevertheless, in the fifth century BC, the status of women found various expressions in ritual. Women had special goddesses by whom they swear, they had their own festivals at which they may leave their apartments and socialize. The most important of these is Thesmophoria, a festival held in Greek cities, in honour of the goddesses Demeter and her daughter Persephone. The women would live together for three days in temporary barracks electing presidents and forming their own state. Men were strictly excluded. The cities had its own common hearth, established as a centre for the magistrates and the members of the Council to dine together. There was also a temple of Apollo Patrons which means ‘from the fathers’ and in the market place a temple of the Mothers of the Gods. But the supreme authority rested with Athena, the goddess of the Acropolis. However, over against these female and peaceful aspects, the sixth century had already stressed the warlike features of the goddess. Images showing Athena the goddess striking down a giant, was the recurrent subject woven into body length garments.
Certain shared norms, inherent in shared customs and common values as expressed in a common language, provides a facet of cultural unity. Honour, justice, excellence, obligation, favour and other complex words denote values and expectations constitute a single interlocking system of thought and belief.
In When Sex Was Religion, the goddess changed her gender not because of forces of nature, but, because of common values that began and hinged on the evolution and aggressive nature of the patriarch. – Dr. Larry J. Falls, Ed.D., ACS
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