BBC - Religions - Paganism: The Goddess movement (2024)

Goddess spirituality in Glastonbury

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Glastonbury is a small town in South West England with a big spiritual tradition. Some people believe that this is where Christianity in England began, and it's still a place of Christian pilgrimage; but it's become a centre for alternative spiritualities, too.

The Goddess Temple ©

Glastonbury now has a goddess temple, a sacred space set aside for the exploration and celebration of the Divine Feminine. The Temple, in the loft of an old house, is painted all in purple and decorated with large wickerwork images of various goddesses.

The Temple, which opened at Imbolc (2 February) 2002, is believed to be the first of its kind to have opened in Europe in fifteen hundred years.

Glastonbury is an appropriate place for a Goddess Temple, since followers of the movement believe it is connected to many Goddesses. Among them:

• the Lady of Avalon (Morgen la Fey),
• the Nine Morgens,
• Brigit or Bridie of the Sacred Flame,
• Modron - Great Mother of the lineage of Avallach,
• Our Lady Mary of Glastonbury,
• the Crone of Avalon,
• the Tor Goddess,
• Lady of the Hollow Hills,
• Lady of the Lake,
• Lady of the Holy Springs and Wells.

To clarify: Our Lady Mary of Glastonbury refers to Mary, the mother of Jesus. This can cause confusion since although Mary is regarded as a goddess by some pagans, Christians do not consider Mary a goddess or part of the Godhead.

Water and worship

On the day of the BBC's visit the Temple was set up to worship Domnu, an ancient Irish goddess of the deep ocean, celebrated as the mother of water.

Altar to Domnu with statue of Gliten ©

In celebration of Domnu the main altar was decorated in blue and turquoise - the colours of water, or of sky reflected in water. On the altar was a statue of a goddess known as Gliten, with dolphins on her dress.

After a solemn act of calling Domnu and other goddesses into the temple, there was a time for the seventy women (and a few men) taking part to reach out to the goddess in an act of personal prayer.

They did this by writing their wishes on a piece of paper which was made into an origami boat, and set afloat on a large bowl of water.

The worshippers blew their boats to the other side of the bowl with a straw, as an act of faith in the goddess and the universe that wishes for the good of all would be granted.

One or many

Britain's ancient pagan traditions contain many hundreds of goddesses. They are closely bound up with the cycle of nature, with different goddesses being celebrated at different times of year.

But at heart, all of the goddesses are one, says Kathy Jones, a researcher into Britain's ancient goddess traditions and a priestess of Avalon, as the mystical, invisible side of Glastonbury is known.

Kathy says that many of today's goddess images come from five thousand years ago, before patriarchy changed the face of religion. And Kathy thinks the many faces of the goddess are a profound advantage for the worshipper in that:

The Goddess and the Environment

There is a close connection between the Goddess and nature. The Goddess is said to be present in all creation, in trees and flowers, streams and lakes, the sun and the earth.

An altar set up to celebrate the Summer Equinox ©

Starhawk, who calls herself a witch and is one of America's best-known practitioners of goddess spirituality, explains the Goddess in nature like this:

This worldview leads many followers of the Goddess to celebrate her as the giver of nature's bounty. It also explains why Goddess worship and environmental campaigning so often go together.

The Crone

Goddess worshippers honour the whole cycle of nature, and with it the whole life cycle of women.

Brian Charles, a priest of Avalon, says that in so doing they reject the strong element in Western culture which casts aside the old woman. Old women are devalued in the modern world because they are of no use to men, since they are no longer potential lovers or mothers.

But followers of the Goddess not only honour the woman as maiden, lover, and mother, but also as the old woman, or crone.

Real or constructed

Do goddesses have an objective, independent existence? Or is goddess spirituality more about finding one's place in nature and at the same time empowering women, giving them a more positive self-image?

Patricia Monaghan, one of the founders of the American goddess movement, thinks it's a case of 'both and' rather than 'either or':

But how much is modern Goddess spirituality about authentic images of the ancient goddesses - and how much do today's worshippers make up as they go along?

Patricia Monaghan thinks that the relationship between humanity and the divine has always been something fluid:

Decorations on the altar ©

A personal view

So what does the Goddess mean to her followers? Sally, a priestess of Avalon, explains how the Goddess changed her life.

Information

The Goddess Temple is located at 2-4 High Street, Glastonbury, Somerset, BA6 9DU.

The temple is now open up to six days a week, 11:00am-5:00pm for private prayer and meditation.

Find out more

• Feminine divine in Christianity, Islam and Judaism