(Prose) The Myths of the Goddess Abused by Deanne Quarrie

As I read the myths of the Goddess throughout time, I see that She is abused through mythology and how She lost their power through the patriarchy, I feel Her rage deep in my body! But while I feel that rage, I also know that it is important that we read these myths with the understanding that they speak of not just what happened to the image of the Goddess, but what happened, and still happens today, to women and the earth upon which we live.

Beginning with emphasis being placed on Goddess as fertile Mother, while leaving out all that She is, and by “spreading Her out” with specialized tasks and new names, Her power was divided and lessened.  People began to view her in all the many segments and as something apart from themselves as well as divided – black versus white, good versus bad, beautiful versus ugly instead of Whole and Complete Immanent in All…

Also with the invasion of more war-like tribes where power was seen as “power over” and about control, those warring men brought their angry, raping sky gods to control the women who were once free.  With the concept of ownership, both of land and of women, the necessity for control arose, to keep what they perceived of as their own.

It is my opinion that religion’s purpose is to control people.  Religions changed and evolved in such a way that men dominated women.  Men controlled the actions of women.  Men owned what was once something shared by all.  By changing the stories of the Goddess, those seeking power could claim control of what was now “property.”

In so many of these stories, the Goddess is raped and plundered.  Rape is an act of power and about control.  Therefore, in the stories, the gods raped the goddess, repeatedly, claiming her power as their own, leaving her powerless and beaten beneath them.

I had somewhat of an “aha” moment when reading once a paragraph about Rhea:

“Not surprisingly, having been brought to this point, Hera can no longer sympathize with even her sisters in oppression. She is more brutal to the victims of Zeus’s possessive lust than to any male. The patriarchal conspiracy has turned Goddess into a shrew, who spends much of her time fuming with rage and jealousy.” 1

Over the last 10 to 12 years, I have placed a great deal of energy into women’s mistreatment of women.  Having been through an incredible “dark night of the soul” that lasted over a period of 2 to 3 years (and I must confess, still brings flutters of anxiety even today), I set upon trying to understand why women can be so cruel to their own kind.  What prompts the back-stabbing, gossip, innuendo, destruction of women’s lives by cruelty of women toward women?

It is, of course, about a desire power (or feelings of lack of power) and the resulting fear – fear that one might possibly lose what power she feels she has!

Here is Rhea, who was the ultimate, consummate, all knowing, all powerful goddess, raped and left lying on the ground, stripped of her power by her own son.  Zeus feared his mother’s power and so performed the ultimate act of control by raping his mother.  Now, Rhea, whose power has been stripped away, turns on her sisters because of her own loss of power, fearing that she will lose even more if she cannot control them, and perhaps thinks she will regain her own power by these actions.

While I did not have an idyllic childhood, I was raised by very progressive, thinking parents who realized that the world was about the change.  As a result, I am not typical for what came out of the 50’s, uptight, oh so patriarchal, roles of men and women.  I was raised to be an independent thinker, to make decisions, to stand on my own two feet, and to know without hesitation, that I can accomplish whatever I set my mind to!  I know I was very sheltered because of a revelation I had when, in my 30’s and working as a manager of an accounting department.  My particular style of management allowed me to know the women in my department in ways I might not have, if I practiced “top-down” management.  One of the women shared with me, after commenting to me how she admired my confidence, how she had been raised. I wasn’t sure at the time why I didn’t know that this happened to girls.  She had been raised in a family that told her she could do nothing right. Her parents told her she was worthless and would never amount to anything.  I don’t know if they physically abused her, but verbal abuse from parents will kill a child’s soul.  She grew up believing the parents that she loved and as a result, totally lacked confidence in her own abilities.

That was the beginning of my work in the world of women.  I mentored women on the job, building their confidence, helping to restore their ability to see themselves and strong, wise and beautiful.  Much later, this mentoring became spiritual as I discovered Goddess within us all.

In these myths, that still exists for most people in this patriarchal culture, we are all affected – men and women alike.  It keeps us from realizing our own Goddess-given potential – freed of any need to control others – freed of any need to “possess.”  This holds true, not only in our relationships with others, but also in our relationship with the Earth, as we continue to rape and plunder Her.

1. D. Leeming and J. Paige, Goddess: Myths of the Female Divine, Oxford Paperbacks, Oxford University Press; Revised ed. edition (April 11, 1996)

Meet Mago Contributor, Deanne Quarrie