[Editor’s Note: This book review was first published in S/HE: An international Journal of Goddess Studies Vol 1 No 2, 2022.]
This book is designed as a student and academic resource to those wishing to deepen their understanding of the origination and evolution of concepts of Goddess and related social systems in a range of cultures world-wide, from an evidence-based perspective.
This is a collection of papers from a total of 21 authors, edited by Mary Ann Beavis and Helen Hwang, who are also contributors. Each of the writers has experience and qualifications that reflect their authority on the topics upon which they write. The overview authority lies with the editors. Mary Ann Beavis PhD, is currently the Professor of Religion and Culture at St. Thomas More College, University of Saskatchewan and an author. Helen Hwang holds an M.A. and Ph.D in Religion and would be the world expert on Magoism (an ancient East Asian faith system and culture, recognising Mago as the Great Goddess), certainly in the English language. She is author or editor of a number of books on Magoism or inclusive of this tradition.
Each author is a researcher into a niche area of Goddess tradition and all chapters are extensively footnoted, indicative of the breadth of resources they have drawn upon, including, in some cases images of artworks under discussion. The authors and the chapter headings where images occur are as follows (the number of images or tables is listed in brackets):
Helen Hye-Sook Hwang – Mago, the Creatrix from East Asia, and the Mytho-History of Magoism (8)
Jody Foster – The Prehistoric Goddess Figurines of Old Europe (3)
Joan M. Cichon – The Mother Goddess of Bronze Age Crete. (6)
Krista Karen Rodin – From Heaven to Hell, Virgin Mother to Witch: The Evolution of the Great Goddess of Egypt. (12)
Mara Lynn Keller – The Myriad Faces, Marvellous Powers, and Thealogy of Greek Goddesses. (2)
Marta-Lena Bergstedt & Kristin Brunsgaard Clausen – The Norse Goddesses behind the Asir Veil: The Vanir Mothers in Continental Scandinavia – A Late Shamanistic Culture Rooted in Old European Civilisation. (28)
Annette Williams – The Divine Feminine in Yoruba Cosmology. (2)
Krista Rodin – The Blending of Bon, Buddhism and the Goddess Gemu in Mosuo Culture. (5)
Helen Hye-Sook Hwang – Goma, the Shaman Ruler of old Magoist East Asia/Korea. (5)
Mary Ann Beavis & Scott Daniel Dunbar – Goddesses in Hinduism: “All the Mothers are One.” (10)
Justin Jaron Lewis – The Divine Feminine in Contemporary Judaism. (1)
Mary Ann Beavis – Goddesses and the Divine Female in the Biblical Traditions. (3)
Goddesses in Myth, History and Culture explores the key theme that humans originally conceived of the spiritual realm in terms of a female deity – a Mother Goddess to be precise – and that traces of this can be found even in the religions that now place a male God at the centre of their belief system. The book further illustrates that this was a world-wide phenomenon with regional and local expression of it.
As the period of Goddess-centred cultures mostly occurred prior to written language, the writers are largely reliant on interpreting the archaeological record for support. However the writers also use linguistics to identify traces in languages today of the old languages that expressed the Goddess culture, lifestyle and spiritual context.
We learn in this book that when patriarchy (as opposed to a Goddess centred ideology) came to dominate – usually through invasion – a common strategy was to incorporate the local Goddesses into the invader pantheon, and then, over time diminish their powers and importance. These authors have undertaken to untangle this web to bring to light the original Goddess and her attributes.
The book is not just embedded in the past however and also relates how the Goddess tradition is expressed today. Four chapters explore both the practice and the belief system informing this emergent spirituality.
This book is a major contribution to the field of Goddess Studies in that it makes readily available informed scholarship, in English, that could otherwise be hard to find. The material in each chapter expands on a specialty that that author has explored. Some interpretations could well be controversial because they shine light into some long-held (or long-assumed) beliefs about cultural origins. I was particularly struck in this regard by the work on the Mago tradition, the Norse Goddesses and Islam.
The chapters are written on the basis of an academic approach by the writers, not as believers in a particular religion – although undoubtedly the authors have their own belief systems which in some cases would assist their understanding of the topic of their chapter. This saves the language from the feeling that the reader must make a leap of faith to understand the positions being put, but can assess for themselves how valid they find the arguments made.
At points in the book typographical missteps can be identified though without damage to the content. I found the use of Korean/Chinese symbols important but sometimes difficult to fully understand in the translation – further editorial work would have helped here.
While I was aware of Heide Goettner-Abendroth’s research that showed the movement of matriarchal peoples throughout Asia, I was particularly struck with the contributions of Helen Hwang with regard to Magoism in the book. She explores, even into historical times, the culture in coastal South-East Asia based on the Mother Goddess Mago and the social system that resulted. This would largely be hidden to the West if not for Helen Hwang’s work.
Likewise the exploratory work by Bergstedt and Clausen provides an alternative understanding of the Norse Goddesses from that usually presented. As well, both Keller and Hawthorne in their separate pieces provide insights into the origins of Greek Goddesses, which too often are assumed known from the patriarchal presentation of them.
There are many publications available relevant to Goddess Studies, starting with publications in the mid 1970s, which are still relevant today. This book furthers this in including insights from around the world and from all the major religions as well as the emergent Goddess spirituality. It includes original research as well as analysis drawing on past researchers. Its breadth in terms of time-span, geography and cultures make this an impressive contribution.
Note that the list of references is available online: https://www.magobooks.com/textbooks/goddesses-in-myth-history-and-culture/. Given this is a student and academic reference it is disappointing that an index was not included. As the book is available in a pdf format, in that form the search function can be used effectively in place of an Index.
S/HE: An international Journal of Goddess Studies Vol 1 No 2, 2022
About the Reviewer Jennifer Cameron:
B.A.(History) Master of Enterprise Innovation, Graduate Diploma Environmental Sustainability, Diploma of Education. Jennifer is author of the recent publication Ancient Ways for Current Days – Women, Goddess and Communities of Peace. She teaches Goddess Studies at a community level; she is Co-Convenor of the Gaia Temple of Melbourne and has a lifetime of interest in the subject matter of the book under review. merrymeetjenny@gmail.com