Goddess

Goddess is a term used to refer to a female deity in polytheistic religions. Goddesses have been linked with virtues such as beauty, love, motherhood and fertility. They have also been associated with ideas such as war, creation, and death.

In some faiths, a sacred female figure holds a central place in religious prayer and worship. For example, Shaktism, the worship of the female force that animates the world, is one of the three major sects of Hinduism.

Religions with goddesses

Ancient religions

The primacy of a monotheistic or near-monotheistic "Great Goddess" is advocated by some modern matriarchists as a female version of, preceding, or analogue to, the Abrahamic God associated with the historical rise of monotheism in the Mediterranean Axis Age.

Some currents of Neopaganism, in particular Wicca, have a ditheistic concept of a single goddess and a single god, who in hieros gamos represent a united whole. Polytheistic reconstructionists focus on reconstructing polytheistic religions, including the various goddesses and gods.

Hinduism

Hinduism is a complex of various belief systems that sees many gods and goddesses as being representative of aspects of the supreme God, Brahman, as well as seeing the supreme God as transcending the cosmos. In Shaktism, the Great Goddess, or Devi, is worshiped.

Buddhism

In Tibetan Buddhism, the highest achievement any person can achieve is to become like the great female Buddhas (e.g. Arya Tara) who are depicted as being supreme protectors, fearless and filled with compassion for all beings.

See also

• Deity
• Polytheism
• Monotheism
• Hinduism
• Buddhism
• Shaktism
• Wicca
• Neopaganism

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