What happened to the Great Goddess?

NB: This lecture/discussion is for women only.

At our last meeting, The War on Women, it was suggested that to better understand the place and struggle of women in contemporary culture and society, we must first examine the history of women itself—a history obscured by speculation, misogyny, ideological agendas, and deeply rooted misconceptions. The challenge is compounded not only by the historical marginalization and erasure of women's voices and experience, but also by the displacement of cultural and spiritual traditions that, for millennia, were organized around the feminine mysteries of birth, creation, fertility, relationship, and the cycles of life. Goddesses gave way to gods; creation-centered spirituality yielded to the authority of kings, priests, and sky gods; and older matrifocal traditions were absorbed, marginalized, transformed, or eradicated. Whether understood historically, symbolically, or mythologically, the transition from these older worldviews to the patriarchal institutions that came to dominate much of recorded history remains one of the most significant—and contested—transformations in human consciousness, one that continues to resonate, influence and inform The War on Women. Women's history cannot accurately be examined without attention to this profound cultural shift.
This lecture/discussion will explore the historical evidence, myths, and enduring questions surrounding this transitional reordering of human society and relationship. What happened to the Great Goddess? How did patriarchal institutions emerge and become dominant?
Join us as we examine one of humanity's most enduring questions: what was lost and why? What survived? And what, despite all that has been lost or denied continues to colour our hearts, minds, and lived experience? How is this directly relevant to the next steps that we take as women and the different world that we're trying to build?

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