Norebo
New Member
Hey all,
This might be a silly question, but are there any Goddess groups/temples/schools of thought/conversations that do not have an intrinsic Wiccan/Neopagan foundation?
I understand that traditional Shakti devotion is another thing entirely which stands apart from the contemporary Goddess movement in the anglosphere, but I have had a hard time coming across Goddess communities which are not Wicca-normative. Now just to be clear, I have no problem with Wicca or its influence on emergent religions, but it is not at all the path I've traveled to arrive at the veneration of the Great Mother.
In the past 5 years, I meandered through vague New Age monism with a dash of Zen sensibilities, then continued through Neoplatonic philosophy and Spinoza-esque wonder until I finally had a breakthrough and felt the power of loving devotion to a feminine, panentheistic deity. That was just about a year ago.
When I first went in search of others who might share my beliefs, I naturally came across communities within the Goddess movement. It didn't take long before I noticed a pattern of what was normalized in these groups.
- circle and/or spell casting
- invoking the classical Greek elements
- "Wheel of the Year" with holidays in multiple non-English languages (huh?) and a story about dying & rebirthing gods (double huh??)
- mythology about an pre-Bronze Age goddess cult all over Europe
- reference to the Tripple-Goddess as conceptualized by Robert Graves
- reference to as many historical female deities as possible (I'm a huge history buff, but I was lost as to what this movement had to do with any ancient religions at all)
I first thought "what did any of this have to do with just simply loving the Divine?" Of course, I have now spent enough time learning all about the origins of the movement in Wicca, and how Gerald Gardner synthesized - quite brilliantly, in my opinion - existing occultist trends of the early 20th century with a melange of Celtic and Germanic folklore.
It's all well and good, but it didn't have anything to do with my journey at all. I don't really care for Tarot, or magic(k), or borrowing divine images from cultures not my own, or seeking ancient secrets, or anything like that. I think the Wheel of the Year is pretty clever, but I'd really just rather celebrate Thanksgiving four times per year. I'm a California tree-hugger from a multi-ethnic (i.e. not eurocentric) household who spent a lot of time talking to rocks as a kid
Any kindred spirits out there? Where have you found your place in the community?
Thanks in advance for any input!
This might be a silly question, but are there any Goddess groups/temples/schools of thought/conversations that do not have an intrinsic Wiccan/Neopagan foundation?
I understand that traditional Shakti devotion is another thing entirely which stands apart from the contemporary Goddess movement in the anglosphere, but I have had a hard time coming across Goddess communities which are not Wicca-normative. Now just to be clear, I have no problem with Wicca or its influence on emergent religions, but it is not at all the path I've traveled to arrive at the veneration of the Great Mother.
In the past 5 years, I meandered through vague New Age monism with a dash of Zen sensibilities, then continued through Neoplatonic philosophy and Spinoza-esque wonder until I finally had a breakthrough and felt the power of loving devotion to a feminine, panentheistic deity. That was just about a year ago.
When I first went in search of others who might share my beliefs, I naturally came across communities within the Goddess movement. It didn't take long before I noticed a pattern of what was normalized in these groups.
- circle and/or spell casting
- invoking the classical Greek elements
- "Wheel of the Year" with holidays in multiple non-English languages (huh?) and a story about dying & rebirthing gods (double huh??)
- mythology about an pre-Bronze Age goddess cult all over Europe
- reference to the Tripple-Goddess as conceptualized by Robert Graves
- reference to as many historical female deities as possible (I'm a huge history buff, but I was lost as to what this movement had to do with any ancient religions at all)
I first thought "what did any of this have to do with just simply loving the Divine?" Of course, I have now spent enough time learning all about the origins of the movement in Wicca, and how Gerald Gardner synthesized - quite brilliantly, in my opinion - existing occultist trends of the early 20th century with a melange of Celtic and Germanic folklore.
It's all well and good, but it didn't have anything to do with my journey at all. I don't really care for Tarot, or magic(k), or borrowing divine images from cultures not my own, or seeking ancient secrets, or anything like that. I think the Wheel of the Year is pretty clever, but I'd really just rather celebrate Thanksgiving four times per year. I'm a California tree-hugger from a multi-ethnic (i.e. not eurocentric) household who spent a lot of time talking to rocks as a kid
Any kindred spirits out there? Where have you found your place in the community?
Thanks in advance for any input!