The Symbolism of the Goddess

(By Starhawk) - "The symbolism of the Goddess is not a parallel structure to the symbolism of God the Father. The Goddess does not rule the world; she is the world. Manifest in each of us, She can be known internally by every individual, in all her magnificent diversity. ...

The importance of the Goddess symbol for women cannot be overstressed. The Image of the Goddess inspires women to see ourselves as divine, our bodies as sacred, the changing phases of our lives as holy, our aggression as healthy, our anger as purifying, and our power to nurture and create, but also to limit and destroy when necessary, as the very force that sustains all life. Through the goddess, we can discover our strength, enlighten our minds, own our bodies, and celebrate our emotions. We can move beyond narrow, constricting roles and become whole.

The Goddess is also important for men. The oppression of men in Father God-ruled patriarchy is perhaps less obvious but no less tragic than that of women. Men are encouraged to identify with a model no human being can successfully emulate: to be minirulers of narrow universes. They are internally split, into a 'spiritual' self that is supposed to conquer their baser animal and emotional natures. They are at war with themselves: in the West, to 'conquer' sin; in the East, to 'conquer' desire and ego. Few escape from these wars undamaged.
Men lose touch with their feelings and their bodies, becoming the 'successful male zombies' described by Herb Goldberg in The Hazards of Being Male: 'Oppressed by the cultural pressures that have denied him his feelings, by the mythology of the woman and the distorted and self-destructive way he sees and relates to her, by the urgency for him to 'act like a m man,' which blocks his ability to respond to his inner promptings both emotionally and physiologically, and by a generalized self-hate that causes him to feel comfortable only when he is functioning well in harness, not when he lives for joy and personal growth.'

Because women give birth to males, nurture them at the breast, and in our culture are primarily responsible for their care as children, 'every male brought up in a traditional home develops an intense early identification with his mother and therefore carries with him a strong feminine imprint.' The symbol of the Goddess allows men to experience and integrate the feminine side of their nature, which is often felt to be the deepest and most sensitive aspect of self. The Goddess does not exclude the male; She contains him, as a pregnant woman contains a male child. Her male aspect embodies both the solar light of the intellect and wild, untamed animal energy."

Starhawk, 1979 

The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Great Goddess, pp. 9-10