A goddess is a female deity.[1] In many known cultures, goddesses are often linked with literal or metaphorical pregnancy or imagined feminine roles associated with how women and girls are perceived or expected to behave. This includes themes of spinning, weaving, beauty, love, sexuality, motherhood, domesticity, creativity, and fertility (exemplified by the ancient mother goddess cult). Many major goddesses are also associated with magic, war, strategy, hunting, farming, wisdom, fate, earth, sky, power, laws, justice, and more. Some themes, such as discord or disease, which are considered negative within their cultural contexts also are found associated with some goddesses. There are as many differently described and understood goddesses as there are male, shapeshifting, or neuter gods.
In some faiths, a sacred female figure holds a central place in religious prayer and worship. For example, Shaktism (one of the three major Hindu sects), holds that the ultimate deity, the source of all reality, is Mahadevi (Supreme Goddess) and in some forms of Tantric Shaivism, the pair of Shiva and Shakti are the ultimate principle (with the goddess representing the active, creative power of God). Meanwhile, in Vajrayana Buddhism, ultimate reality is often seen as being composed of two principles depicted as two deities in union (yab yum, "father-mother") symbolising the non-duality of the two principles of perfect wisdom (female) and skillful compassion (male).[2]
Polytheist religions, including Polytheistic reconstructionists, honour multiple goddesses and gods, and usually view them as discrete, separate beings. These deities may be part of a pantheon, or different regions may have tutelary deities.
The noun goddess is a secondary formation, combining the Germanic god with the Latinate -ess suffix. It first appeared in Middle English, from about 1350.[3] The English word follows the linguistic precedent of a number of languages—including Egyptian, Classical Greek, and several Semitic languages—that add a feminine ending to the language's word for god.
Inanna era la diosa más venerada en la antigua Sumeria . [4] [5] [6] Más tarde fue sincretizada con la diosa semítica oriental Ishtar . [7] Otras diosas mesopotámicas incluyen a Ninhursag , Ninlil , Antu y Gaga .
Diosas de la religión cananea : Ba`alat Gebal , Astarté , Anat .
En la Meca preislámica, las diosas Uzza , Manāt y al-Lāt eran conocidas como "las hijas de dios". Uzza era adorada por los nabateos , que la equiparaban con las diosas grecorromanas Afrodita , Urania , Venus y Celestis. Cada una de las tres diosas tenía un santuario separado cerca de La Meca . Uzza fue invocada por los Quraysh preislámicos para su protección . "En 624, en la batalla llamada " Uhud ", el grito de guerra de los Qurayshitas fue: "¡Oh pueblo de Uzza, pueblo de Hubal !" (Tawil 1993).
According to Ibn Ishaq's controversial account of the Satanic Verses (q.v.), these verses had previously endorsed them as intercessors for Muslims, but were abrogated. Most Muslim scholars have regarded the story as historically implausible, while opinion is divided among western scholars such as Leone Caetani and John Burton, who argue against, and William Muir and William Montgomery Watt, who argue for its plausibility.
The Quran (Q53:19-31) warns of the vanity of trusting to the intercession of female deities, in particular "the daughters of god".[8]
Pre-Christian and pre-Islamic goddesses in cultures that spoke Indo-European languages.
Las diosas y mujeres de otro mundo en el politeísmo celta incluyen:
Los celtas veneraban a las diosas de la naturaleza y de las fuerzas naturales, así como a aquellas relacionadas con habilidades y profesiones como la curación, la guerra y la poesía. Las diosas celtas tienen diversas cualidades como la abundancia, la creación y la belleza, así como la dureza, la matanza y la venganza. Se las ha representado como bellas u horribles, viejas brujas o mujeres jóvenes, y en ocasiones pueden transformar su apariencia de un estado a otro, o en sus criaturas asociadas como cuervos, vacas, lobos o anguilas, por nombrar solo algunas. En la mitología irlandesa en particular, las diosas tutelares a menudo se asocian con la soberanía y diversas características de la tierra, en particular montañas, ríos, bosques y pozos sagrados . [10]
Surviving accounts of Germanic mythology and Norse mythology contain numerous tales of female goddesses, giantesses, and divine female figures in their scriptures. The Germanic peoples had altars erected to the "Mothers and Matrons" and held celebrations specific to these goddesses (such as the Anglo-Saxon "Mothers-night"). Various other female deities are attested among the Germanic peoples, such as Nerthus attested in an early account of the Germanic peoples, Ēostre attested among the pagan Anglo-Saxons, and Sinthgunt attested among the pagan continental Germanic peoples. Examples of goddesses attested in Norse mythology include Frigg (wife of Odin, and the Anglo-Saxon version of whom is namesake of the modern English weekday Friday), Skaði (one time wife of Njörðr), Njerda (Scandinavian name of Nerthus), that also was married to Njörðr during Bronze Age, Freyja (wife of Óðr), Sif (wife of Thor), Gerðr (wife of Freyr), and personifications such as Jörð (earth), Sól (the sun), and Nótt (night). Female deities also play heavily into the Norse concept of death, where half of those slain in battle enter Freyja's field Fólkvangr, Hel's realm of the same name, and Rán who receives those who die at sea. Other female deities such as the valkyries, the norns, and the dísir are associated with a Germanic concept of fate (Old Norse Ørlög, Old English Wyrd), and celebrations were held in their honour, such as the Dísablót and Disting.
Las diosas de varios pueblos nativos de América del Norte incluyen:
En las religiones africanas y de la diáspora africana, las diosas suelen sincretizarse con la devoción mariana , como en Ezili Dantor ( Virgen Negra de Częstochowa ) y Erzulie Freda ( Mater Dolorosa ). También está Buk, una diosa sudanesa y etíope todavía adorada en las regiones del sur. Representa el aspecto fértil de la mujer. Está relacionada con la deidad de un nombre similar, Abuk. [11] Otra diosa etíope es Atete , la diosa de la primavera y la fertilidad. Los agricultores tradicionalmente dejan algunos de sus productos al final de cada temporada de cosecha como ofrenda mientras las mujeres cantan canciones tradicionales.
Un ejemplo poco común de henoteísmo centrado en una sola diosa se encuentra entre los nuba del sur de Sudán. Los nuba conciben a la diosa creadora como la "Gran Madre" que dio origen a la tierra y a la humanidad. [12]
_1856.png/1280px-Origin_of_Iwato_Kagura_Dance_Amaterasu_by_Toyokuni_III_(Kunisada)_1856.png)
Goddess Amaterasu is the chief among the Shinto gods (kami), while there are important female deities Ame-no-Uzume-no-Mikoto, Inari and Konohanasakuya-hime.[14]
In the Dharmic religions (mainly Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism), there are many goddesses that are widely venerated. The earliest source for several of these goddesses is the Vedas.[15] However, goddesses can also be found in the art of the even more ancient Indus Valley civilisation.[16][17]
Hinduism is a diverse complex of many belief systems which includes numerous gods and goddesses. The earliest Hindu source, the Rigveda, contains many goddesses such as Prithvi (earth), Aditi (cosmic moral order), Vāc (sound), Nirṛti (destruction) and Saraswati. The Devīsūktam is an important source for the goddess idea in Vedic religion. Important Hindu goddesses today include Lakshmi, Saraswati, Durga, Kali, Tripurasundari, Parvati, and Radha.
There is much diversity in the theology of the various traditions of Hinduism. Some theologies (e.g. Advaita) see all gods and goddesses as emanations of a single formless impersonal source called Brahman. Other theologies are more personal regarding the ultimate deity.
Some traditions posit a dual deity in the form of Lakshmi-Vishnu, Radha-Krishna, Brahma-Saraswati, or Shiva-Parvati. These are presented as a pair with a male god (Shaktiman, "possessor of power") and his consort, a female "power" (Shakti), and their relationship is interpreted in different ways depending on the tradition's theology.
In Shaktism, the supreme deity is the Great Goddess (Mahadevi), called by different names such as Shakti or Adi Parashakti (Primordial Supreme Power). Shaktas consider the Goddess to be the ultimate source of all things and the mother of all gods and goddesses. She is considered to have ten main avatars called the ten mahavidyas in some traditions. Another important concept is the Shakta trinity, the tridevi, which sees Mahadevi as manifesting in three main goddesses: Mahasaraswati, Mahalakshmi, and Mahakali.
In the great Shakta scripture known as the Devi Mahatmya (Glory of the Goddess), all the goddesses are aspects of one presiding female force—one in truth and many in expression, which also is the creative power of the cosmos. It expresses through philosophical tracts and metaphor, that the potentiality of masculine being is actuated by the feminine divine.
Local deities of different village regions in India were often identified with "mainstream" Hindu deities, a process that has been called Sanskritisation. Others attribute it to the influence of monism or Advaita, which discounts polytheist or monotheist categorisation. While the monist forces have led to a fusion between some of the goddesses (108 names are common for many goddesses), centrifugal forces have also resulted in new goddesses and rituals gaining ascendance among the laity in different parts of Hindu world. Thus, the immensely popular goddess Durga was a pre-Vedic goddess who was later fused with Parvati, a process that can be traced through texts such as Kalika Purana (10th century), Durgabhaktitarangini (Vidyapati 15th century), Chandimangal (16th century) etc.
El festival hindú ampliamente celebrado Navaratri se realiza en honor a la divina mujer Devi ( Durga ) y dura nueve noches de oración en otoño, también conocido como Sharada Navratri.
Existen numerosas deidades femeninas en las diversas tradiciones budistas. [18] Las diosas budistas están ampliamente representadas en el arte budista . [19] El budismo primitivo en la India veneraba a varias diosas femeninas. Estas eran consideradas principalmente devas o espíritus (como los yakshinis ). Incluyen a Prthivi (diosa de la tierra), Hariti , Lakshmi y Mayadevi (la madre de Buda). [20] Algunas de estas figuras siguen siendo importantes en el budismo Theravada hoy en día, incluyendo a Maya y Prthivi (conocida como Phra Mae Thorani en el sudeste asiático ).
El budismo Mahayana indio veneraba a varias deidades femeninas, entre ellas Prajñāpāramitā Devi , Cunda , Marici , Sitātapatra , Tārā , Uṣṇīṣavijayā y Vasudhārā . [21] En el Mahayana, las deidades femeninas crecieron en importancia, convirtiéndose en poderosas figuras salvadoras de bodhisattvas, liberadoras asociadas con poderosos mantras (que también se denominan vidyās cuando un mantra se ve como un poder femenino) y dharanis . [21] En algunos casos, como con Prajñāpāramitā Devi , estas diosas incluso fueron llamadas "madre de los Budas" (sánscrito: buddhamatr) y bhagavati, lo que indica que eran vistas como Budas completamente despiertos.
En las tradiciones Mahayana, algunos son considerados bodhisattvas (seres que avanzan en el camino hacia la Budeidad) o budas completos , mientras que otros son simplemente devas (deidades mundanas). [19] Las deidades femeninas budistas más importantes en el budismo del este de Asia son el bodhisattva Guanyin y la "madre de los budas" Cundi . En el budismo tibetano , Tara es la deidad femenina más importante (a menudo considerada un buda completo). [22]
La dakini tántrica Vajrayogini es una importante deidad de meditación tántrica ( yidam ) en el Vajrayana tibetano , y también se considera un Buda femenino por derecho propio. [23] [22] Las diosas budistas tántricas a menudo se consideraban budas completamente despiertos y, a veces, se las representa con elementos tántricos únicos, como copas de calaveras y cuchillos desolladores. Estas deidades tántricas incluyen a Simhamukha , Mahamaya , Vajrayogini , Chinnamunda y Kurukulla . [22]
Las diosas Mahayana a menudo son llamadas "devis" (sánscrito: devi, "deidad femenina", "diosa", tibetano: lhamo) o incluso bhagavani (la versión femenina de bhagavan , que indica la Budeidad). [24]
Según el Zohar , Lilith es el nombre de la primera esposa de Adán , que fue creada al mismo tiempo que él. Ella abandonó a Adán y se negó a regresar al Jardín del Edén después de aparearse con el arcángel Samael . [25] Su historia fue desarrollada en gran medida durante la Edad Media en la tradición de los midrashim agádicos , el Zohar y el misticismo judío . [26]
La tradición del Zohar ha influido en el folclore judío , que postula que Dios creó a Adán para que se casara con una mujer llamada Lilith . Fuera de la tradición judía, Lilith estaba asociada con la Diosa Madre , Inanna , más tarde conocida como Ishtar y Asera . En La epopeya de Gilgamesh , se dice que Gilgamesh destruyó un árbol que estaba en un bosque sagrado dedicado a la diosa Ishtar/Inanna/ Aserá . Lilith corrió al desierto desesperada. Luego se la representa en el Talmud y la Cábala como la primera esposa de la primera creación de Dios, el hombre, Adán . Con el tiempo, como se afirma en el Antiguo Testamento, los seguidores hebreos continuaron adorando a "ídolos falsos", como Asera , por ser tan poderosos como Dios. Jeremías habla de su desagrado (y el de Dios) por este comportamiento al pueblo hebreo sobre la adoración de la diosa en el Antiguo Testamento. Lilith es desterrada de Adán y de la presencia de Dios cuando se descubre que es un "demonio" y Eva se convierte en la esposa de Adán.
Las siguientes deidades femeninas se mencionan en textos hebreos destacados:
More commonly, modern Judaism acknowledges Shekhinah as the feminine aspect of God.[27][28] Shekhinah is considered to be the presence of God on Earth and/or the spirit of the Jewish people, forever trying to reunite with the other elements of God through tikkun olam.[29] She is also associated with the moon, the earth, David, and Rachel.[30][31]
The veneration of Mary, the mother of Jesus, as an especially privileged saint has continued since the beginning of the Catholic faith.[32] Mary is venerated as the Mother of God, Queen of Heaven, Mother of the Church, the Blessed Virgin Mary, Star of the Sea, and other lofty titles.
Marian devotion similar to this kind is also found in Eastern Orthodoxy and sometimes in Anglicanism, although not in the majority of denominations of Protestantism. In some Christian traditions (like the Orthodox tradition), Sophia is the personification of either divine wisdom (or of an archangel) that takes female form. She is mentioned in the first chapter of the Book of Proverbs. Sophia is identified by some as the wisdom imparting Holy Spirit of the Christian Trinity, whose names in Hebrew—Ruach and Shekhinah—are both feminine, and whose symbol of the dove was commonly associated in the Ancient Near East with the figure of the Mother Goddess.
In mysticism, Gnosticism, as well as some Hellenistic religions, there is a female spirit or goddess named Sophia who is said to embody wisdom and who is sometimes described as a virgin. In Roman Catholic mysticism, Saint Hildegard celebrated Sophia as a cosmic figure both in her writing and art. Within the Protestant tradition in England, the 17th-century mystic universalist and founder of the Philadelphian Society Jane Leade wrote copious descriptions of her visions and dialogues with the "Virgin Sophia" who, she said, revealed to her the spiritual workings of the universe. Leade was hugely influenced by the theosophical writings of 16th-century German Christian mystic Jakob Böhme, who also speaks of Sophia in works such as The Way to Christ.[33] Jakob Böhme was very influential to a number of Christian mystics and religious leaders, including George Rapp and the Harmony Society.
The members of most denominations in the Latter Day Saint movement believe in, although they do not directly worship, a Heavenly Mother who is the female counterpart of the Heavenly Father. Together they are referred to as Heavenly Parents. Adherents also believe that all humans, both women and men, have the potential to become gods through a process known as exaltation.
Most Modern Pagan traditions honour one or more goddesses. While some who follow Wicca believe in a duotheistic belief system, consisting of a single goddess and a single god, who in hieros gamos represent a united whole, others recognise only one or more goddesses.
In Wicca "the Goddess" is the deity of prime importance, along with her consort the Horned God. Within many forms of Wicca the Goddess has come to be considered as a universal deity, more in line with her description in the Charge of the Goddess, a key Wiccan text. In this guise she is the "Queen of Heaven", similar to Isis. She also encompasses and conceives (creates) all life, much like Gaia. Similarly to Isis and certain late Classical conceptions of Selene, she is the summation of all other goddesses, who represent her different names and aspects across the different cultures. The Goddess is often portrayed with strong lunar symbolism, drawing on various cultures and deities such as Diana, Hecate, and Isis, and is often depicted as the Maiden, Mother, and Crone triad popularised by Robert Graves (see Triple Goddess below). Many depictions of her also draw strongly on Celtic goddesses. Some Wiccans, or Witches, believe there are many goddesses, and in some forms of Wicca, notably Dianic Wicca, the Goddess alone is worshipped, and the God plays very little (or no) part in their worship and ritual. The first history of Wiccans or Witches (nature based religion) appear on cave paintings that show early humans worshipping a feminine nature deity for luck and harvest (BCE). Later Celtics form a more formal form of Witches (Wiccans) with the triquetra (maiden mother crone),pentagram etc. They have evolved into the strong, nature based, animal rights loving and women rights religion of today.
Goddesses or demi-goddesses appear in sets of three in a number of ancient European pagan mythologies; these include the Greek Erinyes (Furies) and Moirai (Fates); the Norse Norns; Brighid and her two sisters, also called Brighid, from Irish or Celtic mythology.
Robert Graves popularizó la tríada de “doncella” (o “virgen”), “madre” y “bruja”, y aunque esta idea no se basó en una sólida erudición, su inspiración poética ha ganado una tenaz influencia. Existe una variación considerable en las concepciones precisas de estas figuras, como ocurre típicamente en el neopaganismo y, de hecho, en las religiones paganas en general. Algunos optan por interpretarlas como tres etapas en la vida de una mujer, separadas por la menarquia y la menopausia . Otros consideran que esto es demasiado biológico y rígido, y prefieren una interpretación más libre, con la doncella como nacimiento (independiente, egocéntrica, buscadora), la madre como dadora de nacimiento (interrelacionada, cuidadora compasiva, creadora) y la bruja como muerte y renovación (holística, remota, incognoscible), y las tres eróticas y sabias.
Al menos desde la primera ola del feminismo en los Estados Unidos, ha habido interés en analizar la religión para ver si las doctrinas y prácticas tratan a las mujeres de manera injusta y de qué manera, como en The Woman's Bible de Elizabeth Cady Stanton . Nuevamente en la segunda ola del feminismo en los Estados Unidos, así como en muchos países europeos y otros, la religión se convirtió en el foco de algunos análisis feministas en el judaísmo, el cristianismo y otras religiones, y algunas mujeres recurrieron a las antiguas religiones de diosas como una alternativa a las religiones abrahámicas ( Womanspirit Rising 1979; Weaving the Visions 1989). Hoy en día, tanto mujeres como hombres continúan participando en el movimiento de la Diosa (Christ 1997). La popularidad de organizaciones como la Comunidad de Isis da testimonio del continuo crecimiento de la religión de la Diosa en todo el mundo.
Si bien gran parte de los intentos de equidad de género en el cristianismo convencional (el judaísmo nunca reconoció ningún género para Dios) apuntan a reinterpretar las escrituras y desgenerizar el lenguaje utilizado para nombrar y describir lo divino (Ruether, 1984; Plaskow, 1991), hay un número creciente de personas que se identifican como cristianos o judíos y que están tratando de integrar imágenes de diosas en sus religiones (Kien, 2000; Kidd 1996, "Goddess Christians Yahoo Group").
El término "femenino sagrado" fue acuñado por primera vez en la década de 1970, en las popularizaciones de la Nueva Era de la Shakti hindú . El hinduismo también rinde culto a una multitud de diosas que tienen un papel importante y, por lo tanto, en conjunto, despertó el interés de los movimientos de la Nueva Era, feministas y feministas lésbicos. [34]
The term "goddess" has also been adapted to poetic and secular use as a complimentary description of a non-mythological woman.[35] The OED notes 1579 as the date of the earliest attestation of such figurative use, in Lauretta the diuine Petrarches Goddesse.
Shakespeare had several of his male characters address female characters as goddesses, including Demetrius to Helena in A Midsummer Night's Dream ("O Helen, goddess, nymph, perfect, divine!"), Berowne to Rosaline in Love's Labour's Lost ("A woman I forswore; but I will prove, Thou being a goddess, I forswore not thee"), and Bertram to Diana in All's Well That Ends Well. Pisanio also compares Imogen to a goddess to describe her composure under duress in Cymbeline.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Quran 53:19-31 Wherry, Elwood Morris (1896). A Complete Index to Sale's Text, Preliminary Discourse, and Notes. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner, and Co.
{{cite journal}}: Requiere citar revista |journal=( ayuda )diosa.