In, “20th Century Women’s Religion as Seen in the Feminist Spirituality Movement,” Cynthia Eller describes the rise of the Feminist Spirituality movement which helped meet the spiritual/religious needs of women by having a focus on female leadership and on the importance of women’s experiences. This movement found it’s origins in feminist witchcraft which had a resurgence in relevancy in the 20th century. At the time, radical feminists felt a strong connection to witchcraft because of the persecution of witches during the middle ages. They viewed this as an extreme example of misogyny. Two of the most influential people at the forefront of this movement were Zsuzanna Budapest and Starhawk, two witches who practiced in California. Their witchcraft
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While Budapest and Starhawk both view themselves as leaders, they still emphasize equality in their practice (pg.181). Often times, leaders are necessary in feminist spirituality in order to give their practice guidance and legitimacy. Eller writes, “It’s the leaders confidence in her beliefs that communicates itself to the participants that allows for the transformation form awkward play acting to sacred ritual.” (pg.181). Feminist Spirituality has spread outside of it’s origins in witchcraft, to the point where many who identify with the movement don’t feel any connection to neopaganism. Feminist Spirituality is an eclectic movement in that it borrows symbols and practices form various different cultures. For example, Native American religions have had a huge impact on feminist spirituality. The main attributes of this movement are it’s focus on the goddess, feminist sacred history, ritual and magic …show more content…
Women had power in society and viewed as physical representations of the divine. But this utopian time came to an end around 3000BC with the rise of the patriarchy which tried to destroy goddess worship and enslaved women (pg.183). Although Goddess worship wasn’t completely destroyed, it survived as a minority religion amongst European peasants. Spiritual Feminists believe that the patriarchy will destroy humanity and the environment someday soon if we don’t change back into a matriarchal society and continue worshiping the goddess
While Budapest and Starhawk both view themselves as leaders, they still emphasize equality in their practice (pg.181). Often times, leaders are necessary in feminist spirituality in order to give their practice guidance and legitimacy. Eller writes, “It’s the leaders confidence in her beliefs that communicates itself to the participants that allows for the transformation form awkward play acting to sacred ritual.” (pg.181). Feminist Spirituality has spread outside of it’s origins in witchcraft, to the point where many who identify with the movement don’t feel any connection to neopaganism. Feminist Spirituality is an eclectic movement in that it borrows symbols and practices form various different cultures. For example, Native American religions have had a huge impact on feminist spirituality. The main attributes of this movement are it’s focus on the goddess, feminist sacred history, ritual and magic …show more content…
Women had power in society and viewed as physical representations of the divine. But this utopian time came to an end around 3000BC with the rise of the patriarchy which tried to destroy goddess worship and enslaved women (pg.183). Although Goddess worship wasn’t completely destroyed, it survived as a minority religion amongst European peasants. Spiritual Feminists believe that the patriarchy will destroy humanity and the environment someday soon if we don’t change back into a matriarchal society and continue worshiping the goddess