The Return of the Great Mother Goddess

Humanity’s longing for supernatural saviors continues to find expression in superhero films such as Thor, Batman, Spider-Man, and the Avengers series—each breaking one box-office record after another.

Among all these superhero films, however, two stand apart: Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel. Why? Because their heroes are women!

Starring Israeli actress Gal Gadot, Wonder Woman—released in June 2017—tells the story of the first female superhero ever created. The character’s creator, psychologist William Moulton Marston, explained his purpose in 1943 with these words:

“Because of the feminine model we have created—one lacking in power, strength, and skill—even girls no longer wish to be girls. They no longer want to be gentle, kind, or peaceful, as good women should be. The very qualities that once defined women are now seen as weaknesses. The most obvious remedy was to create a woman who was as strong as Superman but also beautiful, loving, and peace-minded—a heroine.”

Our heroine, the greatest representation of feminine power in cinema, draws her strength from Demeter, her beauty and loving heart from Aphrodite, her wisdom from Athena, her sharp vision from Artemis, and her speed and flight from Hermes. When the queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta, names her daughter after the warrior goddess Diana, the embodiment of love and struggle is born. Living on the mysterious island of Themyscira—hidden from the world—she grows up among the Amazons. Her mission: to kill Ares, the god of war who brings destruction to Earth, and restore peace. To her, if Ares dies, all wars will end, and humanity will live in harmony.

But where is our female hero who will kill the Ares of our time and bring peace to the world? In an age galloping toward a third world war, will slaying the external Ares be enough to restore peace to humankind?

Today, the dominance of men can be seen everywhere—from politics to every field where the fate of the world is decided. At the forefront of these areas stands religion. But were religions always built solely upon masculine energy? Or have we forgotten—or been made to forget—some deeper truths about our past?

In his 1861 work Mother Right, Swiss anthropologist J. J. Bachofen argued that in early human history, kinship was traced only through the mother, and therefore, the mother held the highest authority and legislative power. According to Erich Fromm, Bachofen’s research revealed that before the Zeus-centered Greek religion, there existed a Great Mother Goddess and a religion based on female deities and heroines.

The founding fathers of psychology—Freud and Jung—also demonstrated that the goddess archetype has survived within the human psyche despite centuries of suppression. Freud interpreted devotion to goddesses as a childish longing to reunite with the mother, whereas C.G. Jung saw the feminine principle as one of the universal, hereditary archetypes active in the human mind. Religious scholarship also points to the continued existence of the goddess in forms such as Yahweh’s consort Astarte, Shekhinah, or Sophia (Wisdom). The Turkish writer Halikarnas Balıkçısı even claimed that the name of Islam’s central shrine, the Kaaba, comes from Hubel, and the word Qibla derives from Kybele.

“Once, the heavens, seas, and rocks were indistinguishable from one another. But suddenly, a mysterious music resounded, and though the heavens and seas continued to form a cosmos, they separated from one another. That mystical music announced the birth of Eurynome—Kybele. Her symbol was the Moon.”

The Moon, one of the symbols of the Great Mother Goddess, represents death and rebirth, change, and the cyclical nature of creation. The symbol of Ares, the masculine energy, is the Sun. In the oldest solar myths, two pillars—named Wisdom and Strength—stood at the gate of eternity. In Freemasonry, these are known as Jachin and Boaz, both derived from ancient Egyptian symbolism. In Egypt, they represented Horus and Set—the twin architects and supports of the heavens. One pillar stood in the southern city of Thebes (the City of the Moon), the other in the northern Heliopolis (the City of the Sun). But what does this pillar symbolism truly tell us?

Within each of us exist nerve pathways corresponding to these two pillars—outside the central nervous system. In yogic literature, they are known as Ida and Pingala—the right and left sympathetic nerve channels linked to the hemispheres of the brain. The right channel, or “Solar Channel,” represents the masculine, yang energy; the left channel, or “Lunar Channel,” represents the feminine, yin energy. The temple stands only when these two pillars are in balance. Otherwise, if one collapses, the roof of the temple falls—and humankind is buried beneath its own ruins.

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