Goddess of Eternity
Ever since ancient times, women have been revered for many things, those which include the power of life, from birthing a child. Women have always looked to other women for strength. That is why the matriarchal figure became a goddess. She was the Creatrix of all life, She who gave birth to the world.
The ancient Celts had a Goddess called the Triple Goddess, which featured the life of a woman in three stages: the Maiden, Mother, and Crone. The Maiden was the young girl going through innocence and learning the ways of life; she was symbolized by the waxing moon. The Mother was the matriarchal figure of the family, the one who gave birth to a child and cared for life. She was the power figure, and was symbolized by a full moon. The Crone was the wise grandmother who had learned everything and passed on her knowledge in her last phase of life. She was symbolized by the waning moon. The dark moon symbolized the mysteries of feminine wisdom, for there were some things that only a woman would know, that men could not. This was women�s power in ancient days.
In ancient Rome and Greece, they had an array of Goddesses and Gods. Artemis was the female goddess of the hunt. She was a strong virgin queen and other young women looked to her for strength, especially when they were in a forced marriage position like the one that She went through. Venus, or Aphrodite was the goddess of love. Many people looked up to her, because her sexuality was beautiful, and it was not a sin. In Athens, there were certain temple guards for certain Goddesses and they were women, so women did gain equal status as the warrior men in ancient times. Diana was the goddess of the moon, much like the Triple Goddess figure. Women had women�s rites when they would pray to Diana to help themselves. There were certain rites where women would go out in the morning and bathe themselves in the morning dew. It was a gift from the Night Mother that was good for the skin. Morning dew is said to revitalize the mind and youth.
In ancient Egypt, the Goddess of Life, Isis, gave women equal status to men, like the goddesses of Greece. This was important because there was also a patriarchal side to religion, where in some religions, like Christianity for example. Some religions say that males dominate. In the matriarchal religions females dominate because they gave birth to all life or they are equal to men, like two halves of a whole. There are many creation myths along these lines. One in essence says that the Goddess gave birth to all of life and gave birth to a son which became the God. Another says that the goddess and the god were created from matter floating in space that simply came together to form two halves of a whole in a balanced universe.
Today, modern women are looking towards ancient goddesses to fulfill their trust in them selves, and to give themselves power in an almost male dominated society. Certain religion say that we are all sinners, but goddess based religions says we are all loved ones in a circle of life. Woman are looking for power to feel stronger than what the chauvinists say. It�s tough out in the world, an in some places there is still gender discrimination in the workplace. Women need to feel that they have strength to beat all of this negative energy. Ancient powers cannot be forgotten for the power that they supply us with is real.