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The term "'''sacred''''' or '''''divine feminine'''" was first coined in the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/70s 1970s], in [[New Age]] popularizations of the Hindu [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakti Shakti]. It was further popularized during the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/90s 1990s] by Andrew Harvey and others, and entered mainstream pop culture in 2003 with Dan Brown's ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Da_Vinci_Code The Da Vinci Code]''.

The term "'''sacred''''' or '''''divine feminine'''" was first coined in the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/70s 1970s], in [[New Age]] popularizations of the Hindu [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakti Shakti]. It was further popularized during the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/90s 1990s] by Andrew Harvey and others, and entered mainstream pop culture in 2003 with Dan Brown's ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Da_Vinci_Code The Da Vinci Code]''.

At least since [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First-wave_feminism first-wave feminism] in the United States, there has been interest in analyzing [[religion]] to see if and how doctrines and practices treat women unfairly, as in Elizabeth Cady Stanton's ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Woman%27s_Bible The Woman's Bible]''. Again in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second-wave_feminism second-wave feminism] in the U.S., as well as in many European and other countries, religion became the focus of some feminist analysis in Judaism, Christianity, and other religions, and some women turned to ancient goddess religions as an alternative to Abrahamic religions (''Womanspirit Rising'' 1979; ''Weaving the Visions'' 1989). Today both women and men continue to be involved in the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goddess_movement Goddess movement]. The popularity of organizations such as the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fellowship_of_Isis Fellowship of Isis] attest to the continuing growth of the religion of the Goddess throughout the world.

At least since [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First-wave_feminism first-wave feminism] in the United States, there has been interest in analyzing [[religion]] to see if and how doctrines and practices treat women unfairly, as in Elizabeth Cady Stanton's ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Woman%27s_Bible The Woman's Bible]''. Again in [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second-wave_feminism second-wave feminism] in the U.S., as well as in many European and other countries, religion became the focus of some feminist analysis in Judaism, Christianity, and other religions, and some women turned to ancient goddess religions as an alternative to Abrahamic religions (''Womanspirit Rising'' 1979; ''Weaving the Visions'' 1989). Today both women and men continue to be involved in the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goddess_movement Goddess movement]. The popularity of organizations such as the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fellowship_of_Isis Fellowship of Isis] attest to the continuing growth of the religion of the Goddess throughout the world.

While much of the attempt at gender equity in [[mainstream]] Christianity (Judaism never recognized any [[gender]] for God) is aimed at reinterpreting [[scripture]] and degenderizing language used to name and describe the divine (Ruether, 1984; Plaskow, 1991), there are a growing number of people who identify as Christians or Jews who are trying to integrate goddess imagery into their religions (Kien, 2000; Kidd 1996,"Goddess Christians Yahoogroup").

While much of the attempt at gender equity in [[mainstream]] Christianity (Judaism never recognized any [[gender]] for God) is aimed at reinterpreting [[scripture]] and degenderizing language used to name and describe the divine (Ruether, 1984; Plaskow, 1991), there are a growing number of people who identify as Christians or Jews who are trying to integrate goddess imagery into their religions (Kien, 2000; Kidd 1996,"Goddess Christians Yahoogroup").

The term "goddess" has also been adapted to [[poetic]] and [[secular]] use as a complimentary description of a non-mythological woman. The [[OED]] notes 1579 as the date of the earliest attestation of such figurative use, in ''Lauretta the diuine Petrarches Goddesse''.

The term "goddess" has also been adapted to [[poetic]] and [[secular]] use as a complimentary description of a non-mythological woman. The [[OED]] notes 1579 as the date of the earliest attestation of such figurative use, in ''Lauretta the diuine Petrarches Goddesse''.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Shakespeare 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''.[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divine_feminine#Sacred_feminine]

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Shakespeare 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''.[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divine_feminine#Sacred_feminine]

[[Category: Religion]]

[[Category: Religion]]

[[Category: Languages and Literature]]

[[Category: Languages and Literature]]