The Great Rebalancing Series Post 5: The Goddess Remembered: Women Were Once Spiritual Leaders— What We Lost & What We Must Reclaim
- The Mindful Balance
- Jul 18
- 8 min read
Updated: Jul 22
Continuing Phase 2: The Great Disruption
Featured Resource for this Post: The Goddess Remembered
“Goddess Remembered” (1991, National Film Board of Canada)
This powerful documentary, (which has 3 parts, this being the first) honors ancient goddess-centered cultures and explores the long arc of patriarchal suppression and feminine spiritual loss. Featuring voices like Starhawk, Merlin Stone, and Carol P. Christ, it's a must-watch for anyone reclaiming the sacred feminine.
In the film and broader mythic discourses, the Goddess is called: The Great Mother, Awset (an epithet of Egyptian Isis), Pochma (a possible early Hebrew divine name), and even Guanyin in different cultural contexts.
The claim that she “invented the stylus and numbers” belong more to mythopoetic narrative than documented history.
As Goddess Remembered reminds us, this isn’t about reversing patriarchy—it’s about restoring a long-lost balance. The sacred feminine was never gone, only buried. She waits in the roots, the stones, the hands of every woman who remembers.
Remembering Her: The Sacred Past
“Thousands of years before the Bible was written, people revered the Goddess.”—Goddess Remembered (1991)
Long before patriarchal religions rose, Goddess-centered cultures flourished. Across cultures and continents, people gathered at sacred sites to honor the Goddess—not as an abstract ideal, but as the embodiment of the Earth, the Moon, the womb, and the great cycles of life. Across the ancient world—in Old Europe, the Mediterranean, and beyond—the feminine was sacred. The divine wasn’t above us, but within us, and the Earth herself was the body of the Goddess.
“Churches were built over Pagan worship sites, Goddesses were turned into Saints.”– Goddess Remembered. This systematic rebranding—turning priestesses into heretics, midwives into witches, and goddesses into meek saints—was not accidental. It was part of a long, intentional unraveling of women's spiritual authority and our deep relationship with the Earth.
Even in the stones of old churches and the bones of old stories, we can still trace her shape—hidden in plain sight.
Goddess-Centered Cultures Were Often Egalitarian
The Comagnon (Cro-Magnon) people, the first early modern humans (Homo sapiens) of the European Upper Paleolithic (~40,000 to 10,000 years ago), among others, were mostly peaceful hunter-gatherers. Archaeological evidence shows little signs of weapons or war-based structures in early goddess-honoring villages. Instead, they revered mothers and lived in balance with nature.
Were they egalitarian? The answer appears to be yes. While these cultures weren’t identical, many had no rigid hierarchies. There is little evidence of warfare or male domination in the earliest layers of these societies.
Crete & the Goddess-Centered Life
In Bronze-Age Crete (c. 2000–1450 BC), known as Minoan civilization, people built palaces with advanced engineering and plumbing, studied the stars, and created vibrant art within harmonious, silver‑honoring communities. Women served as healers, midwives, herbalists, spiritual leaders and priestesses—there is no evidence of rigid gender hierarchy or male domination. Their society appears to have been peaceful and egalitarian. There is no archaeological evidence of male domination or warfare.
These people lived in balance with nature and each other. Spiritual life centered on cycles, Earth, and the sacred feminine. This aligns with findings presented in “Goddess Remembered” and supported by Minoan archaeological research .
Know Thyself at Delphi
At the Temple of Apollo in Delphi, the inscription "Know Thyself" (“Gnῒthi seautón”) reflects a central tenet of goddess-rooted wisdom: a foundational teaching of introspection and feminine spiritual awakening echoing the inner wisdom of goddess traditions held as core—that our power comes not from obedience, but from inner knowing.
A Greek Reframing & Athena's Shifts
As patriarchal Greek civilization gained power, goddesses were reimagined. Athena, once a symbol of wisdom, weaving, and civic justice, became more associated with strategy and war. Even as she retained her intelligence and complexity, the cultural shift mirrored a broader suppression of feminine spiritual authority to a broader pivot toward male-dominated narratives.
Meanwhile, the Greeks declared the rise of "history" itself—marking the end of what they considered myth, and the beginning of a linear, male-authored narrative.
The Erased Feminine: Lilith and the Garden
In the Genesis creation story, Eve is blamed for the fall of man. But earlier Jewish folklore speaks of Lilith—Adam's first wife—who refused to be subservient. Her absence from the Bible echoes the broader cultural silencing of independent women.
Lilith, like many erased feminine figures, represents the power that patriarchy could not control, so it demonized or excluded it.
Goddess Symbols in the Earths
“Tens of thousands of female figurines and goddess relics have been unearthed by archaeologists—across Europe, Asia, and Africa—vastly outnumbering male symbols, which were mostly limited to phallic forms.” —Goddess Remembered
One of the oldest known human-made sculptures, dating back to 35,000 BCE, was found in France: a small carving of a female figure, possibly a goddess. These figures weren’t decorative; they were sacred. They honored fertility, cycles, and the life-death-rebirth mysteries.
Vulva Caves & Sacred Bleeding
Vulva-shaped cave openings, painted with red ochre, have been found throughout Paleolithic and Prehistoric sites. These markings symbolized menstruation—the sacred bleeding of life. While academic interpretations vary, many goddess scholars and symbolic anthropologists view them as sacred art tied to fertility and cyclical life. Still, this image has become a powerful emblem in goddess spirituality.
Malta’s Hypogeum: Womb of Rebirth
In Malta lies the subterranean Ħal-Saflieni Hypogeum, a three-story underground temple believed to date to around 3300 BCE. Carved from stone, this space is thought to have hosted goddess ceremonies tied to the cycle of life and death. Pregnant women may have come here to invite the spirits of the dead into the womb for rebirth.
Malta is also home to some of the oldest goddess statues and temple remains in the world.
Silbury Hill & the Breast of the Goddes
Numerous unconnected cultures placed mounds and earthen structures at their spiritual center. For example, Silbury Hill in England is the largest prehistoric earthen mound in Europe, built around 2400 BCE by generations using antler tools. Within a 30-mile radius are other sacred sites—stone circles, burial mounds, and solar alignments. Many researchers believe the hill represents the breast of the goddess, the Earth as Mother.
This is not mythology. These were acts of devotion carried out over centuries.
African Goddesses were never Lost
In some regions of Africa, goddess-centered spiritual traditions have endured—leading colonial powers to dismiss them as “pagan” or “savage.” This racist erasure mirrors the broader suppression of feminine spiritual systems .
Erasure Through Colonization & Religion
“Churches were built over Pagan worship sites, Goddesses were turned into Saints.”– Goddess Remembered
Colonialism and patriarchal religion sought to overwrite goddess-centered spirituality. Sacred feminine deities were recast as meek saints or demonized witches. In some parts of Africa where goddess reverence survived colonization, spiritual systems were dismissed as "savage."
The cost was spiritual amnesia. And yet—the memory endures.
The Great Return
“Women's spirituality is about grounding ourselves and reaching out to help the current situations get better.” —Goddess Remembered
“Goddess religions are returning—not in a warrior-like way, but through individual consciousness and women's history being uncovered.” —Goddess Remembered
What we reclaim now isn’t just history—it’s healing. Women are remembering. Reclaiming their voices, their womb wisdom, their earth-aligned knowing. This return isn’t loud and violent—it’s quiet, embodied, rooted.
We are not recreating the past. We are composting it into sacred balance.
This imbalance of male dominance continues to ripple through our modern world—showing up as unequal pay, lack of representation in leadership, systemic silencing of women’s voices, and the continued devaluation of emotional intelligence, intuition, caregiving, and Earth-based wisdom.
These aren’t just societal issues—they’re spiritual wounds. When the sacred feminine is suppressed, the soul of the world suffers. Rebalancing starts within. We can listen deeply to our own silenced parts, unlearn internalized hierarchies, and honor the goddess in our daily choices: through art, through ritual, through rest, through saying “no” when we’re expected to overextend.
We can return to our cycles, honor the moon, walk barefoot on the Earth, speak to our ancestors, and rekindle ancient ways of knowing. It also means lifting up and listening to marginalized voices, respecting the Earth as a living being, and creating communities where power is shared, not hoarded. Reclaiming the goddess isn’t just about remembering the past—it’s about restoring balance to the future, spiritually and collectively.
Historical & Archaeological Sources
Goddess Remembered (1989) – Film by Donna Read (part of the Women and Spirituality trilogy, NFB Canada).
The Chalice and the Blade by Riane Eisler – Discusses egalitarian societies and the shift to patriarchal dominance.
When God Was a Woman by Merlin Stone – Traces the suppression of goddess worship and rise of male god figures.
The Myth of Matriarchal Prehistory by Cynthia Eller – Offers a critical view but discusses the academic debate around matriarchal societies.
The Civilization of the Goddess by Marija Gimbutas – Archaeological work supporting peaceful Neolithic societies centered on goddess worship.
The Greek Myths by Robert Graves – Explores how older myths were rewritten under patriarchal influence (e.g., Athena).
The Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets by Barbara G. Walker – Contains entries on Lilith, Athena, Delphi, and goddess traditions.
Spiritual & Mythological Sources
The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley – A retelling of Arthurian legend centering the priestess and goddess tradition.
The Sophia Code by Kaia Ra – Modern spiritual text reclaiming divine feminine lineages and ascended master teachings.
The Red Tent by Anita Diamant – Fiction rooted in biblical times, restoring sacred feminine context.
Women Who Run With the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estés – On feminine psyche and mythology.
Lilith stories from Jewish Midrash – Midrashic texts that include the Lilith creation myth.
Spiritual Teachings & Practices
The concept of “Know Thyself” at Delphi – Rooted in ancient Greek spirituality, often linked to Goddess teachings of inner knowing and self-sovereignty.
Modern Druidry, Wicca, and Paganism – Paths that restore reverence for nature, the divine feminine, and balance.
Up Next: The Great Rebalancing Continues
The next post in this series will continue Phase 2: The Great Disruption in The Great Rebalancing Series, exploring Each of Us Holds Both Masculine & Feminine Energies (But They're Misbalanced)
What part of your feminine soul is ready to come back online?
What have you been taught to hide, minimize, or deny—and what is asking to return?
Journal it. Paint it. Plant it. Let this post be your temple.
If you missed the first four posts in this series, you can find them below! Drop a comment, share your experiences, or simply sit with this knowing: You are not alone. 🌙📖
Follow us on Instagram and Pinterest! Tag us using #TheMindfulBalanceToolkit & #TheGreatRebalancing.
Blessed Be,
Check out our other posts and inspiring resources:
Explore more Blog Posts, browse our Resources and FAQs, learn more in the About section, reach out through our Contact page, or find your way back Home!
Disclaimer: This is a safe and supportive space where vulnerability is valued. All races, religions, gender identities, sexual orientations, backgrounds, and abilities—including those with chronic illnesses, mental health conditions, PTSD, and mobility challenges—are welcome with open hearts and good intentions. Please share your thoughts with kindness. Bullying, hate speech, or harmful comments will be immediately removed without notice to maintain the integrity of this community.
© 2025 The Mindful Balance Toolkit by Stephanie Chaisson. All rights reserved.
This content is the intellectual property of the author and may not be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic methods, without the prior written permission of the author. Sharing is welcome with proper credit and a link back to the original post. Thank you for honoring the energy and effort behind these words.
This content, including all text, images, and materials, is the intellectual property of The Mindful Balance Toolkit and may not be reproduced, distributed, or used without permission.