The Middle-Class Goddess Movement?
Victoria Moore from the Daily Mail reports on the annual Goddess Conference held in Glastonbury. The event was held at the Glastonbury Goddess Temple (they have their own blog too) and was organized by Kathy Jones. According to Jones, Goddess worship has exploded in popularity in the post-Da Vinci Code world.
“The Da Vinci Code has had a major effect. It has really brought us into the mainstream and helped us catch the attention of people who would not have found us before. When we [now] hold ceremonies, hundreds of people have to stand outside.”
But from the tone of Moore’s piece it seems (to her) that the Goddess movement (as typified by Jones) is more New Age mish-mash than ancient religion revived.
“As well as the conference, she also runs threeyear training courses for followers who want to pledge their services to the Goddess by becoming a Priest or Priestess of Avalon…Devotion does not come cheap – the course costs ?1,985 [3,500 in American dollars]…At the end of her rousing speech, she exhorts us to buy her book, Priestess Of Avalon, Priestess Of The Goddess, which detracts slightly from the spirituality of the moment, as it costs ?14.95…Like so many other cults, she is simply a botched construct, designed by Kathy and her cronies, with a smattering of myths and legends for a veneer of authenticity.”
But these priestesses of the Goddess have a snappy comeback.
“People accuse us of being New Age, but I say: ‘If you want new, go to the Catholic church down the road. It’s only been going for 2,000 years.’” – Georgina, Priestess of Avalon
Personally, I have little respect for any religious group who seem to place such a premium on selling product. I find modern Paganism’s dalliances with “New Age” monetary ethics distasteful and cheapening. That said, Moore obviously had an axe to grind with this report and most likely had no intention of giving these women a fair shake. I have no doubt that many women (and men) have found a vibrant and alive Goddess-based spirituality amongst the snake-oil sellers that litter their movement.
5 responses so far
Moore’s biases against feminists, peace activists, “hippie dippies,” and Goddess women – and her desire to make it all seem ridiculous – are clear from the snide tone of her article. It’s difficult to take what she says seriously, since it seems designed merely to reinforce her own prejudices and the presumed skepticism of her readers. Yawn.
“I find modern Paganism’s dalliances with “New Age” monetary ethics distasteful and cheapening.”
I like the way one poster on alt.pagan used to refer to the “New Age” movement:
“newage – rhymes with sewage”.
I have been to the Goddess Temple at Glastonbury – infact I was there during a Goddess Conference (not deliberate simply a coincidence) a couple of years ago – On a purely spiritual level I found this to be one of the most inspirational places I’ve ever been to – The walls of the temple were covered with some really beautiful images of the Goddess in all her forms – The one that stuck with me the most was the Morrigan – A Goddess I have a particular affinity with
There is of course a money element to it – unfortunately in this day and age money is a necessity not a nice to have.
However you are welcomed to the temple whether you wish to become a member or not – That is what stayed with me.
I don’t think it’s placing a premium on selling product to charge a reasonable sum for your services, whatever they might be. Three years’ training for under ?2,000? I’d say that’s a bargain. It’s not for me but I do know someone who has undergone that training and has got an awful lot out of it.
And plugging a book? Why should plugging a book be reprimanded? People have always had things to sell, talents to make money from – we don’t criticise the wise women of old for taking coin in exchange for wart cures and potions. Why do it now? Let’s not blind ourselves to the need to make a living and let’s not get fascistic in telling people how they should earn their living or get into arguments about what constitutes an acceptable level of income for someone of a pagan bent.
I think if you knew the type of readership the Daily Mail usually has, and the kind of gutter journalism it peddles, you might be less inclined to use its outpourings as a basis for condemning those caught beneath its hypocritical and rancid eye as ‘snake-oil sellers’. I would never believe a word that paper prints, let alone use what it has to say as the springboard for condemning others.
There is much crass commercialism in Glastonbury but, as AmethystDragon rightly points out, there is much there for spiritual seekers also. Some of it you pay for; some of it you don’t but heck, you have to pay to get into the Chalice Well Gardens. About the only thing you get for free is the Tor. Why expect pagans to give everything they’ve got for either nothing at all or a pittance? x
Um, new age doesn’t actually rhyme with sewage. That’s more evidence of a poor approach to poetry than wit, the erroneous idea that if words have similar spellings they can be said to rhyme. Not so. Unless whoever is saying ‘sewage’ really has quite the strangest accent in the world! Now, the word ‘assuage’ rhymes with ‘new age’ – which is, of course, two words and not one anyway – but like the quote doesn’t work… x