Editing Goddess (section)

==Abrahamic religions==

===Judaism===
{{Further|The Hebrew Goddess|Shekhinah}}
According to [[Zohar]], [[Lilith]] is the name of [[Adam]]'s first wife, who was created at the same time as Adam. She left [[Adam]] and refused to return to the [[Garden of Eden]] after she mated with [[archangel]] [[Samael]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://istina.rin.ru/eng/ufo/text/663.html|title=Samael & Lilith - Unexplained - IN SEARCH FOR TRUTH|work=rin.ru}}</ref> Her story was greatly developed during the [[Middle Ages]] in the tradition of [[Aggadic midrashim]], the [[Zohar]] and [[Jewish mysticism]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Schwartz|first1=Howard|title=Tree of Souls: The Mythology of Judaism|date=2004|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=New York|isbn=0195358708|page=218}}</ref>

The Zohar tradition has influenced [[Jewish mythology|Jewish folklore]], which postulates God created Adam to marry a woman named [[Lilith]]. Outside of Jewish tradition, Lilith was associated with the [[Mother Goddess]], [[Inanna]] – later known as both [[Ishtar]] and [[Asherah]]. In The [[Epic of Gilgamesh]], Gilgamesh was said to have destroyed a tree that was in a sacred grove dedicated to the goddess Ishtar/Inanna/[[Asherah]]. Lilith ran into the wilderness in despair. She then is depicted in the Talmud and [[Kabbalah]] as first wife to God's first creation of man, [[Adam]]. In time, as stated in the Old Testament, the Hebrew followers continued to worship "False Idols", like [[Asherah]], as being as powerful as God. [[Jeremiah]] speaks of his (and God's) displeasure at this behaviour to the Hebrew people about the worship of the goddess in the Old Testament. Lilith is banished from Adam and God's presence when she is discovered to be a "demon" and Eve becomes Adam's wife.

The following female deities are mentioned in prominent Hebrew texts:
* [[Agrat bat Mahlat]]
* [[Anath]]
* [[Asherah]]
* [[Ashima]]
* [[Astarte]]
* [[Eisheth]]
More commonly, modern Judaism acknowledges ''[[Shekhinah]]'' as the feminine aspect of God.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Shekhinah: The Divine Feminine |url=https://www.myjewishlearning.com/beliefs/Theology/Kabbalah_and_Mysticism/Modern_Times/Mysticism_Renewed/Jewish_Renewal.shtml |access-date=2024-01-02 |website=My Jewish Learning |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Shekhina {{!}} Divine Presence, Feminine Aspect, Holiness {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Shekhina |access-date=2024-01-02 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref> ''Shekhinah'' is considered to be the presence of God on Earth and/or the spirit of the Jewish people, forever trying to reunite with the other elements of God through ''[[tikkun olam]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Freeman |first=Tzvi |date=2014 |title=Who Is Shechinah, And What Does She Want from My Life? |url=https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/2438527/jewish/The-Shechina.htm |access-date=January 2, 2024 |website=Chabad}}</ref> She is also associated with the [[Lunar deity|moon]], the earth, [[David]], and [[Rachel]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ten Sefirot: Shekhinah, Malkhut |url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/ten-sefirot-shekhinah-malkhut |access-date=2024-01-02 |website=www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Shekhinah {{!}} telshemesh.org |url=https://www.telshemesh.org/shekhinah/ |access-date=2024-01-02 |website=www.telshemesh.org}}</ref>

===Christianity===
{{Main|Veneration of Mary in the Catholic Church}}
[[File:Sophia design.jpg|thumb|[[Sophia (wisdom)|Virgin Sophia]] design on a [[Harmony Society]] doorway in [[Harmony, Pennsylvania]], carved by [[Frederick Reichert Rapp]] (1775–1834)]]
The veneration of [[Mary, mother of Jesus|Mary, the mother of Jesus]], as an especially privileged [[saint]] has continued since the beginning of the [[Catholic Church|Catholic faith]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Redemptoris Mater (25 March 1987) {{!}} John Paul II |url=https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_jp-ii_enc_25031987_redemptoris-mater.html |access-date=2024-01-02 |website=www.vatican.va}}</ref> Mary is venerated as the [[Mother of God]], [[Queen of Heaven]], [[Mother of the Church]], the Blessed Virgin Mary, [[Our Lady, Star of the Sea|Star of the Sea]], and other lofty titles.

[[Marian devotions|Marian devotion]] similar to this kind is also found in [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodoxy]] and sometimes in [[Anglicanism]], although not in the majority of denominations of [[Protestantism]].
In some Christian traditions (like the Orthodox tradition), [[Sophia (wisdom)|Sophia]] is the personification of either divine wisdom (or of an archangel) that takes female form. She is mentioned in the first chapter of the [[Book of Proverbs]]. Sophia is identified by some as the wisdom imparting [[Holy Spirit in Christianity|Holy Spirit]] of the [[Christian Trinity]], whose names in Hebrew—[[Ruach]] and [[Shekhinah]]—are both feminine, and whose symbol of the [[dove]] was commonly associated in the [[Ancient Near East]] with the figure of the [[Mother Goddess]].

In [[mysticism]], [[Gnosticism]], as well as some [[Hellenistic religion]]s, there is a female spirit or goddess named Sophia who is said to embody [[wisdom]] and who is sometimes described as a [[Virginity|virgin]]. In [[Roman Catholicism|Roman Catholic]] [[mysticism]], Saint [[Hildegard of Bingen|Hildegard]] celebrated Sophia as a cosmic figure both in her writing and art. Within the [[Protestantism|Protestant]] tradition in [[England]], the 17th-century mystic [[Universalism|universalist]] and founder of the Philadelphian Society [[Jane Leade]] wrote copious descriptions of her visions and dialogues with the "Virgin Sophia" who, she said, revealed to her the spiritual workings of the universe. Leade was hugely influenced by the theosophical writings of 16th-century [[Germany|German]] Christian mystic [[Jakob Böhme]], who also speaks of Sophia in works such as ''The Way to Christ''.<ref name="Way">{{cite book | title=The Way to Christ| url=http://www.passtheword.org/DIALOGS-FROM-THE-PAST/waychrst.htm| last=Böhme| first=Jacob| author-link=Jacob Böhme|others=William Law (trans.)| date=1622 <!--(1764)-->| publisher=M. Richardson| location=Pater-noster Row, London}}</ref> Jakob Böhme was very influential to a number of [[Christian mysticism|Christian mystics]] and religious leaders, including [[George Rapp]] and the [[Harmony Society]].

==== Latter Day Saint movement ====
The members of most denominations in the [[Latter Day Saint movement]] believe in, although they do not directly worship, a [[Heavenly Mother (Mormonism)|Heavenly Mother]] who is the female counterpart of the [[God in Mormonism|Heavenly Father]]. Together they are referred to as [[Heavenly Parents]]. Adherents also believe that all humans, both women and men, have the potential to become gods through a process known as [[exaltation (Mormonism)|exaltation]].