Editing Modern paganism (section)

====Goddess movement====
{{Main|Goddess movement}}
{{Further|Matriarchal religion}}

Goddess spirituality, which is also known as the [[Goddess movement]], is a pagan religion in which a singular, monotheistic Goddess is given predominance. Goddess Spirituality revolves around the sacredness of the female form, and of aspects of women's lives that adherents say have been traditionally neglected in Western society, such as menstruation, sexuality, and maternity.{{Sfn|Harvey|2007|p=70}}

The Goddess movement draws some of its inspiration from the work of archaeologists such as [[Marija Gimbutas]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Gimbutas |first=Marija |author-link=Marija Gimbutas |title=The Gods and Goddesses of Old Europe, 6500-3500 B.C.: Myths and Cult Images |publisher=University of California Press |date=1982 |orig-year=1974 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zKFFOoPlyjIC |isbn=978-0-5202-5398-8 |access-date=2015-10-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160109063144/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=zKFFOoPlyjIC |archive-date=2016-01-09 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Gimbutas |first=Marija |title=The Language of the Goddess: Unearthing the Hidden Symbols of Western Civilization |publisher=Thames & Hudson |date=2001 |orig-year=1989 |isbn=978-0-5002-8249-6 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Gimbutas |first=Marija |title=The Civilisation of the Goddess: The World of Old Europe |publisher=Harper San Francisco |date=1993 |orig-year=1991 |isbn=9780062508041 |oclc=924859108}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Catal-huyuk. A Neolithic Town In Anatolia |last=Mellaart |first=James |publisher=McGraw-Hill |location=New York |date=1967 |url=https://archive.org/details/Catal-huyuk.ANeolithicTownInAnatolia |access-date=2015-10-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160411154925/https://archive.org/details/Catal-huyuk.ANeolithicTownInAnatolia |archive-date=2016-04-11 |url-status=live }}</ref> whose interpretation of artifacts excavated from "[[Old Europe (archaeology)|Old Europe]]" points to societies of [[Neolithic Europe]] that were matristic or goddess-centered worshipping a female deity of three primary aspects,<ref name="Hayden 1987">{{cite book |author-last=Hayden |author-first=Brian |year=1987 |chapter=Old Europe: Sacred Matriarchy or Complementary Opposition? |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qY973Ah43qoC&pg=PA17 |editor-last=Bonanno |editor-first=Anthony |title=Archaeology and Fertility Cult in the Ancient Mediterranean: Papers Presented at the First International Conference on Archaeology of the Ancient Mediterranean, the University of Malta, 2–5 September 1985 |location=[[Amsterdam]] |publisher=[[John Benjamins Publishing Company|B. R. Grüner]] |pages=17–30 |isbn=9789060322888}}</ref> which has inspired some modern pagan worshippers of the [[Triple Goddess (Neopaganism)|Triple Goddess]].

Adherents of the Goddess Spirituality movement typically envision a history of the world that is different from traditional narratives about the past, emphasising the role of women rather than that of men. According to this view, [[human society]] was formerly a [[matriarchy]], with communities being egalitarian, pacifistic, and focused on the worship of the [[Mother goddess]],<ref name="Hayden 1987"/> which was subsequently overthrown by violent and warlike [[patriarchy|patriarchal]] hordes – usually [[Proto-Indo-Europeans|Indo-European]] [[pastoralists]] who worshipped male [[Sky deity|sky-gods]],<ref name="Hayden 1987"/> and continued to rule through the form of [[Abrahamic religions]], specifically Christianity in the West. Adherents look for elements of this human history in "theological, anthropological, archaeological, historical, folkloric and hagiographic writings."{{Sfn|Harvey|2007|p=73-75}}