How Goddess Worship Was Suppressed To Give Rise to Patriarchy

In humanity’s earliest days, God was actually a woman

‘The Birth of the Milky Way’ by Peter Paul Rubens, c. 1637, inspired by ancient myths that imagined the Milky Way forming from a Goddess’s breast spilling milk. Image via Wikimedia Commons.

The oldest discovered figurine depicting the human form is at least 35,000 years old.

This small ivory sculpture, unearthed in six fragments from a hollow rock in southwest Germany, is unmistakably a depiction of a woman — it has strikingly large breasts and a clearly defined vulva. Called the Venus of Hohle Fels, it’s one of many similar female representations that archaeologists collectively refer to as ‘Venuses.’

The next oldest figurine belongs to this series as well — that’s Venus of Willendorf. Dating back around 30,000 years, it was found in Lower Austria, and, similarly to Venus of Hohle Fels, it’s known for its voluptuous form. Other Venus figurines have also been discovered across Europe and East Asia, but these are hardly the only ancient representations of the female body. Many of the earliest examples of figurative art — including temple murals, shrine reliefs, rock paintings, etc. — depict women, too. Women with ample breasts and shapely butts. Women with swollen bellies. Women giving birth. Women nursing their offspring.

Yet despite their ubiquity, these depictions have often been dismissed as mere ‘precursors to Playboy’ — oh yes, really — with early scholars…