Great Goddess, Elemental Nature or Chora? Philosophical Contentions and Constructs in Contemporary Goddess Feminism

This paper examines some of the metaphysical concepts that are present within Goddess feminism at the beginning of the twenty-first century. It is asserted from the outset that Goddess feminism is not as incoherent as many of its critics claim; and it is also highly problematic for feminist thealogians to view conceptual precision and philosophical analysis as inevitably masculinist and invidious preoccupations. Three contemporary feminist thealogical concepts of deity are introduced: the Goddess as a personal, loving and panentheistic deity, the Goddess as the impersonal, female and generative pantheistic body of nature, and the Goddess as a maternal space or receptacle of becoming. By reflecting on some of the different ways in which the Goddess may be understood to originate, organize and relate to the whole of nature, this paper identifies areas of coherence, contention and originality in Goddess feminism that are arguably in need of further philosophical study.