User:AnnieBW1/Goddess Movement

Participants in the Goddess movement often invoke myths. However skeptics claim that these have been reconstructed from ancient sources and others are modern inventions.[20] Indeed, these myths are not interpreted literally, but rather figuratively or metaphorically as reflecting ancient understandings and worldviews. For instance, creation myths are not seen as conflicting with scientific understanding but rather as being poetic, metaphoric statements that are compatible with, for example, the theory of evolution, modern cosmology, and physics.[21][22] The bulk of mythological sources of the Goddess movement are modern reconstructions of ancient myths that supposedly predated the patriarchal period and, therefore, very little was written about them.[23] Aside from the reflection of ancient understanding of these, there are adherents who also turn to contemporary scholarship and literature such as Robert Graves' The White Goddess. Some of this work's interpretation of the Greek mythology (based mainly on James Frazer's The Golden Bough, such as the annual sacrifice of a king that represents a god) were adopted as the basis to describe the goddess' aging and rejuvenation with the seasons.[23] The myth of Demeter and Persephone is one that has often been reinterpreted.