If you are told that God used to be a woman, you may find it preposterous, right? If you think so, it's time to sit back and review the evidence. But be careful. You risk shaking the entire foundation of your belief system and perhaps even worse, recognizing how badly you've been duped. Women have demanded equal rights on the job and in the home, but Heaven has still remained a patriarchy. Or has it? In actuality, there is a groundswell movement throughout this country taking note of enormous archaeological evidence which indicates that at one time, God was not thought of as male, but as a woman. Revered for centuries, she was the Great Mother who gave birth to all life in the universe. She was no virgin queen, but the fertile vessel of sexuality and creativity regarded as both sacred and central. The first archaeological finds in this area were made as early as the 1800s by J. J. Bachoffen. Being both male and chauvinistic to boot, he sloughed it off as primitive cultures exercising primitive beliefs. Recent evidence, however, has begun to sing a different tune. New archaeological findings reveal that far from primitive, these early mother-worshipping societies seemed to have everything necessary for civilization. From art to sanitation, they created, farmed, manufactured and governed within cultures that were as advanced as the early Greek states. In fact, only one thing was absent from their societies warfare. Their cities, though equipped with everything from temples to drainpipes, had a distinct absence of defensive walls, their gravesites a remark able absence of weapons. By all counts, evidence shows they were both advanced and peaceful, a combination which may seem as startling as the concept of a feminine god. God was the Great Mother, and being a mom, the values she espoused were ones you would expect from a good mother. Nurturing, cooperation, and an acute reverence for life seemed to be the foundation of these mother-centered religions. The workshop of this feminine creatress was not limited to a single isolated geographic area. In fact, though worshipped under different names such as Ishtar, Inanna, Isis and Kali, the Great Mother was the central deity of vast regions encompassing Central Europe, the Mediterranean, and India. These mother-worship ping cultures were stable and thrived for at least 2,500 years. Within them, women had power and prestige in both government and religion. Family name and property were passed through the lineage of the mother. Yet, despite these facts, there is no archaeological evidence that there was an oppression of males. Quite the contrary, the games and activities depicted in their art indicates a valuing of both genders, as well as an equality and trust between them. However, because they were reflections of the Great Mother herself, women did tend to function as the primary leadership. They seemed to do well in this capacity the cultures they ruled flourished. Changes came to these cultures between 2000 and 1000 B. C. , when they were destabilized by a series of natural disasters in the form. of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Simultaneously, Northern nomads began to migrate south. These warlike Indo-European tribes (also known as Aryans), though generally less culturally advanced, were fiercer and larger in stature than their agrarian neighbors. They were quite advanced in warfare and weaponry, seeming to actually worship these pursuits. Many of their religious motifs centered around the blade, which they obviously regarded as sacred. They had horses and war chariots as well, which gave them a lightning like strike capacity. Already weakened by geographic cataclysm, and untrained as they were in war fare, the goddess societies were no match for the invading tribes. Whole cultures were decimated by these brutal invaders. The conquerors had brought a male dominated religion. The once ruling Great Mother was reduced