Abstract:

'Re-Imagining Inanna: The Gendered Reappropriation of the Ancient Goddess in Modern Goddess Worship' examines the specifically gendered reconstruction of the ancient Mesopotamian deity Inanna in modern Goddess worship. This paper argues that the reconstruction of Inanna in modern Goddess worship is an imaginative process based upon unexamined gendered assumptions of what is properly feminine for a great goddess. The result of this process is a constructed image of Inanna that is incongruent with the personality of Inanna as imagined in ancient Mesopotamia. Moreover, this incongruence leads to an examination of the Pagan approach to history and an analysis of the sociological features present in contemporary Paganism that allows for these selective reconstructions.

Author: Paul Thomas