Goddess worship was a form of fertility religion practiced widely among ancient people. In the Mediterranean area alone, the “goddess” was represented by Astarte, Isis, Ishtar, Anat, Kybele, Demeter, Aphrodite, and many other local deities. We know more about later forms of goddess worship that existed in places about which there are historical records and where there are significant archeological remains.
Fertility religions were based on the passing of the seasons— alternating times of harvest and plenty, scarcity and hardship. Fertility was personified by a goddess, and her consort—often a young god—went through an annual cycle of death and rebirth. Worshipers of the goddess practiced a kind of “magic” that usually relied on sexual ritual and human sacrifice to ensure the continuing favor and fertility of the goddess and her consort. ( Leviticus 20:2 ; Deuteronomy 18:10 ; 2 Kings 21:6 ; Psalms 106:38 ; Jeremiah 7:31 ; Ezekiel 23:37 , etc.) The Old Testament and a broad range of other sources make it clear that such worship involved the use of both male and female “sacred prostitutes” (Deuteronomy 23:18 ) and involved ecstatic frenzy, sometimes including self-laceration and self-emasculation (1 Kings 18:28 ). (See the Questions, Why Did Ancient Pagans Practice Blood Sacrifices?; How Can the Christian Tradition Be Defended?)
