The simplest and most basic meaning of the symbol of the Goddess is the acknowledgment of the legitimacy of female power as a beneficent and independent power.

Carol P. Christ (1945–2021) was a leading figure in feminist theology and the women’s spirituality movement, known for arguing that religious symbols shape social realities. This statement comes from her work on the meaning of “Goddess” language and imagery in late-20th-century feminist religious thought, where she contended that patriarchal traditions had often rendered female power derivative, suspect, or dependent on male authority. In that context, invoking the Goddess functions not primarily as a claim about a single deity, but as a symbolic and theological intervention: it re-centers women’s experience and affirms women’s agency as spiritually legitimate, morally positive, and not contingent on male validation.

Christ is defining the Goddess symbol at its most fundamental level: it asserts that female power is real, rightful, and good in itself. “Legitimacy” signals a challenge to cultural and religious frameworks that have treated women’s authority as secondary or permissible only under male sanction. Calling female power “beneficent” rejects stereotypes that associate women’s autonomy with danger or disorder, while “independent” insists it is not merely a reflection of male power. The quote thus frames Goddess symbolism as both spiritual and political: a reimagining of the sacred that aims to transform how communities understand authority, embodiment, and the moral value of women’s self-determination.