Institute for Thealogy & Deasophy

The research center was created for several reasons. First, it was identified that there is need for feminist thealogy, deasophy, and feminist spirituality to be situated as important, legitimate fields of scholarly inquiry within the context of the broader academic mainstream. Secondly, it was identified that there was a need for more scholarship to be generated in the fields of thealogy and deasophy as many of these feminist spiritual communities' theoretical and thealogical resolutions are largely understudied. Thirdly, it was indentified that there is a need for a relevant forum that could bring together the different factions in the feminist spirituality communities with the hope of engendering thealogical discussions where both scholars and practitioners could partake in dialogue for the purposes of promoting reciprocal knowledge, learning, and understanding. Last but not least, it was identified that there is the need for a resource that could serve the community particularly by aiding in the growth, development, and evolution of the present and future theoretical resolutions underlying these various traditions.

The Institute for Thealogy & Deasophy (I4TD) was first organized in the summer of 2010 with the intention to focus on advancing and promoting the discourses of feminist thealogy and deasophy by engaging in research projects, educational endeavors, and by providing the forum where adherents, allies, and scholars can engage in social networking, scholarly collaboration, and dialogue pertaining to ideas and beliefs about the Divine Feminine. Grounded in this focus, the Institute has four primary visionary aims.

The Goddess movements are gradually making in roads into the larger academic, religious, and political mainstream. The Academy of Religion Western Region has established a committee called Goddess Studies that is devoted to the study of thealogy and deasophy. All across North America, various organizations, like the Reformed Congregation of the Goddess, which are associated with practicing Goddess Neopagan spirituality, have been granted official status as a 'church'. Bookstores now maintain considerably hefty religious studies sections contained with all sorts of books that relate to Neopaganism, the Occult, and the Goddess. Goddess spirituality itself is a growing movement that is gaining greater numbers of participants in all areas across the globe. Still, Goddess spirituality and thealogical discourse are often marginalized by the broader religious and academic mainstream. Thus, the first aim of the Institute is to aid in this objective of situating feminist Goddess thealogy and deasophy into the larger academic and religious mainstream as a area of scholarly inquiry in its own right.

Many scholarly works have been written that focus on the Goddess spiritual movements from various perspectives including sociological, anthropological, organizational, cultural, and political. While many of these works incite thealogical expression and explore the basic tenants, ideologies, and values of these movements, little attention has been heeded to the theoretical resolutions in terms of thealogies/deasophies that undergird these movements. While little scholarly work has focused the thealogical and deasophical aspects of these traditions, this does not mean that the Goddess movements do not contain and practice rich and diverse thealogies and deasophies. While these movements differ from the traditional monotheistic faiths in that they are not paradigmatically revelatory or reliant on universal creeds, many beliefs, questions, and values are still essentially cultivated on both an individual and collective level. Given the increasing momentum of the Goddess contemporary tradition, it is the appropriate time to construct scholarly venues that are devoted to understanding and excavating the thealogical beliefs and deasophical practices associated with these movements. At the Institute, we feel it is necessary to provide educational forums and embark on research projects such as conferences, seminar series, and scholarly publications to address this lacuna. The second aim of the Institute is to aid in filling this gap in the scholarly literature concerning the fields of thealogy and deasophy.

Many affiliated with Goddess spirituality practice alone or in small groups as the nature of the Goddess organization is organic and fluid rather than regimented with a centralized leadership structure. The practicalities of the online web have engendered rich dialogue across these different groups and individuals which has allowed for the exchange of ideas relating to beliefs and practices associated with the Goddess(es). Still, many communities within feminist spirituality are fragmented and disconnected from one another. At the institute, we feel it is important to provide a centralized space where all kinds of spiritual feminists and allies can come together across difference and similarity to make known their thealogical views and expressions. The third aim of this Institute is to create a centralized hub where all affiliates and allies, both scholars and practitioners alike, can express their perspectives on thealogy and deasophy.

Some critics of Goddess spirituality charge that the tradition lacks rich theoretical and thealogical resolutions that will ensure its continued survival. While thealogy or theology is not required for any religious or spiritual tradition to prosper, we at the Institute acknowledge the importance and relevance of thealogical and deasophical discourse as well as acknowledge that the tradition indeed contains rich thealogical insights. Though thealogy and deasophy tend to be personal and experientially based, it is important to dialogue across differences and similarities to stimulate growth and development. At the Institute, our various projects including our online forums and social networking features promote discussions and debate pertaining to thealogy and deasophy. The fourth aim of the Institute is to provide theoretical sustenance to the broader feminist spiritual community in the hopes that this will aid in the traditions' continued development, sustainment, and identity formation.