thealogy

thumb|Statue of Ceres, the Roman goddess of [[agriculture]]

Thealogy is the study of the divine through feminist and other feminine-centered perspectives. The term encompasses a range of approaches that prioritize female experiences and symbols in theological discourse, including but not limited to feminist theory. The concept was introduced by Valerie Saiving, Isaac Bonewits (1976) and Naomi Goldenberg (1979) as a neologism (new word). Its use then widened to mean all feminine ideas of the sacred, which Charlotte Caron usefully explained in 1993: "reflection on the divine in feminine or feminist terms". By 1996, when Melissa Raphael published Thealogy and Embodiment, the term was well established.