{"id":4581,"date":"2026-03-04T10:29:03","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T10:29:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thedivinefeminineapp.com\/blog\/?p=4581"},"modified":"2026-03-08T20:27:42","modified_gmt":"2026-03-08T20:27:42","slug":"celebrating-esther-the-other-side-of-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedivinefeminineapp.com\/blog\/celebrating-esther-the-other-side-of-history\/","title":{"rendered":"Celebrating Esther: the Other Side of History"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Herstory<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

*Picture is of a painting by Ernest Normand in 1888 of Esther Denouncing Haman to King Ahasuerus. Yea, that’s right, you better cower. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The story of Esther is about risking all for that which matters: each other. Esther was the Jewish queen of Persia who, along with her cousin Mordecai, saved her people from a plot by the royal advisor Haman to destroy them, as recounted in the Book of Esther (Megillah).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Esther is widely linked to Ishtar<\/a> or the Sumerian Goddess Inanna, the great Babylonian goddesses of love and war. The ancient city of Babylon (ancient Babylonia in Mesopotamia) is located in modern day Iraq. Ancient Babylon reached its heights in the 16-18th centuries and the 7th-6th centuries BC (that is 2,600 to 3700 years ago!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This popular picture of Ishtar circa. 20th – 16th century BCE (that’s 3,900 years ago) can be found in the British Museum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The names ‘Esther’ and ‘Ishtar’ share a common Semitic root, and both figures share qualities: beauty, courage, the use of feminine power to intercede and save lives.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Purim, which was just celebrated (the 14th day of the Hebrew month of Adar) is one of the Jewish holidays with the most intriguing connections to ancient Near Eastern goddess traditions. <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Esther’s story echoes the mythic structure of Ishtar in several ways. Ishtar was known for descending into dangerous places and using her power to rescue \u2014 in her most famous myth, she descends into the underworld to reclaim what was lost. Esther similarly “descends” into the dangerous royal court to rescue her people. Both figures embody the archetype of the hidden power of the feminine<\/strong> revealed at a moment of crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But let’s step it back a bit: Vashti as the Shadow Goddess<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before Esther, Vashti was the Queen of Persia and the first wife of King Ahasuerus (Xerxes I) in the Book of Esther. She defied the king\u2019s order to parade her beauty before his drunken guests. Due to her refusal, she was banished as queen and replaced by Esther. Some goddess spirituality scholars, like Barbara Black Koltuv and others in the feminist theology movement, highlight Vashti<\/strong> as equally important \u2014 she who refuses to be displayed, who holds her ground, and who is exiled. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vashti and Esther represent two faces of the goddess: the sovereign, untameable feminine (Vashti) and the strategically empowered feminine (Esther).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Festival Structure<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Purim’s character \u2014 feasting, role reversals, costumes, intoxication, raucous celebration \u2014 echoes ancient Near Eastern fertility festivals<\/strong> and new year celebrations in which normal social order was temporarily upended. The Babylonian Akitu<\/strong> festival had similar features, including the ritual humiliation of a king figure (paralleling Haman) and the honoring of the divine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lots and Fate<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The word Purim<\/em> means “lots” (as in casting lots), referring to how Haman chose the date to destroy the Jews. The casting of lots to determine fate was a deeply embedded practice in ancient goddess religion, where priestesses of figures like Ishtar served as oracles and fate-diviners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feminist & Pagan Reclamations<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Modern goddess spirituality practitioners \u2014 particularly in Jewish renewal, eco-feminist, and Wiccan-adjacent traditions \u2014 have embraced Purim as a holiday that honors:<\/p>\n\n\n\n