The Egyptians worshipped Isis, great Mother, Goddess of fertility, Giver of Life and Queen of Heaven. The Greeks worshipped Artemis, protectress of children and the great Huntress; and the Romans worshipped Diana, Goddess of the moon and sister of Venus. Venus was originally Goddess of gardens and fields, later identified with Aphrodite, love and beauty. Worshipped as Venus Genetrix, mother of founder of Rome; Venus Felix, bringer of good fortune; Venus Victix, bringer of victory, and Venus Verticordia, protector of feminine chastity.

Then there is the Goddess Cybele. The name Cybele or Cybebe predominates in Greek and Roman literature from about the 5th century BC onward. Cybele was the Titan mother of the Olympian gods, who held domain over fertility and the earth. The Goddess Cybele held significance as a Goddess of the moon and of fertility, but was also worshipped in her earthly aspects as a fertility deity. The moon throughout history has been seen as a symbol of the feminine; its regular cycles correspond to the lifecycles of women.

A cult like religion was formed based on the mythical stories of Cybele.

This whole belief was further developed and refined by the Greeks around 6,000 years ago. They created a temple and an order of priesthood. These priests would have to be castrated following a ritual act of sex with the Goddesses representative. They would then serve her for life. To show their devotion they would have to dress in female clothes.

Three thousand years ago the state religion of Phrygia (in what is now Turkey) was centered around the worship of the Mother Goddess, there called Cybele. In many parts of the eastern Mediterranean, the Mother Goddess (under a variety of names), was served by a priesthood that often consisted of feminized males.

The Romans followed a Sibylline prophecy that the enemy could be expelled and conquered if the Goddess were brought to Rome, together with her sacred symbol, a small stone reputed to have fallen from the heavens. By the end of the Roman Republic, the Cybele religion had attained prominence and under the empire it became one of the most important cults in the Roman world.

Cybele's priests, the Galli, castrated themselves on entering her service.

The castration was justified by the myth that the Goddess Cybele had a lover, the fertility god Attis. The fable goes that he had emasculated himself under a pine tree, where he bled to death. Violets were created and sprung to life from the blood of Attis. In this fable, the Goddess Cybele later raised Attis from the dead as a woman.