女神信仰與媽祖崇拜的比較研究

Two Comparative Approaches for the Study of the Cult of Matsu in Taiwan

本文主旨在援引人類學女神研究論述供國內媽祖研究作參考與比較使用。人類學的女神研究自從J.J.Bachofen（1815-1887年）的母權研究開始注意女神信仰與母權社會的關係，之後沉寂一段時間，1980年代女性主義及gender研究又帶動起女神研究風潮，異於早期的以圖書館文獻作推測，此期著重田野調查，且更細膩地考察女神信仰與社會經濟政治各層面之連接（articulation）問題。與臺灣的媽祖崇拜較有相關的研究取向，有印度Nandadevi女神回娘家的例子及歐洲早期農業女神被天主教會「瑪利亞化」的例子。Nandadevi女神回娘家的儀式牽涉到印度的父權家族制與婚後父居制之間女子對土地認屬的矛盾；以及聘金制使出嫁女兒與娘家之間存有緊張關係等二個問題。回娘家宗教儀式則轉化了社會結構間之矛盾及緊張關係。歐洲上古時期農業女神在基督宗教盛行之後紛紛被收編，予以聖徒化或瑪利亞化，以便取得被崇奉的正當性。具體可見的是，現存很多黑面聖母實為早期希臘羅馬埃及的大地之母信仰的遺留。此二例在臺灣媽祖信仰上可找到類似情形，但又不全然相同。相關的，有學者指出中國女性神祇有一些異於其它文化女神特質的地方，亦值得探討。

This article tries to broaden and make comparative the study of Matsu cult in Taiwan area by introducing material from the world-wide anthropological study of goddess worship. After J. J. Bachofen's outstanding research on 'mother right,' matriarchal society, and goddess worship, a long period followed during which anthropologists showed little interest in the study of goddess worship. Then, since the early 1980's and the rise of feminism and gender studies, interest in goddess worship revived. Different from Bachofen, fieldwork become important and has correspondingly made possible the exploration of the intricate relations between goddess worship and various social-cultural or politico-economic factors. Two ethnographic cases are reviewed for the comparative study of the Matsu cult in Taiwan. The first case is from India. Nandadevi, a Himalayan goddess who returns annually to her natal village, is a good example of how social structural conflict is transformed by ritual practice in goddess worship. The second case, this time Christian, is about syncretic processes whereby pre-Christian goddesses have been accepted as Saints or Marias and are legitimate for worship within the church. In Taiwan, the Goddess Matsu's 'return to her natal home' has also apparently coopted aboriginal goddesses, but in this case the specific mechanisms and processes of incorporation, together with the goddess herself, differ in novel respects from the Indian and European cases.