Ancient Goddesses of the Middle East Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Ancient Goddesses of the Middle East - Essay Example However, during the past few thousand years, women have experienced marginalization from their power source. In the male dominated religions such as Judaism, Christianity and Islam, the female aspect of the Creator has been put aside. History reveals that remnants of the Goddess worshippers were annihilated because they were considered witches. It is alarming to note also that it was all done in the name of a loving God.1 By 4500 BC, the European continent hosted a flourishing group of Goddess worshipping cultures. Over the preceding two millennia, from about 6500 BC to 4500 BC, these cultures had undergone a peaceful evolution, and by the end of this time achieved what could properly be called a Golden Age of Old European civilization. They produced arts and crafts of remarkable quality. Communities achieved populations of many thousands and were laid out in a planned manner. Towns were located at consistently even distances from each other, with larger cities acting as religious and trade centers. According to Curtis, the peoples of this era believe and practice their religion in all aspects of their lives such as life, death, regeneration that is embodied in the female power, that is, the Goddess. Proof of this are the figurines and sculptures, the burial rites, the rich religious symbolism that were rampant during that age. Religion was so much a part of their lives that even ordinary chores like weaving was done inside the temples. It is almost common knowledge that in the present-day witchcraft, the central figure is a woman, the Goddess or the Great Mother. She represents life and fertility. She symbolizes the living force that connects all things in nature and the whole universe. She serves both as the creator and the destroyer. She is also called the Queen of Heaven as well as the moon. The Great Mother is endowed with magical powers and is often associated with feelings, intuition and the psychic faculty. Scholars agree that the Goddess is supposed to be without gender, however within the universe both the male and the female principles do exist. Furthermore, both in the Goddess worship both the male and the female principles are acknowledged.3 It is also recorded that, the Goddess has many features, titles and characteristics. At present however, particularly in witchcraft and Neo-paganism, she is worshipped as the triple Goddess such as the Virgin, the Mother and the Crone. Record shows that goddess worship dates back to Paleolithic times. Many anthropologists believe that the first "God" or gods of the peoples were feminine in nature. There is the so-called self-fertilization such as the ones mentioned in ancient creation myths and beliefs that all things came to order through this method. It means that there was no participation of a male counterpart and that the Goddess did all the creation by herself. Thus, it can be noted that the agricultural rituals and religions acknowledge that the gods were only successful because of the blessings of wisdom and goodness from the Great Goddess. This is evident in the existence of many matriarchal societies and tribes in the past. However, no concrete evidence can pinpoint that either of the gods or goddesses are superior to the other. The Great Goddess does not lord it over the male gods. In other

Consultancy Project for Novartis Saudi Arabia Dissertation

Consultancy Project for Novartis Saudi Arabia - Dissertation Example Related Literature 11 Saudization and the Private Sector 12 Saudization and Novartis Pharma Services 13 Saudi Work Values & Unemployment in the Private Sector 14 Addressing the Challenges of Saudization in Private Companies 16 Pharmacy Education & Practice in Saudi Arabia 17 Pharmacists Working as Medical Representatives 19 Medical Representatives at Novartis Pharma Services 21 Human Resource Management (HRM) in Saudi Arabia 23 HRM and Saudization 24 HRM Strategies on Recruiting Employees 25 Recruitment Strategies of Companies in Saudi Arabia 29 Al-Jomaih Bottling Plants 30 General Electric (GE) Energy Manufacturing Technology Center 30 The Saudi British Bank (SABB) 32 Chapter 3 – Project Proposal 33 Client Background and Issue 33 Project Types 34 Project Outline 34 Methodology and Timeframe 36 Risks 37 Key Contacts 37 Chapter 4 – Analysis & Evaluation of Issues 38 Research Design and Method 38 Pilot Survey 39 Limitations of the study 40 Participants in the study 41 Gro up 1: Saudi Pharmacists in the Government Sector 41 Group 2: Saudi Pharmacists in the Private Sector 43 Group 3: Saudi Pharmacy Students 43 Survey Results and Discussion 43 Research Findings: Saudi Pharmacists in the Government Sector 43 Research Findings: Saudi Pharmacists in the Private Sector 50 Research Findings: Saudi Pharmacy Students 56 Chapter 5 – Findings and Conclusion 61 â€Å"Medical Representatives are Being Paid Less† 61 â€Å"Government Work is a Good Training Ground for Pharmacits† 62 â€Å"Medical Representative Work is a Tough and Stressful Job 62 â€Å"Medical Representative is a Low Status Work† 63 â€Å"The Job is Easier in the Government† 64 Positive Response from the Stakeholders in the Survey 64 Saudi Pharmacists in the Government Sector 64 Saudi Pharmacists in the Private Sector...For this consultancy project, the company’s product manager, Dr. Adel Alohali outlined the challenges that were faced by the company in t he midst of Saudization program by the government. In response to its need to attract more Saudi pharmacists, Novartis provides its medical representatives with generous salaries, bonuses, and other incentives that are comparable to the benefits given for government jobs where most of Saudi pharmacists work. For instance, the company provides new cars, which medical representatives can own after four years and also get a new one after that. However, as Dr. Alohali explained, the company’s Human Resource team is still finding out ways to effectively recruit Saudi pharmacists to work in the company. Currently, Novartis Pharma Services employ a total of 89 pharmacists; 86 of them from foreign countries and only 3 are Saudi nationals. If possible, the company plans to eventually replace its workforce with more Saudi pharmacists in the next few years to drive in more sales for the company. Moreover, some benefits of Saudization of medical representative jobs at Novartis were also discussed during the consultation. The company saw the need to employ Saudi nationals because, as part of their experience and culture, purchasing department in government hospitals and Saudi doctors prefer to deal with Saudi pharmacists than foreign workers. Novartis believes that by employing Saudi pharmacists, they will be able to increase their competitive advantage against other pharmaceutical firms.