Mother goddess Mother goddess is a term used to refer to a goddess who represents and/or is a personification of nature, motherhood, fertility, creation, destruction or who embodies the bounty of the Earth. When equated with the Earth or the natural world, such goddesses are sometimes referred to as Mother Earth or as the Earth Mother. Many different goddesses have represented motherhood in one way or another, and some have been associated with the birth of humanity as a whole, along with the universe and everything in it. Others have represented the fertility of the earth. Paleolithic figures[edit] The Venus of Dolní Věstonice, one of the earliest known depictions of the human body, dates to approximately 29,000–25,000 BC (Gravettian culture of the Upper Paleolithic era) Neolithic figures[edit] "Bird Lady" a Neolithic Egyptian ceramic, Naganda IIa Predynastic 3500-3400 BCE, Brooklyn Museum Old Europe[edit] Examples[edit] Egyptian[edit] Indigenous people of the Americas[edit] Aztec[edit] Anatolia[edit]
Artemis In the classical period of Greek mythology, Artemis (Ancient Greek: Ἄρτεμις) was often described as the daughter of Zeus and Leto, and the twin sister of Apollo. She was the Hellenic goddess of the hunt, wild animals, wilderness, childbirth, virginity and protector of young girls, bringing and relieving disease in women; she often was depicted as a huntress carrying a bow and arrows.[6] The deer and the cypress were sacred to her. In later Hellenistic times, she even assumed the ancient role of Eileithyia in aiding childbirth. Etymology Didrachm from Ephesus, Ionia, representing the goddess Artemis Silver tetradrachm of the Indo-Greek king Artemidoros (whose name means "gift of Artemis"), c. 85 BCE, featuring Artemis with a drawn bow and a quiver on her back on the reverse of the coin Artemis in mythology Leto bore Apollon and Artemis, delighting in arrows, Both of lovely shape like none of the heavenly gods, As she joined in love to the Aegis-bearing ruler. Birth Childhood Intimacy Actaeon
Persephone Persephone as a vegetation goddess and her mother Demeter were the central figures of the Eleusinian mysteries that predated the Olympian pantheon and promised the initiated a more enjoyable prospect after death. Persephone is further said to have become by Zeus the mother of Dionysus, Iacchus, or Zagreus, usually in orphic tradition. The origins of her cult are uncertain, but it was based on very old agrarian cults of agricultural communities. Name[edit] Etymology[edit] Persephone or "the deceased woman" holding a pomegranate. Persephatta (Περσεφάττα) is considered to mean "female thresher of corn," going by "perso-" relating to Sanskrit "parsa", "sheaf of corn" and the second constituent of the name originating in Proto-Indo European *-gʷʰn-t-ih, from the root *gʷʰen "to strike".[8] An alternative etymology is from φέρειν φόνον, pherein phonon, "to bring (or cause) death".[9] John Chadwick speculatively relates the name of Persephone with the name of Perse, daughter of Oceanus.[12] Italy.
Astarte Astarte riding in a chariot with four branches protruding from roof, on the reverse of a Julia Maesa coin from Sidon Astarte /æˈstɑrti/ (Ancient Greek: Ἀστάρτη, "Astártē") is the Greek name of the Mesopotamian (i.e. Assyrian, Akkadian, Babylonian) Semitic goddess Ishtar known throughout the Near East and Eastern Mediterranean from the early Bronze Age to Classical times. It is one of a number of names associated with the chief goddess or female divinity of those peoples.[1] She is found as Ugaritic 𐎓𐎘𐎚𐎗𐎚 (ʻṯtrt, "ʻAṯtart" or "ʻAthtart"); in Phoenician as 𐤕𐤓𐤕𐤔𐤀 (ʻštrt, "Ashtart"); in Hebrew עשתרת (Ashtoret, singular, or Ashtarot, plural); and appears originally in Akkadian as 𒀭𒊍𒁯𒌓 D, the grammatically masculine name of the goddess Ishtar; the form Astartu is used to describe her age.[2] The name appears also in Etruscan as 𐌖𐌍𐌉 𐌀𐌔𐌕𐌛𐌄 Uni-Astre (Pyrgi Tablets), Ishtar or Ashtart. Overview[edit] Astarte was connected with fertility, sexuality, and war. See also[edit]
Ishtar Ishtar (English pronunciation /ˈɪʃtɑːr/; Transliteration: DIŠTAR; Akkadian: 𒀭𒈹 ; Sumerian 𒀭𒌋𒁯) is the East Semitic Akkadian, Assyrian and Babylonian goddess of fertility, love, war, and sex.[1] She is the counterpart to the Sumerian Inanna, and is the cognate for the Northwest Semitic Aramean goddess Astarte. Characteristics[edit] Ishtar was the goddess of love, war, fertility, and sexuality. Ishtar was the daughter of Ninurta.[2] She was particularly worshipped in northern Mesopotamia, at the Assyrian cities of Nineveh, Ashur and Arbela (Erbil).[2] Besides the lions on her gate, her symbol is an eight-pointed star.[3] One type of depiction of Ishtar/Inanna Ishtar had many lovers; however, as Guirand notes, Descent into the underworld[edit] One of the most famous myths[5] about Ishtar describes her descent to the underworld. If thou openest not the gate to let me enter, I will break the door, I will wrench the lock, I will smash the door-posts, I will force the doors. In other media[edit]
Cybele Cybele (/ˈsɪbɨliː/; Phrygian: Matar Kubileya/Kubeleya "Kubeleyan Mother", perhaps "Mountain Mother"; Turkish Kibele; Lydian Kuvava; Greek: Κυβέλη Kybele, Κυβήβη Kybebe, Κύβελις Kybelis) was an originally Anatolian mother goddess; she has a possible precursor in the earliest neolithic at Çatalhöyük (in the Konya region) where the statue of a pregnant goddess seated on a lion throne was found in a granary. She is Phrygia's only known goddess, and was probably its state deity. Her Phrygian cult was adopted and adapted by Greek colonists of Asia Minor and spread from there to mainland Greece and its more distant western colonies from around the 6th century BCE. In Rome, Cybele was known as Magna Mater ("Great Mother"). Cult origins and development[edit] Anatolia[edit] The eroded rock-statue of Cybele at Mount Sipylus, in an early 20th-century French postcard No contemporary text or myth survives to attest the original character and nature of Cybele's Phrygian cult. Greece[edit] Temples[edit]
Inanna Inanna (/ɪˈnænə/ or /ɪˈnɑːnə/; Cuneiform: 𒀭𒈹 DMUŠ3; Sumerian: Inanna; Akkadian: Ištar; Unicode: U+12239) is the Sumerian goddess of love, fertility, and warfare, and goddess of the E-Anna temple at the city of Uruk, her main centre. Part of the front of Inanna's temple from Uruk Origins[edit] Etymology[edit] Inanna's name derives from Lady of Heaven (Sumerian: nin-an-ak). Worship[edit] One version of the star symbol of Inanna/Ishtar Iconography[edit] Inanna's symbol is an eight-pointed star or a rosette.[10] She was associated with lions – even then a symbol of power – and was frequently depicted standing on the backs of two lionesses. Inanna as the star, Venus[edit] Inanna was associated with the celestial planet Venus. Inanna's Descent to the Underworld explains how Inanna is able to, unlike any other deity, descend into the netherworld and return to the heavens. Character[edit] Inanna is the goddess of love – but not marriage. Myths[edit] Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta[edit]
Gaia (mythology) The Greek word γαῖα (transliterated as gaia) is a collateral form of γῆ[4] (gē, Doric γᾶ ga and probably δᾶ da)[5] meaning Earth,[6] a word of uncertain origin.[7] R. S. P. Beekes has suggested a Pre-Greek origin.[8] In Mycenean Greek Ma-ka (trans. as Ma-ga, "Mother Gaia") also contains the root ga-.[9][10] According to Hesiod, Gaia conceived further offspring with Uranus, first the giant one-eyed Cyclopes: Brontes ("Thunder"), Steropes ("Lightning") and Arges ("Bright");[16] then the Hecatonchires: Cottus, Briareos and Gyges, each with a hundred arms and fifty heads.[17] As each of the Cyclopes and Hecatonchires were born, Uranus hid them in a secret place within Gaia, causing her great pain. Because Cronus had learned from Gaia and Uranus, that he was destined to be overthrown by his own child, Cronus swallowed each of the children born to him by his Titan sister Rhea. With Gaia's advice[21] Zeus defeated the Titans. In classical art Gaia was represented in one of two ways.
Demeter In ancient Greek religion and myth, Demeter (/diˈmiːtər/; Attic: Δημήτηρ Dēmḗtēr; Doric: Δαμάτηρ Dāmā́tēr) is the goddess of the harvest, who presided over grains and the fertility of the earth. Her cult titles include Sito (Σιτώ), "she of the Grain",[1] as the giver of food or grain[2] and Thesmophoros (θεσμός, thesmos: divine order, unwritten law; "phoros": bringer, bearer), "Law-Bringer," as a mark of the civilized existence of agricultural society.[3] Etymology[edit] Demeter's character as mother-goddess is identified in the second element of her name meter (μήτηρ) derived from Proto-Indo-European *méh₂tēr (mother).[11] In antiquity, different explanations were already proffered for the first element of her name. An alternative, Proto-Indo-European etymology comes through Potnia and Despoina; where Des- represents a derivative of PIE *dem (house, dome), and Demeter is "mother of the house" (from PIE *dems-méh₂tēr).[20] Agricultural deity[edit] Festivals and cults[edit] Myths[edit]
Danu (Irish goddess) In Irish mythology, Danu ([ˈdanu]; modern Irish Dana [ˈd̪ˠanˠə]) is the mother goddess of the Tuatha Dé Danann (Old Irish: "The peoples of the goddess Danu"). Though primarily seen as an ancestral figure, some Victorian sources also associate her with the land.[1] The genitive form of Old Irish Danu is Danann, and the dative Danainn. Irish Danu is not identical with Vedic Dānu but rather descends from a Proto-Celtic *Danona, which may contain the suffix -on- also found in other theonyms such as Matrona, Maqonos/Maponos and Catona.[5][6] As the mother of the gods, Danu has strong parallels with the Welsh literary figure (or goddess) Dôn, who is the mother figure of the medieval tales in the Mabinogion.[7] Jump up ^ Squire, Charles Celtic Myth and Legend, p. 34: "Danu herself probably represented the earth and its fruitfulness, and one might compare her with the Greek Demeter. Associations between the Welsh Dôn and the Irish Dana
Devi Devi is, quintessentially, the core form of every Hindu Goddess. As the female manifestation of the supreme lord, she is also called Prakriti, as she balances out the male aspect of the divine addressed Purusha.[2] Devi is the supreme Being in the Shaktism tradition of Hinduism, while in the Smartha tradition, she is one of the five primary forms of God.[3][4] In other Hindu traditions of Shaivism and Vaishnavism, Devi embodies the active energy and power of male deities (Purushas), such as Vishnu in Vaishnavism or Shiva in Shaivism. Vishnu's shakti counterpart is called Lakshmi, with Parvati being the female shakti of Shiva. Origins[edit] Indus Valley[edit] Vedic period[edit] Manifestations[edit] Devi or the divine feminine is an equal counterpart to the divine masculine, and hence manifests herself as the Trinity herself - the Creator (Durga or the Divine Mother), Preserver (Lakshmi, Parvati and Saraswati) and Destroyer (Mahishasura-Mardini, Kali and Smashanakali). Mahadevi[edit] Durga[edit]
Durga Goddess Durga (Hindustani pronunciation: [ˈd̪uːrɡaː]; Sanskrit: दुर्गा), meaning "the inaccessible"[1] or "the invincible"; durga) is the most popular incarnation of Devi and one of the main forms of the Goddess Shakti in the Hindu pantheon. Durga is the original manifested form of Mother Adi-Parashakti. She is Adi- Parashakti herself. The Devi Gita also known as Parvati Gita declares her to be the greatest Goddess. Origins and development[edit] In the Devi Bhagavata Purana 9th book chapter one, Prakriti khanda Lord Narayana describes Durga as one of the 5 forms of Adi Shakti. Ramprasad Chanda writes the following about the development of Durga from primitive goddess to her current form .[2] "...it is possible to distinguish two different strata – one primitive and the other advanced. Worship[edit] Maa Durga A traditional Durga idol at a pandal in Kolkata. In Kashmir she is worshipped as shaarika (the main temple is in Hari Parbat in Srinagar). Western references[edit] In India[edit] Assam Goa
Gayatri Illustration by Raja Ravi Verma. In illustrations, the goddess often sits on a lotus flower and appears with five heads and five pairs of hands, representing the incarnations of the goddess as Parvati, Saraswati etc. She is Saraswatī. She is the consort of Brahma Gayatri (Sanskrit: गायत्री, gāyatrī) is the feminine form of gāyatra, a Sanskrit word for a song or a hymn, having a Vedic meter of 3 padas or lines of 8 syllables. Portrayal[edit] Gayatri is typically portrayed as seated on a red lotus, signifying wealth. Having five heads(Mukta, Vidruma, Hema, Neela, Dhavala) with the ten eyes looking in the eight directions plus the earth and sky, and ten arms holding all the weapons of Lord Shiva, Lord Vishnu & Lord Brahma.Accompanied by a white swan, holding a book to portray knowledge in one hand and a cure in the other, as the goddess of Education. Gayatri is in fact the name applied to one of the most well known Vedic hymn consisting of twenty-four syllables. © 2000 - May 8, 2014.