Goddesses Of Abstract Qualities

Where abstract qualities are associated with goddesses, the goddess might appear as the embodiment of the quality, or she may be envisioned as bestowing it upon favored humans. 

Beauty, love, wisdom, and justice are commonly associated with goddesses, as is the control of fate or destiny. 

Some of these qualities are associated with an essen tialist ‘‘femininity, while others are more typically associated with ‘‘masculinity. 

In the realm of goddesses, expectations of the social roles typically occupied by women do not always hold true. 

Even within a culture, goddesses defy gender stereotypes, as with war goddesses found in imperial patriarchies like Rome (see Bellona). 

Beauty is the quality most commonly associated with goddesses. 

The beauty of some goddesses reflects their status as divinities of earth and represents the idea of natures loveliness. 

One such is the Tantric Bhuvanesvarı (see India), described as so beautiful that the god Shiva made himself a third eye, the better to enjoy her. 

At other times, beauty is connected with sovereignty. 

Queenly figures are flatteringly described as beautiful. 

Thus the Queen of Sheba, Bilqis (see Eastern Mediterranean) was described as possessing great beauty, although she was also said to have had the legs of a goat. 

Hera, Greek goddess of womens power, was renowned for her beauty, as was the Irish warrior queen Medb (see Celtic), who represented sovereignty over the land as well as womens sexuality. 

The Celtic goddess who appeared variously as Grainne, Iseult, and Gueneviere embodied the lands need for a vigorous king, with the ‘‘love triangle of their stories describing the replacement of an aging ruler with a younger one. 

Not surprisingly, beauty is often (although not invariably) connected with love. 

Such love could be generic, as with Greek Aphrodite or African Oshun, whose power infused the world of animals as well as humans. 

Other goddesses embody divine love, such as Indian Parvatı whose beauty was reserved for her consort Shiva. 

Finally, a goddesss desire could be directed only toward humans, as with Celtic Niamh, who sought lovers among human men, or the group of Indian spirits called Yaks˛ı who have sex with human men before eating them. 

More positively, Lakota Whope (see North America) formed the pattern of beauty after which human women were designed, so that they might attract vigorous mates. 

Love goddesses are not always benevolent. 

Many narratives emphasize betrayal and heartbreak (Celtic Bloduewedd and Deirdre, Hebrew Naamah, Greek Sirens). 

Although a beautiful goddess can be heartless, loyal lovers such as Indian Radha and Hebrew Sarah are found in mythology alongside destructive seducers like the Celtic Leanann Sidhe and Hebrew Lilith. 

Additionally, some myths warn of the difficulties that beauty can bring, as with Hindu Manasa (see India), whose beauty attracted the god Shiva, leading to her mutilation at his wifes hands. 

Unlike beauty, wisdom is not today necessarily connected with the archetypal femi nine. 

But in many cultures, goddesses were associated with this quality, which refers to a right ordering of society that aligns it with natural law. 

Thus Greek Athena and Metis, Roman Egeria and Providentia, and Hebrew Hokmah all connected the human world with nature through wise counsel. 

In some cases, as with Scandinavian Voluspa and Greek Python, wisdom was conveyed through oracular practices inspired by an all-seeing earth goddess. 

Roman Egeria pronounced the first laws of the city-state while in an oracular trance. 

In Ireland (see Celtic), goddesses of wisdom such as Boand gained knowledge through eating nuts that fall from a magical tree that con nects underworld, middle earth, and sky; thus their wisdom encompassed the universe. 

In most of these Irish narratives, the woman was specifically forbidden from seeking wisdom, but her decision to break that prohibition results in world-creating acts. 

Goddesses of justice, often pictured as mature or even elderly women, control the orderly structure of society. 

Thus Greek Themis, on whom oaths were sworn, repre sented the just underpinnings of civilization. 

Similarly, Hebrew Torah represented ‘‘the law that controlled and defined appropriate human behavior. 

The domain of Egyptian Maat (see Africa) extended beyond death, for she judged the souls right eousness. 

The Iroquois heroine Genetaska (see North America) brought justice and peace to her people. 

Some goddesses of justice were also goddesses of vengeance, demanding retribution for wrongdoing, as did Greek Erinyes and Nemesis. 

Goddesses also represent scholarship and learning. 

Because most societies have been oral rather than literate, such goddesses were associated with the transmission of wisdom through speech and stories (Scandinavian Saga and Edda, Indian Vac). 

The connection between memory, including historical memory, and the creation of art was emphasized in the Greek belief that Mnemosyne, goddess of memory, was mother to the Musae, goddesses of art. 

Goddesses like the Eastern Mediterranean Nisaba represented both the act of writing and the priestesses who employed it. 

Finally, one of the most common powers ascribed to goddesses is control over destiny. 

Individual fate goddesses are connected with midwifery. 

Such divinities as Baltic Laime˙, Egyptian Hathor, Slavic Dolya and Orisnitsi, and Finno-Ugric Madder-Akka appeared at a childs birth and predict its future life. 

Fate goddesses could be ancestral spirits (see Scandinavian Dıs) because heredity is one determinant of fate. 

Fate goddesses measured a persons life, like Hittite Wurusemu (see Eastern Mediterranean) or Greek Lachesis (see Moirae). 

Other fate goddesses, like the Roman Camenae and Carmenta who lived in springs, were associated with especially hal lowed places. 

~ Kiran Atma

You can learn more about Goddess Symbolism here.

Goddesses Of Fish And Insects

Those who live by fishing often honor a goddess who controls the sea life, such as the important Eskimo goddess Sedna (see Circumpolar), Celtic Nehalennia, or Finno-Ugric Avfruvva. 

In South America, Mama Cocha was the ‘‘mother of whales because she brought the massive mammals close to hunters. 

Polynesian Lorop (see Pacific Islands) lived under the earth, sending up food for her children in the form of fish. 

In other cases, the goddess was seen not as controlling the sea creatures but as one of them, as with Celtic Lı Ban, transformed into a salmon, and Eastern Mediterranean Atargatis, who swam in the pool of her temple as a trout. 

In India, the group of spirits called the D akinıs took on fish shapes to attend upon the goddess of death, Kalı. 

In Africa, the heroine Chichinguane joined the fish people because her human kin were unkind to her. 

Among insects, the industrious bee and the crafty spider are common goddess images. 

Bees, whose hives are centered on a queen and whose female workers produce honey, appear as companions of goddesses associated with social life. 

Lithuanian Aus t ˙eja was celebrated in an annual holiday dedicated to bees. 

Artemis of Ephesus, goddess of the warrior Amazons (see Greece), was depicted surrounded by bees; her priestesses were called Melissae, also a name used of bee Nymphs. 

Irish Gobnait (see Celtic) lived among bees that warned her of approaching danger. 

Spiders, with their ability to weave intricately architectural webs from their own bodies, appear as creatrix figures in several cultures. 

Hopi Kokyangwuti created human beings; Cherokee Kanene Ski Amai Yehi brought the sun to earth. 

Greek Athena was connected to spiders because she made the first one from an insultingly competitive human girl, Arachne. 

Finally, both butterflies (see Psyche, see Greece; Ix Chel, see Mesoamerica) and scorpions (South American Ituana, Egyptian Selkhet) appear as goddess images. 

~ Kiran Atma

You can learn more about Goddess Symbolism here.

Goddesses Of Reptiles, Birds, And Amphibians

Like animals, reptiles and birds appear frequently as images of feminine divinity. 

While these creatures might seem opposites, many early statues show them united, as we find in the unnamed bird-headed snake goddesses of central Europe, whose image may represent the cosmic reach of a goddess who ruled both earth and sky. 

The imagery survives into historical times as the Greek Gorgons, winged snake haired sisters of the goddess Medusa. 

Snake goddesses often represent rebirth or renewal, for as the snake sheds its skin, so the soul is reborn into another life. 

Egyptian Mafdet and Mertseger were con nected with both burial and the promise of an afterlife. 

In India, black-faced Kalı, ruler of death and transformation, is bedecked in writhing snakes. 

Other Indian goddesses associated with snakes include Manasa, who guards against snakebite and brings prosperity, and the snake-women called Naginıs, associated with water and the mon soon season. 

This connection of snakes with water is also found in Australia, where the rainbow serpent Julunggul (see also Kunapipi) lived in deep pools, from which she stirred herself at times of creation and of initiation ceremonies. 

Snakes could appear maternal, for snakes protected stored grain from encroaching vermin and thus preserved the familys health. 

Lithuanian Aspelenie was such a protector, as was Greek Athena. 

Even in nonagricultural societies, we find snake pro tectors, such as Siberian Irt (see Circumpolar), who protected the fecundity of rivers. 

Snakes appear as images of reproductive sex in the image of Chinese Nu¨wa, entwined with her serpent mate, while Indian Kadru offers an image of reproductive abundance with her clutch of a thousand eggs. 

Conversely, snakes could be fearsome and threatening. 

Some terrifying snakes were connected with magic and shape-shifting, such as Greek Hecate, Roman Angitia, Celtic Morrıgan, and Aztec Coatlicue. 

Perhaps as an extension of this power, serpent goddesses ruled sexuality, as we find with Celtic Melusine and Ezili-Freda of the African disapora. 

The snake Kundalinı, in Hindu India, symbolizes sexual power that rises through the snakelike spinal column linking the groin and head. 

Finally, reptilian goddesses appear as cosmic creatrixes. 

In Africa, the snake Aido Hwedo was present at creation and provided the pattern for the sinuous shape of mountains and rivers. 

Some serpents provided the material for the world from their own body, as did Aztec Cipactonal and Babylonian Tiaˆmat. 

Polynesian Walu tahanga suffered dismemberment but, once made whole again, provided fresh water and food to humanity. 

The snake goddess can appear as a dragon, especially in Asia where these imagi nary hybrids were a common mythic motif. 

Typically, dragons were associated with the oceans power. 

Japanese Benten either took the form of a dragon or rode one on the ocean waves. 

In Egypt, the goddess Meretseger was a snake with human head, or a snake with three heads, a form that stressed her otherworldly aspects. 

Other rep tiles appear as goddess images in regions where they are common, as with African Nyakae, a crocodile. 

Birds also appear frequently as goddess images. 

Pedamma-Mariamma (see India) was one of several creatrixes who took bird form; she laid an egg that contained the universe and the gods. 

Polynesian Tuli flew across the primal ocean, creating island homes for people as she did. 

Finnish Luonotar was not herself a bird, but provided a place for the cosmic eggs to be laid by a duck in primeval times. 

Sometimes the bird is of a specific species: the owl accompanied and represented Greek Athena, while Irish E tain took the form of a swan (see Celtic). 

In such cases, the birds qualities were associated with the goddess (wisdom and loyalty, respec tively). 

Observation of bird behavior led to the connection of the Greek tragic heroine Aedon with the loud-crying nightingale; the Celtic war goddess Badb with the carrion-eating crow; the Saami spring goddess Barbmo-Akka (see Finno-Ugric) with migrating waterbirds; and the loyal Celtic heroine Fionnuala with the similarly loyal swan. 

Greek Aphrodite was associated with several kinds of birds, including the goose and the sparrow, which were imagined as sexually vigorous. 

Occasionally the bird was not the goddess but her mate. 

The goddess of sexuality in the African diaspora, Oshun, is associated with the peacock, the male of which preens its lavish tail to attract a mate. 

Eskimo Sedna (see Circumpolar) was mated to a sea bird, but grew tired of living on scraps of fish that he provided. 

In Greek mythology, the sky god Zeus turned himself into a bird in order to assault goddesses and Nymphs. 

Thus Hera was associated with the quail, for Zeus disguised himself as one in order to gain access to Heras lap, while Leda was associated with the swan, in which form Zeus raped her, as he did the goddess of vengeance, Nemesis. 

Frigg, the Scandinavian all-mother, lived in a sky palace to which she ascended on hawks wings. 

Birds provided a disguise for shape-shifted goddesses such as Russian Baba Yaga (see Slavic) and Irish Morrıgan (see Celtic). 

Nemain, a Celtic war goddess, flew over the battlefield like a crow to observe the slain, as did the Scandina vian Valkyries. 

Birdsong figures in goddess imagery both as a positive image of beauty (Thai Kinnarı, see Southeast Asia) and as a threatening one of loss of self (Greek Sirens). 

In addition to the earthbound serpent and the airy bird, we find goddesses in the form of amphibians, which live in water as juveniles and, after undergoing metamor phosis, breathe air as adults. 

The most common amphibian image of the goddess is the frog or toad, often used as an image of the birthing creatrix because its bent legged shape looks like a woman squatting in labor. 

This connection of frogs with birth was found in Egypt, where Hekt, a woman with a frogs head, was a midwife. 

Frogs and toads were also widely associated with weather. 

The Australian frog goddess Quork-Quork was the mother of rain, thunder, and lightning. 

Yang Sri, the toad goddess of Vietnam, controlled the weather, as did the Baltic weather witch Ragana. 

Scandinavian Holle hid in a deep well disguised as a frog. 

Finally, in a few instances, we find a connection between frogs and fire, notably in South America, where the frog goddess Nayobo made fire by vomiting, while another frog goddess of the region, Kibero, brought fire to humanity. 

~ Kiran Atma

You can learn more about Goddess Symbolism here.

Goddesses Of Animals

  

Both wild and domesticated animals appear as goddess images. 

In at least one case, we find a wild and a domesticated version of the same animal representing separate god desses: Egyptian Bast (domesticated cat) and Sekhmet (lioness). 

In all circumstances, however, the goddesss familiar animal was common in the area where she was wor shiped; goddesses are not represented by exotic or alien fauna. 

One of the most important animal images for the goddess is the cow. 

Domesticated in Egypt approximately 5,000 years ago from wild cattle (where cows were honored as images of the goddesses Hathor and Neith), the cows nourishing milk symbolically connects this animal to human mothers. 

In a few cases, the goddess is seen associated with a bull. 

Greek Europa was carried across the sky by a bull, Mesopotamian Innana owned the bull of heaven (see Eastern Mediterranean), Irish Medb kidnapped a mag ical bull (see Celtic). 

But most commonly, the milch cow serves as a symbol of the abundant and nurturing goddess. 

In Scandinavia, the cow was a primal being, Audhumbla, who freed the first beings from the primordial ice in which they were frozen. 

Among the Irish Celts, we find Boand, ‘‘she of the white cows, who brought fertility to the land through the waters of the river that bears her name (Boyne). 

Honoring the ‘‘sacred cow, embodiment of the Hindu goddess Prthvı, in India gives religious support for respecting the cows economic and nutritional importance. 

In the same culture, the goddess of wealth, Laks˛mı, appears as a beautiful cow, and cows are called by her name. 

In Egypt, Hathor was depicted with the horned head of a cow, which had huge wings rising from her shoulders; in this shape, she gave birth to the universe. 

Anahita (see Eastern Medi terranean) was embodied in herds of cows on whose brows moons were branded. 

Nearby, Ugaritic Anat took on the form of a cow to mate with her beloved brother, the god Baal. 

The cow was not only an earthly creature but was imagined as heavenly as well. 

When a greedy person milked Irelands Glas Ghaibhleann (see Celtic) into a sieve, the animal was so insulted that she levitated into the heavens where she walks the ‘‘White Cows Path, the Milky Way. 

The Greeks connected this broad band of stars with the cow goddess Hera, who sprayed the heavens with milk while feeding her son Heracles. 

In some Christian narratives, the starry road was formed from the milk of the virgin Mary (see Eastern Mediterranean). 

The Egyptians saw the sky as a great cows belly, with the sun rising between the horns of the solar cow Hathor. 

Another domesticated animal that provided meat and milk, as well as skin for leather, was the goat, whose usefulness became part of her symbolic importance. 

The hollow horn of Greek Amaltea became the cornucopia, symbol of abundance. 

The Scandinavian heavenly goat Hedrun provided endless intoxicating mead that fed heroes in the afterlife. 

Goats were offered as sacrifices to Hittite Wurusemu (see Eastern Mediterranean). 

Other goddesses to whom goats are sacrificed are Tibetan Tara (see India) and Ethiopian Atete (see Africa). 

Used less often for food than for transportation, the horse appears connected with goddesses prominently in the mythologies of most Indo-European cultures as well as that of other lands. 

Goddesses can appear in horse form, accompanied by or riding horses, or drawn by them in a chariot. 

Many are associated with celestial powers, including the sun and moon. 

Celtic Epona and A ine may have represented the sun that speeds across the sky in a chariot drawn by horses; the folkloric English figure Lady Godiva (see Celts) may descend from a horse goddess. 

The feminine solar horse appears in India as well, in the figures of Samjn a and the dawn maiden Usas, who drove a chariot pulled by red horses. 

Two divine horses pulled the chariot of Scandina vian Sol, while Hungarian Xatel-Ekwa rode three horses simultaneously. 

Occasion ally, a lunar goddess was associated with the horses that pull the moons silver chariot; Greek Selene rode in such a chariot. 

Persian Anahita (see Eastern Mediterra nean) rode in a chariot drawn by four white horses signifying her control over the weather. 

Although typically connected with light, horses can also be associated with goddesses of darkness. 

A nightmarish horse, Russian Mora (see Slavic), killed people as they slept. 

In Scandinavia, the goddess Nott drove black horses that pulled the dark ness across the sky at nightfall. 

As horses were often used in battle, it is not surprising to find goddesses of war associated with this animal. 

In Greece, horses were connected with the warrior women called Amazons, who bore horse-names like Hippolyta and Melanippe. 

In Scandina via, a similar group of horsewomen, the Valkyries, brought dead heroes from the battlefield to heaven. 

In Ireland, the war goddess Macha was identified with horses, for she could outrun them even when nine months pregnant. 

Horses can represent transformation, as with Sumerian Ereshkegal (see Eastern Mediterranean), whose horse rode the boundary between death and life, or Greek Medusa who gave birth to the winged horse Pegasus, symbol of transformative poetry. 

Medusa may be connected with an obscure form of the grain goddess Demeter, who was impregnated while wearing a horses head. 

In the Baltic, the death goddess Giltine˙ drove two black horses, while in Wales the goddess Rhiannon rode a white horse from the Otherworld and was later forced to carry people on her own back like a mare. 

In hunting societies, wild herd animals like deer and buffalo appear as divinities, sometimes pictured in whimsical fashion. 

In Scandinavia, the Skogsfruen (see Busch frauen) herded wild animals and, when not otherwise occupied, liked to knit socks. 

But the underlying image of the goddess of wild herds is as a cosmic game warden, controlling access to the beasts and thus to the meat they provide. 

In southeastern Europe, Dali was goddess of mountain sheep who appeared as a nubile woman with whom male hunters had intercourse, which empowered them to become great hunters. 

Yet, like other goddesses of the hunt, she put prohibitions on hunters and killed any who broke her commands. 

The connection of goddesses with hunting is common, despite similarly common prohibitions on human women hunting. 

Greek Artemis wanders through the forests accompanied by her Nymphs, tending to woodland creatures and helping animals safely bear their young. 

Other such goddesses are Celtic Arduinna and Artio, Irish Flidais (see Celtic), Finnish Mielikki, Eskimo Sedna, and Siberian Umaj (see Circumpolar). 

In North America, Wohpe, the white buffalo calf-woman of the North American Sioux, is not only a guide to correct behavior when hunting but a general power of order. 

Such woodland goddesses set the rules and expectations for hunters, who were rewarded with success if they treated the goddess with respect. 

Dogs often appear as goddess images, as do their wild counterparts, wolves. 

Often the dog appears as a companion of the goddess rather than an embodiment of her, as with Celtic Nehalennia, Greek Hecate, and Hawaiian Pele (see Pacific Islands). 

Eskimo Sedna (see Circumpolar) lived with a dog, described sometimes as her hus band. 

Scandinavian Frau Goˆde (see Holle in Scandinavia) always traveled with a dog, which she used to annoy people who did not sufficiently respect her. 

Babylonian Gula was always shown accompanied by dogs, and dogs were buried in her temple, suggesting that they were connected with her healing powers. 

In rare cases, as with Irish Uirne, the divine figures are themselves canine in form, but more typically we find the dog by the goddesss side. 

Wolf goddesses, by contrast, were embodied in wolf form rather than merely traveling in their company. 

The related Roman figures of Rhea Silvia, Lupa, and Acca Larentia show the goddess in both human and lupine form. 

Both as dog and as wolf, the goddess appears more protective than threatening, although as Brimwylf (see Scandinavian) she can appear monstrous to those who would threaten her child. 

Like canines, felines can appear as both wild and tame in goddess iconography. 

However, when the tame cat appears as the wild lion, she changes from an affectionate goddess (Egypts Hathor, with her cat ears; Scandinavias sensual Freya; Chinese Wu Lo, goddess of fertility) to a fierce one (Indias Durga, a warrior goddess; Babylonian Eriskegal, queen of death; Egypts raging Sekhmet). 

At times, a complex but generally kindly goddess such as Cybele (see Southeastern Europe) or Chinas Xiwang Mu appeared accompanied by lions or tigers, which suggest the goddesss fiercer powers. 

Among other wild animals that serve as goddess images or vehicles, the bear appears as both the goddess herself (Greek Callisto and Artemis, Celtic Artio) and as her mate (Tlingit Rhpisunt; see North America). 

The goddess appeared as a fox in Japan (Inari), where she could transform herself into a beautiful woman to seduce and kill men. 

Finally, occasional goddesses take on animal forms appropriate to a spe cific region, such as Egyptian Taweret (hippopotamus). 

~ Kiran Atma

You can learn more about Goddess Symbolism here.

Goddesses Of Vegetation

 

In some areas, vegetation is connected with a male god. 

In Southeast Europe, for in stance, the mountain goddess Cybele took the tree god Attis for her lover. 

In spring rit uals in the eastern Mediterranean, women planted gardens of Adonis, dedicated to the young lover of Greek Aphrodite who was killed in his prime, as the seedlings of the Adonis gardens were to die after a brief period of growth. 

The connection of male divinity with vegetation has been described as the background for the image of the Christian savior Christ, meeting his death upon a dead tree. 

Most cultures have connected plants with goddesses. 

Such goddesses were typically associated with agriculture and represented the abundant food produced by the fertile fields. 

Such vegetation goddesses can be forms of the earth mother (see above), for goddesses embodied in the fertile soil and those found in plants that spring from that soil can be difficult to distinguish, if indeed such a distinction was made by the god desss followers. 

Goddesses of vegetation can be embodied in plants (African Abuk, who was a bean; Southeast Asian Hainuwele, who turned into a date-palm) or may tend them as gardeners (Hawaiian Hiiaka, African Mbokomu, South American Nugkui). 

A cultures vegetation goddess reveals its mainstay foods, for which reason many goddesses are connected with grains rather than, for instance, leafy greens that do not store well and are available for only part of the year. 

In the eastern Mediterranean, Ninlil and her mother Ninshebargunu ruled barley and other nourishing seeds. 

In Rome, we find Ceres, from whose name we derive a term for grains. 

Similarly, Greek Demeter and Slavic Z˘ emyna are connected with wheat and rye and barley, called ‘‘corn in old texts that use the term ‘‘maize for the yellow grain from the Americas. 

In India and southeast Asia, goddesses were associated with the mainstay of the daily meal, rice, most famously embodied in the Hindu goddess of wealth, Laks˛mı, who appears in Bali and nearby islands as the primary goddess Dewi Shri. 

A similar goddess was Basmoti, whose name we still use for a type of rice; in central India, Astangi Devı brought humans not only rice but bamboo, with its edible shoots. 

In Japan, the rice goddess was the fox-woman Inari, a divinity who is still very popular today. 

In central and north America, the goddess of agricultural plenty was connected with maize or corn; Cherokee Selu and Pawnee Uti Hiata are among the ‘‘corn moth ers of the Americas. 

In South America, where the potato was a mainstay of life, the goddess of abundance was Pachamama. 

In the Pacific, the goddess Pani was associ ated with yams, an important food plant. 

Goddesses of vegetation could be divinities of birth as well, not only because farm ing reproduces plants but because sufficient food is necessary for women to become pregnant. 

In Babylonia, the birth goddess Bau derives her name from a term meaning ‘‘giver of vegetables (see Eastern Mediterranean). 

In Thailand, the primary goddess is Mae Phosop, deity of rice who appears as a pregnant woman when the grains swell to maturity and who gives birth to the new crops (see India). 

In Australia, Imberom bera walked around creating life by giving birth and forming plants (see Mutjingga). 

Not only were vegetation goddesses associated with birth; they were also connected with death. 

In the cycle of the crops, farmers saw their own lives: flourishing in youth, reaching productive adulthood, finally dying. 

This identification was reflected in myth. 

African Asase, who claimed the dead, was primarily a goddess of vegetation. 

Nambi, also from Africa, stole seeds to bring food plants to earth, but unwittingly opened the way for death to descend from the heavens. 

In Egypt, the tree-living death goddess Ament offered food to the newly dead, the tasting of which kept them from returning to life. 

Yet even in death, vegetation goddesses promise new life. 

Egyptian Hekt was embodied in grain, which seems to ‘‘die before it sprouts. 

Eating the fruit of Chinese Xiwang Mus magical peach tree transformed the deceased into an immortal. 

Flowers and fruit both serve as goddess images. 

Often the goddesses are depicted, respectively, as younger and older, with a nubile goddess envisioned as a deity of flow ers while a more mature goddess is the resulting fruit. 

Among important flower god desses we find Romes Flora, divinity of prostitutes and sexuality; Bloduewedd in Wales (see Celtic), a heroine made completely of flowers; Greek Persephone (Roman Proserpina), a maiden goddess raped while picking crocuses; and the Aztec Xochi quetzel, the deity embodied in the marigold. 

In India, the Apsaras were bedecked with flower garlands that, if offered to a human, indicated willingness to engage in intercourse. 

In Russia (see Slavic), a young woman embodying Berehinia wore a crown of red flowers to represent the goddess. 

As flowers are the genitalia of plants, they often symbolize the goddesss female organs. 

The fruit that results from pollination of flowers becomes the symbol of mature god desses. 

The most familiar is the apple associated withEve, ancestral mother of humanity (see Eastern Mediterranean). 

The peach offered by Chinese Xiwang Mu brought immortality to the eater. 

A pomegranate represented Hera, Greek goddess of womans power. 

The apple was connected with Lithuanian Saule˙ (see Baltic). 

Among goddesses of fruit we find several connected to intoxication, for sugary fruit naturally ferments into wine. 

Sumerian Nikasi was embodied in strong grapevines (see Eastern Mediterranean). 

African O ya was connected with palm wine; Greek Oeno, with wine from grapes. 

The tree provided an image of the goddess as provider of food, with fruit trees espe cially regarded as feminine. 

In Scandinavia, where fruit varieties were limited, Idunn was associated only with apples, while in Japan, Kono-Hana-Sakuya-Hime and Yaya-Zakura were goddesses of the cherry tree and Rafu-Sen of the plum. 

Greek Carya ruled the walnut, Irish Buan the hazelnut (see Celtic), Roman Rumina the fig. 

Even trees that do not bear edible fruit or nuts had goddess associations. 

Many trees were described as inhabited by feminine spirits like Greek Dryads, tree-living Nymphs who died when their tree died. 

Similarly, Scandinavians envisioned the for ests of northern Europe as inhabited by Askefruer, ash-tree women. 

The Greeks con nected goddesses with specific tree species, as with the multiple Heliaces (poplar) and Meliae (ash), as well as the singular Daphne (laurel) and Carya (walnut). 

Tree cults are attested in Greek religion, including one centered on Helen, who was ritually hung from a tree in ancient times. 

Such goddesses could appear as ancestral figures; among the Scandinavians, Embla was said to have been the primordial woman, born of an ash tree. 

Trees were the preeminent image of the Hebrew goddess Asherah, whose image was carved from a wooden plank. 

The Arabic goddess Uzza was also honored in groves of trees (see Eastern Mediterranean for both). 

~ Kiran Atma

You can learn more about Goddess Symbolism here.

Goddesses Of Fire

The mobile element of fire is more typically depicted as feminine than masculine, although a few fire gods appear in world mythology. 

These are often blacksmiths, such as the Celtic Goibniu, Greek Hephaestus, or Roman Vulcan. 

Such gods do not so much embody fire as use it in transformation of one material to another. 

But the role of smith is not always a male one in mythology. 

Smith goddesses also appear, most notably Celtic Brigit, connected to smithcraft, poetry, and healing, all of which show her trans formational power. 

In Japan, too, we find the smith goddess Ishikore-Dome, who crafted the first mirror and saved the world from darkness. 

In China, the smith Moye worked with her husband to craft an impossibly strong sword, in the process of which she sacrificed herself to the fire. 

Fire itself appears as a goddess in one of two forms: as the wild, tempestuous fire of volcanoes, and as the tamed and useful fire of the hearth. 

The former figures are typi cally depicted as voluptuous and demanding of lovers, who often perish at their em brace. 

The unpredictability of volcanic eruption and the potential destructiveness to human settlement, coupled with the astonishing fertility of volcanic soil after it has cooled and settled, led to depiction of volcano goddesses as both threatening and fecund. 

Around the ‘‘ring of fire in the Pacific, such volcano women can be found, from the Aleutian Chuginadak and Multnomah Loo-Wit (see North America) to Micronesian Latmikaik and Hawaiian Pele (see Pacific Islands). 

In Europe, a similar figure is Roman Aetna, whose mountain bears her name. 

The earths inner fires, which pour out from the surface as lava, gave rise to images of women with flames hidden in their genitals, as in Goga (see Pacific Islands). 

The connection of such natural fires with the domestic flame upon the hearth was articulated in some cases, as in Japanese Fuji, who was both the volcanic mountain and the familys cook fire. 

More commonly, the fire goddess of the household is seen as a distinct domestic presence, to whom simple rituals are offered daily while cooking and eating. 

The hearth, which is either the home of the goddess or her very body, was often hedged about with taboos. 

Spitting in the fire, dumping urine or other waste upon it, or otherwise showing disrespect was typically forbidden, with penalties enacted for transgressions. 

Across Indo-European territory, the hearth goddess was typically vir ginal (Greek Hestia, Roman Vesta, Celtic Brigit) and served by a college of similarly chaste priestesses. 

At other times, she was a nurturing maternal force (such as the Bal tic Gabija). 

Finally, in a few cases fire goddesses were connected with water, espe cially hot springs, as was Celtic Sul (see Sun, above). 

~ Kiran Atma

You can learn more about Goddess Symbolism here.

Goddesses Of Water

 

After earth, the symbol most commonly associated with goddesses is water, both as the fresh water of rivers and streams, and as the oceans salty waves. 

The gendering of water as feminine is not invariable, however. 

Some mythologies describe the oceans as masculine. 

The Greeks had a sea god, Poseidon, while a similar figure among the Irish was Manannan mac Lir. 

In both cases, the ocean was defined as masculine, as dis tinguished from fresh water, which was feminine. 

Among the Greeks, who despite see ing the ocean as masculine pictured its waves as the innumerable feminine Oceanids, we find the freshwater Nymphs called the Nereids. 

The Irish knew many river god desses such as Sınann, Berba, and Boand, while outside Ireland we find dozens of Celtic water goddesses including Abnoba, Aveta, Coventina, Natosuelta, and Sabrina. 

This salt and fresh water distinction, however, is not universal. 

Some goddesses were described as ruling the oceans, including the Scandinavian Ran who ruled the northern sea, and Chermiss Bu¨t aba and Finnic Mere-Ama (see Finno-Ugric), whose domains were similarly in the arctic waters. 

Hebrew Miriam (see Eastern Mediterra nean) was connected with the ‘‘bitter waters or the salty seas, although a freshwater stream created by her brother Moses also bore her name. 

The connection between the oceans salt water and female fertility is emphasized in the Hindu myth of Prakrti (see India), whose amniotic fluid became the oceans after she gave birth to the gods. 

In many cultures, an ocean goddess controls the fish and mammals that live in her waters and on which humans depend for food. 

An important example of such a figure is Inuit Sedna (see Circumpolar) who, thrown into the water as a sacrifice, thereafter receives sacrifices herself as the ‘‘great food-dish. 

Finnish Vellamo (see Finno Ugric), too, is an ocean goddess who determines how many fish humans can take from her waters, taking advice from her many daughters, the waves of the sea. 

Similarly, the South American sea-mother Mama Cocha brings fish and sea-mammals close to peo ple so that they can be harvested for food. 

Fishermen often fall under the rulership of ocean goddesses, who like Ma-tsu (see China) protects them when they are faring on the waves. 

In some cases, the oceanic goddess is depicted as a primordial mother or creatrix, one from whose depths life was born, as with Babylonian Tiaˆmat (see Eastern Mediterranean). 

Finno-Ugric Luonotar, while not the ocean itself, is intimately con nected with it, having spent much of eternity floating on cosmic waters. 

The sky woman of the American Iroquois, Ataensic, floated on the oceans waters until earth was created (see North America). 

Wherever the waters of the Wintu goddess Mem Loimis fell, the earth grew fertile, while areas not endowed with her watery gift were left as desert (see North America). 

Ocean goddesses could be charming and delightful. 

Lithuanian Amberella tossed pieces of amber to the shore, to reward those who honored her, and Greek Aphrodite was ravishingly beautiful even when fickle. 

But they could also be dangerous. 

Mer maids and sirens, which appear in many mythologies as ocean-dwelling women of great beauty, are threatening water divinities who lure sailors to their death. 

Such fig ures guarded the boundaries between water and land, like Siberian Sug Eezi (see Circumpolar) who like other mermaids had long hair that mimicked the rippling streams that she inhabited. 

Celtic Korrigans danced each night, drawing victims to themselves and drowning them. 

Greek Aphrodite was born of the oceans waves and, although beautiful, could also be pitiless, for love is never without possible threat of loss. 

In China, the primary goddess Xiwang Mu controlled the worlds waters and was invoked when floods threatened, showing that the activities of such cosmic god desses could be damaging to humanity were she not ritually appeased. 

Thus ocean goddesses represent both creative possibility and danger. 

Goddesses associated with fresh water are powers of fertility. 

Such watershed god desses can be seen as divinities of the land as well as the rivers that drain it. 

In India, many rivers are imagined as goddesses of earthly abundance, none more so than the Ganges, whose powerful river drains much of the subcontinent and is seen as the actual body of the goddess Gan ga. 

In Egypt, where the annual inundation of the land by the river Nile was typically associated with the god Osiris, we find the water goddess Anu ket representing the connection between water and the lands increased fertility. 

In Africa, major rivers were goddesses (Yemaja, Oshun, O ya) who were sometimes in conflict with each other over their shared consort. 

Such river goddesses were typically maternal forces, providing their human children with sustenance. 

A similar goddess in Russia, Mokosh (see Slavic), was a motherly figure whose presence was most actively felt in budding springtime. 

Smaller water sources such as springs and creeks could be seen as threatening rather than helpful. 

In Slavic lands, supernatural women, once human, haunted quick-flowing streams. 

Deprived by early death of a chance to have children, the Rusalki drowned sweet babies or fertile young people. 

The Scandinavian Nixies were similarly danger ous. 

In tribal India, the Nippong especially targeted young pregnant women, whom they caused to miscarry. 

Such spirits were often most active in spring and may re present the possibility of flash floods. 

Tribal Indian Bai Tanki, another destructive river goddess, spreads disease through her water—a mythic narrative with a firm basis in science, for polluted water can indeed spread disease. 

Fountains and bedrock springs were often seen as locations of inspiration because of the goddesses who inhabited them. 

The Greek Musae are still known as an image of the force that causes artists to create. 

In India, the river goddess Sarasvatı was the source of inspiration as well as a cosmic creatrix. 

Such inspiration could be legal and organizational as well as artistic. 

Among the Roman water nymphs called the Camenae was Egeria, who oracularly dictated the first laws of Rome and whose name is still used to describe a wise woman advisor. 

Freshwater goddesses, endowed with the gift of seeing the future, could help those who wished to practice the oracular arts. 

Babylonian Nanshe (see Eastern Mediterra nean) was a fortune-tellers goddess celebrated at waterborne festivals. 

Prophecy was not always seen as a gift; the Greek water Nymph Telphusa killed anyone who drank her prophetic waters. 

Yet most often, prophecy was a positive act, connected with heal ing because the ill and infirm turn to oracles in hopes of receiving predictions of pos itive change. 

So common was the connection between springs and healing among the Celts that the names of many of their goddesses have been lost, for they were renamed ‘‘Minerva Medici after the Roman goddess of healing, during Imperial occupation. 

Healing was a common part of the domain of the freshwater goddess, a tradition that continues today with the prayerful use of water from the well at Lourdes, France, dedicated to the virgin Mary (see Eastern Mediterranean). 

In Africa, we find the lake goddess Idemili and the water spirit Mammywata, both of whom offered healing to their worshipers. 

The Hindu goddess Narmada (see India) was especially powerful against snakebite, while the healing offered by Gan ga extended beyond this life, for those who died in her waters were freed from the cycle of rebirth. 

Some important goddesses controlled all water, whether found in rivers or in oceans. 

Anahita, one of the most important Persian divinities (see Eastern Mediterra nean), ruled everything fluid in the universe, even those of the human body. 

Similarly, among the Lithuanians (see Baltic), the water mother Jurat˙e controlled all the earths waters. 

Aztec Chalchihuitlicue (see Mesoamerican) could be found in lakes, rivers, and the ocean. 

Finally, some goddesses could be described as divinities of what science calls the water cycle, for they ruled the rain that falls on the land, the bodies of water (above ground and underground) that gather the rain and return it to the ocean, and the ocean where clouds are born to return water to the land. 

Such goddesses connect air and water like the African sky woman Andriana who descended to earth to become a water goddess. 

Rainbows, those bridges between sky and earth formed by water vapor, often symbolize such goddesses. 

In Australia, the primal serpent Julunggul ruled ocean, rivers (especially waterfalls), and rain; she was embodied in the rainbow. 

A similar rainbow-water-snake spirit found in Haiti was Aida Wedo (see African Diaspora). 

~ Kiran Atma

You can learn more about Goddess Symbolism here.

Goddesses Of The Earth

 

The most common symbol for goddesses is the earth, although it can be argued that the symbolism goes the other way around: that goddesses symbolize earth, both as soil and as planet. 

Whichever came first, the connection of goddess and earth is found through out the world. 

It is not, however, invariable. The binary opposition of male/sky and female/earth is sometimes reversed. 

Earth gods are found in some cultures, often asso ciated with sky goddesses, a subject that has not been sufficiently studied to determine its frequency. 

Despite exceptions, however, earth and goddess are connected in many cultures, so much so that goddesses whose symbolism was originally other evolve into earth goddesses over time. 

In some cases, however, writers unthinkingly and inap propriately use the term ‘‘earth goddess or ‘‘earth mother where the divinity in question is a celestial or cosmic figure. 

Earth goddesses are often described as creating the earth (see also Creatrix, below); such goddesses can be described as self-creating. 

In Korea, MaGo created the world by singing, while in Greece, the earth goddess Eurynome created the universe through dance. 

Some earth goddesses do not create the land but populate it by creating humans and animals. 

African Butan was the first creation of the double-sexed primary god. 

She then populated the world without need of mate. 

Earth goddesses often create vegetation from their bodies, the rich soil. 

Because humans and animals require vegetation to survive, earth goddesses are envisioned as benevolent and generous. 

In some cases, the connection between earth and nourish ment is made clear, as with Indian Basmoti who created rice by vomiting it forth. 

This generosity can be seen in the name of the early Greek earth goddess Pandora, ‘‘all giver, or Danish Gefjion, ‘‘gift (see Scandinavia). 

Such images tend to come from cultures that practice agriculture. 

Where people live from fishing and hunting, the goddess of abundance is more typically connected with wildlife (see Animals, below). 

Many earth goddesses are described as maternal forces, providing for the creatures of earth as a good mother provides for her children. 

Some myths put special emphasis on the maternal feelings of the goddess, as in the Greek story of Demeter and her lost daughter Persephone. 

Baltic Zˇ emyna appeared at the birth of every child, and Sibe rian Umay (see Circumpolar, Umaj) was the placenta that feeds the fetus as the earth feeds its creatures. 

Other myths connect goddesses of earth with human fecundity. 

Estonian Ma-Emma (see Finno-Ugric) was the fertile, endlessly pregnant earth, and as such controlled the wombs of young women, permitting them to bear children suc cessfully. 

The Roman earth goddess Anna Perenna responded to the sexual activities of humans by growing more fertile. 

Goddesses like Scandinavian Fulla and Roman Ops, from whose names the En glish words ‘‘full and ‘‘opulent derive, represent both bountiful vegetation and the abundant life expressed in human procreation. 

African goddess Aje was similarly con nected with abundance of all sorts, including food, money, and beloved children. 

She created the soil that bears crops by scratching at it in primordial times, when it was hard as rock and she wore the body of a chicken. 

Hindu Laks˛mı, often represented by coins and bills, began as an earth goddess whose abundance created monetary wealth. 

As an esoteric symbol, she represents spiritual wealth as well. 

The earth has rarely been seen as a solitary divinity. 

Rather, she is envisioned as part of a divine family that includes gods as well as other goddesses. 

At times, the earth was part of a family headed by the maternal sun, as with Finno-Ugric earth goddess Mu kilˇsin-Mumi, whose sister was the sun, or Baltic Z˘ emyna, who was the suns daugh ter. 

In other cases, we find the earth as mother of a clan that includes goddesses of cul ture and of food; the Pawnee earth divinity was Atira (see Native American), whose daughter was the corn goddess. 

Often, the earth mother was the mate of a sky god. 

In Polynesia, the earth goddess Papa lay in perpetual intercourse with her sky husband and had to be forcibly sepa rated from him in order for other life to emerge. 

In Greek myth, earth mother Gaia birthed many children after mating with the sky god but finally grew weary of his end less sexual demands. 

She convinced one of her sons to castrate him, thus ending their endless embrace, after which she gave birth parthenogenetically. 

The Zun˜i goddess Awitelin Tsita lay in continual intercourse with the sky until she conceived the human race. 

Her husband, the sky, solicitously attended upon Maka of the Lakota as she cre ated humanity (see Native American for both). 

Although typically the earth goddess hungered for intercourse, a few earth god desses were unwilling sexual partners. 

Hindu Tarı (see India) refused the solicitations of the sun god, whereupon he created human women to serve his sexual needs. 

Even when the goddess is energetically sexual, many myths describe tensions among the divine family, with the earth mother siding with her children against her spouse. 

The earth goddess is never described in fearsome or negative terms, although she can be seen as a strict keeper of order, as was the case with Greek Themis, who represented the force of law. 

Judgmental goddesses sustain the natural laws and punish those who break them. 

Such goddesses could be punitive, as when the Mongol earth goddess Etugen brought about earthquakes to purify the land of peoples wrongdoing. 

Hindu P rthivi (see India) also showed her displeasure at human failing by shaking fiercely, as did South American Pachamama. 

Because earth goddesses serve as all-seeing witnesses to what transpires on their surface, people turned to them when oaths were required. 

Slavic people held a handful of soil while swearing by Zˇ emyna (see Slavic), and Romans pointed downward toward the earth goddess Tellus when they made a pledge. 

African Ala was a force of social order, for she witnessed all promises and knew instantly when one was bro ken because there was nowhere on earth where one could hide from her. 

Also in Africa, followers of Oddudua devote themselves to maintenance of social order. 

Greek Demeter was known as the lawgiver (‘‘Thesmophoros), for she created the order of the ideal human society as she did for the rest of nature. 

The connection between earth and human society can be detected in the name of the Scandinavian earth goddess Fjo¨rgynn, from which we derive both the words ‘‘earth and ‘‘hearth. 

Just as she could see anything that happened on her surface, the earth goddess could see into the future. 

Thus she represented the force of destiny. 

Iranian A rmaiti (see Eastern Mediterranean) ruled both reproduction and fate, which in many cultures were seen as inextricably linked. 

As the overseer of birth, the goddess was in the position to know the fate of each newborn. 

Just as often, earth goddesses are connected to death, especially in cultures where the dead were entombed within the earth; the dark skin of Russian Mokosh (see Slavic) was not only the color of fertility but of the endless night of death. 

The earth goddess was literally the earth beneath our feet. 

Siberian Mou-Njami had soil for skin and green grass for hair. 

In that culture, digging into the earth was forbid den, because to do so would be to injure the goddess. 

Southeast Asian Ponniyamman is depicted as a rock head, sitting on the earth, which forms her body. 

Some goddesses occupy specific and delimited areas of land—for example, mountains. 

One of the worlds most famous peaks is named for the Hindu goddess Annapur˛na (see India). 

Sometimes a single peak is designated as the embodiment or residence of the goddess, as in the Irish triad Bandba, Fodla, and E riu, or the Native American goddess Tacoma of the mountain that bears her name. 

In other cases, goddesses occupied entire mountain ranges, such as Celtic Echtghe, after whom low hills in County Clare are named. 

Occasionally the goddesss mountain is an imaginary one; Xiwang Mu of China was envisioned as occupying the supernatural Jade Mountain. 

Volcanoes were commonly imagined as goddesses, but connected with fire rather than earth (see Fire, below). 

Goddesses inhabited and embodied forests. 

Because these forests were important sources of wild food, Celtic Ardwinna and Greek Artemis were connected with hunt ing, while Finno-Ugric Vir-Azer-Ava was associated with foraging for berries and mushrooms. 

But dense forests could also be dangerous. 

Thus threatening figures were described as ready to kidnap people who lost their way in the woods, like the Scandi navian Skogsnufvar (see Buschfrauen) who froze people to death for wandering in her domain. 

Mountain and forest goddesses can be seen as specialized forms of the earth goddess. 

Another category was the territorial goddess who represents not the entire planet but the region occupied by a single group. 

The alternative name of the Roman Tellus was Italia, a name also given to the long mountainous peninsula she ruled. 

In India, multiple goddesses called by the generic Gramadevata represent the land on which a villages people depended. 

In Ireland, land goddesses often appear as god desses of the watershed, showing the necessary connection of earth and water for fer tility (see Celtic Aveta, Sequana, Berba, Boand, Sınann). 

Given the frequency of association of goddess and earth, it is not uncommon to find earth goddesses also iden tified as goddesses of water, abundance, and creation. 

~ Kiran Atma

You can learn more about Goddess Symbolism here.

Weather Goddesses And Storm Goddesses

Just as the heavens are commonly described as part of the masculine sphere, opposed to the feminine earth, so weather (especially storms with thunder and lightning) is often connected with male divinities and their powers. 

Yet some cultures grant control of the weather to a powerful female divinity. 

Often she is depicted as an aged woman, sometimes a giant, such as the Celtic Cailleach who stirred up storms at sea and covered the land with her cloudy cloak. 

In Scotland and Ireland, this figure was con nected with high hills and mountains, around which clouds gathered and which even today bear her name. 

She was a figure more feared than beloved, associated with bad weather rather than sunny spells, although she can appear in double form, as with Brit ains fearsome Black Annis and her corollary, Gentle Annie. 

Among the Balts, the similar figure Ragana caused storms by waving a red wand. 

Both these figures were seen as old, but sexually active, indeed somewhat predatory They favored strong and virile young men, whom they exhausted or even killed with their energy and sexual appetites. 

The similar Hungarian witch, Szepasszony, was a frightening figure who kidnapped humans, often for sexual purposes. 

The Russian witch Baba Yaga controlled the weather, brewing up storms to hide her raids on human settlements where she stole children. 

Nearby, the dual Germanic goddesses Perchta and Holle not only controlled the weather but were also connected with sea sonal change, typically accompanied by a change in weather. 

The distinction between a seasonal goddess and a weather-controller can be difficult to distinguish, with divinities like Georgian Tamar (see Slavic) serving in both capacities. 

Storms include wind as well as rain, and goddesses whose special domain is the wind are not uncommon, although more typically associated with male divine figures (as is thunder). 

At times these winds are drying, as with Egyptian Sekhmet who repre sents the desiccating desert wind as well as the heat of the sun. 

African O ya controlled winds on the river named for her, while in the African diaspora, she continued to con trol wind, both gentle breezes and dangerous storms. 

Similarly, the Haida figure Dju (see North America) controlled both soft and harsh winds by the height to which she raised her dress. 

Sumerian Lilith (see Eastern Mediterranean) is another wind goddess, embodying a Cailleach-like sexual danger in a voluptuous form. 

Because goddesses are often associated with water (see below), they can be described as having special power over rain. 

An important example is Persian Anahita (see Eastern Mediterranean), who was seen as both earthly water and as rain that replenished streams and rivers. 

These rain goddesses can appear as fertility figures like African Mujaji, for farmers depend upon rain at appropriate times in order for crops to thrive and ripen. 

In northern climes, the goddess of precipitation was associated with snow rather than rain, as evidenced by Siberian Asiaq and Eskimo Kadlu (see Circumpolar for both). 

One weather-related phenomenon typically associated with goddesses is the rain bow, which was in many lands seen as an airborne woman like the Greek Iris and Ochumare of the African diaspora. 

In Australia, the rainbow was a female serpent flung across the sky (see Julunggul and Kunapipi). 

The same connection is found in the African diaspora, where Aida Wedo is both rainbow and serpent in Haiti. 

Other lands also saw a connection between rain and snakes or dragons, as Korean Aryong Jong, ‘‘queen of the dragon palace, suggests. 

Similarly, the clouds that give birth to rain are depicted as goddesses, such as Indian Abhramu and Greek Nephele. 

The connection of such goddesses to water seems primary, so they may be seen in bodies of water such as lakes and rivers, as well as in falling rain. 

They can, as well, be associated with the oceans, as the Taiwanese goddess Ma-tsu attests. 

She especially controlled the weather at sea, which impacted the fisherman who honored her (see China). 

In Latvia (see Baltic), Mjer-jema was honored as a weather goddess who con trolled the storms at sea and thus assured or spoiled good fishing. 

In Finland the god desses of air and weather ruled the healing arts (see Ismo). 

~ Kiran Atma

You can learn more about Goddess Symbolism here.

Goddess Worship In Ireland

 

How Prevalent Was Goddess Worship In Ireland?

Ireland has a long association with Goddess and water because to the fact that it is a nation entirely surrounded by the ocean. 

Goddess' nutritious milk flows swiftly in springs, wells, lakes, and rivers, and it is no accident that civilizations first encountered her and flourished close to these water-rich areas. 

To dwell near water meant to live close to the Giver of Life, where her secrets were accessible, as shown by Brigid's holy wells in Ireland, Sequana's Seine River in France, and Persephone's Lake Pergusa in Sicily. 

The healing waters that flow from the holy locations where Goddess has manifested in her many forms are still being collected by devotees. 

Examples include Artemis' epiphanies in Ephesus and the Mother Mary's apparitions at Lourdes and Knock. 

Both Chalice Well at Glastonbury and Sulis Minerva's spring in Bath, England, flow in a tint of crimson suggestive of the Mother's holy life-giving blood. 

Many English communities still choose to honor the hallowed waters with rituals known as "well dressings" that pay homage to their ancestors' pagan traditions. 

Goddess as water is personified in some of these holy locations. 

Goddess Worship At Castle Clonegal. 

There is no museum, relic, or ruin to be found in the Temple of Isis at the 17th-century castle in Clonegal, Ireland. 

In a maze-like maze of rooms under the castle, there is a functioning temple perched over a holy well. 

The international group The Fellowship of Isis calls Clonegal Castle home, and rituals and rites are still performed there. 

Under the direction of Lady Olivia Robertson, a 90-year-old founder of the group, they revere the Goddess in all of her manifestations. 

In the middle of the 1970s, Lady Olivia, Lawrence Durdin-Robertson, and Pamela Robertson, his wife, formed the temple and organization. 

In other regions of the globe, other leaders expanding the knowledge of goddess spirituality were also becoming more visible at this time. 

Even when it was unfashionable for a woman to be a rebel, Lady O, as some of the Fellowship of Isis members refer to her, has always been a liberal and open-minded thinker. 

She started researching esoteric sciences while still a popular author in the 1950s in order to use her innate psychic abilities. 

She had always seen ghosts and angels, but in 1976, she had a vision of the goddess Isis, which surprised and perplexed her. 

Despite the fact that her cousin Robert Graves (author of The White Goddess) was not well respected in the family or in what was considered "proper society" at the time, she was able to relate to their beliefs. 

Scota, also known as "the black one," was an Egyptian Priestess of Isis and the daughter of the Pharaoh Cincris. 

According to Lady Olivia and Lawrence, Scota was also a hereditary Daughter of Isis. 

Following Olivia's encounter with the Goddess Isis in the middle of the 1970s, Pamela, Lawrence, and Olivia made the decision to convert their family castle, Clonegal Castle, into the headquarters of the Fellowship of Isis. 

The Fellowship is prospering, with more than 20,000 members worldwide as of the time of this writing, despite the passing of Lawrence and Pamela. 

The Noble Order of Tara was established by the Fellowship of Isis, or FOI, in 1990. 

Its members were committed to promoting environmental causes. 

They have other environmentally conscious initiatives going on and have been crucial in stopping strip mining on Mount Leinster. 

The Druid Clan of Dana, named after the Irish Mother Goddess, was established in 1992 and is committed to the secrets of the Druids. 

They arranged the 1993 Druid Convention in London via their publication, Aisling, which participates in the Council of British Druid Orders. 

A second Goddess-oriented group, the Fellowship of Isis, was one of two that attended the Chicago-based World Parliament of Religions in 1993. 

The Fellowship reveres all Goddesses, so why does Lady Olivia seem to connect with Isis the most? Isis is the global Goddess, the Isis of Ten Thousand Names, in her own words. 

Demeter, Lakshmi, Kwan Yin, Dana, Ngame, and Mary are all mentioned by her. 

As most Neo-Pagans could concur, Mary of the Christian faith was Isis to Lady Olivia. 

After Osiris' resurrection, Christ was both Osiris and Horus. 

In Lady O's opinion, the Goddess Isis is physically and spiritually appearing at this moment of universal change and the birth of the Feminine Divine. 

As they return to the "old ways," millions of people all around the world claim to hear the Goddess calling. 

These followers of the Divine Feminine believe that unless we once again value women and the Divine Feminine, the ecological, spiritual, and technical destruction brought about by a patriarchal society would eventually result in disaster. 

Goddess spiritualists believe that Mother Nature's ultimate goal is to reestablish love and peace amongst all living things so that everyone may nurture and benefit from a healthy, bountiful way of existence. 

The main sanctuary, naïve, Chapel of Brigid, and shrines honoring the twelve signs of the Zodiac are among the 26 shrines that make up the castle temple. 

This is an illustration of what one would see when entering the shrines, but they do vary from time to time. 

Devotees enter in procession through elaborately carved doors at the sound of a gong, and the Egyptian deity Thoth, protector of the secrets, stands directly in front of them. 

A landing is reached by way of stone stairs. Goddess symbolism are seen everywhere. 

There is a plaque with a picture of Jesus that is surrounded by further art that shows the Divine Feminine. 

The main temple area, which is to the left, would be surrounded by sculptures of goddesses. 

An iron gate leading to the historic castle well stands in front of you. 

A large Tibetan bell that is used to signal entry into the Temple is located to the left of the gate. 

The temple's interior, which is made of granite, measures 79 by 40 feet (24 by 12 meters). 

There is a sizable sanctuary there, as well as nine stone pillars arranged in a row. 

The sanctuary is surrounded by a short brick wall and two brick pillars that stand before the High Altar. 

The clergy offer invocations on a modest elevated stone dais before the High Altar. 

The High Altar of Isis serves as the main altar for all temple ceremonies. 

The Fellowship of Isis commissioned gifted woodworker David Robertson, son of Lawrence and nephew of Olivia, to carve Isis of 10,000 Names as its centerpiece. 

There are five primary chapels, each with characteristics of an element. 

The historic Druidic well, which is 17 feet (5 meters) deep and known for its therapeutic virtues, is located within the Chapel of Brigid. 

The Holy of Holies, also called the Chapel of Ishtar and devoted to the fifth element, Spirit, is reached via carved doors from Brigid's chapel. 

Daily rituals and meditation are conducted at the temple as Lady Olivia assists in healing and attunes with members all across the globe. 

The castle is situated next to a holy grove of trees in Ireland's stunning and verdant landscape. 

The Fellowship of Isis, whose goal is to restore the Goddess to the world by whatever ways the Divine Feminine sees suitable, is still hard at work. 

Rituals often include theatrical acts that impart knowledge of eternal secrets. 

From a small group of three, the FOI's vision and goal have expanded to become a means for thousands of people to recognize and adore Goddess. 

#How to reach Clonegal Castle. 

Southeast Ireland's little town of Clonegal is home to Clonegal Castle. 

Invitations are required for rituals. 

Drop-in visits are not seen as appropriate manners, thus detailed instructions to the castle won't be given here. 

Please contact Lady Olivia Robertson, Fellowship of Isis, Clonegal Castle, Enniscorthy, Ireland, if you would like further information on visiting Clonegal Castle. 

The FOI operates lyceums and institutes both domestically and abroad. 

On the Fellowship of Isis website, one may obtain details on the closest FOI chapter. 

The FOI sells books and rituals that Lady Olivia has written in print and on audiotape, along with correspondence courses, a newsletter, and other products. 

Goddess Worship At Kildare.

While it is exceedingly impossible to visit conservative, Christian Ireland without physically running across manifestations of the Goddess, travelers may experience at least four different facets of the Divine Feminine in Kildare. 

Goddess-seekers may locate a Sheila-na-Gig, a Brigid-related holy well, a Brigid-related fire sanctuary, and the Brigidine Sisters known as the Sisters of the Solas Bride (pronounced breed). 

Similar to Athena and the Roman Vestal Virgins, Celtic Brigid belongs to the category of Virgin Goddess (See Rome and Athens). 

She is revered as a triple goddess and is the protector of smiths, healers, and poets. 

As seen by her hallowed well and fire sanctuary in Kildare, Brigid is also a creative source of energy in her qualities of flowing water and blazing fire. 

Interestingly, steam is created when water and fire come together; this is undoubtedly another source of unending strength and energy. 

Her fire melts the smith's metal, and the water cools it to form the tools that will save humanity. 

She has observable ties to her Neolithic origins via her affiliation with the benevolent female snake known as "the queen." Later, she became a part of Celtic Christianity and was elevated to sainthood as Brigid the virgin nun. 

Because of this relationship, Brigid the Saint and Brigid the Goddess are revered as one by the Brigidine Sisters of Ireland, also known as Solas Bride. 

The flame of Brigid is maintained by current nuns who continue the old custom. 

Visitors may see the flame and take it home with them from their sacred location. 

This is accomplished by lighting a candle from the Solas Bride's eternal flame and then passing the symbolic flame from one candle to another, wick to wick. 

Miriam Robbins Dexter cites Geraldus Cambrensis in relation to the eternal flame of the Goddess and claims that the rivers Brigid in Ireland, Braint in Wales, and Brent in England were all given their names in honor of Brigid or Bride. 

The final nun remarked to Brigid on the twentieth night, "Brigid, I have cared for your fire... and so, the fire having been abandoned... 

it was discovered again, unextinguished." At the time of Brigid, twenty nuns were employed here to serve a master as a soldier, with she herself being the twentieth. 

Brigid is described as "the female sage" and "Brigit the goddess, whom poets worshiped because her protective care over them was very great and extremely renowned" in Archbishop Cormac Mac Cullenan's Cormac's Glossary, written in 908 CE. 

Brigid "originated at an era when the Celts worshipped goddesses rather than gods, and when knowledge – leechcraft, husbandry, inspiration — were women's rather than men's," according to Scottish academic J. A. Mac Cullock in 1911. 

According to the forbidden shrine in Kildare, Brigid had female clergy and it was believed that males were not allowed to participate in her devotion. 

Brigid became a nun and established a monastery in Kildare, a county renowned for its fertility and richness, according to Barbara Walker and Robert Graves. 

They contend that like other components of society that the Catholic Church failed to abolish, they integrate. 

They claim Brigit's bower was the center of an endless springtime where the village cows never ran dry and flowers and shamrocks sprung forth in her wake. 

Brigid was compared to Mary by authors and poets who thought she was more than just a saint and was really the Queen of Heaven. 

"Mother of my Sovereign," "Mary of the Goidels," "Queen of the South," "Prophetess of Christ," and "Mother of Jesus," according to Graves, are names given to Brigid. 

According to Marija Gimbutas, Brigid was connected to childbirth like Artemis and Diana and served as the "midwife to the Blessed Virgin and thus the foster mother of Christ." Others compared Brigid to Tanit, the Heavenly Goddess, and June Regina. 

According to Gimbutas, Brigid, the Greek Artemis Eileithyia, the Thracian Bendis, the Roman Diana, and the Baltic Fate Goddess were all prehistoric decedents of the life-giving Goddesses who survived Indo-Europeanization in the form of Nature, the giver of health, and in the guise of birds and animals. 

Brigid was associated with weaving, spinning, twisting, and stitching, much like her European sisters, and it is stated that this women's activity must be halted on Friday, the holy day of the Goddess. 

It's interesting that she was associated with Saint Patrick, who was allegedly a pagan before converting to Christianity. 

Additionally, she was frequently mistaken for Brigid's early Pagan lover, Dagda, or "father," and was supposed to be a Christianized version of him. 

Irish folklore holds that Saint Patrick is to blame for Ireland's lack of native snakes. 

The account of Saint Patrick driving the snakes out of Ireland raises the possibility that the patriarchy subjugating Goddess spirituality is a metaphor for these linkages, as well as Brigid's connection to Neolithic snake imagery. 

According to Gimbutas, local traditions include constructing snake effigies on Brigid's holy day of Imbolc, when "serpents are reported to come from the highlands." According to Walker, the twenty Brigid priestesses who were present in Kildare reflected the 19-year cycle of the Celtic "Great Year" She goes on to talk about how the Greeks made references to Apollo going to the "temple of the moon goddess" (Brigid) every nineteen years in their stories. 

Around the Stonehenge circle, markers were placed to designate these Great Years. 

According to researcher Patricia Monaghan, Brigid is linguistically related to Bridestones, also known as sarsens, which are the large sandstones used to build Stonehenge. 

This suggests that Brigid was known in early Neolithic, pre-Celtic periods. 

In addition to the Thuggees of Kali and the "Assassins," who revered the Arabian Moon Goddess, Walker mentions another part of Brigid related to martial arts and her warriors known as brigands as an example of a goddess's follower becoming vilified. 

Brigid, also known as Brigantia in England, Bride in Scotland, and Brigandu in Celtic France, has many distinct names. 

Patricia Monaghan, a scholar, presents a somewhat different story of Brigid. 

In this mythological cycle, Brigid is the human offspring of a Druid who was subsequently canonized and baptized by Saint Patrick. 

It was said that the Christian Brigid had many of the same traits and abilities as the Goddess Brigid, and that the abbess had exceptional authority to choose bishops who had to be goldsmiths. 

Imbolc or Candlemas, Brigid's feast day on February 1st, was a celebration of the "lactation of the sheep, symbolic of new life and the approach of spring," according to Gimbutas. 

She claims that a milk libation was thrown into the Earth and connects the life-giving material to Brigid's flower, the dandelion, which when crushed generated milky juice, supplying sustenance for the young lambs. 

Anyone who has experienced the gloom of Ireland's winters understands how uplifting it is to start to glimpse the light again, the symbolic fire of Brigid. 

This festival also commemorates the return of the light as the world emerges from the winter's darkness. 

This was a joyful period of processions, singing, dancing, and ceremonial baking. 

Gimbutas asserts that "honoring the Bride, giving presents, crafting dolls, preparing special cakes, greeting the Saint in every home, and anticipating her presence as a blessing must have roots deeper than the final decades of paganism; much of it carries on Neolithic customs." 

Brigid's fire sanctuary in Kildare is described by Rufus and Lawson as a "low stone wall, rectangular and not round as in ancient times." 

The recreated shrine is neat, orderly, and quiet, speaking nothing of its past existence as a spiritual center for Irish women, both during the Goddess' lifetime and for centuries following. 

In the heart of Kildare, in the graveyard of the Cathedral Church of Saint Brigid, is where you'll find Brigid's Fire House. 

Before leaving the church, look inside for the Sheela on Bishop Wellesley's tomb from the 16th century. 

It is beautifully placed below the left-hand corner of the top slab and above a panel depicting the Crucifixion. 

The Sheela's legs are split, and her pubic hair is visible. 

The Tobar Bride, also known as Brigid's Well, is a mile or so from the fire sanctuary. 

With a statue of Saint Brigid dressed as a nun and a natural well of healing waters, the holy site suggests that it is equally dedicated to the Saint and the Goddess. 

The brick arch that crosses the holy stream-like well is decorated with Brigid's pagan emblem, the Cross of Brigid. 

Don't forget to bring a container so you may transport the restorative waters of Bride home. 

Votive gifts, such as rags or pieces of fabric fastened to trees (sometimes referred to as clootie trees), are often left at the location. 

In accordance with Gimbutas, who cited Wood-Martin, "The rag or ribbon, removed from the clothes, is thought to be the storehouse of the spiritual or physical maladies of the suppliant. 

Rags are riddances rather than just offerings or votive objects. 

(In another type of riddance ritual, the matriarch of the house would distribute to family members a strip of cloth called the brat Brighide, or Saint Brigit's mantle, which was hung on a tree or bush a few days before Saint Brigit's Eve to protect the family from illness or misfortune in the upcoming year.) 

The healing properties of Brigid's waters have been known since Neolithic times, which helps to explain why numerous wells under Mary-related churches and temples (such as those at Clonegal, Chartres, and Lourdes) may have retained their reputation for miracles. 

It was believed that a few of the goddesses' holy wells may increase a woman's fertility. 

Devotees would go to the wells on the first day of spring to undertake purification rituals, including washing their hands, faces, and feet, removing strips of cloth from their garments, walking around the stone, praying, chanting, kneeling, and sipping from the holy waters. 

They might then go to "a river stone which has footprints," where they would continue to pray, according to Gimbutas, who is quoting Wood-Martin once more. 

Footprints may be observed carved into the stone near the holy waters at Tobar Bride. 

Brigid the Goddess and those who honor her are warmly embraced by the nuns of the Church known as the Sisters of the Solas Bride. 

You are welcome to visit their refuge, but only with previous preparations. 

The Sisters welcome individuals and groups and have joyfully accommodated and shared ritual space with small groups of committed practitioners of Goddess Spirituality. 

Interested parties will be needed to make personal contact to organize a visit. 

How to get to Kildare? 

Kildare is conveniently accessible by rail, bus, and private vehicle and is situated 32 miles (51 km) southwest of Dublin. 

If you're driving, use the N7 Dublin-Limerick Road to the Kildare Cathedral, which is in the town's center. 

One mile south of Kildare is where the well is situated. 

Following the directions out of town toward the Japanese Gardens, there will be a sign directing drivers to the Tobar Bride down a tiny road to the right approximately 300 yards (270 m) before you arrive at the Gardens. 

Goddess Worship At Newgrange.

Another marker pointing left down the path will be located around 100 yards (90 m) farther; this sign will direct tourists to the well at Newgrange. 

The great megalithic tomb of Newgrange is ranked alongside the temple of Ggantija in Malta as one of the most impressive prehistoric monuments in Europe, according to any old guidebook, but mainstream scholars are still divided over how to interpret the significance of this magnificent Goddess site constructed more than 5,000 years ago. 

According to some experts, the imagery found on Western European megalithic art is connected to altered states of consciousness. 

The altered states may sometimes be brought on by using hallucinogens, and they can also be brought on via shaman trance dances. 

When they find the controversial archaeologist Marija Gimbutas' work compelling, many goddess proponents depart from conventional thinking. 

Even Marija was unable to pinpoint the precise events that took place at Newgrange, but Gimbutas' decades of research into Neolithic archaeology and the significance of artwork and artifacts in a cultural and religious context have given passage graves like Newgrange a fuller and richer meaning. 

Advocates contend that Newgrange was a holy location for the Goddess and that its artwork symbolizes concepts of birth, death, and rebirth, with the passage grave serving as both "womb and tomb," based on the graphic language she invented, folk literature, and a little amount of intuition. 

"The heart of the religion of the Goddess in the British Isles," according to author Peg Streep, is Newgrange. 

It is without a doubt a location for ritual, processions, and significant gatherings that are suggestive of the early Neolithic builders' religion! 

Many claim that Newgrange is the best example of a passage grave in Western Europe. 

Carbon-dating research suggests that it was constructed around 3200 BCE. 

Farmers who kept livestock were the people who constructed Newgrange. 

They used stone as opposed to metal to create this complex edifice, which required not only extraordinary labor but also knowledge of design and engineering. 

They also watched and analyzed astronomical movements. 

It measures 265 feet (81 meters) in circumference and 45 feet (14 meters) high. 

Only 12 of the 35 standing stones, or menhirs, that previously surrounded it are still standing. 

According to Streep, this circle may have served as a barrier between the mother's womb's holy area and the rest of the world. 

Although the mound is now covered in grass, many academics believe that white quartz once covered it. 

The quartz would have significance beyond just aesthetic value since it was a rare stone that had to be imported from a distance. 

Gimbutas compares the mound to the world's cosmic womb or egg, and the white coating was designed to resemble an egg's shell. 

For the construction of Newgrange, an estimated 180,000 tons (163,080,000 kg) of stone were needed. 

The entrance to the mound faces the dawn in the middle of winter. 

The 62-foot (19-meter) long tube leads to a central room from which three side chambers branch out. 

On the midwinter solstice, sunlight streams into the chamber via a roof box lintel at the entrance. 

During the solstice, the sun can be seen slowly filling the interior passageway until it reaches the back chamber and illuminates a carving of a triple spiral that some people think represents the Goddess. 

A symbolic (or literal?) rebirth and regeneration of the dead may result from this, as well as the effect of awakening her powers. 

Before moving back down the entrance passageway and leaving the mound in complete darkness once more, the light briefly fills the cavern. 

It has been speculated that this dramatic effect might have been performed using a polished mirror at other significant times throughout the year, but that is just conjecture. 

Gimbutas thought sacred symbols and patterns that recurred all over Neolithic Old Europe were used to invoke the Goddess. 

According to Streep's citation of Gimbutas, "ritual action" served as a means of "communicating with the divine" and an invocation of the Goddess' enshrined regenerative abilities. 

The art's iconography includes the ideas of life, death, and regeneration, which are all aspects of the Goddess. 

The imagery of the owl and snake—symbols of rebirth and rebirth—represented these ideas. 

These theories are further supported by the structure's orientation and commanding position close to the Boyne River's (named for the Goddess Boand) bend. 

Even if some of the pictures are more abstract, when they are studied across all of Europe, a language and a unified iconography start to take shape. 

The stone near Newgrange's main gate is vividly engraved with three snake coils, which stand for three sources of life. 

Similar to Neolithic Catal Hüyük, iconography starts to emerge in three-groupings. 

The brow ridge of the Owl Goddess, stone basins, engravings of triple snake spirals, coils, and cartouches, as well as side cells at Newgrange, are all discovered in triplicate. 

Gimbutas can identify the large snake coils that are inscribed on orthostats and are connected to V, M, chevrons, and zigzag bands. 

She postulated that the presence of arcs, wavy lines, bands of zigzags, and serpent shapes indicated a belief in the reproductive capacity of water as well as a relationship between the snake and the strength of stone. 

Triangles are depicted on the walls and curbstones of Newgrange. 

Sometimes they are by themselves, other times they are in rows and pairs linked at the tip or the base, or they are encompassed by arcs. 

These pictures are of the Goddess of Death and Regeneration, according to Gimbutas. 

Her interpretation of the "serpent ship" motif connected to the religion of the dead is particularly intriguing. 

At Newgrange, the union of zigzags or winding serpents (symbols of renewed life) with triangles or lozenges (both special signs of the Goddess of Regeneration) creates abstract images of "serpent ships," which can be taken literally to mean ceremonial ships connected to death rituals that carry the dead toward renewal. 

Gimbutas describes spheres and snake coils representing a full moon, opposed crescents alone or with a snake coil in the middle depicting a moon cycle, and wavy lines of winding serpents measuring time as additional indications of time and lunar movements in the stone carvings at Newgrange. 

She claims that up to thirty winding snake turns corresponded to a near approximation of the lunar month and that serpentine patterns with fourteen to seventeen turns signified the number of days the moon waxes. 

It is possible to speculate that Neolithic practitioners included both of these elements in their death ritual because the structure is linked to death and rebirth and contains imagery that is both reflective of sunlight and water. 

This brings discussions back to folk literature mixed with some whimsy. 

The study of Roman literature, figurines, and inscriptions has revealed what is known about ancient Ireland. 

What before is mostly unknown since Celtic literature did not become widely read until the second century CE. 

It is widely acknowledged that Brigid represented the elements of fire and water (or light), as well as connections with the serpent, whose history dates back to the Neolithic era. 

In light of the fact that the rituals performed at this particular mound are beginning to comprehend and revere her imagery and essence, perhaps we should take a moment to consider how she might be related to Newgrange. 

We should also keep in mind that according to folklore, the god Dagna, who is occasionally referred to as Brigid's consort, constructed Newgrange for himself and his sons. 

What if this is just a patriarchal interpretation of the story? It is entertaining to speculate if Dagna really did construct Newgrange as a spectacular expression of his love for his consort, much as Ramses did when he constructed the Taj Mahal or the little Temple of Hathor at Abu Simbel in honor of his great love Nefertari. 

According to a different piece of mythology, Bru na Boinne, the Gaelic name for the area near Newgrange, means "the house of the Goddess of the River Boann." 

It claims the River Boyne, also known as Boinn or Boand, is named after the Goddess Boand and is located close to Newgrange (she of the white cows). 

Boand, who is regarded as one of the main Earth Goddesses of prehistoric Ireland, is the embodiment of the abundance and vitality found in water, or the nourishing milk that flows from a revered cow. 

Boyne, its modern Celtic name, which translates to "illuminated cow," is transliterated as Buvinda. 

Additionally, the Celtic term denotes brightness, whiteness, and knowledge. 

The wise salmon, along with other fish connected to the Goddess, dwells in the River Boyne. 

Perhaps in Newgrange, in a manner similar to Eleusis, the priestesses and priests of the Goddess taught their people the lessons of life and death while performing ritual. 

According to legend, Boann and her partner Elemar were Newgrange's original residents until Elemar was replaced by Dagna, which leads us back to Brigid. 

Could Boann have been a younger version of Brigid? We already know that Brigid inspired the naming of rivers. 

Since Brigid is a Goddess of Healing, the River Boyne was also praised for its therapeutic properties. 

There are undoubtedly no concrete solutions, but many connections cause cultural diffusionists to pause and give a thoughtful "ah-ha." # How to get to Newgrange. 

About 6 miles (10 km) west of Drogheda, in the Boyne Valley, which is located to the south of the N51 Drogheda–Navan Road, is where you'll find Newgrange. 

From Drogheda, you may go to Newgrange by train or bus. 

On the nearby road to Slane, you can find the Knowth and Dowth mounds. 

Within the Bru na Boinne complex, there is also a prehistoric ritual pond made by humans called Monknewtown that might be worth a look. 

If you're traveling by car, think about taking a day trip from Dublin, which is 45 km (28 mi) south of the site. 

There is a visitor center on site, but it is advised to call ahead because there has been discussion about restricting access to Newgrange's interior. 

Much of the discussed imagery can be seen by simply walking around the grounds. 

The tremendous feeling of the sun entering the chamber is reenacted by guides using a flashlight to give tourists some idea of the event, but it is almost impossible to be within the mound on the solstice since individuals are wait-listed for years to enjoy the privilege. 

It could be a good idea for travelers to have a small container with them so they can gather water from the River Boyne. 

Worship Of Goddess Sheila-na-Gigs.

Stone carvings of female genitalia known as Sheila-na-Gigs, also known as Sheelas, are typically found on the walls and doorways of Celtic churches and monasteries in Western Europe and the British Isles, though they can also be found in Indonesia, South America, Australia, Oceania, and India. 

The real role of Sheelas is not clearly known, however most say they were icons or symbols of protection, much like the guardian gargoyles on Gothic cathedrals or the gorgon on Athena’s shield. 

This author concurs with that assertion and suggests that the sign could have stood for the idea that being within the building on which the Sheela is carved is equivalent to entering the holy vulva, a portal leading to the protection of the Mother Goddess' womb. 

The figures' stance of sitting, reclining, or standing with legs akimbo and completely exposed yonis has been suggested as a potential emblem of exhibitionism, however that hardly seems plausible given that they were discovered carved in hallowed locations. 

In addition to raising the intriguing hypothesis that Sheelas are connected to Celtic or pre-Celtic forms of Oriental and Mediterranean holy prostitutes, Rufus Camphausen has also indicated potential ties to Baubo and Ama-no-Uzume. 

He suggests the term nu-gag, which refers to "the pure and immaculate ones" and was used to describe the sacred temple prostitutes of Mesopotamia, as a potential linguistic indicator of the Sheila-na-Gigs' earliest forms. 

Sheelas are often found with the carved portion of the yoni worn by the contact of several hands, probably made in respect or prayer. 

It reminds people of fertility symbols, which some cultures think, if touched, may bring forth plenty and procreation. 

The Sheela, according to author Shahrukh Husain, is connected to the goddess Brigid of the Celts, and she may have represented the "split-off of the sexual aspect of a virginal goddess." 

Archaeologist Marija Gimbutas compared the spread-legged prehistoric Frog Goddess, the frog-headed Egyptian Goddess Haquit (Heket), and the ancient Greek goddess Hekate, known as "Baubo," or toad, to Sheelas. 

Gimbutas asserts that the names for toads in European languages include the connotations of "witch" or "prophetess," and that the toad "was incarnated with the powers of the Goddess of Death and Regeneration, whose duties were both to bring death and to restore life." 

At an archaeomythology symposium in Madouri, Greece, Professor Joan Cichon reports scientists Miriam Robbins Dexter and Starr Goode think the iconography of the Sheelas resemble the “Sovereignty Goddess” of the ancient Irish. 

Some modern ladies have been turning up their noses at traditional taboos and embracing the brazen iconography of the Sheela to indicate their empowerment, sexual liberty, and knowledge of their connection to the Goddess.

~Kiran Atma

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