Ancient Goddesses, Divine Feminine, and Mother God
In recent decades, there has been a groundswell of renewed interest in the Divine Feminine, the Goddess, Shamanism, Mother God, and Mother Earth spirituality. Millions more people are seeking a personal, authentic, and meaningful connection with Nature, Spirit, and the Divine.
I believe that the Earth herself, Gaia, Mother of us All, is experiencing a death and a re-birth. She is undergoing an initiation. We are living through an expansive evolutionary moment. All life forms are living through a global initiation, facing numerous crises and challenges to survival. We can call on the best we know from the past, to help guide us through this transformational moment.
Tibetan Naga Kanya Goddess on an Amethyst crystal cluster.
In notes on ‘The Most Holy Trinosophia’ by the Comte de Saint Germain, an initiation is described as “an extension of consciousness toward an appreciation of universal realities”.
“I see this current global initiation, this transformative expansion and extension of consciousness, occurring largely through the re-awakening and enlivening of aspects of the Divine Feminine.
Primary aspects of the Divine Feminine are Love, Peace, Harmony, Truth, Justice, Equality, and Balance through sustainable actions for the good of future generations.
Those aspects are being reimagined now at this changing point in humanity’s collective soul evolution. I see this reimagining and re-inventing as metaphorically represented by the doves of peace returning.”
“The ‘Return of the Doves’ means that the Spirit of the Divine Feminine is awakening once again in our hearts and minds, coming on the wings of freedom, expressing peace, love, harmony, wisdom, unity, and wholeness once again – within ourselves, with each other and in all our relationships with life on this sacred and Holy Earth. ”
The Spirit of the Divine Feminine is quintessentially represented by the Dove. The Dove has been an iconic symbol associated with tens of thousands of years of Goddess and matriarchal cultures. I explore ‘The Dove, Iona, and the Pleiades Seven Sisters Star Cluster’ more fully in a separate category.
For many thousands of years of human history and civilizations, there were powerful Goddesses and Goddess cultures that represented the Wisdom, Knowledge, and Love aspects of creation. Once again, there is an awakening to a remembrance of the power of Love and Wisdom that those ancient Goddess cultures brought to human development and spiritual evolution. The Divine Feminine in all her radiant and sacred aspects is re-awakening in the hearts and minds of humankind. It is time.
““Legend itself is more ancient here than elsewhere. Once a woman was worshipped. Some say she was the moon, but this was before the dim day of the moon-worshippers. (In Gaelic too, as with all the Celtic peoples, it is not the moon but the sun that is feminine.) She may have been an ancestral Brighde, or that mysterious Anait whose Scythian name survives elsewhere in the Gaelic west, and nothing else of all her ancient glory but that shadowy word. Perhaps, here, the Celts remembered one whom they had heard of in Asian valleys or by the waters of Nilus, and called upon Isis under a new name.” ”
Goddesses - Remembering Our Long Ago Past
I started researching to discover the source of the earliest known historical references to the term ‘Goddess’. I was surprised and intrigued to find out just how prevalent references to goddesses are throughout earliest civilizations, including Greek, Middle Eastern, Egyptian, Hindu, and First Peoples, as well as European, Oriental, Slavic and Polynesian cultures, to name a few. Global cultural creation myths are another source of continuous references to the Divine Feminine aspect of earliest creation.
Archeological findings from rock carvings and cave paintings have also demonstrated that the life-giving Goddess has been revered since humans were able to communicate through simple art forms. The potency of the female archetype as a defining image in early archeological findings is an indication of the importance that she held.
The ‘Venus of Willendorf’ miniature clay sculpture is believed to have been created approximately 35,000 BC. It is the most recognizable of the earliest known artifacts related to a Mother Goddess.
Global cultural creation stories, legends and myths consistently speak of great Beings of extraordinary Light, Power, and Knowledge descending to Earth from the sky in vehicles described as boats, canoes, balls of fire, clouds or mist. It was as if specific knowledge (for example, knowledge about the growing and harvesting of crops) was ‘brought’ to certain cultures at specific points in history in order to assist them in taking a gigantic leap forward in the evolution of consciousness and civilization. Anthropologists are seeking answers to the mystery of sudden knowledge acquisition in different species, including humans.
Interestingly, evolutionary biologists have determined that the earliest significant and measurable leap in both the size and capacity of the brains of our ancestors occurred during their great migration out of Africa. That early migration was caused by the life-changing impacts that occurred as a result of the effects of the ice age. Our ancestors faced extinction if they could not successfully adapt to the radically changing climate.
"The fossil evidence shows that 6-2 million years ago, early humans began to walk upright and started to make simple tools. In this period, the brain size increased — but only slightly. From 2 million to 800,000 years ago, early humans spread around the world, encountering various environments on different continents.
These challenges, along with an increase in body size, led to larger brain sizes. Indeed, there was a rapid increase in brain size some 800,000-200,000 years ago, credited to a time of dramatic climate change. Bigger brains helped our human ancestors survive in an increasingly unpredictable environment, and enabled them to interact with each other and with their surroundings in new and imaginative ways.”
(C.P. Rajendran is an adjunct professor at the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bengaluru.)
Global indigenous creation stories contribute an additional perspective on the issue of how humans came to acquire knowledge and wisdom. Those stories describe great Beings of Light, gods and goddesses, who were infused with infinite Knowledge and Wisdom. They came to Earth from celestial origins. These Star Beings were associated with humankind’s acquisition of specific tools and knowledge.
Boosts in the cognitive and creative brain-power of humans resulted in an expansion of their capacity for creative expression in culture, the arts, architecture, applied mathematics, geometry, astrology, and agriculture. Oral creation stories of original peoples refer to galactic star brothers and sisters. Many cultures refer to Ancestor Spirits or great celestial Light Beings that brought knowledge to the people. Some of these cultures include Hindus, Buddhists, Christians, Muslims, Jews, First Nations, Aboriginal, and Indigenous Peoples of the world.
The concept of homo sapiens being seeded with certain knowledge at various points along the continuum of human evolution is supported by recent findings of geneticists whose research shows that humans made certain evolutionary leaps at specific times in history that cannot be accounted for from within the standard analysis of simple evolution over time. So, questions remain regarding what exactly caused human brains to grow significantly larger both physically and in conceptual capacity at certain times in history. Was it the result of the brain needing to grow to successfully face extraordinary survival challenges? Was it the result of genetic, ancestral, or racial memory that was suddenly activated? Was it the result of genetic evolution stimulated by inter-breeding: galactic visitors with rudimentary humans? Perhaps many factors came into play simultaneously.
Cultural creation stories speak of god-men and god-women, god-kings and god-queens who arrived as Light Beings from the cosmos, from the stars. They were not clothed in the dense physical form of human bodies. They were more Spirit than flesh. They came to guide and inform and were able to ‘step-down’ their high frequency vibration of Light in order to communicate with humans and to teach them essential things that would increase their capacity to live and prosper on Earth, as well as furthering their spiritual development.
Sometimes such visitations occurred in dreams. Other times, knowledge came from direct experience as a result of initiation practices that were taught and experienced in the ancient Mystery Schools and Temples of Learning that played a significant role in human civilization, and the evolution of human consciousness.
The ‘higher’ Beings throughout Earth’s early human development were consistently referred to as Gods and Goddesses, and their offspring as sons and daughters of gods and goddesses. They became the god-kings and god-queens of prehistoric mythologies. They also became figure heads for a system of royalty, status, power and influence that shaped cultures throughout the world, including India, Syria, Persia, Turkey, Greece, Egypt, and Rome, among others.
“For much of human civilization, the Goddess in her many aspects of Mother God was an equal to Father God,
and was of essential importance.
The divine creative force of the Divine Feminine principle was known to encompass all of life.”
Archaeologists confirm that they have, at last, even found the mythical Atlantis. That ancient civilization (believed to have been highly advanced both technologically and spiritually, even more advanced than our current civilization), holds certain keys to understanding how subsequent civilizations such as the Greek, Egyptian, and Celtic possessed advanced knowledge (for their time) in certain areas.
As the world of gods and goddesses is a vast one, covering at a minimum tens of thousands of years, and thousands of Goddesses, I chose a ‘broad brush’, summary approach below to covering the names of key female deities across multiple cultures and civilizations. There are vast bodies of work available for further study of ancient Goddesses. It’s a fascinating topic!
In the Beginning - Ancient Goddess Cultures
SOPHIA – WISDOM GODDESS – QUEEN OF HEAVEN
Sophia is the ‘Anima Mundi’, the World Soul, and Creative Principle in all of Creation.
Greek Wisdom Goddess Sophia, Queen of Heaven, is said to have created the world. Together with other Mother Goddesses, the Divine Feminine Creatrix, created planet Earth from their own bodies. Sophia is the Divine Mystery. Wisdom Goddess. Tree of Life. She affirms the supremacy of the Natural Order of the Cosmos. Other Mother Goddesses, Divine Feminine Creatrix, were said to have created planet Earth from their own bodies. Sophia’s daughters were Faith, Hope, and Charity. Sophia also represents the individual transformative process within Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Sophia is deeply related to Sufism, the Divine Holy Spirit, the Virgin Mary, and Perfect Nature.
Mary - Mother - Virgin Goddess
Given the importance of Mary, Mother, Virgin Goddess, and her connection to Iona, I devoted a section to her here.
asherah (queen of Heaven) - Astarte - Anath
Several thousand years before Christ, Yahweh (YHWH) and Asherah were the ‘Father-God’ and ‘Mother-Goddess’ aspects of the One God, respectively. They did not dwell on Earth as humans; they were pure Spirit.
The Goddesses Asherah and Astarte-Anath were worshipped in Hebrew settlements for approximately 3,000 years. Asherah and Astarte were believed to have had their source in the planet Venus, the brightest planet in Earth’s solar system. The Jewish settlement in Elephantine, Egypt was one of the locations where the Asherah/Astarte Goddess was worshipped.
In a rock grotto in Turkey, there is a life-sized depiction of the sacred marriage of Father God and Mother Goddess. Asherah is seen holding a chalice or jar of anointing oil. A jar of anointing oil is symbolic of the mysteries of the sacred marriage of the divine feminine and divine masculine principles of creation.
Lions, ibexes, doves, serpents and eggs are some of the key symbols representing the Divine Feminine. These symbols were associated with healing, immortality, fertility and power. There was also a correspondence of feminine aspects with trees of life and trees of knowledge.
The Kabbalah is a symbolic and encoded representation of the balanced feminine and masculine energies that these two great energy forms manifested in the teachings of the Tree of Life.
Asherah was a Mother Goddess of the Canaanites and Israelites. Interestingly, Asherah is translated in both the Greek and Latin languages of the bible as a wood or grove. And Asherah was worshipped in glades and groves.
Shekinah (The Act of Dwelling) - Shabbat-Hamalka (Hokmah: wisdom; Kallah: bride)
The Shekinah is perhaps the most well known female God of Judaism. She is important because she was named as the particular Goddess energy, the feminine Holy Spirit, that for the first time came to dwell amongst the people and who could be seen and felt by them through the human senses.
Prior to her coming to Earth to dwell amongst the people she resided in the clouds and descended in a cloud. (This was a particularly fascinating bit of ancient history as I have many times experienced Spirit as a cloud, particularly on Iona.)
The Shekinah was sighted in Egypt, Babylonia, Italy, Spain, Germany, Poland, and Russia – wherever there were Jewish settlements. She comforted the poor, the sick, and the suffering. She is a great winged being.
Yahweh and the Shekinah were said to have removed themselves from time-to-time by ascending into the heights with a resounding noise like the blast of trumpets. They apparently did this when the material density of the earth was too much for them. They needed to return ‘home’ to re-charge in the realms of pure Light and Love before returning once again to assist and comfort the human condition.
The Judaic feminine aspect of God is also strongly represented in the figure of Shabbat Hamalka, the Queen and Bride of God. Friday night, the Sabbath, was the night to welcome Shekinah/Shabbat into the home. The Sabbath/Shabbat/Shekinah is a queen and a bride to be welcomed into the home. She is received in celebration by singing and rejoicing around a candlelit table.
Women light candles, and men receive the Bride of God, the Shekinah, with greatest honour and respect into the home. This is the beginning of the celebration of the Sabbath. A man’s wife represents the Shekinah/Shabbat and the celebration of welcoming the Bride of God included a tradition of sacred sexual union on the Sabbath night.
The similarity of the words Sabbath and Shabbat is noteworthy.
allat - shebay - Queen of Sheba
In the Islamic tradition, Allat is the wife of Allah. Allat was worshipped at her shrine in Mecca for 2000 years before the foundation of the Islamic faith. Her name means simply ‘The Goddess’. Allah and Allat have been depicted standing together with a star and crescent moon over their heads.
The Goddess Allat was also known as Sheba, pronounced Shaybah (note the similarity in sound to the Judaic Goddess Shabbat).
The Great Goddess, Allat/Shaybah, was believed to have descended in the sacred black aniconic stone, the remnants of which reside at the holy Kaaba/Kabah shrine at Mecca, the most holy pilgrimage site of Islam. The title given to the holy rock by the Arabaic-Aramaen people was Shayba, “She of the Ancient Wisdom”.
In the geographical area of present day Yemen and Ethiopia, the ancient empire of Sheba was a thriving civilization for over 1,000 years beginning prior to 1,700 BC (based on the earliest known Arabian temple at Marib, capital of Sheba, uncovered by archeologists in Yemen). The famous Queen of Sheba has also been referred to as Queen of Ethiopia and Egypt.
Located on the Red Sea in southwestern Arabia, the empire of Sheba was very wealthy, rich in gold and other precious stones, as well as Frankincense and Myrrh. It also thrived as a result of advanced irrigation systems for gardens, a lucrative shipping trade with India and the Orient, as well as a robust camel caravan route all along the Red Sea.
The name Sheba means ‘Host of Heaven’. Arabian documents reveal that Arabia was a matriarchal society, ruled by queens for thousands of years. The sacred Ethiopian book, the Kebra Negast, refers to a law that was established in Sheba that only women could reign, and that the ruler must be a virgin queen. (See more information further down on parthenogenesis and Temple Priestesses who, in antiquity, studied and practiced the art of divine conception and birth – Virgin Goddesses who gave birth to daughters by Divine conception.)
Female-centred clans, matriarchal practices, and matrilineal inheritance were the norm in ancient Arabia and surrounding countries. It is no doubt a well-established lineage of a Goddess culture, Mother God, Queen Mother that is evident here.
The famous Queen of Sheba (Queen of Heaven) is described by King Solomon in his beautiful ‘Song of Songs, Wisdom of Solomon’.
““For in Her there is a Spirit that is intelligent, holy, unique, manifold, subtle, mobile, clear, unpolluted, distinct, invulnerable, loving the good, keen, irresistible, beneficent, humane, steadfast, sure, free from anxiety, all-powerful, overseeing all and penetrating through all spirits that are intelligent and pure and most subtle. For Wisdom is more mobile than any motion; because of Her pureness She pervades and penetrates all things. For She is a Breath of the power of God, and a pure emanation of the glory of the Almighty; therefore nothing defiled gains entrance into Her. For She is a reflection of eternal light, a spotless mirror of the working of God, and an image of His goodness. Though She is but one, She can do all things, and while remaining in Herself, She renews all things; in every generation She passes into holy souls and makes them friends of God and prophets; for God loves nothing so much as the man who lives with Wisdom. For She is more beautiful than the sun, and excels every constellation of the stars. Compared with the light She is found to be superior, for it is succeeded by the night, but against Wisdom evil does not prevail.””
It is clear that Solomon is praising and glorifying the eternal Divine Feminine aspect of God – as Sheba, Queen and Host of Heaven, Shaybah, and the Shekinah/Shabbat.
This is truly an anciently beautiful and timeless tribute to the sacred feminine, Wisdom herself: ‘all-powerful, overseeing all and penetrating through all spirits that are intelligent and pure and most subtle”.
King Solomon was revered as the wisest man of his time, and people travelled very long distances to receive his council and learn from him. Solomon’s tribute to the Divine Feminine is a powerfully glorious and exquisite love song to the Goddess, as Divine Wisdom and Breath of the Holy Spirit.
eloah - sophia
Eloah is the female goddess counterpart to El, and was worshipped throughout the Mediterranean. Eloah can be likened to Asherah, and El to Yahweh. The Elohim refers to the combined God and Goddess aspects – El and Eloah.
Eloah, Hokmah, and Shayba appear to be the same Goddess entity as they all mean Wisdom. The great Goddess Sophia is the Greek translation of Hokmah, Wisdom.
Everywhere in the Bible where the word ‘Wisdom’ is used as a noun, such as “I, Wisdom”, can be seen as the Goddess speaking. Similarly, when the ‘Holy Spirit’ is referenced, it is the Goddess, the Shekinah, descending into the story. The fact that there were so many names for the Goddess reflects how important she was and how her spirit manifested in many ways. I can imagine how, as the divine masculine and divine feminine attributes of the Great Beings of Light continued to ‘step-down’ their fields of Light into more nameable manifestations of love, knowledge, and wisdom, so too were these different aspects given names.
We can think of the word flower as a metaphor and example. A flower is a flower is a flower. However, there are thousands of different types of flowers, each given a name as they are discovered, and each manifesting its own particular beauty, colour, fragrance and form. The naming of Goddesses can be understood in this light, and each goddess is a particular manifestation of Love, Knowledge, and Wisdom.
It is interesting in this context to read the words of the Queen of Sheba who said,"I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys …” (Song of Solomon 2:1)
“I am A Rose of Sharon,
a lily of the valleys.”
Song of Solomon 2:1
Astarte/Ashtart - Inanna - Ishtar
Astarte/Ashtart/Astar was a Moon Goddess worshiped by the people of the ancient empire of Sheba. As both the Sun and the Moon were worshiped, these Goddesses were frequently portrayed as having either a disc of the sun or the moon above their heads, held in place by cow horns. (This is the case also with the Cow Goddesses Hathor and Isis, both primary Goddesses of Egypt.)
Lionesses often accompanied Goddesses.
Astarte - Ishtar – Hera – inanna - Aphrodite - Athena
Astarte/Ashtart/Astar was one such Goddess who was often depicted accompanied by a lion, and she was said to have arrived from heaven as a ball of fire. It is believed that the Goddesses Inanna/Eanna (the Morning Star, Venus), Astarte, and Ishtar are all the same Goddess, but they were named differently in three separate cultures. Ishtar is the Akkadian and Assyrian name. In Sumer (which became Babylonia and is now southern Iraq), she was called Inanna/Eanna. To the Phoenicians, Israelites and Canaanites, she was the Goddess Astarte - Ashtart - Astar - Ashtoreth - Asherah (Bride of God).
Inanna/Eanna was the Great Lady of An or Anu. An or Anu was the God of Sky and Heaven, Lord of Constellations who dwelt in the highest heavenly regions. Inanna/Eanna’s Temple was built approximately 3,100 BCE in Uruk, present day Iraq. It held communities of sacred women who cared for the temple lands.
Ishtar (same as Inanna and Astarte) was also connected to the planet Venus and was an extremely important Goddess even up until the time of Christianity in the Roman Empire and Islam in the Arabic world when instead of God and Goddess being equal parts of a singular deity, a solely masculine God was increasingly insisted upon as being the only true deity.
Ishtar/Inanna/Astarte was a Goddess of very high authority, and a Warrior Goddess with bulls, lions, owls and snakes as her symbols and companions. She was the Queen of Heaven and Mother of all Deities. I believe that she was of the same origin as Asherah, wife of Yahweh. Ishtar was known in the Golden Age of Greece by the names Hera and Aphrodite. In Roman mythology, Aphrodite was equated with Venus. So many Goddesses are associated with the planet Venus.
Ancient Isis statue carved from Aswan Black granite.
isis - hathor
Isis and Hathor were Egyptian Goddesses of the Underworld, connected to rebirth and resurrection. Isis was the wife of Osiris and the mother of Horus. The Temple of Isis was dedicated to the great Goddess Isis. Isis was also called Stella Maris – Star of the Sea. The attributes of Isis as a Mother Goddess, and a Goddess associated with Death and Re-birth, together with her vast and long-standing influence, has her connected to the Virgin Mary.
“ISIS IS
She who gives birth to heaven and earth
She who seeks the righteousness in her people
She who seeks justice for the poor people
She who knows the orphan
She who seeks shelter for the weak people
She who knows the widow spider
”
hindu goddesses - shakti - devi - durga - prakriti
The Hindu religion depicts two interlocking triangles, a six-pointed star called, ‘Shatkona’, as a symbol for the sacred marriage. Shakti, Devi, Durga, Prakriti, and Sarasvati represent feminine aspects of the Divine in Hinduism. Shakti is the Mother Goddess of India.
“The worship of the feminine has been the most ancient form of worship on the planet, widespread not just in India, but in Europe, Arabia and large parts of Africa. Unfortunately, in the West, goddess temples were razed to the ground in a concerted attempt to wipe out all traces of so-called paganism, polytheism and idolatry. The same happened in other parts of the world. India, however, is one culture in which the worship of the feminine has endured. This is also a culture that gave us the freedom to create our own goddesses according to our needs. The science of consecration enabled each village to make its own temple according to its specific local requirements. In every village in southern India, you can find an Amman or goddess temple, even today.”
“The Tragedy of the Vanishing Feminine
The masculine has become important in society today simply because we have made the survival process paramount in our lives. Economics has become the driving force, not aesthetics, or dance, or music, or love, or divinity, or meditation. When economics rules, when the subtler and finer aspects of life are ignored, the masculine will naturally dominate. The subjugation of the feminine in such a world is inevitable. An even greater tragedy is that many women feel they must become like men, because they understand that masculinity spells power.
If the feminine is lost, everything that is beautiful, gentle, non-competitive and nurturing in life will vanish. The fire of life will be lost forever. This is a terrible loss, not easy to reclaim. An unfortunate consequence of modern education is that we want to destroy anything that does not appeal to our sense of logic or reason. Because we have become so male-dominated, goddess worship is conducted in a largely clandestine way even in this country. In most Devi temples, the core worship is conducted by just a small group of people. But because it is too deep-rooted, it cannot be entirely erased.”
“THE FESTIVAL OF NAVRATRI
The Indian festival of Navratri is dedicated to the feminine nature of the Divine. Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati are seen as three dimensions of the feminine, symbolic of the earth, the sun and the moon, or of tamas (inertia), rajas (activity, passion) and sattva (transcendence, knowledge, purity) respectively. Those who aspire for strength or power worship forms of the feminine like Mother Earth or Durga or Kali. Those who aspire for wealth, passion or material gifts worship Lakshmi or the sun. Those who aspire for knowledge, dissolution or the transcendence of the limitations of the mortal body worship Saraswati or the moon.
Life is a mystery, and will always remain one. The festival of Navratri is based on that fundamental insight. The nine days of Navratri are classified according to these basic qualities. The first three days are dedicated to Durga, the next three to Lakshmi, and the last three to Saraswati. The tenth day, Vijayadashami, signifies the triumph over all these three aspects of life. This is not merely symbolic, but true on an energy level as well. As human beings, we arise from the earth and are active. After a while, we fall back into inertia once again. This happens not just to us as individuals, but also to the galaxy, and the entire universe. The cosmos emerges from a state of inertia, becomes dynamic, and subsides into inertia once more. We do have the capability however, to break the cycle. The first two dimensions of the Devi are needed for human survival and wellbeing. The third is an aspiration to transcend, to go beyond. If you have to bring Saraswati down, you have to strive. Otherwise, you cannot reach her.
What is the best way to approach Navratri? In a spirit of celebration. This has always been the secret of life: to be non-serious but absolutely involved. The cultures that traditionally venerated the goddess knew that there is much in existence that can never be understood. You can enjoy it, celebrate its beauty, but never understand it. Life is a mystery, and will always remain one. The festival of Navratri is based on this fundamental insight.”
tara - green tara - quan yin
Green Tara is one of the most well-known Goddesses in Buddhism.
Tara is also a great Hindu Goddess. She is the Mother Creator. She represents the eternal life force that sustains all of creation. In Sanskrit, the name Tara means Star, but she was also called ‘She Who Brings Forth Life’, ‘The Great Compassionate Mother’, and the ‘Embodiment of Wisdom’.
Tara is also known as the ‘Great Protectress’.
quan yin
In Chinese Buddhism, Quan Yin is synonymous with the Bodhisattva of Compassion, Avalokitesvara. She is the pinnacle of mercy, compassion, kindness and love.
Quan Yin is known by many names in many, many countries. She is the beautiful and benevolent Goddess of fertility, protection, healing, love, and guidance in all matters. In her hands, she holds a vase containing an elixir of water for healing and immortality, and a willow branch with which to sprinkle the water.
Quan Yin is the great Goddess of Mercy and Compassion.
Quan Yin (Guamyin, Kuan Yin, Quan Am, Kannon) is a primary Goddess around the world, including: Japan, Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, Khmer, Macau, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, China, Singapore, Hong Kong and Macau. Quan Yin is accessible and an active part of the spiritual lives of millions of people every day.
pachamama - Mother Earth goddess
Pachamama is the highest divinity of the Indigenous People of the Andes in South America, including Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador and Peru. As Mother Earth, or Cosmic Mother, she overseas the planting of crops, farming, and harvesting. She is a generous fertility Goddess. Pachamama embodies the mountains and is the cause of earthquakes.
yemaya - yemoja - Yemanjá - Lemanjá
Yemaya/Yemoja/Yemanjá/Lemanjá is the Ocean Mother Goddess in the Yoruba religion of Nigeria, the Afro-Caribbean religion of Santeria, and the Santo Daime religion of Brazil, all of which are religions practiced around the world. This great Ocean Mother Goddess is a powerful protector of the oceans, lakes and rivers. She is beautiful and strong. She brings abundance, healing, fertility, and a deep connection to the life-giving womb of creation: Water.
Pele – Hawaiian Goddess – She who shapes the Sacred Land
Pele (Pelehonuamea) is a much-respected Hawaiian Creator Goddess of fire and volcanoes. She resides at the summit of one of the most active volcanoes in the world. She is said to live within the Halema’uma’ crater of Kīlauea on the Big Island.
danu - celtic druidesses - bridghe - bride - saint bridget
The people of the vast Celtic civilization worshipped the Goddess in Nature. Spirits were believed to dwell in natural sanctuaries or temples created by Nature in the land itself, the waters, rocks, forests, and mountains.
Groves of trees were sacred to the Indo-European Celtic tribes and place names reveal that veneration of the sacred in France, Scotland, England, Ireland, Spain, Italy, and Germany to name a few. Many sacred woods were named after goddesses, and the holy and sacred wells and pools of water throughout the Celtic world were believed to have Goddess spirits in-dwelling there.
I have devoted a whole section here, on ‘Brighid, Goddess of the Celts’ and a section here, on the ‘Isle of Women’.
Many sacred woods have names of goddesses.
In Summary, On Goddesses
The oldest archeological artifacts reveal representations of the Goddess. God as a female creative force was worshipped for tens of thousands of years. The Mother God, like her Father God counterpart was so high in the heavenly/cosmic realms, and of such incomprehensible and unknowable radiant Light, that she could not be seen, or known directly except by the very few. At a certain point, the energy of God as Divine Feminine reached into the denser physical matter of Earth in order to be of greater service to her people. The Shekinah in the Hebrew tradition is an example of such a Goddess.
The metaphor/dream of the biblical Jacob (of the many-coloured robe) where he saw a stairway to Heaven in which Light Beings descended and ascended is perhaps a helpful vision to try to understand the notion of Light Beings adapting to dense materiality.
Another metaphor that is helpful is that of the vibrational tones of a musical instrument, and frequencies of Light corresponding to higher octaves of a musical scale.
All is vibration; some vibrations are slower, others faster, depending on the frequency, modulation, and tone. (The science of cymatics demonstrates this relationship between sound/vibration and matter.)
“Many of the primary Goddesses were strongly associated with the planet Venus, and they were also related to temples of worship in forests, in woods. They were Goddesses of Love and fertility, intimately related to Nature, cycles of life, death, regeneration, and rebirth.”
Throughout the ages, eras, civilizations, cultures, and empires, the Primary Goddesses were remarkably similar. They were powerful Creative forces that demonstrated a deep love for humankind.
In return, humans loved them back in the form of worship, rites, and rituals, and in the way they lived their everyday lives. Often there is a remarkable similarity in their names, and when the names changed dramatically it was primarily the result of a different language/culture embracing the same Goddess.
Many of the primary Goddesses were strongly associated with the planet Venus, and they were also related to temples of worship in forests, in woods. They were Goddesses of Love and fertility, intimately related to Nature, cycles of life, death, regeneration, and rebirth.
Primary Goddesses were also strongly associated with Water. They were the protectors of water and they knew intimately the healing powers and regenerative forces of the Holy Waters of the world. As women who give birth, women are considered the protectors of the Waters of the Womb, from the level of midwifery to the mystical, magical, mysterious, and cosmic connection of Water to Life.
Many primary ancient Goddesses were also deeply involved in tending to and overseeing bountiful harvests, agricultural successes, and the fertility of the land. The well-being of the people was paramount, and it was the Divine Feminine aspects manifested through the Goddess that took leadership in the care and nourishment of the people of the land.
Temples and Priestesses of the Dove
Vast temples and temple complexes were built to honour the Great Mother Goddesses, and the temples housed women who were priestesses, students, initiates, and adepts of the great Goddesses, Queens of Heaven, and Brides of Creator.
For example, there were Priestesses of Isis, Priestesses of the Temple of Hathor and Isis, Priestesses of the Greek Eleusinian Mysteries, Priestesses of Ishtar, Druidess Priestesses, and so on. The Priestesses carried within themselves all the aspects of the primary Goddess, and the temple learning embraced many sacred and timeless teachings.
Studies included ‘the above’ (the sun, moon, stars, constellations, planets and the influence of their movements) and ‘the below’ (the cycles of nature, healing arts and medicines, sacred sexual union, birthing, planting, growing, and harvesting of food, raising families, and attending to rites of death and dying).
There was much for young women to learn and develop over the many years that they spent in Temple life devoted to the teachings and wisdom of the Goddess. The role of the Temple Priestesses was considered a vital and essential component of the cultural and spiritual dimensions of ancient empires and civilizations.
Triple Goddess
A primary aspect of the Goddess in every civilization is the Sacred Bride. The Sacred Bride is part of the threefold, or Triple Goddess aspect of the Divine Feminine: the Virgin Maiden, the Sacred Bride, and the Wise Elder.
The Virgin Maiden refers to the young, holy priestess aspirant, so pure in her expression of Love and Life, and in her dedication to being an expression and vehicle of at-one-ment with the harmonious forces of Nature, that her radiance is untouchable by the denser vibrations of earthly materialism. The Virgin maiden is all that is of the season of Spring, fresh, new beginnings, and filled with the wonder and joy of the miracle of life, and the beauty and power of innocence and purity.
The Sacred Bride is the holy partner, beloved of God. She is fully initiated into the divine mysteries of womanhood, wholly and divinely female, and ready to participate in the fulfillment of the mystical marriage union with the Divine Masculine – a union so powerful that it births a radiant fountain of the most exquisite and holy Love-Light vibration throughout the Cosmos and the Earth. It is Love creating Love.
The Wise Elder is the Wisdom aspect of the Tree of Life. She is the ‘One Who Knows All’. This is the Wisdom aspect of Love that is a key expression of the Divine Feminine. Sophia, Soul of the World is a Wisdom Goddess.
Descriptive Names of the Ancient Divine Feminine Goddess
I’ve compiled a list of some of the names of the Goddess that I encountered in my research. I hope that they capture the spirit of the power of the Divine Feminine that is our heritage, our history, and our future. May you be inspired to honour the Divine Feminine in our world.
“Wisdom Goddess. Comforter. Breath of Power. She Who Dwells Within. Queen of Heaven. Bride. Goddess of Love. Venus. Lady of the Sea/Sea Walker. Holy Spirit. The Glory. Queen of the Forest. Mother of All Deities. Goddess of Compassion. She Who Brings Forth Life.
The Great Compassionate Mother. The Embodiment of Wisdom. Great Protectress. Anima Mundi. World Soul. Creative Principle in all of Creation. Divine Mystery. Tree of Life. Divine Feminine Creatrix. Faith. Hope. Charity. Mother of the Gods. The Giver of Life. Light-Giver of Heaven.Lady of the Words of Power.
Moon Shining Over the Sea. Mistress of the House of Life. Star of the Sea. Great Lady of Magic.
She Who Knows How To Make Right Use of the Heart. One Who is All. Lady of Green Crops.”
For more on Ancient Goddesses, click here for Part 2 which is titled: ‘The Dove, Iona, and the Pleiades Seven Sisters Star Cluster’.
References:
http://www.pantheon.org-Suppressedhistories.net-Goddesses in World Mythology-Feminist Theology www.magdalenemysteries.com-www.shekinahelysiumgates.com-www.ionamiller.weebly.com-http://www.sophiaandthedragon.com-Iona. Fiona McLeod, 1910-Asherah/Asherim: Bible, Susan Ackerman
Smithsonian Magazine. Bruce Hathaway. June 1999-The Most Holy Trinosophia. Comte de Saint Germain. 1933.
www.sacredtexts.com-www.isha.sadhguru.org-www.northernway.org-www.britannia.com-www.egyptian-gods.org
The Nazarene Way of Essenic Studies on-line