Goddess of the Week

Sif's name means 'kinswoman' or 'relative'; it is related to the English word sibling, meaning 'brother or sister.' The meaning of Sif's name is a little more precise, however; it is the singular (and Her name is the only time the singular is used) of the plural Old Norse noun sifjar, which means 'relatives by marriage.'

Marriage, not blood. In the myth, Sif is the mother of the God of Winter Ullr; His father is never named, just said to be a frost-giant. Her second husband, then, and the one She was most associated with, is the famous Thor. It is always very carefully pointed out that Thor is Ullr's step-father, and Ullr Thor's step-son.

Which all has to do with the complicated ways the Norse defined types of kinship; as far as I can tell, and I'm looking at this, as ever, through a very feminist lens, this particular and careful distinction was a way of favoring the male line over the female. Because Ullr's mother married Thor, Ullr's father was discounted, to the extent that He has remained nameless in myth.

I suppose one might argue that maybe Ullr's father was never named because it wasn't a big deal, and it was more important to identify Him with Sif; I don't think the Norse thought like that, though. I don't know how old Sif is within the culture, and it may be that the relative by marriage aspect of Her is the main or original one.

On the other hand, it would seem that Ullr, Whose name means 'Glorious One' was once a very important and very old God in the Norse pantheon, though by the time the sagas &c. were written down He is only sparsely mentioned. He was, like His mother, said to be very very beautiful. And it would make sense that a Very Important God like Ullr might just have a Very Important Mother; so perhaps all that past glory of Ullr's might also indicate a greater past measure of glory for His mother. By Thor Sif did have a daughter, Þrúðr (Thrúdr), Whose name means 'Strength;' whether that reflects on the mother's or father's strength I don't know.

The thing is there just isn't a whole lot known of Sif, beyond that She had the gift of prophecy, and that story about Loki cutting off Her long golden hair; it has been assumed that because of said hair She may have Her origins in a fertility Goddess, specifically a grain Goddess.

And it does make sense that Sif, the Goddess of the Grain and its harvest, which happens in autumn, would give birth to Ullr, Winter.

Now, Her appearance this week may be just another note to add to the ongoing theme of harvest, going on in the Northern Hemisphere at this time; it would certainly be timely. And that may be what's going on in the background of things, in a sort of general sense.

But given all I just wrote above, I'm inclined to wonder about how autumn gives birth to winter; how one season transforms into the next. Samhain, after all, which is only a couple weeks away now up here in the north, is when autumn turns to winter, life into death; that moment of liminality, literally that threshold. It's not here quite yet, but Autumn is pregnant with Winter now; Life is pregnant with Death.

Autumn thoughts, I suppose. I'd pay attention this week, though. I know these are the usual questions asked at this time: What is dying? What is being harvested? What dies now so you will live through the Winter?

And questions of family, too, especially the chosen family (even if you are not the one who did the choosing), the in-laws, the stepchildren. I am tempted to expand it out to your chosen family, the friends you consider family; but I think the definition here is actually the narrower one, going by the precision implied in Sif's name.

Also, and this is fairly random but is nagging at me to let it come through, perhaps do some scrying this week. Not just because Samhain, or Beltaine, is coming, but because of Sif's status as seeress.

Let's see if She can offer any clarification:

I am Mother of Strength and of the hard hard Winter. Beautiful, glorious, formidable, ice cold Winter. Our word for Earth up here? Is Rind, the Frozen One. That is the first state of things, and it will be the last.

The warmth you would find you must make yourself. The warmth you must have to survive you must make yourselves. Make it between and among you. Do not be fooled by my beautiful golden hair, my maiden appearance, my thundering husband Who drowns out my voice. I know more than he does. True, it is not difficult. But my first husband, my first love, was a creature of the ice and frost.

My hair curls like the precious breath that comes from the warm mouths of you fragile fragile humans. Yet that breath is strong; unbreakable Gleipnir was made in part from breath, was it not? And that will only break at the end of the world.

Which is coming, and is here now, and has passed.

Goodness. What do you think?



References:

The Category of Affinity (Mágsemð) in the Old Norse Model of Family Relations, by Fjodor Uspenskij

An Introduction to Viking Mythology, by John Grant

Fessonia Article at OGOD

Now up, a new article at the Obscure Goddess Online Directory on the Roman Goddess of the Weary, Fessonia.

One might presume I had my reasons for choosing to write about this Goddess this week; well, you'd be correct.

Goddess of the Week

This week's Goddess is another Goddess with West African origins, Aida-Wedo, the Rainbow Serpent.

She features in legends of both the Yorùbá and Fon peoples (from the areas of modern Nigeria and Benin, respectively), and is considered very ancient, with a part in the beginnings of the Universe.

According to the Fon creation myth, in the beginning there was only Ashe, the life force or creative energy. Ashe desired to become material; and in thinking this thought became Olodumare, the Creator, or God. But this was not balanced, and so a female divine force also came into being: Nana Buluku, Who gave birth to the twins, Mawu, the Moon Goddess, and Lisa, the Sun God. (Incidentally, Yemaya is linked with Nana Buluku.) These two then made the Great Divinities, Who desired to create and further enlarge the Universe. But They knew that a balancing force would be needed, one that bound the expanding Universe together; and so Dan Ayido Huèdo, the Rainbow Serpent, was created. This Rainbow Serpent is wrapped around both the earth and heaven, binding them together and linking the two.

In Yorùbá legend the serpent has two balanced parts: one in the sky, called Danh, and one in the sea, Aida Hwedo.

In Haitian Vodoun, which is in large part rooted in Fon beliefs (rather than Yorùbá), the Lwa Danbala was a large snake Who held the Earth together. When the first rains came, Aida-Wedo the Rainbow Serpent appeared; and They fell in love and were married. Aida-Wedo and Danbala are considered Rada Lwa, meaning spirits of the family that originated in Africa, held to be 'cool' or calmer in nature than the Petwo Lwa, Who originated in the Americas under slavery and are thought of as 'hot' and fierce. Aida-Wedo and Danbala both bring fertility, wealth, and good luck.

Aida-Wedo is associated with water, unsurprisingly, and is said to dwell, with Her husband, in rivers and springs.

So this card then signifies unity, balance, matters of water, wholeness, and integration, which leads to integrity. The Rainbow Serpent is thought to encircle the entire earth in a complete circle, and is not just the arc that is visible in the sky. Last week was about Source, and, I think, or at least it seemed to have been a theme for me, about attributing sources properly, not just on the superficial level as in an academic context, but on a deeper level of figuring out and honoring where ideas and beliefs have come from. This week I think the message flows from that, with another watery Deity; it's both about proper attribution, honor, and respect, as well as seeing origins clearly, and it's about integrating and binding the elements together and seeing the whole picture. And about intuiting out what you can't see, too, I think, in the way that the rainbow continues below the horizon, out of sight.

What does She say to us this week?

An arch is strong; a circle is stronger. Pressure from outside only holds it together all the more. Strong enough to hold the world together. Squeeze an egg evenly and it will not break. Water and sunlight, air and cloud, and illusion keep the world from unraveling.

Persist. Persist. Find where the snake bites its tail, where the end is returned to the beginning. Uncover what the snake guards and holds; what it coils around. Find the hidden parts, the parts underwater, underearth, Underworld, the full half that is not seen. Persist. Seek. Discover. Uncover. Remember wholeness.

What do you think?



References:

African Mythology, by Jan Knappert
The Encyclopedia of African Religion, edited by Molefi Kete Asante and Ama Mazama
MythHome: Yoruba Religion

Goddess of the Week

Yemaya is the Yorùbá Orisha (Spirit or Deity) of the Sea. She is a great Mother Goddess and protector of women and children. Her name is a contraction of the Yorùbá phrase Yeye emo eja, which means, 'Mother Whose Children Are Like Fish,' i.e., multitudinous. She is honored in many of the sister religions of the African diaspora such as Candomblé, Lukumi (Santería), and Vodoun (where She is known as Lasiren).

In Africa She is the Goddess of the Ogun River in Nigeria; in the Americas She has become associated with the ocean. She is usually said to represent the surface of the ocean, however, not the depths; that is generally the province of the Orisha Olukun. Like the surface of the Sea She is usually fairly calm; but Her tempers are known to be quite stormy.

She is mother to many of the Orishas, and indeed is sometimes considered the mother of all living beings.

She is said to wear seven skirts of blue and white, symbolizing the seven seas.

I hear Her say: Let yourself run down to the Sea.

I think this week is about flow, in all its variations: going along with the flow, letting yourself flow into the path of least resistance, or drifting along with the currents of the ocean, even if the direction or destination is more spread out, less defined than a river's, or even if, like the great gyres of the oceans, the currents are in fact circular.

I am nervous, I will admit, about asking Yemaya what She thinks. I am a white woman, after all, and well aware of Neopaganism's oblivious tendency to appropriation; also I am an outsider and do not follow the Orishas myself. But I ask, because it is polite.

She says:

You are all my children. I am the Great Mother. The human race was born in Africa; all of your ancestors trace back to Africa. Some further than others, yes, but ultimately all from there. Remember this. Respect this.

Do not think I am not angry, O I am, very much so.

I am vast. I am the Sea. I am the largest thing by far on this planet. My memory is long and lasting; and what you do to me you do to yourselves.

Go to the water. Lift a shell to your ear and hear me. Listen to me. That is what I ask. That is what I demand. That is what will save you.

And stop being so damned hard on yourselves, you women. It stands in the way of getting things done.

Our Regular Schedule Will Resume Next Week

Sorry about that. Some sort of minor disturbance in the Force caused me to miss this week's Goddess of the Week feature.

I actually did pick one on Sunday, Tlazolteotl, and I started writing it all up; but I didn't get very far.

So I think the message, for me, at least, is to continue on the examining health problems. With some forgiveness thrown in for only doing what I can manage.

Goddess of the Week

This is the first time Diana has come up as the Goddess of the Week.

I am not particularly surprised, given last week's focus on matters of health. I have Her here as Diana of the Witches, Moon-Goddess and healer, holding a frog, which represents both healing and transformation, or, more succinctly, healing through transformation.

Diana is originally a Latin Goddess, meaning a Goddess of the Latin people, who were to form a good percentage of the later Roman people. She is a Goddess of women, the hunt, wild places, and the Moon; from fairly early times She was associated with the Greek Artemis, and it is a little tricky now to make out the differences between the two.

The name Diana simply means 'Goddess'; it is related to words like 'deity,' 'divinity,' 'deus,' 'Zeus,' and 'diva,' and has at its root the idea of light and shining.

She had a famous shrine on the shores of Lake Nemi in Italy, a lake rather dramatically located in the crater of an extinct volcano; the lake was called in ancient times the speculum Dianae, or 'mirror of Diana.' Votive offerings in the form of terracotta models of body parts, given in the hopes that the Goddess would heal the afflicted part, start showing up at Her shrine in the 4th and 3rd centuries B.C.E.; this was probably part of a larger trend in Roman religion, but does indicate that Diana was thought of as a healer. And like Her Greek counterpart Artemis, Diana was prayed to for an easy childbirth.

So: health, specifically women's health, as Diana is a women's Goddess; also prayers for an easy childbirth.

I will admit I am having a tricky time separating this out, as I am myself currently trying to sort out health issues of my own, and I fear I am looking at all this much too personally. And now, interestingly enough, that is the second time the idea that it is tricky separating things out has come up. So I'm going to take that as part of the message.

So then, this week will still probably see health issues, and digging out the roots of them, as a major theme. Especially women's health issues (not all that surprising as I believe most of my readers here are women). It promises to be on the complex side, and be aware that there may be two strands to it when you had assumed there was only one, and/or that you are more sensitive to something than you were counting on. It is likely leading up to a rebirth of some sort, or a transformation; or, this rebirth or transformation may alternately be the root of it. Dig, investigate, look at it. This is powerful work.

The harvest is still ongoing, and though I don't particularly see it in this card, I feel I should mention it. Something in this is coming to fruition. I suppose, birth is the harvest of pregnancy, as well as the beginning of a new state of affairs.

She says:

Daughter. Daughters. Look to the moon, read by that light. Shine that light on things. Not the sun. He is too bright, and you will not see the subtlety of things by His light. But the moon.

The old wild ways, the dark in balance with the light, the light of the full moon shining alone at night; this is the kind of balance to achieve right now, a womanly balance, the balance of the divine woman, female, goddess. Not man's black and white, but the subtle shadows that yet hold a little reflected light within them. The moon is a reflection itself, is it not? My true mirror.

It is more complicated than you think, yes. Also more mine. And more yours, as women. Do not take the easy answers as truth in this case. Daughters, your healing is a little different. It must be whole.

I wish you all (and myself) good grace in untangling these strands.

Goddess of the Week

Hathor last showed up just over six months ago, on Valentine's Day. She is a very old ancient Egyptian Goddess Who is older than Egypt, really, dating back (at least) to Predynastic times. She is a Goddess of women Who is heavily associated with the cow as mother and nurturer; various tales place Her both at the beginning and end of things.

Hathor was commonly depicted in the form of a cow emerging from the "Primeval Mound", an archetypal version of the little hillocks of fertile mud left behind by the Nile after it flooded, which renewed the fertility of the land and which the Egyptians took as a metaphor for how the world was created. (Well, one metaphor, anyway.) She was also there at the beginnings of human life, for seven Hathors were said to attend births, acting like Fates or even faery godmothers, predicting the future of the newborn.

And at the other end of things, Hathor was said to wait at the entrance to the Afterlife, by the sycamore tree there; She welcomed the dead to their new home with bread and beer. In this role She was called the Mistress of the West.

In between those things She is a rich and multi-faceted Goddess, not surprising, really, for one so old. She is a Goddess of celebration, dance, music and partying; She is a Goddess of sky and stars; and She is also sometimes said to be the Goddess of revenge created when Ra grew angry with humankind.

I think, given that, that this coming week may be more complicated than you think. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but it means it may take a little more digging to get down to the root of things, or to recognize motivations behind actions, both yours and others. 'Scrambled', actually, is the word I'm getting and I've no idea what that's got to do with Hathor, honestly, but it's pretty insistent. Perhaps it is not knowing whether to declare Hathor's influence as celebratory or bloodthirsty that is causing it. Both, I think, and I don't know quite what that means.

It is complicated, whatever it is. I think it can be ordered and that there is a pattern to it, but gawd help you seeing it at this time. Perhaps trusting is the best you can do, for the time being anyway.

Let's see if talking to Her clarifies anything:

Little ones, dear children: there is one answer beneath it all. It is all related and interrelated. When you can separate cause and effect you will see the roots more clearly. I am here as Mother. I am here as Nurturer. Look after your health this week. Look to things of the body. That is what I know. That is what is basic. That is what a good mother will ask when she sees you--Are you well? Are you eating enough?

I am first and last in this journey of your body. Trust me on this.

What are you feeling right now, in your body? It is a piece of it. It is a clue to your health. Listen to it. Take note. It is trying to tell you something.

Well, that's a little clearer; it's about health. Yes, very basic. So then, this week is about untangling a health problem and discovering the roots of it. Probably also that more that you would have thought is tied into it. It's complicated, true, but if we stop and listen to what our bodies are telling us we can make a start. At least I hope so.

What do you think? I think I will explore what She is saying further and meditate on this.

Goddess of the Week

For the first time in one of these readings I pulled Macha. She is an Irish Goddess, usually considered one aspect of the great triple Goddess of war and sex the Mórrígan. Macha, like Rhiannon in the medieval Welsh tales, is understood to be a woman of the Otherworld, but like Rhiannon She likely has roots in an ancient Goddess, perhaps even the same one--the continental Celtic Goddess of Horses, Epona.

The Mórrígan is a name meaning 'great queen', which is the exact Irish parallel of Rhiannon's name (which is more apparent when you consider the probable Romano-British form of the name, Rigantona); on the continent in Roman times, Epona was frequently given the Latin epithet Regina, 'queen'. Likely, then, we are talking about several Goddesses Who grew out of the old continental Celtic Epona.

The three aspects of the Mórrígan are not entirely clear, and there is disagreement as to how to arrange the strands of Her; usually, though, Her three aspects are named as Badb, Nemain, and Macha (others leave out Nemain, substituting a singular Goddess called the Mórrígan, and then call the whole trio the Mórrígna, which as far as I can tell is just the plural form of the name, meaning 'great queens').

The Mórrígan may additionally be an aspect of the Irish Earth Goddess Ana, which then links Her with Danu, making Her roots very old indeed, as Danu (which is, incidentally a hypothetical name) is linked with the Danube river in central Europe.

The Mórrígan as Goddess of War is a prophetess and shapeshifter Who often takes the form of a crow; Her aspect Badb, Whose name means 'hooded crow', haunts battlefields and takes joy in slaughter (She is also called Badb Catha, 'crow of battle'). Nemain's name means 'battle fury.'

Now to Macha. The meaning of Her name is a little hazier; it may mean 'earth' or 'field', and She may also be an aspect of an Earth or Sovereignty Goddess, not unlikely given that there are at least a couple places named for Her, Emain Macha (site of a late bronze age hill-fort, and the mythical capital of Ulster in the legends) and the city and district of Armagh (older Ard Macha, 'height of Macha').

In a peculiarly Celtic fractallated way (these tangled strands and slightly shifting variations on a theme remind me very much of the twists of Celtic knotwork, or the improvisations within the set rhythm of a reel), Macha, Herself an aspect of a triple Goddess, can be split into a further trio, as there are three distinct Machas in Irish myth. They are all, however, said to be the daughter of Ernmas, Who is also the mother of the triple Sovereignty Goddesses Banba, Fódla, and Ériu; the latter Goddess is the one after Whom Ireland is named.

At any rate. The first Macha is a prophetess, considered the wife of Nemed; not much is known of Her. The second is Macha Mong Ruadh, Red-Haired Macha; She is a queen of Ulster Who defeats Her rivals to the throne in battle. The heads of those slain in battle are called after this Macha mesrad Macha, the mast or acorn crop of Macha.

The third Macha is the most well-known. Like Rhiannon, She appears to be an Otherworldly woman Who seeks out a mortal man for a husband; unfortunately, also like in Rhiannon's tale, said husband proves to be, well, an idiot. He was a farmer named Crunniuc, and after they have been living together for a time he tells Her he is going to a great festival; but She warns him not to make mention of Her to anyone there.

As you might guess, once there Crunniac immediately brags about his wife, telling the king that his wife can outrun any of the king's horses. This, understandably, annoys the king, who demands that Macha then run against his horses; though She protests that She is nine months pregnant and about to give birth, the king threatens to execute Her husband if She does not run. So She does, and easily beats the horses; but just over the finish line She goes into labor, giving birth to twins.

And as She dies She sets a curse on the men of Ulster. For eighty-one generations, the men of Ulster are destined to suffer the pain and debilitation of childbirth. This pain is to last five days and four nights, and is only to apply when they are in great need, i.e., at the most spectacularly worst times possible.

The women of Ulster are, of course, exempt.

I have shown Macha here as a war Goddess with a hooded crow, in clothing the color of dried blood, walking the battlefield in the morning mists.

This week in my area we had a spell of hot summery weather followed by a much cooler patch; and it has put me in mind of autumn. Chilly nights and clear days, the crunch of acorns beneath your feet and the impending descent into the dark. It is coming.

This does not negate the harvest-theme of the past couple weeks; rather it throws into sharper focus the fact that there is more and more dark mingling with the light. There is death here, or there is dying here; it is dark but it is not something unexpected, either, unless autumn takes you by surprise every year. It is also aftermath, pumpkins in a field after the frost, pumpkins which by some modern trick of tradition get substituted for faces, jack-o-lanterns and scarecrow's heads.

It must be the cold weather here putting this in my mind; or maybe it was the magazine cover I saw today of, of all people, Martha Stewart hamming it up for the Hallowe'en issue of her magazine as a witch posing with an eldritch-looking black horse.

Last year I wasn't the only one to notice the veil thinning earlier than usual; whether I'm seeing the same signs this year or merely fearing it I don't know. And I have to ask, if this is a trend, is it because we humans, in our relentless poisoning of the planet, have worn it threadbare?

I am afraid to ask, a little, but She is here, and She will be heard:

Do not fear. I am on the side of every woman. I should have thought you would know that by the stories. I am sister, mother, the Earth Herself. I know a victim when I see one, and I do not fault the women. I do not curse women.

Men, though. If you would undo the harm, invoke me. If you would see it all undone, invoke me. Acorns make fertile soil.

-------------------------

Main source: Dictionary of Celtic Mythology, by James MacKillop.

Goddess of the Week

This week's pick is again Idun, Who showed up just about two months ago here. She is the Norse Goddess of Youth and Springtime, Who grows, keeps, and metes out the apples that keep the Gods young.

Last time for whatever reason She was coming across to me in a sort of Winter aspect, oddly enough given that it was the middle of summer where I am; perhaps it was something to do with the legends that tell of a possible descent to Niflheim or the Underworld, much like how Persephone's descent in the Greek legend brought on the winter season. Now, however, I am inclined to interpret this card as one of obvious harvest, and a continuation of that theme from last week's card, that of the Roman Grain-Goddess Ceres. Though it isn't apple-picking season here, and won't be for another couple of months, there are other harvests going on right now, such as that of the vegetable garden.

This card, then, is about the ongoing work of harvest, and being in the midst of a time of abundance. This can be quite literally of the garden variety (let me tell you about tomatoes), or the fulfillment of another creative project. The important thing to remember is that it is really still only just getting under way. It will still require effort and maintenance on your part, but if you tend and harvest your projects carefully the results should last you quite some time. Perhaps the metaphor here is that of canning summer's bounty to put up for the coming winter and lean times.

What does Idun say to us this week?

Yes, harvest and hoard. Be careful, let nothing be wasted. If there is a spot on the tomato cut it out, then chop it to can with the rest. Be accepting, and do not unreasonably expect perfection, for much good, much abundance, much nourishment, will be missed. I'm not saying the times ahead are dire, or at least that they are not any more dire than any winter is, just not to discard things of value if they are not quite exactly perfect. Cast a wide net at this time. There will be need of all of this harvest later.

Also, never forget to save your seeds.

What do you think? What is your harvest right now?

Play-Along Reading

I thought it might be fun to try some join-in practice readings. By which I mean, I'll pick some cards from my Goddess Oracle Deck, and then folks who want to can try their hand at interpreting them in comments. The readings can be as simple as you like (or as elaborate as you like if you tend that way).

Here, I'll start. Reading these three as past-present-future:

You are coming out of a time of trial, one in which you know you have been in the right, but you have not been able to do much about it except to have patience with circumstances. You are now being vindicated. However, this will lead you to a choice, a crossroads; and keep in mind there are more than just two possibilities before you. The future may be a little stormy, but if you can weather it, bright blessings are promised.

Anyone like to give it a try? You can read them any way you like, as self, other, and the relationship between, as (one of my favorites) Maiden, Mother, Crone, or whatever speaks to you.

Goddess of the Week

This is the first time I've picked Ceres for the Goddess of the Week. Not too surprising given the time of year up here, that being late summer with its long golden days and the harvest fast approaching.

Ceres is the Roman Earth Goddess, and is especial patroness of the cereal crops like wheat, barley, and spelt. Her name comes from a root meaning 'to grow' or 'to nourish'; and cereal means 'that of Ceres.' She is a very old Goddess, and though She was early on assimilated to the Greek Great Mother Demeter, Her roots go back at least as far as the beginning days of Rome.

She is a Goddess of women, nourishment and growth; at Her rites in August, which were only open to women, She was given the first fruits of the harvest.

Though it is not yet quite the traditional harvest time, I can tell you that my garden at least is currently overflowing with tomatoes and green beans. (It would be overflowing with other stuff, had not the rabbits/groundhogs/deer nibbled everything else to the ground. One of these days, dammit, I will grow some zucchini.)

So, then, I'd say Ceres this week is about early harvest, a sort of preliminary or unlooked-for bit of abundance and bounty; something, maybe, that you were not expecting was going to be done or ready quite so soon. Something, even, that you may not recognize as a harvest. Look around. See what in your life is already bearing fruit.

Also, could be that you are looking at the beginning signs of a major harvest or the first stirrings that a project is finally coming to completion. Keep tending to it, for it is not over yet; it also may require a bit of work to keep up as the harvest continues to roll in.

What does She say?

I bring beginnings, too, don't forget; I am the Goddess of the sprouting seed. Yes, of course being who I am my timing, my schedule is intrinsically bound to the seasons; still, beginnings, creation, growth, new or continued is mine. So while you plan for the harvest, and it is wise to do so, look also to the seeds that are coming up still. There are all kinds of harvests. One might even plant lettuce in December, further north than you might have thought possible. So do not forget to look to a circumstance of what you might think unusual timing. It is still mine.

But mostly, yes, harvest. Gather the wealth in to you and yours; tend the plants and the fields, whatever form they make take; and remember to give thanks. Gratitude always makes the crops grow higher and more abundant. This I promise you.

Happy Happy Happy!!

Well I sat down to write today, encouraged by the feedback I had gotten from a recent post I'd left at the Aeclectic Tarot Forum (if you'd like to participate over there it's in the Tarot Deck Creation board, although, granted, my deck isn't a Tarot one but an Oracle, as they call them), and having gotten overwhelmed by just how much information there is out there on Diana (and me without a copy of Roman Religion and the Cult of Diana at Aricia--can you tell I am lusting, lusting, after this book?), so much information, actually, as to be almost useless (kinda like trying to define just what Isis is the 'Goddess of' in a single sentence) I instead decided that maybe I'd be best off getting back into the groove of things by starting a little smaller. So I chose Laverna, the Goddess of Thieves, as a good place to start.

And so I went through the books I've got on Roman religion (most of which just say She had an altar in Rome by the gate named after Her the porta Lavernalis, and a grove somewhere near by); and after going through those I turned to the internet.

Where I found that someone had lifted, word for word and including my titles and picture, and not of course crediting me, my entry for Laverna on a random forum. I couldn't decide at first if it was simply Divine irony (being that She is Goddess of thieves) or if it was in fact worth getting my panties in a bunch about; in the end I concluded, that, since I'd have to sign up to the damned place to comment that it wasn't worth my time.

And so I went through my usual routine of research for the Roman Goddesses, looking up the Latin, &c. When I came to an old bookmark, an old sad bookmark.

It was for the Ancient Library site, one that used to have the entirety of William Smith's 3700-page Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, which, though written in 1867, is still an indispensable resource, and surprisingly less outdated than you'd think. After all, in the 19th century they had pretty much all the texts we have now; and though some of the interpretations may have changed, the basic references are the same.

But Ancient Library had disappeared a while back, I don't know why (funding, maybe?) and that had made me very, very, sad. Now, Smith's stuff has also been entered into Perseus over at Tufts, but I've never been able to get that site to work in anything approaching a timely fashion, and, so, well, rather than tear my hair out I just kind of gave up on the damned thing.

But lo and behold today when I nostalgically clicked on the Ancient Library link there it was, back to its former glory! I suppose only a Goddess-geek like me finds this that wonderful, but let me tell you it has made my day.

Because it will make writing the Goddess Oracle Deck book a Hel of a lot easier. I'm taking it as a sign.

Goddess of the Week

And for the third time we get the Black Virgin.

My first thought upon seeing Her was that, gee, maybe I should get around to painting an image of Cybele one of these days. (It surprises me the major Goddesses I have not drawn; there are some interesting loopholes in my work, like, say, Demeter. All right then, I'll officially take that as a hint.)

And along those lines I'm inclined to interpret this card, for this week anyway, as Cybele Herself, and not just as an unusual form of the Virgin Mary Who is linked to the worship of the old Goddesses such as Cybele and Isis. After all, this card is about roots, and the old under the mask of the new: what would happen if this time we focused on the old, those roots?

Now, Cybele is an ancient Anatolian Goddess, Anatolia being the name for (roughly) modern Turkey; Her worship was adopted in Greece, and later Rome. She was known for orgiastic worship, with wild dances and drumming and cymbal-playing; but Her worship was looked upon a little askance, at least by the Romans (who could be pretty uptight about some things, like, oh I don't know, fun). Probably this was because, in addition to the raucous partying aspect, some of Her priests practiced self-castration, in imitation of the story of Attys, the beloved of the Goddess.

Attys was a beautiful boy, the son of a river-nymph, conceived when She ate an almond (i.e. parthenogenetically, a virgin birth); Cybele fell in love with Him, and made Him promise to be faithful to Her. Her swore He would; but in time He fell in love with a hamadryad named Sagaritis. When Cybele found out She cut the nymph's tree down, thus killing Sagaritis; and Attys went mad on a mountaintop, castrating Himself. He died under a pine tree, and the blood from His wound sprang up as violets.

A three-day festival was celebrated to Him in the Spring, in which a pine tree was decorated with violets (echoes of the Maypole, though I don't know that they are necessarily connected); and for two days the participants mourned and searched for Attys with wild rites. On the third day, however, He was found; and the mourning and sadness turned to joy at His rebirth.

Attys, then, falls into the category of the (vegetation) God Who dies and is reborn, like Dionysos, Adonis, or even Inanna's Dumuzi; and Cybele, as the Great Nature Mother, is properly His lover (or mother).

That, of course, is the Classical version of Her story. But we are interested in roots today: so what of Cybele's actual Anatolian origins?

Well, first of all, the Attys story is something that was attached to Cybele at rather a late date and is not known before the 6th century BCE. Cybele Herself is a particularly complex Goddess, and would appear to have a variety of strands making Her up; one of them may trace back to the deified Sumerian Queen Kubaba, Who was eventually adopted into the Hittite pantheon through the Hurrians, where She was identified with Hannahhannah (She, Who, in the story of Telipinu sent the bee to wake Him); She may also be related to the Hurrian Mother-Goddess Hebat. She may even, though this is pretty speculative, be related to the Goddess depicted in the famous statue from Çatalhöyük, a neolithic city in southern Anatolia, dating from the eight to sixth millennia BCE. This small statue shows a large, nearly nude woman perhaps giving birth, seated on a throne flanked by lionesses; though there is quite a large gap in time, it does recall later depictions of Cybele, Who was shown in much the same way, enthroned with a lion to either side.

Old roots, then. Old Mountain Mother Cybele, old as the hills, old as the mountains; old as the first cities, whose walls She wears as crown. She is wildness and civilization both; or, She is the wildness within us that does not go away despite civilization.

And I recall, that while I was away last week on my vacation at an event of the large festival type, that one night I stood behind the drummers drumming loud and wild and watched the dancers, while I added my zils, my little finger cymbals, to the drumming. I have, myself, been celebrating Cybele.

So, then, what does She have to say?

Old Mountain Mother am I. Yes. I am old, old old, old as the first stirrings of humans, old as the first bands of hunters following the wild animals, old as the green and dangerous mountains themselves.

And I am still here.

Remember your wildness; it will connect you with something vital, something not to be ignored, something that must be remembered to life live best; the drum is the heartbeat, after all, the very center of who you are.

Fireworks and drumming and dancing, all open your heart, all BAM! explode it out, open it up, loudly, joyously, raucously. It must needs be done. Especially now, when the world is inhabited by the timid, those who have forgotten what it is like to live.

Strip off your civilization! Dance far into the night! Collapse exhausted at dawn, then do it again the next night! Mourn, mourn the old you, then celebrate the new that is born through my grace; I will be here to birth you.

Always.

Well then! What do you think?

Home Again Home Again Jiggetty Jig

I've been to London to visit a pig?

No, wait, that's not quite right.

At any rate I am back; I will have a Goddess of the Week up tonight.

Off A While

Just a note to say that I will be off on a trip for the next couple of weeks and incommunicado, so there will be no Goddess of the Week posts until I get back, sometime in the first week of August.