The Great Goddess ISIS I am the All. I am the Past, the Present, and the Future. FOR BEHOLD, I HAVE BEEN WITH YOU FROM THE BEGINNING..... Inscription on an ancient statue of Goddess Isis. Goddess Isis has never been equaled by any other aspect of the Goddess in terms of power of worship and influence. She was actively worshipped from at least 3000 B.C to the first century A.D., and the fascination with her myths has never disappeared. She is loving mother, passionate wife, grieving widow. She is the throne from which all rulers of ancient Egypt took their power, and she is the natural force of wind, water, and nurturing land, of life and of life beyond death. The wings of Isis have spread wide indeed, and todays Goddess movement understands Isis not only as one specific Egyptian goddess, but as a symbol of the awesome and enduring power of the Great Goddess. In the beginning was the Mother. As far back as 30,000 years ago, the people of the earth worshipped a female deity. In cultures around the world, the Goddess has been revered in myriad forms, in temple and grove, cathedral and cave. She has been celebrated and venerated through ritual, myth, and art. Our own ISIS MOON TEMPLE serves as an introduction to the Goddess, and offers Temple Training Programs where you can find more information about Goddess spirituality and theology. The path of Goddess is not defined or laid down in dogma. It is a living, daily connection with sacredness. There is literally no end to the ways in which you can find and honor Goddess. The Goddess is Gaia, the earth Ix Chel, the moon Arianrhod, the stars. She is Oya, who brings the storms, and she is Mary, who calms them. She is Nut, who births creation, and Kali, who destroys it. She is maiden, mother, queen and crone. She is lover and spinster, warrior and sibyl, nurturer and judge. Once She has called your name and you answer Her, you are Hers forever. Woman brings life into the world. Eve is the mother of this temporal world. Formerly you had a dreamtime paradise there in the Garden of Eden - no time, no birth, no death - no life. The serpent, who dies and is resurrected, shedding its skin and renewing its life, is the lord of the central tree, where time and eternity come together. He is the primary god, actually, in the Garden The Garden is the serpents place. Its an old, old story, we have Sumerian seals from as early as 3500 B.C. showing the serpent and the tree and the goddess, with the goddess giving the fruit of life to a visiting male. The old mythology of the goddess is right there. Although not a goddess, Eve certainly belongs in this group of divine female symbols of wisdom. The legend of Eve and her consort Adam in the Garden is well-known, and in the most commonly accepted interpretation of that story, Eve caused mankinds exile from bliss by her act of reaching for the apple of knowledge. But this is a corruption of earlier legend. The Goddesss connection with serpents of wisdom and with trees of knowledge goes back long before this story, and the symbols are unmistakable. By choosing to understand, to reach beyond her limited knowledge and grasp for wisdom, Eve symbolizes not rash disobedience,but instinctive feminine wisdom. She is indeed the mother of invention, the first scientist. Her name means life: finite, dynamic, swimming against the current of time, tasting, testing, eating knowledge like any other nutrient. We are all the children of her bright hunger. We are all products of that first experiment, for if death was the worm in that apple, the seeds were freedom and the flowering of choice. The Goddess does not easily fit into categories. For example, defining Goddess Isis as an ancient Egyptian throne Goddess, Demeter as simply a nature goddess, or Artemis as a moon goddess is to diminish Her influence and importance in other realms. These categories are but convenient gathering places, showing the common threads that weave into the larger pattern. Know that each aspect of the Goddess is far more complex, far richer, than can be presented in this small space. Let ISIS MOON TEMPLE be a beginning of your exploration of Her. The earliest artifacts of the Goddess were not intended to represent mortal women. The great round breasts and bellies were symbolic of the mysteries of birth, cycles and fertility. The ancient primordial Mothers represent the eternal creativity of woman and of the Earth herself. Thousands of figures such as these have been found across Europe, dating back to 30,000-25,000 B.C. The Goddess movement of the present day has its roots in the primal creative force of the people who crafted these powerful images. The figure must have represented some legendary personage so well-known to the period that the reference of the elevated horn would have been as readily understood as, say, in India, a lotus in the hand of the goddess Shri Lakshmi, or in the West, a child at the breast of the Virgin. The Great Goddess is a Goddess of creativity. Brigid, whose name means bright arrow, is the Celtic Goddess of poetry, healing and craft (especially metalcraft). She is the inspiration to all bards and artisans, scholars and any who work with words. Brigid, known also as Bride, Brigit, Brigantia, Brid, Brighid, and Briginda, is so greatly beloved in Ireland that when Christianity became the accepted faith throughout the land, the Goddess was transformed into saint, and St. Brigids church in Kildare was built on a site sacred to Brigid. Where Her eternal flame had once been tended by 19 priestesses, now 19 nuns took it in turn to each tend the flame for a day and a night. On the 20th day, the Goddess (or the saint) tended the flame herself. The Muses are the nine daughters of Mnemosyne, Memory the expression through the arts of humankinds deepest memories and visions. Each Muse gives the gift of inspiration in a particular artform. Often depicted as accompanied by Apollo, who represents discipline and application of the arts, the Muses thus offer both the first spark of creativity and the focus to see it through to completion. The Muses are: Calliope, epic or heroic poetry; Clio, history; Erato, love; poetry and flute-playing; Euterpe, lyric poetry and lyre-playing; Melpomene, tragedy; Polyhymnia, sacred music and dance; Terpsichore, choral music and dance; Thalia, comedy and idyllic poetry; Urania, astronomy and cosmological poetry. Sarasvati is the Hindu Goddess of all arts: music, painting, sculpture, dance, and writing. She is credited with presenting the gift of writing to mankind so that her songs could be written down and preserved. Sarasvati is often depicted on the back of a swan or peacock, and with four arms, with which she plays the lute or drum and bestows jeweled blessings. She is the Goddess of eloquence, and words pour from her like a sweetly flowing river. One legend of this Goddess is that She is a jealous rival of the Goddess of wealth, Lakshmi, and that pursuing wealth alone will assure that Sarasvatis gifts will desert you. Oshun, the Yoruban Goddess of love, delights in the creation of beauty and art, sensual delights and self-adornment. Her symbols are mirrors, jewelry, honey, golden silks and feather fans. Creativity in decorating home and temple is a way of honoring Oshun, who will bless any beautiful space created in Her honor. There is no object so common that Oshun will not appreciate more if it is made artistic and pleasing to the eye. Creativity in dress and self-adornment please her as well, and when Oshun is pleased, her blessings know no limits. The Great Goddess is a Goddess of power. Danu is the oldest Celtic Goddess, known also as Don and Anu. Her influence spread far across the British Isles and Europe, where the Danube river was named for her. Few stories about Danu have survived, and yet the reverence in which she was held still remains. It is told that those who worshipped her, the Tuatha de Danaan (the children of Danu), retreated into the hollow hills of Ireland when Christianity overcame the old ways. There, they became immortal, the Sidhe or faery folk, and Danus legend lives on as the Goddess of faery ways. Danu is the power that is in the land, never to be overcome by mortals. And Her power is in the imagination of those who see magic in the twilight mist between the worlds. Baba Yaga is the old woman of autumn, the archetype of the fearsome witch. Her roots lie in the ancient Slavic goddess of death and birth, whose wheat sheaves in the autumn fields hold the promise of winter survival and springs growth. Baba Yaga flies through the air in a mortar, rowing with a pestle, or in a cauldron, sweeping the traces of her path with a broom. In some tales, she is the guardian of the fountain of the waters of life; in other tales, she lives in a hut surrounded by a fence of bones. In all cases, she is a crone, hideous to look upon, and much to be feared. Her realm is the birch forests, birch being the tree of beginnings and endings. Baba Yaga represents the power of old age, the power of the archetype of witch, and most of all, the power of the cycles of life, death and rebirth. Most mythology books focus on Persephone (per-sef-oh-nee) only in the context of her abduction from her mother, Demeter, and Demeters subsequent fight to get her daughter back. But Persephones story, and her role in the Greek pantheon, is so much more than this. She is the Queen of the Underworld, as well as the Maiden, symbol of rebirth. Her Latin name, Proserpina, first serpent, is a reminder of her mysterious connection to the cycles of loss and renewal. In her times above ground, Persephone brings the new growth of spring. But it is in her times in the dark Underworld, beginning with the autumn equinox, that she comes into her full glory, as advocate for the dead and guide of souls. Persephone symbolizes the power of making choices, and of accepting the roles destined for us. If we hesitate at the gate to the deepening places, we may never come into our true power. Hera is the Goddess who has suffered most at the hands of those who dabble in Greek mythology. Summed up and dismissed as a shrew and a nag, Hera was in fact the most powerful of all the Olympian goddesses, the queen of the gods. Before that, she was the primary divinity of the pre-Hellenic Greeks, who honored her through festivals similar to the Olympics. When the patriarchal tribes invading Greece brought their sky god Zeus, it was obvious who his royal consort should be. Again and again in classical mythology, Hera is forced to defend her home and marriage against Zeuss infidelities and attempts to humiliate her. For this, she is seen as jealous, petty, and spiteful. Hera represents the power of women to stand for what they know is right, even in the face of societal disapproval and scorn. She is a symbol of the struggle for womens power and equality in a still predominantly patriarchal world. The Great Goddess is a Goddess of wisdom. The Greek Goddess of Wisdom has been given less than her full due by some present-day Goddess worshipers. Born full-grown from the brow of her father, Zeus, Athena represents the power of the mind, and thus sometimes may appear cold or purely mental, separated from more feminine attributes, such as tenderness and maternal love. But Athena is not cold. She was chosen as the patroness of Athens, over Poseidon, god of the sea, because she gave the sustaining olive tree to the Greeks. She was not only a warrior Goddess, but also ruled over domestic crafts: the spindle, the loom, the cooking pot, as well as all arts of civilization. She is the Goddess of the City, of community and democracy. With her owl companion, Athena sees far with the grey eyes of perspective and clarity. She does not act rashly, but wisely considers her strategies. Athena symbolizes the ability to conquer fear with intelligence and vision. For her thoughts are more than the sea, and her counsels profounder than the great deep. Sophia is the Hebrew consort of Yahweh, and probably predates him, her origins going back to Inanna and Goddess Isis. She is the woman clothed with the sun, who brings the blazing light of knowledge. Sophia is the embodiment of all wisdom, and it is she who urges us to know, to understand. She leads the willing soul out of ignorance and blesses those who study and endeavor to know her. In the words of Solomon: I prayed and understanding was given me: I called upon God and the spirit of Wisdom came to me. I loved Her above health and beauty, and chose to have Her instead of light, for the light that cometh from Her never goeth out. Sophia is the deepest part of ourselves - that part that can grasp in an instant the mysteries of the ages. The Goddess Tara is honored in two traditions. As the Hindu star Goddess, she is a symbol of eternal light and life. As the Buddhist Goddess of compassion, she teaches the wisdom of non-attachment. With her third eye, and eyes in each hand and foot, Tara sees beyond the mortal veil into eternity, gently reminding us that all things pass, and each moment is perfect. Open your eyes to the Now, says Tara, and be at peace. The Sumerian legends to Inanna are among the earliest writing to be found. The stories of this Queen of Heaven and Earth are rich in poetry and meaning, telling of her journey to the underworld and her return after that trial. In order to understand her people better, Inanna descended to the realm of the death Goddess, Ereshkigal, to experience mortality and death. At each of the seven gates to the underworld, Inanna had to surrender some part of what she thought made up herself: wealth, power, tributes. Only when she was stripped naked, humbled and open, was she able to fulfill her journeys goal. Inanna represents the souls evolution through hardship and bitter experience. She stands beside us on the path, her eyes never wavering from the true goal, which is wisdom. Changing Woman holds a place of power and reverence in two Native American tribes, the Apache and the Navajo, and her characteristics are similar in each. She represents the turnings of the wheel of time, and at the same time, the eternal timelessness that is beyond and above all such temporal concerns. She is the Goddess of the moon cycles of women, and of the cycles of birth, growth, aging, death, and rebirth. Changing Woman is the magic of the seasons of life and all the wisdom that comes from walking the path of beauty. The Welsh Goddess Cerridwen brewed a magical potion for her son, to make him the most brilliant and inspired of men. She set a boy named Gwion to stir and guard the cauldron, and a few drops bubbled onto his hand. Gwion instinctively sucked the burned hand, and instantly all the wisdom and knowledge of the universe was apparent to him. Cerridwen, angered, pursued Gwion as he shapeshifted from one animal to another and finally to a grain of corn, whereupon Cerridwen, who had shapeshifted as well and was now in the guise of a hen, ate him. Nine moons later, Cerridwen gave birth to Taliesin, the greatest of all bards. In him was all the wisdom of his mothers magic. Cerridwens cauldron is but one of many magical cauldrons and vessels in Celtic lore. It is a powerful symbol of transforming magic, and of the lessons learned through change and experience, as well as divine creative inspiration. Artemis, the Greek Goddess of the hunt and the moon, is not easily categorized. She is a maiden Goddess, and she is also represented as the many-breasted mother Goddess who guards women giving birth. She is a huntress and yet she is the guardian of all animals. She is accompanied by nymphs, and she is a symbol of solitude. Artemis is the magic of freedom, the woman who cannot be defined, for she is continually reinventing herself, as the moon changes from night to night. She is known as a healer, a midwife, a champion of those set upon by circumstances that seem overwhelming. Artemis is the spirit of the wild forest and the quiet glade, and her magic is in being true to the self. The Greek Goddess Hecate represents the third aspect of the Goddess, the Crone. She is known as the Goddess of witches and of magic, the dark of the moon, and the depths of the underworld. She walks along the roadways and counsels those at the crossroads. Of all the Greek Goddesses, Hecate alone could grant or refuse anything asked by mortals. She is the Queen of the Night, and those who seek her protection can move safely in the darkness. Hecate is the voice of wisdom, divination and dreams. The Great Goddess is a Goddess of love. Aphrodite (aff-row-die-tee), the Greek Goddess of love, is one of the best-known of all Goddesses. The Golden One, she is the personification of passion, sensuality and earthly bliss. Aphrodite blesses all true lovers with beauty and grace, but she is not overly involved with fidelity or commitments. Being true to your own heart is what pleases Aphrodite, and her myths involve her with many lovers. But with each, she loves wholeheartedly, and the beauty of Aphrodite is in that surrender to the deep ocean of love. As the Greek Goddess of Earth and grain, Demeters most well-known myth is of the loss of her daughter Persephone, who was abducted into the underworld. In a rage of grief, Demeter withdrew her energy from the earth, and autumn and winter came to the land. Demeter wandered through the dying earth, searching for her daughter. Eventually, Persephone was restored to her mother for part of each year, and with Demeters joy, spring came again. The Eleusinian Mysteries, a reenactment of this seasonal story, were the most profound and sacred festivals of the Greeks. Demeter symbolizes fierce mother love and devotion, as well as the power of the Goddess over life and death of the earth itself. Hestia was the first-born of all the Greek Goddesses. She is the Goddess of the hearth flame and temple flame, and at every public or private ritual, the first offering was always made to her. Upon marrying, a new bride would carry fire from her mothers home to the new, symbolizing the Goddesss presence blessing her new family. Hestia is the symbol of the sanctity of home, of home as temple and refuge, and of the fire of life contained within each place that honors her. In Rome, she was known as Vesta, and her priestesses embodied the very heart of the city and were honored above all others. Her eternal flame, like Brigids, has never truly died. Yemaya is Mother Water and Stella Maris, the Star of the Sea. She is the Yoruban, Brazilian and Afro-Caribbean Goddess and Orisha of mother love. Yemaya is mostly concerned with the affairs of women, children, birthing, and matters of the home. But her love is all encompassing, and she is the deep ocean of comfort for all who are in need. Sometimes pictured as a mermaid, Yemaya protects all who venture on the seas - and all who invoke her name in times of trouble. Mary (maria) is the enduring symbol of feminine divinity. The symbol of the Sacred Feminine she represents resonates to those who recognize the life force of the Goddess. The Goddesss long lineage survives in Mary as pure Maiden accepting her vocation, loving Mother and lifegiver to her child, and comforting Crone receiving him in death. She is a living and unbroken link to the past in which the Goddess was called by many names. In one Goddess, Mary embodies the attributes of many others. Like Goddess Isis, Mary bears a divine child; like Artemis, Mary offers her protection to all who ask (legend has it that Mary is in fact buried at the temple of Artemis in Ephesus); like Demeter, Mary is the Goddess of Grain. She is the Star of the Sea, sister to Yemaya, and she is Queen of Heaven, sister to Inanna. Marys world journey has never ceased. At Fatima, Lourdes, Guadalupe, Nicaragua or Medjugorje - or in the listening heart - the Goddess makes herself known to the faithful who will hear her. Whether you accept the reality of the apparitions and visitations, there can be little doubt that the words of peace, faith and joy come from the Mother. Mary as Maiden symbolizes the willingness of the soul to take on its full destiny. When called to vocation and service, Mary said yes, although she was certainly filled with fear and doubt - how could she not be? When mystery descends upon us and seems to show the way, having the courage to say yes is easier with Mary Maiden by our side. She is Virgin, although she bore a son, for she was whole unto herself, dedicated to her path, and committed to her choices. Mary as Mother is probably the most commonly recognized image in Western civilization. Just like Goddess Isis, holding her baby close, she gazes from countless paintings, statues and friezes in museums and churches worldwide. Echoing back to the temple statues of Goddess Isis enthroned, with Horus upon her knee, the symbol of Holy Mother and Child is universally comforting and familiar. We were all that child once, and in Mary, we find again the gentle arms of the devoted mother who sees only the good in us. She is the sheltering haven of the soul, the sweet well-spring of tenderness, and the source of endless love. Mary as Crone is the Pieta, the grieving mother who holds in her arms the broken body of her beloved son. She is the Mother of Compassion, for she has known such pain that now she can hold the worlds pain in her arms as well. Over the millennia, millions of prayers and entreaties to Mary have brought comfort and a sense of acceptance of lifes inevitable losses. Just as Goddess was the ancient Egyptian Mother Of Sorrows, it is as the Queen of Sorrows that Mary is perhaps at her strongest, combining motherliness with the ancient power of the death goddess, and guiding us through to a place of peace. The Great Goddess is a Goddess of the moon. Is the Moon herself a Goddess? From ancient times, she has been thought of as such. The Moon Goddess is called by many names: Artemis, Hecate, Chang-O, Jezanna, Kuan-Yin, Anu, Hina, Mari, Ix Chel, Mawu, Ishtar, Xochiquetzal, Selene... She rules the movement of the waters, from the greatest seas to the tides within each womans body. She is the bringer of dreams and the illuminator of the psyche. Lunar magic is cyclical, intuitive, emotional, psychic. The feminine mysteries of the Moon are eternal and fascinating. With every rising of the full moon on the eastern horizon, our wonder is born anew. It was written in ancient times that the Great Goddess is a Goddess of many names. But it was also written that Her favorite land was the ancient land of Egypt......and Her most favorite name was ISIS.
Posted on: Fri, 24 Oct 2014 10:27:01 +0000
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