Thursday Thirteen #25

Thirteen Fascinating Goddess Myths:

(Okay, just as a disclaimer, I am not a goddess worshiper. I am a lover of the power of myth and what symbols these myths hold for us today. These are a few of my favorite chicks and their stories, or just some interesting facts.)

1) FLORA (of course I’d start with her!) Flora was the Roman goddess of flowers and plants. She symbolized the blossoming of nature. She was considered the clandestine patron of Rome. Without her, the city would have no means by which to grow and thrive. Her festival, the Florilia, was held in April or early May and symbolized the renewal of the cycle of life, marked with dancing, drinking, and flowers. Her Greek equivalent was Chloris.


2) APHRODITE (or VENUS) Aphrodite, the "Golden One", was the Greek goddess of Love who was born from the foam of the sea. She was attended by the Hours and the Graces, who made her even more beautiful before she set foot on shore. As she walked to meet the rest of the gods and goddesses for the first time, flowers sprang up at her feet. (Wish I could do that!) The city of Venice is named for Venus, her Roman counterpart; and according to tradition, every year Venetians celebrate the marriage of their city to this goddess by throwing a golden wedding ring to the sea. The ceremony ensures that she will protect the city and help its people to prosper.

3) ISIS Ancient Egyptian goddess of healing and magic. She lived with her husband Osiris, and together, they form the myth of the changing cycles of the year. Osiris is the life-force of Nature which dies and is reborn, and Isis is the force of love that can create new life out of old. (Cool story – see more here)

4) KUAN-YIN Kuan-Yin was the Chinese goddess of compassion, also known as "She who hears the weeping world". After attaining enlightenment, she decided to remain in her human form until all earth's inhabitants gained enlightenment as well. Her followers exercised compassion toward all beings, never eating the flesh of any creature, and lived completely non-violent lives. She was often portrayed holding a willow branch.

5) LAKSHMI Hindu goddess from India who brings fame, prosperity, abundance and good fortune to her worshipers. She is associated with the lotus, which symbolizes fruitfulness, purity and attainment of higher spiritual levels (Padma-Lakshmi). She is often portrayed accompanied by elephants showering her with water (weird), referring to the belief that elephants are related to the clouds who are their cousins. It was said that the first elephants had wings and could fly among the clouds.

6) ARTEMIS (or DIANA) This Greek/ Roman goddess, called the "Mother of All Creatures" in her nurturing aspect, was represented as the "many-breasted" Diana. Her aspect as huntress stems from Neolithic times when her priestesses sacrificed any invaders to their shores. She symbolizes the Earth’s ability to provide for all of its creatures, even in the coldest, harshest winter.

7) ATHENA The Greek/ Roman goddess of culture, wisdom, laws, crafts, and political and military strategy; her symbols included the owl (wisdom) and the snake (ancient symbol of female power). Patriarchal Greek mythology tells of Athena being born from Zeus's head after he swallowed her mother, Metis. Athena, after winning a contest with Poseidon over the city, gave her name to Greece’s capitol: Athens. She won by giving the city the olive tree, and from that time, the olive branch has served as a sacred symbol to Athenian families.

8) PELE She is the Hawaiian goddess of fire and the Kilauea Volcano (one of the world’s most active volcano), said to appear as a wise crone or a beautiful young woman with a fiery temperament. Like fire itself, Pele has the power to destroy as well as to create. If she is pleased by the islanders’ prayers, she will generously check the flow of hot lava toward a village. But if she is angered, she will turn people and animals to stone. Hawaiians also believe that earthquakes are caused by an angry stomp of Pele’s foot.

9) MAIA The youngest of the Pleiades sisters, Maia is also the goddess of spring and rebirth, like the month of May that bears her name. “Maia” means “the maker” and every spring she makes the lush green grass and the fragrant flowers grow again (notice a theme with me?!? I really like the goddesses that GROW things!). She gave birth to Hermes, who is credited for being a genius and inventing medicine, letters of language, and astrology. People still celebrate Maia every year on the first of May, which is called May Day in honor of the goddess. On this day, people dance around May poles wearing vibrant green – the color of the earth itself.

10) JUNO (my she-cat is named for this goddess) This supreme Roman goddess was also called “great mother” and was worshiped as one of the best and greatest of goddesses. Juno was believed to protect all women from their first breath to their last; Roman women even called their souls “juno” in honor of the goddess. The peacock is associated with Juno because of the many eyes in its feathers, like the goddess’s ever-open eyes as she guards over women. The richly colored plumes were said to be as rich as her robes. Juno’s Greek equivalent was Hera, wife of Zeus.

11) PSYCHE (my ultimate favorite myth…C.S. Lewis wrote a book about her – Till We Have Faces. It is amazing.) Psyche was wooed and fell in love with Eros, the son of Aphrodite, meeting him only in darkness. Becoming curious about his appearance, after prodding by her sisters, one night Psyche lit an oil lamp to see her lover; some oil fell on him waking him up. He flew away and vowed never to return. Psyche went to Aphrodite for help and was given a series of difficult tasks, one of which was to descend to Hades and get a container of beauty ointment from Persephone. After successfully completing all the tasks, she was reunited with Eros, given a cup of ambrosia and made immortal. Psyche, in Greek, has the meaning of both soul and butterfly. (A summary of this story is so weak compared with what this story actually is. You’ll just have to read about her yourself!)

12 & 13) DEMETER & PERSEPHONE Demeter is the Goddess of the harvest, the fertile ploughed earth, the Corn Mother; Persephone, the Corn Maiden, is the seed planted underground. Classical Greek myth tells of Persephone, Demeter’s beloved daughter, having been abducted by Hades to become Queen of the Underworld. Demeter implored ferociously to the deities to let her daughter return to earth. They consented but, in the meantime, Persephone had eaten a seed from a pomegranate, forcing her to remain in the underworld. As a compromise, it was agreed that she would inhabit the earth for part of the year and the underworld during the other part, a metaphor for the growing season and non-growing season. The pomegranate was an ancient symbol of female fertility; the souls of the underworld ate pomegranates so that they could be reborn.

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