Gods & Goddeses

23 April 2008

Gods and Goddesses

The Goddess symbol found in the books Spiral Dance ' by Starhawk (1999 ) and Devi : Mother of My Mind ' by Suzanne Ironbiter represent many names through various forms . According to Starhawk (1999 ) in Spiral Dance , the goddess symbol signifies every female human being or women , who embody the Goddess (p . 36-37 . She is worshipped in the forms of the Triple Goddess of birth , love , and death (p .26 the Mother Goddess ' who gives birth to everyone , the Lady of Mammoths ' in the East (p .27 , the living

noble ladies ' to whom troubadours wrote their love poems (p . 29 , the Sea Goddess Marian .Maria or Marina (p . 48 , Miria , the Wonderful (p . 49 Earth Goddess . the celestial Queen of Heaven , the Star Goddess ruler of all things felt but not seen . the Muse . cosmic lover the morning and evening star , Venus (p .104 . The Goddess as a symbol stands for earth ' which causes life to spring forth , and which has the power of fertility and generation the womb and the receptive tomb (p . 104 . The Goddess also refers to Mary , who had taken over many aspects of the ancient Goddess (p . 29 , who is found in the images painted on the plastered walls of shrines , giving birth to the divine child (p . 28 , and the All , Virgin (p . 48

Similarly , Ironbiter in her book Devi :Mother of My Mind ' refers to the Goddess symbol as mother or Ma . Just like in Spiral Dance the Goddess symbol is seen in the images and forms of Mahakali Chandika , a thousand Goddesses (p . 14 , Matarjagat , Mother of Peace , Mother of the World , Mother of dead ones and live ones . Mother Earth . Sea Mother . Mother of Life . Mother of Knowledge (p 39 , Mother of Visions . Bruhmani , Mahashvari , Kumari , Yaishnavi Aindri , Chamunda , Durya (p . 40 , Raktadantika , Shakambari (p . 41 , and there are still more to mention

In general , the Goddess symbol represents all the women of all ages from different backgrounds and from all walks of life who are mothers Starhawk affirms that : the importance of the Goddess symbol for women cannot be overstressed . Indeed , the Goddess symbol is beyond mere of words because words won 't be enough to illustrate the many and varied roles that women play most especially as a mother . As a mother , she takes care of her baby which she conceives in her womb for nine months . After which , she gives birth in pain and she provides love and all other physical , material and emotional needs of the child . She also guides her child in the right path so he /she might not be a liability to society and as far as possible , protects him /her from harmful elements . Finally , she lets go of her child /children to make his / her /their own decisions , to live separate lives and to have a family of his / her /their own . Almost always , a mother makes sacrifices for the sake of her child / children aside from fulfilling her...