The Mother Goddess in Her Queen of Heaven Dove Form

Hola darlings!

Soooo sorry for being absent for so long!  This new old house I downsized to is taking up way too much of my time -- but it's now all decked out for the holiday season and I am sitting back and enjoying it for the next few months.  I'll eventually get around to packing away all "Christmas" decor near the end of February :)

I celebrate the Winter Solstice (a/k/a the Festival of Lights, under its various names), not Christmas, per se, but since Christmas is a Christian expropriation of this ancient Goddess celebration (despite the Romans trying to turn it into a male god thing), I'll take it.  Check out my newest "Christmas" decoration -- the Queen of Heaven:

Do you see her?  She's a crowned dove, and I've got her up on the highest spot I could in the living room, where She is overlooking everything!  She is sparkly white with a gold crown.  I tried to get some close-ups but, frankly, I'm not very good at taking photos and my camera is nearly an antique now, purchased in 2005 (I use that, and my shaky hands, as excuses for crappy photos).  Here are a couple more looks at her, just because:

Please excuse the pea green "metallic" accent wall, I did not paint it that way, it came with the house.  It will disappear as if by magic during the spring of 2015 when I can once again have windows open to air-out paint fumes.

You probably already intuited that when I saw this beautiful crowned dove, I just had to buy her, because I was thinking of the entire criscrossed web of herstory, including: (1) the ancient bird (or eye) goddesses from prehistoric times:

Alabaster eye icon from Tel Brak

(2) the cross-cultural transfers that took place over thousands of years through migration and trade that transformed the ancient bird (or eye) goddesses into iconic goddesses such as Inanna, Ishtar, Astarte, Isis, Artemis, etc.:

Bird Goddess, predynastic Egypt, c.
4000-3500 BCE, Brooklyn Museum

Goddess Artemis in her "Lady of the Beasts"
form (notice the wings) and checkerboard
gown, from Francois Vase. c. 570-560 BCE Greece

(3) the Christian Church's transformation of the Mother Goddess into the Mother of God who was still, somehow, on a lesser footing worship wise than the god she gave birth to whom would not have existed, but for her, LOL!; and (4) those pesky Egyptian Coptic Christians, who keep materializing the Queen of Heaven every so often in the form of white doves flying around church steeples, just to remind everyone that Isis never dies, she just transforms herself into the latest version of goddess chic :)

"Virgin Mary" apparition with dove, appeared outside a
Coptic church, Cairo, Egypt, 1960s.

I am very much looking forward to December 21st, because after that day passes, the days will incrementally begin to get longer once again, and there will be more light.  I am, most definitely, a creature of the Light. So, during this period of celebration of the ancient Festival of Lights (in all of its various forms) which, in this Newton household, is about three months long, I wish you all blessings, joy and prosperity for the fast-approaching new year.  Meanwhile, I am eating too much rich food, drinking too much liquored-up egg nog, far too much wine and hot toddies, burning way too many candles and using far too much electricity lighting a ridiculous amount of Christmas lights around the home and thus contributing to the world's carbon footprint, and spending way too much money on gifts to charities and friends and chessly endeavors.  Oh well.  What the hell, why not!

Do the Earliest Carved Female "Nudes" Have Meaning?

Perhaps they do. Then again, perhaps they were carved by dudes away from the warmth of the caves out on long hunting expeditions, and they just missed their ladies and their warm cozy fur beds.  There must have been a lot of "frigging in the rigging" going on back then for mankind to spread all over the earth the way the did and cause the extinction of so many animals. 

I also wonder if the change to a very different type of representation of the female body about 16,000 years ago was a world-wide thing?  And - is there a contimuum of figures from the "Gonnersdorf" style down to say, about 4000 BCE and the "bird woman" figurines (that's what I call them) from Crete and one spectacular example from pre-Dynastic Egypt -- I think it's Naqada III (c. 3500 BCE)?  Connections?  Is anybody out there thinking outside their small little boxes?????

6000 year old "Lady of Villers-Carbonnel" France (2011)

20000 yer old ivory carving found at Garabaldi, Italy

One of the most beautiful female forms ever created -
pre-Dynastic Egypt, bird goddess, c. 3500 BCE
housed at the Brooklyn Museum

Seeking Meaning in the Earliest Female Nudes

byMichael Balter on 27 February 2013, 4:40 PM

 

LONDON—About 35,000 years ago, prehistoric artists across Europe suddenly discovered the female form—and the art world has never been the same. The explosion of voluptuous female figurines sculpted out of limestone, ivory, and clay directly inspired Picasso and Matisse. Researchers have debated the figurines' meaning for decades. Now, two scientists think they have the answer. Presenting their work here last week at the European Palaeolithic Conference, they claimed that the objects started off as celebrations of the female form, then later became symbols that tied together a growing human society.

 

The talk, part of a special exhibition on Ice Age art at London's British Museum, surveyed the more than 20,000 year-history of female figurines, which are found at dozens of archaeological sites from Russia to France. The earliest such objects, which include the famous Venus of Willendorf from Austria (see photo) and a statuette recently found in Germany that some have called the "earliest pornography," date from as early as 35,000 years ago and are generally called the "Willendorf style" of prehistoric art.

 

It's an overtly sexual, earthy style: Many of the intricately carved figurines share features such as large, pendulous breasts, huge buttocks, and chubby legs with no feet. They display "female nakedness in all its splendor," said presenter Sabine Gaudzinski-Windheuser, who co-authored the work with archaeologist Olaf Jöris, both of the MONREPOS Archaeological Research Centre in Neuwied, Germany. Nevertheless, she pointed out, individual figurines differ in many aspects. They vary greatly in size; some are slim rather than fat; and some are hairless while others bear what appear to be elaborate headdresses, possibly reflecting clothing that prehistoric women actually wore. Moreover, during the Willendorf period, male figurines, many anatomically correct with penises and detailed facial features, also appear frequently, and occasional sculptures depict men and women side by side.

 

But beginning about 16,000 years ago, Gaudzinski-Windheuser told the audience, the Willendorf style gave way to a new type of image belonging to the so-called "Gönnersdorf style," named after a site in Germany that features both figurines and engravings of a much more schematic, stylized female form. The Gönnersdorf females, which are found throughout central and Western Europe, are headless and sport smaller breasts, although they usually have large, protruding buttocks. They were apparently meant to be viewed in profile, as their features are only clear when seen from the side. Engravings of these images on cave walls often depict scenes of a number of women together in groups, possibly dancing. Males are rarely depicted, either in sculptures or in engravings.

 

Gaudzinski-Windheuser and Jöris hypothesize that the Willendorf and Gönnersdorf styles express very different meanings. The Willendorf figurines, they argue, represent the overall idea of femaleness, but the emphasis is on individual women, represented by the many differences among the figurines. As a parallel, Gaudzinski-Windheuser suggested that the cute and chubby fictional stars of the children's TV show, Teletubbies—Tinky Winky, Po, Laa-Laa, and Dipsy—symbolize the common idea of a perfect, child-friendly world, and yet each Teletubby has their own individual personality. (For example, each is a different color and has a different symbol on its head.) Such a symbolic system, in which both individual and group identity were expressed simultaneously, might have been suitable for the earliest modern humans who colonized Europe about 40,000 years ago—and who probably lived in small, close-knit groups, especially as Ice Age glaciers spread across Europe and forced them to cluster together in warmer refugia, she said.

 

In contrast, the Gönnersdorf style arose near the end of the last Ice Age, about 16,000 years ago, when the glaciers were retreating and human populations grew and expanded, including into northern Europe. The new, abstract style of female figurine was much more standardized, with little individual variation, and could be made by nearly anyone, as opposed to the great artistic skill it took to make a Willendorf statuette, Gaudzinski-Windheuser told the meeting. These later depictions, which were unlikely to represent individual women, were used for communication of commonly held ideas of "femaleness" across far-flung social networks in Europe, which still needed to keep in touch to survive. In this way, she concluded, the images helped to solidify a "communal identity" among widely dispersed human populations.

Some researchers at the meeting, while cautioning that such interpretations are necessarily speculative, say that the pair's thesis has merit. "I rate it highly," says Clive Gamble, an archaeologist at the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom. The figurines helped cement the social networks of expanding populations "whose insurance policy was having friends and relations over as big an area as possible." The change in styles from voluptuous to schematic females, Gamble adds, shows that "it's not over" even after "the fat lady sings."

Paul Pettitt, an archaeologist at the Durham University in the United Kingdom, agrees. "Sabine and Olaf remind us" that prehistoric art could have "dramatically different" functions as conditions changed for human societies, he says. But Randall White, an archaeologist at New York University in New York City, says that he is "not a fan" of the hypothesis, arguing that it oversimplifies the dichotomy between the two styles of female depictions, which he thinks were not as clear-cut as the MONREPOS archaeologists claim.

Another "Human" Figurine Found at Orkney Dig

The article is not the clearest!  But if I were you, I'd be thinking this figurine looks remarkably like a BIRD GODDESS ...

28 August 2012 Last updated at 06:43 ET

Third 5,000-year-old figurine found at Orkney dig

A third 5,000-year-old hand-carved figurine has been discovered during excavations on Orkney.

 

Archaeologists had previously unearthed two ancient figurines in 2009 and 2010 at the dig at Links of Noltland in Westray.

All three will go on display at the Westray Heritage Centre.

Alasdair McVicar, chair of the Westray Heritage Trust, said: "The discovery of these figurines has really put Westray and the heritage centre on the map."

Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop said: "There was understandable excitement when the first figurine, believed to be the earliest artistic representation of the human form ever found in the UK, was found in 2009.

"To now be able to say that two more examples have been uncovered is unprecedented."

This is NOT a Toy, Folks!

Interesting article at Biblical Archaeology online:

Apotropaic Guardians, Ancient Symbols, Divine Icons or Children’s Toys?
The many interpretations of Israelite plaster figurine

Biblical Archaeology Society Staff • 03/08/2012

Plaster figurines have been
 interpreted in countless
 ways, as anything from
 apotropaic spirits to toys
. While the meanings of
 these ancient symbols
 are evasive, context and
 typology are an archaeologist’s
 best tools

Clay, stone and plaster figurines have been found across the ancient world, but their significance repeatedly mystifies archaeologists. What are these ancient symbols? Could they be apotropaic guardians, children’s toys, goddesses?

Plaster figurines, such as this example from the Hecht Museum at the University of Haifa (pictured), can crumble over time, and are comparatively rare in the archaeological record. This figurine’s original context is uncertain, so it must be analyzed through comparison to other plaster figurines. Typological comparisons suggest that the statuette is Roman or Byzantine, and scholars have called some contemporary plaster figurines apotropaic. Apotropaic (meaning protective from evil spirits) is a very common designation for these ancient symbols.

Interpretations of these ancient symbols run the gamut, from games to gods. In her study of this figurine, Renate Rosenthal-Heginbottom, who has taught at the Hebrew University and digs at Tel Dor, quotes another Israeli scholar, Raz Kletter, to reject interpretations of plaster figurines as “toys, mortal figures, mother goddess, nurturing goddess, fertility goddess, [etc.]”*She then suggests the figurine had an apotropaic function.

There are many questions archaeologists can ask to evaluate the function of these ancient symbols. How and where were they made? Who worked with paints and plasters in the local communities where they were made? Are other ancient symbols or apotropaic objects created out of these materials? Are similar plaster figurines found in churches, shrines, graves, homes or workshops? Did neighboring cultures use such objects and, if so, how?

This particular figurine is painted in red and black and depicts a woman wearing a floor-length tunic with a red neckband. The roundels on her shoulders are repeated near the bottom of her skirt. On the bottom edge of the tunic is a band with triangles, colored red like the neckband. The woman has large eyes with eyebrows and wears a red cap. Between her breasts she holds a large egg-shaped object.

But who is she, and what is she holding? Without a clear context, chronology or established typology, it is impossible to say for certain. Bible History Daily readers are encouraged to offer their interpretations in our comments section below.

---

Notes

* See Renate Rosenthal-Heginbottom, “Statuettes in Clay and Plaster in the Hecht Museum Collection,” Michmanim 23 (2011), p. 21.

---

Based on Strata, “What were they used for? What did they do with them?” Biblical Archaeology Review, March/April 2012.

Whatever else she may be, she is NOT a toy.  No parent with half a brain would give a child a "toy" made out of plaster that could easily crack and injure the child, or as is well known in the case of young children they put objects into their mouths -- the head could break off and choke the child.  Archaeologists are parents too - they should know better than to put forward such a silly hypothesis!

As far as not even taking a "guess" as to what function this lovely figurine may have fulfilled, I ask you - have you ever heard of a figurine designed to ward off evil spirits HOLDING AN EGG?  I mean, come on folks!  The large eyes are ancient and iconic - they date all the way back to cave drawings of bird goddesses.  I think that should give anyone a clue, don't you???  The symbolism of the egg is also well known - and it has nothing to do with warding off evil spirits, darlings, unless it happens to be cheap Russian vodka...

The Birds Have It

Fascinating.  Wondering, now, whether the preoccupation I've had with birds over the past week or more (just some beautiful images of them that I framed, and wondering where to put up in my in-progress redecoration of my bedroom -- well, you know, something on the 'ether'... and maybe that the robins have been back in my neck of the woods in Wisconsin for 3 weeks already, singing their heads off every morning as I make the long trek to the bus stop to go to drudgery at the office...

From Past Horizons, Adventures in Archaeology
February 15, 2012

The birds in the Iliad help warriors and kings make difficult decisions and satisfy the basic human need for self-esteem and security.
This is the conclusion of a new doctoral thesis from the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, that analyses 35 bird scenes in Homer’s Iliad from around 700 B.C.
In the Iliad, gods use birds to disguise themselves and as transmitters of messages to humans.

Similarly, humans use birds as signs and symbols that they interpret to acquire knowledge about the presence and identities of gods and their intentions for the future. Birds therefore have a very important function as intermediaries between humans and their gods.
‘The birds are central in the event structure of the Iliad. They often appear in dangerous and important war situations and prior to risky journeys. Receiving a positive bird sign from the gods in those situations strengthened the warriors’ fighting spirit and ability to fight, but it also evoked a sense of relief since it indicated that the god was with them,’ says the author of the thesis Karin Johansson.
In her thesis, Johansson identifies the different bird species that are included in the Iliad and shows that they are carefully selected to fit into the particular situations and environments where they appear. The most common species are the peregrine falcon, the rock dove and the golden eagle, but also the so-called bearded vulture, with is very uncommon today.

‘It is important to identify the birds and pay attention to their behaviour and characteristics. The specific species are also chosen to convey and add specific information. If we neglect these details, we also lose important parts of the messages,’ says Johansson.

Johansson’s research on Homer’s birds is unique, since previous research mainly has focused on the symbolic functions of the birds and on whether a bird is a transformed god or should be interpreted as a mere metaphor. The ornitological identities, behaviour and characteristics of the birds have never been given much attention in the past. Johansson’s thesis sheds light on how the birds in the Iliad challenge the modern scientific division of ‘nature’ and ’culture’ and to some extent the way we think, since the birds are both birds in a zoological sense and signs and symbols at the same time.

‘Focusing on the birds in the Iliad helps us better understand the deepest wishes, reliefs and fears of the human characters, it also helps us understand how deeply rooted the birds are in the persons’ lives and way of thinking. The situations and events in the Iliad centre around war and others dangers in life, and there is no doubt that the birds are very important to the human characters in those situations,’ says Johansson.

Source: University of Gothenburg

*****************************************************

Hmmmm, well, whatever...

The focus of this thesis is extremely narrow.  It says nothing, for instance, to the much older use of birds in imagery, ritual and legend in cultures than the Greeks, such as Egypt and Sumer, for instance.



Call me biased, but it seems to me that the very earliest images of birds ever recorded [in paintings or carved] by mankind were of bird-goddesses, sometimes also known as eye-goddesses. Some scholars equate eye-goddess images to owls...  Just saying.

We still have the Sacred Bird with us today, in the image of the Holy Dove, for instance, in Roman Catholic iconography. 

Starcevo "Bird Goddess" Figure

Hola darlings!

I know people think we're nuts because we think Chess is the Game of the Goddess and that its roots are much more ancient than current historical consensus allows.

But -

This morning while I was checking out something that Mr. Don sent to me, I came across this figure and it absolutely blew me away.  When looked at straight on, it looks like a "bird goddess" figurine - sometimes also identified as an "eye goddess."  Bird and eye goddesses are very old - dating back at least to the Augnacian period.  There are local variations, but she has passed down from Neolithic (stone age) times, generation by generation, all the way into the civilizations in the Fertile Crescent. 

What I saw for the first time in this figurine is that, when viewed from the side, it is obviously the body of a female - the breasts are prominent and easily identifiable; the waist is narrow, flaring out to hips.  The cross-hatching design is also extremely ancient - goes back to at least 25,000 BCE if not beyond - I've seen examples of the cross-hatch design on all sorts of ancient objects, particularly those associated with females and/or "goddesses."  Various interpretations have been given to the design, including that it might designate "weaving" - i.e. - clothing.  And that is certainly possible.  However, after looking at dozens and dozens of these cross-hatching patterns on various objects, including ancient board games from Egypt, Sumer and the Middle East, as well as northern India gameboards that were used for chaturanga and other games, I think in many instances the cross hatching represents water (compare the Egyptian hieroglyphic "N" for water ['nun' - the primordial waters out of which the first land, and then life, arose]), and sometimes perhaps water and land together - as in a 'field' or 'grid,' symbolic of where life comes from, and also to where it goes back.

[Bird Goddess: STARCEVO-CRIS archaeological site. Starcevo is a little village near Belgrade, Yugoslavia. Eponymus site of the Neolithic Central Balkan, Carpatho-Danubian and Dniester civilizations. (Starcevo-Cris culture). First European pottery and the first painted with geometrical motifs pottery. Clay figurines of bird goddesses. A great ancient civilization on the Danube river, c. 6000 BC. (Gimbutas, M., The Goddesses and Gods of Old Europe, University of California Press, Los Angeles, 1996, Gimbutas, M., The Language of the Goddesses, Harper, SanFrancisco, 1991, Gimbutas, M., The Living Goddesses, University of California Press, Berkley, Los Angeles, London 1999, Larina, O., "Culturi din epoca neolitica", Stiinta 1994, p. 28-42].

Enlarged al-fil piece. See
Anna Contadini's article atGoddesschess for a
clearer graphc and more
sets with the same style
of al-fil, which is the
bishop in western chess.

Now, compare the Starcevo bird or eye goddess figure from about 6,000 BCE to this Islamic chess piece carved about 7,000 years later.  The "protrusions" identified as "tusks" from the 'al-fil' piece (known in the west as the bishop), taken from the Persian chess piece known as 'pil' - elephant.  But - was it really an elephant???

Let's see - how does the Billy Joel song go?  "You may be right, I may be crazy. But then it just might be a lunatic you're looking for..."

The Dove in Symbolism

Here's an informative and reader-friendly article on the meaning of the dove, a very ancient symbol for the Mother Goddess, in ancient cultures in the Middle East from Biblical Archaeology online. Image: Walters Art Museum, Baltimore In addition to its symbolism for the Holy Spirit, the dove was a popular Christian symbol before the cross rose to prominence in the fourth century. The dove continued to be used for various church implements throughout the Byzantine and medieval period, including the form of oil lamps and this 13th-century altar piece for holding the Eucharistic bread. The Enduring Symbolism of Doves From Ancient Icon to Biblical Mainstay by Dorothy D. Resig Few symbols have a tradition as long and as rich as the dove. A particular favorite in art and iconography, the dove often represents some aspect of the divine, and its use has been shared, adapted and reinterpreted across cultures and millennia to suit changing belief systems. From the ancient world to modern times, this simple bird developed layer upon layer of meaning and interpretive significance, making it a complex and powerful addition to religious texts and visual representations. Image: Naos, Ardon Bar Hama. A dove and two bird-like female figures perch atop this clay house shrine from the Iron Age. The dove was widely recognized throughout the Ancient Near Eastern world as a symbol of the mother goddess Asherah and her counterparts Astarte and Tanit. In the Ancient Near East and Mediterranean world, the dove became an iconic symbol of the mother goddess. Small clay shrines from the Iron Age Levant depict doves perched atop the doorways of these mini-temples. On one example from Cyprus, the entire exterior of the goddess’s shrine is covered with dovecotes. The doves represented feminine fertility and procreation, and came to be well-recognized symbols of the Canaanite goddess Asherah and her counterpart Astarte, as well as her Phoenician and later Punic embodiment, Tanit. First-century B.C. coins from Ashkelon bore a dove, which represented both the goddess Tyche-Astarte and the city mint. In Rome and throughout the Empire, goddesses such as Venus and Fortunata could be seen depicted in statues with a dove resting in their hand or on their head. Rest of article.

Rhiannon: Goddess of Horses

By Juliette Frette'

Women's Issues Examiner Examiner.com
Ancient goddess spotlight: Rhiannon May 22, 4:15 PM

An equine goddess-turned-magical queen, she is unique in the sense that she is exclusively a horse deity -- while other goddesses of antiquity typically have other identities and functions. Accordingly, horse themes are very strong in Irish and Welsh mythology. As such, Rhiannon's Irish sister Macha, a transfunctional goddess spanning all possible functions of society as priestess, warrior, and nurturer, has also been represented as a horse.

Nevertheless, Rhiannon is one of a kind with the exception of one Gaulish equine goddess counterpart known as Epona -- a deity who has no other function than being the patroness of horses. Rest of article.

Stevie Nicks rocking out in 2008 at Soundstage -- I've watched lots of videos of SN performing this song over the years, with and without Fleetwood Mac, but in my opinion, this is the best one. In the performance, at age 56, Nicks personifies the ageless mystery and timeless beauty and fascination of Rhiannon.



Lyrics to Fleetwood Mac's Rhiannon:

Rhiannon rings like a bell throu the night
And wouldnt you love to love her
Takes to the sky like a bird in flight
And who will be her lover
All your life you've never seen a woman
Taken by the wind
Would you stay if she promised you heaven
Will you ever win

She is like a cat in the dark A
nd then she is the darkness
She rules her life like a fine skylark
And when the sky is starless
All your life you've never seen a woman
Taken by the wind
Would you stay if she promised you heaven
Will you ever win
Will you ever win

[Verse sometimes added in live performances]
Once in a million years,
a lady like her rises
'Rhiannon' you cry but she's gone,
and your life knows no answer,
and your life knows no answer.

She rings like a bell throu the night
And wouldnt you love to love her
She rules her life like a bird in flight
And who will be her lover
All your life you've never seen a woman
Taken by the wind
Would you stay if she promised you heaven
Will you ever win Will you ever win

Dreams unwind
Love's a state of mind...

Wikipedia entry on Rhiannon

See also Nemeton, the Sacred Grove: Rhiannon

A Cymric and Brythonic Goddess, also known as Rigantona: Great Queen, from which the image (above) was taken -- a representation of Rhiannon (or one of her birds, the "Birds of Rhiannon"), riding on the back of a horse. Many thanks to the artist who crafted it!

Cretan Bird Goddess

From the March/April 2009 edition of Biblical Archaeology Review Worldwide (p. 72) Crete With lavish painted ornamentation and a dramatic pose, this female figurine commands attention. The bird perched atop her head announces her divine status, as birds such as doves and pigeons were symbols of a goddess throughout the ancient Mediterranean world. Found at the center of a small communal shrine at Knossos, on the island of Crete, this 8.5-inch, clay figurine from the 14th century B.C. represents a Minoan goddess. According to scholar Giorgos Rethemiotakis, the goddess’s oversized arms and accentuated eyes “vividly bring to life the message and content of the prayer, the immediate visual and mental contact of the goddess with the praying faithful.” Minoan religion centered around goddess worship; there also is evidence of a powerful female priesthood. Since the language of the Minoans has never been deciphered, mot of what we know of the civilization comes from Greek and other neighboring cultures.

Lilith

From Barbara Walker's "The Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets." Lilith a/k/a Lilit Adam's first wife was a relic of an early rabbinical attempt to assimilate the Sumero-Babylonian Goddess Belit-ili, or Belili, to Jewish mythology. To the Canaanites, Lilit was Baalat, the "Divine Lady." On a tablet from Ur, c. 2000 BC, she was addressed as Lillake.(1) Hebraic tradition said Adam married Lilith because he grew tired of coupling with beasts, a common custom of Middle-Eastern herdsmen, though the Old Testament declard it a sin (Deut. 27:21). [Not the most auspicious of beginnings for a marriage...] Adam tried to force Lilith to lie beneath him in the "missionary position" favored by male-dominant societies. Moslems were so insistent on the male-superior sexual position that they said, "Accursed be the man who maketh woman heaven and himself earth."(2) Catholic authorities said any sexual position other than the male-superior one is sinful.(3) But Lilith was neither a Moslem nor a Catholic. She sneered at Adams's sexual crudity, cursed him, and flew away to make her home by the Red Sea. [Note the wings - an allusion to the ancient bird goddesses]. God sent angels to fetch Lilith back, but she cursed them too, ignored God's command, and spent her time coupling with "demons" (whose lovemaking evidently pleased her better) and giving birth to a hundred children every day. So God had to produce Eve as Lilith's more docile replacement. [Note: according to one of the biblical accounts of the creation of Eve, she was made out one of Adam's ribs; so, every time he made love to Eve, was he really making love to a clone of himself? Yechy!] Lilith's fecundity and sexual preferences show that she was a Great Mother of settled agricultural tribes, who resisted the invasions of nomadic herdsmen, represented by Adam [a/k/a man from the red earth - from the Bible, from dust you came and to the dust you shall return...]. Early Hebrews disliked the Great Mother who drank the blood of Abel the herdsman, after his slaying by the elder god of agriculture and smithcraft, Cain (Gen. 4:11) [Gen. 4:11: And now art thou {Cain} cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand; - King James Version]. Lilith's Red Sea was another version of Kali Ma's Ocean of Blood, which gave brith to all things but needed periodic sacrificial replenishment. There may have been a connection between Lilith and the Etruscan divinity Leinth, who had no face and who waited at the gate of the underworld along with Eita and Persipnei (Hades and Persephone) to receive the souls of the dead.(4) The underworld gate was a yoni, and also a lily, which had "no face." Admission into the underworld was often mythologized as a sexual union. The lily or lilu (lotus) was the Great Mother's flower-yoni, whose title formed Lilith's name. The story of Lilith disappeared from the canonical Bible, but her daughters the lilim haunted men for over a thousand years. Well into the Middle Ages, the Jews were still manufacturing amulets to keep away the lilim, who were lustful she-demons given to copulating with men in their dreams, causing nocturnal emissions.(5) Naturally, the lilim squatted on top of their victims in the position favored by ancient matriarchs. [No doubt thereby triggering lots of control issues and deep psychological wounds in their male "victims."] Greeks adopted the lilim and called them Lamiae, Empusae (Forcers-In), or Daughters of Hecate. [The ancient Greek men would have hated and dreaded these Forcers-In because of their cultural preference at the time for homosexuality, copulating with females usually only to produce children.] Christians also adopted them and called them harlots of hell, or succubae, the female counterparts of incubi. Celebate monks tried to fend them off by sleeping with their hands crossed over their genitals, clutching a crucifix. It was said that every time a pious Christian had a wet dream, Lilith laughed. Even if a male child laughed in his sleep, people said Lilith was fondling him. To protect baby boys against her, chalk circles were drawn around cradles with the written names of the three angeles God sent to fetch Lilith back to Adam - even though these angels had proved incapable of dealing with her. Some said men and babies should not be left alone in a house or Lilith might seize them.(6) Another common name for the Daughters of Lilith was Night-Hag. This term didn't imply that they were ugly; on the contrary, they were supposed to be very beautiful.(7) As with their brothers the incubi, they were presumed so expert at lovemaking that after an experience with a Night-Hag, a man couldn't be satisfied with the love of a mortal woman. Notes: (1) Graves & Patai, 68. (2) Edwardes, 157. (3) Graves & Patai, 67. (4) Hays, 183. (5) Graves, G.M. 1, 190. (6) Cavendish, P.E., 99. (7) Scot, 512.

Egyptian Antiquites on Display

I may have already posted about this - but I just love this sculpture so much I'm posting it again! When I first saw it, I thought "cycladic art." But it's Egyptian - Naqada II! Very old and reflective of the world-wide "bird goddess" and "mother goddess" imagery that can also be found in European artifacts of the same age. (Image: Female Figurine Predynastic Period, Naqada II Period, about 3650 B.C. - 3300 B.C. Terracotta, painted 13 3/8 x 5 x 2 1/2 in. (34 x 12.7 x 6.4 cm) place excavated: Burial no. 2, El Ma'mariya, Egypt, Africa. Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund.)

From ArtDaily.org

Mystery of Ancient Egyptian Funerary and Afterlife Revealed at Indianapolis Museum of Art

July 13, 2008

INDIANAPOLIS.- The Indianapolis Museum of Art will be the first venue to host To Live Forever: Egyptian Treasures from the Brooklyn Museum, which will be on view July 13 – September 7, 2008. Featuring approximately 120 objects dating from 3600 B.C. to 400 A.D. from the world-renowned Egyptian art collection of New York’s Brooklyn Museum, the exhibition will illustrate the range of strategies and preparations the ancient Egyptians developed to defeat death and to achieve success in the afterlife.

“The IMA is pleased to be the first museum in a multiple-city tour for this exhibition,” said Maxwell L. Anderson, the Melvin & Bren Simon Director and CEO of the IMA. “Through a vibrant selection of artworks from one of the world’s leading collections of Egyptian antiquities, our visitors will gain real insight into the ancient quest for survival into eternity.”

The exhibition explores the belief that death was an enemy that could be vanquished, one of the primary cultural tenets of ancient Egyptian civilization. In order to survive in the next world, Egyptians would purchase, trade, or even reuse a variety of objects—statues, coffins, vessels, and jewelry for example—that would protect them in the afterlife. The exhibition explains the process of mummification, the economics and rituals of memorials, the contents of the tomb, the funeral accessories—including the differentiation of objects used by upper, middle, and lower classes—and the idealized afterlife.”

Exhibition highlights include:

 a vividly painted coffin of a Mayor of Thebes (about 1075-945 B.C)

 the mummy and portrait of Demetrios, a wealthy citizen of Hawara (95-100 A.D.)

 two mummies of dogs (664 B.C.-395 A.D)

 stone sculpture and statues

 protective gold jewelry made for nobility

 amulets (items for protection in the afterlife)

 canopic jars (used to store the body’s major organs)

 ceramic vessels

“Many of the objects in the show have never been exhibited before,” said Theodore Celenko, curator of African art at the IMA. “And one piece in particular—a limestone statue of a father, mother and child that’s more than 2,000 years old—will only be shown in Indianapolis.”

In addition to the exhibition, the IMA will host a lecture by the exhibition’s curator Edward Bleiberg. On Sunday, July 13 at 2 p.m., Bleiberg—the curator of Egyptian, Classical, and Ancient Middle Eastern Art at the Brooklyn Museum—will discuss religion, aesthetics and immortality of ancient Egypt in relation to the exhibition.

The Owl

From Barbara G. Walker's "A Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets." See also prior posts on Athena:
http://goddesschess.blogspot.com/2008/01/little-owl-of-athens.html
http://goddesschess.blogspot.com/2007/10/athena-goddess-of-serpent.html

Owl
Romans called the owl strix (pl. striges), the same word that meant "witch."(1) Greeks said the owl was sacred to Athene, their own version of the ancient Mesopotamian "Eye-Goddess" whose staring owl-eyed images have been found throughout the Middle East, especially around the Mother-city of Mari.(2) The owl was also the totem of Lilith, Blodeuwedd, Anath, and other versions of the Triple Goddess of the moon. See Trinity.


According to Christian legend, the owl was one of "three disobedient sisters" who defied God and was transfrmed into a bird who never looked at the sun.(3) It is easy enough to see in this idea the shape of the Goddess herself, and the church's hostility to her. One of the medieval names for the owl was "night hag;" it was said to be a witch in bird form.(4) The owl is still associated with witches in the smbols of Halloween.

The owl is also a bird of wisdom because it used to embody the wisdom of the Goddess. Certain medieval magic charms apparently sought to use the bird's oracular power against its former mistress, woman. If an owl could be slain and its heart pulled out and laid on the left breast of a sleeping woman, the owman would talk in her sleep and reveal all her secrets.(5) This seems to have been the basis of the expression, "heart-to-heart talk," which meant a woman's secret conversation with her familiar.

Notes:
(1) Trigg, 96.
(2) Neumann, G.M., pl. 87.
(3) de Lys, 37.
(4) Cavendish,P.E., 100.
(5) Agrppa, 76.

The Little Owl of Athens

See earlier post on the ancient origins and associations of the Goddess Athena. From The Telegraph.co.uk Bird box - little owl Last Updated: 12:01am GMT 26/01/2008 Daniel Butler finds the little owl a big attraction Winter is a great time for bird-watching. This is when many species are caught up in the search for calories to combat the cold and, with no leaves on the trees, they are easier to spot. Take the little owl, which is now particularly active at dusk as it hunts for small creatures. The best sightings are of "still hunting" individuals perched on a branch or telephone pole. Often the first indication is the angry calls of mobbing songbirds, after which identifying the small, stumpy, silhouette is simple. Their buoyant and slightly undulating flight on broad wings, low above the ground, is also characteristic. There is little in size or plumage to split the sexes, but their drab appearance is compensated by glaring yellow eyes and white "eyebrows", which give them a look of strong disapproval. Such sightings may be fairly common today, but they are a relatively recent phenomenon, for little owls are not native. Their natural habitat is southern Europe and Asia Minor, although they are particularly associated with Athens. Greek mythology linked these hunters with the goddess of wisdom (indeed the scientific name, Athene noctua, means "Athene by night"). Their characteristic forms were stamped on coins and over time they became synonymous with the city itself, thus accounting for the association of owls with wisdom. Their presence here is down to the Victorian passion for "improving" our native fauna. Most introductions failed, while others - notably grey squirrels and muntjac - were environmental disasters, but little owls were neither of these. Lt Col Meade-Waldo was responsible for the first successful owl releases in Kent in the 1870s. The main credit, however, goes to the fourth Lord Lilford, who introduced scores to his Northamptonshire estate near Oundle in the 1890s. The birds increased rapidly, spreading across England and Wales, and as far north as the Scottish Borders. Their success was largely because they flew into a vacant ecological niche. Like all owls, they eat small mammals and the occasional roosting bird, but, unlike the four larger native species, most of their calories come from insects and worms. Better still, their nocturnal nature means they face no competition for food from other birds, so their main rivals are hedgehogs and badgers. The little owls also thrived because their ideal hunting ground is mixed farmland, where they lay two to five eggs each spring in hollow trees, holes in walls or even rabbit burrows. The English landscape of the early 20th century was perfect, with its scattered hedges, copses, parkland and orchards. Despite being comparatively easy to spot, little owls are very difficult to count. A study in 2001 by the Hawk and Owl Trust suggested that there were probably around 7,000 pairs. These were thought to be declining slightly, but the latest research by Durham University and the RSPB suggests they could benefit significantly from climate change. Surely the thought of more frequent sightings of this diminutive hunter along hedges and lanes is a comforting chink of hope amid today's general environmental gloom?

If This Ain't a Bird Goddess, I'll Eat My Wool Beret

Archaeologist uncovers 11,000-year-old artefacts in Syria

From Mideast Online

First Published 2007-10-23, Last Updated 2007-10-23 08:46:58

Latest discoveries in Syria date back to start of Neolithic era in Epipalaeolithic period.
By Talal el-Atrache - DAMASCUS

Deep in the heart of northern Syria, close to the banks of the Euphrates River, archaeologists have uncovered a series of startling 11,000-year-old wall paintings and artefacts.

"The wall paintings date back to the 9th millennium BC. They were discovered last month on the wall of a house standing two metres (6.6 feet) high at Dja'de," said Frenchman Eric Coqueugniot, who has been leading the excavations on the west bank of the river at Dja'de, in an area famous for its rich tradition of prehistoric treasures.

The etchings are "polychrome paintings in black, white and red. The designs are solely geometric, and only figurative. The composition is made up of a system cross-hatched lines, alternating between the three colours," Coqueugniot said.

They were found in a circular building, around 7.5 metres (25 feet) in diameter. The excavated house features three solid blocks where the paintings were located.

The main pillar has been completely excavated and stands almost two metres high displaying the new murals, said Coqueugniot, a researcher for the Paris-based National Centre for Scientific Research.

The remains of the building, much larger than the small and rectangular domestic dwellings of the period, "must have been used as a meeting place for the whole village or for a clan," he added.

Apart from the organic artefacts, which have decomposed over time, the site has provided many well-preserved treasures.

Carved stone tools, flints, seed-grinding implements and brick-grinding stones have been recovered. Many bone objects were also found -- both remnants of the animals that made up part of the daily diet and intricately fashioned tools.

The dig also uncovered several figurines made of gypsum, chalk, bone and clay. The most recent discovery, an 11,000-year-old statue of a man is "particularly important and well preserved," Coqueugniot said.

This item will allow comparisons with other similar sculptures found on sites in the Urfa region of southern Turkey, added the French scientist, who has overseen archaeological projects at Dja'de for 15 years.

"The figures could have had religious significance. The female statuettes could also have been fertility symbols. But they could have had entirely different ritual meanings," Coqueugniot said.

"We can only offer hypotheses," he added. "It is still very difficult to say what was the significance of this 11,000-year-old statue of the woman."

The latest discoveries date back to the start of the Neolithic era, in a period known as the Epipalaeolithic.

Many artefacts from this period have been discovered in northern Syria, in particular at Jerf al-Ahmar, a site destroyed by the Tishrin dam, Coqueugniot said. It was one of several built over the past three decades that have flooded a number of archaeological sites.

For example, the dam at Tabqa flooded an area of around 650 square kilometres (250 square miles) after it was erected in 1976. Prior to that, the government approved testing of 56 sites, 20 of which were spared when the dam was built.