Echoing Multiverse

 Who was Medusa before the invading sea god supposedly defiled her?  According to Marija Gimbutas, she dates at least as far back as 6000 BCE, based on a mask found at Sesklo.  More recently, Medusa appears on the pediment of Artemis's Temple at Corfu, built around 580 BCE.  On the pediment, Medusa is flanked by leopards. Large cats, like those associated with Artemis of Ephesus , the Great Mother Goddess of Anatolia, are sometimes considered to be guardians between worlds.   Medusa's snakes are a symbol of rebirth.   I've read that she may be a chthonic aspect of Artemis, much like Ereshkiga l was the underworld aspect of Inanna. Medusa original painting available through Saatchi Art .  Prints, stickers, and other merch available in shop or through RedBubble or Fine Art America . Pediment from Artemis's Temple at Corfu ( source ) Or perhaps Medusa was a Moon Goddess.  Robert Graves in The Greek Myths writes, "The Gorgons' names--Sth...

 In 2013, Dean Snow of the University of Pennsylvania published research on sexual dimorphism of hand prints present in Upper Paleolithic cave art.  His analysis showed that the overwhelming majority of hand prints present in the European cave art analyzed belonged to women ( source ).  Marija Gimbutas and others write that in Old European religion caves represented the womb of the earth Goddess.  Women, in the womb of the Earth Mother, creating artwork at the dawn of time.  The Creator creating creators, matrilineally. The Creator original painting.   Blogger Art Chester writes, "There is also an indirect argument based upon observations of modern primates.  Blogger Greg Laden, who studied with Prof. Snow at Penn State, states that when you study chimpanzees, you find that the males are virtually technophobes: 'Virtually all chimp technology is used by females, invented by females, passed from female to female, and so on.  Males don’t seem ...

 There are so many skillful people, But none can compare with my mother. There are so many knowledgable people, But none can equal my mother. There are so many people skilled at song and dance, But none can compete with my mother. --Mosuo Folksong ( source ) The Mosuo people, an ethnic minority group who live on the shores of Lake Lugu in China, follow a matriarchal, matrilineal culture.  Their main deities are the Goddess of the Lake and the Goddess of the Mountain -- specifically, the highest mountain adjacent to the lake, the Mother Mountain, the Lion Moutain, Gemu.   "The lion is called "Gem" in Mosuo language, "Senggem" in Tibetan, "Sengge" means lion, and "Gemu" means white goddess." The sleeping lion faces the lake with its head facing the lake. The slanted Hengling is the lion's claws, resting in the lake water ( source ).   Gemu Lion Mountain original painting available through Saatchi Art .  Prints, stickers, and other mer...

 This week I read about Ajysyt, "literally 'birthgiver'.  The mother goddess of the Yakuts, a Turkic people living near the Lena River in Siberia."  She is part of a myth involving a "white youth who encountered a calm 'lake of milk' near the cosmic tree.  Having besought the blessing of the tree, the white youth felt a warm breeze, heard the tree creak, and observed a female divinity arise from the roots.  She proferred him milk from her full breasts, and having satisfied his thirst, he felt how his strength had increased a hundredfold.  The milk breasted mother goddess and the tree of life are thus combined" ( source ).  I wanted to know what kind of tree this was.  After research, the birch seemed most likely.  Sacred to Freya, Frigg, Nerthus, Holda, Eostre, Brigid, Kupala, and other Goddesses of the North, the birch is a pioneer species and would have been one of the first to recolonize as the glaciers of the ice age receded. Ajysyt, or B...

 al Uzza, Al-Lat, and Manat are Arabian Goddesses, triple Goddesses of pre-Islamic Arabia.  They are famously depicted in a relief from the city of Hatra, created during the 2nd century AD, in which they appear atop a lion. These Goddesses are also mentioned in the Quran... "Have you thought of al-Lāt and al-‘Uzzá and Manāt, the third, the other? (Quran 53:19–20) "These are the exalted gharāniq,  whose intercession is hoped for. Gharaniq is sometimes translated as cranes, deities of the sky. It is generally claimed that these verses show the influence of Satan and do not reflect the true tenets of Islam 😆 I had fun with duct tape shapes and a palette knife. al Uzza, al Lat, and Manat original painting available through Saatchi Art .  Prints, stickers, and other merch available in shop or through RedBubble or Fine Art America . Besides being named in the Quran, all three Goddesses are attested to in the Book of Idols , written by Arab scholar Hisham Ibn Al-Kalbi (73...

 There is no school today for Yom Kippur, so I looked up what we're "celebrating".   Wikipedia: Yom Kippur is a day of atonement for sin.  On Yom Kippur, refrain from eating, drinking, leather shoes, bathing, anointing oneself with perfumes or lotions, and marital relations. "Refraining from these symbolically represents a return to a pristine state of re-attachment to the purity of Edenic existence, and symbolically therefore one avoids that which arose as a need only after the exile from Eden: The Eden account tells of God saying "thorns and thistles will grow in your way...the snake will raise its head (to bite you) and you will give your heel (to crush it)" and so in the new post-Edenic existence it became necessary to wear strong protective shoes, and so these are avoided on Yom Kippur (see article for specifics). The Eden account also states that as opposed to the automatic food and drink in Eden, it will be necessary to work for it "by the sweat...

 Today's painting was inspired by Elisabeth Schmid's reconstruction of the Lowenmensch figurine, a 40,000 year old lion-headed woman carved with stone tools from the tusk of a mammoth.  Many have argued that the figurine represents a man.  Elisabeth Schmid, a German archaeologist and osteologist, and others, however, argue that this early figurine with its prominent navel and pubic triangle, which are found on early representations of women throughout Old Europe, clearly represents a woman, perhaps the forerunner of the many Goddesses associated with lions throughout history and prehistory. Lion Woman original painting available through Saatchi Art .  Prints, stickers, and other merch available in shop or through RedBubble or Fine Art America . I have painted my Lion Woman as a shaman with a drum, inspired by Layne Redmond's book  When the Drummers Were Women , in which she traces the herstory of spirituality, drumming, and women across the world and also discu...

 In his book, Lord of the Four Quarters, Myths of the Royal Father , John Perry writes, "There is evidence in many parts of the world..., the council or assembly of elders of a tribe, served as the governing body for a Divine Woman or Queen who personified the Great Mother and presided over a matrilineal society.  The early king of such cultures ruled, not in his own right, but in his capacity as consort to the Divine Woman." In the case of early Rome, the Divine Woman was the Goddess Egeria ( source ).  She counseled and guided the legendary second king of Rome, Numa Pompilius (Latin numen designates "the expressed will of a deity"), during his reign from 715 - 673 BCE ( source ).  She gave Numa the laws and rituals of Rome.  She was also an oracle, and is sometimes described as a nymph, possibly due to her association with water.  Egeria's spring, once surrounded by a sacred grove, is located close to Porta Capena gate to Rome.  Its waters were dedic...

 Cihuateteo means "Women Goddesses".  These Goddesses are native to Mesoamerica, appearing in the pantheon as mortal women who died in childbirth and then were deified.  The Chihuateteo travel throughout the day, dwelling first with the stars in the western sky in the heavenly region called Cihuatlampa or "place of women".  Then, from noon to sunset they accompany the sun, following it through the night as it lights the underworld.   Every 52 days the Chihuateteo would descend to earth to reign for a day associated with the west.  On these days, children were cautioned to stay inside and men to be careful.  Only those skilled in dealing with divine possession should be outside on the days the Chihuateteo descended.   In modern writings the Cihuateteo are often characterized as monsters, however this was not originally the case.  Rather, they were powerful, benevolent ancestors who were honored and revered.  In prayers they were...

 Nisaba is the Sumerian goddess who invented written language.  She likely began as a goddess of grain, and inspired her priestesses to keep track of the harvest with marks on clay tablets, which gradually become more complex until the first written alphabet was created.  The cunieform symbol for Nisaba combines the symbols for deity and wheat. She was the Goddess of scribes, and all writing began with her praises.  She was described circa 2125 BC in the Gudea cylinder as holding a gold stylus and a clay tablet carrying the image of starry heaven.  In the Hymn to Nisaba, her tablet is made is of lapis lazuli, a semi-precious gemstone prized for its deep blue color. Nisaba Charts the Heavens original painting available through Saatchi Art .  Prints, stickers, and other merch available in shop or through RedBubble or Fine Art America . "Inscriptions make clear that her temple at Eresh was known as Esagin, 'House of Lapis Lazuli,' which was a center of worshi...

 "Eurynome, the Goddess of All Things, rose naked from Chaos, but found nothing substantial for her feet to rest upon, and therefore divided the sea from the sky, dancing lonely upon its waves.  She danced towards the south, and the wind set in motion behind her seemed something new and apart with which to begin a work of creation.  Wheeling about, she caught hold of this north wind, rubbed it between her hands, and behold! the great serpent Ophion."  -- Robert Graves, the Greek Myths Eurynome original painting available through Saatchi Art .  Prints, stickers, and other merch available in shop or through RedBubble or Fine Art America . Eurynome is the Pelasgian Creator Goddess.  The Pelasgians were inhabitants of the Aegean region before the arrival of proto-Greek speakers around 1200 BCE.  They are mentioned numerous times by ancient Greek writers, and archaeological evidences suggests the Pelasgians were farming in Athens and surrounding areas as ...

 I was inspired by recent 4th of July festivities to do some plein air painting at Valley Forge.   George Washington's Fasces original painting available through Saatchi Art .  Prints and merch available in shop or through RedBubble or Fine Art America . In the park, there is a prominent statue of General George Washington with his favorite prop, the fasces.  George here is gazing out towards the house he stayed in during the encampment at Valley Forge.  He brought his enslaved cook Hannah along, who was half Oneida Native American and half African.  Most of his hundreds of other slaves stayed at his Virginia plantation during the war. Washington's Headquarters, Valley Forge ( source ) The room at Washington's Virginia plantation in which the female house slaves were locked every night. Prior to the Revolution, George single-handedly started the French and Indian/Seven Years War when he ambushed and killed a French patrol in French territory during pe...

 Cybele processing through Rome, with her lions and frame drum.  Cybele original painting available through Saatchi Art .  Prints and other merch available in shop or through RedBubble or Fine Art America . Cybele was an Anatolian Great Mother Goddess.  The Romans were losing the Punic wars against Carthage.  Tanit, the lion Goddess of Carthage was too strong.  So the Romans sent to Phrygia for Cybele.  Cybele arrived in Rome in 204 BCE, the war was won, and Cybele became one of the chief deities of Rome.  St Peters Cathedral in the Vatican is built on the site of Her temple. "Roman emperors like Augustus, Claudius, and Antonius Pius regarded her as the supreme deity of the empire.  Augustus established his home facing her temple, and looked upon his wife, the empress Livia Augusta, as an earthly incarnation of her." ( source ) When Cybele moved to Rome, she brought Attis along, her tragic son/lover, whose self-mutilation, death and resurrec...

 Sekhmet and Hathor, Lion and Cow, Cow Goddess Hathor has been known to transform into Lion Goddess Sekhmet, The divine feminine has many avatars, Both are solar deities, Both are Mother Goddesses, Both wear the wadjet, Cobra, snake, symbol of rebirth. Hathor and Sekhmet original painting available through Saatchi Art .  Prints and merch available in shop or through RedBubble or Fine Art America . Hathor began as an extension of Nut , Great Mother Goddess of the Sky, who was represented as either a nude female or a cow, arching over the world.  Each evening, Nut would swallow the sun, rebirthing it each morning.  She is the Goddess of the sky and all heavenly bodies, mother of the gods, she who holds a thousand souls.  In her cow form, she represents the Milky Way. Hathor is also the Cow Goddess of the Sky who births the sun. According to Wikipedia, “Hathor's Egyptian name was ḥwt-ḥrw or ḥwt-ḥr. It is typically translated "house of Horus" but can also be render...

 Nut is one of the oldest goddesses in the Egyptian pantheon, Mother of Isis, Osiris, Set, and Nephthys.  She swallows the Sun every evening and rebirths it every morning.  She is the Goddess of the sky and all heavenly bodies, mother of the gods, she who holds a thousand souls.  Her fingers and toes touch the four cardinal directions, north, south, east, and west.  In her human depiction, she is represented by cat pose in yoga.   Nut original painting available through Saatchi Art .  Prints and merch available in shop or through RedBubble or Fine Art America . She is also sometimes represented as a cow, with her milk representing the heavenly river, the Milky Way.  Interesting, cat and cow poses alternate in yoga practice.  The first domestic cattle were bred from the wild aurochs. Both male and female aurochs had large horns.  Modern Texas longhorns are thought to be a relatively close relation to the aurochs.  I once slept ...

 Aine is an Irish goddess of sovereignty, midsummer, and the sun.  In ancient times, only an unblemished man could be king.  A king tried to rape Aine.  After that, he was no longer king, because she bit off his ear.  Aine original painting on recycled cedar shingle available through  Saatchi Art .  Prints and other merch available in shop or through   Fine Art America .

 The Temple of Anahita in Kangavar is Iran’s largest stone structure after Persepolis.  Thought to have been built around 200 BCE or earlier, this UNESCO World Heritage Site was dedicated to Anahita.  Anahita was Goddess of the Milky Way, water, and all rivers on Earth.   The temple is "located on a hill, about 32 meters higher than the ground adjacent to it, overlooking the beautiful Plains of Kangavar.  With a foursquare plan, stone, plaster and lime were used in its construction.  The stone columns of Anahita temple are thicker in comparison with columns found in other ancient monuments of Iran.  Stone ditches adjusted the river water and magnificently, directed it to the pond in the center of the temple.  This type of water stream in the temple is one of the engineering wonders of that time, displaying this sacred element as beautifully as possible." ( source ) Anahita is an old Goddess, "probably existing in some form prior to the 3rd mi...