Baubo and the Dancers

Often compared to Sheela Na Gig, Baubo has a long and complex history. She was first mentioned by Christian writers around 200 CE. She appears in the story of Demeter, the Greek goddess of agriculture, who I happened to paint yesterday. Original painting of Demeter, prints, and merch available in shop or through RedBubble or Fine Art America.

Homer wrote that Iambe cheered Demeter by jesting, helping Demeter to rouse herself from depression after her daugher Persephone was taken. Because of Iambe, Demeter found the strength to fight to retrieve Persephone from the Underworld. Thanks, Iambe, you prevented eternal winter. As a result, the internet reports that iambic verse was named after Iambe.

The Christian writers, however, gave the role of cheering Demeter to a woman named Baubo, who, instead of using her wit and jokes, exposed her hilarious 'shameful parts'.

Later, Goethe included a lewd witch named Baubo, riding a sow to Walpurgis Night, in Faust. Subsequently, statuettes of women riding pigs and/or exposing their genitals were labeled Baubo.

Then, in 1898, a group of German archaeologists working in the 5th century BCE Demeter sanctuary at Priene unearthed a distinctive set of figurines. "The head of each of these female figurines is placed directly onto her legs, and lacking a torso, the chin and vagina [I think they mean vulva] merge into one another. The archaeologists identified this 'grotesque-obscene' aspect with Baubo, and the statuettes became known as Baubo figurines.

This disseration about Baubo was enlightening.

I wanted to paint Baubo, but I feel like she is somewhat misunderstood, and I wanted to understand her before attemping a painting. While the Christian and German men who wrote her history characterized her as an obscene witch, art historian Winifred Milius Lubell has another hypothesis for Baubo. From an article on bust.com "She thinks Baubo was another aspect of 'extremely ancient...agricultural rituals of fecundity,' in which chosen women 'squatted over the newly plowed fields' and allowed their menstrual blood to drip into the earth to increase its fertility. You might say that Baubo spoke truth to power, the servant's pussy flash reminding the grain goddess of her responsibility over the harvest and thus as a life-giving force to humanity. Without Baubo's timely reminder of the vulva's regenerative power, human civilization would have ended."

It has also been suggested that Baubo may have some relation to the Blemmyes, ancient rumored headless inhabitants of ancient Libya or the Nile system.

What we do know is that these figurines were found in a temple to Demeter, an agriculture goddess. So, I thought that perhaps she should be dancing in a field with her divine female friends. Are you into mysteries of the divine feminine? Would you like to own Baubo on a coffee mug or other merch? You can! On Redbubble and Fine Art America.

Comments

Asherah

An inscription from Khirbet El-Qôm (near Jerusalem) dated to the 700s BCE and translated by archaeologist Judith Hadley reads, "Uriyahu the Rich wrote it. Blessed be Uriyahu by Yahweh for from his enemies by his Asherah he has saved him by Oniyahu by his Asherah and by his A[she]rah.” ( Source ) Asherah was the Great Goddess of the Ancient Near East. From this inscription and other evidence, it is surmised that Yahweh, the God of the Jews, once had a wife - Asherah. Asherah was also sometimes known as Astarte and was associated with lions and the planet Venus, like her relative, Ishtar/Inanna. Asherah's symbol was the tree of life, and her worship involved sacred groves and asherah poles. Asherah original painting available through Saatchi Art . Stickers, prints, and other merch available in shop or through RedBubble or Fine Art America. All of the Asherahs in my painting are based on figurines housed in the Isra...

Sophia and the Apocryphon of John

In 1945, thirteen leather-bound papyrus codices buried in a sealed jar were found by an Egyptian farmer near the town of Nag Hammadi, Egypt. These early Christian texts date from the 3rd century CE, and include writings attributed to John the Baptist. The writings of John became known as the Secret Book of John, or the Apocryphon of John. A translation by Frederik Wisse can be read online . In the Apocryphon, there is a female counterpart to the Father - the holy Mother, Barbelo. "She is the forethought of the All - her light shines like his light - the perfect power... The first power, the glory of Barbelo, the perfect glory in the aeons, the glory of the revelation... she became the womb of everything, for it is she who is prior to them all, the Mother-Father." I became aware of the Apocryphon of John after reading a graphic novel by Marisa Acocella, The Big She-Bang, The Herstory of the Universe According to God the Mother (highly recommended, by ...

Nuwa

Nuwa is the great mother goddess of Chinese mythology, credited with creating humanity. She molded the first people out of clay by hand. Then she got tired, dipped a rope in the mud, and swung it around her head to make more. Thus were made the nobles and the peasantry. She has the body of a serpent. Nuwa, original painting by Echoing Multiverse. Available via Saatchi Art .

Dewi Danu

Dewi Danu is a Balinese water, lake and river Goddess. The form of Hinduism practiced in Bali is also called Agama Tirta, or religion of the water ( source ). The "floating temple" of Pura Ulun Danu Bratan, on the western shore of Lake Bratan, is dedicated to Dewi Danu ( source ). Built in 1633, the temple is used for offerings and ceremonies dedicated to the Goddess, due to the importance of Lake Bratan as a main source of irrigation in central Bali ( source ). In Bali, besides supporting irrigated agriculture, holy water also holds power that can "cleanse spiritual impurities, fend off evil forces, and render the recipient immune to the attacks of negative or demonic forces." "In Indonesian Hindu Dharma, the 4 elements of Nature, or panchamahabhuta (Earth, Water, Fire, Air) are used in all religious rituals. Out of those, Water is the building block of life and of all living beings that are at the mercy of [the] God[dess]" ( source ). Dewi Danu orig...

Cosmic Goddess Eggs

I'm reading The Living Goddesses by Marija Gimbutas. She writes about the abundance of divine feminine figurines found in almost all levels of almost all Neolithic archaeological sites throughout Old Europe. She discusses how exaggerated body parts on these Neolithic figurines express various manifestations of the divine force. For example, “The symbolic value of exaggerated buttocks relates to ... double eggs, where the power of the life giving symbol increases by doubling. Sometimes the artisan molded the buttocks of a figurine on egg-shaped clay cores or pebbles; thus she or he may have felt the interconnectedness of the symbols of buttocks and eggs.” Creation myths around the world, from prehistory to Big Bang quantum science, involve the cosmic egg . Perhaps there were two cosmic eggs. The cosmic Goddess eggs. Cosmic Goddess Eggs original painting and fine art prints available through Saatchi Art . Prints and other merch also a...

Demon Cats

You've probably seen the happy, waving, beckoning Maneki Neko, but have you heard of her cousins, the Bakeneko? Bakeneko are demon cats. If a cat lives longer than 13 years in Japan and has not been treated like a god, it is likely to turn into a demon cat. It may kill its owner and shapeshift to take their place. If you have an old cat, beware. Every October in Kagurazaka, Tokyo, there is a bakeneko parade. I visited, through the magic of YouTube. Original painting, prints, and merch available in shop or through RedBubble or Fine Art America .

Echoing Multiverse

Search This Blog