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

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 ...

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...

Cihuateteo

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...

Medusa

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...

The First Known Artists were Women

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 ...

Branwen, Reinterpreted

I started painting Goddesses in December 2020 as part of a Goddess art challenge, one Goddess per day from a prompt list. Many were new to me, so I had to research. Branwen was Goddess #7. Her story was mostly about her brother, Bran, as was my Branwen painting . She ended up dead of a broken heart. Death by patriarchy. After I had read more feminist angles, I repainted Branwen, and referenced an article by Judith Shaw, reinterpreting her (included in link above). It was a better interpretation than my first, but, I just read another section of The Living Goddesses by Marija Gimbutas , and I need to reinterpret her again. Branwen with her white raven, in front of Cadair Bronwen. Original painting, prints, and merch available in shop or through RedBubble or Fine Art America . Branwen is associated with the white raven. She is a Welsh goddess of sovereignty, and in the landscape she is represented by Cadair Bronwen, a rounded mo...

Echoing Multiverse

Search This Blog