Akhenaten and the Divine Feminine

Akhenaten, an infamous pharaoh. He is known for being potentially the first monotheist, attempting to convert ancient Egypt from polytheism to the worship of the Aten alone. The Aten, also generally known as the "Sun God", the sun disk.

The other day, I saw a Facebook post shared by Kara Cooney - Egyptologist. An image of a carving from Amarna, the capital city constructed by Akhenaten in honor of his new religion.

Hands of the Sun, akhenaten, amarna, female

Hands of the Sun original painting and fine art prints available through Saatchi Art. Greeting cards, socks, and a wide variety of other merch available through RedBubble or Fine Art America.

Immediately, I thought, the hands of the Sun are female. I commented, and Kara Cooney agreed. She replied to my comment! Shriek! Kara Cooney talked to me! LOL. But yes, the hands of the Sun are female.

An offering to the rays of the Sun, the Aten, carving from Amarna, currently housed in Berlin.

Beyond Kara Cooney's confirmation on Facebook, research shows that humans are able to distinguish sex based on hands alone with high accuracy. "Experimental data has shown that "human hands can be used as a cue to an individual’s sex even when colour and texture cues are removed and presentations are brief. ...When hands are sexually ambiguous observers tend to classify them as male more often than female. ...“Male bias” arises not from sensitivity differences but from differences in response biases. Observers are conservative in their judgements of targets as female but liberal in their judgements of targets as male." So, if we observe that a hand is female, it is highly likely that said hand is female.

So...the "Sun God", the Aten, has the hands of a female. Was the first monotheist worshipping a Sun Goddess? At least partially, yes. Calling the Aten a "Sun God" is clearly incorrect.

Akhenaten is also known for being portrayed in artwork with exaggerated feminine features. Marija Gimbutas writes in The Living Goddesses that exaggerated body parts were meant to convey different manifestations of the divine feminine. Akhenaten clearly venerated the divine feminine.

Akhenaten with breasts, exagerated hips and belly, and a feminine looking genital area.

Comments

Ardipithecus ramidus, Eve of Bipedalism

Ardipithecus ramidus. Our first great grandmother to walk upright. The Eve of bipedalism. Dating to about 4.4 million years ago. Males and females of the species are similarly sized and both have canine teeth that are feminized. The males don't bare their fangs to scare off rivals. They don't have fangs. Based on these features, it can be assumed that Ardipithecus society was likely relatively egalitarian and cooperative. That's nice. Inspired by Cat Bohannon's new book, Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution. Ardipithecus ramidus, Eve of Bipedalism, original painting by Echoing Multiverse available via Saatchi Art . Stickers and other merch available through RedBubble or Fine Art America .

Homo Habilis, Eve of Serious Tool Usage

Homo Habilis as a species lived from about 2.8 - 1.5 million years ago. They are best known for the vast quantity of stone tools found with their fossils, and according to Cat Bohannon, "associated intelligent sociality". Old, sexist, white male anthropologists associated the development of tools with men's needs during the hunt. However, based on primatology studies, that theory seems unlikely to be correct. In modern chimpanzees (with whom we share 99 percent of our DNA), females are three times more likely than males to hunt with spears. Female chimps are also more adept than males at using stones to crack nuts. In Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Millions Years of Human Evolution, Cat Bohannon discusses how female chimps use sticks to stab sleeping bush babies (nocturnal squirrel-like creatures). Using sticks while hunting allows her to keep her distance, which is important, since she's often carrying her offspring while hunting. Male chimps are bigger

Bi Pride Symbol

It's Diversity and Inclusion week at the offspring's school. Last year they had Wear the Rainbow day and of 1700ish students and staff, the teen saw three others participating. So afterwards I asked teachers and her guidance counselor to consider participating next time because it didn't make the kid feel good diversity and inclusion vibes to be so alone. Direct result or just coincidence: this year's Diversity and Inclusion week substituted On Wednesdays We Wear Pink day in the place of Wear the Rainbow day. Mean Girls peer pressure totally says diversity and inclusion to me. So, in protest, the kid has made every day this week gay day with their wardrobe choices. So proud. And it coincided with me reading I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuiston, which is an amazing book. Quote from the author: "...you deserve ridiculous, over-the-top high school rom-coms about teenagers like you, just like the straight kids have!" Recent surveys have shown that mor

Having a Child Is Like Having Your Heart Walk Around Outside Your Body

I've been reading a lot about evolutionary psychology lately. It seems that what really made us human was the bond between mother and child. Our big brains force us into the world before we can even hold up our own heads. We essentially must continue gestating outside the womb. The learning and empathy that develops between mother and child in infancy forms the basis of everything we call love, and lays the foundation for our cooperative culture. Evolution, driven by the mothers. It's been a series of fascinating reads, and it's reminded me of the quote about how having a child is like forever having a piece of your heart walking around outside your body. Or, in the case of my painting, your whole heart. My heart and I, walking through the parking lot of the New York Renaissance Faire a couple of years ago. Having a Child Is Like Having Your Heart Walk Around Outside Your Body, original painting by Echoing Multiverse. Available via Saatchi Art . Prints, stickers,

Feminist Protest Fist

I first saw a version of the feminist protest fist symbol on a t shirt that said, "I'd rather be fighting the man." I really wanted it, but didn't have the money to buy it at the time. If I was making a new version, I'd pair the symbol with "I'd rather be fighting the patriarchy." It's a system, not an individual. Feminist Protest Fist - I'd Rather Be Fighting the Patriarchy, original painting by Echoing Multiverse available via Saatchi Art . Stickers, t shirts, and other merch available through RedBubble or Fine Art America . Patriarchy is also not a universal system. There are many matrilineal cultures still existing in the world, even with the global imperial capitalist missionary patriarchy actively working to squash them into submission. Patriarchy with patrilineal descent is not the natural state of humanity. It is one possibility, that is actually pretty rare historically. Fighting the patriarchy is not futile. Figure 1. M

Chang e, Moon Goddess

Chang e or Chang o, the Chinese moon goddess. The details of her story vary, but generally she is married to an archer who shoots 9 of the 10 suns to prevent the Earth from scorching drought. He is awarded elixir of immortality by the Great Queen Mother Goddess of the West. To keep the elixir from burglars, Chang e drinks it. The elixir causes her to float up to the moon, where she is separated from her husband, but at least has a jade rabbit and busy woodcutter for company. China's lunar landers are named after her. Chang E, Moon Goddess original painting by Echoing Multiverse available via Saatchi Art . Stickers, prints, and other merch available through RedBubble or Fine Art America . In older stories, she also births the 12 moons. In some versions of the story with the archer, Chang e is reunited with him during the 8th moon of each year. The Mid-Autumn Festival celebrates this reunion, and is one of the largest holidays in China. According to Wikipedia, "The Mid-A

Echoing Multiverse

Search This Blog