Xuannu

Xuannu, also known as Jiutian Xuannu, is a Chinese Goddess of War. Her name has been translated as Dark Lady, Mysterious Lady, or Dark Lady of the Nine Heavens.

From Wikipedia, "The Yongcheng Jixian Lu (墉城集仙錄[a]), written by the Daoist master Du Guangting (850–933), contains a biographical account of Jiutian Xuannü. It mentions that Jiutian Xuannü is the teacher of Huangdi. The work relates a story about the goddess appearing before Huangdi during a time when the latter was in conflict with Chiyou. Chiyou had caused a great mist, which was so impenetrable that it obscured day and night. Huangdi would dwell in the mist for several days. Jiutian Xuannü rode a cinnabar phoenix, holding phosphors and clouds as reins, into the great mist. She wore variegated kingfisher-feather garments of nine colors. Huangdi greeted her and received her command. Jiutian Xuannü said: "I base myself on the teachings of the Grand Supreme. If you have any doubts, you may question me." Huangdi responded: "[Chiyou] is cruelly crossing us. His poison is harming all the black-haired people. The four seas are sobbing. No one can protect his own nature or life. I want the art of winning a myriad victories in a myriad battles. Can I cut the harm facing my people?" Thereupon the goddess bestowed various objects and artifacts. The following is a few of the listed items:

The Talismans of the Martial Tokens of the Six Jia Cyclicals and the Six Ren Cyclicals (六甲六壬兵信之符)
The Book by which the Five Emperors of the Numinous Treasure Force Ghosts and Spirits into Service (靈寶五帝策使鬼神之書)
The Seal of the Five Bright-Shiners for Regulating Demons and Communicating with Spirits (制妖通靈五明之印)
The Formula of the Five Yin and Five Yang for Concealing the Jia Cyclicals (五陰五陽遁[甲]之式)
Charts for Grabbing the Mechanism of Victory and Defeat of the Grand Unity from the Ten Essences and Four Spirits (太一十精四神勝負握機之圖)
Charts of the Five Marchmounts and the Four Holy Rivers (五[嶽]河圖)
Instructions in the Essentials of Divining Slips (策精之訣)

"It was subsequently noted that Huangdi was able to defeat Chiyou and ascend to heaven on the basis of the items bestowed by Jiutian Xuannü.

Huangdi was the mythical Yellow Emperor, reigning from 2698–2598 BCE.

Xuannu reminds me of Inanna.

Xuanna, in her kingfisher cloak, riding through the impenetrable mists to bestow military knowledge upon Huangdi. Original painting available through Saatchi Art. Stickers, prints, and other merch available in shop or through RedBubble or Fine Art America.

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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...

Angrboda

In December of 2020, I took part in a Goddess painting challenge. One Goddess per day to Instagram. I am grateful to that challenge, for sending me down this rabbit hole of research into the divine feminine. On Instagram on December 8, 2020, I wrote: "Hel was today's prompt. In the Eddas , she is the daughter of Angrboda and Loki . She is alternately described as half blue, half black, or half skeletal. I went with blue. " Here, she is a baby, in a family portrait. Mother Angrboda with her darling children in the Ironwood forest of Jotunheim . Baby G oddess Hel, Jormungandr the baby serpent, and cute little Fenris wolf puppy. How would they have grown up if Odin hadn't separated them from their mother and flung them out to the farthest and most desolate corners of the nine worlds? Would they all still crave...

Ophanim

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Hannahanna

Hannahanna is an enigmatic goddess. She is the Great Mother Goddess worshipped by the Hittites of Anatolia (modern-day Turkey), circa 1800–1180 B.C.E. (Source: Brooklyn Museum ). The word for grandmother in Turkey derives from her name. She may be a grandmother of Artemis of Ephesus and Demeter. All three share a bee connection. Hannahanna is known for saving the world by sending one of her bees to awaken a depressed Telepino, sulky god of agriculture. Another myth tells of how Hannahanna herself disappeared in a fit of anger, causing all the crops to die and parents to abandon their children until, her anger absorbed by the dark side of the Earth (the underworld), she returned. This, combined with the myth of waking the god of agriculture, presents a close parallel to the myths of Demeter and Persephone. Additionally, the priestesses of Persephone and Demeter were known as Melissai or “bees.” Persephone’s nickname among the ancient Greeks was Melit...

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 ...

Ajysyt, or the Birch Goddess

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...

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