The Cailleach

The Cailleach is a divine hag, creator deity, weather deity, and ancestor deity. In modern Scottish folklore studies, she is also known as Beira, Queen of Winter. She rules the winter, while Brigid rules the summer. Her name is pronounced coyluck, but also like you're clearing your throat. When I painted The Cailleach as part of a Goddess painting challenge, at the beginning of my painting journey, that was about all I knew about her. I painted her in blue with white and silver - winter colors, in contrast to Sunna, who I had painted in yellow two days early. I added ski tracks.

The Cailleach, original painting by Echoing Multiverse. Available via Saatchi Art. Stickers, greeting cards, and other merch available through RedBubble or Fine Art America.

Since the original Goddess painting challenge, I have discovered some excellent sources for more detailed information, including Barbara G. Walker's very well researched Women's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets. There, she writes that Caillech is an "Old Celtic name for Kali-the-Crone, the Great Goddess in her Destroyer aspect. Like Kali, the Cailleach was a black Mother who founded many races of people and outlived many husbands. She was also a creatress. She made the world, building mountain ranges of stones that dropped from her apron."

She continues, "Scotland was once called Caledonia: the land given by Kali, or Cale, or the Cailleach. 'Scotland' came from Scotia, the same Goddess, known to Romans as a 'dark Aphrodite'; to Celts as Scatha or Scyth; and to Scandinavians as Skadi." I confirmed that the Romans called the land north of Hadrian's wall Caledonia, after the people who lived there. I also confirmed that Skadi is indeed the Norse Goddess of skiing.

In addition to being the creator and the Goddess of Winter, Walker also writes that she controlled disease and healing. "Like the Hindus' destroying Kalika, the Caillech was known as a spirit of disease. One manifestation of her was a famous idol of carved and painted wood, kept by an old family in County Cork, and described as the Goddess of Smallpox. As diseased persons in India sacrificed to the appropriate incarnation of the Kalika, so in Ireland those afflicted by smallpox sacrificed sheep to this image. It can hardly be doubted that Kalika and Caillech were the same word." Walker referenced a Celtic Myths book for this story. I requested it from the library. I want to know more.

And Walker has found even more: "In medieval legend the Cailleach became the Black Queen who ruled a western paradise in the Indies, where men were used in Amazonian fashion for breeding purposes only, then slain. Spaniards called her Califia, whose territory was rich in gold, silver, and gems. Spanish explorers later gave her name to their newly discovered paradise on the Pacific shore of North America, which is how the state of California came to be named after Kali."

Detail of mural titled "California's Name" depicting Queen Calafia. Originally located in the California Capitol building. Since moved to the State Senate. Painted by Lucile Lloyd in 1937.

A more complete view of the mural. This is amazing.

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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...

Jowangsin

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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 ...

Helena Blavatsky's Secret Doctrine of Tibetan Wisdom

Helena Blavatsky was born in what was then Russia in 1831. She traveled the world, researching ancient religions, searching for ancient wisdom of the great protoreligion. In 1875, she founded the Theosophical Society. The motto of the society is "There is no religion higher than truth." She wrote multiple books and was hugely influential in bringing ideas about eastern religion to the west. She detested the Catholic missionary system and its attempts to wipe out indigenous religions, and actively worked against it in India and Ceylon. Both Thomas Edison and Gandhi studied theosophy, along with many other intellectuals of the era. Helena Blavatsky original painting and fine art prints available through Saatchi Art . Stickers, prints and other merch available in shop or through RedBubble or Fine Art America . In 1888, Blavatsky published the first edition of Secret Doctrine , containing her translation of the Book of Dzyan , an ancient book...

Al-Lat

Al-Lat was the Great Mother Goddess of pre-Islamic Arabia. She was worshipped at the Kaaba in Mecca until the city was conquered in 630 AD by Muhammed. ( source ) Yes...that Kaaba, where Allah is now worshipped. She was rewritten as a daughter of Allah and a djinn, but was also considered to be Allah's wife, consort, or feminine aspect. Or...is she the root from which Allah evolved? In the Quran, Allah is not referred to by gendered pronouns. Is Allah a Great Mother Goddess? insert shrug emoji here. Al-Lat original painting based on a bas relief from Palmyra. Original painting, prints, and merch available in shop or through RedBubble or Fine Art America . J ohanna-Hypatia Cybeleia offers the following evidence. "Although the word ka‘bah itself means 'cube', it is very close to the word ku‘b meaning 'woman's breast' which is derived from the same three-letter root. This turns out to be an appropriate metaphor, as the Ka‘bah nu...

Inuit Creaton Myth of Aakuluujjusi

The first woman, Aakuluujjusi, transformed her trousers into a caribou. She gave the animal sharp teeth and long tusks. Then, taking off her jacket, she made a walrus with horns on its head. "But the Inuit took fright before these animals that attacked them on land and in the water: she therefore decided to interchange their horns and tusks, and kicking the forehead of the caribou she broke some of its teeth to render it inoffensive, and caused its eye sockets to bulge out to weaken its vision. She then said, 'Stay far away like true game.' But the caribou were now too quick for the hunters, so she reversed the direction of the hair on their bellies to slow them down." These were the first big game animals of the Inuit. ( Source ) Aakuluujjusi’s creation was a process. She didn’t create the perfect game animals on her first try. She looked at the results, sought feedback, and then adjusted. She created boldly, knowing that perfection wasn’t required. Origin...

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