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.

Comments

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 S...

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...

Arabian Goddesses al Uzza, Allat, and Manat and the Satanic Verses

al Uzza, Al-Lat, and Manat are Arabian Goddesses, triple Goddesses of pre-Islamic Arabia. They are famously depicted in a relief from the city of Hatra, created during the 2nd century AD, in which they appear atop a lion. These Goddesses are also mentioned in the Quran... "Have you thought of al-Lāt and al-‘Uzzá and Manāt, the third, the other? (Quran 53:19–20) "These are the exalted gharāniq, whose intercession is hoped for. Gharaniq is sometimes translated as cranes, deities of the sky. It is generally claimed that these verses show the influence of Satan and do not reflect the true tenets of Islam 😆 I had fun with duct tape shapes and a palette knife. al Uzza, al Lat, and Manat original painting available through Saatchi Art . Prints, stickers, and other merch available in shop or through RedBubble or Fine Art America . Besides being named in the Quran, all three Goddesses are attested to in the Book of Idols , written by Arab scholar Hisham Ibn Al-Kalbi (73...

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...

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 ...

Hathor and Sekhmet

Sekhmet and Hathor, Lion and Cow, Cow Goddess Hathor has been known to transform into Lion Goddess Sekhmet, The divine feminine has many avatars, Both are solar deities, Both are Mother Goddesses, Both wear the wadjet, Cobra, snake, symbol of rebirth. Hathor and Sekhmet original painting available through Saatchi Art . Prints and merch available in shop or through RedBubble or Fine Art America . Hathor began as an extension of Nut , Great Mother Goddess of the Sky, who was represented as either a nude female or a cow, arching over the world. Each evening, Nut would swallow the sun, rebirthing it each morning. She is the Goddess of the sky and all heavenly bodies, mother of the gods, she who holds a thousand souls. In her cow form, she represents the Milky Way. Hathor is also the Cow Goddess of the Sky who births the sun. According to Wikipedia, “Hathor's Egyptian name was ḥwt-ḥrw or ḥwt-ḥr. It is typically translated "house of Horus" but can also be render...

Echoing Multiverse

Search This Blog