Mother, Mother

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As the Mother, the Goddess rules the emotions. She is the force that pushes our creative ideas into manifestation. The Mother is the aspect of the Goddess with which most people are familiar and comfortable. From the Buddhist's Kwan Yin, to the Greek's Demeter and the Turks' Cybele, people turn to the Mother to provide and nurture. Idols of the Mother Goddess often depict her with many breasts or in the image of a cow, such as the Egyptian goddess Hathor, as the milk-giver, the one who gives life and nurtures it through her own body. As Gaia, the planet Earth is considered by many to be a Mother Goddess because she provides everything to humanity that it needs.

The Mother aspect of the Goddess is the aspect from which creation myths arise. In prehistoric times these myths centered around a Mother Goddess who was joined by her son or brother who was also her lover or consort. Celebrations of the sexual union of the Goddess with Her consort followed by his demise were enacted by both the wealthy and the common women of the community. It is interesting to note that these formal rituals enacted the fusion of the primary feminine principle with the masculine principle, confirming that prehistoric people understood the importance of the male in the creation process. Archeological evidence discovered on the island of Crete indicates that sexual rituals and celebrations were common in Neolithic societies for approximately 4,000 years.

Around 4300 BCE, nomadic tribes like the Kurgans, the Hittites and the Hebrews began their invasions of Neolithic societies. These were warrior/dominator tribes who eventually abolished the matrilineal customs of Neolithic society by replacing the peaceful Goddess with a violent male god who demanded obedience. Gradually the creation myths changed their focus from the Goddess to the Sun God so that by the time of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ all temples honoring the Goddess had been destroyed. By this time myths were male dominated with little or no emphasis on the feminine face of God.

As Christianity spread, so did the patriarchy. Masculine attitudes and characteristics were respected while people forgot the nature of the Mother. Instead of exercising dominion over the Earth, Man began to dominate Her, having little or no regard for the damage He was doing. The Mother, although all-loving and nurturing, remains the force behind all creation and the Law of Creation demands that there be an exchange of energy. The current global experience of natural disasters is the result of humans taking more than is needed and ignoring the necessity to give back.

More information can be found regarding the goddess in the following:

2012 and the Galactic Center: The Return of the Great Mother by Christine R. Page, M.D.

When God Was a Woman by Merlin Stone

The Chalice and the Blade by Riane Eisler

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