mythology update - Isis, Goddess of Mothering

Isis, Goddess of Mothering

I conceived carried and birthed all life Then, out of my love for you my children I gave you my beloved mate, Osiris Lord of vegetation God of the grain to be cut down and born again I nursed you through sickness with my healing arts I made you clothes and invented weaving and spinning I watched over your first steps helping you grow from infancy to maturity I was even there with you at the end to hold your hand and guide you to immortality You were All and I gave you all and to you I was All Isis, Great Goddess, All Mother

The Mythology

Isis (pronounced eye'sis), also know as Au Set ("exceeding queen") and Isis Panthea ("Isis the All-Goddess"), was worshiped in many places including Egypt, the Roman Empire, Greece, and Germany. When her beloved Osiris was killed ten dismembered and scattered by her brother Set, Isis searched out the pieces and reassembled them. She found all but his penis, which she replaced with one of gold. Through use of her magic and healing arts she brought Osiris back to life then conceived through his golden penis, the Sun God Horus. When the temples of Isis were turned into Christian churches, Isis with baby Horus on her lap became the Virgin Mary and Jesus.

The Lessons of this Goddess

Isis has appeared in your life to tell you it is time for mothering. Have you been giving all your mothering energy away without keeping some for yourself? Have you taken on a new project or just had a new baby? Do you feel that something needs extra mothering, but you aren't up to it? Did your own mother or care- giver give you the mothering you needed? The Goddess says that it is important to get the mothering you need in order to heal past wounds. Everyone needs to be mothered, regardless of whether you are a maiden, mother, or crone.

provided by http://www.angelfire.com/va/goddesses/isis.html

mythology update - Hestia, Goddess of Hearth and Home

Hestia, Goddess of Hearth and Home

I am what's at the core the indescribable the elusive the living presence that inhabits and transforms a building a dwelling an edifice taking it from the realm of marble stone or wood and with its hearth fire lit making it a home

The Mythology

Hestia (pronounce hess'tee-ya) is so ancient a Goddess that she is invoked by simply lighting a fire in your hearth. She was central to civilization because she represented the center of the home, the community, the town, the city. No meal could be eaten without her, for she was the very fire that transformed the ingredients into nourishment. Conscripted into the Olympian pantheon, eldest Goddess Hestia gave up her seat and went to tend the hearth so the new God of ecstasy and wine, Dionysus, could be seated.

The Lessons of this Goddess

Hestia has come to tend her hearth fire in your life and to tell you it is time to focus on home. Whether you are living alone, with your family, or with friends, it is time to make your home a priority. Perhaps you are living in a house that is not your home or with people you don't want to live with. Perhaps your home is filled with so many others that you have no space of your own. Perhaps your life is such a busy whirlwind that your dwelling is not your home, merely a place to change clothes and sleep. Now is the time to come home. The Goddess says that wholeness is nurtured when you learn to come home to yourself and then to creat the appropriate physical manifestation: a home that will nurture you.

provided by www.angelfire.com/va/goddesses/hest.html

mythology update - The Erinyes, Goddesses of Crisis

The Erinyes, Goddesses of Crisis

We snap you crack you flapjack you We are that wild chaotic place that sharp edge that point that activates your fears the point of no return the point where anything can happen We always demand your death or complete surrender you can't get beyond us around us or over us you must meet us and go through us We are the cosmic steamroller the place of greatest opportunity We are crisis

The Mythology

The Erinyes (pronounced eh-rin'yees) were the forces of retribution personified as three immortal dark maiden Goddesses. They took revenge and punished anyone who killed their kin in matriachal per Hellenic Greece. In poet Aechylus's play, The Oresteia, Orestes-the son of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon-kills his mother, thus enraging the Erinyes who go after him. When his trial results in a deadlock, Athene, Goddess of wisdom, is called on to cast the deciding vote. Her vote sets Orestes free from any punishment for the natricide. The Erinyes, unappeased, demand vengeance. Athene consoles them with promises of special rituals in their honor. They are then renamed the Eumenides, or kindly ones.

The Lessons of these Goddesses

The Erinyes are howling after you because you and/or a loved one are in crisis. The way to nurture wholeness for you now lies in reaching out and asking for help. Whether it is from the human, animal, or spiritual kingdoms, help is required at this juncture of excess, psyche-breaking stress, and instability. Identify and name the kind of crisis you are in. If you crisis is psychological, call a crisis hot line or make an appointment with a healer of psyches. If your crisis is financial or job-related, seek financial assistance or find a career counselor. If it involves your health, visit a health care practitioner. It is vital for you to get the help and support you need, for you are not in a place where you can help yourself. Do something. Or ask a friend or loved one to do it for you. Crisis in your life also brings the experience of crisis into the lives of your loved ones. Don't blame yourself or try to take care of them. Be selfish. Deal with your crisis and let them deal with theirs. The Goddesses say all crises are accelerated growth/transformation points that bring opportunities. However, before you get to the opportunity, you must get through the crisis, and for that you must reach out for help.

provided by www.angelfire.com/va/goddesses/erin.html

mythology update - Lakshmi, goddess of abundance

I will be focusing my posts on goddesses of abundance for awhile. I am lacking abundance right now as I am sure a lot of others are. It would be nice to feel safe and comfortable again. Focusing on these goddesses should help to heal.

Lakshmi, Goddess of Abundance

I am the ever-flowing outpouring of plenty the inexhaustible the never ending from the fullness of my being I give richly and opulently generously and copiously luxuriously and liberally I am limitless for I cannot be contained I am everywhere and will never cease to be

The Mythology

Worship of Lakshmi (pronounced lock'shmee) began prior to the Aryan invasion of India. She is considered the animating force or Shakti of Vishnu, the Preserver. Her sacred animal is the cow, symbol of abundance and plenty. She appears here with elephants pouring water, another sybol of her powerful abundance. Although described as floating on the eternal sea of time, resting on a lotus, Hindus say that the Gods churned the sea of creation from which Lakshmi appeared in all her splendor.

The Lessons of this Goddess

Lakshmi appears in your life to tell you it is time to nurture wholeness by recognizing and living from abundance. Is your existence defined and contained by the parameters of scarcity rather than abundance? Are your finances based on a poverty consciousness rather than limitlessness and plenty? Is your outlook on life one of never having enough rather than of having your needs met? Let yourself open to the abundance, the bounty that exists in your world. The Goddess says that abundance is hard to perceive if lack, poverty, and scarcity dominate your consciousness. The way to wholeness for you lies in opening to the flow of life. When you open to the flow, you become part ofit and you draw it to you. When you become aware of the abundance in your life in all its forms-friendship, health, family, love, beauty, talent, humor, et cetera-you can call in more from a conscious place.

provided by www.angelfire.com (which, by the way, is a fantastic site)

Ptesan-Wi - original charcoal drawing

Title: Ptesan-Wi
Size: 12"x16"
Medium: charcoal
Date: 2009

Ptesan-Wi, White Buffalo Calf Woman, a Lakota holy woman who brought the sacred peace pipe and the seven rites to her people. She is a symbol for peace and is said that she will return in the end.

This is the original charcoal drawing by Lenise Alexandra. Measuring 12"x16" it is drawn on professional charcoal paper and is signed and dated. It has been sprayed with fixative and will be shipped flat between loose paper to prevent smudging. If you are interested in purchasing or would like to view more of my art please visit lenisealexandra.etsy.com

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mythology update - White Buffalo Woman and Mother of Life

THE TRUE MEANING OF THE PIPE AND
THE WHITE BUFFALO CALF PROPHESY

Any mother who has ever held a baby will know the beauty, meaning and the prophesy of the White Buffalo Calf Woman. It is this woman who was a mother who walked the land of the Sioux so long ago. She was a mother whose heart cried out with the love, protection and caring of all children.

In her time as she walked Mother Earth, the Sioux were one great Nation. It was a time before the legend of the Seven Campfires. We were all one people. As a young girl she did a brave and noble thing for which the people of the Sioux honored her with the name, Mother of Life.

In that day and age when a young person was becoming an adult the name they were most generally given would help them to direct their path in life, and so it was for Mother of Life through out her existence on Mother Earth. She devoted her life in the physical plane to the caring and the extension of love for all children she came in contact with.

Mother of Life spent a lifetime caring as a mother for her people and she grew to be respected as an elder woman.

There came a day when an opposing people attacked her village. Sweeping into the camp the enemy struck down those who were before them. Mother of Life was a part of this scene and she saw the blow to a child of two years who was mortally wounded. She rushed to the child and cradled this little one in her arms. She watched as the child's life essence slipped away and she felt this small one die in her arms.

When it's spirit started the journey home her heart cried out in an appeal to the Great Spirit, "Why must the People only settle their differences with the anger of the animal? When will they realize that the children are the future of the people?"

No sooner had these words left her body than an enemy spear pierced her heart. She slumped over to forever cradle a dead child. Mother of Life followed that child's spirit as it started it's journey home. She knew the little one walked on ahead of her and she hastened her steps so as that child crossed over it would cross over with the protection and love that dwelt in the heart of a true mother.

provided by iwchildren.org

mythology update - White Buffalo Woman commentary

Commentary on White Buffalo Woman

To the Lakota this is probably the most important of all their myths. It has also become a spiritual focus for Plains tribes generally. It has three main aspects: White Buffalo Woman herself and what she represents, both historically and in the present day; the encounter with the two young men; and the importance of the sacred pipe and the ritual that goes with it.

This is the only myth in which White Buffalo Woman appears. Moreover, there is no attempt to create a whole life story for her, and she has no identifiable family or husband, unlike the Navajo’s Changing Woman. She is altogether mysterious, appearing on the distant horizon, bringing her gifts, and then departing. In her self-sufficiency and virgin inviolability she is like the Greek goddesses Athene and Artemis, though since the coming of the Native American Church, many Native people have identified her with the Virgin Mary.

Certainly she is a powerful anima figure, a maiden goddess who springs direct, untarnished, from the spirit world. She is also a culture goddess in that she brings the all-important fetish object, the sacred pipe, as well as teaching the people how to use it to remain in communication with the spirit world. She is said to come from the north, which is the home of the Buffalo Nation (Tatanka Oyate), and the place of health and spiritual growth through self-discipline and endurance.

She is of course closely identified with the buffalo. For the Lakota, as for most Plains tribes, the buffalo was a vital source of food and clothing, as well as providing most of the material goods of everyday life. Tools were made from its bones, rattles from its hooves, tipis from its hide. The Plains tribes also had a close spiritual relationship with the buffalo, as inferred by the Lakota emergence myth in which the medicine man turns himself into a buffalo to feed the tribe.

The Ghost Dance religion, which tragically led to the Wounded Knee Massacre, had as one of its aims the restoration of the buffalo. It met with failure, but there is a prophecy, believed by many modern Lakota, that when four white buffalo have been born, then the old ways will return and the earth will be saved. White Buffalo Woman herself, in the myth, promises to return ‘at the end’.

provided by livingmyths.com