| Water as Sacred Milk of the Goddess Water is sacred and referred to repeatedly in all ancient mythological texts and given tremendous powers to affect us. Water is a primary life element so it’s no wonder it was mythologized as much as it was. Our bodies are made from water and we need it to live, we live in water in the womb, and water is a chief fertilizing principle in all matters of life as well as a carrier of electricity. Many cultures have in their early creation myths, the role of water playing a large part in the act of creation. (10) Among the Germanic people, the water lady is the primordial mother. All German words for “water” are related to “mother.” Mutter is the word for “mother,” moder, the word for “bog,” Moor is the word for “fen,” marsche, for “marsh” and meer for “ocean.” (11) The Well as Shamanic Transport Device Recently, a survey of Ireland revealed more than 3000 “holy” wells with at least fifteen dedicated to St. Brigid. The well is a symbol for the passage to the “underworld,” netherworld, or the “otherworld.” It can symbolize the journey or initiatory entry point. The stories and fables that involve the well are numerous and interesting. Several goddesses and gods are associated with the well in different ways, but they seem to share common threads. The main elements in the well theme is water, so various tales tell of serpents in wells, along with fairies and goddesses. (12) The well becomes the place where the hazelnuts fall into and sacred knowledge is obtained. It is Mimir’s Well, where Odin lost his eye in exchange for knowledge. The well becomes home to the mushroom goddess, born of water elements. Spirals Spirals are commonly found on rocks from Neolithic and Chalcolithic sacred worship sites. The general interpretation amongst scholars is that this is a feminine symbol and represents coiled serpents. (13) A pottery snake from Yugoslavia, dug up in a Vinca culture site from the 6th millennium BC, as well as pottery bowls with snake coils from Bulgaria from the 6th millennium BC, would help attest to this. (14) As a matter of fact, this singular motif dominates much of the art of early East Balkan people and reached its peak around 5000 BC. (15) The spiral represents the life force as seen in the sacred geometry from conical shells to galaxies. Plants grow from this basic expression of the Fibonacci sequence and this was understood by ancient civilizations as attested to by designs on caves and pottery of Karanovo and Cucuteni cultures. (16) Along with the spiral, we also see the Flower of Life. |
Labyrinths Labyrinths were always placed near cave entrances and it was a custom during shamanic rituals and initiations to walk the shape of the labyrinth. The popular school of thought is that this represents the womb, and the entrance into our living world, and also perhaps, it represents death and the entrance into the spiritual world as well. This could be a figurative death as in the “near death experience” of a shamanic drug voyage or it could have been meant to imply the journey from one world to the other during the entheogenic experience. (17) The Tomb of Death is also a Womb Just as the womb brings life into the world, the tomb takes life out of this world and into the next. The cave was also representative of the tomb, and pretty much anything that represented the womb, could also be the tomb. The burial urn was essentially the “death cauldron.” (18) The Pithos was a very large stone jar (vessel) used in ancient times, especially Greece, for burying the dead. These are like huge urns and would be used in place of burying the dead, filling large cemeteries. The Pithos signifies an “underworld vessel.” (19) The idea seems to have come about from the desire to allow the souls to escape after death. (20) These Pithoi were also used for storing grain in the temples, in a special area reserved for food storage, in actuality a larger version of the “vessel.” (21) The idea that death must occur before life can take place is also a parallel philosophy of the ancient people. There was a belief that “a mythical woman had to die, in order for the fruits of the field to grow from her dead limbs.” (22) This concept has led to the idea that there existed in the ancient world, a ritual where the queen had to die at the end of the year, and then this happened to the kings as well, once male kingship started. I have read over and over from scholars both feminist oriented or not, who both agree that early sacrifices of kings and queens took place and eventually led to them both being sacrificed together. (23) However, the one thing lacking that I have seen, is conclusive evidence to prove this. (24) (10) The Goddesses and Gods of Old Europe, p. 95 (11) The Great Mother, p. 260; (Ninck, Gotter- und Jenseitsgalube, p. 115). (12) The Language of the Goddess, p. 43 (13) The Goddesses and Gods of Old Europe, p. 93 (14) ibid, p. 96 (15) ibid, p. 93 (16) The Language of the Goddess, p. 282 (17) The Great Cosmic Mother, p. 73 (18) The Great Mother, p. 45 (19) Nillson. Geschichte der griechischen Religion, Vol. 1, p. 446 (20) Prolegomena to the Study of Greek Religion, p. 43f (21) The Great Mother, p. 162-63 (22) Otto, The meaning of the Eleusinian Mysteries, p. 94 (23) The Great Mother; See Lord Raglan, Jocasta's Crime, p. 123 (24) ibid; p. 318 |