| The moon was believed to be a source of fertility. Cicero said the moon secreted a liquid which made living things grow and provided maturation in nature. Dew drops were believed to be most fertile during the full moon. (70) Now this might be a true legitimate connection between the cow and the moon, if there is any in fact. It’s likely that the ancients identified the moon with the mushroom, since the dew was thought to have something to do with mushroom growth and the dew was thought by the ancient people to be engendered by the moon. When the ancient people would go out in the morning, among the dew, they would find the mushrooms to pick. Full moons are known to precipitate dew and hunters are known to avoid hunting at that time because the tracks are more difficult to follow. If this is the case, then it would make sense that the bull became associated with the moon. If the moon could represent the mushroom, and the bull represented the mushroom, then the bull-moon association becomes a bit clearer. Greek myths attribute the moon to Selene who was thought to be the parent of Herse, the dew. Likewise, in Greek myth, Eos was the dawn and Eos was seen as the genetrix of all the stars and planets and her tears are considered to have created Herse, the morning dew. (71) Since we cannot prove anything about ancient history in the absolute sense, it’s important to speculate on all these matters and consider each possibility, at least for a moment or two. I speculate, and propose with evidence, that there were no “moon gods” or “sun gods” in the earliest days, only mushroom gods and these were originally goddesses, not male gods. The bull horns were later used to symbolize the moon in order to remove the association to the mushroom through cow dung. This is one of the many points I will be making throughout the book. The Lunar Calendar According to Monica Sjoo: “…Until recently, duration of time was reckoned by nights, rather than days – this can still be seen in time-words like fortnight, honeymoon, month (moon). Originally the moon was a triplicity, like the moon’s cycle: waxing, full, waning. The month was divided into three periods of ten days each, and this division is retained in the astrological division of a zodiacal month into three decans. The first of each month fell on the night when the lunar crescent appeared.” Monica also claims that “…The crescent of the waxing moon came to symbolize increasing power, and was later adopted as the emblem of Islam, for this reason; pre-Islamic Arabic people were called moon-worshipers.” (72) However, I beg to differ here, in that I have my doubts about the “triple moon goddess” and also, whether pre-Islamic Arabic people ever worshiped the moon at all. The separation of the month into three sections may however, help to explain the importance of the number three. |
The “Birth of the Divine Sun” was a word play by the Romans that was used to replace the idea of the birth of the “Divine Son,” which was the “son of god,” in previous times, the “son of the goddess” as he is held by the serpent goddess in the Ubaid figurine. By the time Rome had taken over the world, it had long since fallen into patriarchal rule. The Zodiac originated in Babylonia and evolved gradually from the twelve incidents in the life of Gilgamesh, who Grave’s contends was a Hyksos invader of Babylonia around the period of the eighteenth century BC, and whose story was borrowed from an earlier Tammuz-like character previously associated with the zodiac. The archetypes embedded in the zodiac include the Archer, or the Centaur, the fish at the Winter solstice due to the rains, the water carrier related to the deluge, the scorpion men or scales of judgment, the bull which represents the cow goddess/mushroom, the Gemini twins, or Dioscuri, etc. Due to the procession of the equinoxes, the calendar would have to be altered slightly over time, and the zodiac archetypes took on morphed appearances and story changes. As well, the Egyptians overlaid their own imagery to the calendar and the Greeks modified it to their liking with the “Twelve Labors of Hercules” and the story of Jason and the Argonauts. (73) According to Mehmet Ates, author of a book titled Mythology and Symbols: Symbols of the Mother Goddess and Fertility I II III, the sun, which is often portrayed in ancient symbolism, is in fact the moon, and not the sun. Aten contends that this is because of the moon’s importance in early culture. His basis for this is the fact that moon drawings go back to antiquity whereas sun images came much later. I would have to partially agree here, as what is often mistaken for sun symbolism is in fact, mushroom symbolism, and specific sun symbolism popped up about the time the Romans pushed their version of Christianity, post Mithraism. But I would have to disagree ultimately because the moon symbolism, in my opinion, was really mushroom symbolism. (74) The concept of the beginning of the day, being morning, when the sun arises, was only a later development among the ancient people whose life revolved around the moon, in more spiritual or religious ways than did the sun. It wasn’t until the rise of patriarchy which placed the sun at the center of life that the day started with the dawn. In more ancient times, the day started at dusk, representing life, and ended during the daylight, being death. (75) The vision of the night skies made the earth come alive for early man, when the heavens would light the earth, and death came when the sky devoured the children (stars) of night. (76) (70) Mythology and Symbols of the Mother Goddess, p. 152 (71) Ovid, Metamorphosis 13, 621-22 (72) The Great Cosmic Mother, p. 153-54 (73) The White Goddess, p. 379 (74) Mythology and Symbols of the Mother Goddess, p. 152 (75) Cf. Bachofen, Mutterrecht, index, s.v. "Mond"; "Nacht" (76) The Great Mother, p. 223-24 |