Feminist critique of ancient myths

Sky Goddesses

5/17/2025

As spring storms tear through the heartland, it’s timely to review goddesses who rule the skies.
Tiamar, the Sky Goddess of my fictional world Kolkha, is inspired by Tamar, a Pagan goddess of the Caucasus region of present-day Georgia. Tamar controls weather patterns and the seasons, is called "eye of the earth," and rides her serpent/dragon with a golden bridle. Tamar’s serpent/dragon links her to the Mesopotamian goddess Tiamat, a primordial sea serpent.
A related deity is Tzovinar, a goddess of water and rain from the southern Caucasus region of Urartu (present-day Armenia). “Tzov” means inland sea or lake. She rides her horse across the clouds creating thunderstorms and lightning flashes from her “fiery eyes.” In one epic, she is the mother of heroes, similar to the goddess Satanaya, matriarch in the Nart sagas of North Caucasus.

A less fierce sky goddess is Tallay (Ugaritic: ṭly), a gentle weather goddess associated with dew and light rain in ancient Ugarit. Tallay's name is usually translated as "Dewy" and is derived from the Ugaritic word ṭl, "dew," and a second syllable y, which can be translated as "disperser," or "daughter." She is called "disperser of showers," "daughter of rain" or "dispenser of drizzle.”

A sky goddess from the ancient Egyptian religion is Nut, goddess of the sky, stars, cosmos, astronomy, and the universe. Her actual name Nwt, means "Sky.”
She is portrayed as a star-covered woman arching over the Earth, and is also called "Our Lady of the Stars," "Lady of the Starry Heaven," "Queen of Heaven,” and "Queen of Space.”

In The Book of the Law Nut says:
  "I am Infinite Space, and the Infinite Stars thereof.”
  "Every man and every woman is a star."
  "Invoke me under my stars!"
  "I am the blue-lidded daughter of Sunset; I am the naked brilliance of the voluptuous night-sky."

Several goddesses in the ancient Near East are given the title Queen of Heaven, among them Inanna, whose name Nin-anna in ancient Sumerian comes from the words NIN meaning "lady" and AN meaning "sky." She is a lusty goddess and many beautiful poems are addressed to her by her most famous priestess, Enheduanna:
  Like a dragon,
  You … roared at the earth
  In your thunder, …
  A flood fell from the mountain:
  You, Inanna,
  Foremost in Heaven and Earth.
Another Queen of heaven, the winged Egyptian goddess Isis is associated with the annual flooding of the Nile and with rain, believed to be the tears she sheds when she mourns the death of her husband-brother Osiris.

*H₂éwsōs (literally 'the dawn') is the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European name of the dawn goddess. *H₂éwsōs is believed to have been one of the most important deities worshipped by ancient Indo-Europeans due to the consistency of her characterization in subsequent religious traditions. Her attributes are mixed with those of solar goddesses in some later traditions, most notably the Baltic sun-deity Saulė. *H₂éwsōs derives from the verbal root *h₂(e)wes- ('to shine', 'glow red', 'a flame'). The same root also underlies the word for gold, *h₂ews-om, literally "glow." A derivative adverb is *h₂ews-teros, meaning "east" (literally "toward the dawn"). The Dawn goddess is “early-born” and “born in the morning.” *H₂éwsōs is usually associated with the natural colors of the dawn: gold, saffron, red, or crimson.

Two Hindu sky goddesses are Ushas and Aditi.
Ushas (uṣá, literally "dawn") reveals herself "with the daily coming of light to the world, driving away oppressive darkness, chasing away evil demons, rousing all life, setting all things in motion, sending everyone off to do their duties.”
Aditi ("boundless" or "limitless") is the personification of the sprawling infinite and vast cosmos in the sacred Hindu Vedas. She is the mother of numerous beings including the celestial solar deities known as the adityas. As celestial mother and synthesis of all things, she is associated with space (akasha) and is the goddess of motherhood, consciousness, unconsciousness, the past, the future, and fertility.

In Chinese mythology, Dianmu (Diànmǔ; literally 'Mother of Lightning'), also known as Leizi, is a Chinese goddess who uses flashing mirrors to send bolts of lightning across the sky.
She is married to Leigong, the god of thunder and uses her mirrors to illuminate the Earth, so Leigong can see who he hits and make sure they aren't innocent. This is why lightning comes before thunder.
Another Chinese sky goddess is Feng Po Po ("Madame Wind"), who rides through the clouds on her tiger. She often carries a fan, sack, or goatskin bag from which she releases the roaring winds.

The next time a castle of clouds floats across the sky, or storms rumble in the night, you can thank one of the many sky goddesses who rule the heavens above.

For more on powerful goddesses read When Women Lead the World;
Warrior Goddesses; Inanna’s Descent; and Tiamat vs. Marduk

Imagining Ancient Funerals

4/14/2025

Burial under the floor, in jars, or in kurgans and excarnation by vultures were common funeral customs among cultural groups living in the Caucasus region during the Iron Age, roughly 1200 to 550 BCE. These funeral customs inspired the burial practices of different ethnicities in my fictional world of Kolkha.

Migrants from the Fertile Crescent started entering the Caucasus plains (location of my fictional Kolkha) around 10,000 to 8000 BCE. The mudbrick homes of Oldtown in fictional Kolkha City are modeled after the houses of Çatalhöyük, which flourished around 7500 to 5700 BCE in central Anatolia.

Vulture murals in Çatalhöyük home.

The plaster walls of many homes were decorated with stylized vultures. Archaeologists believe bodies of the dead were offered to vultures on the roofs of the houses. Once the flesh was excarnated, the skeletons were then buried under the floor to keep the ancestors close to the living. In some cases, the skulls of revered ancestors were decorated and displayed so that members of the community could connect with their spiritual power.

Burying dead ancestors under the floor was common throughout Mesopotamia, often accompanied by food, tools, and other objects to ease transition into the afterworld, thought to exist deep underground.
Mesopotamian merchants and traders, and refugees from Anatolia and Mesopotamia arriving in response to severe drought starting around 2200 BCE, would have brought these beliefs with them to Kolkha.
Infants were often buried in storage jars (pictured), which was also common in the Caucasus region, including Kolkha. These practices of floor and jar burial were practiced by early residents of Oldtown in Kolkha City.

Scythian grave stela

Kurgan burials, pervasive on the Eurasian Steppe among the Skosak (Scythian) horse nomads, spread to Kolka and throughout the Caucasus region.
These vaulted tombs were filled with weapons, beautiful gold jewelry, and other exotic grave goods, then covered with a mound of stone and dirt. Many had carved images (stelae) of the deceased.
After the Great War (in which my fictional tribal federation of Kolka defeated the Kingdom of Diaokhi with the help of Skosak allies), the elite nobility relied exclusively on kurgan burials. Kurgans with carved stelae also became popular among a subset of wealthy merchants and artisans by the opening of Sky God’s Warrior, though most prefer traditional floor burials.

Excarnation by vultures, or sky burial, was practiced in the Caucasus mountains. It was also adapted by early Persian Zoroastrians during the same time period as Sky God’s Warrior. The Zoroastrians built “Towers of Silence” specifically designed to offer their dead to vultures.

Nakh defensive tower/home

The Nakh people of the northern Caucasus Mountains built defensive stone towers that would’ve been potential sites for vulture excarnation. As the Vainakh are believed to have originally migrated from the Fertile Crescent, this would link them to the excarnation practices of Çatalhöyük. For these reasons, the Nakh of my fictional world of Kolkha, dismember their dead on the roofs of their stone tower-homes for vultures to consume. They believe destroying the physical body frees the spirit to be reborn.

Read more on the Mythology of Kolkha and related posts on
Genderqueer Gods, Animism, Fire Goddess Tabiti, God Wars, and Dragon Moon Origins

Spring Maiden

3/14/2025

The Spring Maiden wears a cloak woven “from all the flowers of springtime: larkspur and crocus, violets and rose, narcissus sweet as honey, nectar lilies. She needs no perfume, for her robes are as fragrant as her very self. When we inhale the springtime, we are breathing in her beauty.” --The Cyprian Lays, Greek, eighth century BCE (quoted by Patricia Monaghan).

The Greek goddess Persephone (also called Kore, meaning “maiden”) may be the most well-known spring deity in the West. Much of what we believe of the Greek gods comes from one place: ancient Athens. But there were over 1000 city-states in ancient Greece, each with its own style of governance, culture, and mythology. And many Greek myths were adapted by the Romans, creating additional variations.

Persephone was the Grain-Maiden embodying the new crops and daughter of the Earth goddess Demeter. According to Charlene Spretnak, certain city-states in ancient Greece called their dead “Demeter’s People.” Like the Earth she represented, Demeter received the dead as well as bringing forth life. “The early Greeks often conceived of their Goddesses in maiden and mature form simultaneously.” Thus Maiden Persephone shared life-giving and death-receiving with her mother. Through this lens, Persephone’s role as Queen of the Dead is a natural extension of being Demeter’s daughter.

In later myths Hades abducted an unwilling Persephone to his underworld realm to become his queen. Spretnak says, “prior to the Olympian version of the myth at a rather late date, there was no mention of rape in the ancient cult of Demeter and her daughter. …evidence indicates that this twist to the story was added after the societal shift from matrifocal to patriarchal, and that it was not part of the original mythology.”
Barbara G. Walker adds: “The classic myth of Kore’s abduction by Pluto [Hades] was another instance of the god’s usurpation of the Goddess’s power.”

The Norse goddess Freya brings spring with the returning sun in Myths of Northern Lands: “White were the moorlands, and frozen before her; green were the moorlands, and blooming behind her.”
And from a Scandinavian song to the goddess in spring (quoted by Patricia Monaghan):
“Out of her golden hair spring flowers fall, tumbling like melodies, sounding the call.
Chaste through the winter, women now pine, wanting their lovers home sharing the wine.”

Lynda C. Welch describes Freya as the Spring Maiden: “[She] is wild, carefree, exuberant, and very generous with Her gifts. She is blatantly open with Her sexuality and is proud of the manifestation of Her glorious body. She is confident in Her ability to utilize all of Her various talents. …She is the dawn, the new beginning of a brand-new day. …The birds, chirping and singing, are [Her] voice… She is telling us to hurry and partake in this glorious splendor of another sunrise.”
Freya was also a warrior goddess. She and the Valkyrie escorted the spirits of the dead to the afterlife: half to Freya’s Marsh-halls and half to Valhalla “the death realm of Hel, the Great Vala,” which Barbara G. Walker notes was later, “taken over by new gods led by Father Odin.”

Walker says, “Freya was the Vanadis, the ruling ancestress of the Vanir or elder gods, who ruled before the arrival of Odin and the patriarchal Aesir from the east. Myths said Odin learned everything he knew about magic and divine power from Freya.”

Welsh mythology gives us a Spring Maiden constructed entirely from flowers: “From mountain primrose, from rose and thorn, from nettle blossoms that bloom in the shade, from gorse and thistle I am made, from lady’s mantle I was born. Nine flowers gave nine powers, nine trees and nine more herbs are what formed me. I am called Blodeuwedd. Earth and magic are in my blood.”
--Welsh song to the flower goddess (quoted by Patricia Monaghan).

Barbara G. Walker says that Blodeuwedd’s beauty disguised “a personification of the blood-hungry soil waiting to be fructified with the lifeblood of the sacred king.”
She became the Flower Bride of Lleu, who fights a seasonal battle with his rival for her favor—as is common in Celtic lore, for Bloudeuwedd’s sovereignty must be earned. Lleu is severely wounded and nearly dies in his battle over Blodeuwedd. This “death” is also a common theme in Celtic stories: heroes undergo a ritual death and enter the Otherworld to be transformed. In this way, Blodeuwedd serves as Lleu’s initiator into the Celtic mysteries (Caitlin Matthews).

Zsuzsanna E. Budapest gives us an exuberant Spring Maiden in her book The Grandmother of Time:
“I am all over the place. Resurrection is my game…Even old dying things come alive now on my command. …I am covering the surface of the world once again with blankets of flowers! I am making tulips, lilacs, apple blossoms!
…I race my winds to carry the pollen, I revel in the profuseness of my works. …My energy makes older people tired just looking at me.”

In Seasons of the Witch, Patricia Monaghan gives a bittersweet take on spring: “when growth begins, things break. Shells and bud casings, those intact perfections, fall away. …A fierce storm can shred the new leaf, a cat consume the tiny bird, a hapless word pierce the young woman’s heart.”

In the mythology of my fictional world of Kolkha, the Spring Maiden is celebrated during Baelfire (the full moon around May 1st).
Revelers paint their bodies with colored clay and “bless” the newly plowed fields with pleasure-making, sharing their fertility with the earth. Her priests, known as Beauties, enact ritual sexual communion during Baelfire and with temple supplicants seeking mystic union with the Maiden in any season.

She can be invoked with the following prayer:
Spring Maiden, you who spread blossom-beauty across the land, grace us with the sweet nectar of your presence, that we may drink deeply of your divine blessings.

The Green Man

1/15/2025

Carved as a “foliate head” on many medieval churches in Europe, the Green Man is a symbol of rebirth, representing the cycle of new growth occurring every spring after the bleak winter.
A number of gods “die” during the harvest and resurrect again in the spring, including Mesopotamian gods Tammuz/Dumuzi, the Greek Attis, and Egyptian Osiris. In the folk ballad “John Barleycorn” by Robert Burns, Barleycorn is reborn after harvest, then harvested again and turned into whiskey.

Goddesses descending into the Underworld, signalling withdrawal of the Earth’s fertility and onset of winter, are another common seasonal myth. These include the Mesopotamian Descent of Inanna and Greek Persephone, who spends six months a year as Queen of the Underworld, initiating new growth when she returns in the spring.

Another popular Green Man myth is the fourteenth century tale of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. A Green “Gome” comes to King Aurther’s court at Midwinter and challenges the knights to a contest: cut off his head, then receive a similar blow in one year’s time. Sir Gawain accepts the challenge and beheads the giant Gome, who picks up his head and leaves. According to John Matthews in The Quest for The Green Man, the Gome “represents the winter aspect of the Green Man at his most terrifying.”
John Matthews says, “This kind of exchange reflects an ancient concept at the heart of the Green Man’s story. As guardian of the natural world, he challenges us to honor the sacrifice he makes every winter—by making our own self-sacrifices of love, trust, and service” to Nature.

The beheading “game” between Sir Gawain and the Green Gome is related to the annual battle of the Oak King and Holly King of Celtic myth. As the Farrar’s explain, “The Oak King rules from midwinter to midsummer, the period of expansion and growth; the Holly King from midsummer to midwinter, the period of withdrawal and rest. . . .each represents a necessary phase in the natural rhythm.”
This annual “battle” between Oak and Holly inspired the Yuletide carol, The Holly and the Ivy: “Of all the trees within the wood, the Holly bears the crown.”

In another story, Sir Gawain weds the ugly Dame Ragnall after she helps King Arthur evade another Green Man, the Summer Guardian.
On their wedding night, Ragnall transforms into a beautiful woman. She asks Gawain if he’d rather have her beautiful by night (in the privacy of their bedroom) or by day (in public before the court).
He bids her choose, and by giving her the choice, breaks the “curse” so she can be beautiful all the time.

John Matthews says, “Ragnall, the Green Woman, can teach us a great deal about our relationship to the environment . . . Just as Ragnall wants to choose how she will express herself, so nature desires to follow its own course, to grow how and where it will, unchecked by human beings. . . if we ignore nature’s messages, it will remain ugly to us.”

The term Green Man, may also refer to characters dressed in foliage who lead traditional parades in northern Europe and England.
These characters are associated with the “Wild Man” or woodwose archetype, fierce and unruly human-animal hybrids who protect European forests.
The Roman god of the woodlands, Silvanus (meaning “of the woods”) is one such protective deity. The Greek goddess Artemis, a hunting goddess who protected the wilderness and wild animals, is another.

The primacy of Green Man myths likely arose from an intimate connection with the natural world. As William Anderson says in Green Man: The Archetype of Our Oneness with the Earth, “When the secret of life was sought in nature, the Sacred Tree was the perfect symbol, with its leaves and blossoms and fruit, either shedding its verdure in autumn only to bring forth afresh its shoots and buds in the spring, or, if remaining evergreen, to typify life everlasting.”
Ĕglė is a Lithuanian goddess who personifies this sacred connection to trees. Her name means “spruce fir.” She marries the Grass Snake Prince and lives in his castle under the sea, where she gives birth to three sons, Ąžuolas (Oak), Uosis (Ash) and Beržas (Birch), and one daughter Drebulė (Aspen).
The Song of Egle reads:
Dear children, stand straight
As the trees of the greatest forest.
And I, your goddess mother,
will always watch over you.

Two closing quotes offer a meditation on our relationship to the Green Man:
From John Matthews: “The green energy that spreads through everything that lives and moves upon the earth is present in us today—if we choose to acknowledge it.”
From William Anderson:
Our remote ancestors said to their mother Earth: “We are yours.”
Modern humanity has said to Nature: “You are mine.”
The Green Man teaches us: “We are one.”

For related tree lore, read my reviews of The Hidden Life of Trees, Be More Tree, or The Forest Unseen

Tricksters

11/23/2024

Agent of chaos.
First and foremost, the Trickster is an agent of chaos, exploiting institutional (or personal) weaknesses to disrupt the status quo.

This trait is exemplified in “White Lines on a Green Field” by Catherine M. Valente from the anthology Mythic Journeys.
In her story, Coyote Trickster appears as a football star and Homecoming king who casts a collective enchantment over the entire high school. It’s only after Coyote moves on that the full extent of his chaos manifests, leaving a wake of devastation.

It’s nearly impossible for well-meaning vanguards of social norms to react effectively to the Trickster's attacks because they think along traditional lines.
The Constitution of the US, for example, assumes baseline patriotism of public servants. The founders could not have foreseen an elected official consumed by personal ambition and greed appointing a motley crew of Batman-villain wannabes to high public office.

Con artist.
Anyone who’s dealt with an inebriated friend, a family member with dementia, or a narcissistic lover, knows how confounding it is when someone denies reality.
This is also the superpower of con artists. They’re adept at exploiting our doubts and fears, and they fabricate with such confidence and impunity, we find ourselves believing things we know are not true.

Cassie Chadwick of Annie Reed’s Imposter Heiress turned the arrogance, misogyny, and greed of Gilded Age bankers and lawyers into a $64 million fortune by posing as the feather-brained illegitimate daughter of tycoon Andrew Carnegie.
Cassie capitalized on the innate prejudice against women and used it in her favor to swindle powerful men. Although it was this same prejudice that eventually brought about her downfall.

Con artist's lies, repeated loudly and often, start to sound like the truth. This illusory truth effect explains how irrational and baseless falsehoods have the power to persuade.

Trickster gods and goddesses testing the boundaries of order abound in world mythology.

The Norse god Loki, whose name means “entangler,” often disrupts, tricks, and insults the other gods. He’s associated with Ragnarok, the foretold chaotic and violent end of the gods and rebirth of the world.
Loki is completely unpredictable, a provocateur who might cause chaos or resolve crises—or both simultaneously. This makes him a compelling character modern retellings.

Mohini is a femme fatale enchantress from Hindu mythology who captivates and deludes demons to destroy them. She also seduces and mates with other gods. Hers is the power of illusion and desire.

The Monkey King of China causes trouble for the heavenly gods when he eats the Peaches of Immortality.
  When heaven sends an army to punish him, the Monkey King laughs and defeats them with his quick-witted guile and martial art skill.
  He is eventually captured, and they imprison him in a fiery crucible to distill his essence. However, when they open the crucible, Monkey King jumps out, even stronger than before.

The Welsh hero-god Gwydion fab Don constructs an elaborate plan to trick his powerful uncle by starting a war. Once his uncle is distracted by the war, Gwydion’s brother unites with his true love Goewin (the uncle’s footholder). To keep this tryst secret, Gwydion seduces all of Goewin’s ladies-in-waiting. When his uncle discovers Gwydion’s trickery, he turns him and his brother into animals.

Helpful Tricksters.
For every story of a trickster causing chaos and harm, there are others in which they are beneficial.

Ame-no-Uzume is a Japanese trickster. When the sun goddess, Ameratsu, withdrew into a cave after quarreling with her brother, the world was plunged into darkness.
The shaman Uzume performed a lewd dance, causing the other gods to laugh. When Ameratsu peeked out to see what was happening, light returned to the world.

The Polynesian rascal hero-god, Maui, stole fire for humans, fished up islands with his magical hook, and captured the sun to lengthen the days.

Scheherazade is a trickster storyteller from Arabic culture who uses her wits and creativity to survive. The grieving king, betrayed by his wife, takes a new bride every night and kills her in the morning. Scheherazade volunteers to be his bride then staves off death by telling fantastic tales that don’t end until the morning. She does this for 1,001 nights until the king, having fallen in love with her, can’t bring himself to kill her.

Anansi the Spider is a cunning trickster from the Akan culture of West Africa. His ability to outsmart powerful opponents using his creativity and wit inspired American slaves to survive the horrors of plantation life.

A powerful disruptive force, the Trickster can bring needed transformation of outdated norms and institutions. It's up to all of us to see through the Trickster's lies and not be blinded by our own prejudices, doubts, or fears. Alternatively, we can look to the Trickster for inspiration to overcome oppression with cunning and humor.

Victory

10/19/2024

The Greek goddess Nike personified victory in “contests of athletics, theater, poetry, art, music, and military achievement.”
According to the Museum of Art and Archaeology at the University of Missouri:
One hymn lauds Nike as the one who confers the “mark of sweet renown,” concluding with “…you rule all things, divine goddess.”

The laurel wreath is one of Nike’s symbols:
“This iconic symbol of victory was traditionally awarded to athletes, poets, and leaders as a mark of honor, excellence, and triumph. The laurel wreath remains a prominent symbol in events like the Olympic Games, emphasizing the importance of strength and speed in achieving victory. In ancient Greek art, Nike is often portrayed presenting a laurel wreath as a token of glory and success to athletes and heroes who have proved their worth through their outstanding achievements. ...Nike is also portrayed erecting a trophy or, frequently, hovering with outspread wings over the victor in a competition” symbolizing her favor.

Her outstretched wings are distinctive among Greek gods. “These wings symbolize Nike's role as a goddess of speed, as well as her ability to fly over battlefields and deliver victory to the deserving warriors.”
Nike was a widely popular goddess, and “it was common for athletes to dedicate themselves to the goddess and make offerings before and after events. Artifacts, like victory crowns and statues commemorating athletic achievements, [indicate] Nike's influence on the [Panhellenic] games,” precursors of the modern Olympic Games.
Similarly, “warriors never faced battle without first praying and offering sacrifices to the goddess.”

Nike predates the Olympian gods (Zeus and company), yet she’s associated with the overthrow of the Titans. Titans were the generation of gods preceding the Olympians. Titans seized power from the earliest primordial gods (Gaea, Chronus, and company) before being in turn defeated and replaced as the ruling pantheon of gods by Zeus and the Olympians in a ten-year war called "the Titanomachy."

Nike served as Zeus’s charioteer during this war, giving her a critical role in the battle. “This association emphasizes Nike's role in granting power and glory to those she favors.”
Chariots originated on the Eurasian steppe and spread with the migration of early Indo-Iranians to ancient Mesopotamia, where they were used in battle by the ancient Hittites as early as the 17th century BCE. “The chariot was heavily used by the Mycaenean Greeks, most probably adopted from the Hittites, around 1600 BCE.” The Greeks raced chariots in games and used them in processions and ceremonial rituals.

Nike's role as a charioteer also reveals her origins—and those of other Titans—in Near East myth, predating their appearance in Greek legends.
“These imported gods gave context and provided a backstory for the Olympian gods...The Titans were the previous generation … whom the Olympians had to overthrow, and banish from the upper world, in order to become the ruling pantheon”

Triumphant charioteer, winged Titan,
bestowing worthy competitors with her laurel wreath
“as a mark of honor, excellence, and triumph,”
may beloved Nike grant victory to deserving leaders
and inspire all of us to become our best selves~

When Women Lead the World

9/16/2024

There’ve been countless female rulers throughout history, many noted for fierce and effective leadership. Today’s female leaders are accomplished innovators and role models.

However, as fellow writer and mythologist Monica Frederick points out, ancient myths of “strongman” leadership die hard. She compares Donald Trump’s racist lies about Haitian immigrants during the 2024 presidential debate to the Mesopotamian Epic of Gilgamesh.
“In this tale, the hero Gilgamesh seeks to kill Humbaba, a being portrayed as monstrous. However, Humbaba is ultimately just the guardian of his native land, the Cedar Forest, fulfilling the gods’ decree by staying within his domain.”
Gilgamesh casts Humbaba as a threat he must eliminate, similar to the demonizing of Native Americans in America’s so-called Westward Expansion—and Donald Trump scapegoating migrants as evil, pet-eating criminals.

Not all myths of male leadership involve creating monsters to fight.

Prometheus sacrificed himself to bring the gift of fire to humanity (or the art of forging metal in the original myth of Amirani); Jesus and the Buddha are generally considered nonviolent male deities.
There are also many real-life male leaders who rejected “strongman” bluster: Martin Luther King, Jr.; Nelson Mandela; Mahatma Gandhi.

There are also powerful myths of female leadership that offer an antidote to toxic male bullying.
For example, Hi'iaka is a Hawaiian heroine goddess who went on an epic journey to unite the volcano goddess Pele with her beloved. "During this long and dangerous trip, Hi'iaka realizes her own powers as a goddess. She is the healer of land. Pele creates new land and Hi'iaka follows by healing the land, making it fertile and causing things to grow.”
In the legend, Pele fell in love with a young chief named Lohi'au. Hi'iaka volunteered to go on the dangerous journey to retrieve him.
Hi'iaka was endowed with 'Awihikalani (a critical eye), 'Ka lima ikaika' (strength), and Pa'u uila (lightning skirt, referring to the autonomy of supernatural women in Hawai'i, who were not ruled by male gods).

Hi'iaka's journey was filled with many adventures, and she overcame numerous kupua (demons) and mo'o (monsters) of the island forests. These trials helped strengthen her resolve.
When at last Hi'iaka reached Kaua'i she found that the young chief Lohi'au had died. She revived him with chanting and prayer, but Pele, fearing that Hi'iaka had betrayed her and was keeping the handsome chief for herself, sent waves of lava at them.
Hi'iaka was unharmed, but Lohi'au was killed by the lava. Again, Hi'iaka revived him, thus bringing him back to life twice.

The Egyptian goddess Isis also models strong female leadership. Her name means “throne,” indicating her embodiment of sovereignty.
A goddess-queen since at least 3000 BCE, during the Roman Empire her worship spread from England to Afghanistan. She is still a popular goddess among modern Neopagans five thousand years later.

According to Janet and Stuart Farrar, she was known as Aset among the Egyptians. Her most famous myth involved finding and reanimating the corpse of her beloved brother-consort Osiris after he was killed and dismembered by their brother Set. Twice Set murdered Osiris and scattered his remains, and both times Isis mourned her lost love, gathered his desecrated corpse, and brought him back to life.
In this myth, Set represented the destructive desert threatening the fruitful union of the Nile River and the fertile land surrounding it. Osiris was a resurrected vegetation god, regenerated by the tears of Isis in the form of the Nile’s annual flooding.
Isis was a “compassionate motherly goddess who understood suffering from her own experience” after losing her beloved Osiris; she therefore could be counted on to answer prayers.

The myth of Isis finding and resurrecting Osiris was a core belief in Egyptian religion. Pharaohs were likened to Horus, the divine child of Isis and Osiris. The sacred journey, grief, and ultimate triumph of the goddess Isis restoring Osiris to life were celebrated in holy days during the Nile’s annual flooding.
The Book of Goddesses and Heroines describes her agonized search:
“The mourning goddess cut off her hair and tore her robes, wailing in grief.”
Elizabeth Hallam, Ph.D. says: “As divine ruler of Egypt, she introduced marriage, and taught the people to make bread, spin, weave, and cure disease. She was usually portrayed in human form, suckling the infant Horus," her son by Osiris.

Patricia Monghan’s The Goddess Companion contains lovely poetry celebrating this powerful goddess:

“It is I who made justice stronger than wealth, and I who designed penalties for evil. It is I who first created mercy, and I who metes it out. I am the queen of earth and wind and sea, queen of the thunder, queen of the sun. Only I can overcome fate. Only I can overcome death.” —Song of Isis
“The gods above adore her, the gods below adore her. She sets the heavens spinning round the pole. She lights the sun and orders all the universe.
Everything serves her: birds in the air, beasts upon the mountain, serpents in the dust, all tremble in awe of the great good goddess.” —Apelius
“Goddess, comforter, holy one, you nourish the world from your bounty. You are like our mother, turning to us whenever we are troubled. You are the only one who can untangle fate’s knotted skein, you are the only one who can disperse the storms of life and of the sky.” —Apelius

“You will be happy always, under my protection, and when your destined death comes to you, you will be happy in the afterworld as well, because you have known me. When you die, you will see another side of me: queen of death, as I am now queen of life, shining in the darkness then with a light as strong and gentle as this light which shines upon you now.” —Apelius

The Women’s Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets quotes this Egyptian liturgy:
“Thou givest life unto the flocks and herds… Thou art the bringer of food, thou art the mighty one of meat and drink, and thou art the creator of all things. Thou fillest the storehouses, thou heapest high with corn the granaries, and thou has cared for the poor and needy.”
Caring for the most vulnerable and providing abundance are worthy attributes of any leader, and ones our next president will embody if we are mindful voters.

The “strongman” myth would have Isis confront and vanquish Set, a common theme typified by warrior goddesses. Instead, Isis uses her magical power to restore life.
Similarly, Hi'iaka doesn't respond to Pele's lava with a counterattack, but completes her original mission and restores Pele's beloved to life.
These models of cooperative female leadership and life-affirming strength are a welcome antidote to the "strongman" mentality of colonization, oppression, and racial prejudice.

Justice

8/25/2024

In the ongoing drama of US politics, the goddesses Themis of Greece and Maat of Egypt provide apt guidance. Both gods personify justice, truth, and the rule of law.
Although Themis is often blindfolded in modern art, her vision was not originally constrained; instead she was armed with both scales of balance and a sword of justice.
In Lost Goddesses of Early Greece, Charlene Spretnak describes Themis as “the force that binds people together. She is the collective conscience, the social imperative, the social order…she became the personification of justice and righteousness.”
The author quotes the goddess: “The young shall be fed and nurtured, protected and loved.” Worthy values, indeed.

Barbara G. Walker suggests Themis was worshiped by the Amazons of the Black sea “in the form of a black stone on their sacred island of Themyscira,” according to The Women’s Encyclopedia of Myths of Secrets.

In The Book of Goddesses & Heroines, Patricia Monaghan writes: “The ‘steadfast one,’ the daughter of Gaea, [Themis was an] earth-goddess personified as an unshakable power. [The personification of] social cohesion, Themis was shown bearing a pair of scales; as the fruitful earth, she was shown holding the cornucopia….Themis ruled prophecy, for she knew human nature and the nature of human society and so could predict the outcome of any struggle.”
The Greeks worshiped Themis through group dancing, a joyful way of enhancing community cohesion.

As an oracular goddess, “she was the divine voice (themistes) who first instructed mankind in the primal laws of justice and morality, such as the precepts of piety, the rules of hospitality, good governance, conduct of assembly, and pious offerings to the gods.”

The Egyptian goddess Maat, another deity of justice, was closely associated with judgment of the dead. According to The Book of Goddesses & Heroines, “Maat had no temples but was worshiped in the rhythm of truth, wherever it was perceived.”
From a museum description: “Ma’at was more than just a goddess to the ancient Egyptians. She represented the crucial concept of how the universe was maintained. The ancient Egyptians believed the universe had an order to it, and it was Ma’at who kept everything in balance.”

Maat is described in The Women’s Encyclopedia of Myths of Secrets: “Egyptian personification of ‘Truth’ or ‘Justice,’ Maat’s symbol was the feather against which she weighed each man’s heart-soul in her underground Hall of Judgment. . . . Maat’s laws were notably benevolent, compared to the harsh commands of later patriarchal gods.”
An Egyptian was expected to recite the following “confession” in Maat’s presence to show they had obeyed Maat’s rules of behavior in life:

I have not been a man of anger. I have done no evil to mankind. I have not inflicted pain. I have made none to weep. I have done violence to no man. I have not done harm to animals. I have not robbed the poor. I have not fouled the water. I have not trampled fields. I have not behaved with insolence. I have not judged hastily. I have not stirred up strife…. I have not born false witness. I have not stolen land. I have not cheated… I have allowed no man to suffer hunger. I have not increased my wealth except with such things as are my own possessions. I have not seized wrongfully the property of others. I have not taken milk from the mouths of babes.

The ancient wisdom of Maat and Themis can provide guidance for our personal lives, and help us elect wise and just rulers who respect the rule of law and "good governance."
May Justice prevail~

Fire Goddess Tabiti

6/22/2024

With a heat dome baking most of the US at Midsummer, it seems relevant to honor a solar and heat deity, the Skythian goddess Tabiti or Tapati. Her more common name, Tabiti is the Greek version of the "Scythian *Tapatī, which meant "Burning One" or "Flaming One.” Among the Indo-Iranian descendants of the Scythians, she became the fire god Agni and the Persian concept of holy fire, Atar.
The Skythians made no altars to their gods and left no written records; reconstruction of their religion is based on accounts from Greek historians and by comparing the archeological record to closely related Indo-Iranian cultures.

Tabiti was the primary god of the Scythians. She embodied “primordial fire which existed before the creation of the universe and was the basic essence and the source of all creation, and from her were born Api (Earth Mother) and Papaios (Sky Father).” Tabiti “ruled over a pantheon of seven gods, …This heptatheism was a typical feature of Indo-Iranic religions.”

According to mythologist Patrica Monaghan, Tabiti was a protective goddess, and her worshippers “sacrificed to her any who strayed into their territory.” She also held sacred oaths among the Scythians.
The Ossetians in the Greater Caucasus Mountains, descendants of the Skythians, still honor Tabiti’s sacred fire by swearing their oaths on the hearth chains used to hold cauldrons over the flames.
“As a goddess of the hearth, Tabiti was the patron of society, the state and families who protected the family and the clan.”

Tabiti was associated with a solar calendar, illustrating her role in creating and ordering the universe.
In the fictional mythology of my novel Sky God’s Warrior, she seduces the Smith hero Amirani, and gives rise to colorful curses by the main character, Ayda, (who was fostered among Scythians) such as, "Tabiti's flaming toes!"

April’s Goddess: Aphrodite

4/3/2024

The Greek goddess of pleasure, passion, and procreation, Aphrodite (AF-rə-DY-tee), is complex and multifaceted.
In The Grandmother of Time, Zsuzsanna E. Budapest notes that the name April “is derived from Aprilis, a Roman analogue of Aphrodite, the goddess of love and death.”
Budapest gives voice to Aphrodite: “I am the heat in cats and dogs. . . . I am the one who makes you sigh all night and look with longing on those who have captured your fancy. . . . I am in the air, dispensing longing and ecstasy in generous measures.” She is also “queen of all organic life.”

In Charlene Spretnak’s Lost Goddesses of Early Greece, Aphrodite “drew forth the hidden promise of life.”
Her kiss brings the morning dew, attended by Graces named Flowering, Growth, Beauty, Joy, and Radiance.
Janet and Stewart Farrar describe the goddess as “erotic, beautiful, uninhibited, desirous, desirable, unpredictable, overwhelming, and single-minded.” All attributes associated with falling in love.

Aphrodite’s origin can be traced back to Mesopotamian and Semitic goddesses. According to the Farrars, Inanna of Sumeria became the Mesopotamian Ishtar in the second millennium, BCE. She then became Astarte to the Phonecians and western Semites.
Barbara G. Walker also associates Aphrodite with the ancient Semitic goddess Asherah in The Women’s Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets. Walker notes that Aphrodite was worshiped as a patron of the arts and culture in the city of Aphrodisias (Aisa Minor) until the Seljuk Turks conquered the city in the twelfth century, C.E.

According to one Greek legend, Aphrodite was born from seafoam impregnated by the dying Titan, Uranus, and floated ashore at Cyprus.
In The Book of Goddess & Heroines, Patricia Monaghan suggests this story of sea birth was “an obvious description of the journey of this Near Eastern goddess to her new home in Greece.”
Monaghan also notes: “The energy that Aphrodite represented, however humanly true, was almost incompatible with [Classical patriarchal] Greek culture. . . . In their attempt to assimilate the alien goddess, the Greeks converted Aphrodite into a personification of physical beauty.”

Aphrodite was the protective deity of the ancient city-state of Corinth. Her temple at Acrocorinth sat on a promontory overlooking the city. According to the Greek geographer, Strabo, male and female temple courtesans dedicated to Aphrodite entertained worshippers, in what Monaghan called “the Near East practice of sacramental promiscuity.” Because of this sacred prostitution, Ancient Greeks warned travelers, “The voyage to Corinth is not for everyone.”

The actual meaning and historical practice of sacred prostitution is unclear. However, that didn’t keep me from giving one of my character’s a tie to Aphrodite's temple at Acrocorinth. In Sky God’s Warrior, the Greek hero, Aietos, was given to Aphrodite’s temple as a baby (his parents were hoping to keep him hidden from lethal clan politics).

Aietos grows up expecting to become a sacred hetaira, or temple prostitute. On the eve of his dedication to Aphrodite, his uncle discovers Aietos and takes him away. The uncle dedicates Aietos to the war god Ares instead, as part of a larger political plot, and trains Aietos to become a soldier.

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