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15 Apr 12
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Mother goddesses are present in the earliest images discovered among the archaeological finds in Ancient Egypt. An association with animals seen as good mothers—the lioness, cow, hippopotamus, white vulture, cobra, scorpion, and cat—as well as the life-giving primordial waters, the sun, and the night sky and the earth herself—is drawn to the early goddesses of Egypt.
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The indigenous peoples of the Andes worship the fertility goddess Pachamama. In Inca mythology, Pachamama presides over planting and harvesting and causes earthquakes.
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The Hopi people of North America (Turtle Island), Arizona, USA, refer to the Earth as Tuuwaqatsi-Earth Mother. According to the knowledge they have carefully preserved down the ages, the Earth is our "Land and our Life," which is remembered in their first law: Tutskwa I'qatsi - Land and Life are one.
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The Goddess-Earth has a male counterpart representing the inner life or core of the Earth. This inner life/soul/mind/womb is sometimes referred to as Maski, or spirit-home, the place people go following death. This place is sometimes referred to as the "underworld."
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In Aztec mythology, Toci is the "Mother of the Gods". She is often associated with Tlazolteotl, a central Mesoamerican goddess of both purification and filth, healing, and midwifery.
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In Anatolia, the Neolithic settlement from 7500 BC, Çatalhöyük, was at first thought to have provided evidence of worship of a mother goddess. A striking feature of Çatalhöyük are its female figurines.
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In the Aegean, Anatolian, and ancient Near Eastern culture zones, a mother goddess was worshipped in the forms of Cybele (revered in Rome as Magna Mater, the 'Great Mother'), of Gaia, and of Rhea.
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Gaia is a primordial deity in the Ancient Greek pantheon and considered a Mother Goddess or Great Goddess.
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Gaia's equivalent in the Roman mythology was Terra Mater or Tellus Mater, sometimes worshiped in association with Demeter's Roman equivalent, Ceres, goddess of grain, agriculture and fertility, and mothering
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Venus (Greek Aphrodite's equivalent), was mother of the Trojan Aeneas and ancestor of Romulus, Rome's mythical founder. In effect, she was the mother of Rome itself, and various Romans, including Julius Caesar, claimed her favour. In this capacity she was given cult as Venus Genetrix (Ancestor Venus). She was eventually included among the many manifestations of a syncretised Magna Dea (Great Goddess), who could be manifested as any goddess at the head of a pantheon, such as Juno or Minerva, or a goddess worshipped monotheistically.
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The Irish goddess Anu, sometimes known as Danu, has an impact as a mother goddess, judging from the Dá Chích Anann near Killarney, County Kerry. Irish literature names the last and most favored generation of deities as "the people of Danu" (Tuatha De Danann).
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In the 1st century BC, Tacitus recorded rites amongst the Germanic tribes focused on the goddess Nerthus, whom he calls Terra Mater, 'Mother Earth'.
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In skaldic poetry, the kenning "Odin's wife" is a common designation for the Earth.
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In Hinduism, Durga represents the empowering and protective nature of motherhood. From her forehead sprang Kali, who defeated Durga's enemy, Mahishasura. The divine Mother, Devi Adi parashakti, manifests herself in various forms, representing the universal creative force. She also gives rise to Maya (the illusory world) and to prakriti, the force that galvanizes the divine ground of existence into self-projection as the cosmos. The Earth itself is manifested by Parvati, Durga's previous incarnation. Hindu worship of the divine Mother can be traced back to early Vedic culture.
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Masculine potential is actualized by feminine dynamism, embodied in multitudinous goddesses who are ultimately reconciled in one.
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Mother Maya, Shakti, herself, can free the individual from demons of ego, ignorance, and desire that bind the soul in maya (illusion).
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Sheela na Gig is a common stone carving found in Romanesque Christian churches scattered throughout Europe. The figures are found in Ireland, Great Britain, France, Spain, Switzerland, Norway, Belgium and in the Czech Republic.
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Some Christians regard the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Theotokos (or Mother of God) for many believers, as a "spiritual mother," since she not only fulfills a maternal role, but is often viewed as a protective and intercessory force, a divinely established mediator for humanity, but she is not worshiped as a divine "mother goddess".
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In 300 A.D., the Blessed Virgin Mary was worshipped as a Mother Goddess in the Christian sect Collyridianism, which was found throughout Saudi Arabia.
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The Bible refers to the personified Heavenly Wisdom (Hagia Sophia) in feminine terms. Sophia is venerated as the Virgin Sophia in Eastern and Oriental Orthodoxy, as well as in Christian Mysticism
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Wicca and some other Neo-Pagans worship the Mother Goddess
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Most commonly she is worshiped as a Triple Goddess; usually envisioned as the Maiden, Mother, and Crone archetypes
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Many ancient Pagan religions had mother goddesses; it has been argued that the figure of Mary the mother of Jesus is patterned on these
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In Akkadian orthography she has the syllabic values gi,ge,qi,qe
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The relevant Egyptian earth and fertility god Geb was male and he was considered father of all snakes
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In Germanic paganism, the Earth Goddess is referred to as Nertha.
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Hints of their names occur throughout Europe, such as the Don river, the Danube River, the Dnestr and Dnepr, suggest that they stemmed from an ancient Proto-Indo-European goddess.
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In Pacific cultures, the Earth Mother was known under as many names and with as many attributes as cultures who revered her, such as the Māori, whose creation myth included Papatuanuku, partner to Ranginui, the Sky Father
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The name comes from Pacha (Quechua for change, epoch) and Mama (mother). While ancient Mexican cultures referred to Mother Earth as Tonantzin Tlalli that means "Revered Mother Earth".
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In Hinduism, the Mother of all creation is called "Gayatri"
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Gayatri later came to be personified as a Goddess. She is shown as having five heads and is usually seated within a lotus. The four heads of Gayatri represent the four Vedas and the fifth one represents almighty God. In her ten hands, she holds all the symbols of Lord Vishnu. She is another consort of Lord Brahma.
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In Hinduism and Buddhism the specific local indwelling mother deity of Earth (as opposed to the mother deity of all creation) is called Bhūmi. Gautama Buddha called upon Bhumi as his witness when he achieved Enlightenment.
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Phra Mae Thorani is recognized as the Goddess of the earth in Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries
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Only in Egyptian Mythology is the reverse true - Geb is the Earth Father while Nut is the Sky Mother
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Carl Gustav Jung suggested that the archetypal mother was a part of the collective unconscious of all humans
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In Native American Indian storytelling, "The Earth Goddess" is one of several Creator-based titles and names given to the Spider Grandmother
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02 Nov 06
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28 Aug 06
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