“This is love: to fly toward a secret sky, to cause a hundred veils to fall each moment. First to let go of life. Finally, to take a step without feet.” - Rumi
Blissings,
Ani 
When will this God/dess mate truly? Let us bless her in these trying times. 
Blissings, Ani
Thank you compassionate hearts opening to the truth, the love of our world today. Thank you for embracing your world community with a wide open heart. Our time has arrived. We are here, now.
Thank you.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1WJlxjxAZE
Blissings, Ani
Thank you Stuart.
For any woman interested in who she truly is, please feel free to order Stuart Berlin's book. See more @
http://heroinherservice.blogspot.com
Blissings, Ani
Sarah believes in guns. She has her own custom Austrian hunting rifle. She has been known to kill 40 caribou at a clip. She has shot hundreds of wolves from the air.
Sarah believes in God. That is of course her right, her private right. But when God and Guns come together in the public sector, when war is declared in God's name, when the rights of women are denied in his name, that is the end of separation of church and state and the undoing of everything America has ever tried to be.
I write to my sisters. I write because I believe we hold this election in our hands. This vote is a vote that will determine the future not just of the U.S. , but of the planet. It will determine whether we create policies to save the earth or make it forever uninhabitable for humans. It will determine whether we move towards dialogue and diplomacy in the world or whether we escalate violence through invasion, undermining and attack. It will determine whether we go for oil, strip mining, coal burning or invest our money in alternatives that will free us from dependency and destruction. It will determine if money gets spent on education and healthcare or whether we build more and more methods of killing. It will determine whether America is a free open tolerant society or a closed place of fear, fundamentalism and aggression.
If the Polar Bears don't move you to go and do everything in your power to get Obama elected then consider the chant that filled the hall after Palin spoke at the RNC, "Drill Drill Drill." I think of teeth when I think of drills. I think of rape. I think of destruction. I think of domination. I think of military exercises that force mindless repetition, emptying the brain of analysis, doubt, ambiguity or dissent. I think of pain.
Do we want a future of drilling? More holes in the ozone, in the floor of the sea, more holes in our thinking, in the trust between nations and peoples, more holes in the fabric of this precious thing we call life?"
Eve Ensler
September 5, 2008
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-steinem4-2008sep04,0,7541303.story
Drill, Drill, Drill
"I am having Sarah Palin nightmares. I dreamt last night that she was a member of a club where they rode snowmobiles and wore the claws of drowned and starved polar bears around their necks. I have a particular thing for Polar Bears. Maybe it's their snowy whiteness or their bigness or the fact that they live in the arctic or that I have never seen one in person or touched one. Maybe it is the fact that they live so comfortably on ice. Whatever it is, I need the polar bears.
I don't like raging at women. I am a Feminist and have spent my life trying to build community, help empower women and stop violence against them. It is hard to write about Sarah Palin. This is why the Sarah Palin choice was all the more insidious and cynical. The people who made this choice count on the goodness and solidarity of Feminists.
But everything Sarah Palin believes in and practices is antithetical to Feminism which for me is part of one story -- connected to saving the earth, ending racism, empowering women, giving young girls options, opening our minds, deepening tolerance, and ending violence and war.
I believe that the McCain/Palin ticket is one of the most dangerous choices of my lifetime, and should this country chose those candidates the fall-out may be so great, the destruction so vast in so many areas that America may never recover. But what is equally disturbing is the impact that duo would have on the rest of the world. Unfortunately, this is not a joke. In my lifetime I have seen the clownish, the inept, the bizarre be elected to the presidency with regularity.
Sarah Palin does not believe in evolution. I take this as a metaphor. In her world and the world of Fundamentalists nothing changes or gets better or evolves. She does not believe in global warming. The melting of the arctic, the storms that are destroying our cities, the pollution and rise of cancers, are all part of God's plan. She is fighting to take the polar bears off the endangered species list. The earth, in Palin's view, is here to be taken and plundered. The wolves and the bears are here to be shot and plundered. The oil is here to be taken and plundered. Iraq is here to be taken and plundered. As she said herself of the Iraqi war, "It was a task from God."
Sarah Palin does not believe in abortion. She does not believe women who are raped and incested and ripped open against their will should have a right to determine whether they have their rapist's baby or not.
She obviously does not believe in sex education or birth control. I imagine her daughter was practicing abstinence and we know how many babies that makes.
Sarah Palin does not much believe in thinking. From what I gather she has tried to ban books from the library, has a tendency to dispense with people who think independently. She cannot tolerate an environment of ambiguity and difference. This is a woman who could and might very well be the next president of the United States . She would govern one of the most diverse populations on the earth.
Sarah believes in guns. She has her own cust
Blissings, Ani
My dear friend Suzanne's work is beyond description. Please enjoy: www.suzannesilk.com
Blissings, Ani
This post was modified from its original form on 18 Jun, 9:31
"Ode to Me Lovely Lady"
How does one express the hunger for another's presence?
Is it the anticipation of the dawning sun?
Or the awe from an autumn moon's first appearance?
Is there a depth of unspeakable emotion?
Or the shallow tingle of a school boy's first crush?
Why should the mere being of another touch such a stone cold heart,
And melt it like raw butter, which is so richly consumed?
The sun, moon and even stars do not possess the strength to draw a soul,
And yet all the muscle, tendon and sinew cannot hold back the flood of youthful joy.
That won't be contained by the walls of protection built for want of trust.
So how does one endure this all entralling desire?
By the eternal hope of love's sweet grace.
- Robert Hart
Copyright 11.6.06
Blissings, Ani
This post was modified from its original form on 14 Jun, 8:50
"Taste this, and be henceforth among the Gods, thyself a Goddess." - John Milton
Blissings, Ani
Steve TY 4 your input on Madonna.
My post is more about how a Goddess mates, about her choices. Yes, many mates could've been, and Magi has its moments like most systems do. Smile.
If you would like to start a Bliss Astrology thread, please do. Smile.
Blissings, Ani
Madonna is certainly a worthy topic, considering her impact on mass consciousness. However, I think that the Magi Society has missed the mark in its astrological analysis of her relationships. In short, the Society emphasizes a dubious "Romantic Mystical Triangle" formed within the combined charts of her and her lovers, and claims that it "is extremely rare." In fact, Madonna has this "Romantic Mystical Triangle" with every person born in 1960 and 1961, and 1967 through 1969, plus more. Madonna's contribution to this "Romantic Mystical Triangle" is a square between her natal Neptune and natal Venus, indicating an internal conflict between her spirituality and her drive to please others. If readers are interested, I will write about this in a new thread, as it is not really appropriate in this one.
To see how a Goddess mates, see www.magiastrology.com and its review of
MADONNA AND CARLOS LEONE
MADONNA AND SEAN PENN
MADONNA AND GUY RITCHIE
Blissings, Ani
RHEA was the Titanis mother of the gods, and a goddess of female fertility, motherhood, and generation. Her name means "flow" and "ease." As the wife of Kronos (Time), she represented the eternal flow of time and generations ; as the great Mother (Meter Megale), the "flow" was menstrual blood, birth waters, and milk. She was also a goddess of comfort and ease, a blessing reflected in the common Homeric phrase "the gods who live at their ease (rhea)."
In myth, Rhea was the wife of the Titan Kronos and Queen of heaven. When her husband heard a prophecy that he would be deposed by one of his children, he took to swallowing each of them as soon as they were born. But Rhea bore her youngest, Zeus, in secret and hid him away in a cave in Krete guarded by shield-clashing Kouretes. In his stead she presented Kronos with a stone wrapped in swaddling clothes which he promptly devoured.
Rhea was closely identified with the Anatolian mother-goddess Kybele. They were both depicted as matronly women, usually wearing a turret crown, and attended by lions.
"My mother I blame for nothing. My mother I forgive for everything. My mother is the great God/dess who brought life to me. Joyfully, I am her most loved creation. I too am a great God/dess."
- APK
Blissings, Ani
Blissings, Ani
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lbPwrsJixA
Naomi Watts hits Goddess straight on in "The Painted Veil." Every Goddess must see film. Remarkable. Smile.
Blissings, Ani
WOW JAYLENA...WHAT A STUNNING COLLAGE - are collages your artwork? If not, SHOULD BE. Smile.
Blissings, Ani
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWDKiikutMA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIK7_mDIpZA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qfc4NPNMFro
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpsCBr_pyZ0
Blissings, Ani
This post was modified from its original form on 30 Apr, 19:40
Me as a girl...truly.
Blissings, Ani
Blissings, Ani
"She walks in beauty,
Like the night of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that's best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes"
- Lord Byron
Blissings, Ani
darling jaylena, thank you so much...
you truly lightened my heart with that post. very difficult story to hear, as you can imagine.
much love my dearest sister!
blissings, ani
a haven for our souls...
we share our trials and triumphs,
our hopes, our dreams, our goals.
We are "sisters" for the Kingdom
blessed with Goddess’s eternal light...
determined to walk straighter,
loving Her, with all our might.
We serve Her with conviction,
striving hard to be our best...
as we rise to every challenge,
we welcome every test.
We are women of tomorrow
we are "sisters" of today...
we stand in faith together
knowing "Goddess will make a way".
Today brought some rather disturbing news.
A dear friend of mine has begun dating a woman from a central american country, who although born into a wealthy family - THANK GODDESS - still in her marriage endured more than 25 years of infidelity, emotional, verbal and slight physical abuse. Goddess bless her and all women who endure this distressing fate throughout our world. So be it.
After her termination of that sordid relationship, her family disowned her because she would not stay with her obviously horrific husband. She had begun her own business, which became successful. He wanted her to support him. After overcoming the disownment by her family, and succeeding in her business, she finally met a a french man who grossly misrepresented himself to her, to such a degree, when she moved to France to marry him, she saw the error of her ways, and tried to flee. He broke her ribs.
This is a 51 year old, educated, motivated, successful, lovely and loving woman. How is it that Goddess allows the oppression and abuse of women throughout the world, with each breath we take? How is it that woman can heal? How can we all heal from this madness?
Love, of course, and more love. Our times are trying and exceptional. We are called upon to love more than ever before, more strongly than we believe we have known. We are called to be THE GODDESS now.
Great blissing to all the women of the world and to the outstanding men who love them rather than abuse them. & more blissings to the men who perpetuate this archiac form of force. It is not power. So be it.
GODDESS BLESS US ALL NOW AND FOREVER.
Ani
& Jaylena, do you know that eros is simply the pulse to love, to create, to connect? It was the reigning energy of this planet until thanatos, the pulse to war, to death, to destruction, took over.
The Goddess is both, but balanced always. Birth, death and rebirth. Listen to the work of Jeff Oster, produced by Will Ackerman, another man who knows the Goddess well - the founder of Windham Hill Records.
Great blissings, Ani
Thank you Maria, so very much. In tribute to her I would like to offer the music of Jeff Oster, whose sense of the Goddess is very strong, very true...
Blissings, Ani
Queen of Wands from the Thoth Tarot
April 5, is goddess Saule day.
"Ladies Bright": Saule is the Sun Goddess of ancient Lithuania. Ausrine is Her Daughter, the "Lady of the Morning Star." Saule's husband, Ausrine's father, is Meness the God of the Moon.
Saule wears silken garments,
with silver crown,
with a silver crown,
made of gilded leaves.
Saule crosses the lake,
briliant as tinsel,
a crown of gold on her head,
and polished slippers on her feet.
Goddess mother Saule
there above the river,
her shawl, her glit shawl,
slipping from her shoulders.
~Lithuanian folksong
How loving are the prayers humans have to offer to their goddess! In every century, on every continent, people have revered an image of kindly, loving woman. She is a mother goddess, but she is a sister and lover as well. She is a queen or a priestess, a maiden or a crone. But each of these images is the partial one; no one figure captures all the aspects of the devine feminine. Even as powerful a figure as Lithuanian sun goddess Saule does not exhaust the possibilities of feminine power; in that land, other goddesses also shone in the light of the femal sun, all radiating their special powers.
What would it be like to live in a world where such feminine power was recognised and loved? Today, strong women are as often reviled as honored. Young women are stalked when they should be protected. Mothers and their children live in squlaor and poverty. Each time we invoke the goddess, we strengthen her presence within ourselves, and thus within this world.
Taken from.
The Goddess Companion Daily Meditations on the Feminine Spirit, by Patricia Monagham.
There's not a lot that I don't know about this chick. She was the Goddess of the Soul. She was the wife of Eros (God of Love, son of Aphrodite) and their myth is about how Love and the Soul came together. It is a beautiful story, and now it is HERE! In the Myth Pages. A quick once over is she got abandoned on a mountain, an invisible dude picked her up and took her home with him. She went all Pandora and figured out it was Eros (read the story to learn how she figured it out), and, after many trials, she lived happily ever after. Or did she?
This post was modified from its original form on 05 Apr, 7:41
What Are Women Really Longing For?
There is a point when the voice of longing becomes distinctly feminine, a siren song from a woman's soul that quickens in her heart, moves her to seek out other women, find a woman therapist or a women's group, or buy some books on women’s spirituality.
She may feel that there is something to remember, something she cannot name but knows she knows deep within her being, something distinctly feminine, found only in dark and secret places. Maria, a 40-year-old woman with a healing practice, described her longing to me as "a real, sweet ache inside, something more than simply wanting to fill an emptiness. Like the ocean, it comes in waves, pulls at me, goes back to the Source, and comes again and again." She said that it has to do with coming Home and remembering. A trip to the sacred sites of Glastonbury, England, awakened something in her that felt familiar, distinctly feminine, and very powerful. She said that she didn't have a frame in which to understand her spiritual experiences until she joined one of our women's groups. She had had a cognitive awareness of women's spirituality, but now she knows, deep in her body, what it is.
The Archetypes of Sacred Feminine Initiation
Twenty-five years ago, I began my study of Jungian psychology, archetypes, and the Feminine, and took what I was learning into my women’s groups and workshops. I was inspired by a short article by Toni Wolff, Jung’s mistress, colleague, and inspiration for much of his work. It was called, called "Structural Forms of the Feminine" (1956). In it she described four universal patterns or "archetypes" of feminine experience: the Mother, the Amazon (warrior), the Hetaira (lover and companion to man) and the Medial Woman (mystic/healer). Her view was that all women fit into one of these personality "types" and the other three were more or less in shadow, unknown.
Click here for the full text and to listen to Invocations of the Sacred Feminine Archetypes.
Carry the Fire... and Don’t Get Burned
"You must carry the fire and not get burned," said the small, wizened, African shaman as he placed a glowing red coal in the palm of each of my hands.
These words were spoken to me in a dream in the fall of 1983, nearly a year after I entered Jungian analysis, in deep despair, and with intense longing to experience my creative self, my true, essential Self. My analyst, Jake, called this a "big dream", an initiation dream that not only carried life-changing personal significance, but also contained a message and meaning for others, as well.
Lakshmi's Gifts
Are you longing to experience the deep Well of Abundance that is your natural state, no matter what conditions are on the outer level? Are you longing to have more energy available for your life, creativity, and the expression of your purpose, your True Calling? This energy could manifest as time, space, money, creativity, juiciness, who-knows-what?
www.templeofthesacredfeminine.com
Blissings, Ani
Johan:
What a beautiful post. I have to research her. She sounds absolutely beautiful!
TY
Blissings, Ani
This is the symbol of my absolute favorite deity Ashima - a white dove with spreaded wings upon an encircled cross. Ashima is according to legend the human incarnation of the Semitic goddess Asherah, who was the wife of the Jewish, Christian and Muslim god Jehovah. She left God and was reborn as a human in a small river close to the river of Tyre in present day southern Lebanon about 750 years B.C. In her human form, she is said to have had pale white skin, hair as white as snow, and purple eyes, but there are no known images made of her. She was always followed by her white dove, and she lived her days as a human in the city of Hama in present day Syria, where she accomplished many miracles and became a hero to the people. She could talk to animals, she could turn evil persons all good and loving, she could heal the ill, and even resurrect persons who were dead. She was killed by the rage of God when she was still very young, but as a divine spirit, she still lives on even today to watch over the world. She was the Goddess of love, passion and sexuality, and she was also the goddess of female power and independence. And she was an animal rights advotace - she loved all life, and to her all life was equally sacred, and she was a vegetarian, and practiced non-violence. She was definitely the most awesome deity that has ever excisted in my opinion! 
www.goddess.com
www.goddessmyths.com
Enjoy!
Blissings, Ani
E & J, TY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0yYud187MY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGb5IweiYG8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpUwx2al43U
A tribute to my Mother, the first Goddess with fever I knew, who birthed me the 26th of this month quite sometime ago, and to my Father, who only had eyes for her & me, the feverish Goddesses of his life.
Blissings, Ani
also known as Aphrodite in Greek Mythology.
Venus was born of the Sea and the Sky. She was honored as the Mother of the Roman people.
Julius Caesar was said to have linked his lineage to Venus.
Her mortal born son was Aeneas. Aeneas was the founder of the
great city of Rome. There are still shrines to Venus
existing in the Mediterranean Region to this day.
Each year the city of Venice, named for Venus, celebrates the
marriage of their city to Venus.
Venus serves as inspiration to many great works of art,
including the statue of Venus De Milo in the Louvre and the
great painting The Birth of Venus, by Botticelli.
It is the Goddess Venus who inspires people to love one another
and to celebrate the rites of Marriage.
She is also associated with the rites of Spring and Fertility.
Though there are many other great Goddesses associated with
Love, Venus reigns as the supreme Goddess Of Love.
With her exquisite features and pleasant smile she attracted many suitors, gods and mortals alike.
However, she was married to the graceless and lame Vulcan, the god of fire. Her true love was Mars , the god of war. Their child was the beautiful goddess Harmonia.
One day while Venus and Mars were together they were caught in an invisible but strong net forged by Vulcan, and exposed to the ridicule and laughter of the other gods at Mt. Olympus.
Venus was born in the sea and first came to shore at Cyprus, floating on a scallop shell.
Image Copyright The National Gallery 1998-All rights reserved
Venus and Mars
Mars, god of war, was one of the lovers of Venus, goddess of
love. Here Mars is asleep and unarmed, while Venus is awake and
alert. The meaning of the picture is that love conquers war, or love conquers all.
The picture must have been part of a bedroom decoration on the
theme of love, most probably the spalliera or backboard from a
chest or day bed, perhaps commissioned by the Vespucci family.
The wasps (vespe in Italian) at the top right suggest a link
with the Vespucci family. They lived in the same quarter of the
city as Botticelli and were active patrons of his. However, the
wasps may be no more than a pun on the stings of love.
Mars is sleeping the 'Little death' which comes after making
love, and not even a trumpet in his ear will wake him. The
little satyrs have stolen his lance - a joke to show that he is
now disarmed. Venus is still awake, alert and obviously
victorious.
Venus-1959-Frankie Avalon
Hey Venus oh Venus
Venus if you will
Please send a little girl for me to thrill
A girl who wants my kisses and my arms
A girl with all the charms of you
Venus make her fair
And lovely girl with sunlight in her hair
And take the brightest stars off in the sky
And place them her eyes for me
Venus goddess of love that you are
Surely the things that I ask
Can't be to great a task
Venus if you do
I promise that I always could be true
I'll giver all the love like had to give
As long as we both shall live
Venus goddess of love that you are
Surely the things that I ask
Can be to great a task
Venus if you do
I promise that I always will be true
I'll give her all the love I have to give
As long as we both shall live
Hey Venus oh Venus
Make my wish come true
Amba is an example of the suppressed voice of strong female characters. As a woman she lacks the ability to avenge herself. She needs to be a man of the kshatriya class to fulfill her vow.
In the Great Battle in the Mahabharata, Sikhandin joins Arjuna on a chariot, and they slay Bhisma with a flood of arrows. Bhisma refuses to retaliate against Sikhandin because he recognizes Amba in him. The line, “Here in this body there once was a woman,” is an allusion to this encounter. Bhisma received a blessing as a young man which allows him to choose the time of his death, so he rests on the bed of arrows until the war is over.
There are a couple of interesting themes presented in this part of the story. One is the use of ambigious sexualities. This idea is also presented with Arjuna as a eunuch- castrated man- in King Virata’s court. Could this be an Epic exposé on homosexuality or transgender issues? Buck's version is much more complicated than Narayan's because Amba is reborn as Drapada's daughter. Remembering his promise by Shiva of a son, Drupada raises Sikhandin as a boy and even marries her to another princess. After her sexuality is discovered, Sikhandin/Amba trades gender with Sthuna the Yaksha.
This story also demonstrates the fine line between love and hate. Some believe Amba’s time in the forest leads to love for Bhisma, which masquerades as intense hatred. Killing him is a favor to release him from his vow of bachelorhood. I named this chapter Amba and Salwa because it is her love for him that starts the story (even though hate for Bhishma becomes the driving force of her life). In fact, in Buck's Mahabharata, it is Bhishma who tells the details of Amba's life to Duryodhana. The foundation of Flames of Love is Narayan's brief description of Amba/Sikhandin.
Images:
Amba Mata
Goddess Amba Mata
This post was modified from its original form on 19 Mar, 3:53
Flames of Love - the Revenge of a Lover Scorned
Amba walked for hours, taking paths long since unused, until she arrived at the bank of a rivulet of the Ganges. She drank a bit of water, sat under a sandalwood tree, and only then realized the situation in which she found herself. Two little love birds danced high above her, finally settling on a branch near her head. She tried to find joy in knowledge that she would go on living. But it was futile; she had just discovered that, as in almost all the days of life, a woman is powerless to make a decision. She fell asleep to the lullaby of the birds.
She awoke the next day and again looked at the river bank. She drank a bit of the crystalline water that ran beside her. She cleansed her face, then returned to the shade of the fragrant tree. One cannot fight destiny- she had already tried, and she had lost. Amba admired the beauty surrounding her and began to talk as if the landscape were her friend.
“Tomorrow, or a year from now, will you only be a bed of fine sand and smooth stones?” she asked the Ganges. “Will you dry up like my withered heart? Will travelers be saying: ‘Here in this land there once was a river.’ Sandalwood, what becomes of your leaves without the refreshing rain? Souls, like rivers and plants, need a different kind of rain: hope, love, a reason to live. When this does not come to pass, everything in the soul dies, even if the body goes on living; and the people can say: ‘Here in this body there was once a woman.’
Amba fixed her gaze on the two birds returning from breakfast. “I am learning,” she told them. “Though the lesson is a futile one, for my heart is condemned to death.”
"You have discovered Truth,” one bird seemed to reply. “Having Truth is enough.”
Amba laughed, for she was putting words into the mouth of the bird. It was an amusing game, one she had learned with her sisters, Ambika and Ambalika. She missed her dear sisters, who decided to stay with Vichitravirya. She decided to continue, asking questions and offering herself an answer, as if she were a true sage.
In her imagination, Amba was transformed into the bird. “Who are you?” she asked herself, as if she was the bird.
“I am a woman scorned,” replied Amba. “The one nobody wanted. That is how the world will remember me. I loved Salwa, and he loved me. Or so I thought. Damn Bhishma! Who does he think he is to steal a wife for his stepbrother!?! Now Salwa will not marry me because I ‘belonged’ to another man. Vichitravirya will not marry me because he knows my heart belongs to another. Even Bhishma refuses to restore my honor by marriage.” Amba continued her saga until she again drifted off to sleep with the birds sweet lullaby.
The bird returned the next morning. Instead of resuming the conversation, Amba began to observe it, for the animal always managed to sing a joyful song. A mysterious friendship developed between the pair. But the solitude in which she found herself was terrible, so she decided again to pretend she was conversing with the bird. In this way she taught herself austerities and prayers.
Every night, just before bed, the bird asked the same question, “Who are you?”
“I don’t know,” Amba continually answered.
“No one can lose sight of what he desires,” the bird cryptically responded. “Even if there are moments when he believes the world and the others are stronger. The secret is this: do not surrender.”
Another moon died, and the sun was reborn in the sky. Amba felt that her body was stronger, her mind more clear. That night she turned to the bird, who was perched on the same branch as always, and answered the question before it was even asked.
“I am Amba. My heart has felt true love and ultimate betrayal. I am Bhisma’s destiny. I cannot doubt what I am capable of doing, even if it is not in this life. I have learned from my penance in the forest that a woman must go through various stages before she can fulfill her destiny.”
“Yes, and now you know who you are,” commented the bird. With that, the bird took flight, spiraling around with a magical glow. Slowly the bird transformed into the great god Shiva.
Shiva, moved by Amba’s past and present, helped fulfill her future. He built an altar on the banks of the rivulet of Ganges, then called upon Agni to set it on fire. In a booming voice he pronounced, “I am Shiva, the Destroyer. I caught the river Ganges as she fell from heaven. Love has brought you to this time and place. But with one look of my third eye, Kama, the god of love, was reduced to ashes. Now I am here to help you.
Amba watched and listened in amazement. Intuitively, she knew what she must do. With a deep breath, she walked into the flames, into death. Out of death, she walked into life, born again as Sikhandin, son of Drupada, avenger of Amba, and destroyer of Bhishma.
From: http://students.ou.edu/T/April.D.Trenary-1/chapter5.html
Goddess of the Seas
BB, Ani
a gift from my blissed friend Dagmar 4 Bears...
The Maya goddess
of the moon, Ix Chel governs the Waters.
She is the source of
life, growth, wisdom. Conception, birth, weaving, and healing
all originate within
her realm.
by Max Dashu
BB, Ani
Kali, Ruler of Kundalini Energy - the Pulse of Life and Death.
BB, Ani
She is the Goddess of Earth
bb, ani
Pele (pronounced Peh-lay) is one of the most dramatic goddesses of Hawaiian mythology.
Pele resides in Hawaiian hearts and minds as the supreme representation of volcanic majesty and power. Hawaiians have long been aware of the natural forces which are regarded as life forces, related to humanity by common descent from the same ultimate creative spirits.
The mythology quotes that Pele had a volcanic personality and the power to create new land.
She is the representation of all strong female emotions by her nature which is described as impetuous and lusty, jealous, unpredictable, and capable of sudden fury and great violence.
She can also be gentle, loving, and as serene as her forests of ferns and flowering trees.
more goddess..........
bb, ani
dreaming, beaming, streaming Goddess....
bb, ani
The Swan
Awakening the True Beauty and Power of the Self
The swan is one of the most powerful and ancient totems. Its very name has come down unchanged since Anglo-Saxon times, reflecting its ancient and deep powers.
Usually being pure white, it is often a solar symbol. However, a black Australian swan does exist, and represents lunar power.
The neck of the swan is long and graceful, and one of the bird's most distinguished features. The neck is a bridge area between the head (higher realms) and the body (lower worlds). With the swam totem you begin to realize your own true beauty, you unfold the ability to bridge to new realms and new powers. This ability to awaken to the inner beauty and bridge to the outer world is a part of what swan medicine teaches us. It shows us our inner beauty, regardless of outer appearances.
The swan is a cold-loving bird, having ties to the direction of the North. Rarely does it thrive in heat and choices cooler climates for its home.
The type of swan and its characteristics has its own significance to the swan and to you, the bearer of the totem. The largest of all swans is the trumpeter. The loud, car-carrying call is the origin of its name. The whistling swan is most common. The mute swan, best known in America, is named for the belief that it loses its voice as it reaches maturity. While not truly voiceless, a symbol of powerless expression, the mute swan is more a symbol of the true nature of "strengh through silence."
Swans are beautiful, powerful birds. Able to break a man's arms with the beat of its wings, swans have strong bites as well. Devoted parents, swans mate for life, and some live as long as 80 years. This power, this longevity is possible when we awaken to the beauty and power within ourselves.
It is the totem of the child, the poet, the mystic, and thr dreamer. Swans fill folklore and fairy tales, as traditional symbols of beauty and grace. Swans were sacrified to Aphrodite, the greek Goddess of Love, and they were depicted pulling the chariot of Apollo. Zeus took the shape of a swan to make love to Ledo, a mortal woman - reflecting the swan's ability to link between worlds.
Many fairy and other tales speak of maidens who turn into swans, in mythology and folklore, by donning the magic garment of a swan's skin. Many of these tales involving swans ended tragically, hinting at the primal life-changing power of beauty when released freely, and the control necessary tp effectively work with such graced, but powerful energy.
From Greece comes the mystery of the swan song, a belief that taught that the swan sang its most beautiful song only before it died. The swan can teach the mysteries of song and poetry, for these touch the child and the beauty within.
Excepted from "Animal - Speak" by Ted Andrews.
BB, Ani
The Journey of the Goddess
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Cridian Aphrodite
350- 40 B.C.
full length center
marble
Munich, Glyptothek
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Minoan Snake Goddess...
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Tara, Tibetan Goddess of Compassion
Tibetan Sgrol-ma. Buddhist saviour-goddess with numerous forms, widely popular in Nepal, Tibet, and Mongolia. Tara is the feminine counterpart of the bodhisattva ("Buddha-to-be") Avalokitesvara (meaning one who hears the cries of the world). According to popular belief, Tara came into existence from a tear of Avalokitesvara, which fell to the ground and formed a lake. Out of its waters rose up a lotus, which, on opening, revealed the goddess. Like Avalokitesvara, she is a compassionate, succoring deity who helps men "cross to the other shore." She is the protectress of navigation and earthly travel, as well as of spiritual travel along the path to Enlightenment.
In Tibet she is believed to be incarnate in every pious woman, and the two wives-a Chinese princess and a Nepali princess-of the first Buddhist king of Tibet, Srong-brtsan-sgam-po, were identified with the two major forms of Tara. The White Tara (Sanskrit: Sitatara; Tibetan: Sgrol-dkar) was incarnated as the Chinese princess. She symbolizes purity and is often represented standing at the right hand of her consort, Avalokitesvara, or seated with legs crossed, holding a full-blown lotus. She is generally shown with a third eye. Tara is also sometimes shown with eyes on the soles of her feet and the palms of her hands (then she is called "Tara of the Seven Eyes," a form of the goddess popular in Mongolia).
The Green Tara (Sanskrit: Syamatara; Tibetan: Sgrol-ljang) was believed to be incarnated as the Nepali princess. She is considered by some to be the original Tara and is the female consort or sexual partner of Avalokitesvara. She is generally shown seated on a lotus throne with right leg hanging down, wearing the ornaments of a bodhisattva and holding the closed blue lotus (utpala).
The white and green Taras, with their contrasting symbols of the full-blown and closed lotus, are said to symbolize between them the unending compassion of the deity who labors both day and night to relieve suffering. Under the influence of Tibetan Lamaism the different forms of Tara multiplied to a traditional 108. Tibetan temple banners frequently show 21 different Taras, colored white, red, and yellow, grouped around a central green Tara. The figure of the "self-born" Buddha, Amitabha, is often shown in her headdress, as she, like Avalokitesvara, is considered to be an emanation of Amitabha. In her ferocious, blue form, invoked to destroy enemies, she is known as Ugra-Tara, or Ekajata; as a red goddess of love, Kurukulla; and as a protectress against snake bite, Janguli. The yellow Bhrkuti is an angry Tara, with frowning brows.
There is also a Hindu Tara. Along with Kali She is one of 10 Mahavidyas or Mothers.
Durga, Hindu Goddess Destroyer of Demons
Oshun, Goddess of the Rivers
Only fantastic. the lines. the colors, the rythms, the rhime, the rhythms in rhythms or ar birth of it. Intense and marvelous. Not a word is good for them.
I am also an artist, alas.
This is from a Care2 e-card titled 'Awakening Goddess' (by Aletha Keith) as I feel I am having joined today. Just wanted to say hello and share an image which speaks volumes.
Again, Kwan Yin...
Kwan Yin - Buddhist Goddess of Compassion
Lakshimi - Hindu Goddess of Abundance, Prosperity, Luck, Goodwill.
Aphrodite, Greek Goddess of Love, Passion and ohhh so many other lovely attributes.
Beautiful, dancing Shakti....
Isis
