Mati and Norah's BoS....

Brigid...Brigit...Bride...Brigantia...Brigindo

Born at the exact moment of daybreak, Brigid rose into the sky with the sun, rays of fire beaming from her head. She was the daughter of Dagda, the great 'father-god' of Ireland.

In Druid mythology, the infant goddess was fed with milk from a sacred cow from the Otherworld. Brigid owned an apple orchard in the Otherworld and her bees would bring their magical nectar back to earth.

It is said that wherever she walked, small flowers and shamrocks would appear. As a sun goddess her gifts are light (knowledge), inspiration, and the vital and healing energy of the sun.

Brigid became the wife of Bres, an Irish king. Together they produced three sons, each of them became a famous warrior. Brigid and her husband came from two warring tribes and hoped their marriage would end the enmity between their kin.

Unfortunately, it did not. But, as it turns out, the battlefield death of their son Ruadan assured Brigid's role as a goddess of peace and unity.

A major battle between the two families was about to begin.

Brigid's eldest son, using the knowledge of metalsmithing that he had learned from his mother, struck the first blow, killing the smith of the opposing army.  But as the warrior fell to the ground, he managed one last blow before he died and Ruandan was also killed.

Brigid's grief was enormous--for the continual hatred between the two sides of her family and for the death of her son. Her lamentations were so loud they were heard throughout Ireland and so heart-rending that both sides left the battle and forged a peace. The goddess Brigid is said to have originated the practice of "keening".

She is also credited with the invention of whistling, which she used to summon her friends to her side.

Eventually the love and respect for the goddess Brigid brought unity to the Celts who were spread throughout Europe. Regardless of their differences, they all agreed upon her goodness and compassion.

One of the most popular tales of the goddess Brigid involved two lepers who appeared at her sacred well at Kildare and asked to be healed. She told them that they were to bathe each other until the skin healed.

After the first one was healed, he felt only revulsion for the other and would not touch him to bathe him. Angered, Brigid caused his leprosy to return. Then she gently placed her mantle (cloak) around the other leper who was immediately healed.

Brigid...Brigit...Bride...Brigantia...Brigindo

Ireland is full of springs and wells named after the goddess Brigid. Symbolically, water is seen as a portal to the Otherworld and as a source of wisdom and healing.

There is a saying that Brigid rewards any offering to her, so offerings of coins were often tossed into her wells...the forerunner of the modern custom of throwing a penny into a fountain while you make a wish.
 

At her most famous shrine Brigid taught humans how to gather and use herbs for their healing properties, how to care for their livestock, and how to forge iron into tools. As a goddess of childbirth and protector of all children, she is the patroness of midwifery.

This shrine, near Kildare, was located near an ancient Oak that was considered to be sacred by the Druids, so sacred in fact that no one was allowed to bring a weapon there.

The shrine is believed to have been an ancient college of priestesses who were committed to thirty years of service, after which they were free to leave and marry.

During their first ten years they received training, the next ten were spent tending the sacred wells, groves and hills of the goddess Brigid, and the last decade was spent in teaching others.

Nineteen priestesses were assigned to tend the perpetual flame of the sacred fire of Brigid. Each was assigned to keep the flames alive for one day. On the twentieth day, the goddess Brigid herself kept the fire burning brightly.

The goddess Brigid was also revered as the Irish goddess of poetry and song. Known for her hospitality to poets, musicians, and scholars, she is known as the Irish muse of poetry.
The Christian monastery eventually built upon the site of her sacred shrine continued this tradition and became known as a great European center of learning and culture. Indeed, it was instrumental in preserving much ancient learning and literature during the Dark Ages. 

The Feast Day of Brigid, known as Imbolc, is celebrated at the start  of February, midway through the winter. Like the goddess herself, it is meant to give us hope, to remind us that spring is on its way.

The lessons of this complex and widely beloved goddess are many.

 The Celtic goddess Brigid lends us her creativity and inspiration, but also reminds us to keep our traditions alive and whole. These are gifts that can sustain us through any circumstance.

Her fire is the spark of life.

Brigid...Brigit...Bride...Brigantia...Brigindo
Great Goddess of Healers, Poets, Mystics, and Smiths

Your Sacred Fires burn brightly upon Sacred Altars
Deep in the Earth, Your springs of Inspiration flow
Your Sacred Cauldrons are filled with Herbs for Healing

Forge hammers spark with craft, as Smiths work in Your Honor

Words and Song flow from the hearts of Poets and Musicians Healers are again turning to Your Sacred Ways with Reverence

May Your Sacred Wells overflow with the Essence of Your Presence
May we always to use the Gifts You grant us . . . with Wisdom
Fill our hearts with the Courage & Kindness of Your Sacred Horses

ISIS

One of the most popular goddesses in Egypt. Isis belongs to the Ennead of Heliopolis, and according to the Heliopolitan genealogy is a daughter of Seb and Nut, sister and wife of Osiris. Possibly she was originally the personification of the throne (her name is written with the hieroglyph for throne), and as such she was an important source of the pharaoh's power. In the Hellenistic time Isis was the protrectress of sailors.

In the Osiris myths she searched for her husband's body, who was killed by her brother Seth. She retrieved and reassembled the body, and in this connection she took on the role of a goddess of the dead and of the funeral rights. Isis impregnated herself from the Osiris' body and gave birth to Horus in the swamps of Khemnis in the Nile Delta. Here she raised her son in secret and kept him far away from Seth. Horus later defeated Seth and became the first ruler of a united Egypt. Isis, as mother of Horus, was by extension regarded as the mother and protectress of the pharaoh's. She was worshipped as the divine mother-goddess, faithful consort of Osiris, and dedicated mother of Horus.

Isis was depicted as a woman with the solar disk between the cow horns on her head (an analogy with the goddess Hathor) or crowned with a thrown, but also with the child Horus sitting on her lap. A vulture was sometimes seen incorporated in her crown. Also she was sometimes depicted as a kite above the mummified body of Osiris. Isis' popularity lasted far into the Roman era. She had her own priests and many temples were erected in her honor. On the island of Philae in the Nile delta her largest temple was situated (it was transferred to the island Agilkia in 1975-1980).

The name Isis was understood by Plutarch as meaning 'Knowledge'.

ISIS

Hecate, Greek goddess of the three paths, guardian of the household, protector of everything newly born, and the goddess of witchcraft -- once a widely revered and influential goddess,  the reputation of Hecate has been tarnished over the centuries. In current times, she is usually depicted as a "hag" or old witch stirring the cauldron.

But nothing could be further from the image of Hecate's original glory.

A beautiful and powerful goddess in her own right, the Greek goddess Hecate was the only one of the ancient Titans who Zeus allowed to retain their authority once the Olympians seized control. Zeus shared with Hecate, and only her, the awesome power of giving humanity anything she wished (or withholding it if she pleased).

Usually classified as a "moon goddess",  her kingdoms were actually three-fold . . . the earth, sea, and sky. Having the power to create or withhold storms undoubtedly played a role in making her the goddess who was the protector of shepherds and sailors.

A lover of solitude, the Greek goddess Hecate was, like her cousin Artemis, a "virgin" goddess, unwilling to sacrifice her independent nature for the sake of marriage. Walking the roads at night or visiting cemeteries during the dark phase of the moon, the goddess Hecate was described as shining or luminous.

In other legends she is invisible, perhaps only glimpsed as a light, a "will-o-the-wisp".  Perhaps it was this luminous quality that marked Hecate as a "moon goddess", for she seemed quite at home on the earth.

Some scholars believe it is also was because her mother was Asteria (the Titan goddess of the Shining Light or "Star") or perhaps it was because she sensibly always carried a torch on her journeys.

Like Artemis, Hecate was usually depicted with her sacred dogs, although Hecate and even her animals, were sometimes said to have three heads and that they could see in all directions. Although usually depicted as a beautiful woman having three human heads, some images are fearsome indeed (one with a snake's head, one with a horse's, and the third a boar's head).

This farsightedness, the ability to see in several directions at once (even the past, present, and future) featured largely in her most famous myth, the abduction of Persephone.  For it was the goddess Hecate who "saw" and told the frantic Demeter what had become of her daughter.

The goddess Hecate continued to play an important role in the life of Persephone, becoming her confidante when she was in the Underworld. Hades, thankful for their friendship, was more than hospitable, honoring Hecate as a prominent and permanent guest in the spirit world. Surely this had the effect of enhancing her reputation as a spirit of black magic with the power to conjure up dreams, prophecies, and phantoms.
 

Hecate's ability to see into the Underworld, the "otherworld" of the sleeping and the dead, made her comfortable and tolerant in the company of those most would shun out of fear or misunderstanding.

The goddess Hecate was often accompanied on her travels by an owl, a symbol of wisdom. Not really known as a goddess of wisdom, per se, Hecate is nevertheless recognized for a special type of knowledge and is considered to be the goddess of trivia.

Hecate's farsightedness and attention to detail, combined with her extraordinary interest in that which most of us discount as irrelevant or arcane, gave her tremendous powers.

Not surprisingly, the people thought it best to give the goddess Hecate (and any friends that might be accompanying her) a lot of honor and a fairly wide berth. When darkness descended they wisely retired to the fireside for supper, but put the leftovers outside as an offering to Hecate and her hounds.

That the homeless and destitute were often the actual beneficiaries hardly mattered...after all, they were under Hecate's protection.

In a similar fashion, food was often left at the crossroads to honor Hecate, especially at junctions where three roads converged --what we often call a "Y-intersection". 

Frequently a pole was erected at the intersection and three masks would be hung from it to pay homage to Hecate and to request her guidance in helping to choose the right direction. 

Three-faced masks also adorned the entrances of many homes, honoring the goddess Hecate who could, of course, wield her influence over "the spirits that traveled the earth" to keep them  from entering the household.  

It is hardly surprising that a woman who needed to make a trip alone at night would say a brief prayer to Hecate to seek her protection. The goddess Hecate, like her cousin Artemis, was known as a protector of women, especially during childbirth.

Not only was Hecate called upon to ease the pains and progress of a woman's labor, but especially to protect and restore the health and growth of a child.

Similarly, Hecate played a role that, in contemporary times, we would describe as "hospice nurse", helping the elderly make a smooth and painless passage into the next life and staying with them, if need be, in the otherworld to help prepare them for their eventual return to the earth in their next life.

Familiar with the process of death and dying as well as that of new birth and new life, the goddess Hecate was wise in all of earth's mysteries.  

The Greek goddess Hecate reminds us of the importance of change, helping us to release the past, especially those things that are hindering our growth,  and to accept change and transitions. She sometimes asks us to let go of what is familiar, safe, and secure and to travel to the scary places of the soul.

She loans her farsightedness for you to see what lies deeply forgotten or even hidden, and helps you make a choice and find your path. Oft times she shines her torch to guide you while you are in dreams or meditation.

Hecate teaches us to be just and to be tolerant of those who are different or less fortunate, yet she is hardly a "bleeding heart", for Hecate dispenses justice "blindly" and equally.

Quiet is the night

Dark is the Moon

I ask Hecate, the Crone

To take Her throne.

Sleep, sister, sleep

Be not alarmed,

For the Great Goddess

Keeps you from harm.

Quiet is the night

Dark is the Moon

I ask Hecate, the Crone

To take Her throne.

Sleep, brother sleep,

Be not alarmed,

For the Great Goddess

Holds you in her arms.

Quiet is the night

Dark is the Moon.

We honor Hecate the Crone

Who has taken Her throne.

In Greek mythology Demeter was the most generous of the great Olympian goddesses.  The Greek goddess Demeter was an ancient goddess beloved for her service to mankind in giving them the gift of the harvest, the reward for cultivation of the soil. 

Also known as the Roman goddess Ceres, Demeter was the goddess of the harvest and was credited with teaching humans how to grow, preserve, and prepare grain. Demeter  was thought to be responsible for the fertility of the land. 

She was the only one of the Greek goddesses who was involved on a day-to-day basis in the lives of the common folk.  While others occasionally "dabbled" in human affairs when it suited their personal interests, or came to the aid of "special" mortals they favored, the goddess Demeter was truly the nurturer of mankind. 

Demeter also was the only one of the Greek goddesses who could truly empathize with the human experience of suffering and grief, having experienced it fully herself. 

The goddess Demeter is best known for her fierce defense of her daughter, Persephone, who was also known as the child, Kore (or Cora).  Persephone's father was Zeus, the mighty ruler of the Olympians. The goddess Demeter had been one of his early consorts, long before his marriage to Hera.

 Persephone was an obedient, cheerful girl who had a happy childhood, playing with her cousins, Artemis and Athena.  Reaching adolescence, she was carefree and spirited, often dancing playfully and picking wildflowers in the meadow near her home.  

Persephone's youthful beauty drew the attention of Hades, the god of the underworld, and he could not help falling in love with her.  One day as Persephone reached over to pick a flower, the earth opened and the arm of Hades reached up from the underworld.

And so Hades abducted her, dragging her back to his kingdom.

Hearing Persephone's screams, the goddess Demeter rushes to the meadow, but cannot find Persephone.  Carrying a torch, Demeter traveled the world day and night, never eating or resting, searching futilely for her daughter.

Poseidon, god of the sea, noticed the goddess Demeter as she traveled and pursued her with amorous intent.  Then Demeter tried to fool him by changing herself into a mare and hiding herself in the middle of a herd of horses, but he was not fooled.  Poseidon saw through Demeter's disguise, turned himself into a stallion, and took her at his will.

When Demeter continued her journey in search of her daughter, she met an old and poor man who was gathering firewood who invited her to return to his home to eat supper with his family and to rest on her journey. When she told him that she was searching for her daughter, he wished her success and told her that he understood her suffering since his son lay dying at home.

Demeter, goddess of compasion,   changed her mind and went with the kindly man, stopping only once to gather some poppies by the path.  Entering his humble home, Demeter went straight away to the boy's bedside and kissed the boy lovingly on the cheek.  Immediately the pallor left his face and his breathing eased, as Demeter's love had restored the son to full health.

Although it was the custom of the Greek goddesses and gods to become very vindictive toward anyone who failed to honor them in a dignified fashion, Demeter was such a kind goddess that she seldom utilized this privilege.  One of the few times was when she stopped on her travels to quench her thirst by drinking from a spring and heard a man named Ascaelabus laughing at the sound of her gulping the fresh water. Embarrassed, and angry at the man for being so rude, Demeter turned him into a lizard.

Resuming her search, she soon encountered Hecate, goddess of the crossroads, who advised her to speak with Helio, goddess of the sun  . . . reasoning that, since she had been riding her chariot (the sun) through the sky that day, she had surely seen what had happened to Persephone. Helio told the goddess Demeter what she had seen and that Persephone was now ensconced as Hades' wife and Queen of the Underworld.  She also gave her the shocking news that Zeus himself had sanctioned the marriage, giving Hades permission to abduct Persephone.

Understandably, the goddess Demeter felt betrayed.   Renouncing her divine duties that included bringing fertility to the land, Demeter left Mount Olympus swearing that the earth would remain barren until her daughter was returned to her.  She took refuge in the city of Eleusis. Disguised as an old woman, the goddess Demeter was met the city rulers two young daughters at the well, and they, liking her immensely, invited her to return to their home to meet their mother.  There she met their mother who was cuddling her infant son.  This must have stirred Demeter's longing for her abducted daughter horribly. Demeter became profoundly depressed, almost catatonic, eyes gazing off into the distance and unwilling or unable to even speak.

 Everyone tried to all that they knew to cheer their guest; but it was to no avail. Eventually one of the household servants, a middle-aged maid named Baubo, came and sat in front of Demeter and started talking, mostly making humorous comments (most likely of the "male-bashing" sort), some of them quite risque. Encouraged when she saw the beginnings of a smile forming on Demeter's grief stricken face, Baubo hiked up her skirt and "mooned" the goddess. Demeter responded with a deep belly laugh that brought her out of the deep depression.  Her good nature now restored, Demeter was soon hired to work as a nursemaid to the infant son of the city's ruler.

Caring for him lovingly, feeding him on the nectar and ambrosia of the gods, Demeter grew very attached to the young Demophoon and decided to make him immortal.  But, just as Demeter was holding his feet over the fire (the ritual which would transform him into an Olympian god, Demophoon's mother entered the room.

Mistakenly believing that Demeter was about to burn her son, she began to scream.   The goddess Demeter then dropped her disguise, revealing the beautiful goddess that she truly was, and berated the mother for her stupidity in stopping the ritual that would have given her son immortality. 

In addition, Demeter demanded that a temple be built in her honor.  This was done, and the goddess Demeter remained there, sitting alone in the darkness, once again depressed and grieving for her lost daughter.

All this time, with the goddess Demeter refusing to function, the land grew barren and the harvests ceased . . . the earth saw a winter that did not end.  Zeus finally opens his eyes to what was happening and sent messengers to apologize and coax the goddess Demeter to return. 

Demeter, however, remained adamant that she would not return until Persephone was rescued.  Finally, Zeus gave in and sent Hermes to command Hades to release Persephone.

Persephone, upon hearing the news, rejoiced for she had missed her mother sorely.  As she was leaving, Hades offered her a pomegranate to eat. Persephone had refused all food while she had been in the underworld, and was surely hungry.

Although she undoubtedly knew that those who ate anything in the underworld were not allowed to return to the earth, Persephone accepted Hades' gift, eating only the seeds.  Hermes borrowed Hades chariot and stallions and flew Persephone home to her mother as Zeus had ordered.

Demeter was not pleased that Persephone had eaten the pomegranate seeds and would have to return to the underworld for four months during each year, but was otherwise overjoyed to be reunited with her daughter.

Happily, Demeter resumed her divine duties and restored the fertility of the earth.  Each year the goddess Demeter longs for her absent daughter and withdraws her favors from the earth for a period we know as winter, but Persephone returns each spring to end her desolation.

Mother Demeter
Who makes the plants to grow
The animals to bring forth new life
The Seasons to change and bring warmth

Your beloved daughter was taken
Kore ~ Persephone the youthful maiden
Taken by Hades to live in the underworld
Leaving You, Demeter to cry bitter tears

With Your mourning, all life withers
Plants do not grow, there is no grain or fruit
Your sacred pomegranate does not flourish with magic
No animals are born, no human babies draw first breath

Mighty Mother Demeter
You wander the world in sadness
Cold, brittle Winter is born where you tread
We fear Your mourning will not end, but life will

Into the Underworld Demeter goes
Reclaiming Her daughter from Hades
Now, it is She who claims Kore for half the year
letting Hades retain Kore's company the other half

Soon, Kore rejoins Her Mother above ground
Life flourishes again, winter ends & gladness returns
An eternal bargain has been struck
The Seasons are born

Hail Mother Demeter
Who brings forth Life when Kore is near
And mourns Her absense half the year
Whose cycles of growth and rest touch all things
We celebrate Kore's joyous return time in the Spring

Known in the ancient Levant as Ashtart and in the Hebrew Bible as Ashtereth, the beautiful Astarte may owe many of her characteristics to Mesopotamian Ishtar, as the similarity in their names proclaims. Like Ishtar, Astarte seems to have had strong connections with both war and love/sexuality. In historical times, she received offerings in ancient Ugarit in Syria; her name appears forty-six times in texts from that city. One of her main centers was Byblos, where she was identified with Egyptian goddesses Hathor and Isis. In the second millennium BCE, Astarte was, like Anat, a war goddess of the Egyptians (Patai 1990:56). Large numbers of ancient Israelites revered her, and versions of her name occur at least nine times in the Hebrew Bible. She was also an important deity of the Phoenician towns of Tyre and Sidon, whence she and her veneration spread with Phoenician merchants throughout the Mediterranean (Patai 1990:55-66).

The Ugaritic poems present Astarte as a model of beauty and usually associate her closely with Baal, the storm god, for she consistently supports his cause (Coogan 1978:61, 65, 74, 89, 116). On at least five occasions the mythic material pairs her with Anat, perhaps an indication that the two goddesses were already beginning to meld into one another. Yet, since Astarte's name occurs quite often in offering and deity lists, it is clear that she had an important, if not central place in ritual and sacrifice (Olmo Lete 1999:71). An enormous number of female images originated from the excavations at Ugarit, and scholars have labeled many of them as Astarte. However, to date, no one has been able to demonstrate that they actually represent Astarte.

The Hebrew form of Astarte's name ashtereth, which occurs only three times in the Hebrew Bible, resulted from the deliberate replacement of the vowels in the last two syllables of the goddess's name with the vowels from the Hebrew noun bosheth, "shame" (Day 2000:128; Buttrick 1990:I,255). According to Patai, the "original meaning of the name Astarte was 'womb' or 'that which issues from the womb,'" an appropriate title for a fertility goddess (Patai 1990:57). In statements about Syro-Canaanite religion, the Biblical texts often couple the ashteroth, "the Astartes," with the baalim, "the Baals," an indication that the writers knew that many local versions of these deities existed. However, this repeated connection of Astarte and Baal has led some scholars to conclude that the Hebrew Bible understood Astarte to be Baal's consort (Day 2000:131; Patai 1990:57). If she were his consort, she too should have associations with fertility.

Astarte's name also occurs in the Hebrew Bible as part of a place name, Ashteroth Karnaim, karnaim meaning "of the two horns" (Genesis 14:5). Ashteroth Karnaim, perhaps the "full old name of the city," (Patai 1990:57), was probably a temple center where Astarte was worshipped as a two-horned deity. In support of this suggestion, Patai points to a mold from a shrine in Israel depicting a goddess with two horns. Dated between the eighteenth and the sixteenth centuries BCE, the mold shows a naked goddess in a high, conical hat. She has two horns, one on each side of her head (Patai 1990:57, Plate 9).

Two passages in the Book of Jeremiah (7.17-18 and 44.15-19) refer to ancient Israelite worship of a "Queen of Heaven." These passages provide a very rare glimpse into ritual practices of Judahite popular religion. Around the turn of the seventh century BCE, Jeremiah preaches to Israelite exiles in Egypt. To his horror whole families, with women in the lead, were making offerings to a goddess. They poured libations, built fires, and baked "cakes [kawwanim] for the Queen of Heaven" (Jer.7:18). The scholarly literature presents a number of theories about who the "Queen of Heaven" was (Toorn 1998:83-88; Patai 1990:64). However, since "Queen of Heaven" was one of the many titles of the Mesopotamian goddess Inanna-Ishtar, for whom worshippers also made cakes [kamanu], it is possible that the goddess in the Jeremiah passages was Astarte (Toorn and Horst 1999:678-679; Patai 1990:64).

An elaborate terra-cotta cult stand from ancient Taanach in northern Israel may have been used in the worship of Astarte (Gadon 1989:174, Figure 97). Just over twenty-one inches in height, it dates to the tenth century BCE, during the period when the Israelites were establishing themselves in the land (Hadley 2000:169). In the center of the bottom level, as if underpinning everything, stands a naked goddess controlling two flanking lions. The second register contains an empty, door-like space flanked by winged sphinxes wearing goddess locks. On the next level, two ibexes nibble at a sacred tree, a scene which is flanked by lions. The top register is occupied by a quadruped, either a bull calf or a young horse, which strides between two door posts. Above it is a rayed or winged sun disc.

Explanations of the stand vary from understanding it as totally Canaanite to its being an Israelite cult object dedicated to the Israelite deity and a consort (Hadley 2000:169-176). There is, however, general agreement that the piece models a temple to the deities or deity depicted on the façade, with the tiers displaying temple scenes (Hadley 2000:171-172).

Interpreted strictly as a Canaanite cult object, the Taanach stand depicts either important Canaanite deities, female and male; or goddesses alone; or even a single goddess. In these views, the bottom level shows the naked goddess and the third level from the bottom her symbol, the sacred tree. The empty space on level two is a doorway into the shrine, and the door posts on level four frame either a temple entrance or the "holy of holies" (Hadley 2000:172). Between these posts, either the Canaanite god El or the storm god Baal Hadad manifests himself in the form of a bull calf (Hadley 2000:172-173).

This post was modified from its original form on 11 Feb, 15:17

Since a goddess is central to the symbolism of the Taanach stand, I would argue that a goddess is there also in the door on level two and the animal on level four. The symbolism of the cult stand suggests that this Levantine goddess is very similar to the Mesopotamian great goddess Inanna-Ishtar (Stuckey 2001:92-94). The female figure on the bottom register underpins everything; she is the foundation of all and so queen of heaven, earth, and underworld. She is both life and death, the latter present in the menacing lions which she controls. Above her, there looms both the door to her shrine and the mystic entrance to her realm both on earth and in the underworld. More important, it is the symbol of her essential nature: like Sumerian Inanna, she embodies change (Stuckey 2001:95). To enter into her realm is to undergo transformation, whether by dying on the battlefield, being born, falling in love, engaging in sexual activity, or leaving the ordinary and, through ritual, entering sacred time and space.

The tree on level three is yet another statement of the goddess's presence, and, like her, it has its branches in the heavens, its trunk on the earth, and its roots reaching toward the world beneath the earth (Stuckey 2001:101). The animal on the fourth level, which I think may be a bull calf, probably represents her consort, the storm god, whose function it is to bring rain to fertilize the earth so that the life cycle can go on. Given what we know about Canaanite religion in the first millennium BCE, I would assign the Taanach stand tentatively to Astarte, who seems, at that time, to have been consort of the storm god Baal (Patai 1990:56-57).

Devotion to Astarte was prolonged by the Phoenicians, descendants of the Canaanites, who occupied a small territory on the coast of Syria and Lebanon in the first millennium BCE. From cities such as Byblos, Tyre, and Sidon, they set forth by sea on long trading expeditions, and, venturing far into the western Mediterranean, they even reached Cornwall in England. Wherever they went, they established trading posts and founded colonies. Of course they took their deities with them. Hence, Astarte became much more important in the first millennium BCE than she had been in the second millennium BCE. In Cyprus, where the Phoenicians arrived in the ninth century BCE, they built temples to Astarte, and it was on Cyprus that she was first identified with Greek Aphrodite.

The Greco-Roman period saw another great Levantine goddess called Atargatis being worshipped in the Levant and elsewhere. Her name seems to have come from a combining of the names Astarte and Anat. On the other hand, it may have resulted from a fusion of the names of all three Levantine great goddesses. To the second century of our era is dated a Greek account of the "Syrian" Goddess"; the work is traditionally attributed to the satirical writer Lucian. Though the writer gives Greek names for the deities he describes, the goddess of the title is clearly Atargatis. The worship of Atargatis spread from Syria across the Mediterranean and lasted well into the third century of our era (Thus, long after she lost her independent identity, Astarte lived on in a composite "Syrian Goddess."

Great Bountiful Goddess of Antiquity Your sacred fires are again lighted Your name is again spoken with reverent awe The High Places are no longer abandoned Your Sacred Altars are again tended Earth is re-awakening to your voice

The goddess Inanna, called the Queen of Heaven in Ancient Sumer and the progenitor of the goddesses Venus and Aphrodite, tricked the God of Wisdom into giving her his special tools, including the valuable Tablets of Destiny, which gave her great powers. 

Although Inanna was now very powerful, she also felt very lonely.  But she soon had two suitors—one was a farmer named Enki (short for Enkidu) and the other was Dumuzi, a shepherd.  Both gave her beautiful gifts, but Dumuzi's sumptuously soft woolens gave him a distinct edge.

Inanna was worried about her sister Eriskegal decided to visit the Underworld to see her. Eriskegal's husband, who was the God of Death had recently deserted her. Though the goddess Inanna felt concerned about her sister, she dreaded the trip. After all, the two sisters had never gotten along very well.

When Inanna arrived at each of the seven gates of the Underworld, the gatekeeper would demand that she leave one of her garments and required her to leave her jewels, and even her crown. 

When she finally saw her sister, the goddess stood before her, naked and vulnerable. And Eriskegal was angry with her, feeling that Inanna had not been supportive of her. Why she hadn't even visited before now. So Eriskegal flew into a rage and killed her on the spot.
 

Upon their arrival in the Underworld, the servant asked for Inanna's body and the creatures fed the lifeless Inanna the Food and Water of Life, magically returning her to life.  Inanna then requested that she be allowed to return to the world and her sister consented.

As Inanna passed through the seven gates during her ascent to the world, each of her possessions was returned to her. She returned home to resume her role as the Queen of Heaven with her crown once more upon her head.

As part of her agreement with her sister Inanna was required each year to descend once again into the Underworld in order to renew her own vitality and to restore the fertility of the earth.

One of the Lessons of the Goddess Inanna: Just as Inanna had to shed a part  of her identity—something that symbolized an important role or relationship in her life, so must we. If we are to remain connected with our 'true' selves, our inner truth, we must divest ourselves of our attachments to the "outer world", the face we show to others, and instead, travel inward to find the meaning of our lives.

Inanna Self-Love Ritual

To be done on the Waxing New to Full Moon on a Friday, the day of Venus. Do this ritual when you are feeling unattractive, undesirable or even to restore your self-esteem and Goddess power and beauty within.

Needed:

Candles: White Goddess (for Inanna), pinks, reds, and/or oranges for elements

Incense: Rose, Jasmine or Myrtlewood

Oils: Rose or Goddess (can be made from: 3 parts Rose, 2 parts Tuberose, 1 part Lemon, 1 part Palmarosa, 1 part Ambergris)

Flowers: Roses (red, pink, and/or white)

Symbolic objects: Lapis Lazuli and/or Bloodstone

Misc: Star tarot card, Inanna image, wine offering

Outline:

Purify yourself by taking a bath with some flowers or rose petals. Meditate on letting go of any tension etc. Let the petals absorb the negative energies and prepare to open yourself to receive the healing power of love. Give thanks to the flowers sacrifice after you have finished.

Light the candles (you may dress candles with oil if you desire to before hand)

Purify with incense

Cast circle with a rose stem and invite Inanna and the elements to join you in your circle.

Relax in your sacred space and say this Invocation to the Queen of Sumer: