Goddesses: Iconography and Mythology

A small selection of articles on various goddesses I’ve posted over the past couple of years, including Medusa/Athene from Greek mythology, Chinnamasta from Hindu Mythology, The Egyptian myth of Isis and the hidden name of Ra (which includes parallels to the myth of Lilith and The Golden Ass by Apuleius), The myth of Inanna’s underworld descent from Mesopotamian Myth, The Inuit Myth of Sedna, and the Mesoamerican creation myth of Tlaltecuhtli.

• 1: Reflections on Medusa
• 2: Chinnamasta: The Self Devouring Goddess of Regeneration
• 3: Isis and the hidden name of Ra
• 4: Inanna’s Descent into the Underworld
• 5: The Myth of Sedna
• 6: Tlaltecuhtli and the cosmic struggle

You might also be interested in The Great Mother from Asia Minor to Rome

Reflections on Medusa

The Aegis is a coat/shield/breastplate with powerful protective properties. It also acts as a kind of weapon. It was said to belong to Zeus, and was made from the skin of a goat that raised Zeus when he was a baby. Apollo also used it to frighten the Greeks during the Trojan war. But usually it is associated with the goddess Athene. She is often depicted wearing it, fringed with snakes, and in the center is fixed the fearsome head of Medusa

Also I’m thinking of the time when Athene caught sight of her own distorted reflection, with cheeks all puffed up (Gorgon-like?), in a river, whilst playing some pipes, a musical instrument she herself invented. Also, according to Pindar:

…long ago Pallas Athene invented,
weaving in music’s rich refrain
The goulish dirge of the fierce-hearted Gorgons.

…That son of Danae, who reaped the head
Of the fair-cheeked Medusa;
He who, men tell, was from a flowing stream
Of gold begotten. But when the goddess maid delivered
From these labours this man she loved, then she contrived
The manifold melodies of the flute, to make
In music’s notes an image of the shrill
Lamenting cries, strung from Euryale’s
Ravening jaws..

Pindar (Pythian Ode 12. 8-10, 15-22)
(Trans’ Conway, G.S and Revised by R. Stoneman,1997, p. 188-189)

I knew about the myth, but it wasn’t until I read a blog entry ‘The mirror of Athene’ (The site no longer exists), that I saw the possible connection with the disfigured face of Medusa, who herself was once beautiful. Medusa and Poseidon lay together in Athena’s temple, and the Goddess Athene, outraged by the desecration, transformed her beauty into ugliness, and her flowing hair into writhing snakes.

Chinnamasta: The Self Devouring Goddess of Regeneration

The idea of the divine partaking in itself is a motif I’ve encountered numerous times in various myths and iconography. I recently learned of another deity, known to both Hinduism and Buddhism, who simultaneously feeds herself and her worshippers, in the form of the headless Goddess Chinnamasta.

The decapitated Goddess Chinnamasta stands upon the lovemaking couple, Kama (desire) and Rati, a blade in her right hand, and her severed head in her left. Three streams of blood pour from her neck into the mouth of her severed head as well as the mouths of her two female attendants, expressing “the idea that life sex and death are part of an interdependent unified system.”^1..

In these legends of Chinnamasta, one sees both aspects of food and the eater of food in both dualistic and singular ways. In the dualistic way Chinnamasta is the food for her two attendants and they are the eaters of food. In the singular way Chinnamasta is both the food and the eater of food, thereby symbolizing the whole world by this act of being devoured, and the devourer. The dichotomy of receiver and giver or object and subject collapses into one. Chinnamasta is not only the giver and the receiver, but also the given—she is the sacrificer, the sacrificed, and the recipient of the sacrifice by drinking the blood. Thus Chinnamasta embodies the complete sacrifical process which symbolizes the entire world through its process of creation, destruction, and re-creation.
Benard, Elisabeth Anne, 1994, ‘Chinnamasta : The Aweful Buddhist and Hindu Tantric Goddess‘, p.9 (Motilal Banarsidass Publ.)

Chinnamasta is one of the emanations of the Great Goddess Durga/Sati, known as the ten Wisdom Goddesses, or Dasa Mahavidyas, of Tantric Hinduism, possibly the Shakti equivalent to the Vaishnava Avataras ².

The Dasa Mahavidyas express the forces that are related to the powers of time, reminding the onlooker that ‘Life is a passing phenomenon, continuously devouring and being devoured.’
Wangu, Madhu Bazaz, 2003, ‘Images of Indian Goddesses’, p.131 (Abhinav Publications)

The theme of divine imminence in the wheel of cosmic time, that is ‘continuously devouring and being devoured,’ , is also reflected in the symbolism (included in my Altar) of the Ouroboros serpent that devours its own tail.

1. 1. Wangu, Madhu Bazaz, 2003, ‘Images of Indian Goddesses’, p.131 (Abhinav Publications)
2. 2. Benard, Elisabeth Anne, 1994, ‘Chinnamasta : The Aweful Buddhist and Hindu Tantric Goddess’, p.9 (Motilal Banarsidass Publ.), Ghosh, Pika, 2005, ‘Temple To Love: Architecture And Devotion In Seventeenth-Century Bengal’, p.122 (Indiana University Press), & Klostermaier, Klaus, 1984, ‘Mythologies and Philosophies of Salvation in the Theistic Traditions of India’, p.223 (Wilfrid Laurier University Press)

Isis and the hidden name of Ra

An Egyptian magical text, that functioned as a remedy for snakebite (dating to about 1200 B.C), concerns the goddess Isis and how she obtained the hidden name of Ra.

Isis, dissatisfied with the realm of mankind, desired to dwell among the gods. The elderly Ra, the self-created creator of everything, would regularly walk between the two lands of Egypt, enjoying his creation, when one day, he was bitten by a serpent. Isis had formed the snake herself, mixing mud with some spittle that had dribbled from the corner of old Ra’s mouth. The serpent’s venom instantly infected Ra’s body, like a fiery flood, leaving him in a state of terrible agony. Isis told Ra that she could heal him, but only if he revealed to her his hidden name, that was contained within his body. Ra was reluctant at first, but as the effects of the poison became increasingly intolerable he was forced to relent, and told her his secret name. Isis, her scheme complete, expelled the venom from his body.

The venomous bite of the serpent is described in the text as living fire that came from the god’s own body. The Serpent’s venom (I would guess) is the the all-consuming solar ‘wrath’ of God turned inwards upon himself; the very same power contained within the hidden name that Isis coveted.

There is a late medieval tale, taken from The Alphabet of Ben-Sira, worth mentioning in relation to this myth, which claims that Adam originally had a wife called Lilith, who, refusing to be sexually inferior to her husband, uttered the unspeakable name of YHWH, and flew out of the Garden of Eden. In the Old Testament, Lilith is translated as ‘Screech Owl’.

Ra is the undying sun who travelled upon his golden boat, continually maintaining the order of the cosmos. In old age he enters the realm of death and passes through the twelve gateways of time, to be born anew at daybreak. But before his perilous night journey is complete he must overcome, in his weak and aged state, Apep, the serpent of chaos.

The myth of Isis and Ra is reminiscent of the central theme to The Golden Ass by Apuleius, written in the late 2nd century A.D, and may be a reworking of a myth of Isis and Ra. Lucius, the unfortunate hero who is transformed into a donkey, wakes up alone upon the seashore and under the light of a full moon invokes the goddess Isis, praising and uplifting the Creatrix in her various regional titles and aspects Ceres, Venus, Diana, etc., as she was, at that time, perceived across the ancient world. When the cursed Lucius, had finished pouring out his heart to the Universal Goddess, he collapsed into unconsciousness, and then had a vision of Isis emerging out of the ocean. Moved to pity by his pleas for help, Isis is willing to transform him back into a man.

now by my Providence the day of your release is dawning. Attend therefore with your whole mind to the orders I give you…

Isis then tells Lucius that tomorrow is the first day of ship-faring (usually signalled by the rising of the constellation Pleiades in the month of May), a day held sacred in honour of the goddess. A religious procession would be making its way down to the sea shore, and among them would be those initiated into her mysteries. Lucius is instructed to approach one of her priests, who would be carrying a sistrum adorned with a wreath of roses. In one bite of a rose, Lucius would be restored to his original form. “But…”, the goddess continues;

“…this you must remember well and keep forever stored up in your inmost heart; the remaining course of your life right up until your last breath is now solemnly promised to me…by whose beneficence you will be made human again” (Kenney, E.J ‘Trans’, 1998, pp 195-198).

That morning Lucius follows the goddess’s instructions and is released from his hideous donkey form, and left standing before the amazed onlookers, naked and reborn. He is provided with clothing, and joins the procession down to the waters edge, where a golden ceremonial boat was consecrated to the goddess and cast off into the ocean.

Inanna’s Descent into the Underworld

The goddess Inanna desired to visit the realm of death ruled over by her sister Ereshkigal, the queen of the underworld. In preparation, Inanna clothed herself in regalia and precious jewels, and gave certain instructions to her handmaid Ninshubur, that if she should fail to return, she must present herself before the gods, Enlil, Nanna, and Enki, and ask for their assistance.

As Inanna’s journey progressed toward the heart of the underworld, she passed through seven gateways. At each of these gates it was required that she remove an item of clothing, in accordance with the decrees of the underworld. Finally Inanna stood, both naked and powerless, before the throne of queen Ereshkigal, and the Anunnaki, the seven judges of the underworld.

Inanna fought the queen of death, but in vain, and the Anunnaki cast her a deadly glance, and with a word, reduced the sick goddess to a corpse.

Her body was hung upon a stake, where it was to remain for a period of three days. According to the later Akkadian version of this myth, during the period of the goddess’s death, all sexual activity, whether between humans, or between animals, ceased.

Meanwhile, Ninshubur followed her lady’s instructions, and sought out the three gods, but Enki alone, the god of wisdom, was concerned enough to help.

He formed two asexual beings, called Kurgarra and Kalaturra, using the dirt from beneath his fingernails, and gave them the food and water of life.

The specially created beings went down to the underworld and discovered Ereshkigal morning for her dead children. Because they lamented alongside her, Ereshkigal was pleased to grant them one request. They asked her for the corpse of Inanna, and reluctantly she complied. Kurgarra and Kalaturra revived the dead goddess with the food and water of life, and fled from the realm of death, with a swarm of demons following close behind them.

The demons demanded that a substitute should take Inanna’s place, and so, when Inanna reached her own city of Erech and discovered her husband Dumuzi sitting upon a throne, seemingly unconcerned by the whole matter, she handed him over. Dumuzi is not easily imprisoned. More than once, with the help of the sun god Utu, he manages to escape from the underworld. In another text it is agreed that he should spend half the year in the realm of death, and his sister Geshtinanna, the other half, ever-revolving between the two realms, so it would seem, for endless time.

The Myth of Sedna

There are numerous variations of the Inuit Sedna myth. She is often the daughter of a widower, although in some versions of the myth both her parents are alive. Usually, Sedna is depicted as a beautiful marriageable woman, yet refused all eligible suitors who sought her hand.

Her father was angry with Sedna, and in an attempt to humiliate her, he married his daughter off to a dog, resulting in the birth of both dog and human children, who became the ancestors of the Europeans, and Indian tribes. He banished his daughter, but the dog continued to provide for his wife, swimming back and forth with supplies of meat in it’s backpack. The father became disgruntled with the arrangement, and filled the dog’s backpack with stones, and it drowned.

Sedna returned to live with her father, until one day a hunter appeared, his face concealed, and the father offered the man his daughter. Other versions of the tale say that Sedna ran off with the hunter, after he promised to take care of all her needs.

After sailing off to their new home, the hunter revealed himself to be a seabird, a fulmar to be precise, which is a type of petrel. She was forced to live with the other birds, who fed her fish, and nested among the cliffs. She cried out to her father for help, or according to another version of the myth, full of remorse, he set out upon the ocean to find his lost daughter. When he eventually found Sedna living like a sea bird, he rescued her, and together they set off in the boat.

In some versions, the bird-man discovers that Sedna has fled, and flies in pursuit of the boat, but it is also said that the father kills his daughter’s husband, in which case it is the bird’s family who chase after them, producing a dreadful storm that threatens to capsize the boat and drown both father and daughter. In a desperate attempt to save his own life, the father throws Sedna overboard, and as she desperately clings on to the side of the boat, he takes his paddle and hacks off, in turn, each of her fingers, which sink to the ocean depths and are transformed into sea creatures. With no way of holding one to the boat, Sedna herself sinks to the ocean floor, where She becomes the mistress of sea animals. Some stories say that this was bestowed upon her by the spirits of the moon and Air. Her new home is Adlivun, the realm of departed spirits. The guardian of Sedna’s underwater abode is her faithful dog husband.

Sedna rules over the food supply born from her severed fingers, and when the people fail to pay her proper respect, she withholds the creatures of the sea, and the people starve. It is then up to the Shaman to make a dangerous journey to the realm of the dead, and placate Sedna’s angry spirit, combing her disheveled hair, and promising that the people will make amends for their transgressions.

Tlaltecuhtli and the cosmic struggle

According to a myth concerning the creation of the world in the fifth cosmic age, the gods Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca (the cosmic enemies of the first and second ages of creation) saw the terrible Tlaltecuhtli walking across the primal ocean, and were afraid.

They took hold of the goddess from both sides and after a vicious cosmic struggle, which cost Tezcatlipoca the loss of his left foot, they succeeded in tearing her body in two, creating the heavens and the earth. Her hair was transformed into vegetation, her eyes and mouth were changed into fountains, rivers, springs and caves, while her nose and shoulders became valleys and mountains.

• The Mesoamerican goddess Tlaltecuhtli (Earth Lord) is often depicted as female, and was also regarded to be androgynous (‘The Mythology of the Americas’, Jones, D.M; Molyneaux, B.L, 2001, p.155)