Moms, Women, and The Ancient Goddess

Black Madonna - by V. Armstrong

This week I sent my mom a letter. The kind that goes into a stamped envelope and that she can hold and turn over in her hands. In the letter I thanked her for teaching me about so many things that I may not have known otherwise.

Alternative things, liberating things, mind-expanding things, controversial things. Things like the Black Madonna.

The following is from a card that came with a small statue of Black Madonna. It is a fitting tribute for today and every day.

"The Black Madonna is a symbol of wisdom and the resolution of opposites. Mary, Virgin and Mother, incorporated the two faces of the ancient triple goddess (Virgin, Matron, Crone) which were least threatening to the church of Rome, but her continuity with archaic virgin goddesses (such as Aphrodite, Artemis of Ephesus, or Mari - Ishtar) is indisputable." 

Worship The Ancient Goddess 

"She has been called Gaia, Mother Nature, Queen of Heaven, Mother of God, Mistress of the House of Life, The Creatress, Divine Ancestress, and Mighty Lady. Known by many names, venerated by ancient humankind in many forms, the Goddess is actually this blessed Mother of Earth which sustains us all.  

Extensive research by Marija Gimbutas, Riane Eisler, et al shows that neolithic matrifocal cultures created much of human civilization. Agriculture, animal husbandry, pottery, weaving, city-planning, architecture, and the gamut of core technologies that shape human life this day developed before 3000 BC.  

Abstract values of justice and government, the invention of writing and the wheel, aesthetics of art,  dance, music, and religious ritual all evolved in Goddess - worshipping societies. Excavation of their settlements show towns undefended by walls. Values such as nurturance, cooperation and partnership with the Earth were critical.  

But in the 35 centuries ending circa 500 AD nomadic invaders swept down upon the life-affirming cultures. They appropriated both the civilizations they found and the Goddess Herself as the spouse of their warlike God. Principals of dominance, sex inequality, class status, warfare, and consumeristic exploitation of Earth which so influence our world today date from this relatively recent imbalancing cycle of history. 

Carl Jung and Joseph Campbell have shown that it is our myth, ritual and symbols that must change before our culture can rebalance. Images of the generous and loving Goddess direct our consciousness toward cooperating with and loving rather than destroying Earth."

It is time to celebrate moms, women, and goddesses everywhere and regain some much needed balance.

Thanks mom.