I’m Your Venus, I’m Your Fire, Your Desire or DIY: Find Your Inner Goddess

Worship me. Praise me.  Adore me.  Over the centuries, religion has risen and fallen, schisms have erupted and martyrs have been..well, martyred. All of this over which god should be worshipped, and how, and when. In the end it all boils down to- my god is better than your god. But what about the goddesses? History is swarming with powerful goddesses, who were worshipped for their life giving properties, their motherly natures, and their fecundity- (that means pregosity [the ability to procreate abundantly] to you).  These gentle mothers of the earth have been all but forgotten- and for good reason. They never existed. The archetype of gentle earth mother is a fiction that was created by generations of leaders who wanted the quell the natural fiery power of womanhood. ( O.k., now that all the men have run out of the room, let's get down to brass tacks.)  History is told by the victors, they say- or the interpreters, or the liars. Let's be real- accurate, that is.  History is a story- unfortunately, a story where too often the contributions of women have been excluded.  It's not enough that women don't know their own strength, we have systematically been told through the media that we never had any.  But in every woman lies the strength of Isis, Astarte, Nut, The Morrigan, and others. Don't know who they are. Hold up, wait a minit.* Isis, was the Egpytian goddess of magic, medicine and yes, motherhood. Her power was second only to Ra, the sun god- this was a woman who put back together the pieces of her murdered husband's body, and then used it to bring forth new life. Watch out now!  Astarte- called Queen of the Stars, Queen of the  Universe, whose consort, the king ruled faithfully by her side.(And don't kill the messenger, but according to some sources, she was even known as consort of Yahweha and ruled equally at his side, until he complained. Ain't that just like a man?)
Nut- the embodiment of the sky- no submissive earth mother here- In Egyptian texts, Nut ruled the sky, while her husband Geb- god of the earth lay beneath her. She was also represented as a  sky cow (watch the jokes- who let those guys back in?!) whose eyes represented the moon and sun, and whose udders gave forth the Milkyway- in effect she was the birth motehr of the universe who provided sustenance for all. Then there's the Morrigan- the Irish goddess of death and fertility;two things women know often go together. Her incarnation was the raven and she was often seen on the battlefield, leading the charge. When she sought  the hero Cuchalain as her lover, he rejected her (jerk)  because he didn't recognize her feminine power- in his last battle she failed to protect him and he died with a raven sitting on his shoulder. (Y'all betta recognize- a woman scorned and all that. ) And these are just a few of the archetypes of womanhood- mother, daughter, wisewoman, crone, and lover. (btw- the rest of the goddesses didn't play either- they were all warrior goddeses and can be seen in various incarnations kicking ancient ass. Check out India's Kali- that woman didn't play.) So what happened to the goddesses? Not a thing. They're all still there. Now, I'm not advocating idol worship (Surgeon General's Warning- independent thinking, and questioning of the Judeo-Christian ideology is not recommended for pregnant women, smokers, habitual drinkers, and all you other heathens out there), but maybe we can take a page from  herstory and worship ourselves, just a little. Remember that Banarama song ?  <singing lustily> "I'm your Venus, I'm your fire, your desire!" (ok, so I'm not the goddess of music). Be a Venus, be a Morrigan, be an Isis, a Yemaya, a Kali, an Astarte, - a lover, a warrior, a mother, a dancer, a destroyer, a creator. Be invincible. Just do you.

Take The Goddess Quiz- Which Goddess Is Your Counterpoint!-my first Facebook App!

*yes, I know minite is spelled minute- it's called dialect, people!

P.S. Wanna see some real goddesses- take a look at Miwa Yanagi's Windswept Women series- click the title link above- great visceral art. May we all be this old and powerful someday!