Deities and Spiritual Figures
by Morag GrayHheart Greek mythology is full of lulz, and the myth of Harmonia is no different. This goddess of harmony was born of one of Aphrodite’s illicit affairs—with Ares, god of war. Blend of war and love sex creates...harmony? I always thought it created tragedy, but whatever. According to the myths, Harmonia presided over marital harmony, as daughter of Aphrodite, and over harmony in war, as daughter of Ares, which still doesn’t make any sense to me but maybe that’s because I’m an anti-war activist. 
When Harmonia is born, Hephaestus, Aphrodite’s husband, is really pissed off that his wife cheated; so he decides to curse any children She and Ares produce. That’s totally fair, right? Your mom was unfaithful to me, so I’m going to make you kids’ lives a living hell, because obviously it’s your fault.
Hephaestus, being the god of the forge and stuff, makes Harmonia a beautiful necklace that’s never consistently described in the legends but, so far as we can tell, was made of gold, in the shape of two serpents, whose mouths formed the clasp. That is rather apropos, considering the end of Harmonia and her husband. The necklace is cursed: it brings the woman who wears it endless beauty and youth but also terrible misfortune.
Hephaestus presents this necklace to stepdaughter Harmonia as a wedding gift upon her marriage to Cadmus of Thebes. Cue: many problems lead to their need to relocate, and eventually they both get turned into serpents, and the gods then take pity on them and put them in Paradise. But they’re still serpents. Which could be kind of cool, I guess, but not forever.
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By Morag Grayheart Gaia, the beautiful, rose up, Since Her conception, people have been screwing with Gaia, the Greek Earth goddess and grassroots-slang term for our terra firma. Gaia had offspring by the hundreds-She gave birth to all creation, after all-populating the annals of Greek myth with Titans, furies, nymphs, and giants. (The Olympian gods came later, from the Titans. But that’s another story.) Gaia was a huge figure in Greek religion, though few stories exist about Her. Gaia is not anthromorphised (given human form) as some other Greek deities are-She is considered a spirit or energy of the Earth more than a lady wearing a purple dress and flowers, telling Captain Planet how best to beat the bad guys. Anthromorphised deities are more likely to have a lot of stories about them. The more like humans they are, the more trouble they get into. The parlance of our times refers to Earth as Gaia, wrongly quoting Lovelock’s Gaia Hypothesis: “Earth is a single, living entity.” The Gaia Hypothesis doesn’t state this, but “that all living things have a regulatory effect on the Earth’s environment that promotes life overall.”1 All processes and relationships among living and non-living things on this earth form a system so complicated it can be thought of as a single organism. |
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by Morag Grayheart As crocuses appear out of the snow and the days slowly lengthen, we count down to the Vernal Equinox, the day night and day are of equal length (equinox literally means equal night), a sign of warmer days to come. We also count down to Easter, a day of chocolate, eggs, and bunnies—and the rebirth of Christ. 
On one hand, Jesus Christ, rebirth, resurrection, crucifixion…on the other, bunnies, chocolate, and eggs. See the connection? No?
A possible source of these traditional Easter symbols is Eostre, or Eostara, the Teutonic lunar goddess of dawn, spring, and fertility, whose symbols were the bunny and the egg. Her holiday fell on the full moon of the vernal equinox (ie, the closest full moon to the equinox itself). The holiday was called Lady Day, on which people would put eggs (a general symbol of regeneration and birth) onto gravesites to symbolise rebirth.
This is why Easter moves its chocolaty fingers all over the calendar every year. It occurs on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox. If the first full moon and Sunday coincide, Easter gets bumped a week later, to make sure it’s not on the full moon itself. This is because the Church follows a solar calendar–which makes sense, as they follow a Lord of Light–and doesn’t want to give concessions to those crazy lunar people, or those crazy lunar goddesses (or gods). That’s cool. It doesn’t stop equinox from happening or people from eating all the chocolate they want.
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by Morag Greyheart The Tara Goddess figure has many shapes and forms, spanning both Hinduism and Buddhism. Hindus regard Tara as a Mother Goddess, appearing beside other Goddesses of the Hindu pantheon. The Boddhisattva Tara is seen as the Mother of All Buddhas–hence containing the wisdom of all the Buddhas. Tara also shares her qualities with Kuan Yin, the white ceramic mother-goddess figure often found in Chinese shops. Thus, over much of the planet, Tara depicts the commonly held idea of a loving, accepting Great Mother.
There is a certain color magick with working with Tara, as she appears in several different colors, each one meaning a different direction in one’s meditation. Green Tara is the Mother of Enlightened Activity. White Tara is known for compassion, long life, healing and serenity. Red Tara is a fierce aspect associated with magnetizing all good things. Black Tara is for power. Yellow Tara is for wealth and prosperity. Blue Tara helps one transform anger. There are 21 Taras, and their praises—too much for one column.
Green Tara is a young, vigorous goddess of activity. She is fierce yet compassionate saviouress. She helps Her followers overcome dangers, fears, and anxieties, with an ability to overcome the most difficult of situations. It is said that Green Tara acts quickly to help those who call Her.
In Her iconography, Green Tara is pictured at ease while ready for anything. Her left leg is folded in the contemplative position, while her right leg is outstretched, so that she may leap up at a moment’s notice. One hand makes the refuge-granting mudra (hand position) while the other makes a boon-granting mudra. Both hands hold the flowers that represent purity and power–blue lotus.
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by Morag Greyheart Pele (PAY-lay) is the Hawaiian Goddess of volcanoes. Passionate, fiery, and with a fierce temper, Pele is a continually visual deity in the Hawaiian pantheon. Both creator and destroyer, Pele is considered responsible for the creation of the Hawaiian islands. She is still active today, on Mt. Kilauea on the Big Island, and continues to demand sacrifice from the residents of Hawaii. When lava threatens a Hawaiian home, the owners would be better off giving Her gifts so that their residence may be spared. Aside from demanding sacrifice, Pele wants Her lava to stay put. Tourists to Hawaii: take away lava rock only if you wish your life to collapse around your ears. Believe you me, it happened here – in this family. Only when we went back to Hawaii to appease Pele did our bad luck abate. She will wreck you if you mess with Her. Pele is a loving if tough Goddess to Her faithful. Remember that destruction is a good thing–one cannot create new things without getting rid of the old first.
Myths about Pele abound and are varied. I will give you my favorite. Pele was born in Tahiti to Haumea, descended of Papa the Earth Mother and Wakea the Sky Father. (Yes, you read that right – Papa is female.) When Pele’s grandfather looked into the girl’s eyes, he saw fire there. Pele’s power frightened the men of the tribe and so She was sent away. Her mother gave Her an egg to keep her company, and when She arrived in Hawaii it hatched into Her sister Hi’iaka. Hi’iaka was Pele’s favorite sister, and along with Their other sister Laka, the three of Them were matron goddesses of dancing – specifically Hula.
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by Morag Greyheart Kali is a more misunderstood Goddess of the world. We can all get behind the endless-love-compassion thing. But death and destruction? Scary! Ease your fears – Kali is endless love and compassion, though in a different light. She is the death of the ego, the death of the illusion we perceive as reality. She makes us remember we are spiritual beings on a human journey – not vice versa. She grants total liberation.
Attachment to the ego comes from over-identification with the body, the physical plane. Kali’s name comes from the Sanskrit kal, meaning time. Time takes its toll on our bodies as Kali wears away our ego.
Not scary, huh? Better than the endless sex-death-violence thing.
Where did that misconception come from? One word: iconography. Kali is usually seen with dark blue or black skin, standing on the chest of the white-skinned Shiva (Her male counterpart), wearing a garland of skulls and a skirt of dismembered arms, holding the severed head of a demon in one of Her four arms, tongue sticking out and Her face alive with triumph – while Shiva’s face is so peaceful one must believe Him to be dead.
Kali is the womb of creation from which we came and to where we shall return, the inky darkness of primalness. She is form supported by peaceful formless awareness, the bright light of enlightenment. She wears the trophies of Her conquest over the material world – destruction of the ego and the body. Kali destroys demons, personal or otherwise. She allows us to be who we truly are.
By granting Her children moksha – liberation – Kali is the ultimate Goddess of enlightenment and compassion. Meditate on Kali’s love – She has much to teach us, and we have much to learn.
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by Morag Greyheart Hathor, ancient Egyptian cow-goddess, was seen as the personification of the Milky Way. She stood in cow form upon the earth, Her four legs holding up the firmament, which was Her belly. The name Hathor literally means “house of Horus”, and Horus, as the sun god, was seen to enter Her mouth each night and be reborn again in the morning. Consequently He was seen as both Her husband and son. Hathor maintained the living with Her milk and provided food for the dead in Tuat, the underworld. She was a cosmic primal mother goddess, and is one of Egypt’s oldest known deities. Hathor also had Her destructive, angry side. After being convinced by a sun god to kill off the human race, She so enjoyed the slaughter that the rest of the gods had to give Her a draught that made Her unable to see humans. Hathor’s main temple was at Dendera, where She was worshipped with Horus of Edfu and Their son Ihi, portrayed as an infant playing the sistrum. Great festivals were celebrated in Hathor’s name, especially Her birth festival at the new year, which ended with a drunken orgy. (Much like modern New Year’s festivities.) Hathor thus became known as the Mistress of Merriment, Dance, and Love. As the cow goddess of Tuat She is portrayed as wearing a long pendant collar and the Menait, emblem of love and pleasure, on Her back. She is also depicted as a woman with a solar disk between two horns on Her head, as a woman with a cow’s head, and as a cow walking out of a funeral mountain. |
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by Morag GrayHeart
Nut (also known as Nuit, Newt, and Neuth) is the Egyptian Goddess who personifies Sky. Nut means “night”. Her titles include “Coverer of the Sky”, “She Who Protects”, “Mistress of All”, and “She Who Holds A Thousand Souls.” According to the Egyptian Book of the Dead, Nut is described as a friend and protector of the dead, and is known for providing food and drink to them.
Nut is often portrayed as a woman bearing a vase of water on Her head, though sometimes She wears a headdress of horns and Hathor’s solar disk. She holds a papyrus sceptre in one hand and an ankh (Egyptian symbol of life and death) in the other.
Nut’s sacred symbol is the ladder. Ladders were often placed within tombs to protect the deceased, and to invoke the aid of the god of the dead (Osiris). Her sacred plant is the sycamore tree—aside from personifying sky She was also thought to personify this tree. Groves of sycamores were grown in honour of Her, and to get into Her good books. Nut’s sacred stone is Lapis Lazuli, a stone thought to represent the sky.
Morag Grayheart is a Hearth Witch, Walker of the Twilight Paths, and political activist.
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by Morag Greyheart
This column is partly history, partly mythology, partly religion. It is an attempt to reawaken knowledge of the Divine in All Life.
Isis (Greek form of Auset) is arguably the most important Egyptian Goddess—certainly the most well-known one. She was the personification of the Ultimate Female Creative Force, and possessed great skill in magic. Her titles include Queen of All Gods, Lady of Heaven, and Maker of Sunrise—to name a few. She was worshipped not only in Egypt but also in Greece, Rome, and Western Europe. Her attributes were bestowed upon the Virgin Mary as well, carrying on Her veneration into Catholicism.
Isis is Goddess of All Things, but specifically motherhood, family, and magic. She was considered the noblest example of a loving wife and mother, and was central to spells for protection and healing. Her herbs include fig, heather, wheat, barley, wormwood, vervain, rose, palm, and the sacred lotus.
Today Isis is worshipped by modern Pagans and Witches, and continues to be an important figure of mythology and history.
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