Sopdet, Egyptian Goddess of the New Year

With the new calendar year fast approaching, now is the time that many of us start to contemplate a fresh start and new beginnings.  To the ancient Egyptians, the Goddess who marked the coming of the new year was Sopdet ("skilled woman"), or Sothis, who is more commonly personified as the "dog star" Sirius, a star that held great importance to the ancient Egyptians.

When the heliacal rising occurred (when Sirius became visible above the eastern horizon prior to sunrise), this marked the time when the Nile River, the life blood of the country, started to flood*.  It was the silt that came from this flooding that enabled the farmers to grow their crops, and thus the flooding was associated with bringing fertility to the land.   

Many Concepts of "Goddess"

The Goddess? I hear you say … who or what is that?  What and who do we mean by the “Divine Feminine”?  Even today, these are terms that are not always familiar to everyone.  They are also terms that be misinterpreted.  When people are talking about the Goddess, they may be talking about:

·   An being Deity that has been worshipped since Palaeolithic times and who is still worshipped and honoured today in various parts of the world.  Hindu, for example, is one religion that contains numerous Goddesses.

·    An archetype based on various worldly mythologies from which we can identify our own strengths and weaknesses with, whereby in learning lessons portrayed in the myths, we can improve our life and understanding.

·    A term to describe the loving, nurturing aspect, ie “Goddess” energy.

·    A term to empower women where to the focus is more on improving the self-esteem and body image of women ie “We are all Goddesses”.

One door closes as another opens

After a rather trying, not to mention emotionally draining and frustrating three months, a decision was made last week to cut ties from an organisation that I felt was not accurately representing the ideals and ethics I held, nor were the current objectives resonating those of what the organisation were supposed to be about and which I had supported. This was not an easy decision to make as I had been involved with  this organisation since the mid 1990s, even having spent some six years actively on its committee.  However, the severing I believed is necessary, if only for my own piece of mind.

Then two days later I received an unexpected email from Gaia's Garden with respect of the opening of a Goddess exhibition that is to be held at the Queen Victoria Women's Centre in Melbourne from 29 April to 1 May - entitled "She of 10,000 Faces: Images of the Goddess".

Many Goddesses of India

Ananta

India is a land of many Deities and where, even in the 21st century the Goddess is still worshipped.  The following is a list of some of these Goddesses and India as well as surrounding lands:

• Aditi: Hindu Great Goddess, as the Woman Clothed with the Sun. Sun Goddess, Mother of all the Lights of Heaven. She gave birth to the twelve zodiacal spirits.
• Ananta: Indian Serpent Queen. aka Sarparajni. She enveloped all Gods during their death, sleeping between incarnations.
• Banka-Mundi: Hunting Goddess of the Khoud. Merely uttering Her name made one fearless against jungle beasts.
• Bardaichila: Assamese Storm Goddess.
• Bentakumari: Assamese Water Goddess. First fish of the season was given to Her.
• Bhasundara: Tibetan Goddess of Prosperity
• Bhavani: Common name for Mother Goddess of India. Bestower of Existence. Evoked by women in labour, who burned perfume to honour Her.
  

Vandals destroy Sacred Thorn Tree at Glastonbury

Although the following article by Emma Hallett which appeared in the British online newspaper, The Independent, tends to focus on the Holy Thorn tree at Glastonbury being a symbol of Christianity, it has also been a representation of the Great Goddess.

Emma Hallett's article, the appeared in The Independent on 8 December 2010, follows: 

Ma'at, the Mistress of Truth

Ma’at is the Goddess responsible for Egyptian Law, Order, Truth, Justice, Immortality and Primordial Being.  She was not just Order, but Space as well.  She was the one who gave the breath of Life to the Gods.  She is said to be the wife to Thoth and bore unto Him eight children.  The most important of these children was Amon.  These eight were the chief Gods of Hermopolis and (according to the priests there) they created the Earth and all that is in it.

Ma'at is depicted in the forma of a woman seated or standing.  She holds the scepter in one hand and the ankh in the other.  A symbol of Ma'at was the ostrich feather and She is always shown wearing it in Her hair.  In some pictures, She has a pair of wings attached to Her arms.  Occasionally, She is shown as a woman with an ostrich feather for a head.