Ostara The Goddess of Spring

Areas of Influence: Ostara the Germanic Goddess heralds the beginning of spring. She is the Maiden Goddess, full of potential, representing the opportunity of growth and rebirth after the stagnation of winter.

There are several different translations of the meaning of her name:- East, dawn and morning light indicating the returning warmth of the sun’s rays and the lengthening days.

In Germany her warm nature is still marked by bonfires lit at dawn on the Spring Equinox.

The Goddess was also known as Eostre and although much of her story has been lost, her name lives on as it is the root of the English words for both Easter and oestrogen.

Origins and Genealogy: Very little is known about the origins of this Germanic Goddess. She has many similarities to the Nordic fertility Goddesses Frigg and Freya.

Strengths: A warm, dynamic and compassionate Goddess.

Weaknesses: Her lateness nearly caused the death of a small bird.

Symbolism: The Rabbits and painted eggs are both potent symbols of fertility, reflecting the nature of this spring Goddess.

When the Goddess came across a young bird that was dying of cold due to her late arrival, she warmed him up and turned him into a rabbit.

These ancient symbols are still found in our Easter celebrations today when the Easter bunny hides chocolate eggs for the children to find.

Festivals: Dates of festivals to mark this Goddess range from the Spring Equinox to the first full moon after the Equinox.

Traditionally people would dress up in new cloths, light bonfires at dawn and decorate eggs as offerings to the spring Goddess.

Ostara’s Archetype

The Maiden

The Maiden Archetype represents purity and the innocence of childhood, where the soul’s dreams, magic and make believe still prevail.

It is also an aspect of the Triple Goddess, together with the Mother and the Crone they represents the cycles of the moon and the different stages of a woman’s life.

Shadow Maiden is very self centered all, her dreams and energy is expended on achieving her own personal needs and goals.

These qualities reflect the nature of this Spring Goddess who stands on the cusp of womanhood. Her self-absorbtion meant she was late and nearly caused the death of a young bird but undeterred the resourceful Goddess transforms the bird into a rabbit.

How To Work With This Archetype

The Maiden

The Maiden is one of your Archetypes if you are life still in touch with your childhood intuition and fantasies and have used these to fulfill your dreams. Hence you can still have the Maiden Archetype at any time of life.

The Maiden reminds you to look after the magical child that lies within us all.

Shadow Maiden asks you to look at whether your dreams and aspirations are selfish and take no account of the needs of others.

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Ostara/Eostre

Ēostre or Ostara (Old English: Ēastre [æːɑstre], Northumbrian dialect Ēostre [eːostre]; Old High German: *Ôstara ) is a Germanic goddess who, by way of the Germanic month bearing her name (Northumbrian: Ēosturmōnaþ; West Saxon: Ēastermōnaþ; Old High German: Ôstarmânoth), is the namesake of the festival of Easter in some languages. Ēostre is attested solely by Bede in his 8th-century work The Reckoning of Time, where Bede states that during Ēosturmōnaþ (the equivalent of April), pagan Anglo-Saxons had held feasts in Ēostre’s honor, but that this tradition had died out by his time, replaced by the Christian Paschal month, a celebration of the resurrection of Jesus.

By way of linguistic reconstruction, the matter of a goddess called *Austrō in the Proto-Germanic language has been examined in detail since the foundation of Germanic philology in the 19th century by scholar Jacob Grimm and others. As the Germanic languages descend from Proto-Indo-European (PIE), historical linguists have traced the name to a Proto-Indo-European goddess of the dawn *H₂ewsṓs (→ *Ausṓs), from which descends the Common Germanic divinity from whom Ēostre and Ostara are held to descend. Additionally, scholars have linked the goddess’s name to a variety of Germanic personal names, a series of location names (toponyms) in England, and, discovered in 1958, over 150 inscriptions from the 2nd century CE referring to the matronae Austriahenae.

Theories connecting Ēostre with records of Germanic Easter customs, including hares and eggs, have been proposed. Particularly prior to the discovery of the matronae Austriahenae and further developments in Indo-European studies, debate has occurred among some scholars about whether or not the goddess was an invention of Bede. Ēostre and Ostara are sometimes referenced in modern popular culture and are venerated in some forms of Germanic neopaganism.

Etymology
Old English Ēostre continues into modern English as Easter and derives from Proto-Germanic *Austrǭ, itself a descendant of the Proto-Indo-European root *h₂ews-, meaning ‘to shine’ (modern English east also derives from this root).

The goddess name Ēostre is therefore linguistically cognate with numerous other dawn goddesses attested among Indo-European language-speaking peoples. These cognates lead to the reconstruction of a Proto-Indo-European dawn goddess; the Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture details that “a Proto-Indo-European goddess of the dawn is supported both by the evidence of cognate names and the similarity of mythic representation of the dawn goddess among various Indo-European groups” and that “all of this evidence permits us to posit a Proto-Indo-European *haéusōs ‘goddess of dawn’ who was characterized as a “reluctant” bringer of light for which she is punished. In three of the Indo-European stocks, Baltic, Greek and Indo-Iranian, the existence of a Proto-Indo-European ‘goddess of the dawn’ is given additional linguistic support in that she is designated the ‘daughter of heaven’.”

De temporum ratione
In chapter 15 (De mensibus Anglorum, “The English months”) of his 8th-century work De temporum ratione (“The Reckoning of Time”), Bede describes the indigenous month names of the English people. After describing the worship of the goddess Rheda during the Anglo-Saxon month of Hrēþ-mōnaþ, Bede writes about Ēosturmōnaþ, the month of the goddess Ēostre:

Eostur-monath, qui nunc Paschalis mensis interpretatur, quondam a Dea illorum quæ Eostre vocabatur, et cui in illo festa celebrabant nomen habuit: a cujus nomine nunc Paschale tempus cognominant, consueto antiquæ observationis vocabulo gaudia novæ solemnitatis vocantes.

Eosturmonath has a name which is now translated “Paschal month”, and which was once called after a goddess of theirs named Eostre, in whose honour feasts were celebrated in that month. Now they designate that Paschal season by her name, calling the joys of the new rite by the time-honoured name of the old observance.

Jacob Grimm, *Ostara, and Easter customs
In his 1835 Deutsche Mythologie, Jacob Grimm cites comparative evidence to reconstruct a potential continental Germanic goddess whose name would have been preserved in the Old High German name of Easter, *Ostara. Addressing skepticism towards goddesses mentioned by Bede, Grimm comments that “there is nothing improbable in them, nay the first of them is justified by clear traces in the vocabularies of Germanic tribes.” Specifically regarding Ēostre, Grimm continues that:

We Germans to this day call April ostermonat, and ôstarmânoth is found as early as Eginhart (temp. Car. Mag.). The great Christian festival, which usually falls in April or the end of March, bears in the oldest of OHG remains the name ôstarâ … it is mostly found in the plural, because two days … were kept at Easter. This Ostarâ, like the [Anglo-Saxon] Eástre, must in heathen religion have denoted a higher being, whose worship was so firmly rooted, that the Christian teachers tolerated the name, and applied it to one of their own grandest anniversaries.

Grimm notes that “all of the nations bordering on us have retained the Biblical pascha; even Ulphilas writes paska, not áustrô, though he must have known the word”. Grimm details that the Old High German adverb ôstar “expresses movement towards the rising sun”, as did the Old Norse term austr, and potentially also Anglo-Saxon ēastor and Gothic áustr. Grimm compares these terms to the identical Latin term auster. Grimm says that the cult of the goddess may have worshiped an Old Norse form, Austra, or that her cult may have already been extinct by the time of Christianization.

Grimm notes that the Old Norse Prose Edda book Gylfaginning attests to a male being called Austri, who Grimm describes as a “spirit of light.” Grimm comments that a female version would have been *Austra, yet that the High German and Saxon peoples seem to have only formed Ostarâ and Eástre, feminine, and not Ostaro and Eástra, masculine. Grimm additionally speculates on the nature of the goddess and surviving folk customs that may have been associated with her in Germany:

Ostara, Eástre seems therefore to have been the divinity of the radiant dawn, of upspringing light, a spectacle that brings joy and blessing, whose meaning could be easily adapted by the resurrection-day of the Christian’s God. Bonfires were lighted at Easter and according to popular belief of long standing, the moment the sun rises on Easter Sunday morning, he gives three joyful leaps, he dances for joy … Water drawn on the Easter morning is, like that at Christmas, holy and healing … here also heathen notions seems to have grafted themselves on great Christian festivals. Maidens clothed in white, who at Easter, at the season of returning spring, show themselves in clefts of the rock and on mountains, are suggestive of the ancient goddess.

In the second volume of Deutsche Mythologie, Grimm picks up the subject of Ostara again, connecting the goddess to various German Easter festivities, including Easter eggs:

But if we admit, goddesses, then, in addition to Nerthus, Ostara has the strongest claim to consideration. To what we said on p. 290 I can add some significant facts. The heathen Easter had much in common with May-feast and the reception of spring, particularly in matter of bonfires. Then, through long ages there seem to have lingered among the people Easter-games so-called, which the church itself had to tolerate : I allude especially to the custom of Easter eggs, and to the Easter tale which preachers told from the pulpit for the people’s amusement, connecting it with Christian reminiscences.

Grimm comments on further Easter time customs, including unique sword dances and particular baked goods (“pastry of heathenish form”). In addition, Grimm weights a potential connection to the Slavic spring goddess Vesna and the Lithuanian Vasara.

Locations, personal names, and the matronae Austriahenae
A cluster of place names in England contain and a variety of English and continental Germanic names include the element *ēoster, an early Old English word reconstructed by linguists and potentially an earlier form of the goddess name Ēostre. The Council of Austerfield called by King Aldfrith of Northumbria shortly before 704 convened at a place described in contemporary records both as in campo qui Eostrefeld dicitur and in campo qui dicitur Oustraefelda, which have led to the site being identified with Austerfield near Bawtry in the West Riding of Yorkshire.[10] Such locations also include Eastry (Eastrgena, 788 CE) in Kent, Eastrea (Estrey, 966 CE) in Cambridgeshire, and Eastrington (Eastringatun, 959 CE) in the East Riding of Yorkshire.

The element *ēoster also appears in the Old English name Easterwine, a name borne by Bede’s monastery abbot in Wearmouth-Jarrow and which appears an additional three times in the Durham Liber Vitae. The name Aestorhild also appears in the Liber Vitae, and is likely the ancestor of the Middle English name Estrild. Various continental Germanic names include the element, including Austrechild, Austrighysel, Austrovald, and Ostrulf.

In 1958, over 150 Romano-Germanic votive inscriptions to the matronae Austriahenae were discovered near Morken-Harff, Germany. Most of these inscriptions are in an incomplete state, yet many are at least reasonably legible. Some of these inscriptions refer to the Austriates, evidently the name of a social group.

Theories and interpretations
Some debate has occurred over whether or not the goddess was an invention of Bede’s, particularly in the 19th century before more widespread reconstructions of the Proto-Indo-European dawn goddess. Writing in the late 19th century, Charles J. Billson notes that scholars before his writing were divided about the existence of Bede’s account of Ēostre, stating that “among authorities who have no doubt as to her existence are W. Grimm, Wackernagel, Sinrock [sic], and Wolf. On the other hand, Weinhold rejects the idea on philological grounds, and so do Heinrich Leo and Hermann Oesre. Kuhn says, ‘The Anglo-Saxon Eostre looks like an invention of Bede;’ and Mannhardt also dismisses her as an etymological dea ex machina.” Billson says that “the whole question turns […], upon Bede’s credibility”, and that “one is inclined to agree with Grimm, that it would be uncritical to saddle this eminent Father of the Church, who keeps Heathendom at arms’ length and tells us less of than he knows, with the invention of this goddess.” Billson points out that the Christianization of England started at the end of the 6th century, and, by the 7th, was completed. Billson argues that, as Bede was born in 672, Bede must have had opportunities to learn the names of the native goddesses of the Anglo-Saxons, “who were hardly extinct in his lifetime.”

Writing in the late 20th century, Rudolf Simek says that, despite expressions of doubts, Bede’s account of Eostre should not be disregarded. Simek opines that a “Spring-like fertility goddess” must be assumed rather than a “goddess of sunrise” regardless of the name, reasoning that “otherwise the Germanic goddesses (and matrons) are mostly connected with prosperity and growth”. Simek points to a comparison with the goddess Rheda, also attested by Bede.

Scholar Philip A. Shaw (2011) writes that the subject has seen “a lengthy history of arguments for and against Bede’s goddess Eostre, with some scholars taking fairly extreme positions on either side” and that some theories against the goddess have gained popular cultural prominence. Shaw, however, notes that “much of this debate, however, was conducted in ignorance of a key piece of evidence, as it was not discovered until 1958. This evidence is furnished by over 150 Romano-Germanic votive inscriptions to deities named the matronae Austriahenae, found near Morken-Harff and datable to around 150–250 AD”. Most of these inscriptions are in an incomplete state, yet most are in a complete enough for reasonable clarity of the inscriptions. As early as 1966 scholars have linked these names etymologically with Eostre and an element found in Germanic personal names. Shaw argues against a functional interpretation of the available evidence and concludes that “the etymological connections of her name suggests that her worshippers saw her geographical and social relationship with them as more central than any functions she may have had”.

Hares and Freyja
In Northern Europe, Easter imagery often involves hares and rabbits. Citing folk Easter customs in Leicestershire, England where “the profits of the land called Harecrop Leys were applied to providing a meal which was thrown on the ground at the ‘Hare-pie Bank'”, late 19th-century scholar Charles Isaac Elton theorizes a connection between these customs and the worship of Ēostre. In his late 19th-century study of the hare in folk custom and mythology, Charles J. Billson cites numerous incidents of folk custom involving the hare around the period of Easter in Northern Europe. Billson says that “whether there was a goddess named Eostre, or not, and whatever connection the hare may have had with the ritual of Saxon or British worship, there are good grounds for believing that the sacredness of this animal reaches back into an age still more remote, where it is probably a very important part of the great Spring Festival of the prehistoric inhabitants of this island.”

Some scholars have linked customs and imagery involving hares to Ēostre and the Norse goddess Freyja. Writing in 1972, John Andrew Boyle cites commentary contained within an etymology dictionary by A. Ernout and A. Meillet, where the authors write that “Little else […] is known about [Ēostre], but it has been suggested that her lights, as goddess of the dawn, were carried by hares. And she certainly represented spring fecundity, and love and carnal pleasure that leads to fecundity.” Boyle responds that nothing is known about Ēostre outside of Bede’s single passage, that the authors had seemingly accepted the identification of Ēostre with the Norse goddess Freyja, yet that the hare is not associated with Freyja either. Boyle writes that “her carriage, we are told by Snorri, was drawn by a pair of cats — animals, it is true, which like hares were the familiars of witches, with whom Freyja seems to have much in common.” However, Boyle adds that “on the other hand, when the authors speak of the hare as the ‘companion of Aphrodite and of satyrs and cupids’ and point out that ‘in the Middle Ages it appears beside the figure of Luxuria’, they are on much surer ground and can adduce the evidence of their illustrations.”

In popular culture and modern veneration
Jacob Grimm’s reconstructed *Ostara has had some influence in popular culture since. The name has been adapted as an asteroid (343 Ostara, 1892 by Max Wolf), and a date on the Wiccan Wheel of the Year (Ostara, 21 March). In music, the name Ostara has been adopted as a name by the musical group Ostara, and as the names of albums by :zoviet*france: (Eostre, 1984) and The Wishing Tree (Ostara, 2009).

In some forms of Germanic neopaganism, Ēostre (or Ostara) is venerated. Regarding this veneration, Carole M. Cusack comments that, among adherents, Ēostre is “associated with the coming of spring and the dawn, and her festival is celebrated at the spring equinox. Because she brings renewal, rebirth from the death of winter, some Heathens associate Eostre with Idunn, keeper of the apples of youth in Scandinavian mythology”.

Politically, the name of Ostara was in the early 20th century invoked as the name of a German nationalist magazine, book series and publishing house established in 1905 at Mödling, Austria.

Ostara is portrayed by Kristin Chenoweth in the TV series American Gods based on the novel of the same name. In the series, Ostara has survived into the modern age by forming an alliance with the Goddess of Media (Gillian Anderson) and capitalising on the Christian holiday. Odin (Ian McShane) forces her to accept that those who celebrate Easter are worshipping Jesus and not her, causing her to join his rebellion against the New Gods.

Reference
The Goddess-Guide.com

Wikipedia

Horae

In Greek mythology the Horae (/ˈhɔːriː/) or Horai (/ˈhɔːraɪ/) or Hours (Greek: Ὧραι, Hōrai, pronounced [hɔ̂ːraj], “Seasons”) were the goddesses of the seasons and the natural portions of time.

They were originally the personifications of nature in its different seasonal aspects, but in later times they were regarded as goddesses of order in general and natural justice. “They bring and bestow ripeness, they come and go in accordance with the firm law of the periodicities of nature and of life”, Karl Kerenyi observed: “Hora means ‘the correct moment’.”  Traditionally, they guarded the gates of Olympus, promoted the fertility of the earth, and rallied the stars and constellations. The course of the seasons was also symbolically described as the dance of the Horae, and they were accordingly given the attributes of spring flowers, fragrance and graceful freshness. For example, in Hesiod’s Works and Days, the fair-haired Horai, together with the Charites and Peitho crown Pandora—she of “all gifts”—with garlands of flowers. Similarly Aphrodite, emerging from the sea and coming ashore at Cyprus, is dressed and adorned by the Horai, and, according to a surviving fragment of the epic Cypria,Aphrodite wore clothing made for her by the Charites and Horai, dyed with spring flowers, such as the Horai themselves wear.

The earliest written mention of Horai is in the Iliad where they appear as keepers of Zeus’s cloud gates. “Hardly any traces of that function are found in the subsequent tradition,” Karl Galinsky remarked in passing. They were daughters of Zeus and Themis, half-sisters to the Moirai.

The Horai are mentioned in two aspects in Hesiod and the Homeric Hymns:

• in one variant emphasizing their fruitful aspect, Thallo, Auxo, and Carpo—the goddesses of the three seasons the Greeks recognized: spring, summer and autumn—were worshipped primarily amongst rural farmers throughout Greece;
• in the other variant, emphasising the “right order” aspect of the Horai, Hesiod says that Zeus wedded “bright Themis” who bore Diké, Eunomia, and Eirene, who were law-and-order goddesses that maintained the stability of society; they were worshipped primarily in the cities of Athens, Argos and Olympia.

First triad

Of the first, more familiar, triad associated with Aphrodite and Zeus is their origins as emblems of times of life, growth (and the classical three seasons of year):

First triad

• Thallo (Θαλλώ, literally “The one who brings blossoms”; or Flora for Romans) or Thalatte was the goddess of spring, buds and blooms, a protector of youth.
• Auxo (Αὐξώ. “Increaser” as in plant growth) or Auxesia was worshipped (alongside Hegemone) in Athens as one of their two Charites, Auxo was the Charis of spring and Hegemone was the Charis of autumn. One of the Horae, and the goddess and personification of the season of summer; she is the protector of vegetation and plants, and growth and fertility.
• Carpo (Καρπώ), Carpho or Xarpo was the one who brings food (though Robert Graves in The Greek Myths (1955) translates this name as “withering”) and was in charge of autumn, ripening, and harvesting, as well as guarding the way to Mount Olympus and letting back the clouds surrounding the mountain if one of the gods left. She was an attendant to Persephone, Aphrodite and Hera, and was also associated with Dionysus, Apollo and Pan.

At Athens, two Horae; Thallo (the Hora of spring) and Carpo (the Hora of autumn), also appear in rites of Attica noted by Pausanias in the 2nd century AD. Thallo, Auxo and Carpo are often accompanied by Chione, a daughter of Boreas (the god/personification of the North Wind) and Orithyia/Oreithyia (originally a mortal princess, who was later deifyied as a goddess of cold mountain winds), and the goddess/personification of snow and winter. Along with Chione, Thallo, Auxo and Carpo were a part of the entourage of the goddess of the turn of the seasons, Persephone.

Second triad

Of the second triad associated to Themis and Zeus for law and order:

• Diké (Δίκη, “Justice”; Iustitia for Romans) was the goddess of moral justice: she ruled over human justice, as her mother Themis ruled over divine justice. The anthropomorphisation of Diké as an ever-young woman dwelling in the cities of men was so ancient and strong that in the 3rd century BCE Aratus in Phaenomena 96 asserted that she was born a mortal and that, though Zeus placed her on earth to keep mankind just, he quickly learned this was impossible and placed her next to him on Olympus, as the Greek astronomical/astrological constellation The Maiden.
• Eunomia (Εὐνομία, “Order”, governance according to good laws) was the goddess of law and legislation. The same or a different goddess may have been a daughter of Hermes and Aphrodite.
• Eirene or Irene (Εἰρήνη. “Peace”; the Roman equivalent was Pax), was the personification of peace and wealth, and was depicted in art as a beautiful young woman carrying a cornucopia, scepter and a torch or rhyton.

Third triad

Hyginus (Fabulae 183) identifies a third set of Horae:

• Pherusa (Substance, farm estates),
• Euporie or Euporia (Abundance), and
• Orthosie or Orthosia (Prosperity).

The Four Seasons

Nonnus in his Dionysiaca mentions a distinct set of four Horae, the daughters of Helios. Quintus Smyrnaeus also attributes the Horae as the daughters of Helios and Selene, and describes them as the four handmaidens of Hera. The Greek words for the four seasons of year:

• Eiar (Spring),
• Theros (Summer),
• Phthinoporon (Autumn), and
• Cheimon (Winter).

The Hours

Finally, a quite separate suite of Horae personified the twelve hours (originally only ten), as tutelary goddesses of the times of day. The hours run from just before sunrise to just after sunset, thus winter hours are short, summer hours are long:

The nine Hours

According to Hyginus, the list is only of nine, borrowed from the three classical triads alternated:

• Auco, or perhaps Auxo (Growth, from the 1st triad),
• Eunomia (Order, from the 2nd triad),
• Pherusa (Substance, from the 3rd triad),
• Carpo (Fruit, from the 1st triad),
• Diké (Justice, from the 2nd triad),
• Euporie or Euporia (Abundance, from the 3rd triad),
• Eirene or Irene (Peace, from the 2nd triad),
• Orthosie or Orthosia (Prosperity, from the 3rd triad) and
• Thallo (Flora, from the 1st triad).

The ten or twelve Hours

This last distinct set of ten or twelve Hours is much less known:

• Auge, first light (initially not part of the set),
• Anatolê or Anatolia, sunrise,
• Mousikê or Musica, the morning hour of music and study,
• Gymnastikê, Gymnastica or Gymnasia, the morning hour of education, training, gymnastics/exercise,
• Nymphê or Nympha, the morning hour of ablutions (bathing, washing),
• Mesembria, noon,
• Sponde, libations poured after lunch,
• Elete, prayer, the first of the afternoon work hours,
• Aktê, Acte or Cypris, eating and pleasure, the second of the afternoon work hours,
• Hesperis, end of the afternoon work hours, start of evening,
• Dysis, sunset,
• Arktos or Arctus, night sky, constellation (initially not part of the set).

The Mother

The Mother stands for nurturing, caring, fertility; she is a woman in the prime of her life and at the peak of her power. She protects her own and will ensure that justice is done and done well. This woman is usually mated. In human age, she would be seen as a woman in her thirties to mid-forties. Her colors are warmer than that of the maiden, such as green, copper, red, light purple or royal blue.

Rituals using the Mother:

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* Project fruition and completion.
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* When childbirth is near
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* Strength to see matters through to the end.
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* Blessings and protection. This especially applies to females who are threatened by men.
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* Guidance in life decisions.
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* Marriages, or the contemplation of or desire for marriage.
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* Finding or choosing a mate or companion.
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* Gardening, the growing of any plant.
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* Choosing or accepting an animal. Protection of animal life.
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* Making choices of any kind.
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* Gaining or continuing peace.
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* Developing intuition and psychic gifts.
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* Spiritual direction.

The Cycle of Transformations of February Goddesses

In Her Cycle of Transformations day 031, February 01 is dedicated to:

Flora, Flourishing-One.

Italy: Roman.

Maiden Goddess of spring, blooming plants, gardens & merriment; Grand Madam of
prostitutes.

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In Her Cycle of Transformations day 032, February 02 is dedicated to:

Februata, Queen-of-Love’s-Fever.

Italy: Roman Perhaps originally Sabine.

Oracular Goddess of love’s passion; She Who calls forth animals from their
winter hibernation.

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In Her Cycle of Transformations day 033, February 03 is dedicated to:

Freya, Lady.

Scandinavia: Norse.

Shape-shifting White Goddess of midsummer, beauty, love, magic, death &
divination; Fate-ruler.

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In Her Cycle of Transformations day 034, February 04 is dedicated to:

Frigg, Beloved.

Scandinavia: Norse.

Matron Goddess of earth, vegetation, compassion, healing, fertility & love;
Eponym of Friday.

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In Her Cycle of Transformations day 035, February 05 is dedicated to:

Philyra, Linden-Tree.

Greece: Hellenic.

Shape-shifting Goddess of beauty, perfume, healing, writing & divination;
Discoverer of paper.

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In Her Cycle of Transformations day 036, February 06 is dedicated to:

Fides, Faith.

Italy: Roman.

Hoary Goddess of trust, integrity & generously co-operative dealings between
human-beings.

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In Her Cycle of Transformations day 037, February 07 is dedicated to:

Phyllis, Leafy.

Greece: Hellenic.

Goddess of spring, trees, wisdom, women’s secrets & the genetic knowledge
contained in seeds.

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In Her Cycle of Transformations day 038, February 08 is dedicated to:

Ereshkigal, Queen-of-Deadland.

Mesopotamia: Sumer.

Compassionless & violent Goddess of gloom, death & the dead; She Who is full of
rage; Holy-one.

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In Her Cycle of Transformations day 039, February 09 is dedicated to:

Eriu, Noble-One.

Celtic: Ireland.

Bestower of Sovereignty; Eponym and Anthropomorph of Eriu; shapeshifting
Goddess of fate.

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In Her Cycle of Transformations day 040, February 10 is dedicated to:

Erinyes, Spirits-of-Anger-and-Revenge.

Greece: Hellenic.

Winged Triple Crone Goddess of fate, [creative anger], women’s rights & sudden
destruction.

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In Her Cycle of Transformations day 041, February 11 is dedicated to:

Eris, Strife.

Greece: Hellenic.

Goddess of deceit, discord & disputation; Provoker of rivalry, contention,
murder & wars.

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In Her Cycle of Transformations day 042, February 12 is dedicated to:

Erigone, Plentiful-Offspring.

Greece: Marathon & Attica.

Goddess of death, trees & fertility; She Who is associated with wine & a
pastoral economy.

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In Her Cycle of Transformations day 043, February 13 is dedicated to:

Djanggau, ___.

Australia: North East Arherm Land.

With Her sister Djunkgao, Dual fertility Goddess Who brought forth all life in
the beginning.

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In Her Cycle of Transformations day 044, February 14 is dedicated to:

Juno, [Shining-One].

Italy: Roman (English pronunciation).

Goddess of beauty & the lunar measurement of time; Essence of life; Protectress
of women.

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In Her Cycle of Transformations day 045, February 15 is dedicated to:

Jubchas-Guaya, Mother-of-Joy.

America, South: Columbia.

Rebellious, light-hearted, wild & lovely Goddess of the moon, love, happiness &
intoxication.

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In Her Cycle of Transformations day 046, February 16 is dedicated to:

Juturna

Italy: Roman (English pronunciation).

Goddess of springs, rivers, aqueducts & fountains; Matron of architects &
sculptors.

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In Her Cycle of Transformations day 047, February 17 is dedicated to:

Juventas, Youthfulness.

Italy: Roman (English pronunciation).

Goddess of increase & blessings; Representative of the eternal youth &
solidarity of a species.

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In Her Cycle of Transformations day 048, February 18 is dedicated to:

Jezanna, ___.

Africa: Zimbabwe.

Glowing Goddess of the golden moon, abundant crops, healthy children &
plentiful cattle.

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In Her Cycle of Transformations day 049, February 19 is dedicated to:

Druantia, Queen-of-the-Oak.

Celtic: Britain & Gaul, Druids.

Goddess of birth, wisdom, death & metempsychosis; Mother of the Irish
tree-calendar alphabet.

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In Her Cycle of Transformations day 050, February 20 is dedicated to:

Jyestha, Elder-Sister.

India: especially Dravidian.

Goddess of the cosmic energy which motivates evolution; She Who dances the
dance of life.

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In Her Cycle of Transformations day 051, February 21 is dedicated to:

Jagadhamba, World-Mother.

India: Hindu.

Goddess of the cosmic energy which motivates evolution; She Who dances the
dance of life.

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In Her Cycle of Transformations day 052, February 22 is dedicated to:

Jara, Becoming-Old.

India: Hindu.

Goddess of the household, domestic health, happiness & prosperity; Night-eater
of corpses.

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In Her Cycle of Transformations day 053, February 23 is dedicated to:

Uni, [Dove].

Italy: Etruria.

Singular Mother of the uni-verse; Goddess of the sea & sky; Ultimate Womb;
Matron of women.

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In Her Cycle of Transformations day 054, February 24 is dedicated to:

Una-Kuagsak, Great-Mother.

America, North & Siberia: Inuit.

One-eyed Queen Goddess of the Arctic Ocean; Mistress of life & death; Mother of
sea-mammals.

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In Her Cycle of Transformations day 055, February 25 is dedicated to:

Ubasti, She-of-the-City-Bast.

Egypt.

Goddess of the kindly sun, merriment, mental-health, music & dance; Guardian of
pregnant women.

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In Her Cycle of Transformations day 056, February 26 is dedicated to:

Uke-Mochi-No-Kami, She-Who-Possesses-Food.

Japan.

Goddess of fertility & nourishment; Provider, through death, of life sustaining
substances.

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In Her Cycle of Transformations day 057, February 27 is dedicated to:

Ourania, ___.

Greece: < the east.

Mountain Goddess of summer, especially mid-summer; Queen of the winds; Ruler of
the night sky.

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In Her Cycle of Transformations day 058, February 28 is dedicated to:

Urmya, ___.

India: Hindu, Vedic.

Goddess of night & the celestial order; Protectress of sleep; She Who guards
against thieves.

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In Her Cycle of Transformations day 059, February 29 is dedicated to:

Nana, Old-Queen.

Mesopotamia.

Virgin Mother Goddess of the Spirit of vegetation & fertility; beloved Consort
of kings.

Posted by Mistress of the Myst

On Thursday, July 6th, We Celebrate the Goddess Haumea

HAUMEA, A POLYNESIAN GODDESS, was credited with teaching women how to give birth by pushing their babies out from between their legs. Before this, folklore claims that children were cut from their wombs, extracted by knife like a pit from ripe fruit. Thanks to Haumea, women were able to forego this dangerous life passage.

Haumea mated with the god Kane Milohai. Their numerous children included Hi’iaka, who taught the hula dance to the Hawaiians, and Pele, the tempestuous fire goddess associated with volcanoes. One myth claims that Pele was born from the goddess’s armpit, suggesting the overwhelming fertility of Haumea—life was created from all of her body, not just her womb. In some ways, Pele reflected the mirror aspect of Haumea. Just as Haumea creates life, Pele destroys with fire. Haumea was also credited with giving birth to many fantastic creatures who populated the earth.

Also a goddess of vegetation, Haumea is honored as the mother of Hawaii. It is appropriate that a goddess so closely associated with fertility would be tied to this verdant island paradise.

The Book of Goddesses: Expanded Anniversary Edition
Kris Waldherr

On Wednesday, July 5th, We Honor the Goddess Yemanja

YEMANJA, THE SANTERIA GODDESS of the ocean, is believed to be the daughter of the earth goddess Oddudua, and the sister and wife of the god Aganju. As the mother of the fourteen gods and goddesses who make up the pantheon, Yemanja occupies an exalted position in the Santeria religion.

Santeria developed during the nineteenth century from the Yoruba religion practiced by enslaved Africans who were brought to Cuba to work on sugarcane plantations. plantations. Since the Yoruba were not allowed to practice their native beliefs, they camouflaged their rituals with the symbols of the Roman Catholicism they were forced to observe; one example of this is the affinity of the goddess Yemanja to the Virgin Mary. By this practice, the Yoruba remained loyal to their orishas, or deities, and avoided detection and punishment. The Santeria religion spread from Cuba, where it originated, through the Caribbean to North and South America. It is still widely practiced today.

At some time in their lives, each practitioner of Santeria chooses one of the gods or goddesses to be their spiritual parent. Those who are the children of Yemanja try to please the goddess in many ways. Since seven is the number sacred to Yemanja, they wear seven silver bracelets on their arms. They also burn candles as blue as the ocean Yemanja rules. Beautiful blue and crystal beads, strung into necklaces as ethereal as iridescent moonlight upon the sea, adorn their necks.

The Book of Goddesses: Expanded Anniversary Edition
Kris Waldherr