Mother's Day

Since today is a special day I'm postponing the Weekly link round up until tomorrow. My men got me a brand new very nice camera, a lovely card signed by both of them, and a surprise gift traveling towards me at this very moment. In honor of Mother's Day I thought I would share a little info about all of the Mother Goddesses I can think of.

Bast

• Bast was one of the most highly honored feline gods
• She was a goddess of sex and fertility
• Also called Bastet
• She guarded rural fold and nobility alike
• Also seen as a goddess who protected mothers and their newborn children

Brighid

• The classic triple goddess (has two sisters also called Brighid)
• The patron of poets and bards as well as healers and magicians
• Especially honored when it comes to matters of prophecy and divination
• Honored during Imbolc
• Goddess of hearth and home, known to watch over women in childbirth
• associated with healing and crafts

Cybele

• Cybele's Lover was Attis, her jealousy caused him to castrate and kill himself (he is resurrected)
• Associated with the cycle of life, death, and rebirth

Demeter

• A goddess of grain and of the harvest
• When her daughter Persephone is abducted by Hades Demeter's grief caused the crops to die and go dormant
• Persephone escapes only after eating 6 pomegranate seeds and is doomed to spend six months of the year in the underworld
• Each year Demeter mourns the loss of her daughter for 6 months (the dark have of the year)

Freyja

• A goddess of love, fertility, war and wealth
• One of the Vanir (a Norse deity of earth and water that lived in Asgard)
• Could be called upon for assistance in childbirth, conception, to aid with marital problems, or to bestow fruitfulness upon the land and sea
• She owned a magickal cloak of hawks feathers, which allowed her to transform at will, a famous necklace named Brisingamen, and a chariot driven by large cats

Frigga

• Frigga was the wife of Odin
• A Goddess of fertility and marriage
• Associated with prophecy

Gaia

• Gaia personifies the Earth
• She is born of Chaos
• Brought forth the Sky, the Mountains, the Sea, and the God Uranus
• She is paired with Uranus to give birth to the first race of Divine beings (The three Cyclops [Bronte, Arges, and Steropes] the three Hecatoncheirs [each had a hundred hands] and the twelve Titans [led by Cronos became the elder Gods of Greek mythology])
• Uranus forced her offspring back inside her and she persuaded Cronos to castrate his father (who is later overthrown by Zeus, which she predicts)

Isis

• Goddess of magick
• Wife and sister of Osiris
• Mother of Horus
• The divine mother of every haraoh of Egypt
• Gained power over Ra by learning his true name
• Used her power to bring Osiris back to life (who was killed by his brother Set)

Juno

• Watched over women and marriage
• The month of June was named for her
• With Vesta (the protector of virginity) these two goddesses were sacred to Roman women

If I've missed any please fill me in!

Celebrating Brighid

As many of you already know the Celtic Goddess Brighid is honored at Imbolc. With the day itself fast approaching I thought I would take a little time to pay homage to her.

Brighid is someone of a Jill-of-all trades. She has two sisters each with the name Brighid and is considered the classic triple Goddess. Together they're associated with healing, crafts, and home. She was thought to watch over women during child birth and was also patron to musicians, artists, and healers. She has also been known to be helpful in matters of prophecy and divination.

Brighid's name comes from the Celtic word Brig meaning exalted. She is known as the High One of Strength and the bringer of civilization. Her worship was spread all over Ireland but originated in the southeast region known as Leinster, and was attended by and all female priesthood.

Brighid was the daughter of the Dagda, a Celtic fertility God and supreme deity of the land. She was the mother of Ruadan who was half giant and half God. Early myths say she was married to the Irish King, Bres Mac Elatha in an attempt to form an alliance between the Tuatha De Danaan and the Formorian sea-giants.

In their attempts to help transition Pagans to Christianity it is likely that she was turned into St. Brigit of Christian mythology. As St. Brigit she was either a virginal blind nun who gouged out her own eyes in an attempt to keep her self pure, or a friend of Mary mother of Jesus and her nursemaid/ his foster mother. St. Brigit is honored at Candlemass, what the Christian's hoped to turn Imbolc into.