Gaia 1
GAIA
I will sing of
well-founded Gaia,
Mother of All,
eldest of all beings,
she feeds all creatures
that are in the world,
all that go upon the goodly land
and all that are in the paths of the sea,
and all that fly:
all these are fed of her store.
--Homeric Hymn, 7th Century B.C. (*1)
The Great Mother. Gaia.
She is Mother Earth, the Goddess embodied.
In Greek,Gaia means 'land' or 'earth',
as does Her Roman name of Terra.
The name Gaia was often spelled Ge or Ga. Ge/Ga was the Earth.
Her names are many...too many to list. She is ancient!
She is known as a primeval prophetess; the Great Creatrix.
"Gaia, the beautiful, rose up,
Broad blossomed, she that is the steadfast base
Of all things. And fair Gaia first bore
The starry Heaven, equal to herself,
To cover her on all sides..."
-a quote from the classical creation story of Hesiod, a Greek poet who lived in 700 BC (*2)
As the Great Mother, She is the ancient mother of us all. She is the Grandmother Earth. She has given birth to all that is. It is said that "She alone bore the star strewn sky, the mountains and the foaming sea." (*5) The land and sea and sky make up Her body. This hints that She created Herself, and therefore us? I always thought so...
She is the Earth Goddess which provides the ground we walk upon; the waters & air that sustains us; the fruits & seeds that nourish us; the trees and caves that shelter us; the gentle breeze that soothes us and the pulse within that beats in harmony with Her heartbeat. She is the very essence from which we are birthed, from which we have home and life and to whom we all must return.
"Oh Goddess, Source of Gods and Mortals,
All-Fertile, All-Destroying Gaia,
Mother of All, Who brings forth the bounteous fruits and flowers,
All variety, Maiden who anchors the eternal world in our own,
Immortal, Blessed, crowned with every grace,
Deep bosomed Earth, sweet plains and fields fragrant grasses in the nurturing rains,
Around you fly the beauteous stars, eternal and divine,
Come, Blessed Goddess, and hear the prayers of Your children,
And make the increase of the fruits and grains your constant care, with the fertile seasons Your handmaidens,
Draw near, and bless your supplicants."
~Orphic Hymn to Gaia~ translated and interpreted by Virginia Stewart, M.Ed. (*2)
It is interesting to note that Gaia, the "goddess of Earth is the daughter of Chaos" (*4). In my life's work, all my creativity first comes from a place of chaos ... thoughts, ideas, bits & pieces that eventually make up the whole of what I am seeking to create/express/birth. My creative art begins as scattered energies; messy piles of paper/images/poems; inspired yet often times scattered ideas, visions and inner knowing; as well as all the chores left undone while I "create" and "give birth" to something from and yet far beyond myself.
In Greek mythology, Gaia gave birth to many, many, many children. The ancient stories tell of the children Gaia carried in Her womb. I found it heartbreaking to learn that each father acted in ways that were selfish and fear based, against Gaia and Her children. The stories say the men feared the power of Gaia.(*4) and wished Her children dead. As one babe entered the birth passage from Her womb, its father shoved his penis into Gaia and tried to block the birth! (*2) Many of Her children were killed/harmed, imprisoned, & even eaten. One father with great audacity when he could not stop the birth process swallowed up Gaia Herself. She gave birth anyway; how could she not? The father then claimed the birth as his glory/feat/ and under his control. It use to be that Gaia was free to be. Her awful experiences explain so profoundly the truth and plight of the feminine being today. Since the beginning male energy has feared Her mysteries and magick so much, that they selfishly destroy that which they should love most. Thus began the dishonor of Her holy cycles of life death rebirth; Her body, the seas and land and sky; and even our very lives. Why must male energy war against female energy?
When I stumbled upon this knowledge it shined some light on a hidden truth within me. At first I wondered why Gaia would even allow such a thing, but the answer came in the form of an old adage: "Like mother, like daughter." I know the answer.
I have experienced the male energy within many times before, when it attempts to do the same to my beautiful dreams; to my artistic creations waiting to be borne and to the seeds of creation that I hold inside. All these unborn energies/spirits await me to empower them and yet many do not come into being due to the sabotage of the male energy within my own psyche. While my feminine energies remain silent or weary of spirit. Having worked extensively with shadow work some years back, I was required to embrace my male energy in ways that now bring me into a place of balance. My male energies are now strong in an honorable sense, strong enough to honor the goddess within while both protecting and supporting her wisdom and ways of knowing that may make no sense to him.
Once we, as a people lived in harmony with Gaia. Once women were whole and free to be and live as their goddess self. This was a long, very long time ago. Some of us still remember the time before patriarchy usurped Her power of fertility, spiral path, and cycles. Yet many children have forgotten their mother. It is time for all the daughters of the earth to embrace Gaia and stand beside Her, supporting and caring for Her. This is especially vital today, since our current patriarchal culture is so out of balance and unstable. Women still face these oppressive energies. Sisters need to unite. We are our mothers' daughter. I seek Her guidance in being a better mother... not only to my children, to those of my sisters, and to those not yet borne, but to myself.
Women belong to Her. We are daughters of the earth and sea and sky. She is the triple goddess and Her reflection is our own. Maiden. Mother. Crone. She is the archetypal mother within our collective unconsciousness; our true Mother.
yoga/movement instructor Marin Bach wrote:
"As a new mother I am deeply inspired by Gaia. She teaches women everywhere that to be good mothers we must honor the balance between giving fully to our children and taking time to give to ourselves.
In quiet moments as I watch my children sleep I call on her. "Gaia, divine earth mother, open my heart so that I may love my little ones unconditionally and honor their highest light. Help me to celebrate mothering as a deeply sacred work and to continually celebrate myself as a Goddess." (*5)
It is time for women to come into their true power. Use our voice. Reclaim our birthright.
An anonymous woman was quoted in The Feminine Face of God by Sherry Ruth Anderson & Patricia Hopkins (Bantam Books, 1991):
"On the third day, I lit a small fire and began to dance following the rhythm of my heartbeat. As I did this, I felt I was being encircled by a ring of ancient, women who were blessing me. They were blessing my breasts and womb and legs and belly, and praising my strength and beauty and courage. As my eyes filled with tears of gratitude, they told me that I should not weep because this was my birthright as a woman. 'At one time every young woman was blessed in this way,' they said, 'so no one could be pulled off her knowing by a man. The young ones knew they were whole and connected to everything that lived because we elders sat in witness for them, just as we're doing for you today.' (*6)
I found a small treasure to contemplate: Gaia is believed to be the deity behind the Oracle. (*4) Since I have been using oracles for decades, I find it fascinating that the first voice in essence was that of Gaia. This must be why this once was held as truth to all: "... oaths sworn in the name of Gaia are considered most sacred and binding compared to oaths sworn in the name of other gods." (*4)
Gaia is our source. She is the imaginary umbilical cord we all rely on to sustain and keep us until we are mature enough to be born. She is also the Mother that tends to us, guides us, nurtures us, and teaches us all the days of our life. When the time comes and we die, it is She who cradles us within Her dark mysteries.
Gaia is beautiful, powerful. She is soft and hard, giving and devouring. She is broad breasted with wide hips. This description of Gaia reminds me of my own body. It makes me feel close to Her, knowing my shape is Her own. It allows me to see the goddess in myself when I gaze into a mirror, honoring Her image reflected as my own. It's no wonder that we gather together to worship Her at Her holy sites. Her majestic mountains; Her wet forests lush with greenery and delicate flowers; Her powerful waves crashing against Her supple shores; Her rivers and streams that run through fertile valleys and gardens rich in fruits; Her mysterious caves and deep ocean caverns; Her soils of all colours; the fires deep in Her belly. She gives life, even while it may seem destructive and illicit fear, Her ways are just and good.
I feel close to Gaia and honor Her when I get close to nature. When I walk barefooted upon Her body, when I grow gardens and tend to plants, when I create & dedicate art to Her, when I lay amid sacred groves and protect Her waters, air and lands. I feel close to Gaia when I listen quietly... when I sit beneath the star filled sky trusting that I am loved and safe. I feel close to Gaia when I live seasonally, when I walk in beauty and have a grateful heart. I feel close to Gaia when I bathe and care for my body. I feel close to Gaia when I listen to the sounds of nature, and open my spirit to beauty. I feel close to Gaia when I see the power of Her tides, weather and changing moods. She is the Great Mother.
She is alive. The Gaia hypothesis (*3) proposes that She is a living being which we all are interdependent upon. It is only as we start to awaken to the destruction She is undergoing on a daily basis, the rapes, and poisoning and abuse She has endured, will we gain awareness for the environmental concerns we have caused and the problems we now face without and within. Something radical must be done to restore balance, to ensure both Her health and well being for our own sakes as well as Hers. The creatures which live among us need our voice as well. I am only one, but I can recycle, be a conscious shopper, and just keep an awareness of my footprint on Her sacred body. When I do these things for Her, keeping Her beauty and laws within my heart and mind, I discover the wisdom to honor the goddess within my self and my own body. I walk the path of beauty with Gaia.
She is the power of creation. For a very long time She ruled. She continues to bless us with Her nurturing and healing energies. Circles were gathered and Her daughters lived in harmony with the changing seasons and in balance upon Her living body. There are still sacred wombs, those clefts in the earths rocks and land. Her daughters gather there to honor Her.
These words caught my attention and held it captive for long moments, while I pondered its promise.
".... women call to her still through cracks in fertile Earth, and those whose lips receive Gaia's ambrosia, turn immortal. Her womb is the source of all living things. Her heart; the beat of creation." (*5)
I am reminded of all the womb entrances in nature all over the world. We gather at these sacred sites to worship and adorn the goddess there and within. I have been collecting images of these sacred places for years. I hope to visit some of them.
yoni2 1
Above is an example of one... I have uploaded it along with a few more in my photos under album name "sacred sites".
Anna Livia Plurabelle wrote a book entitled: Book of the Goddess
The following is from the book. It is so powerful and simple that it embodies what it means to "Worship Her by restoring balance to Her planet."
She writes: "The Goddess in her form Gaia is the spirit of the fourth principle."
Life on this planet has been tossed out of balance by the patriarchy with its arbitrary division between the human world and the natural world.
This has led to technology without love, women and men set apart and men set above women, the rending of mind from body and spirit from mind, war without end, and labor without fair recompense.
Technology and Science are not inventions of the patriarchy. The understanding of nature and how to use that understanding to improve our lives was invented by the civilization of the Goddess. This was done as an act of love for the body of the Goddess we inhabit, Gaia.
Because the love of Gaia was the basis for the civilization of the Goddess, the 'original sin' of the patriarchs was to spurn this love, by declaring that the body of Gaia, our wide-hipped Mother, was theirs to ravage and plunder.
When the patriarchy seized technology and purged it of love, the first thing they did was invent warfare, so that they could take from the innocent, and accumulate wealth and power.
Unless you love what you do, your life will be empty of pleasure and you will be burdened on the path of the Goddess. This is the principle of creative love. A thing made without love is a hollow shadow.
Unless you pay fair recompense for labor, the Goddess will shun your enterprise. Labor must have voice in the counsels of the workplace. Trade which exploits one of the parties in the transaction, or which plunders Gaia's body, will lead to disaster and ruin for all involved.
Unless we love the Earth and learn to live in balance, She will scourge our civilization like She has done before and will do again. Gaia is not dependent on humanity for existence; we do not own Her and we are not her shepherd. She existed long before humans walked on the Earth. She has Her own cycles and balances, and if we continue on the path of unbalance, we are expendable.
The Invocation of Gaia (time of day: noon): "Blessed Gaia, our first and best home, Gaia of the green hills and wide plains, Gaia of the ocean depths. I walk in beauty. I walk in peace. I walk in balance on the path of the Goddess. Blessed be." (*7)
This is so beautiful and true I had to share the entire quote. May all women read these words and act in beauty as daughters of Gaia.
While browsing the web, I came across a website that spoke of a lunar eclipse in 1998 that changed a woman called Isis forever, the evening she experienced the Goddess Gaia awakening. (*10)
Isis' Account of the Awakening Goddess Gaia
"She is very earthy and beautiful, sort of raw, not clean and neat, but rather disheveled and tattered in a very sensuous way. Her odor reminds me of eucalyptus.. that healing kind of smell, but she is also reddish, ruddy like red dirt rubbed into her skin. I see her with red leaves for clothing, and smell the deep, sweet scent of the soil after it is turned. I feel her practicality and sense. She is wonderful. Her fullness of being is overwhelming and yet familiar. She is not sweet and light as you think of fairies, but strong, swarthy almost with a vibrant androgynous strength that emanates from her yet at the same time she is a SHE and very deeply womanly. " (*10)
This description of Gaia is so sublime. It is exactly how I picture Her and how I feel when I am being my most naked self and at one with Her.
She goes on to say:
To my delight she sees me looking in wonder at her and asks,
"What has been happening since I have been asleep?"
How can I do anything but stare in awe? Goddess Gaia wants me to tell her what has gone on since she fell asleep?
I am speechless. The very thought of trying to speak of this is overwhelming. Just the number of years alone, and then the sorry tales of rape and pillage! Heavens.. to talk of the misery would break her heart and mine. That would be a long sad tale to tell of wicked warriors and marauding hordes. I stay silent. Not willing to break the magical moment of this adoration I feel for her. " (*10)
This is powerful and beautiful. I wish to share these experiences with other women in circle at full moons. Upon reading this I was reminded of a journal entry I created in my first visual journal:
An image of a woman sleeping as in a bed, but it is the mountains and villages, streams and trees which blanket her (*8).... along with this Chinese proverb: "When sleeping women wake, mountains move."
Gaia has been patient. I don't doubt that She is running thin on patience. When she awakens, will the concrete go flying and crumble into dust? Will She shake the dirty linens off Her bed?
I wonder....
I came upon a blog page that was so green and lush just like the earth Herself. There I saw a card with the image of a woman laying down, sprawled across the landscape as if she were the earth Herself... maybe She is!
Gaia - the earth mother
The image inspires me to find the tarot deck which houses that hauntingly beautiful card. Once I locate it, I want to study its meaning and apply this wisdom to how best honor Gaia in my daily life. Rebecca Rite seems to have dedicated her entire little page to Gaia. The poem she wrote reminds me of the lunar eclipse when Gaia awoke.
Gaia
Goddess of Earth
Your core sustains us
Your beauty -
flawless in its natural perfection.
You slumber peacefully,
trusting us with your care -
resting serenely
within Earth's lair.
Yet we abuse your generosity
by dining greedily at your table
refusing others
as they wither away in starvation.
We repay you with acts of atrocities
no longer honoring
the life of your animals -
but savagely slay them
pummel them
slice them
alive
as they scream
as they plead
with terrified eyes.
And their crimson tears
seep deep into your Earth
carrying witness to you
of cruelties suffered
at the hands of your guests.
And I observe you Goddess Gaia
I feel you Mother Earth,
Giver of Life -
hearing the cries of the poor
feeling the pain of the slain
and you weep torrents
for having misjudged
and entomb yourself
deeper -
further -
into your own tears
of anguished pain.
For Poefusion and WI
Posted by Rebecca (*11)
May Gaia awake and find that we have taken care of Her and created beauty in Her honor. May we awaken and find that all that we feared has been but a dream.
This poem speaks profoundly of what it means to be a daughter of Gaia:
"I remember something ancient
Deep inside of me
And it binds me to this Earth.
My path is to encourage others
To awaken to this Truth
That we may walk together
And let our footsteps
Be a prayer of gratitude to
Mother Earth"
Natasha Marchant (*6)
Women all over the world are gathering in circle to empower themselves and to speak out for Gaia. (*9) Women need to spread the word of these gatherings and circles, so we can join together in honor of Gaia.
Another account from "The Watcher" (1998 email letter)
Are you feeling unusually tired lately? sort of like you're walking in molasses? It feels as though I'm being pulled down by gravity - very strange feeling and yet at the same time my spirit is feeling stronger. What effect does it have on you? I had another one of those dreams last night. I saw a being shaped like a human woman in a grey-colored cocoon waiting to be born. Everyone was staring at her in wonder - she was unaware of herself, unconscious. A whisper of awe broke through the crowd when she turned over from one side to her back and then to the other side. As she lay on her back I looked over each inch of her body. It was unfinished and needed more time in the cocoon to develop. It was the "Daughter of the Mother". (*10)
This is exactly how I have been feeling, for years now, like a butterfly waiting to emerge. I wonder if Gaia feels much the same... Awaiting Her rebirth.
May Gaia awaken within your life and may She inspire you to grow and blossom as you transform your life and world, to honor Her in body and soul. May She awaken within each of us the power to speak and become the force, the protectress and true daughters of the earth and sea and sky which will bring about healing change.
Gaia, Mother of us All... awaken and be renewed. Awaken us all.
*Notes:
1. http://www.kheper.net/topics/Gaia/goddess.htm Gaia as Goddess
2. http://www.paleothea.com/sortasingles/gaia.html Greek Goddess of Earth
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaia_(mythology) Wikipedia - Gaia (mythology)
4. http://www.buzzle.com/articles/greek-goddess-of-earth.html Greek Goddess of Earth Intelligent life on the web
5. http://www.goddessonearth.com/gaia.htm Goddess on Earth /Gaia
6. http://www.gaiagoddesses.com/ Gaia Goddesses
7. http://www.sacred-texts.com/wmn/bog/bog25.htm Myth & Folklore CD-ROM
Book of the Goddess, by Anna Livia Plurabelle
4. Worship Her by restoring balance to Her planet.
"The Goddess in her form Gaia is the spirit of the fourth principle.
8. Image description from the cover of a book by Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Ph D. "Theatre of the Imagination"
9. http://seattle.backpage.com/Events/gaia_s_temple_goddess_worship_service/classifieds/ViewAd? %20oid=1415894
Gaia's Temple Goddess Worship Service
10. http://www.aloha.net/~ruth/Gaia.html The Planetary Goddess Awakes
Gaia the very soul of this planet AWOKE on the Eclipse of February of 98.
11. http://rebeccarites.blogspot.com/2008/06/goddess-gaia.html just a thought
because inspiration begins with that one thought, that one word, that one image Thursday june 19 2008 Goddess Gaia
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October 2009 
goddess of the gypsy moon
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