The White Goddess, the feminine, divine fountain of poetic imagination, documented by Robert Graves throughout the centuries, is the hidden secret behind the 'true poets' of antiquity. Through the White Goddess's ever enduring melodious generosity of inspiration to all poets alike, can we perhaps catch a glimpse of her brilliance. Propagated within the covers of The White Goddess are 'historical' claims of goddess worships transmuted to a rhetoric of masculine worship...
"And this(a connection between early myths of three races, Greeks, Hebrews and Celts) is not of merely antiquarian interest, for the popular appeal of modern Catholicism is, despite the patriarchal Trinity and the all-male priesthood, based rather on the Aegan Mother-and-Son religious tradition, to which it has slowly reverted, than on its Armaen or Indo-European 'warrior-god' elements." -Chpt.4, pg. 56
These claims can be seen to hold some historical weight as research conducted by Sir Arthur Evans, who is credited with the discovery of the Minoan religion due to his deducing that such a religion did in fact exist through his excavation of the Palace of Minos, located on the Island of Crete, according to the Institute for the Study of Ancient History through New York University. He claimed there was sufficient proof, through his analysis of cave paintings, rings, and other artifacts, most notable small figurines made of ceramic and glazed, known as a process called faience, of women with displayed breasts and hands filled with a serpent adjacent to her ears. These figurines were clear indications of goddess worship, he uses the term Great Mother Nature Goddess.
Not to get side-tracked, but the term "Great Mother Nature Goddess" and its derivatives can be traced by some 30,000 years ago to southern Europe, where early humans worshiped a form of a celestial goddess, symbolizing the earth itself and harnessed powers of sacred divinity but also, according to The White Goddess, potentiality for great suffering. If you break down the word, Goddess, the individual aspects become striking. -Ess, from Old english (5th century to Norman Conquest in 1066) -ess, which itself was derived from Old french (8th century to 14th century, when the dialects were conglomerated to langue d'oïl, Occitan language) -esse, from Late Latin (3rd to the 6th centuries AD, which push and shove) -issa, from Ancient Greek (Archaic and Classical periods of the ancient Greek civilisation) -issa.
The Goddess, divine Mother, Mother Nature, were seen as protectors of the world, symbols of fertility and reproduction and were immortalized in sculpture, dance, music, paintings, and poems, and in Hinduism culture we see a greater emphasis on the feminine aspects of the divine than the West, with Kali, Durga, Lakshmi, Radharani, etc. These Goddesses harness the power of love, brashness, rage, and many variances for the protection of their devotee's and it would seem only natural for the pouring of devotion to spill into the poetic verses attributed to these deities. Take note, whoever, Radha is the feminine aspect of Sri Krishna, and collectively their names are Radha-Krishna, Kali is the embolden version of Parvati, who is Shiva's wife, thus being the feminine aspect of Lord Shiva, Durga is a personality of the wife of Shiva, Parvati. Although one might not draw links, there is, even in this, a clear aptitude for the balancing of the sexual powers of feminine and masculine, articulated throughout Hinduism and its variance. Without one, you cannot have the other.
Graves points out....
"--that Christian legend, dogma, and ritual are the refinement of a great body of primitive and even barbarous beliefs, and that almost the only original element in Christianity is the personality of Jesus.--" Chp. 13 pg. 235
I agree Robert Graves, I agree.
(Sites used for research)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_of_God_in_Christianity
Comments