Queen of
Divinities,
To Her who is the cause of all
auspicious things
Forever
reverence.
To the
Goddess named - Maat
Great is Maat
the mighty
and unalterable.
Quoted in Who's Who in Egyptian Mythology by Anthony S. Mercatante
To the Goddess named - Mahadevi[?\cyc\s\sakti]
Reverence--to the Goddess, Queen of Divinities,
To Her who is the cause of all auspicious
things
Forever reverence.
Reverence to the Power-of-creation
Who maintains all that is.
With my mind
wholly upon Her I make obeisance to Her.
Reverence to her who is eternal,
d the Power-of-dissolution,
To
the Golden One, Creatrix-and-Upholder-of-the-Cosmos,
Reverence, and again, reverence.
To Her who is moonlight and the moon,
To Her
who is supreme bliss, reverence forever.
Bending low I show my obeisance to the auspicious one
Who is the wealth of prosperity,
Who is mountains of jewels,
Who is
perfection and dissolution,
Reverence and again reverence.
To She who
is known with difficulty,
Who is the life and strength and cause of all,
Who is both
black and grey, reverence forever.
We
prostrate ourselves before thee
Who art
most gentle and formidable.
Reverence
to Her who dwells in the inmost of beings
To the
Goddess who is known as intelligence in all,
Who dwells
in the form of mind in all things,
Who in the
form of sleep abides in all beings,
Who exists
in all beings in the form of hunger,
Who exists
in all beings in the form of peace,
Who exists in all beings as energy,
Who exists
in the form of thirst in all beings,
Who in the
form of forgiveness exists in all,
Who exists
in all beings as the specie they're one of,
Who in the
form of modesty exists in all
Who exists
in the form of belief in Herself in all,
Who exists
in the form of beauty in all beings,
Who exists
in all in the form of prosperity,
Who exists
in all beings as their calling,
Who in the
form of memory exists in all beings,
Who in all
beings exists in
the form of mercy,
Who in the
form of contentment exists in all,
Who exists
in all beings as Mother and Protectress,
Who as
making mistakes exists in all beings,
Reverence, Reverence, and again reverence to Her.
Reverence to Her who presides over the
senses,
Who is ever
in all beings, who pervades all things.
To the
Goddess who in the form of consiousness
Having
pervaded all the world, exists therein,
Reverence
to Her, reverence to Her.
May the
Queen and Ruler of the worlds,
Who is the
cause of all good,
Do good and
auspicious things for us,
May She ward off all calamities.
May She who I now salute as my Queen,
Whom I call
to mind while bowing in devotion,
Destroy at
this very moment all our troubles.
Adapted by FW from "Hymn to Mahadevi"
in Hymns to the Goddess and Hymn
to Kali by Sir John Woodroffe.
To the Goddess named - Mami[?\cyc\a\Aruru]
[. . .they kissed Her feet,
[saying: "The creatress of
mankind] we call Thee;
[The
Mistr]ess
of all the gods be Thy name!"
[They
went] to the House of Fate,
[Nin]igiku-Ea [and] the wise
Mama.
[Fourteen mother]-wombs were assembled
To
tread upon the clay before Her.
[ . .
. ] Ea says, as he recites the incantation.
Sitting before Her, Ea causes Her to recite the
incantation.
[Mama reci]ted
the incantation; when She
completed
Her incantation,
[ . . . ] She drew upon Her
clay.
[Fourteen pie]ces She
pinched off; seven pieces
She placed on the
right,
[Seven
pie]ces She placed on the
left; between
them
She placed a brick.
[Ea]
was kneeling on the matting; he opened its
navel;
[ . . . he c]alled the wise
wives.
Of the [seven] and seven mother-wombs,
seven
brought
forth males,
[Seven] brought forth females.
The
Mother-Womb, the creatress of destiny,
In pairs She
completed them,
In
pairs She completed before Her.
The
forms of the people Mami forms.
In the
house of the bearing woman in travail,
Seven days shall the brick lie.
. . . from the house of Mah, the wise Mami.
The
vexed one shall rejoice in the house of the
one
in travail.
As the
Bearing One gives birth,
May
the mother of the child bring forth by
[her]self.
Tr. Speiser in Pritchard,
Ancient Near Eastern Text, pp. 99 f
as quoted by Eric Newman in
The Great Mother
NOTES: "[Nin]igiku-Ea [and] the wise
Mama" Ea: the god of earth and water.
Mama or Mami: the Mother
Goddess. "The Mother-Womb", this and "Bearing One" are
references to the Mother Goddess, Mama, or Mami.
To the Goddess named Mariamne
Womb, alight with Lady Luna's splendor,
crescents dancing upon your supple
skin, beloved light refracting,
as Your gentle lips
kiss the breath of Cardea
welcome me,
into Your salted birth waters!
Be with
me this hour,
and
always, Blessed Mother!
Abundant and ever
changing, fertile,
Universal Chalice of Life!
Accept me into Your embrace oh Mother,
that I may hold within my own
womb, Your churning,
chaotic,and bountiful
creative powers.
That I may bring forth life
in
Your light!
Spring's Sea Nymph, Fruitful
Mother provider, cleansing
Winter's Storm Crone -
with Your powerful tides push
me forward, into the Life
Dance, that my spirit may
swim the many waters of the
universe! And when my
dance is done,
my Mother,
sweep me from Your shores
and bury me,
within the linen of Your womb,
deep within the blue,
to nourish what is to come,
until it comes
time to cast my
shell, upon the sands of
Time once more.
Invocation to Mariamne by Laurel Curtis
from Thesmophoria's New Moon May
Eve, Vol. 11, No. 8 9990/1990 a.d.a.
Cardea, perhaps this is a reference to Her
dominion of the winds, qv Cardea
To the Goddess named Mary
Again,
look overhead
how air is azured;
O
how! nay do but stand
where you can lift your hand
skywards; rich, rich it laps
round the four fingergaps.
Yet
such a sapphire-shot,
charged, steeped sky will not
stain light. Yea, mark you this:
it has no prejudice.
The
glass-blue days are those
when every colour glows,
each shape and shadow shows.
Blue be it; this blue heaven
the seven or seven times seven
hued sunbeam will transmit
perfect,
not alter it.
Whereas did air not make
this bath of blue and slake
his fire, the sun would bake
a blear and blinding ball.
Wild air, world-Mothering air,
nestling me everywhere,
that each eyelash or hair
girdles; goes home betwixt
the fleeciest, frailest-flixed
snowflake; that's fairly mixed
with, riddles, and is rife
in every least thing's life;
this needful, never spent,
and nursing element;
this air, which, by life's law,
my lung must draw and draw
now but to breath its praise,
minds me in many ways
of Her who Mothers each new grace
that does now reach our race.
By
Her, I say, we are wound
with mercy, round and round,
as if with air, wondrous robe,
mantling our darling globe.
Above me, round me lie
with sweet and scarless sky;
stir in my ears, speak there
of Your love, O live air,
world-Mothering air, air wild
fold home, fast fold thy child.
from The Blessed Virgin Compared to the Air We Breathe
Gerard Manley Hopkins
To the Goddess named Mary
Ô Ave Regina Coelorum, Ñ# X[1]L
Ü‑ˆ4 X
PÒ îžÓ)
åûX[1]P#
Ñ*VA ÀÀAJENÀÀ CAL4ÀÀUM,
Ave Domina Angelorum: Ñ#
X[1]L
Ü‑ˆ4 X
PÒ îžÓ)
åûX[1]P#
Ñ*VA DÀÀMYNÀÀ ÀÀNJAL4ÀÀUM:
Salve radix,
salve porta, Ñ#
X[1]L
Ü‑ˆ4 X
PÒ îžÓ)
åûX[1]P#
ÑS*LVA R*DES, S*LVA P4ÀÀTÀÀ,
Ex qua mundo lux est
orta:
Ñ#
X[1]L
Ü‑ˆ4 X
PÒ îžÓ)
åûX[1]P#
Ñ]KS KU* MUNDO LUKS ]ST 4ÀÀTÀÀ:
Gaude Virgo gloriosa, Ñ#
X[1]L
Ü‑ˆ4 X
PÒ îžÓ)
åûX[1]P#
ÑGÀ2ÀDA VÀ!ÀÀÀGO GL4ÀÀEOZÀÀ,
Super omnes speciosa: Ñ#
X[1]L
Ü‑ˆ4 X
PÒ îžÓ)
åûX[1]P#
ÑSWPÀ!ÀÀÀ ÀÀMNAS SPACEOZÀÀ:
Vale, o valde decora, Ñ#
X[1]L
Ü‑ˆ4 X
PÒ îžÓ)
åûX[1]P#
ÑV*LA, O V*LDA DAK4ÀÀÀÀ,
Et pro nobis Christum
exora.
Ñ#
X[1]L
Ü‑ˆ4 X
PÒ îžÓ)
åûX[1]P#
Ñ]T PÀÀO NOBYS KÀÀYSTUM ]KZ4ÀÀÀÀ.
Anonymous
translation:
by Hail,
Queen of the heavens!
Eric Van
Tassel Hail, Mistress of the
angels!
We greet Thee, o source and portal
by Whom the light cometh unto the world.
Be glad, o wondrous Virgin,
splendid above all beings.
Hail, o most gracious;
entreat
favour for us of Christ Thy son.
To the Goddess named Mary
O
Dive custos Auriacae Domus,
Et spes labantis
certior imperi,
O
rebus adversis vocande,
O
superum decus in secundis.
Seu te fluentem pronus ad Isida
In vota fervens Oxonidum chorus
Seu te precantur quos remoti
unda lavat
properata Cami,
Descende, descende coelo non ita
creditas
Visurus aedes praesidiis tuis.
Descende, descende visurus penates
Caesaris et,
et penetrale sacrum, penetrale sacrum.
Maria a Musis flebilis
occidit,
Maria gentis deliciae
breves,
Maria occidit.
O
flete Mariam,
O
flete Camoenae.
O
flete Divae!
Flete Dea moriente.
O divine One, guardian of the
House of Orange, steadfast hope of a tottering
empire, you to whom we call in
adversity, you our highest glory in times of
prosperity; whether a gathering
of
fervently to you, or whether
they beseech you that are washed by the hurrying
waves of the
your care when not thus
[afflicted]. Descend, see the king's household and its
innermost sanctuary. Mary,
mourned by the Muses, is fallen: Mary, so briefly
the delight of her race. O weep,
Muses, for Mary; weep, Divine Ones, for the
dying Goddess.
Source Three Elegies on the Much Lamented Loss
of Our Late Most Gracious Queen
Mary,
by Henry Playford,
1695.
To the Goddess named Nana
Hear O ye
regions,
The praise of
Queen Nana;
Magnify the Creatress,
Exalt the
dignified,
Exalt the
Glorious One,
Draw night
unto the Mighty Lady.
Ref: WEMS/39
To the Goddess
named
(NARMADASTAKASTOTRAM)
1
O Devi
Beauteous
with the breakers of the heaving waves of ocean,
With which
the drops of Thy waters mingle.
O giver of
prosperity! I salute Thy feet bathed in water,
Which destroys rebirth, the cause of which is sin,
As also all
fear at the coming of the messenger of death.
Tvadiya pada pankajam
namami devi
narmade.
2
O Devi
Giver of
celestial (blessing) to the lowly fish in Thy waters,
Foremost of all sacred rivers.
Destructress of the heavy weight of sin of the Kaliyuga,
Giver of
welfare to multitude of fine fish, tortoise, alligators, and
ruddy geese.
Tvadiya pada pankajam
namami devi
narmade.
3
O Devi
The overflow
from Thy depths washes away the sins of the world.
Thou destroyest all great sins and the mountain of calamities.
O giver of
happiness to the son of Mrkandu,
At the fearful moment of the world's dissolution.
Tvadiya pada pankajam
namami devi
narmade.
4
O Devi
And Thy
waters worshipped by the son of Mrkandu, Saunaka, and other
enemies of the Asuras.
Destructress of rebirth in the ocean of the world,
Protectress from all worldly pains,
Tvadiya pada pankajam
namami devi
narmade.
5
O Devi
Worshipped
by countless lakhs of immortals, Asuras, Kinnaras and
others,
Whose banks
resound with the fearless song of many lakhs of birds.
Giver of
happiness to Vasista, Pipala,
Karddama, and other sages,
Tvadiya pada pankajam
namami devi
narmade.
6
O Devi
Held in the
minds of the bees, Sanatkumara, Naciketa,
Kasyapa,
And by the bees, Atri, Narada and other sages.
Thou who blesseth the work of sun, moon, Rantideva,
and Devaraja,
Tvadiya pada pankajam
namami devi
narmade.
7
O Devi
Weapon
against lakhs of sins known and unknown,
11
The Giver of enjoyment and liberation to
all beings and animals,
And of
happiness to the abode of Virinci, Visnu, and Siva,
Tvadiya pada pankajam
namami devi
narmade.
8
O Devi
How sweet is
the sound heard on the banks of Her who has
sprung from the hair of Siva.
Destroyer of
pain and sin of hunter, and singer, of the learned and the
fool,
And of the heat
of the submarine fire,
Giver of happiness to all beings.
Tvadiya pada pankajam
namami devi
narmade.
9
Who ever
reads but thrice daily this hymn to
Will never
fall into misfortune,
He will
never see Raurava,
He will
never be reborn,
But will
reach the glorious abode of Siva,
So difficult
to attain, by this body so easily gained.
translation and
notes by Sir John Woodroffe
{slightly edited by FW} from his
Hymns to the Goddess and Hymn to Kali.
‑Narmada‑
- One of the sacred rivers of
‑ocean‑ - The ocean
is the husband of all rivers.
‑sin‑ - Rebirth is caused by karma.
‑messenger of death‑ - When a man is about to
die, a messenger is sent by Yama
to take his life.
‑Tvadiya‑ - The
refrain {which is Her mantra - FW} is translated in
the first
line.
‑Foremost of all‑ - This is stuti (praise). In all sanskrit works the
particular Devata
who is the subject of hymn, meditation or prayer is spoken
of as the greatest of all. Tirtha is not only a place of pilgrimage such as a
shrine and the like, but also,
according to the Amarakosa, a sacred river.
‑Kaliyuga‑ - The
present or fourth age, marked by the predominance of sin each
of the preceding eras (Dvapara, Treta, Satya) being more virtuous than the
other. In the Kaliyuga era time works evilly.
‑ruddy geese‑ - The cakravaka
bird (by some said to be the Brahmini duck)
celebrated in sanskrit poetry for its devotion to its mate. During the
night-
time the male and female birds
call to each other from opposite banks of the
stream, as I have heard them do
on the reaches of the lonely
‑mountain‑ - Daritapadacalam.
‑Mrkandu‑
- The Mahamuni Markandeya.
‑Protectress‑
- Bhavabdhi dukhha barmade. Literally, "armour
given to the pain
of the world."
‑lakhs‑
- 100,000.
‑immortals‑ - Amara
- ie, Devas
‑Asuras‑
- Demonic spirits, opponents of the Devas or Suras.
‑Kinnaras‑
- A class of spirits (Devayoni).
‑fearless song‑ - Dhira,
that is because they are undisturbed by men who have
become enemies to their brother
creation.
‑Vasista‑, etc -
named Rsis and munis, more
are named in verse 6.
‑sages‑ - Sista,
which means a gentle and learned man who governs himself by
12
his own wisdom, and is not goverened by external restraints.
‑bees‑ - The bee hovers on the lotus seeking
honey. The sages gather round the
feet of the Devi
seeking the wisdom of which She is the embodiment.
‑Devaraja‑
- Indra. {meaning
something like "king of the gods", FW}
‑enjoyment‑ - Both enjoyment and liberation
is given to men: to animals
enjoyment (bhukti),
though they, too, by merit acquired in present birth may
attain future birth in human
form.
‑Virinci‑
- Brahma.
‑sprung from the hair‑ - Mahesakesajatate. As to
is the same and only Devi who manifests both as
other rivers and things.
‑hunter, and singer‑ -
Hunting in sinful. The singers are a mixed caste.
‑the submarine fire‑ - Kiratasutavadavesu pandita sathe. When
the Daksayajna
was destroyed by Siva, it
changed into a mare (Vadava). Siva followed, and it
plunged into ocean. Fire is
produced by it. The Sloka says that Her water is
so great and pure that it is
unaffected by this fire. As regards the rest of
this somewhat obscure verse, it
means that the Devi is the remover of the sin
of all whoever they may be.
‑Raurava‑
- One of the great hells.
‑this body‑ - Not that it is easy to attain
human birth. On the contrary, it
said: "The state of a man
is difficult to attain, and still more so that of a
wise one." What is apparently
meant is that, compared with the difficulty of
attaining to Siva, the state of
humanity is easily attainable.
13
To the Goddess named - Neith[?\cyc\n\neith]
"‑I am all‑ that has been,
That is, and that will be".
Quoted in Who's
Who in Egyptian Mythology
by Anthony S. Mercantante.
"I am what is,
What will be,
And what has been.
No one uncovered me.
The fruit
To which I gave birth
Was - the Sun".
Quoted in Greek Myths
by Robert Graves.
"I am all that has been,
That is, that will be.
No
mortal has yet been able
To
lift the veil that covers me".
Recorded by
Plutarch from an inscription above
the gate to Her temple in
Quoted in The Book of Goddesses and Heroines
by Patricia Monaghan.
14
To the Goddess named - Niamh[?\cyc\n\niamh]
‑A royal crown‑ was on Her head;
and a brown mantle of precious silk,
Spangled with stars of red gold,
Covering Her shoes down to the grass.
A gold
ring was hanging down
From
each yellow curl of Her golden hair;
Her
eyes, blue, clear, and cloudless,
Like a dew-drop on the top of the
grass.
Redder
were Her cheeks than the rose,
Fairer
was Her visage than the swan upon the wave,
And more sweet was the taste of Her balsam lips
Than honey mingled thro' red wine.
A
garment, wide, long, and smooth
Covered the white steed,
There
was a comely saddle of red gold,
And Her right hand held a bridle with a golden bit.
Four shoes well-shaped were under
him,
Of the
yellow gold of the purest quality;
A
silver wreath was on the back of his head,
And
there was not in the world a steed better.
from The Lay of Oisin in the
by Michael Comy (18th. cent.)
translated by Brian O'Looney
for
the Ossianic Society--Transactions, Vol. IV.
Quoted in Celtic
Myth and Legend
by Charles Squire, p. 223-4.
15
To the Goddess named - Nikkal
(Canaanite Goddess of the moon, fertility & fruitful earth)
‑I
shall pay‑ Her bride price to Her father:
A
thousand (shekels) of silver
E'en ten thousand of gold.
I
shall send jewels of lapis-lazuli
I shall
make Her fields into vine-yards
The field of Her love into orchards.
There is some
more of the text see: Gray NEM 91
Note:
a quality in this translation
suggests the text influenced the
writing of the Songs of Solomon.
from Text #77. Quoted by Cyrus H. Gordon
in Canaanite Mythology from
Mythologies
of the Ancient World,
editd by Samuel Noah Kramer,
Anchor Books 1961.
16
To the Goddess named - Nut[?\cyc\n\nut]
"‑Nut, the old one‑,
who gave birth to the sun
and laid the seeds of Gods and humanity"
"‑Mother‑ of the morning sun,
Creatress of the evening sun,
who existed when there was nothing
and who created what was after Her."
"‑Hail‑, thou sycamore of the Goddess Nut!
Grant thou to me of the water and of the air
which dwell in thee"
(ref: ma.wwem/110)
17
To the Goddess named - Ohoyo-Osh-Chishba[?\cyc\o\ohoyo-os]
‑Ohoyo-Osh-Chishba‑
Wisdom teacher
Incubate seed
Plant provider.
Great
Cook-pot
Body
forth beans
Body
forth corn
And
by fire
Plant
become food
Food become blood
Death become life.
Earth, you old Crone
How
do you do it
Ohoyo-Osh-Chishba?
Earth, You Old Crone. FW Mar/84
18
To the Goddess named - Oshun
‑Praise Poem to Oshun‑
Brass
and parrot feathers
on a velvet skin.
White cowrie shells
on black buttocks.
Her
eyes sparkle in the forest,
like the sun on the river.
She is the wisdom of the forest
She is
the wisdom of the river.
Where
the doctor failed
She
cures with fresh water.
Where
the medicine is impotent
She
cures with fresh water.
She cures the child
and does not charge the father.
She
feeds the barren woman with honey
and her dry body swells up
like a juicy palm fruit.
Oh, how
sweet
is the touch of the child's hand.
"Praise Poem to Oshun" quoted in
The Book of
the Goddess Past and Present,
edited by Carl Olsen, pp 193-94, Crossroad,
19
To the Goddess named - Papa
"‑Papatuanuku‑ te matua o te
tangata".
Mother earth is the parent of the people.
Quoted on
the reverse of a card showing
a painting of Papa by Robyn Kahukiwa,
1982.
med
published by Native Forests Action Council,
20
To the Goddess named - Pele[?\cyc\p\pele]
‑E Pele e!‑
Ke akua o ka pohaku enaena.
Eli eli kau mai!
E Pele e!
O Goddess of the burning stones,
Let awe possess me!
Ancient Hawaiian prayer. Ref: SNv124
21 To the Goddess
named - Psyche
‑O
Goddess!‑- hear these tuneless numbers, wrung
By sweet enforcement and remembrance dear,
And
pardon that thy secrets should be sung
Even into thine own soft-couched ear:
Surely I dreamt to-day, or did I see
The winged Pysche with awaken'd
eyes?
I wander'd
in a forest thoughtlessly,
And, on the sudden, fainting with surprise,
Saw
two fair creatures, couched side by side
In deepest grass, beneath the whisp'ring roof
Of leaves and trembled blossoms,
where there ran
A brooklet, scarce espied:
'Mid
hush'd, cool-rooted flowers, fragrant-eyed,
Blue, silver-white, and budded Tyrian,
They lay calm-breathing on the bedded grass;
Their arms embraced, and their pinions too;
Their lips touch'd not, but had not bid adieu,
As
if disjoined by soft-handed slumber,
And
ready still past kisses to outnumber
At tender eye-dawn of aurorean love:
The winged boy I knew;
But
who wast thou, O happy, happy dove?
His Psyche true!
O latest born and loveliest vision far
Of all
Fairer than Phoebe's sapphire-region'd star,
Or Vesper, amorous glow-worm of the sky;
Fairer than these, though temple thou hast none,
Nor altar heap'd with flowers;
Nor
virgin-choir to make delicious moan
Upon the
No
voice, no lute, no pipe, no incense sweet
From chain-swung censer teeming;
No
shrine, no grove, no oracle, no heat
Of pale-mouth'd prophet dreaming.
O
brightest! though too late for antique vows,
Too, too late for the fond believing lyre,
When
holy were the haunted forest boughs,
Holy the air, the water, and the fire;
Yet
even in these days so far retir'd
From happy pieties, thy lucent fans,
Fluttering among the faint Olympians,
I
see, and sing, by my own eyes inspired.
So
let me be thy choir, and make a moan
Upon the
Thy voice, thy lute, thy pipe, thy
incense sweet
From swinged censer teeming;
Thy
shrine, thy grove, thy oracle, thy heat
Of pale-mouth'd prophet dreaming.
Yes,
I will be thy priest, and build a fane
In some untrodden region of my mind,
Where branched thoughts, now grown with pleasant pain,
22
Instead of pines shall murmur in the wind:
Far,
far around shall those dark-cluster'd
trees
Fledge the wild-ridged mountains steep by steep;
And
there by zephyrs, streams, and birds, and bees,
The moss-lain Dryads shall be lull'd to sleep;
And in the midst of this wide quietness
A
rosy sanctuary will I dress
With
the wreath'd trellis of a working brain,
With buds, and bells, and stars without a name,
With
all the gardener Fancy e'er
could feign,
Who breeding flowers, will never breed the same:
And
there shall be for thee all soft delight
That shadowy thought can win,
A
bright torch, and a casement ope
at night,
To let the warm Love in!
Ode to Psyche
John Keats
23
To the Goddess named - Rhea[?\cyc\p\pandora]
‑Earth‑
sends up fruits,
and
so praise Earth,
The
Mother.
Invocation of Rhea,
Quoted in The Book of Goddesses and Heroines
by Patricia Monaghan.
24
To the Goddess named - Sarasvati
‑Best
Mother‑,
Best of
rivers,
Best of Goddesses.
Mantra.
Quoted in Harpers
Dictionary of Hinduism
by Margaret and James Stutley.
25
Of the Goddess named - Sedna[?\cyc\u\una-kuag]
‑-One day
in the village of the people there was famine. The people packed
and left in fear. One young girl
went back to get something she needed. She
was a special girl because she
was adopted after losing her family. Being
a girl she was extra from the
gate. She had to eat handouts and sleep wherever
she was accepted. Anyway when
she came back to the boats they had left her.
She saw them off aways and swam
out to catch them. When she caught up, they
would not let her get in the
boats. She hung on the side of a boat and
pleaded. They cut her fingers
off to make her let go. She became angry and
told them to go to their new
home and She would live in the sea. She told them
they would not hunt until they
treated Her right. She made Her fingers that
were cut off into walrus, seal
and fish. She told them not to come to the
hunter that did not have proper
respect. She then went to the bottom of the
sea to live. Any hunters that
died while hunting properly lived with Her and
combed her hair with their
fingers because she had none. Any hunter that did
not hunt properly and show
respect to the One that will send them their food
would starve, and their family too.
So say your
prayers to Sedna if you wish to enjoy life now and
later.
Hand written for Katherine Singleton, Branwen's
Day 1992,
by Patrick Joseph Oskollkoff
of the Athabascan people.
NOTES
‑extra from the gate‑: extra means
"another mouth to feed", unnecessary,
unwanted, lower than a slave; from
the gate, perhaps a racing metaphor,
signifies "from the
beginning, from birth". If the first birth in a family
was a girl Inuit tribes exposed the baby on the ice.
26
To
the Goddesses named -- Seirenes
‑Cronos Odysseus‑, steer your boat
Toward
Here
you shall pass your days.
Through
a thick-growing alder-wood
We
clearly see, but are not seen,
Hid in a golden haze.
Our
hair the hue of barley sheaf,
Our
eyes the hue of blackbird's egg,
Our cheeks
like asphodel.
Here
the wild apple blossoms yet,
Wrens in the silver branches play
And
prophesy you well.
Here
nothing ill or harsh is found.
Cronos Odysseus, steer your boat
Across these placid straits.
With
each of us in turn to lie
Taking your pleasure on young grass
That
for your coming waits.
No
grief nor gloom, sickness nor death,
Disturbs our long tranquility;
No
treachery, no greed.
Compared with this, what are the plains
Of
A wilderness indeed.
A
starry crown awaits your head,
A
hero feast is spread for you:
Swineflesh, milk
and mead.
"The Sirens' Welcome To Cronos"
by Robert Graves,
from "The White Goddess"
27
To the Goddess named - Sekhmet
‑Sekhmet‑, great One of magic
Mother of the Gods
One Who was
before the Gods were
Lady of the place of the beginning of time
Beloved of Ra, Her father
Beloved of Bast, Her sister
Beloved of Ptah, Her husband-brother
At Whose wish the arts were
born
Beautiful Eye which giveth life to the two
lands
Beautiful face, image most beloved by art
Flaming One
Sovereign of Ra, Her father
Protectress of the Gods
Lady of the scarlet-colored garment
Pure One
Destroyer of rebelions
Eye of Ra
Eye of Horus
Pre-eminent One in the boat of the millions of years
Roamer of deserts
Wanderer in the wastes
Self-contained
Only One
Awakener
Lady of enchantments
Opener of ways
Lady of transformations
Lady of many faces
Enrapturing One
Giver of ecstasies
Satisfier of desires
Inspirer of males
Victorious One in battles
Overcomer of all enemies
Ruler of the desert
Ruler of serpents and of dragons
Ruler of lions
Complete One
Sublime One
Enlightener
Empowerer
Sparkling One
Great One of Hekau
Lady of the magic lamp
Mother of the dead
Lady of the bloodbath
Destroyer by plagues
Great One of healing
Destroyer by fire
Lady of the waters of life
Mistress and Lady of the tomb
Great
One in the places of judgment and execution
Guide and protectress from the perils of the
underworld
28
Great One of the place of appearances in silence
Lady of the way of the five bodies
Unrivalled and invincible One
Ruler of the chamber of flames
The source
She Whose opportunity escapeth
Her not
Winged One
Powerful of heart
The aware
The Gleaming One
Sekhmet, Who reduceth
to silence
Sekhmet, Who rouseth
the people
Lady of jubilation
Adorable One
Shining of countenance
Mother of images
Incomparable One
Lady of intoxications
Mightier than the Gods
Most beautiful
Most strong
Great One of laws
Protectress of the divine order
The One Who holds back darkness
The beautiful light
Warrior Goddess
Goddess of love
Great One in heaven
Great serpent on the head of Her father
Great One of the incense of the ennead
Great Lady of the house of life
Queen of the venerable ones
Lady of the house of books
Devouring One
Sekhmet of the knives
Burner of evil-doers
One before Whom evil trembles
Terrible One
Lady of all powers
Eternal as Her father
Lady of the manifold adornments
Most beautiful among the Gods
Bountiful One
Sekhmet, Who gives joys
Unwavering loyal One
Beloved Teacher
Beloved Sekhmet
One Hundred Names and Epithets of the Goddess Sekhmet
from: The Goddess Sekhmet,
The Way of the Five Bodies
by Robert Masters
29
To the Goddess named - Shekhina
‑The wind‑ carried all of them off, the light swept them all away;
A new song made the morn of their life
rejoice.
I was forgotten, a tender fledgling
Under the wings of the Shekhina.
I was alone, alone like the Shekhina;
Her broken wing fluttered above my head.
We knew one another, and She
trembled profoundly
Over Her son, Her
only son.
She had been driven off from every corner;
Only one hidden nook, small, desolate,
remained --
The House of Study -- and She wrapped Herself in the shadow
And we shared the same distress.
When my heart longed for the window, the light,
When the shelter of Her
wing hemmed me in,
Her head rested on my shoulder
And Her tears
dropped on the Talmud's pages.
She wept in silence; She
embraced me,
As though shielding me with Her broken wing;
"The wind carried all of them off, away
they flew,
And I was alone, alone . . ."
And the close of an ancient lament,
Like a trembling supplicant's prayer,
Came to my ear from Her
silent grief
And Her scalding
tears . . .
"Alone"
Chaim Bialik (1902),
translated by Yusef Spiress
30
To the Goddess named - Shen-Nu[?\cyc\s\0thers-s]
‑The
small woman‑ of
screened by clouds:
The winds of
spring shoot out pine flowerlets
on the mountain.
Alone She pierces the green canopy - a fragrance heading
straight for home:
A white horse
and flowered pole go before -
thrusting and thrusting.
The wind is
mild on the Kiang in Shu, the water
like netted gauze -
Yet who else
could make sail on a fallen orchid
to cross over it?
The cinnamon
trees on a southern hill lie dead
for that lady
Whose cloudy
blouse is slightly stained from
pink pomade blossoms.
commentary:
The rainbow
Goddess leaves the shamanka's alter,
darting through the clouds.
Her ardent
body bursts the pine catkins as She passes.
She swoops up
through the forest canopy, trailing
sweet odors.
She is
preceded by a ceremonial steed, rigged with Her
flowery insignia.
The great
Yangtze by Her home in the gorge is calm.
Yet who will
risk crossing it on a flower petal to meet
Her -
only the Goddess is capable of the feat.
The evergreen
cinnamons perish at Her approach - the touch
of the love Goddess is dangerous.
Her light
shift is inevitably spotten with safflower,
from which the rouge of courtesans is made.
"The Departure Song of Divine Strings"
by Li Ho,
translation and commentary by Edward H. Schafer from
The Divine Woman, Dragon Ladies and Rain Maidens pp 104-5.
31
To the Goddess named - Sothis
‑Those
chosen‑ by the Gods live,
and so you too.
You
rise with Orion in the eastern sky
and descend with him in the west,
together with Sothis,
who leads you on heavenly paths
through the pastures of Taru.
Puramid Aphorism 442.
Quoted in Myths by Alexander Eliot.
32
To the Goddess named - Sulis
‑The chimes‑
called
And the daytime parle on the Roman investigations
Was shut to
silence, save for the husky tune
The bubbling
waters played near the excavations.
And a warm air
came up from underground,
And the flutter
of a filmy shape unsepulchred,
That collected itself, and waited, and looked around:
Nothing was seen,
but utterances could be heard:
Those of the
Goddess whose shrine was beneath the pile
Of the God with
the baldachined altar overhead:
`And what did you
win by raising this nave and aisle
Close on the site
of the temple I tenanted?
`The notes of
your organ have thrilled down out of view
To the
earth-clogged wrecks of my edifice many a year,
Though stately
and shining once - ay, long ere you
Had set up crucifix and candle here.
`Your priests
have trampled the dust of mine without rueing,
Despising the
joys of man whom I so much loved,
Though my springs
boil on by your Gothic arcades and pewing,
And sculptures
crude.... Would Jove they could be removed!'
`Repress, O lady
proud, your traditional ires;
You know not by
what a frail thread we equally hang;
It is said we are
images both - twitched by people's desires;
And that I, as
you, fail like a song men yesterday sang!'
`What - a
Jumping-jack you, and myself but a poor Jumping-jill,
Now worm-eaten,
times agone twitched at Humanity's bid?
O I cannot endure
it! - But, chance to us whatso there will,
Let us kiss and
be friends! Come, agree you?' - None heard if he did....
And the olden
dark hid the cavities late laid bare,
And all was suspended
and soundless as before,
Except for a gossamery noise fading off in the air,
And the boiling voice of the waters' medicinal pour.
"Aquae Sulis"
by Thomas Hardy