Geography/Culture: Western world: Traditionally personified concept in the Western world, perhaps especially the English speaking world.
Linguistic note: Heinrich Brugsch, an Egyptologist writing in the 1860's and 70's, argues that the commonest Egyptian word for "divine" was n-t-r, generally rendered in English orthography as neter. When you consider those 'e's might be pronounced in the European manner, (fopho A), then neter, fopho NATAr, bears a remarkable acoustic resemblance to a common form of the English pronunciation of nature. Heinrich Brugsch believed the Egyptian neter to be indentical with the Greek physis {which I can't find - closest is phyche } and the Latin natura. -L. natura, birth -L. natus, born, pp. of nasci, to be born. Gk. gnetos, from base gna, allied to /GEN, to beget, produce. Related words: natal, nativity, noel, nation, native, nascent, cognate, innate, renaissance, pregnant, gene, genesis, generate, gender, gentle, germ, germinate, kin, kind.

Description: Goddess of the order, disposition and essence of all entities composing the universe; Empress of the world; She without whom nothing grows and through whom all created things have life; She who is reality as distinguished from the imaginary or marvellous; She who is the creative and regulative power in the physical world; Maternal and spiritual essence inherent in all that exists and all that occurs; She with whom we'd be well advised to make peace.

Even today (Dhumavati Moon, 1995) Nature is often personifed in everyday speech, and She has for centuries been anthropomorphized in Western English literature. For example:

Nature herself has made us subject to these influences. Clouds make us feel sad; and again a bright sky fills us with joy . . .
Cassiodorus: Letter 15, Book xii of the Variae.
page 60 from "The Early Middle Ages 500 - 1000" edited by Robert Brentano. Free Press, New York, 1964.

Male associates: sons, Native, Produced-by-Nature; Nation, The-People-of-the-Earth.

• Perhaps Evolution could be considered an aspect, or even another name for Her.
• Also called: Dame-Nature.
• Also called: Lady-Nature.
• Perhaps Matrix is a suitable alternate name for Her.
• Matter as Nature, and Nature as matter, are associated with Juno , {Shining-One}.
• Also called: Mother-Nature.

Linguistic notes: from -L. euolere, to unroll or open. -L. e, out + voluere, to roll. Related words: evolute, evolve, involution, volute, revolution, develop.

Description: Goddess of transformation; She who initiates the differentiation and proliferation of life-forms; "What I need I breed" says She.

To whom are sacred: seeds.

• Phonetically She would seem related to Eve.

Linguistic notes: from L. matrix, the womb. -L. matri-, decl. stm of mater, mother. Of interest-- L. materia, tree-trunk -L. matrix, the tree's source of growth. Related words: mother, matter, matron, matrimony, maternal, material, matriach, metropolis.

Description: She Who is the situation and surrounding substance in which all that is originates and develops; She Who is the cavity in which anything is formed; Mother of us all.

To whom are sacred: tree-trunk; uterus; any sort of mold (which then signifies the uterus).