What is a "goddess"?

57-0032-C

I was thinking of the group "Goddess" and was getting a bit philosophical wondering what a “goddess” actually is. This is a picture taken twenty some odd years ago at the birth of my eldest daughter. She would have me shot if she ever thought this photo could be attributed to her (thank you Flickr for some of the anonymity). I was allowed to watch the birth and take some photographs. I debated on posting one of the doctor holding her at the first seconds of arriving into this world but the blood made me wonder if it would appropriate.

I can think of all the goddesses I have studied and all of their attributes and all else about life they have to teach me and I can have great respect and even love for many. However all of them combined will never come close to that “goddess” I held at that moment in time and my life.

And what of the relationship of the other “goddess” in the room? What is the relationship of the one who was brought into this world and the one who brought her into it? Should I have posted a photo of her (exhausted and semi-conscious as the new goddess sprung forth from her womb)?

As I said, all of this and more made me philosophical and my mind wandered into many areas. I began to think of those goddesses who had “dual” characters, both good and evil and those whom were symbolic of both light and darkness. I have posted a definition of “combat” below.

I thought of how both my new and old goddesses and I would often combat as we grew.

Combat
Illustrated Dictionary of Symbols in Eastern and Western Art by James Hall: The scene of a fight between individual combatants is common to the art of many peoples and can often be interpreted symbolically. It frequently takes place between man and animal. In the East it can assume cosmic dimensions, symbolizing the unending struggle for supremacy between the forces of light and darkness, or order and chaos, that pervade the universe. In the West the influence of the Christian ethic makes it more often into a contest for the soul of man, between the opposing virtues and vices that make up human nature. Mesopotamian art is rich in symbolic images of combat, where we typically see a pair of animals contending with each other or tackled by an unarmed, naked human hero. Scenes of this kind are common on cylinder seals and ivories from the early Sumerian period onwards. They are believed to represent the gods in their early zoomorphic forms as the divine forces that controlled mankind, contending for supremacy. The popular theme of a lion-headed eagle attacking a bull perhaps represents the Mother-Goddess Ishtar (who was also a war-goddess) setting about some rival deity. Gilgamesh, the hero of Mesopotamian epic myth and the forerunner of many dragon-slayers like St. George, overcomes the monster Humbaba and the Bull of Heaven. In the Babylonian epic of creation, Enuma Elish, the god of Babylon defeats the sea-monster Tiamat, a symbolic victory of order over the primeval, watery chaos. Comparable struggles engage the gods of Indian mythology, like Indra and Vishnu, and the goddess Devi in her warlike roles. In Egypt the forces of darkness and chaos are symbolized by the underworld snake-goddess Apophis, who is never permanently quelled. For other aspects of symbolic combat, see Dragon; Eagle; Hercules; Tortoise; Virtues and Vices; Wrestlers

Shakespeare (Macbeth, Act V, Scene 5) wrote
She should have died hereafter;
There would have been time for such a word
To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.

William Faulkner, seized on this when he wrote his novel “The Sound and the Fury” and Benjy’s birth (look at birth from the child's perspective; being thrust from the peace and tranquility of life in the womb to all the "sound and fury" which comprises this world.)

What is a goddess and what is an “idiot”? One might need to read Faulkner’s novel to understand my meaning here. Benjy was born mentally retarded but in many ways he both “knew” more and “was” more than many of the other characters in the novel.

And yes, there are goddesses who have male attributes.

I think it is time for me to go home and have a glass of wine.