Kwan Yin
Mother’s Day is celebrated on May 10th this month. Mothers are special people. Mothers give birth and raise children. They also put up with a lot of crap from their children. A mother’s love is so powerful. But the greatest of all mothers is the Goddess.
So what do I mean by the Goddess? My personal definition is the feminine side of the creator. Here is a Wikipedia definition – A goddess is a female deity. While they have been, are and may be associated with as wide a range of phenomena as male deities, including war, destruction and death as well as creation, life-giving, healing and compassion, they have more commonly been associated with the Earth, fertility, motherhood and love.
Many moons ago (over twenty years), I was investigating and studying different types of religion and spirituality. Back then, I had trouble with Western religion because it was so male dominated. It was hard for me to relate to God being so masculine because I was a woman. When I studied the Goddess that felt right to me and it was so much easier to relate to. Today my Higher Power is an aspect of God and the Goddess. I have angered people by saying, “God is a he-she.” But what God, the Creator, the Great I Am – really is to me is total Love and Light. I go to my Higher Power to be safe, loved, and accepted.
The Goddess has many aspects; just like a woman does. She is a child (maiden), mother, and wise woman (crone). The Goddess is very loving, kind, and compassionate. But she also has the mother instinct to protect her young and hell has no fury like a mother protecting her child. Although, the Goddess has many aspects and names, she is one. Just like God has many names.
The Goddess was worshipped long before a male God. When I learned about the Goddess, she helped me get in touch with my feminine side. She can do that for you whether you are a man or a woman because it is important for you to balance the male and female within.
The following is a quick summary of seven Goddesses:
Isis is my favorite Goddess and the one I resonate with the most. She was worshipped in Egypt. She is magic, love, family, sexuality, and keeper of the home.
Kwan Yin is a Chinese Goddess who chose to help humankind instead of becoming one with the creator. Her main role is compassion.
Lakshmi is a popular Goddess in India. You can call upon her to help you with financial problems because her specialty is abundance.
Bast is another Egyptian Goddess and is a cat. She is used for protection Goddess.
Brigit is a Celtic known as a protector and triple Goddess. The triple has many aspects and is not only used for the maiden, mother, and crone.
Aphrodite – is the Goddess of love known for her beauty and alluring sexuality. She was worshipped in Greece. The Romans called her Venus.
Kali is feared by some in India because she is known as the destroyer. But Kali represents the endings we must face in order to start a new.
All of the Goddess above has interesting stories and much more detail about what they represent. There are also many more Goddesses that represent the one Goddess. I encourage you to learn more about them. It is good to see how they are an aspect of you, whether you choose to worship them or not. I find some value in all religions, whether it is Western, Eastern, or the Goddess because I am an interfaith minister. You can take what resonates with you the most and leave the rest behind. The important thing is to harm none and treat all with respect.
All women have Brigit within them. Whether that is flesh, blood, and bones. Or the potential to be maiden, mother, and Crone. The majority of females have the compassion of Kwan Yin. In order for women to become mothers, they need to have beauty (within to radiate without) and be sexual, just like Aphrodite. Women yearn to become like Isis of their home and family. Ladies protect their loved ones with Bast attitude. We desire and create Lakshmi abundance in some form. All women have the fierceness of Kali and the ability to destroy. And we all have to end in order to begin again.
I honor the Goddess and Mother within you!
This article is from Off the Cuff Mays Issue