Ancient Mirrors of Womanhood: A Treasury of Goddess and Heroine Lore from Around the World

448 Pages·1990·12.729 MB·English

by  Merlin Stone

A Treasury of Goddess and Heroine
Lore from Around the World
Illustrated by Cynthia Stone
BEACON PRESS BOSTON
Beacon Press
25 Beacon Street
Boston, Massachusetts 02108
Beacon Press books
are published under the auspices of
the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations.
Originally published by New Sibylline Books, Inc.
7
© 1979.^9901^Merlin Stone
First published by Beacon Press in 1984
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
95 94 93 92 91 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Stone, Merlin.
Ancient mirrors of womanhood : a treasury of goddess and heroine
lore from around the world / Merlin Stone : illustrated by Cynthia
Stone.
p. cm.
Reprint, with new pref. Originally published in 2 v.: New York :
New Sibylline Books, © 1979.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8070-6751-2
1. Goddesses. 2. Women and religion. I. Title.
BL325.F4S76 1990
291.2'114—dc20 90-55170
CONTENTS
Preface to the New Edition............................................. ix
Preface to the 1979 Edition............................................. 1
Introduction ..................................................................... 5
A Gentle Omnipotence — China.................................. 23
Nu Kwa ....................................................................... 27
Kuan Yin..................................................................... 28
Hsi Ho ......................................................................... 31
Tien Hou ..................................................................... 32
Mother Nature (Tao).................................................... 34
Gum Lin and Loy Yi Lung ........................................ 35
Mighty in Magic, Enchantment and Divination —
Celts of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales.......... 43
Danu............................................................................. 48
The Morrigan............................................................... 49
Macha........................................................................... 53
Cerridwen..................................................................... 58
Morgan le Fay and The Lady of the Lake ................ 60
Bridget......................................................................... 63
Cailleach Bheur........................................................... 65
Maeve (Medb)............................................................. 67
Rhiannon..................................................................... 69
The Oneness That Lies beneath All Dualities —
Central and South America — Native Americans of
Mexico, Guatemala, Panama, Colombia, Argentina
and Brazil....................................................................... 73
Mu Olokukurtilisop ................................................... 78
Akewa........................................................................... 79
Huitaca......................................................................... 81
Coatlicue ..................................................................... 82
Chicomecoatl............................................................... 85
Teteu Innan ................................................................. 87
Chalchihuitlicue........................................................... 88
Bachue......................................................................... 89
Mayuel......................................................................... 91
Ix Chel......................................................................... 92
Iamanja......................................................................... 96
And from Chaos She Has Led Us by the Hand —
Semites of Canaan, Mesopotamia and Arabia............ 99
Mami Aruru....................................................................104
Ishtar................................................................................105
Atargatis..........................................................................Ill
Ashtart (Astarte, Ashtoreth) ........................................113
Tiamat..............................................................................117
Asherah ..........................................................................119
V
ANCIENT MIRRORS of WOMANHOOD
Anat ..............................................................................120
Allât, Al Uzza and Manat............................................123
Hokhma........................................................................125
Lilith..............................................................................127
The Shekhina................................................ 128
Remind Them of the Sekpoli — Africa — Dahomey,
Natal, Nigeria, Zaire and Zimbabwe...............................131
Mawu............................................................................137
Ala ................................................................................140
Jezanna..........................................................................142
Songi..............................................................................145
Mboze and Bunzi ...................................................150
Mbaba Mwana Waresa.................................................151
Melia..............................................................................153
To Watch over the People of the Islands — Oceania
— Australia, New Zealand, Borneo and the
Polynesian Islands..........................................................159
Pele................................................................................164
Mahuea and Hina.........................................................166
Kunapipi........................................................................171
Fire Woman..................................................................172
Star Girl........................................................................174
Lia..................................................................................175
Arunta Sun Woman.......................................................180
While Amazons Danced an Armed Dance —
Anatolia (Turkey) .............................................................183
Great Grandmother of Anatolia...................................190
Sun Goddess Arinna.....................................................192
Hepat..............................................................................193
Hanna Hanna................................................................195
Kybele (Cybele).............................................................198
Lato (Mother of Artemis).............................................202
Hecate............................................................................206
Anahita..........................................................................209
From the Waters of the Indus — India.......................211
Shakti............................................................................216
Devi (Durga, Parvati, Laksmi, Tara)...........................217
Kali ..............................................................................222
Anasuya........................................................................224
Sarasvati........................................................................225
The Goddesses of Assam.............................................226
Rangada........................................................................229
Ushas ............................................................................231
vi
CONTENTS
Of Sea and Star and Serpent — Sumer.........................232
Nammu...........................................................................236
Nina (Nintu, Nanshe, Ninmah, Ninhursag, Ninlil,
Ningal)...........................................................................237
Nidaba ...........................................................................240
Inanna.............................................................................241
Ereshkigal .....................................................................249
She Who Makes the Universe Spin Round — Egypt 257
Ua Zit...........................................................................261
Maat.............................................................................263
The Lady of the Amenta.............................................265
Seshat...........................................................................268
Hathor...........................................................................270
Neit...............................................................................273
Au Set (Isis).................................................................276
Isis (after Apuleius) ...................................................280
To Walk the Trail of Beauty — Native Americans of
North America.................................................................284
Spider Woman..............................................................289
Huruing Wuhti..............................................................290
Changing Woman........................................................291
White Shell Woman ...................................................293
Asintmah......................................................................294
Awehai..........................................................................296
Somagalags..................................................................297
Queskapenek................................................................299
Spider Grandmother....................................................300
Sun Sister......................................................................303
Pohaha..........................................................................305
Pasowee, the Buffalo Woman ...................................307
Wild Pony ...................................................................309
The Golden Mirror of Ise — Japan ............................313
Fuji...............................................................................319
Izanami.........................................................................320
Amaterasu Omikami...................................................323
Ukemochi.....................................................................326
Yakami.........................................................................327
In the Land of Elves and Giants — Scandinavia .... 333
Ilmatar.........................................................................339
Freyja...........................................................................341
Nertnus and Urth (The Norns)...................................344
Iduna.............................................................................347
Mielikki.......................................................................349
Frigga...........................................................................350
vii
ANCIENT MIRRORS of WOMANHOOD
Skadi.............................................................................352
Hella.............................................................................354
The Primeval Prophetess — Greece, Crete and the
Aegean.............................................................................357
Nikta (Night)................................................................361
Gaia (Ge).....................................................................362
Themis and Dike..........................................................366
Demeter and Kore (Persephone).................................368
Hera .............................................................................372
Aphrodite......................................................................376
Hestia...........................................................................379
Artemis.........................................................................381
Athena ..........................................................................386
Bibliography....................................................................397
Rituals and Commemorations......................................415
Astrological Considerations ........................................417
Index...............................................................................419
Preface to the New Edition
Some New Mirrors
So much has happened since the initial publication of Ancient Mirrors
of Womanhood over a decade ago. As I start to write this new preface
my thoughts are drawn back to the time I first decided to write the
book, especially to the hopes and goals I held at that time. It would
probably require another book to say all that comes to mind, but my
feelings about the fulfillment of those original hopes and goals re­
peatedly crest like waves over everything else and seem to demand
expression. What is it that drives us on certain paths that reappear
throughout our lives? Why should specific ideas or ideals become
such essential parts of our world view that we spend our lives acting
on them in one way or another?
Even as an adolescent I was fascinated by the concept of religion,
by the multitude of different views, and most of all by the many
religious groups each claiming to be the only one that possessed the
real truth, the only one that followed the right way. My puzzled
response to these claims, in the midst of the obvious diversity of
opinions, prompted my interest in the religious beliefs that might be
revealed by records of ancient cultures. Was I expecting to find the
“real truth’’? I don’t know, but from that time on, I spent a great
deal of time reading articles and books on archaeological discoveries
about civilizations of the distant past, especially Sumer, Akkad,
Canaan, India and Egypt. Since I was primarily concerned with their
religious beliefs, this naturally led me to learn a great deal about
Goddess reverence.
By the time I became involved in the newly emerging feminism
in the late sixties I was extremely conscious of the fact that, despite
ANCIENT MIRRORS of WOMANHOOD
many other differences, all contemporary mainstream religions re­
garded deity as male and all major religious institutions were controlled
by men. In addition, I realized that in society in general there were
very few positive images or role models for women. But I was also
aware of the fact that there were historically recorded Goddess figures
from extremely ancient periods and that just knowing about them had
personally provided me with wonderful images of womanhood. It
occurred to me that a contemporary reclamation of Goddess history
could provide positive images of womanhood and at the same time
offer rebuttals to later patriarchal religious decrees, especially the one
that most annoyed me, that it was “divine will’’ for the male to rule
over the female (Gen. 3:16).
I soon became aware that my feminist friends, even those with
advanced degrees in anthropology, sociology or theology, knew little
or nothing about ancient Goddess reverence. I began to believe that
sharing what I knew about the historical existence of Goddess rever­
ence, especially the ancient texts that revealed that people had regarded
the Goddess as the creator of the entire world (see for example
p. 236), might help to provide other women with the inner strength
I had gained from this knowledge. It was clear in those early days of
the second wave of feminism that this was a type of strength we
needed. I began to dream of a time when a knowledge of ancient
Goddess history might become a familiar part of general education,
and thus expose and refute many of the simplistic stereotypes and
views of womanhood that had come to be accepted by both women
and men. This was my first goal.
It led to my decision to gather some of the evidence I had read
about Goddess reverence into an article. As I became increasingly
involved in the project (which kept expanding like yeasted dough in
a warm oven and eventually extended itself into two books) I began
to stretch the scope of my study beyond my original interest in Goddess
reverence in the early civilizations of the Near and Middle East. I was
soon poring over evidence in archaeological and ethnological materials
from a broad diversity of cultures. It was not long before I became
aware of the incredible fact that nearly all peoples around the world
had, at one time or another, worshipped deity as female, as Goddess.
As my realization of the global nature of Goddess reverence began
to take hold, a second goal took conscious form within me.
This goal was based upon a deeply felt concern that I had from
the time I was a young child and that had developed into a very
x