OH MAMMA!

Essay 6c

OH MAMMA!

Instructions: Find and post the images of the artwork(s) mentioned in the topic essay questions.
Question: Describe the similarities of and connections between the cults of Earth Goddess, Gaia, the Virgin Mary, and DEvi, the hindu mother goddess. Select representative artwork depicting each one and descirbe similarities in the imagery.

Part One;

Reason: This question was asked to explore the similarities of the three very prominent religions through-out the western world.

Summary: At first I laid out the question in a few parts to see how to narrow down what i was looking for. At first I questioned the word "cult". I thought of my own definitions of it was believed it to be this group of people with a hideous obcession to either a person, imaginary being, or an object. Upon further exploration i found it wasn't as extreme as i first believed. Next I had to explore more about each goddess individually. Then after finding about who they were and what they represented to their religion/faith i could better determine the connections.

Purpose: This question is to show how similar the thinking of religions of the western world were. Even though my may have never had contact or they may have not been in the same time frame/period it was still evident that ideas were not just manifested from some magical lamp.

Direction: I think I started with the opinion that they were resonably connected. I knew most of the back stories except for Devi so it was just finding a bit more on her.

Impressions: I don't believe i had some Aha! moment but I did find some interesting connections.

 Part Two;

A.Uranus and Gaia with four children.

Found here

B.The Virgin Mary In Glory

Found here

C.Goddess Shakthi (Devi) With Lord and two children Ganesh and kArthikeya

Found here

 

       The connections between the Goddesses Devi, Gaia, and the Virgin Mary are astonding. Each has their own story and characteristics but they all represent the same ideals, and meanings. Responsibility of life falls not only to the man, but to women as well. Each partner surves their function in life. The goddesses Gaia, Devi, and the Virgin Mary express these meanings in their religion and through-out life.

        One of the oldest goddesses in history, Gaia, originated from the Greeks. Emerging from the eigth and ninth century BCE, Gaia has shown that women are both resourcful and caring. Her part in the Greek creation story was fitting to what a Mother should be know for in Greek culture. She expressses concern for her children when her husband, sky father Uranus, devores them. She was cunning enough to give her husband a rock, wrapped as if a baby hid beneath it; that baby would be little Zeus. Later on Zeus strikes down his father just as foretold (Cothren 104). As shown in picture A, the foremost figure in the mosaic is Uranus but surrounding the rest of the depiction is Gaia, followed by her children. It represents that the father may be the foremost person in the family, but the whole is held together by the love of the mother. She is the ground that family can stand on. The caring and love that is shown from a mother. The mosaic is almost split diagonally in half, with the both Father and Mother taking an equal share of power and responsiblity. It is also the same for Devi of the Hindu faith.

         Devi has many responsiblities in her religion. She holds many titles depending on what needs to be done. "Devi controls material riches and fertility. She has indicative forms of beauty, wealth, and auspiciousness, but also forms of wrath, pestilence, and power" (Cothren 298). She is beauty, wealth, and birth. She also controls the vitality of the male gods. She embodies the cosmic powers that supply the male gods with energy.  When she is atop the tiger ( Durga ) she represents righteous fury. She not only is apart of birth but also punishment for those that deserve it. Symbolicly she is what ties the world together. A women that keeps things in order, but can rule with an iron clad fist when she has too. In picture C she is the center of the piece. She holds the Lord and in hand as well as a child in the other. With two other hands she holds an axe and a baby fawn.

         This is also apparent with the Virgin Mary. She is commonly depicted in paintings and reliefs with a child and angels surrounding. In painting B she is in the center, showing her importance to the world. It was a women that god went to for help. Since then she has empowered Jesus to be more than a man. It was her that asked him to preform his first miracle (Cothren 231). She represents the empowerment that women have.

         Overall women have been in the background, but a full part of the family and life in religion. They empower those that need, savior to those need saving, and fury to those that require punishment. Man may be seen as the might, but women are the powers that keep life together.