Mother goddess

"Earth Mother" redirects here. For other uses, see Mother Earth.

For the mountain with native name Chomolungma ("Goddess Mother of the World/Earth"), see Mount Everest.

"Heavenly Mother" redirects here. For the being in Mormonism, see Heavenly Mother (Mormonism).

Mother Goddess sculpture from Madhya Pradesh or Rajasthan, India, 6th-7th century, in the National Museum of Korea, Seoul

A mother goddess is a major goddess characterized as a mother or progenitor, either as an embodiment of motherhood and fertility or fulfilling the cosmological role of a creator- and/or destroyer-figure, typically associated with the Earth, sky, and/or the life-giving bounties thereof in a maternal relation with humanity or other gods. When equated in this lattermost function with the earth or the natural world, such goddesses are sometimes referred to as the Mother Earth or Earth Mother, deity in various animistic or pantheistic religions. The earth goddess is archetypally the wife or feminine counterpart of the Sky Father or Father Heaven, particularly in theologies derived from the Proto-Indo-European sphere (i.e. from Dheghom and Dyeus). In some polytheistic cultures, such as the Ancient Egyptian religion which narrates the cosmic egg myth, the sky is instead seen as the Heavenly Mother or Sky Mother as in Nut and Hathor, and the earth god is regarded as the male, paternal, and terrestrial partner, as in Osiris or Geb who hatched out of the maternal cosmic egg.

Excavations at Çatalhöyük

Seated Woman of Çatalhöyük

Between 1961 and 1965 James Mellaart led a series of excavations at Çatalhöyük, north of the Taurus Mountains in a fertile agricultural region of South-Anatolia. Striking were the many statues found here, which Mellaart suggested represented a Great goddess, who headed the pantheon of an essentially matriarchal culture. A seated female figure, flanked by what Mellaart describes as lionesses, was found in a grain-bin; she may have intended to protect the harvest and grain. He considered the sites as shrines, with especially the Seated Woman of Çatalhöyük capturing the imagination. There was also a large number of sexless figurines, which Mellaart regarded as typical for a society dominated by women. He wrote that "emphasis on sex in art is invariably connected with male impulse and desire." The idea that there could have been a matriarchy and a cult of the mother goddess was supported by archaeologist Marija Gimbutas. This gave rise to a modern cult of the Mother Goddess with annual pilgrimages being organized at Çatalhöyük.

Since 1993, excavations were resumed, now headed by Ian Hodder with Lynn Meskell as head of the Stanford Figurines Project that examined the figurines of Çatalhöyük. This team came to different conclusions than Gimbutas and Mellaart. Only a few of the figurines were identified as female and these figurines were found not so much in sacred spaces, but seemed to have been discarded randomly, sometimes in garbage heaps. This rendered a cult of the mother goddess in this location as unlikely.

African religions

In Egyptian mythology, sky goddess Nut is sometimes called "Mother" because she bore stars and Sun god. Nut was thought to draw the dead into her star-filled sky, and refresh them with food and wine.

In Kongo religion, the Sky Mother, Nzambici, was the female counterpart of the Sky Father and Solar god, Nzambi Mpungu. Originally, they were seen as one spirit with one half male and the other half female. After the introduction of Christianity to Central Africa, the description of Nzambi changed to Creator God and Nzambici to his wife, "God the essence, the god on earth, the great princess, the mother of all the animals, and the mystery of the Earth."

Hinduism

See also: Devi

Hindu goddess Durga

Traditional Hindu mythology features matriarchal power in a central role, reflected in the powerful presence of the Mother goddess, who is diversely called Annapurna, Durga, Parvati, Mahadevi, Shakti, Kali or Mahakali. As Annapurna, she is the provisioner of food and nurturance; as Durga she destroys asuric or demonic elements that cannot be dealt by male gods; as Kali, in her dark mode, she is the erratic, fickle, chastening mother, associated with death and destruction as well as grace and rejuvenation. As Shakti or Mahadevi, known by the common name "Devi" (from the Sanskrit root "to shine"), she is the life-giving, generative power of the universe.

In Hinduism, Saraswati, Lakshmi, Radha, Parvati, Durga and other goddesses represents both the feminine aspect and the shakti (power) of the supreme being known as the Brahman. The divine mother goddess, manifests herself in various forms, representing the universal creative force. She becomes Mother Nature (Mula Prakriti), who gives birth to all life forms and nourishes them through her body. Ultimately she re-absorbs all life forms back into herself, or "devours" them to sustain herself as the power of death feeding on life to produce new life. She also gives rise to Maya (the illusory world) and to prakriti, the force that galvanizes the divine ground of existence into self-projection as the cosmos.

The Shakti sect is strongly associated with Samkhya, and Tantra Hindu philosophies and ultimately, is monist. The primordial feminine creative-preservative-destructive energy, Shakti, is considered to be the motive force behind all action and existence in the phenomenal cosmos. The cosmos itself is purusha, the unchanging, infinite, immanent, and transcendent reality that is the divine ground of all being, the "world soul". This masculine potential is actualized by feminine dynamism, embodied in multitudinous goddesses who are ultimately all manifestations of the one great mother. Shakti, herself, can free the individual from demons of ego, ignorance, and desire that bind the soul in maya (illusion). Practitioners of the Tantric tradition focus on Shakti to free themselves from the cycle of karma.

The worship of the mother deity can be traced back to early Vedic culture. The Rigveda calls the divine female power Mahimata (R.V. 1.164.33) which means "great mother".

Christianity

The Council of Ephesus in 431 AD affirmed Mary as Theotokos (Greek: "God-bearer"), establishing her title as Mother of God in Christian theology. The council emphasized that, because Jesus Christ is both fully divine and fully human, Mary is the mother of the incarnate Word.

Mary occupies a central role in Christian devotion, particularly within the Catholic and Orthodox traditions. While Protestant traditions generally reject Marian devotion, Catholic and Orthodox theology maintains that veneration of Mary differs from worship of God, reserving adoration (latria) for the Trinity alone.

The earliest known prayer directed to Mary, the Sub Tuum Praesidium, dates to approximately the 3rd century and seeks her intercession and protection. The Hail Mary, originating in the 11th century, became a central element of the Rosary. Shrines and devotions such as Our Lady of Guadalupe, Our Lady of the Rosary, and Our Lady of Good Counsel are observed in diverse cultural contexts.

According to Catholic and Orthodox teaching, Mary’s life concluded with her bodily assumption into heaven (the Assumption in Western Christianity, the Dormition in Eastern Christianity). She is regarded as the foremost saint and is believed by some Christians to continue interceding in the world through reported Marian apparitions and devotions.

Mary has not been described in Christian theology as a goddess or divine in her own right. Scholastic theology and Mariology consistently describe her as a created being, subordinate to and distinct from the Triune God.

In pre-Islamic Arabia, Collyridians were an unorthodox Christian denomination who reportedly worshipped Virgin Mary by making burnt offerings of dough to her. Ancient Christians viewed the Collyridians as heretics, holding that Mary was only to be honoured, and not to be worshipped like the God-man of Christianity.

Latter Day Saint movement

Main article: Heavenly Mother (Mormonism)

In the Latter Day Saint movement, particularly the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, many adherents believe in a Heavenly Mother as the wife of God the Father. They are collectively referred to as Heavenly Parents. The theology varies, however, according to the Latter Day Saint denomination. Some believe in multiple Heavenly Mothers married to one Heavenly Father in a polygynous relationship.

Shakers

For Shakers, Holy Mother Wisdom "will come forth and be revealed in her true order; and will be known, even as the Eternal Father is known" (Divine Book of Holy and Eternal Wisdom; Part VI; Chapter 2; Verse 22).