Rough/Initial draft of Essay #6c

Note: I have every intention on finishing this ASAP, however, I don't want to have nothing to show for all the work I've been putting into this essay come midnight... therefore I'm uploading and linking this incomplete essay. What remains to be done is fleshing out who Devi is, what her similarities and differences are from Gaia and Mary, fixing citations, fixing wording and adding another 2 quotes from the book (which I have picked), and concluding the essay properly. I will post the finished essay and link it separately.


ESSAY #6c

COMPARE & CONTRAST – Oh, Mamma!

QUESTION: Describe the similarities of and connections between the cults of Earth goddess Gaia, the Virgin Mary and Devi, the Hindi Mother goddess. Select representative artwork depicting each one and describe the similarities in the imagery.

Part 1

Summary- I learned in the process of researching this essay a mass of history, not all art related. I found it all fascinating thus my biggest issue was compiling research and determining what should be kept for the essay itself.

Reason- I think this question is important to art history, particularly the periods this course covers. This question is here so I can have better understanding when it comes to the contrast between Earth Mothers and Sky Fathers.

Purpose- I believe this question was asked to give me a greater understanding of the Earth Mother or Mother Goddess trends in ancient civilizations, and to expand my knowledge on how these trends appeared in art.

Direction- I don't think my views changed on answering this question, although I think that's mostly out of a prior ignorance. I suppose my views on Mary are deeper, but I had near to no understanding of Gaia or Devi, and now I do.

Impressions- Mostly I'll remember the stress! But I guess if I had to say something I wont forget, it's the vocab; Theotokos and chthonic in particular.

Part 2

Women in religion and mythology tend to be held as paragons of fertility and virtue. Across cultures and continents, women—or rather, mothers—are seen as an integral part of creation. This is nothing surprising, really. After all, womankind physically ushers in the new generation. Often called Mother Goddesses, there are figurines dating back to the Upper Paleolithic period possibly venerating them as idols, though we can’t truly determine their intent. In more recent examples, women are positioned as primordial or elemental deities giving birth in some form to the Earth itself or giving meaning to man… but does motherhood or creation even mean the same thing to different cultures? In this essay, I’ll discuss the differences and similarities between three figures of the Mother Goddess: the Grecian Earth Goddess Gaia, the Christian Virgin Mary, and Devi, the Hindi Mother Goddess, as well as their various manifestations and cults.

First off, it’s important to explain what the word cult means here. A cult is essentially a religious group or creed. Although it is often associated with satanic rituals and fanaticism in the modern realm, it is basically a society or order that follows some sort of doctrine or idol. It’s also pertinent to explain that manifestations are usually simply facets of the base goddess. They’re more common in polytheistic religions and often are given separate names and/or identifying details, generally because they represent a particular aspect of the goddess, who is generally a vague, overwhelming figure.

I find the Earth Mother Gaia (from the Greek word γαῖα, translated to Gaia or Gaea) the most clear of these examples. In Greek mythology, Gaia was the literal personification of the earth. She is known as the mother of all, and it is from her that all the gods (she is often thought to have brought forth her consorts in some sort of ancient asexual reproduction) descended. We’re talking the Cyclopes, Titans, all the way down. Therefore all children of the gods are also a result of her existence, to the more familiar ones such as Zeus or obscure such as Nereus. (http://mythagora.com/bios/gaia.html)

Figure 1-a

THE BIRTH OF ERIKHTHONIOS,  ca 440 BC

Without Gaia, Grecian mythology as we know it would not exist, so the fact that she is significant is clear. What’s more important to our initial question is how she was displayed in arts and worshiped. Gaia was often shown with fruits or cornucopia imagery, and as the earth was her symbol, she is often shown rising out of it, unable to part with her element. For example, we know the woman in figure 1-a above to be Gaia as she is half buried in the ground plane. Of course, the modern understanding of our earth being round and blue was not available at this time, so the dichotomy between modern worship and ancient iconography is really clear. Figure 1-b is a perfect example of how modern worshipers have taken the “Earth Mother” ideal and reconstructed it. (http://gogreece.about.com/od/greekmythology/a/mythgaiagaea.htm)

Figure 1-b

Millennial Gaia Statue, Oberon Zell, modern

“Gaia herself caused life to spring forth from the earth, and is also the name given to the magical energy that makes certain locations sacred. The Oracle at Delphi was believed to be the most powerful prophetic site on earth, and was considered the center of the world, due to Gaia's energy.“ (http://paganwiccan.about.com/od/greekdeities/p/GaiaProfile.htm) It is believed that before the site became the locale of the Pythian Games (as Apollo slew Gaia’s child, the dragon Python at this location) it was home to a cult of Gaia worship. Gaia was repeatedly regarded as a prophetic goddess as well as the best witness to oaths. She also had some significance for the spirits of the dead, as those visiting graves would often pour libations and invoke her, and many invoked her name to avenge murder, as bloodshed pollutes her. Furthermore, Greek mythology is heavily drenched in bloody war, and Gaia is not different; such as in figure 1-c, Gaia is often shown urging on her children into battle.

 Figure 1-c

Aristophanes, pottery

Much of Gaia’s cult worship came inseparably from worship of Demeter, who is another Mother Earth figure. She's possibly a manifestation of a sort, although Grecian mythology tends to stick with origin stories that are closer akin to childbirth, unlike the Hindu manifestations we’ll discuss later that are easier described as birth by bursting forth. In any case, as she was a Chthonic goddess (meaning in, under, or beneath the earth) a standard method of worship was ritual sacrifice, generally of black animals, and placed into the earth. Gaia is often called upon as “dark Ge” or “Ge-meter”, ‘meter’ being the Greek work for mother. (http://www.theoi.com/Protogenos/Gaia3.html)

The Virgin Mary is an alternate view of motherhood, to be sure. Whereas Gaia was always amidst a struggle of some sort with her consorts or her children, Mary birthed only one child, Jesus, and her significance centers around this. Certainly, the struggles she had as mother to the messiah were rough, but they were generally internal and give credence to her as a motivational or inspirational figure. Indeed, the birth was also an odd sort (immaculate conception isn't exactly standard) but I'd consider her motherhood to be the most recognizable and closest to our actual experience.

Figure 2-a

Icon of the enthroned Virgin and Child with saints George, Theodore and angels, 6th century, Saint Catherine's Monastery, Mount Sinai.

By many accounts, her life on Earth was that of a mortal, whereas the other Goddesses mentioned are divine from the get-go. Of course, not all see Mary as mortal; the Catholic Church, Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Churches, Anglican Communion, and Lutheran churches believe Mary to be the Theotokos (Greek, Θεοτόκος), which translates to “one who gives birth to God”. She is titled as such because her son Jesus is both divine and man. Some people believe that she is herself born free of original sin, that she remained a virgin all her life (even during and after giving birth!), and some believe that she was taken physically into heaven, possibly still alive during her ascension. She's known by some as Queen of Heaven, and as a mediator. Our book states “As Theotokos, Mary was viewed as the powerful, ever forgiving intercessor, appealing to her divine son for mercy on behalf of repentant worshipers. She was also called the seat of wisdom, and many images of the virgin and child, like this one [referencing Virgin And Child With Saints And Angels, figure 2-a, show her holding Jesus on her lap in a way that suggests she represents the throne of Solomon. ” (text, 266) She is absolutely good and pure, which figure 2-b represents well, with the lamb image, and even in the titling. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgin_Mary)

Figure 2-b

L'Innocence, William-Adolphe Bouguereau, 1893

Mary as Mother or any other mainstream view of her has nothing to do with the earth, unlike Gaia, but she is venerated. From the “Hail Mary” to fasting, alms in her honor, the rosary, the scapular, festivals in her name, prayer, and visiting church, Mary worship fits better into the modern lifestyle than the animal sacrifice cultists of Gaia performed. (http://www.catholictradition.org/Mary/mary23.htm) Although I personally see Gaia and Mary worship or iconography as very different, they do share some similarities. For example, Gaia is often shown with a child in her arms, and Mary is rarely shown without Jesus. Gaia cannot part with her element, Earth, and though Mary never looks half-raised from the ground as Gaia does, she is also in a way inseparable from her divinity, shown primarily in the popular halo or glow behind her head, which shows her holiness. A great example of the halo is figure 2-a, where it is a distinct circle, meant for saints. On the other hand, Gaia is passionate and dominating (see figure 1-c) whereas Mary is gentle and compassionate (see figure 2-b). In this sense, Gaia has more in common with Devi, the Hindu Mother Goddess, as far as iconography goes.

"... Devi, a designation covering many deities who embody the feminine. In general, Devi represents the power of Shakti, a divine energy understood as feminine. Shakti is needed to overcome the demons of our afflictions, such as ignorance and pride. Among the most widely worshipped goddesses are Lakshmi, goddess of wealth and beauty, and Durga, the warrior goddess… Durga is the essence of the conquering powers of the gods." (text, 332)