In the earliest of times, I believe, humans did not see themselves as separate from all that was around them. All of life was known as interdependent. This is how I see it today. When we are born, we are born to a mother. Our lives are solely dependent on her for survival. We are birthed by her, nourished by her, protected by her, and sometimes forced out to experience on our own, by her. She is at first, our own Original Uncultured Mother. Once we move from her shelter, we begin to experience our world in the same way, looking not only for what nourishes, what protects and what shelters, but also for what we need to be mindful of for our own safety, those forces far out of our control. Those forces, which were uncontrollable, the ancients held in high esteem, and honored with reverence.
We might see her in all the symbols around us. If we look at the Earth as the Body of the Goddess we might see her soil as her skin, her rivers and streams as her blood, flowing just as women’s blood flowed. We would see the oceans as the waters of life bringing forth new beings, sustenance for all. At the same time, these oceans could be seen as her mighty power, taking and giving with the tides, those same tides controlling the cycles of women’s bleeding times. We would see the mountains as her breasts, the snow melting and running down her sides into the rivers and streams as her nourishing milk. We often describe our earth Goddess by saying, “her flesh is the soil; her hair is the trees and other plants. Her bones are the rocks, and her breath is the wind. She lies, her limbs and body extended, and on her body, we live. When it is cold, she shivers; when it is hot, she sweats. And when she moves, there is an earthquake.”
We see this carried forth in mythology, once written language was developed. Look at Danu who was the mighty Danube River; Cailleach Bheara, found in ancient Scottish and Irish mythology as the maker of mountains, lakes and rivers. In County Meath, Ireland there is a set of chambered cairns on a hill, which is known as Sliabh na Caillighe, which means “the Hag’s mountain,” or “the witches’ hills.” David Leeming, in his book, Goddess: Myths of the Divine Female, describes the cave as “a mysterious damp orifice … maternal wombs … vulva slits, all connected to the mysteries of birth and the source of all life.”
- I feel very connected to ancient people in the ways that I honor the sacred. I have shed much of my dualistic thinking and reconnected to the whole in my reverence for Goddess. In my daily living, I find physical ways to immerse myself in her. When I am able to be by the sea, I stand in Her sacred waters. If I cannot do it in person, I do it in my mind. Each day I feel Her breath on my skin, and bend to feel the soil at my feet. I listen to the birds, and on occasion, I am blessed with wild animals at my back door. The trees are a very real part of my life – my friends – my kin! From all of these I look for messages to guide my life. I know that I am dependent of all that surrounds me. I look to the Sky above me, to the Seas surrounding me, and to the Land beneath my feet, and most importantly, to She Who is the Sacred Fire infusing and inspiring us all. She is my Original Uncultured Mother.
Deanne Quarrie is a Priestess of The Goddess, and author of four books. She is an Adjunct Professor at Ocean Seminary College, teaching classes on the Ogham, Ritual Creation, Ethics for Neopagan Clergy, Exploring Sensory Awareness, energetic Boundaries, and many other classes on the use of magic. She is the founder of Global Goddess, a worldwide organization open to all women who honor some form of the divine feminine, as well as The Apple Branch – A Dianic Tradition where she mentors women who wish to serve as priestesses.
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Thanks for this, really beautifully written. I agree, from my own life experiences and travels, that we are deeply connected, and that the earth sustains us as well as a mother would. It is therefore so painful that modern man doesn’t understand this, and simply looks to exploit resources often in the most damaging ways, leaving indigenous people to clear up the mess, with stillborn or disabled children as a legacy.
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When we look up into the heavens, and breathe in the breadth and beauty of the starry sky we are part of that too, the place where Earth lives and has her belonging. Our Sun also sustains all life on Earth, and therefore our lives directly and indirectly. Therefore she is truly Mother of Earth, but also, in herself, she teaches, by sharing her gift of light so warmly, brilliantly, abundantly, how we are, in spirit, equally independent and self-sustaining.
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Brava! She is indeed the Mother of us all, Mother of those with two feet and four feet, of those with feathers and fins, mother of crystalline and leafy and blooming and flowing beings. Thanks for reminding us that She is the Mother of All.
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Reblogged this on Journeying to the Goddess and commented:
As always, I really love Deanne Quarrie’s work. The earth is the body of our Earth Mother – She gives us life, She sustains us and nourishes us and is all around us; yet She is within each and everyone one of us. Love and blessings to you Earth Mother – thank you!
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She is indeed the Source of life, our Mother. And recognizing that, we also see that all of her children are our relatives. The next step is taking only what we need and sharing what we have. Thanks.
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I especially related to it when you said that you overcame duality. It is the one of the hardest things, I find. To really internalise the fact that She is life giver, death-bringer, and generatrix. There is no conflict between the sacred and the profane, there is no rapture because the spiritual and the material. It is all sacred. It is all spiritual. This can frighten some people: When and where can I relax? Relax now. Relax here. Relax into it.
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