Moderator’s note: This marvelous FAR site has been running for 10 years and has had more than 3,600 posts in that time. There are so many treasures that have been posted in this decade that they tend to get lost in the archives. We have created this column so that we can all revisit some of these gems. Today’s blogpost was originally posted January 26, 2020. You can visit the original post here to see the comments.
The otherworldly energy of Snake – it’s vitality, its uncanny ability to sense danger, and its ability to shed its skin and reappear as if reborn must have invoked feelings of awe in our ancestors. All across the pre-historic world one finds depictions of Snake and the spiral or meander as Snake’s symbols.
Creation, Primal Energy, Life Force Snakes are mysterious, cold-blooded creatures – slithering silently across the land, sleeping with open lidless eyes, hearing without ears but by feeling Earth’s vibrations, and using their forked tongues to smell in lieu of a nose.
To the human imagination this enigmatic being is both chthonic and spiritual – tying together Heaven and Earth. Though no stories survive from the early Neolithic period of Old Europe, the preponderance of imagery leads us to the conclusion that the Snake Goddess, often appearing as one with the Bird Goddess, was felt everywhere – ruling earth, water and air – nurturing the world with the feminine principle – Mistress of life-giving cosmic forces.
Mythology can be a helpful lens through which to view the march of history. The goddesses and gods are archetypes, illustrating the many facets of human experience for us, while at the same time lighting the path of connection between all Earth’s creatures and Earth herself – helping us understand ourselves and our place in this beautiful, yet often difficult, world of duality.
The seasons turn and again we reach the Winter Solstice – the longest night which marks the sun’s return to light in the northern hemisphere. Stag, in all his antlered majesty, symbolizes the return of the sun’s life-giving rays.
Here we are in December—and what a year 2021 has been. Let’s not even think about what we’ve survived—continuing pandemic, climate change, people with guns, violations of voting rights, the Orange T. Rex still at large. No no no. Let’s celebrate the coming holidays with the antique ancestor of the Feast of Fools. Let’s celebrate the Saturnalia.
Some background: Saturn, who was sometimes conflated with the Greek Titan, Cronus (who became a god of time), was an ancient Latin agricultural god whose name may derive from satur, “stuffed,” or sator, “a sower”; in either case, he stands for abundance. He was a working god who oversaw viniculture and farming and was the king of Italy during the golden age before the rise of imperial Rome. When Jupiter came to conquer him, he hid himself (latuit) in the region that came to be called Latium. The Romans soon proclaimed that Saturn’s body lay beneath the Capitol in Rome. Because his reign (and presumably his hidden corpse) brought prosperity to the city, the state treasury and the standards of the Roman legions were kept in his temple when the army was at home. Saturn’s statue was bound in woolen strips to keep him from leaving Rome. In addition to Saturn, the Romans honored Ops and popular gods like Sol Invictus, Mithra, Consus, Juventas, and Janus in their winter festivals.
Five years ago, I wrote an essay for Feminism and Religion musing about rituals for our sons. I wondered aloud how we welcome sons in manhood, how we create rituals of celebrations and rites of passages for our boys as well as our daughters. I have been steeped in women’s ceremony and ritual since I was a girl myself, watching the women wash my mother’s feet and crown her with flowers at her mother blessing ceremony as she prepared to give birth to my little brother when I was nine years old. Her circle of friends honored us too, crowning their daughters with flowers and loosely binding their wrists with ribbon to their mothers as they crossed the threshold into first menstruation.
At 24, I then helped plan the rite of passage for my youngest sister, then 13, as she and her friends gathered into a wide living room, flowers on their heads and anticipation in their eyes as we spoke to them of women’s wisdom and the strength of, and celebration of, being maiden girls on their way to adulthood. I knew then that I would have a ritual for my own daughter, yet unconceived, one day. I birthed two sons and lost another son in my second trimester. I led a circle of mothers and daughters through a series of nine classes culminating in a flower-becked coming of age ceremony while newly pregnant with the rainbow baby who would become my own daughter.
Marija Gimbutas, in her book Language of the Goddess, mentions only one goddess figurine from what was, at the time of her writing, Czechoslovakia (pages 31-32). That figurine comes from Předmosti, in the very eastern part of what is now the Czech Republic. However, there are more, and I would like to introduce you to the one that I encountered during a visit to another part of the Czech Republic several weeks ago.
Meet what Czechs refer to as the Venus of Dolní Věstonice. There is not a lot of information about her, so I have pieced together what I can find. Said to be the oldest known fired terracotta figurine (some 29,000 years old), she was first unearthed in 1925. She was found broken into two pieces at the site of the Stone Age settlement known as Dolní Věstonice, in the southeastern part of the Czech Republic. This settlement, according to Archeo Park Pavlov, was part of the Pavlovian culture, a Stone Age culture local to the area.
Author’s photograph of a replica of the Venus on display at Archeo Park Pavlov.
Today’s biblical poetry reflects on two passages in Exodus 15:2 and 15:3. Both deal with the vibrational essence that gives rise to the splendors of life.
KJV is the traditional King James Version. MPV is my own Mystic Pagan translation.See notes below for my translations of various words including LORD.
Exodus 15:2
The LORD is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father’s God, and I will exalt him. KJV
YaaaHaaaVaaaHaaa, is the source of my vivacity and song Unveiling pathways of liberation. Rooted in the potentiality of my ancestors Resplendent in beauty. MPV
In addition to being viewed as a Creator Goddess and a Destiny Weaver, Spider is associated with many other aspects of life. Some of these aspects fall into what we would consider the light – the good – and others are dark dangers – the dark side of life.
Spider Wisdom by Judith Shaw
Patience, Resourcefulness/Protection, Good Fortune Though spiders have eight eyes they have very poor eyesight. Instead they have infinite patience, waiting quietly in their webs for prey.
Spider is credited with inspiring King Robert the Bruce of Scotland with its patience. A 14th century legend tells of a time when Bruce had suffered various military defeats against the English. While hiding in a cave he observed a spider trying and failing repeatedly to climb its silken thread. But it persevered and eventually reached its web. Bruce was inspired. He decided to persevere in his efforts, came out of hiding, and eventually won Scotland’s independence from England.
Spiders are important to our gardens. They eat more insects than both birds and bats.
Long ago people used spider webs to stop bleeding. Now science has discovered that spider webs contain Vitamin K – a coagulant which stops bleeding.
The Torah recounts a story of how Spider protected David, before he become King of Israel. As King Saul’s soldiers pursued him, David hid in a cave. A spider built a huge web across the cave entrance. The soldiers saw the cave but did not investigate, thinking that no one would crawl through a spider web to gain entrance.
Similarly a story from Islamic tradition depicts Mohammad hiding in a cave from pursuing soldiers. Here also a spider spun a web across the opening, protecting Mohammad.
A Hopi legend about Spider Grandmother tells how she protected a village by spinning a magical web over the whole village, which when doused with water gave protection from being burned down by its enemies.
Spider Woman of Dine (Navajo) mythology helps and protects her people. She helped them to destroy the monsters that roamed the land as they emerged from the third world into this world. She chose the top of Spider Rock in Canyon de Chelly – the Dine ancestral home – as her home. Children were warned that misbehaving would make Spider Woman angry. She would cast her web like a net, as some spiders do, to catch the naughty child, bring him up to her home and devour him. It was said that the top of Spider rock is white because of the bleached bones of those naughty children.
The Celts saw spider as a helper and believed that killing one would bring bad luck.
Spider appears frequently in Chinese legends as lucky beings, bringing happiness and wealth. Spider charms are worn for good luck.
Wisdom, Interconnection, Transformation A Hopi legend tells of Spider Woman helping Tiyo on his journey to the underworld. He begins with a visit to Spider Woman who gives him a serum to subdue his enemies. Then she accompanies him to the ‘Far-Far-Below River’ to offer advice during his trials. With her help Tiyo completes his journey successfully and returns to his people with greater wisdom and knowledge.
Egyptian Creator/Spider Goddess, Neith, often depicted veiled, wove this veil at creation to hide herself from humanity. As humans are not capable of understanding the fullness of divine mysteries the veil offers folds and strands that are thinner, allowing humans a glimpse at divine source and higher understanding.
African and some Native American stories portray Spider as a trickster god whose tales are part of a rich storytelling tradition which convey wisdom and moral lessons.
Spider symbolizes Maya (illusion) in Hindu Mythology. Vedic philosophy characterizes Spider as the weaver of the veil of illusion, hiding the ultimate truth of reality. In addition, Indra’s net, envisioned like a spiderweb with jewels at each vertex, illustrate the belief that all things are connected.
Though spiderwebs are stronger than steel, by weight they don’t usually last very long. Sometimes spiders destroy their own webs. Spider, with it eight (infinity symbol) legs and eyes symbolizes the infinite cycles of transformation as Spider continually creates, destroys and creates again, reflecting the essence of our natural world and its infinite cycles of birth, death and rebirth.
Dark Dangers – cunning, deception, intrigue, death Only a small number of spider species are dangerous to humans with venom that can cause localized pain to a person. Further, there are only about 25 spider species with venom that can cause serious illness in humans. And yet arachnophobia, the fear of spiders, is one of the most common fears worldwide.
Many folktales and myths warn of the dangers associated with Spider.
Athena, Greek Goddess of Wisdom and Handicraft was a skilled weaver. Arachne, a mortal and gifted weaver, got carried away with her talents and boasted that her work was better than that of Athena. Athena was furious and a contest was arranged between the two. Not only was Arachne’s weaving beautiful it also depicted the gods in a bad way. Athena destroyed Arachne’s work in a rage.
Arachne, ashamed to see what her arrogance had wrought, hung herself. Athena took pity on her – turning the rope into a web and Arachne into a spider. Through her death and transformation, Arachne was able to weave her beautiful tapestries for eternity.
Japanese mythology tells of the Spider Princess, Jorōgumo, who transformed into a beautiful woman and entraped men with her deception.
To Christians Spider symbolizes the Devil as the Devil prepares its trap for human souls like the spider prepares its web for prey.
When a spider is finished with its web many species roll it up and consume it.
In ancient Indian tradition Brahma, the creator of all things, was seen as a spider weaving the web that is our universe. Sacred text says that one day she will devour the web – our universe – and then weave another.
Divinatory Spider calls you to transform – to imagine your world anew. A time of creativity is at hand – a time of magic – a time to manifest your true destiny. Spider reminds you that with patience you can best reach your goal.
At the same time Spider calls you to recognize the dark side of life – the ways in which you or others might be deceptive, or engaged in intrigue.
Spider reminds you of the eternal cycles of life, death and rebirth.
Spider awakens your memory of the interconnection of all life, allowing you to integrate problem areas into a more wholistic perspective on life and reminding you of the system of interdependency in which we live.
Judith’s deck of Celtic Goddess Oracle Cards is available now. You can order your deck from Judith’s website – click here. Experience the wisdom of the Celtic Goddesses!
Judith Shaw, a graduate of the San Francisco Art Institute, has been interested in myth, culture and mystical studies all her life. Not long after graduating from SFAI, while living in Greece, Judith began exploring the Goddess in her art. She continues to be inspired by the Goddess in all of Her manifestations. She is now working on her next deck of oracle cards – Animal Wisdom. Originally from New Orleans, Judith makes her home in New Mexico where she paints as much as time allows and sells real estate part-time. Give yourself the gift of one of Judith’s prints or paintings, priced from $25 – $3000.
Spider, the eternal weaver of webs, has symbolized creation since people first began storytelling. Cultures worldwide have associated Spider with the Creator Goddess, weaving – and through association with women as they were the weavers who spent endless hours creating the fabric to clothe their communities, and feminine power.
This is the 5th in a series of work I have been doing to translate passages of the bible into poetry that strips out the patriarchal overlays. You can read the previous posts.
In this installment I am grouping together some passages that deal with vibrational energy and its role in creation. We humans often express sacred vibration as song or chant. When we get into the vibrational flow they are truly uplifting. In the translations below, I have kept two of the words in Hebrew because of their wonderful vibrational essences:
Feminism and Religion 
