Vision of the Divine Feminine

 

"She is so bright and glorious that you cannot look at her face or her garments for the splendor with which she shines. For she is terrible with the terror of the avenging lightening, and gentle with the goodness of the bright sun; and both her terror and her gentleness are incomprehensible to humans . . . But she is with everyone and in everyone, and so beautiful is her secret that no person can know the sweetness with which she sustains people, and spares them in inscrutable mercy."

 

Vision of the Divine Feminine by Hildegard von Bingen. 
(Scivias, III, 4.15, trans. Mother Hart, O.S.B. and Jane Bishop)

 

 

(Painting of the Divine Sophia by Pamela Matthews, all rights reserved.)

 

Hymn to Aphrodite

 

"I will sing of stately Aphrodite, gold-crowned and beautiful, whose dominion is the walled cities of all sea-set Cyprus. There the moist breath of the western wind wafted her over the waves of the loud-moaning sea in soft foam, and there the gold-filleted Hours welcomed her joyously. They clothed her with heavenly garments: on her head they put a fine, well-wrought crown of gold, and in her pierced ears they hung ornaments of orichalc and precious gold, and adorned her with golden necklaces over her soft neck and snow-white breasts, jewels which the gold-filleted Hours wear themselves whenever they go to their father's house to join the lovely dances of the gods. And when they had fully decked her, they brought her to the gods, who welcomed her when they saw her, giving her their hands. Each one of them prayed that he might lead her home to be his wedded wife, so greatly were they amazed at the beauty of violet-crowned Cytherea." (Homeric Hymn, trans. Evelyn-White)

 

 

(Aphrodite on a swan, art from kylix, Kameiros/Rhodes tomb.)

More Goddess Devotions:  In Her Name

Blessings of the Full Moon

 

Happy Full Moon in Virgo!

May the seeds of harmony grow in beauty.

 

 

 

(photo copyright Nuttakit.)

Happy Chinese New Year!

Venus Anadyomene

 

Venus Anadyomene. Fresco from Pompeii, Casa di Venus, 1st century C.E.

Masque of the Four Seasons

The Masque of the Four Seasons
by Walter Crane (1845-1950)

Full Moon Blessings

 

May the Snow Moon bring quiet introspection and deep peace.

Prayer to Brigid

 

Brigid,

You are a woman of peace.

You bring harmony where there is conflict.

You bring light to the darkness.

You bring hope to the downcast.

May the mantle of your peace cover those who are troubled and anxious,

And may peace be firmly rooted in our hearts and in our world.

Inspire us to act justly and to reverence all Goddess has made.

Brigid, you are a voice for the wounded and the weary.

Strengthen what is weak within us,

Calm us into a quietness that heals and listens.

May we grow each day into greater wholeness in mind, body, and spirit.

 

Adapted from a Prayer to St. Brighid
Solas Bhríde Community, Kildare, 1997

 

 

 

(Painting of the Goddess Brigid by Susan Seddon-Boulet.)



News: Niuheliang Goddess Temple Relics

"One of the more notable monuments at Niuheliang is the Goddess Temple, so named by archaeologists who discovered a clay female head sculpture with eyes inlaid with jade. . . In ancient times Earth goddesses were regarded as symbols of fertility, vitality, and the continuity of an ethnic group. This grand-size Goddess Temple and goddess figures found inside prove that goddess worship had a leading role in prehistoric Chinese religion.”

Read the Article