"Sophia was the
first of all created things;
Intelligent
Purpose has been there from the beginning...
To love Her
is to love life;
To serve Her
is to serve the Holy One..."
Jeshua ibn Sirach
, 180 B.C.
Ecclesiasticus
, Apocrypha
~*~ ~*~ ~*~
Sophia!
You of the whirling
wings,
circling, encompassing
energy of God:
you quicken
the world in your clasp.
One wing soars
in heaven,
one wing sweeps
the earth,
and the third
flies all around us.
Praise to Sophia!
Let all the
earth praise her!
Hildegard of Bingen
~*~ ~*~ ~*~
World Goddesses
of Wisdom,
Law, Justice,
Healing,
Inspiration, the Arts and Magic
Egyptian : Maat
Chaldean / Assyro-Babylonian
:
Tashmit (Urmit,
Varamit), Ninkarrak, Nisaba
Hittite : Kamrusepas
Hebrew : Binah, Hokhma, Shekinah, Tebunah
Gnostic : (Aeons), Ennoia, Epinoia, Enthumesis, Phronesia
Greek : Sophia
Classical Greek
: Athena,
Metis,
Themis
Muses,
Graces,
Erinyes (Furies), Horae
Etruscan : Menvra Roman : Minerva
~*~
To Minerva
Proclus' Hymn to Minerva / Athena
translated by Thomas Taylor
Daughter of aegis-bearing Jove, divine,
Propitious to thy vot'ries prayer
incline;
From thy great father's fount supremely
bright,
Like fire resounding, leaping into
light.
Shield-bearing goddess, hear, to whom
belong
A manly mind, and power to tame the
strong!
Oh, sprung from matchless might, with
joyful mind
Accept this hymn; benevolent and kind!
The holy gates of wisdom by thy hand
Are wide unfolded; and the daring
band
Of earth-born giants, that in impious
fight
Strove with thy sire, were vanquish'd
by thy might.
Once by thy care, as sacred poets
sing,
The heart of Bacchus,
swiftly-slaughter'd king,
Was sav'd in aether, when, with fury
fir'd,
The Titans fell against his life conspir'd;
And with relentless rage and thirst
for gore,
Their hands his members into fragments
tore:
But ever watchful
of thy father's will,
Thy pow'r preserv'd him from succeeding
ill,
Till from the secret counsels of his
sire,
And born from Semele through heav'nly
fire,
Great Dionysius to the world at length
Again appear'd with renovated strength.
Once, too, thy warlike axe, with matchless
sway,
Lopp'd from their savage necks the
heads away
Of furious beasts, and thus the pests
destroy'd
Which long all-seeing Hecate annoy'd.
By thee benevolent great Juno's might
Was rous'd, to furnish mortals with
delight:
And through life's wide and various
range 'tis thine
Each part to beautify with arts divine:
Invigorated hence by thee, we find
A demiurgic impulse in the mind.
Towers proudly rais'd, and for protection
strong,
To thee, dread
guardian, deity belong,
As proper symbols of th'exalted height
Thy series claims amidst the courts
of light.
Lands are belov'd by thee to learning
prone,
And Athens, O Athena, is thy own!
Great goddess, hear! and on my dark'ned
mind
Pour thy pure light in measure unconfin'd;
That sacred light, O all-protecting
queen,
Which beams eternal from thy face
serene:
My soul, while wand'ring on the earth,
inspire
With thy own blessed and impulsive
fire;
And from thy fables, mystic and divine,
Give all her powers with holy light
to shine.
Give love, give wisdom, and a power
to love,
Incessant tending to the realms above;
Such as, unconscious of base earth's
control,
Gently attracts the vice-subduing
soul;
From night's dark region aids her
to retire,
And once more gain the palace of her
sire:
And if on me some just misfortune
press,
Remove th'affliction, and thy suppliant
bless.
All-Saving goddess, to my prayer incline!
Nor let those horrid punishments be
mine
Which guilty souls in Tartarus confine,
With fetters fast'ned to its brazen
floors,
And lock'd by hell's tremendous iron
doors.
Hear me, and save (for power is all
thy own)
A soul desirous to be thine alone.
Harleian MSS, British Museum
~*~
Celtic : Bridhid (Brid, Brigan, Brigindo), Cerridwen
Hindu : Sarasvati
(Bharati),
Buddhi (Siddhi),
Deshtri, Vach,
Mayavati, Purvachitti
Indian Buddhist : Vidyadevis
Tibetan Buddhist
: Dolma
Kharpo (White Tara),
Prajnaparamita,
Til-Bu-Ma, Toma,
Vajravarahi,
Yeshe-Khadoma
Chinese : Shing-Mu
Mayan : Ixchel Aztec : Tlazolteotl
~*~ ~*~ ~*~
Individual Goddess
Links to:
Lunea
Weatherstone Gallery
White
Tara (Dolma Kharpo)