"Looking back so many thousands of years, it
seems as if humanity's first image of life was the
mother. This must go back to a time when
human beings experienced themselves as the
children of nature, in relationship with all things,
part of the whole."
(Baring and Cashford, The Myth of the Goddess)
Baring and Cashford are referring to the oldest
sculpture of a Goddess, from about 22,000 B.C.
from Brassempouy in the Landes area of France.
They also state, "It is not surprising that these
images of the Goddess appear throughout
history, for they all express a similar
vision of life on earth, one where the creative
source of life is conceived in the image of a
mother and where humanity feels itself and the
rest of creation to be the mother's children." This
beautiful female who sits before us may be a
representation of a 'Mother Goddess,' as well.
The lines etched around the outside of her
breasts and the designs surrounding them direct
attention to the sacred source. The center focus
is directed to the nourishment of the flowing
breast. The central theme of nourishment is all-
inclusive. The shape of her full breasts and the
swelling curves of her hips with the hole for the
belly button, all emphasize the feeling of
fecundity. A distinct division of her legs open at
the entrance to the womb. The rippling
movement of water painted above her womb
suggests the source of the vegetative world and
also of the waters of life. The geometric designs
covering her voluptuous body may symbolize the
sacred way of approach to a dimension invisible
to human senses. "All these form an enduring
constellation of images related to the figure of
the Goddess, for they symbolize the intricate
pathway that connects the visible world to the
invisible, of the kind that souls of the dead
would have taken to re-enter the womb of the
Mother." (Baring and Cashford) The mouth is a
peculiar part of this remarkable figure. Could
this be an egg? The egg is also related to water
as the primordial element in which life gestates.
The egg and the womb are both images of the
beginning of life. If she represents the mythical
image from which creation emerged, she is
surely one of the most beautiful goddesses in
the enchanted world of fertility and birth.
- (PF.3218)
|
