Skip to main content

OF CAVERNS AND GODDESSES

Writer, scriptwriter and researcher Celeste Allegrea Adams was not a caver. She traveled around the world, exploring ancient and modern mythic traditions and ritual. Her passion for adventure and for understanding the mythology and spirituality of people in all cultures led to lengthy travels and pilgrimages to sacred sites around the world.

She passed away in 2009, but not before leaving a historical discussion that enlightens us on the relation existing between caves and certain goddesses. In her piece Cave Dwellers,The Magic of Living in the Earth, she explains:

"Before there were temples, religious rites were conducted in caves. In Sikkim, the gods and earth spirits were established in the Four Great Caves, oriented to the cardinal points. The Hindu Mother of Caverns was one of the oldest emanations of Kali, a matrikadevi (Mother Goddess) named Kurukulla. Her Phrygian descendant Cybele, the Great Mother of the gods who was brought to Rome in the second century BCE, was called 'Cavern-dweller' and was worshiped in natural or artificial caves. Her sacred subterranean chambers were the womb-shrines."
"The Sanskrit word for a temple meant 'womb.' The Sumerian word for the Underworld, the sacred cave, and the womb was matu, from the universal root word for 'mother.' To the Pygmies of Africa, the same word meant the great cavern that stood for the 'Mother of God.' To Simon Magus, Paradise was defined as 'the Mother's Womb.' "

Submitted by Carole Devillers

Picture link:
http://www.whirledwydeweb.com/iwf/celesteadams.jpg

Source:
http://www.spiritofmaat.com/archive/apr2/trogs.htm

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

QUOTE: Marie M. Daly

"Courage is like — it’s a habitus, a habit, a virtue: you get it by courageous acts. It’s like you learn to swim by swimming. You learn courage by couraging." Marie M. Daly (1921–2003), Biochemist & the first African American woman in the US to earn a Ph.D. in chemistry. #ScienceWomen #WLeadership #ewls

800 Facebook Likes!

Yippee! EWLS fans are awesome! Thank you all so much for sharing and liking our FB page. Since last February when we announced 700 likes, we have gained a blog and our annual event is ramping up for some major festivities. Please check out our Extraordinary Women Cavers (EWC's) who will be featured in this year's publication and sign up so that you can get in on these limited caving trips to gated and protected caves in the Magic Valley area of Idaho! Have a great day everyone and thank you for supporting women cavers! LINKS Webpage: www.ewls.org EWC's: www.ewls.org/past-editions.html Annual Event: www.ewls.org/all-grrs-cave-trip.html Annual Event FB page: www.facebook.com/events/127091664128055

Sioux Legend of the Old Woman in the Cave

According to Sioux legend, as told by Chief Lost Feather, there is a secret and mysterious cave that is located on the West Mountain (near Hot Springs, Arkansas).  There's an old woman and a dog that have been living in this cave for many generations. The old woman never grows any older.  The dog never ages, either.  They both stay exactly the same, and they have since anybody can remember. The old woman spends her days weaving a rug.  She is using pine needles that she has collected in the nearby pine forest.  The old woman has been weaving now for many centuries, and yet the rug never gets any bigger. The dog watches his mistress weave through narrow slits in his eyes as he appears to just nap in the corner. Occasionally the old woman puts the rug down and leaves it while she goes to stir the pot of soup that she has cooking on a fire at the mouth of the cave.  The soup has probably been cooking for several centuries, as well.  The minute the old w...