The Earliest Divinity

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devi_bhakta

 

Her image has graced Stone Age caves. Her idols have stood in ancient

temples. Hers was the first sacred form to be molded by man.

 

In Japan, She was Amaterasu., the sun-goddess; in Greece, She was

Demeter, the corn-goddess; in Egypt, She was Isis, the river-goddess.

The Vikings called Her Frejya, the Eskimos called Her Sedna, the

Romans called Her Artemis. She was the Mexican Coatlicue, the Tibetan

Tara, the Babylonian Ishtar, the Indian Shakti.

 

In every place She was the same: Life-bestower, nourisher, lover,

comforter, and final killer. She was the Mother Goddess who resided

in dark caves or sat on pink lotuses surrounded by birds and beasts,

spinning the web of life and kneading the earth with life-giving sap.

 

Archeological excavations across Europe and West Asia have revealed

prehistoric paintings and carvings of women with exaggerated feminine

features -- indicating the awe of the ancient artists with the

life-giving capacity of woman. Some figures actually show women giving

birth.

 

The role of man in the creative process is spasmotic, momentary. It is

the woman who nutures the fetus in the womb and nourishes the newborn

on the breast. She was therefore seen in early societies as an

extension of the Earth, another mysterious manifestation of cosmic

fecundity.

 

In the rhythmic cycles of Nature -- the rising and setting of the

sun, the waxing and waning of the moon. the change of seasons, the

dance of tides and the shifting fertility of women -- man sensed the

unending transformations of the Goddess: from seductive nymph through

tender matron to stern crone.

 

Material adapted from "Devi: An Introduction" by Devdutt

Pattanaik(Vakils, Feffer & Simns Ltd., Mumbai, 2000)