#creation goddess

[akhret]

Anuket

𓂝𓈖𓏘𓏏𓆇𓁐G-R      𓂝𓈖𓏘𓏏𓁐      𓂝𓈖𓇋𓇋𓁐NK      𓂝𓈖𓏘𓏏
𓂝𓈖𓏘𓏏NK      𓂝𓈖𓏘𓏏𓁐      𓂝𓈖𓏘𓏏𓆗

Epithets

Who comes out of the Nun

The Mistress of the stars

With shining appearance

The Lady of the Secret Mountain

She with well growing grain

The Mistress of Thrones

The Mistress of terror

Areas of Worship

Elephantine was her major cult center, where she formed the Elephantine triad with Satet and Khnum.

She was also worshipped in Sehel, Komi, Thebes, File, Phil, Assuan, and was worshipped throughout Lower Nubia.

Offerings

Water, fruit, vegetables, fish, wine, beer

Papyrus, blue lotus

Bronze or gold, jewels, menat necklace

Incense

Information

Anuket was originally a Nubian goddess who migrated to Egypt during the Old Kingdom (6th dynasty), but she wasn’t depicted or recorded until the Middle Kingdom. She was the goddess of the southern border region of Egypt. She was the personification of the Nile, according to some sources; but we know for sure she was heavily associated with the Nile. She helped guard the first cataract from evil, along with the other two members of the triad.

Her association with the life giving source of the Nile, led to her being associated with motherhood, specifically the mother of the pharaoh. She is the mother of Re, a protective deity during childbirth, and can be seen nursing a few different pharaohs.

More notes and citations here: My notes: https://akhretnotes.weebly.com/anuket.html#/

Anuket

To embrace (Wilkinson) ​She of the flood (Otto)

[redacted-coiner]

If you are up to it, would you be willing to make a Creation Deity based on your Deity flags? /nf

Creation Deity

[PT: Creation Deity]

Other labels contain, Creation God, Creation Goddess, Creation Xeity, Creation Fewity, and Creation Odity. This is under the Deity Umbrella(link)!

A flag for those who a Creation deity a deity of creation, a deity from creation, a deity that’s the embodiment of creation, a deity that controls creation, etc. This can be kin, delusion, religious beliefs, etc. anyone who can fall under this and anyone can use it!

[ID: in Alt text]

[Tags] @radiomogai, @liom-archive, @imoga-pride, & @ficto-religious-archive , @religious-archive

DNI is listed within my pinned post. Please go read it before interacting with any part of my content. Ask to tag!

[endysgirl]

Usagi as The Will of Heaven

I’ve been thinking about Cosmos a lot lately. Sailor Cosmos symbolizes the feminine divine to me because of what she represents and implies for our heroine, Usagi. Her role transforms the hero narrative into one of divine power. While, Moon always uses phrases like cosmic, power, eternal and so on, at the introduction of Cosmos we get to see those traits personified bodily in her, not just as an extension of her wand power. I’ve written before on my tumblr about Cosmos and how I liken her to a Creation Goddess. While I’m social distancing because of Covid I’ve been thinking about her a lot more (mainly because I was planning on getting her as my second Sailor Moon tattoo at the end of March).

I consider Cosmos, and therefore Moon, as embodying the feminine divine because of the overall power of her crystal/starseed. In the Stars arc, we find out that Cosmos has Lambda power which the manga says is the power to restore everything to the static Cosmos. I’m curious as to the literal Japanese translation here, and looking forward to seeing if the Eternal Editions translates this differently. The reason for my curiosity is because lambda which is the eleventh letter of the Greek alphabet is the symbol for a cosmological constant. It is used to describe the energy density of space, and the ever expanding dynamic energy of space. Aristotle, Ptolemy and eventually the early Christian church accepted the idea that there were fixed stars in the universe, meaning they accepted a static Cosmos. Static referring to things being unchanged, not expanding or growing. It wasn’t until after Copernicus discovered elliptical orbits and Newton theorized gravity that people began to realize the universe might actually be expanding. That it might be dynamic instead of static. While there were many objections to the idea of a static universe, philosopher Immanuel Kant perhaps surmised it best. He makes the argument that whether the universe had a finite starting point and fixed stars aka static Cosmos, or whether it was infinite aka dynamic was irrelevant because of time. So yeah, I’m really interested in how Eternal Editions will translate this phrase and what exactly it’s suppose to mean.

We see the now proven theory of time as cyclical in the oldest living religion in the world, Hinduism. And Hinduism heavily influenced the emergence of Shintoism and the other mythos that accompanies Naoko Takeuchi’s Sailor Moon universe. Pluto is the biggest example of time being cyclical but that’s an analysis for another time. In Sailor Moon, we see reincarnation many times. In Stars, we learn that the Galaxy Cauldron is where all things in the universe are born. We also learn that Queen Serenity gave her life and power to the cauldron so that Serenity and the entire Earth could have a giant redo (also a topic for another time). We see when Moon kills Dark Endymion that she is confident that no matter how many times they are reborn, they will one day meet each other again and they will have a chance to be happy.

So what does this all say about the nature of Usagi’s power? Usagi’s power is one of rebirth and hope. And as Cosmos, using Lambda power, it has evolved as the cosmic power that makes up the universe. Her power of rebirth is a power of creation. She has the ability to draw stars to her, and by stars I mean the senshi. As the Stars arc revealed to us, the senshi are all drawn together because of their great devotion and bond to each other and to Serenity. So literally, at the end of Stars it wasn’t Usagi’s power alone that made them be reborn together, but their combined will as stars/star seeds allowing them to draw each other close. So we can assume that Cosmos, who is Moon alone in the far distant future, may be fighting alone but there’s the hope that she will one day be rejoined by her senshi and lover.

Using this analysis of her as a Creation Goddess, I’d like to take it step further and assert that according to Asian mythologies she is also something much more significant. Those familiar with Asian religions, folklore and even movies and dramas have heard the phrase “Will of Heaven”. Sometimes this is translated as “fate” or “destiny” for non-Asian audiences. The Will of Heaven or Mandate of Heaven was used to ordain ancient Chinese kings. But it was also used more widely to imply that what is happening or whatever decisions are being made is the Will if Heaven and is divine fate. Japanese mythology, Kojiki, describes how the universe begins, and after it begins there is the formation of Heaven (not in the Christian sense). The formation of Heaven creates Light which is the Will of Heaven. From there, Kojiki describes the creation of gods and goddesses and the Earth/Islands of Japan itself.

Considering how deeply Naoko uses mythology in Sailor Moon, I would assert that Moon becomes/is the Light of Heaven and therefore the Will of Heaven. This works in the Sailor Moon Universe through many examples: when she kills Dark Endymion with the confidence that they will be born again, when she finds and rescue the senshi on Nemesis, when she as NQS grants Pluto eternal sleep but then also sends her back in time to be reincarnated with a new mission, when she is able to bring Saturn back from the Tao System and have her start life over during their timeline, when she is able to activate the Golden Crystal essentially making Mamoru her consort and activating her power to enhance her own, and in Stars when she throws herself into the Cauldron to release her power which makes it possible to push the ever-growing power of chaos back into being a smaller part of the universe. Her Will is what gives her crystal power and she can use the will of her senshi to enhance her power. That ability allows her to be the Messiah, the Queen, the Savior and the Creator. Her Will throughout the manga is what shapes the outcome of those around her and by Stars, the Universe itself. It’s an awesome power that demonstrates her eternal brilliance as an “immortal star” as Mamoru calls her.

Usagi’s transformation fro Ordinary Girl to Will of Heaven and Creation Goddess to Eternal Shining Star is bittersweet to me. While my childhood memories of Sailor Moon are deeply rooted in watching the 90s anime growing up, my love for Moon as an adult fan is sustained through the Stars arc in the Manga. I think her transformation is ultimately feminist and of the feminine divine. Anyways, that’s just what I’ve been thinking of the last few days as I social distance and eat too much because I can’t go anywhere.

Anywho, if you liked this please check out my tumblr post in Cosmos: https://endysgirl.tumblr.com/post/187799988033/sailor-cosmos-and-eternal-moon

[anomaly00-archive]

When Comes the Dawn: Worldbuilding #5

“And so did she create, with her very hands, the earth below, the skies above, and the oceans deep. Mother of worlds, of man and beasts. Hail to you, oh bringer of life.” --the Aelied

The Raian Pantheon: Meidther

The Goddess of Creation, Life, Fertility, and Motherhood, Meidther is the first of the Trinity and the most widely worshipped of the three. She is said to have been born from the explosion of the First Star, signifying Chaos at the start of Creation. 

In many statues and paintings, Meidther is depicted as ‘golden.’ Artist usually interprets this as gold hair, gold eyes, and plenty of golden or yellow motifs surrounding her. There’s much discourse over the color of her skin, with those of the north preferring more paler tones, and the south depicting her with olive/tan skin. Though there are a few outliers have actually taken the meaning of ‘golden’ literally.’

(Centuries later, mythologians theorized the enduring feature of ‘gold’ in a fertility/creation goddess was due to the color’s association with the sun--the nearest star to earth and an important factor of life on the planet; and wheat fields--the main staple food of ancient Raians.)

“Oh, how the universe rejoiced! Out from the cradle in an explosion of bright light, came the First Star Child. Her hair shimmered like starlight, her eyes the color of Vi’s burnished gold. Born of Chaos, she is the catalyst of the new world.  See how the universe loves her so that they imbued her very hands the ability to create anew. 

She is Meidther, mother, the goddess of life.” 

--The Aelied

According to legends, Meidther is the one most likely to interact with humans, often taking the guise of a young woman or an old mother. She is characterized as helpful, motherly, but fierce in her anger.

She has no temple of her own, for that would imply worshipping her separately to her siblings, though Meidther does have numerous festivals made in her honor. The Planting Festival and the Harvest Festival are two of the biggest ones as it ties in the most with the farming season. Prayers and offerings are also made to her to aid in conception, a healthy pregnancy, and the successful birth of a child.

“Hail to you, great Mother, and look upon us with mercy

Bless our fields with fertile harvest

And our animals with good health

Sow your magic into the earth

And let the soil sprout anew.”

— An old prayer for good harvest

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Taglist (message me if you’d like to be added/removed): @schwarzekatze1999 @aloonycynic @dullahanofficial @danger-writes @americanbeasts @fierywords

[akhret]

Neith

𓈖𓏏𓋌𓁐     𓈖𓏏𓋋    𓈖𓏏𓌖     𓋋        𓈖𓏏𓋋𓆎     𓈖𓏏𓋌      𓈖𓏏𓋋𓆗
 𓋌     𓈖𓏏𓋋𓁐       𓏏𓏏𓋌

Meaning of her name

Her name possibly means:

"She belonging to Lower Egypt"

"terror", "fear", "terrible one"

Epithets

The father of fathers, mother of mothers

Enduring of love

The divine mother who protects Horus

Lady of the West

Neith who shines from the Akhet

Chief of the Nine Bows

Mighty of rage

Foremost of Per-netjer

Areas of worship

Esna. Ḥwt-Nt, or known as the Temple of Neith. Her and Khnum's temples were called Ḥwt-B3w , or the Temple of the Souls.

Temple of Neith at Satis

Offerings

Bow and arrows

Lapis lazuli

Turquoise

Jasper

Meat

Bread

Beer

Honey

Wine

Water

Spider web iconography

Knitting tools, yarn, fabrics

A loom

Information

Neith had emerged from the primordial waters, turning into a cow and then a *lates* fish. From there she brought thirty gods out of the primordial waters and raised the “High Mound” for her and her children. She possesses the power to control everything within the cosmos through thought, speech and names. She’s associated with weaving, with weaving being a symbol of the cosmic order and her divine wisdom. Her association with weaving, led her to being associated with making the bandages for the dead, but she herself had created the Duat for the deceased to pass through. She would enliven the dead and protect them during the passage through the underworld with her bow and arrows, which was a trademark symbol for the Great Goddess. Her symbol of the bow and arrows made her a goddess of hunting, later becoming war, and protector of her son, Re. She is the patroness of victorious weapons and would protect both the dead and alive from enemies or those who sought to harm the King and his heirs. Even when those she protected were harmed, you could seek her for her ability to heal.

Bibliography and more notes posted here

Neith

K. Sethe has proposed her name may have been Nr.t, which would translate to “the terrifying.” [3]

Image from:

Invocation to Neith – Leaping Laughter – O.T.O.

[x-winging-it]

Eurynome, Early Creation Goddess (39/?)

Having danced the universe into existence from Chaos, Eurynome is an oft forgotten goddess, too powerful and distant for us to comprehend. Yet still she watches over all of her creation, neither benign or cruel, but a guiding force, still running and pushing the bounds of creation further and further