A Who's Who of World Mythology : Astarte

The origins of Astarte (Asherah, Asherat, Ashtart, Ashtareth, Ashtoreth, Ashtaroth. Atargatis, Athar, Attart) stretches back into antiquity. Inscriptions trace her earliest incarnation, Aserah, back to the third millennium BCE, Astarte gaining dominance around 1500 BCE. Aserah of the Sea (or Asheratian) was co-consort with Anat to El. She began as an Amorite goddess, then Canaanite and possibly Phoenician. As Aserah, she was the mother of seventy gods and goddesses, including Baal, Anat, Kathar-Wa-Hasis, and Athar. As Astarte, she was considered the consort of Baal.

Among the Semites, Ashtarte was a fertility goddess, her center of worship, the entire Middle East. She was a sea goddess of the northern Semites and was equated with Allat, Elat, and Mut. Lucian called her the Syrian Dea, or great goddess. Her animal was the sphinx which was typically depicted on either side of her throne. Among the Babylonians, she became Ishtar. The Greeks equated her with Aphrodite, and both were goddesses of the planet Venus. In fact, Astarte (and most of her other names) means “star,” though it is sometimes translated as “womb” or “that which comes from the womb.” Temple prostitution was practiced among her devotees.

As Ashtoreth, she was a goddess of war and sexual love in Egypt from 1800 BCE until the coming of Christianity. Known as the Lady of Horse and Chariots, she was depicted with the head of a lioness and mounted on a quadriga in a possible mistaken combination with Anthat. Most usually depicted in the nude, she is shown Egyptian style, with a crown of cows’ horns enclosing a sun disc. In Egyptian myth, she was given as either the daughter of Ra or Ptah through the goddess Neith. According to one story, in the early days the gods were required to pay tribute of gold, silver, and precious stones to the sea. This they did, but the sea wanted more. So they sent Ashtoreth to the sea bearing more offerings. Instead of giving these however, she proceeded to mock the waters. The sea responded by demanding her as a gift. The great gods covered her in jewels and sent her back to the sea, accompanied by Seth. Though the end of the story is missing, it is assumed that Seth fought the sea and saved her.

As Aserah, she gave her name to the hilltop shrines under the trees which were so vilified by the writers of the biblical prophetic books. Translated as “grove” in the King James Version of the Bible, the aserah seems to have been a carved wooden pillar, representing the mother goddess and forming the focal point of worship in conjunction with the stone massebah. Worship by early Israelites at the aserah became one of the major irritations of the masculine oriented Semitic groups. Many Semites viewed her as the queen of heaven and wife of Yahweh. Among the SUmerians however, her husband was Martu (or Amor, god of the Amorites). In fact, Solomon was said to have built a temple near Jerusalem in her honor. This conflict between patriarchal worshippers and their more matriarchal tolerant brethren is possibly how she was denigrated to the male Christian demon Astaroth in later times.

Atargatis (Derketo -Greek) is a variation of the Babylonian Atar’ate (found inscribed on coins), itself a contraction of Ashtart-Anat. She is the equivalent of Astarte. As a Syrian fish-goddess, she acts as the fertility goddess of Ascalon (her chief temple) and is usually depicted as a type of mermaid. In Rome, she was called Dea Syria. Worshiped at Hierapolis, northeast of Aleppo, along with her consort, Hadad, she was depicted adorned with a crown and carrying a sheaf of grain, and her throne was supported by lions, suggesting her power over nature. Merchants and mercenaries carried her cult throughout the Greek world, where she was considered a form of Aphrodite.

Atargatis is mentioned in the Apocrypha, and Judah Maccabeus defiled the temple at Carnaim. Without consideration for the sanctity of her temple, Judah slew the inhabitants that had fled there for refuge. Then he set fire to the temple and all its sacred relics.

a wonderful encoded hybrid - the Great Goddess as Creatrix as the primordial Date Palm whose fronds are formed of the stalks and umbels of papyrus and whose crown reveals the spiral palmette symbol that was associated with the date-palm as an Asherah and as a Tree of Life in the iconography of the eastern Mediterranean  .....   this image was found in a female burial in Mycenae

Ιωνας Θεόδωρος .:. 

the significance of the golden brooch-pin and the imagery of the papyrus in Minoan art are explored in depth in the following well-illustrated article :
The Fresco of the Garlands from Knossos   by P.M. Warren

( free PDF download from the wonderful Persée portal in France )

Menschenmassen waren in Hattingen auf dem Weihnachtsmarkt unterwegs, als mit einer Weihnachtsparade Frau Holle, begleitet von den Engeln Laura und Julia, am 1. Dezember ins Alte Rathaus einzog. Jeden Tag um 17 Uhr wird sie nun ein Fensterchen öffnen, singen und Geschichten erzählen. Nur am Heiligen Abend geschieht dies schon um 11 Uhr morgens, damit auch Frau Holle nachmittags in den Heiligen Abend hinein feiern kann.

LINK

wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modranect

24th December is Mōdraniht, or "Mother's Night" for those who follow the Germanic Heathenry path. It was celebrated by the Saxons and Anglo Saxons and honours mothers, female ancestors, and the dísir as part of Yuletide. It is separate to Dísablót, which is traditional to the Norse tradition and survives today with the Disting festival in Sweden which is held on 25th January.

A sacrifice was made, and a feast was held to celebrate the mother matrons of their homes. 

We can celebrate Mōdraniht by setting up a small altar with images of our female ancestors, giving our living mothers a gift, and holding a supper, maybe inviting your mothers to attend! A votive offering to the female ancestors, goddesses and dísir is also an idea.

(Image, "Mother and Child" by FreewingS on deviantART http://freewingss.deviantart.com/)