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Goddess 3
Goddess 3 is our witch, but she can be young and charming as well as ugly and frightening,
the ‘loathly lady’ of many medieval tales who can (and does, in spring) - turn
into a beautiful maiden when kissed by a young man. She does not usually appear as smith,
fire deity, giant or dwarf, but she plays most of the other roles of God 3: inventor,
teacher, healer, protector and kidnapper of children. These, as sea goddess, she may drag
down into watery depths, but to teach as well as drown them, as the Lady of the Lake did
for Lancelot. Indeed she not only teaches them but as goddess of childbirth brings them to
life; and a goddess with child is always Goddess 3 and not their matronly Goddess 2
mother. Although it is puzzling, this fact probably reflects early tribal relationships,
where the babies were tended by the old women while their mothers were out foraging for
food.
Since the men’s house is off limits to women, so she is rarely an innkeeper but she
does appear as a wine seller. Ishtar is wineseller in the Epic of Gilgamesh; in Egypt,
Sekhmet is connected to the invention of beer; in Mesoamerican goddess of wine it is
Mayahuel. Craftwise, she has a unique role as inventor of weaving, usually women’s
work.
Like God 3 she has a sinister as well as a kindly face: Kwan Yin, sea goddess of mercy,
Athena the wise weaver, are paralleled by Sekhmet who drank men’s blood at harvest,
the black Kali with her Thuggee assassins, the horrific Coatlicue with her apron of
serpents. At once goddess of birth and death, disease and healing, dearth and prosperity,
she is perhaps the most awesome of all the divine figures.
One of the earliest figures of Goddess 3, the Venus of Laussel, ca 25000-22000 BC. The
limestone carved bas relief now in the Musee d’Aquitaine, Bordeaux, still shows
traces of red paint (see COLOR) on the cornucopia.
A similar abundant shape characterizes Sum’s Ishtar (Louvre). Her face is fair, but
she is probably Goddess 3 rather than Goddess 1: the breasts are cornucopias of plenty and
her necklace is triple.
The First Mother of Australia, who was also the Great Rainbow Snake (a common underworld
animal.) She too has a tall headdress and a triple necklace, carries digging stick (staff)
and dilly bag (sack.) She makes plants and animals multiply and protects children. From a
drawing by Nguleingulei.
The goddess of the Burney Plaque, ca. early 2nd millenium BC. Her hat is tall and she
carries a staff--the staff and circle priestess goddess bestows on kings as emblems of
sovereignty (see God 2) Like Goddess 1, Goddess 3 often appears with felines but it is her
rather odd owl that clinches her identity. Not only is the owl the bird of winter as
opposed to spring, but a bird headdress is all over the world a distinguishing mark of the
shaman.
Here again we see the owl, combined with tall headdress, prominent breasts, and snakes, on
a Minoan goddess figure from the palace of Knossos. (Sketch taken from a photo by
Josephine Powell.)
This is Kichijoten, Japanese goddess of fertility and fortune, as she appears at the
Joruriji temple at Nara. The age of the wooden statue is unknown: it shows the goddess in
the flattering ‘unmatched beauty’ of her Goddess 1 form, with flowers in hair
and (not shown) a flower necklace. But the “jewel” (cup) she carries in her hand
and the bird on her head mark her as Goddess 3.
One particular note: the ‘wheel’ in the midst of her forehead, which also
belongs to the Roman Fortuna, is an interesting example of late confusion between the
circle of second stage deities and the flower--just as in the ‘rose window’ at
Chartres.
Kwan Yin the Merciful as aged goddess in fat bonnet, carrying the pyramid as
‘jewel’.
Another Kwan Yin, this one fairly modern. The face is youthful and so is the flower
attribute, and even the feline head she sits on may indicate Goddess 1. But her bird
carries a ‘rosary’, modern form of the priestess’ knot (see UNDERWORLD AND
UPPERWORLD, Transitional Emblems) and she has on her right her ‘bundle’ or
Japanese purse of rich gifts. Although a sea goddess, she gives gifts to children, just
like Santa Claus.
Saint Anne, from a stained glass window at Chartres. She wears a coif and carries staff as
well as child, a staff topped by a triple floral emblem.
Naga Kanya is goddess of underwater and treasure, i.e. prosperity. She, like the Cretan
goddess, is associated with snakes, five of them on her head while her lower part is
serpentine. Her ‘jewel’ is in her forehead adornment, like a third eye (very
common among Hindu third stage gods) and she carries a shell, which was man’s
original cup. The bird association is marked with wings (the Burney Cup goddess, too, is
winged.)
Also winged is this relief from the Harpy Tomb (end 6th Century BC, now in the British
Museum). Her clawlike hands echo the clawed feet of the Burney Plaque goddess and seem to
threaten the baby she carries at the same time that she nurses it.
This bronze vessel from early Shang China repeats the same theme. Is the tiger monster
devoauring or protecting the young boy who clings to her? It could, ritually, be either
(See ACTION)
The identification of African deities is often difficult. They have been removed from
context by collectors and separated from their name and meaning. This mask, in the
Unversity Museum, Philadelphia, does come with the vague description of a
‘white-faced female ghost’ known not only to the Ibo but the Mashango, Ashera,
Banzati and others. The tall crown, the spirals on her headdress and the exaggerated mouth
make her identification with an underworld goddess stronger.
This is the fertility goddess of the Baga of the Guinea coast. She, like Ishtar and the
Venus of Laussel, has large breasts, like the Cretan and Japanese goddess a bird headdress
(indeed, a bird face) and she appears to be wearing a triple necklace. So does the African
figure on the right, used by the Yassi healing society of the Mende to convey messages
from the spirits: e.g. a medium or priestess.
And now we’re back in Europe again--or are we? No, this is a Mesoamerican witch on a
broomstick, indeed, a red broomstick (see COLOR). Note also her prominent breasts, the
birdlike crest and ‘wings’ on her head, and the snake she carries.
This IS home, however: the Medieval Cleves Book of Hours, #85, the Queen of Sheba fording
a stream to meet King Solomon (because of his wisdom, usually portrayed by the Middle Ages
as God 3 with tall hat and triple staff.) As for the Queen, she was widely identified with
German winter goddess Berchta and like her was said to have a ‘duck’ or
‘goose’ foot which Solomon cured. It is thus natural to find her here portrayed
as Goddess 3 in wimple, pale red dress and bright red petticoat, crossing a stream as
priestess of transition. She is attended (not shown) by a black man in pointed cap and a
young woman in red: thus all four underworld gods are present. The castle and tree in the
background are shorthand for sacred site, sacred time, festival. (See SACRED LANDSCAPE.)
But what absolutely confirms a conscious transliteration from pagan to Christian imagery
is at work here is the miniature figure in the bottom margin of the painting above. Here
in a woman selling produce (fertility) at a fair (festival) while at the same time she is
weaving, wears red, and has a cowl about her head, we have the pagan Goddess 3 as
subscript.
A Cautionary Note
Even when divine figures are identified by name on a work of art, it is still not certain that they are playing the roles with which we associate them. Zeus, for instance, is to us Zeus the Thunderer, God 2; but there are other Zeuses: the child Zeus raised on Crete, and Zeus Meilichios, Zeus of the underworld to whom children were sacrificed. In fact all gods and goddesses were probably once triple, the distinction being not by name but by emblem or epithet. It is the rise of cities and the mixing of tribes which creates pantheons in which Aphrodite, of eastern origin, becomes solely the goddess of love and Dionysos a youthful god (in fact, in Twins, we have just seen him as an old man.) The god’s name is irrelevant. It is emblem and function which count--numbers and hats, for instance.
UPPERWORLD AND UNDERWORLD
UNDERWORLD
PERSONNAGES GOD 1 TWINS GODDESS 1 GOD 2 GODDESS 2 GOD 3 GODDESS 3 NUMBERS HATS ETC. ACTIONS ANIMALS LANDSCAPE COLOR