Catal Hoyük (Anatolia) Primordial Mother with Her Beasts
(9000 BCE), the precursor to Great Mother Kybele, sitting on a throne with leopards |
THE LADY AND HER BEASTS |
The most beautiful of all: The Ugarit Lady and
Her Beasts (1800 BCE) |
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The Lady and Her Dragons. Isn't She very similar to the
Ugarit Lady? |
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MotherGoddess with Her double Dragon |
Originally the Mother was considered All-Embracing. Therefore She was
said to be the Mother of the plants, the animals and people. In the hunting times men
identified with their beasts in order to transmit the latter's power to themselves. For a
long time beasts and men were interchangeable. "Lady of the Beasts" meant both:
Beasts/Men. Still older was the identification with the vegetation. In the West this
resulted in the "archetype" of the "Green Man" |
Isn't this beautiful? |
The surprise: in the East this development was exactly the
same. With the difference that the "Beasts" became an amalgam of various animal
characteristics. Resulting in a mythical Beast: the Dragon |
The Mother with two Phoenixs (Goddesses) as Her arms,
while having the Dragon ("God") as a protective shield on Her breast |
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Womb (Round) decorated with two Dragons each with on top a
Kala (Mother) head |
The Dragon is the Green Man of the East....While in the
West the Green Men were separated from their (female) Origin, the East never lost this
connection. The Dragon is Her Son/Protector |
A very similar image |
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Kala (Mother) head with Her two Dragons |
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Same |
It is proof of the fact that far into recent centuries
the Mother was considered the Ultimate, the birthgiver of Her (Divine) Sons |
Mother with buffalo's (link to Mesopotamia?) |
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The Round is the Cosmic Womb, surrounded by a double
layer of Dragons with on top two Phoenixs (Goddesses), left and right from a Kala (Mother)
head |
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The Great Round (Womb) (on top) with two (four) Phoenixs,
symbolizing the feminine Web of Life |
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THE DRAGONS AND THE WOMB |
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This is the phase in which male dominance is all-present
but still with a link to the Origin, the Cosmic Womb. Like with the "Lady and the
Beasts" two Dragons move around their centre. In the course of time this centre was a
Womb, a Lotus, a Sun or a imperial symbol, marking the road towards patriarchy |
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These carvings can be found in the Forbidden City, the
centre of imperial power. Dragons move around the Round. By coming closer I shouted with
joy, because for the first time the Round showed its True Nature. It unmistakably is a
(Cosmic) Womb |
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It proves that indeed the Dragons are Son/Lovers of the
Great Mother |
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GREEN DRAGON/PHOENIX |
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A very common feature are Green Dragons and Phoenixes. The
tie with the Mother has become invisible. Only their being interwoven with foliage
indicates their roots: as "vegetation" Gods and Goddesses |
An old building in Beijing |
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On the left side the mouth of a Phoenix (Feng Huang),
with foliage coming out of it |
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Just like the Green Men/Women in the West |
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Still some relationship with the Round (Urobouros) |
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In every town or city one can find plenty of Green
Dragons and/or Phoenixes |
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KIRTIMUKHA
(KALA) |
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Once you look at history/mythology in a natural way e.g.
from the perspective of the Mother, everything becomes so "organic", so
incredibly logic! |
Big Kala face still with Her Two Dragon/Sons (coming out
of Her mouth with their heads in left/right upper corners) |
In the course of time the Mother became more and more
denied e.g.rejected. She was considered a threat to patriachal order. Therefore men
denounced Her as a (semi) Demon, a destructive monster. In order to control Her (you never
know...) She got Her place in the male pantheon. As a Protector/Guardian of the Gods...
also called Kirtimukha or Kala (the "Great Black One") |
Very similar to the Kala heads of Taman Sari, Yogyakarta,
Indonesia |
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Beijing: a Tibetan Kirtimukha face |
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A bird Kirtimukha |
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A Kala face as souvenir at the Beijing airport |
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Beautiful and mysterious |
To be continued |