Sky, lightning, cosmic order

Archetype: The order-making father

Cronus used to swallow his own children, and Rhea, to hide the last born, offered a stone in the baby's place. Raised in a cave on Crete, Zeus, once grown, entered a ten-year war against his father and the Titans. He won, and the rule became this: lots were drawn, the sky fell to him, the sea to Poseidon, the underworld to Hades. From the peak of Olympus he gave order to the cosmos, yet on every page of the myths we saw that the one who builds order carries chaos within himself too.

"The son of Cronus, who casts lightning from the sky, the greatest, father of gods and of men." Hesiod, Theogony, 7th c. BCE.

Love, beauty, attraction

Archetype: The goddess of attraction and union

Her birth is older than most of the gods of Olympus. When the seed of Ouranos, cut off by Cronus, fell into the sea, a white foam rose from the waves, and out of it came Aphrodite. She reached Kythera, then Cyprus. Flowers opened wherever she stepped. When she joined Olympus she carried an attraction even the strongest gods could not resist, because she had already been born before them, from the first wound of the cosmos.

"From the severed seed of Ouranos a foam was born on the sea, and within it a girl grew." Hesiod, Theogony, 188-200.

Sunlight, music, prophecy, healing

Archetype: The enlightened artist, the seer

Leto bore him at the foot of a palm tree, on the floating island of Delos. While still a baby he took up his bow, defeated the dragon Python at Delphi and became the oracle there. With the Muses he played the lyre on the mountain, he loved the shepherd Hyacinthus and lost him. He stands for both the light and the measure, because the true gift of the sun is not to burn, but to let us see.

"Know thyself." The command written at the entrance of the temple at Delphi, attributed to Apollo.

Moon, the hunt, maidenhood, the wild

Archetype: The one who stays her own

She was born as the twin sister of Apollo, and while only three years old she told her father Zeus what she wanted: her own arrows, her own hounds, her own mountains, never to marry. With the nymphs she roamed the forests, and though she hunted the deer she also protected it, and she arrived in time for women in childbirth. When Actaeon saw her bathing, the goddess had him torn apart by his own hounds, because Artemis's boundary is not to be trifled with. Her purity was not childhood, it was being unowned.

"Give me eternal maidenhood, father, and the mountains, to go up there alone." Callimachus, Hymn to Artemis, 6-7.

Threshold, crossroads, moon magic, night

Archetype: The goddess of the threshold

Her origin was not from Olympus but from an older generation of Titans. Zeus gave her a share in the sky, the sea and the underworld, so she held authority in all three realms. She was worshipped at crossroads, because every choice is a small death and a birth. When Persephone descended to the underworld, it was Hecate who carried the torch and brought word to Demeter. She should be remembered not as fearsome, but as the keeper of thresholds.

"Queen of the three roads, who sees both night and day." Hesiod, Theogony, 411-415.

The underworld, the seasons, transformation

Archetype: Loss and return

Persephone, the daughter of Demeter, was one day picking flowers in the plain when Hades drew her down beneath the earth. Her mother had the whole world searched, the seasons stopped, the soil gave no yield. In the end Zeus mediated, but Persephone had eaten the pomegranate in the underworld, and now she would spend half the year below and half above. The seasons began this way, winter the grief of her mother, spring the return of her daughter.

"In the underworld I ate the pomegranate, now I must spend half the year there." Homeric Hymn to Demeter, 7th c. BCE.

Mother goddess, magic, protection

Archetype: The healing mother

When her brother and husband Osiris was torn apart by Set, when the pieces were scattered along the Nile, Isis travelled all of Egypt and gathered them. The one missing piece she cast in gold, completed the body, and gave it breath with her wings. From this reunion Horus was born. Her knowledge lay in the secret of words, and once she learned a god's hidden name she healed even Ra with her magic. She is the beloved knowledge that makes the lost whole again.

"I am all that has been, that is, that shall be. No mortal has lifted my veil." Inscription from the temple of Isis at Sais, as relayed by Plutarch.

The underworld, transformation, rebirth

Archetype: The king who dies and rises again

Osiris was once the good king of Egypt, he taught his people farming, wine, and law. His jealous brother Set shut him in a coffin and threw it into the Nile, then cut his body up and scattered it through the land. When Isis and Nephthys gathered him and brought him back to life, Osiris was no longer king of the upper world but of the lower. He weighs the heart of the dead on the scales and teaches rebirth to those who deserve it. The green skin of the mummies is his colour, because he is the seed.

"I shall not decay, I shall not be scattered. Like wheat I shall be green again." Book of the Dead, Chapter 154.

Wisdom, writing, measure, the moon

Archetype: The one who holds the universe with writing

Thoth was the scribe of the gods. The word of Ra, the court of Osiris, the scales of Maat, he held them all with writing. He was a moon god, because the moon measures time by changing each night and yet remains the same. It was he who gave hieroglyphs, alchemy and geometry to humankind. In the Hellenistic age he was identified with Hermes, and so Hermes Trismegistus, thrice-great Hermes, became the founding voice of Western esotericism.

"That which is above is like that which is below, that which is below is like that which is above." The Emerald Tablet, attributed to Hermes Trismegistus.

Home, womanhood, protection, joy

Archetype: The feminine who guards the threshold

At first she was seen as the tame face of Sekhmet, the wild lion-headed goddess, and later she became a goddess in her own right. She had a temple in the city of Bubastis, where people came by boat from all over Egypt, where music was played and people danced. Her cats were held sacred and were mummified when they died. Bastet protected the home, women and children, and drove away illness. Her claw was for defence, not for attack.

"The festival held at Bubastis is the most crowded and the most joyful feast in Egypt." Herodotus, Histories, II.60.

Guide of death, embalming, the scales

Archetype: The guide of thresholds

The jackal-headed Anubis did not stand at the gate of death, he stood at its threshold. It is said he first practised the art of embalming on the body of Osiris, and so it became possible to halt decay. He led souls to the halls of the Duat, and when they arrived he weighed their hearts on the scales against the feather of Maat. A light heart passed on to the fields of Osiris. Anubis was not a judge, he was a witness.

"This heart is as light as the feather of truth." Book of the Dead, the heart-weighing scene, Chapter 125.

Love, music, the sky, joy

Archetype: The sky cow, cosmic tenderness

Hathor was the sky itself, and at night the stars shone within her belly. She was the daughter of Ra, and also his wife, and the wife of Horus, because myth draws circles beyond time. It was she who gave music and dance to humankind, and the sistrum is her voice. She would come as the Seven Hathors to speak the fate of the newborn. The oldest songs of the land were sung in her temple, and her name is remembered with joy.

"She who is the cow of the sky, who feeds the stars with her milk." Inscription from the temple of Dendera, Late Period.

Love, war, the planet Venus

Archetype: Feminine sovereignty that crosses the threshold

The most loved goddess of Sumer, she was the lady of Uruk. One day she descended to the underworld to see the kingdom of her sister Ereshkigal. At the seven gates she gave up her seven powers, and at the last gate she knelt naked. Ereshkigal killed her, and her corpse hung on a hook for three days. When Enki revived her with the water and bread of life she returned, but she had to leave someone in her place, and she sent her husband Dumuzi. For six months of the year Dumuzi is below and six above. The seasons turned with that parting.

"She passed through the seven gates, at each gate she removed something, and came before her sister naked and on her knees." The Descent of Inanna to the Underworld, tablets of the 18th c. BCE.

The primordial sea, chaos, creation

Archetype: The first mother, the first chaos

Before everything there was Tiamat, as the salt ocean. When she mingled with the fresh water Apsu the first gods were born, noisy, restless, disturbing the sleep of the old couple. After Apsu was killed Tiamat made war on her children and created eleven monsters. Marduk defeated her with an arrow from his bow and split her body in two, the upper half becoming the sky, the lower the earth. So the world we see is still her body, and we still walk upon it.

"When the sky above was not yet named, when the earth below bore no name, Apsu and Tiamat mingled their waters." Enuma Elish, Tablet I, lines 1-5.

Kingship, friendship, the search for mortality

Archetype: The hero who faces his own mortality

He was two-thirds god, one-third human. He was the king of Uruk but he wore his people out, until the gods sent him Enkidu. They fought the wild man, then became brothers, and together went to the cedar forests and defeated Humbaba. When Enkidu died, Gilgamesh grasped what death was and set out to find its cure. Utnapishtim, the survivor of the flood, told him of the plant of life, but a serpent stole it from Gilgamesh. He returned home and had the walls inscribed, because the work that is done remains.

"He who saw all, who knew all, who learned the secret of the deep, when he was weary he carved this story into stone." Epic of Gilgamesh, Tablet I, opening.

Creator, kingship, cosmic order

Archetype: The chief hero of order

He was the chief god of Babylon, but he was not always so. When Tiamat made war on her children the young gods panicked, and only Marduk stepped forward, with the promise of kingship. He drew his bow, defeated Tiamat, and from her body built the sky and the earth. Then he came to be known by his fifty names, each name a faculty, a power. As the star of Babylon he took his place in the sky as Jupiter, and became the signature of the king.

"He who defeated Tiamat, to him the kingship was given. His fifty names were spoken, each one naming another of his powers." Enuma Elish, Tablets VI-VII.

The underworld, deep grief, acceptance

Archetype: The queen of the bare truth

She was Inanna's sister, stronger and more alone. In the upper world no one spoke her name with love, because she was the lady of death. When Inanna came she killed her, but a sister's killing was no ordinary killing, it was a reminder: on the way down, your old identity stays there. Later Nergal fell in love with her and settled at her side, and her loneliness ended. Ereshkigal was not evil, she was an ignored truth.

"Ereshkigal was alone, she had no husband, her throne had darkened, her eyes were clotted blood." The Descent of Inanna to the Underworld.

Wisdom, fresh water, life and cunning

Archetype: The creative sage

He came from Apsu, the depth of the fresh water. It was he who first made the human being, kneading it from clay and breathing life into it. When the decision for the flood was made, the other gods wiped out humankind, but Enki whispered secretly to Atrahasis: build the boat. So life went on. His wisdom was not to break the rule, but to find the water flowing beneath it. He had a temple at Eridu, and those who went down into it saw two rivers flowing.

"I am Enki, lord of the waters, who holds the me in my hand, who teaches knowledge to humankind." Enki and the World Order, a Sumerian tablet.

Mother goddess, mountain, nature, fertility

Archetype: Mother earth, lord of the mountain

She was born in the mountains of Phrygia, in a stone. Pessinus was her most sacred city, and from there she travelled as far as Rome, because during the Punic Wars Rome had her black stone brought over by an oracle. She was known by rocks, by caves, by lions. When her beloved Attis wounded himself she mourned and turned him into a pine tree. Her priests, called the Galloi, served her with drums and flutes. As a mother goddess she is very old, as old as Anatolia itself.

"The great mother of the gods, her towered crown, her team of lions, comes down from the mountain into the city." Lucretius, De Rerum Natura, II.598-643.

Wisdom, healing, secret

Archetype: The sage of the underground

Her name is told in seven cities of Anatolia: Mardin, Tarsus, Shirvan and others. A young man, searching for honey, falls into a well and reaches a shining garden underground, whose lady is Shahmaran. For years he lives with her and learns the secret of the herbs and of healing. When he goes up, the sultan is ill, and if he tells the secret Shahmaran will die. He tells it, the queen is killed, but her bones are divided into three parts: one gives poison, one the antidote, one knowledge. In the homes of Anatolia a picture of Shahmaran is hung on the wall, because she protects the house.

"Jamshid went down into the cave, there he saw the shah of the serpents, her head a woman's, her tail a serpent's, her eyes two stars." A folk tale of Tarsus, oral tradition.

Agriculture, the seasons, loss and return

Archetype: Life that vanishes and returns

One of the most beautiful stories of the Hittite pantheon belongs to him. One day Telipinu vanished in anger, and it was not clear why, perhaps the people had forgotten an offering. Where he had gone the crops did not grow, the animals did not give birth, even the gods went hungry. They searched and searched, sent out a bee, and the bee found him asleep, his anger spent. A rite was performed to clear him of his anger, his sandals were put on the right way, and he returned, and the soil grew green again. Telipinu was a god who sulked, and who needed a call to return.

"Telipinu grew angry, put his sandals on the wrong feet, and left. The wheat did not grow, the herds did not give birth, the gods went hungry." The Myth of Telipinu, Hittite tablet, 14th c. BCE.

Rider god, the afterlife, salvation

Archetype: The nomadic saviour

He came from Phrygia, perhaps from Thrace, a rider god. The Greeks confused him with Dionysus, the Romans with Jupiter, but Sabazios was a person of his own. He stood at the centre of one of the mystery cults that promised salvation in the afterlife. His image is a bronze hand with the fingers raised in the air. Serpents, pine cones, small god figures were wound around that hand. The mystery cults spread as far as Rome, then Christianity came and Sabazios fell silent, but the image of the hand is still used in Anatolia today against the evil eye.

"The hand of Sabazios is of bronze, the fingers raised for healing, the serpent coiled about his wrist." Roman-era votive inscriptions, 2nd c. CE.

The moon, fate, the measure of the world

Archetype: The moon judge

He was the local moon god of Anatolia, with temples in Phrygia, Pisidia and Lycia. Just as the moon could be male or female, like the Sin of Mesopotamia or the Hathor of Egypt, Men was a male moon god. He carried a crescent on his shoulders and a pine cone in his hand. He was a measure between the underworld and the world above, keeping the account of the dead and of births. When Anatolia became Christian his place became mingled with Saint Michael, the crescent shape passed to the flag, but his trace still survives today in the names of villages.

"Where Men sits upon his throne, the matter between sky and earth is decided." Inscriptions of Pisidian Antioch, Roman era.

The water of life, wishes, the hidden helper

Archetype: The unseen helper

In the Quran, in the Surah of the Cave, he is the knowing servant Moses meets on the road, and later in the Islamic world he became Hizir. In Anatolia he was joined with the prophet Elijah, and on the night of Hidrellez (the night of May 5) the two are believed to meet. Hizir knocks on the door of the one who makes a wish, passes by on his white horse, and helps unnoticed. Because he drank from the water of life he does not die, and appears from age to age. He is especially strong in the Bektashi-Alevi tradition, where wishes are believed to be carried through him.

"Hizir passes by way of the water of life, known and unknown, dressed in green, riding a white horse." A Bektashi hymn, oral tradition.

The upper sky, the cosmic principle, the most high

Archetype: The most high principle

He was at the centre of Turkic cosmology. He had no form, he was the whole sky. It was he who gave authority to the kagans, and people said "as Tengri commanded". Neither male nor female, he was that which cannot be bounded. He was at the highest layer of the upper world, and the eagle at the summit of the world tree was his symbol. When Islam spread among the Turks the word Tengri became a synonym for God, but the old sacredness of the sky still stands today in oaths.

"When the Blue Sky above and the Brown Earth below were created, between the two the son of man was created." The Bilge Kagan Inscription, 8th c. CE, east face.

Birth, children, protection, feminine abundance

Archetype: The protecting mother

She was seen as the feminine companion of Sky Tengri, but more than that she was a protecting mother. It was believed she stood beside newborn children, that when a child smiled it was playing with Umay, and when it cried Umay had been hurt. With her three-horned crown she appeared in the visions of the shamans. After Islam she was absorbed in Anatolia into Mother Fatma and other women saints, but in the east of the Turkic world she is still called upon as Umay. At every birth her help is asked.

"Tengri and Umay, the sacred land and water, granted favour to the kagan and the people." The Bilge Kagan Inscription.

The underworld, death, balance

Archetype: The lord of the lower world

In the creation epics he is the brother of Ulgen, the two came from the same egg or the same water. Ulgen created the upper world, Erlik the lower, but when Erlik tried to make the human being he interfered in Ulgen's work, he shaped the body but could not give it breath. This is why the human being is said to be mortal and limited. He is not a devil, he is the khan of the lower world, and death passes through him. The shamans enter a vision as they descend to him, they bargain with him, giving one life to save another. He is not fearsome, he is a serious aspect of the cosmos.

"Erlik is the khan of the lower world, he sits beneath the nine layers, he receives the dead." An Altai creation epic, oral tradition.

The upper world, creativity, light

Archetype: The creative father

He was known as the son of Sky Tengri, sitting on a golden throne in the seventh or seventeenth layer of the upper world. He had seven sons and nine daughters, each doing a different heavenly work. He made the human being from clay, but when he could not find its breath he took it from Tengri. As the shamans climbed to the sky they passed through the seven layers one by one, and at the last gate they met Ulgen. He was the opposite of Erlik, but not his enemy, he was his brother. The light of one calls for the shadow of the other.

"Ulgen sits above on the golden throne, he has set the stars along his belt, he sends light down to the earth." An Altai shaman hymn.

The moon, night, protection

Archetype: The old moon guide

In Turkic folk tradition the moon is always a grandfather, not a father but a grandfather. He brings gifts to children, enters their dreams, lays out the stars on a silver plate. When there is a lunar eclipse people bang on pots, because it is thought a dragon or an evil spirit is trying to swallow grandfather moon. People are respectful toward the moon. His light lights the way of the departed, and so he is most remembered on the nights of festivals.

"Grandfather Moon came out, mounted his silver horse, and handed out tales to the children." An Anatolian lullaby.

Justice, the common people, revolt

Archetype: The one who fights for the people

His father was blinded over a poor horse a lord had given him. His son, Rushen Ali, became "the son of the blind", went up to Camlibel and built a fortress. He fed his horse Kirat with a hidden water and it became a winged horse. He gathered brave men around him and took in those who wanted to escape the cruelty of the lords. He played his saz, sang his songs, and raised his sword as well. The same epic is sung among all the Turkic peoples, because Koroglu belongs to no one and to everyone. In his myth, myth and history embrace.

"At Camlibel I built a fortress, within it my brave men, outside it the cruel lords are afraid." The Koroglu epic, the Bolu branch, oral tradition.

Wisdom, sacrifice, prophecy, war

Archetype: The one who wins wisdom through sacrifice

Odin was the father of the gods, but the strongest thing he felt was not curiosity, it was desire, the desire for knowledge. To drink from Mimir's well he gave up an eye, and so with one eye he saw two worlds. On the tree Yggdrasil he hung himself for nine nights, wounded by a spear, and in that ordeal he caught the secret of the runes. His two ravens, Huginn (thought) and Muninn (memory), brought him news of the world. Every piece of knowledge gives a wound, every wound a gift, Odin taught this.

"I hung myself on the branch of Yggdrasil, nine nights, wounded by a spear, given to myself as a sacrifice to myself." Hávamál, 138.

Love, war, seidr magic, the dead

Archetype: A feminine power that knows no boundary

She was one of the Vanir gods, but after a war she joined the Aesir. For the gold necklace called Brisingamen she spent a night with four dwarves, because she was one who paid any price to reach what she truly wanted. She travelled the skies in a chariot drawn by cats, and it was she who taught the Aesir the magic called seidr. Half of those who died in battle went to her hall Sessrumnir, the other half to Odin's Valhalla. When Christianity came her name was pushed toward the demonic, but as "Lady" she still lives in the names of the days (Freyja's day, Friday).

"Freyja takes half of those who die in battle to her own hall Sessrumnir, the other half go to Odin." Snorri, Prose Edda, Gylfaginning 24.

Trickery, transformation, breaking boundaries

Archetype: Trickster, transformer

He was the son of a giant and a goddess, accepted among the Aesir but always remaining half a stranger. He shifts shape, turns into a female, turns into a fish, turns into a fly. He helped Thor, and he also got him into trouble. After the death of Baldr he was chained, and a serpent dripped its venom onto his face, and when his wife Sigyn held a bowl to catch the venom her trembling caused earthquakes. At Ragnarok he will break free of his chains and fight against the gods. He is the purest European example of the trickster figure.

"Loki turned himself into a mare, and gave birth to the eight-legged Sleipnir." Snorri, Gylfaginning 42.

Lightning, protection, strength

Archetype: The protector of the people

He was the son of Odin, but his nature was different from Odin's wise solitude. The people loved him, because Thor was not complicated, he was honest. His hammer Mjolnir was forged by dwarves, and when thrown it returned to his hand. He fought the giants, and three times met the great serpent Jormungandr that encircles the world. At Ragnarok both will die, but Thor will manage to kill the venom-spitting serpent. Thursday (Thor's day) is his day, and once a week it is still greeted.

"He throws the hammer, it strikes its mark, it returns to his hand. Mjolnir goes wherever it is sent." Snorri, Skáldskaparmál 35.

The underworld, the world of the dead, acceptance

Archetype: The quiet lady of death

She was Loki's daughter, she carried giant blood, and so the Aesir sent her to Niflheim, the world of mist. There she built her own kingdom, the name of her throne Sickbed, the name of her threshold Stumbling, the name of her knife Hunger. These names look frightening, but Hel was not evil, she was simply, openly, whatever she was. Those who did not die in battle went to her, the children, the old, those who fell ill. Baldr too, when he died, went to her, because even the mother who loved him most could not bring him back. It is not said that Hel was unjust, only that she did not bargain.

"Half of Hel's face is the colour of life, half is dark as a corpse, and her kingdom is silent." Snorri, Gylfaginning 34.

Fate, home, mother, the knowing goddess

Archetype: The mother who weaves fate

She was the wife of Odin, the chief goddess of the Aesir. Unlike Odin she did not wander, she stayed in the hall, but she always knew fate. To protect her son Baldr she made every creature swear it would do him no harm, and only forgot the small mistletoe, and Loki noticed it and had Baldr killed with that mistletoe. That sorrow is the sorrow of a mother, and the myth aches as it tells it. Frigg's distaff wove fate, like the Greek Moirai, but she alone. Friday is named, by one reading, from Frigg, by another from Freyja, perhaps from both.

"Frigg knows the fate of all things, but says nothing." Lokasenna, 29.

Destruction, transformation, meditation

Archetype: The transforming ascetic

He was the third face of the Trimurti (Brahma the creator, Vishnu the preserver, Shiva the transformer), but he was in fact the oldest, his root reaching back to the Rudra of the Rigveda. He sat on Mount Kailash, bare, covered in ash, in meditation. When his third eye opens it burns everything and begins again. In the figure of Nataraja, dancing, he embodies the rhythm of destruction and rebirth of the universe. His wife Parvati raised him, his sons were Ganesha and Kartikeya. Shiva is not called a destroyer, he is a transformer, because every transformation needs the previous form to die.

"He is Mahadev, the dancer, who in a single movement undoes the universe and builds it again." The Shiva Sutra, oral tradition.

Time, the closing of the cycle, the dark mother

Archetype: The closing of the cycle

She was born from the anger of Durga, or from the dark form of Parvati, or she came on her own, the myth is plural. In a battle she had to defeat the demon Raktabija, but every drop of Raktabija's blood that fell to the ground gave birth to a new demon. Kali stretched out her tongue and drank all the blood, and so stopped the multiplying. As she danced in a frenzy Shiva lay down at her feet, to stop her. When Kali noticed she was treading on him she bit her tongue. This image is one of the most powerful in Hindu iconography: the closing of the cycle cannot be done alone, it needs love.

"She who is time, who dances within time, who has an end yet is endless." Mahanirvana Tantra, Chapter 6.

Abundance, beauty, fortune

Archetype: The goddess of abundance

When the gods and the asuras churned the ocean of milk, one of the gifts that rose from the ocean was Lakshmi. She stands on a lotus, and she had four hands: in one a lotus, from one she pours gold coins, two are open in protection and blessing. As the wife of Vishnu she came at his side in every incarnation, she was Sita to Rama, Rukmini to Krishna. At the festival of Diwali doors are left open and lamps are lit for her to enter every home. Her abundance was not only money, it was beauty, health, love, inner wealth, all of it.

"Lakshmi rose from the ocean of milk, standing on a lotus, shining with six lights." Vishnu Purana, 1.9.

Knowledge, art, music, water

Archetype: The goddess of art and knowledge

Her name means "the flowing one", at the beginning she was a river, which in time was lost in the Indian landscape, but the goddess remained. She became the guardian of knowledge, music, art, and the word. She wore a white sari and sat upon a white lotus, and the swan was her mount, because the swan can separate milk from water, a metaphor for learning. She was known as the wife of Brahma, but she was respected more in her own right. At the festival of Vasanta Panchami students lay their books before her, beginning the season's first learning with her.

"Pure flowing water, the mother of all words, who washes knowledge clean." Rigveda, 6.61.

Removing obstacles, beginnings, wisdom

Archetype: The remover of obstacles

Parvati made him from her own body, from sandal paste, to stand guard at her door, so no one would enter while she bathed. When Shiva came Ganesha did not know him and would not let him in, and Shiva in anger cut off his head. When Parvati wept Shiva gave his son the head of the first living creature he saw, which was an elephant. So Ganesha became elephant-headed. The god of wisdom, the remover of obstacles. In every Hindu home, at every beginning, he is prayed to first, "salutations to Ganapati" is said, and after that the work begins.

"Vakratunda Mahakaya, Suryakoti Samaprabha. Make me ever free of obstacles, in all my deeds." The Ganesha Mantra, traditional.

The great mother, the essence of all goddesses, Shakti

Archetype: The essence of the whole feminine principle

In the Vedic tradition Devi is known as the essence of all the feminine goddesses, and from her come Lakshmi, Saraswati, Parvati, Durga, Kali. The text of the Devi Mahatmya tells of her different faces: now the mother of a child, now a warrior on a lion, now an ascetic in meditation, now a beloved. The gods could not defeat the demon Mahishasura, and Devi came, ten-armed, a weapon of a different god in each hand, mounted on a lion, and defeated him in three days. In the Shakta tradition she is the one god, and everything else flows from her. The word Shakti is her essence, the feminine creative power.

"I am all things, I create, I preserve, I transform. All goddesses are a single face of mine." Devi Mahatmya, Chapter 11.