Many different goddesses have represented motherhood in one way
or another, and some have been associated with the birth of
humanity as a whole. Others have represented the fertility of the
earth.
The Mother Goddess belief system is the oldest known religion,
with hand carved figures being found dating back some 30,000 years.
Over the centuries the image of the Mother Goddess has changed,
although She did retain certain characteristics, to include a vague
face, a large bossom and wide hips.
A good example of this is the Venus of Dolní Vestonice, a
ceramic statuette of a nude female figure dated to
29,000–25,000 BCE, which was found at a Paleolithic site in
the Moravian basin south of Brno. Other examples include the Venus
of Willendorf, an 11 cm high statuette of a female figure estimated
to have been made between 24,000 and 22,000 BCE discovered in Lower
Austria near the city of Krems. It is carved from an oolitic
limestone that is not local to the area, and tinted with red
ochre.
There is not a continent on our planet that has not produced
Mother Goddess figures of some sort, indicating that not only is
Her worship the oldest religion, it is also the most global. Mother
Goddess worship is the only religion which has not undergone
drastic evolutionary changes over the eons. In a world where travel
was extremely limited, we find Mother Goddess worship going back
tens of thousands of years among the Egyptians, Inca, Aztec,
Sumerians, Mesopotamians, Greek, Anatolians, Romans, Celtics,
Germanics, Turks, Vedic Hindu,Inuits, Normans, Christians and many
Native American tribes.
The Mother Goddess, amalgamated and combined with various
feminine figures from world cultures of both the past and present,
is worshipped by modern Wicca and other Neopagan groups. The mother
goddess is usually viewed as Mother Earth by these groups. More
broadly, She is worshipped as Mother Nature, the Creatress of all
life.
She is associated with the full moon and stars, as well as the
Earth and sea. Many ancient Pagan religions had mother goddesses;
it has been argued that the figure of Mary the mother of Jesus is
patterned on these. The term "Great Goddess" refers to a mother
goddess in some contemporary Neopagan and Wiccan religions. Even
among those who are not Pagan, expressions such as Mother Earth and
Mother Nature are in common usage, personifying the Earth's ecology
as a fertile and sustaining mother.
Disclaimer:
Do not approach this series lightly. If this were only a 500'
bushwhack, I would call it hellish. The roots will trip you, the
branches will shred you and poke your eyes, and the insects will
consume you. But it's not 500'. It's over 12 bloody miles! I highly
recommend you bring snake boots, lots of water, long pants, long
sleeve shirt, lots of water, good hat, pokey stick, lots of water,
spare everything, bug spray, lots of water, writing utensils, cell
phone, lots of water.
Did I mention bring lots of water?
You may find a laminated clue slip in this cache. If you do, you
might want to solve the riddle. This will help you locate the Gaia
puzzle cache nearby. Please leave clue slips in the caches you find
them in.
