Rhea, Great Mother of the Gods

There is a famous myth associated with Rhea, although you don't really ever hear much about her, you always hear of her husband, Cronos, and one of her sons, Zeus. This famous myth is about the birth of her children. Her husband Cronos, heard a prophecy that he would be taken over by one of his children. In hearing this, he decided to swallow each one them as soon as Rhea gave birth. Finally, when Rhea had enough of this, she decided to give birth to her youngest son, Zeus, in secret on the island of Crete. When she returned to meet Cronos, she handed him a rock dressed up like an infant, and he swallowed it.

Rhea was the daughter of Uranus and Gaia, and mother to Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Aides, Poseidon, and Zeus, some of the most popular Gods and Goddesses in myth. She is known to have been worshiped in different variations around the Mediterranean, and was associated with the Goddesses Hecate and Cybele. Rhea was originally a Cretan Goddess, and since Zeus was born there, they were both seen as sacred.

She was seen as an earth Goddess, a mother Goddess, and the mother to all the Gods. She kept all things in balance and kept the flow of life in her hands. In ancient art, she was portrayed on a throne with two lions at her side. Much like the Anatolian Goddess, Cybele.

To honor the Goddess Rhea, honor your mother earth, and help keep the balance in your own life flow naturally.

Blessings )O(




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Picture courtesy of Paleothea.com