We are here to promote the goddess in her many forms. As she is great mother to us all, we must not forget the ancient ways of feminine worship and love.
Since the Spring season is upon us and the snow is melting away (for
some) I wanted to write about a Goddess associated with plants and
herbs.
Just in time for your Spring/Summer gardening! Airmid was a
Celtic Goddess of the healing arts especially dealing with herbs and
plants. She was the daughter of Dian Cecht who was the God of Medicine
and chief physician to the Tuatha de Danann, the Gods of Ireland. Airmid
had four brothers Miach, Cian, Cu and Cethe who also followed the path
of healing and medicine.
The Tuatha de Danann went to war with the Fir Bolgs when they invaded
Ireland.
The king of the Tuatha de Danann, Nuada, was injured in battle
and his arm had been severed. According to the laws it was said that no
man could be king whose body was not whole, so Nuada immediately called
on his physician, Dian Cecht. The physician brought his daughter Airmid
and his son Miach with him since they were both skilled healers.
Dian Cecht had planned to reconstruct a new arm for Nuada made of silver
but since Airmid was known for her regenerative skills she was able to
create an arm made of human flesh. Miach was known for his surgical
skills and he was able to attach the new arm to Nuadas body so that it
looked like he had never lost an arm in the first place. So great was Miachs surgical
skills that his father became jealous and in a fit of envious rage he
grabbed a sword and cut off Miachs head.
Airmid was beside herself with grief after losing her brother.
She
buried him and made a cairn of stones over his grave. She visited his
grave to mourn his loss everyday for a year. Than one day when she went
to sit at his grave she came upon 365 different herbs growing on top and
all around his burial site. She laid out her cloak to gather all the
herbs and as she gently plucked them from the fertile earth they
whispered their unique healing properties to her. There was an herb for
each joint, organ and bone in the body.
Her father Dian Cecht, still jealous of his sons vast knowledge, found
Airmid and overturned her cloak scattering the herbs to the wind so that
no one but she would know of the healing herbs secrets.
Thankfully,
Airmid had already committed everything to memory and could regrow all
the herbs to continue her and her brothers healing work. Airmid was called upon when men and women were hurt during battle. She
was also said to be a healer for the fairies and other magical creatures
of the forests and mountains of Ireland. Airmid can be called upon
today for any healing work you are doing.
Or any herbal medicine
preparations. She can also be called on while you're gardening and
planting as she will watch over the plants and lend them her healing
powers and magic.
There are many deities associated with mountains all over the world.
From Europe, Tibet and the America's, mountain deities have their place
in mythology. Mountains are very ancient and primal earth structures.
They're beautiful and awe-inspiring and at the same time they can also
be terrifying especially for those who are afraid of heights. They were
considered to be sacred by many different ancient (and modern) cultures.
In Tibet the goddess Miyolangsangma was a Goddess of mountains.
She
lived at the top of Mount Everest and gave protection to those who
climbed her mountain. She had five sisters and each of them had a
mountain. She is often depicted riding a tiger and holding a sacred
flower. Artemis, Greek Goddess of the hunt, was also associated with
mountains. She was a protector of nature and a huntress and would run
through the forests of the mountains hunting game.
Aitna, daughter of Gaia and Uranus, was also a Greek Goddess of
mountains.
She was the Goddess of the volcanic Mt. Etna in Sicily.
Pachamama, Incan Goddess of the earth, was a Goddess of mountains. She
was said to live in the Andes mountains in the form of a dragon. When
she moved she is reported to have caused earthquakes. The Cailleach,
Celtic Crone Goddess of Winter, was known as the Mother of Mountains.
She had white hair the color of a snow covered mountain.
Skadi, a Norse Goddess, is said to live in the highest regions of the
mountains where the snow never melts.
She is often depicted with her
snow shoes, skis and bow and arrow. She was known as a giantess and
huntress Goddess. Native American tribes in the Pacific Northwest
believed that evil spirits inhabited the mountains. They believed that
the mountains were Gods but before they were Gods they believed they
were people.
Mount Rainier in modern day Washington state was said to be a large
woman at one point who lived west of Puget Sound in the Olympic
Mountains.
She lived there with her husband who had two wives. They
fought with each other constantly so the woman left the Olympic
Mountains with her son and went to the open plains out east. There they
settled and she became Mount Rainier and her son became Little Tahoma
Peak.
There is much myth and magic surrounding mountains.
Some natural settings and events stop me in my tracks because of their sheer
beauty. Mountains are one of these structures.
This project was definitely a labor of love and a beautiful journey. It's been so great to be able to connect with each Goddess through each mandala that was created. Many of the Goddess mandalas were inspired by the Goddesses you asked for, so I also feel connected to all of you throughout this journey as well. Thank you for your continued support along the way! I wanted to color in one of the mandalas from the book to give you some inspiration.
To follow along head over to Amazon to get your copy of the coloring book. The Goddess I chose to color is the Sumerian Goddess Inanna. The colors I chose for this mandala are shades of blue, green, purple, yellow and hints of red. I wanted to use rich gemstone colors to represent Inanna because to me those colors signify her deep beauty. Some of the shades of blue and yellow I chose are also the same colors of blue and yellow that can be found on Ishtar's Gate. This was once the eighth gate to the inner city of ancient Babylon.
I started with the wings and I used three shades of blue.
Starting with a dark violet blue on top, cerulean blue in the middle and a light aqua on the bottom. I chose yellow for her crown and for the stars and decided to use a violet color to go around her. This makes the yellows and light blues really pop! The seven pointed stars that surround her are known as Inanna's Star or the Evening Star which symbolizes the planet Venus. For these I chose to color the same shades of blue that are in her wings.
For the next color around her I chose the bright, light aqua and to go around that color I chose the violet again to help make the aqua pop.
I try to stay with the same color themes throughout. It's best to use complementary colors (or shades of complementary colors) to go around each other. These make the individual colors pop. For example the violet and light aqua can be seen as complementary because they are both variations from the green and red family which are complementary colors. For the Sumerian style owls and lions I chose yellows, browns and blues. The owls wings are the exact same colors as Inanna's wings.
To finish off the outside part of the mandala I chose yellow which is a complementary color of purple.
I really wanted the Goddess figure in the middle to pop so I chose that brilliant, light aqua again. And a crimson red to color the border around her. Staying with the complementary color families of green and red. I also used hints of grass green to color the outside border of her as well as the snakes. For the mandalas in this book I recommend using colored pencils.
You may use marker but make sure to put something thick like a piece of cardboard between each page so the marker doesn't bleed through. There are 28 mandalas total in this book with several Goddesses from around the globe. Many of the mandalas in this book can be found in my etsy shop but not all of them. Some of them are made specially for this book like this Inanna mandala.
So, what colors would you choose for this mandala? Let me know in the comments!
