Wednesday, January 04, 2006

THE Goddess PEACE


Here from "Headlinemuse.com: The quarterly archetypal e-zine" is an article on the God=War/Goddess=Peace Equation:

"What is so attractive to the current [U.S.] administration about the mythos of war?...

snip

"Ares, the Greek deity of War, and Mars, the Roman equivalent, embody the spirit of battle which relishes slaughter and blood. Usually seen wearing armor, a helmet and carrying a sword, the warrior god was known to enjoy the good fight with little interest in the justice of the cause he was fighting for (Grimal 52). Ares was attended by demons who served him as squires, especially his children Deimos (Fear) and Phobos (Terror). One animal associated with Ares was the vulture.

"Beginning in the Homeric age, however, the war god began to lose some of his luster as the Greeks became somewhat disenchanted with Ares' brutality (Grimal 52). Later myths show that Ares was easily beaten several times by the strategizing of Athena, the goddess of wisdom, or even physically weakened by the true heroics of Heracles.

snip

"But there are many ways to best War, Fear and Terror. Mythology tells us so: There are other stories to celebrate, other archetypes to be investigated, other solutions.

For example, in ancient Rome, Peace was a goddess who was worshipped annually (Bell 343). This female deity was invoked during the first civil wars in the first century B.C.E.; the Romans prayed to Pax to stop bloodshed. Praying to the goddess Peace was viewed, evidently, as a reason that the wars ended, because Augustus gave Pax an altar to commemorate the re-establishment of civil order."

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Especially interesting is this: "[T]he warrior god was known to enjoy the good fight with little interest in the justice of the cause he was fighting for." I could see that same attitude in Yahweh/Jehovah in some of the "war" passages I culled from the Bible for Monday's post. ("O, joy, O joy, it's warring time again!")

5 comments:

Morgaine said...

Hey, Athana - and anyone else who wants to, if you click here http://the-goddess.org/blog/Christian.pdf you can download a series I wrote about How to talk to a Christian. I think you'll find it useful.

Anne Johnson said...

Ares tells me he deeply regrets using the sacred Thunderbird as a symbol, as he now knows Mother Nature's use for the Thunderbird. The ancient Egyptians also considered vultures to be sacred.

PS - Your site has been nominated for a "Bloggie" award by ME.

Athana said...

What is so darn glamorous about the vulture?! The Catalhoyukians in 6000 BC loved that bird, too. They plastered its image all over their house walls.

Thanks for the vote of confidence, Anne!

Athana said...

Morgaine, your article is fascinating. I might have to try your method on Cousin Doris. Although I'm not sure I really want to convert Doris -- I think I gave up on that idea years ago. And, where else could I go to gather first-rate, first-hand knowledge of the hard-core Rapture Right?

But my sister -- now there's a possibility. Your method might work with her. Maybe she'll be my test case.

Morgaine said...

The goal isn't to convert them, it's just to get them to admit that they might be wrong. Fundamentalism is the idea that you have the one and only truth and those who disagree are cursed or evil or subersive or damned, etc. It takes that kind of certainty to be willing to kill for an idea, or kill yourself to make a point.

The little bit of doubt that those questions can create can make the difference. If you will consider the idea that you might just be wrong, or that what you've been taught may contain errors, you become much safer to be around. Imagine if we could get all the soldiers on both sides in Iraq right now to stop and think - "damn - this might be wrong!" The killing would stop.