Sun God to Son of God?
The goddess mythologies from the Paleolithic (50,000 BC), Neolithic and Bronze Age revered the goddess as creator, sustainer, destroyer and rebirther of all life. This ancient time when god was a woman gave way to a different mythology as the Iron Age (1250 BC) progressed. But in earlier mythologies soul and matter weren’t separate but knotted together, eternally intertwined.
Prior to the Iron Age earlier myths spoke of a sun god, born to the mother goddess at Yule, the longest night, as a promise of hope. The earth would shortly receive more light as the days lengthened and the sun burned higher and brighter in the sky. As the seasons cycled, this god-son at Yule became the consort to the goddess in the spring as the prior seeds sown began to sprout. Fall brings with it the last harvest and the god now old and withered dies as he returns to Mother Earth to be reborn again at Yule. This story contains the natural rhythms in nature, where the goddess is Creator, not separate from soul and matter, she embodies both. In the ancient mythologies they are Her and all is sacred.
This original myth shape shifts throughout the ages as cataclysmic environmental events and the prevalence of new technologies converge with warring tribes, weaponry and horses in warfare. The agricultural way of life diminished as people flocked to towns and cities out of a need for safety and protection. The conquered acquiesce to the conquerors and new mythologies are birthed out of the changing human landscape.
During the Iron Age the Enuma Elish, a Babylonian creation myth surfaces and prevails with its violence and epic popularity throughout the Babylonian, Assyrian and Hittite civilizations. This powerful myth captured the minds of the populace. Authors Anne Baring and Jules Cashford explore the terrain of the Western tradition with their scholarly “textbook” The Myth of the Goddess, as it distills the history, myth and evolving consciousness of these ancient cultures. It is their work I refer to throughout this blog.
The Enuma Elish, gives us evidence of this changing consciousness. Instead of the goddess sacrificing her willing son and lover, SHE is brutally sacrificed by her own creation. The authors contend that it is this myth that most likely influenced the Hebrew creation myth. In this Iron Age myth the goddess is demonized as the evil serpent, she is far removed from the ancient Neolithic snake goddess of healing and transformation. The goddess is killed by her own son (Marduk) and he creates the earth and the heavens from the dead carcass of his mother (Tiamat). He alone rules supreme, there is no space for the feminine divine in this myth. This conquest of the primordial Mother Goddess by the sky, wind and sun god coincides with the decline of the Sumero-Babylonian civilization along with the continued uptick of wars, conquests and empirical growth. The victory of the solar god changes the landscape and creates a new way of relating to the Divine, light becomes revered over darkness, the sun over the moon, no more are they revered with sacred equality. The matrifocal myths are being replaced by a rising patriarchy. And I believe, along with authors, Baring and Cashford, that this new mythology is the early precursor to the changes in consciousness that pave the way for the Hebrew Jeshua, later to be known as Jesus the Christ, the son of God.
Throughout history, myths are powerful stories of their time. Myths have the power to transform us and they change as stories do throughout the centuries. Perhaps the myth of the ancient goddess still dwells in the threads of our DNA. She can still be felt in many hearts as we become reacquainted with the ancient stories and the realization that we need a healthy Mother Earth. Many of us hold Her in our hearts with love, respect and reverence. Perhaps, we can dream in a future in which the Divine Feminine can be valued equally alongside the Divine Masculine, where sky, sun and earth become equally revered within our Cosmos.
