QUESTION: Describe the similarities of and connections between the cults of Earth goddess Gaia, the Virgin Mary and Devi, the Hindi Mother goddess. Select representative artwork depicting each one and describe the similarities in the imagery.
Part One
Summary: I chose this one because I didn't know much at all about other religions, I just had a feeling they all had much similarities and have always wondered about this, and I find the most interesting topics to be the easiest to write about. I couldn't find information in the text about the earth goddess Gaia, and I could barely find anything online so I used what I could find. I've also gone to protestant church for a long part of my childhood never really knowing what was going on. I thought writing this essay might help me understand a little bit about why people follow religions but I still don't really get it.
Reason: The reason this was created was to give the writer a better outlook on different religions and help them see the similarities between them.
Purpose: The purpose of this question was to expand my knowledge on other religions. It has also helped me see the similarities between these religions and has shown me that they are very much the same.
Direction: Writing about this topic has made me want to learn more about these different religions and their artwork.
Impressions: My impressions are that all religions are truly the same, people just like to pretend they're not for some reason.
Part Two
There are many obvious connections and similarities between the Earth goddess Gaia, the Virgin Mary, Devi and the Hindi Mother goddess. One thing that is blatantly obvious is the fact that all of these religions are based on something that is so unknown and vague. Like the virgin mary for example, she apparently became pregnant with jesus through “divine intervention.” It's just such a strange thing to me that over the years billions of people have revolved their life around something that they know absolutely nothing about. I don't care if anyone does, I personally cannot revolve my life around something that is so uncertain. My religion is science. The main similarity between these “idols” is that they are all women, and they all basically started the religion they represent.
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| http://www.kusadasi.tv/wp-content/uploads/gaia_greek_goddess.jpg |
The Earth goddess Gaia comes from Greek mythology. She is essentially mother earth, giving life to everything we see, and after something's life has ended, it returns back to mother earth. Gaia came into being “out of chaos.” This is a nice concept. Everything on the earth depends on the earth goddess Gaia for life. “In the 1960s, James Lovelock formulated the Gaia hypothesis. It states that all life, and all living things on this planet, are part of a single, all-encompassing global entity or consciousness which he named Gaia. It is this global consciousness, Mother Gaia, that makes our planet capable of supporting life, while our near neighbors in the solar system are barren and lifeless” (http://www.greekmedicine.net/mythology/mythology.html). This sounds extremely similar to other religions. Basically, if you play your role in this world and respect everyone and everything around you, you keep the balance and everything is right in the world.
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| http://hss.albertlea.k12.mn.us/humanities/slides/unit09/image01.jpg |
“Christians believe in one God manifest in three persons- the Trinity of Creator-Father (God), Son (Jesus Christ), and the Holy Spirit-and that Jesus was the Son of God by a human mother, the Virgin Mary” (Art History, Marilyn Stokstad, Michael W. Cothren, Pg. 222). Like the earth goddess Gaia, the Virgin Mary started it all-meaning Christianity. “Jesus gathered a group of followers, male and female; he performed miracles of healing and preached love of God and neighbor, the sanctity of social justice, the forgiveness of sins, and the promise of life after death” (Art History, Marilyn Stokstad, Michael W. Cothren, Pg. 222). Like the earth goddess Gaia, Christianity and the Virgin Mary have a positive message for the people who follow. Religion, like stories and myths, are like life lessons to be learned. They are stories- not necessarily something to be taken so seriously as some do. I know of someone who gives directly to his church fifteen percent of his paycheck, this is sad to me. I don't think Jesus would have necessarily wanted that.
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| http://www.devi.us/devi.jpg |
“Devi, the Great Goddess, controls material riches and fertility. She has forms indicative of beauty, wealth, and auspiciousness, but also forms of wrath, pestilence, and power. As the embodiment of cosmic energy, she provides the vital force to all the male gods” (Art History, Marilyn Stokstad, Michael W. Cothren, Pg. 298). “Most Hindus believe in an immense unifying force that governs all existence and cannot be completely known by humanity.” They believe in three main deities: Shiva, Vishnu, and Devi. (http://www.asia.si.edu/pujaonline/puja/basic_beliefs.html) Devi refers to the multiple forms that exist of the Hindu goddess
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| http://navvis.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/gayathri-mata.jpg |
There are many different forms of the Mother goddess in the religion of Hinduism. The three most popular deities are Vishnu, Shiva, and the Great Goddess, Devi (Art History, Marilyn Stokstad, Michael W. Cothren, Pg. 298).
p.s. I can't finish right at this moment because I am extremely confused by the whole Hindi mother goddess vs. Devi and the whole Hinduism thing. I need to think on it for a bit.
p.s. I can't finish right at this moment because I am extremely confused by the whole Hindi mother goddess vs. Devi and the whole Hinduism thing. I need to think on it for a bit.
ALLY - "I saw Allah and Buddha sitting at the Savior's feast and up in the sky an Arabian rabbi fed Quaker oats to a priest. Pretty good. Not bad. You can't complain since all of them gads is pretty much the same." Or, so sang John Prine. I just read Sam's killer post on the Venus topic before yours and realized wow - combine these two questions and see what happens!
ReplyDeleteNow as for you thinking this post is unfinished - you're half-right. First, regardless of minor typos, you were on a roll. Yeah, until you slammed into Divi. But unknowingly, you answered the question even though you didn't tie it up for the big finish. The "hook" you were looking for was in the cite from the text, “Devi, the Great Goddess, controls material riches and fertility. She has forms indicative of beauty, wealth, and auspiciousness, but also forms of wrath, pestilence, and power. As the embodiment of cosmic energy, she provides the vital force to all the male gods” Divi is ll of those things and depending on her (chauvinistic term) "mood" or the circumstance she changes unlike Gaia and the Blessed Virgin. I think the difference is that Man controls the concept of the other two while Divi cannot be and the artwork depicting each of them is reflective not only of the character but of the culture. So, on a scale of 1 to 4 this was a 3.75 but could have been more...
I did plan on writing at least a few more paragraphs and also editing the ones I already had, once I had a better understanding.
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