Mother Goddess Research Articles

The Global Catholic Missionary Societies and the Spread of Marian Devotion in Pre-Twentieth-Century Vietnam

Abstract Dating back many years, Marian devotion is currently a ubiquitous phenomenon among Vietnamese Catholics in Vietnam. This article examines the endeavours of specific global Catholic missionary societies – the Society of Jesus (S.J.), the Dominican Order or the Order of Preachers (O.P.) and the Society of Foreign Missions of Paris (mep) – in spreading Marian devotion in pre-twentieth-century Vietnam. In doing so, the article seeks to demonstrate that the prevalence of Marian devotion primarily resulted from the enduring efforts of global Catholic missionaries during the stages of proselytization. This argument aims to challenge the prevailing notion that the primordial Vietnamese cultural identity, widely known for emphasizing female status and Mother Goddess worship, exerted its influence on the elevation of Marian devotion among Vietnamese Catholics during the course of history.

A REVIEW ON MOTHER GODDESS PARADOX IN LYDIAN SYNCRETISM

The cultural mosaic of the Lydian civilization manifests itself most intensely in its religious structure. Many gods and goddesses attract attention in Lydian syncretism. While goddesses stand out with their different characteristics, the problem of the mother goddess has long been a subject of curiosity for today's researchers. This situation has the nature of a paradox as there is no consensus on this situation with different opinions. Lydian goddesses of Anatolian and Greek origin stood out with their different characteristics and spheres of influence. However, which one is the mother goddess remains a mystery. Artemis, Demeter, Kore, Kybele and Athena are the goddesses most frequently mentioned in ancient sources and most frequently depicted in visual finds. In this case, the Greek goddesses, who are numerous in number, and the famous Anatolian goddess Kybele, whose sphere of influence is quite wide and in a powerful position, face each other in the same pantheon. In this study, an evaluation was made by considering the influence areas of Lydian goddesses and their frequency of reflection in existing epigraphic and numismatic finds. In this evaluation of the mother goddess paradox in Lydian syncretism, ancient artifacts, Sardis inscriptions and coins were mainly examined.

The Artemis Sanctuary of İnarası Cave (Burdur/Bucak)

İnarası is located within the borders of Taşyayla village in Bucak district of Burdur province. This place was discovered in 2008 by F. Gülşen from Burdur Museum, who went with the court committee to investigate the illegal excavation incident in İnarası; the registration efforts were completed in 2009, and the boundaries of the area were determined and added to the cultural inventory in 2014. The data obtained during the rescue excavations carried out in the cave, which was determined to be used as a sacred area and naos in 2016-2017, belong to the Late Neolithic Age and the Ottoman Period. One of the most striking issues in this study is the inscriptions. The first of the inscriptions is the one that documents that the sanctuary was dedicated to the goddess Artemis. The second inscription, it is learned that it is not the name of the person who had votived, but the name of his father. In addition, it is suggested that a fragmentary inscription containing the letters MHTPI˂O may have been associated with Meter Oreia or Demeter. Another important subject of the study is the architectural elements that provide important clues regarding the restitution of the two facade arrangements of the sanctuary. It is known that in the Anatolian theological tradition, the continuity of the cult was ensured by the identification of the Mother Goddess with the belief in Ephesian Artemis. For this reason, the presence of worship areas related to the Mother Goddess on the main rock surrounding the sacred area in İnarası and on the hill to the north, and the construction of the Artemis sacred area in the same region later, are important evidence of the continuity of the cult.

The Origin and Development of Vietnamese People’s Belief in Worshipping Mother Goddesses Three Palaces and Four Palaces: A Case Study in Thua Thien Hue Province

Vietnamese people's belief of the worship Mother Goddesses of the Three Palaces and Four Palaces formed from the worship of women in traditional culture combined with the elements "Mother Goddess Lieu Hanh ", "the Mother Goddesses of Three Realms" was “molded” from a number of discrete worship activities into a systematic belief. Currently, Vietnamese mother-worshiping custom is divided into three different forms, namely Mother-worshiping in the North, Central and South, associated with the worshiping forms, the spaces of shrines, and different ritual practices of mediumship. This distinction is shaped on the basis of historical factors and the cultural acculturation and exchange in the process of the nation's southern advance. This is quite obvious through the form of the worship of the Mother Goddesses in the Central region especially in Hue. In this article, the origin of the custom of the worship of the Mother Goddesses of the Four Palaces in Hue is clarified. In addition, the development of this belief which bears many imprints of regional cultural interference and is one of the outstanding features of Vietnamese cultural diversity is explained through each historical period.

A STUDY OF FEMALE IMMORTAL IMAGES IN THE "CHAOYUAN XIANZHANG TU"（朝元仙仗图) FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE MYTHIC-ARCHETYPAL CRITICISM

This paper intends to apply the mythic-archetypal critique to study the concept archetypes of human collectives and the archetypes in Taoist literature and mythology corresponding the feminine immortal images in the "Chaoyuan Xianzhang Tu." By means of image and word juxtaposition, the study investigates the emotional impacts of female immortal images on modern audiences as well as their contribution to current feminist movements. Aiming to clarify the several metaphors and underlying logic of the development of Taoist female immortal images as a symbolic system, this study analyses the Song Dynasty Taoist painting "Chaoyuan Xianzhang Tu," based on the mythic-archetypal criticism, attempting to visually reproduce mythological archetype images in the portrayal of characters in the image. The study examines the various metaphors in Taoist imagery related to the mythic-archetypal perspective, forming three hierarchical functions: "Great Mother Goddess- The Queen Mother of the West (王母) - Flowers and Fruits," "Anima-Female Immortal Worship-Female Immortal Head Portrayal," and "Eternal Life-Feathered Being-feathered sleeves," all of which allude to the ideological implications of Taoist female immortal worship. Frequently, the symbolic, artistic, and meaningful aspects of Taoist art surpass the literal intent of the surface. The "myth-archetype" theory can be used to interpret these images, thereby guiding contemporary viewers to obtain insights into themselves through Taoist visual arts and providing a potential solution to death anxiety. Additionally, the interpretation of female immortal images offers a novel possibility: the integration of yin and yang, which eliminates traditional male dominance and the concomitant "one-sided, self-centered" feminism. This perspective is applicable to the development of contemporary feminist theory. Keywords: Taoist painting, female immortal images, mythic-archetypal, feminist movements,

Research on Methods of Treating Mental Weakness and Some Diseases Related to the Nervous System Using Spiritual Methods in the History of Vietnamese Mother Goddess Religion

Research on Methods of Treating Mental Weakness and Some Diseases Related to the Nervous System Using Spiritual Methods in the History of Vietnamese Mother Goddess Religion

Mata Ni Pachedi: Tales of the goddess on textiles from Gujrat, India

India is a land of vibrant culture and heritage. It is home to many diversified craft techniques, most of which have been intensely investigated, recorded, diversified and revived, while a few have languished. This work reflects the origins and process of the Indian craft Mata Ni Pachedi, which means ‘behind the mother goddess’ and is a cloth that constitutes a temple of the goddess. The original creator of Mata Ni Pachedi is the nomadic Vaghari community from Gujarat, the members of which lived along the banks of the Sabarmati River and worshipped the mother goddess in all her forms. The community created these textiles as an ode to the goddess, as sacred wall art pieces that enabled them to worship the goddess when they could not enter temples due to their low caste. Mata Ni Pachedi is a unique textile that has survived modern-day clothing techniques using natural dyes and simple block printing techniques, exploring different forms of gods and goddesses on cloth. Those in the rural community of Gujrat still worship their goddess on a piece of fabric during the festival of Navratri, in March and September. This research aims to investigate and catalogue the evolution, consumption pattern, production process and present-day scenario of the Mata Ni Pachedi craft to aid and sustain its survival and establish its context in contemporary times.

Sakta Cult through Art and Literature in Tamil Country

In the Sakta conception, the Mother Goddess is represented as Adisakti, the primordial energy, and the Supreme Being to who even the great gods like Brahma, Vishnu and Siva owe their origin, survival and destruction. This cosmic conception of the Mother Goddess is nothing but a development of the idea of a Mother deity who is supposed to represent the forces that stimulate the generative powers of nature. And again, the conception of a mother deity as the source of universal fecundity is also a development of an empiric notion which personifies the Mother Earth, the upholder of the human, animal and vegetable life which rests on her surface, into a benign goddess who is supposed to look over everything of this phenomenal world with motherly care and affection. Tamil society in the pre-modern period reveals interesting insights into the cult of Sakta and its historical information through an interrogation of the rich literary, inscriptional, art and architectural evidences.

Vietnamese lived religion, Confucianism and women: goddess spirituality in Nguyễn Dữ’s the young woman from Nam Xuong

Vietnam as a nation is deeply rooted in the wet-rice agricultural civilization, which is characterized by the Yin (female) principle and the religion worshiping Mother Goddess. However, Chinese Confucianism significantly influenced Vietnam throughout the feudal dynasties (10–19th centuries). Confucian kingship propagates symbols of virtuous women to establish the moral order of a male-dominated society. In contrast, by practicing lived religion and spreading folk narratives, Vietnamese people turn virtuous women into Mother Goddess with a liberal, creative and patronage identity. This study, thus, examines the position of women in Confucian Nguyễn Dữ’s The Young Woman from Nam Xuong, a canonical story reconstructed from legend. It is important to address the main concern about metaphors of a duality culture and a conflict discourse of Confucian politics and Vietnamese lived religion through the issue of Goddess spirituality. This article uses an interdisciplinary approach to demonstrate that resistance to Chinese Dominance and anti-Sinicization were significant issues of Vietnamese medieval literature and culture.

Khambesvari Yatra:-a Symbol of Shakti Worship in Boudh District of Odisha

The cult of the mother Goddess is associated with the most ancient faith of human beings all over the world from time immemorial. The divine mother is considered to be a source of energy or the Shakti itself. In the ancient world from the dawn of civilization mother Goddess was worshipped in different names. Every nook and corner of Odisha is associated with the mother Goddess which is popularly known as Gramadevati. The mother Goddess enshrined almost in every village in Odisha either of a pillar or a post or an anthropomorphic representation was popularly famous as the Stambhesvari or Khambesvari. The cult of Stambhesvari alias Khambesvari is widespread and popular particularly in western Odisha and Ghumusar region of south Odisha. She is still the presiding deity in most of the villages of Ghumusar, Boudh, Sonepur, Angul, Talcher, and Dhenkanal regions which consist mostly of hill and forest tracts. Khambhesvari Yatra is one of the most popular folk tradional festival of this locality.

Cultural schemas and folk-belief: an insight into the belief in worshiping the Mother Goddess in Vietnam

Religious belief, as noted by scholars like Émile Durkheim (1858–1917), Max Weber (1864–1920), Sigmund Freud (1856–1939), and William James (1842–1910), reflects shared values, shapes human conduct, and provides spiritual strength. Furthermore, it is considered a template that expresses the basic spiritual needs and aspirations of human life, containing many cultural values and characteristics of the thinking of ethnic communities. Moreover, people perceive everything by schemas formed in memory. In this study, the authors chose the subject of the belief in worshiping the Mother Goddess—one of the most popular and ancient beliefs in Vietnam and inscribed by UNESCO as a Representative Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2016. Employing a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods, including surveys, linguistic materials, and field research, the study explores how Vietnamese cultural beliefs shape perception, behavior, and lifestyle. Therefore, understanding and analyzing the characteristics of the beliefs in worshiping the Mother Goddess through the lens of Cultural Linguistics can present the actual spiritual experiences of Vietnamese people. From this unique perspective, the process of perceiving the world has meaning to the language and behavior of a community culture.

Vietnam Cult of the Mother Goddess and its Influence on Confucian Ethics in Vietnam

Vietnam is a country with many spiritual beliefs that reflect the values of its inhabitants, being an important component of their traditional culture. A special place is occupied by faith in the Mother Goddess. This kind of beliefs, which is completely unique for Vietnam, has a long history and emphasizes the feminine principle through the image of a woman with the power and ability to create, enrich and develop everything that exists. Faith in the Mother Goddess reflects the values and high human qualities of the Vietnamese, and it has been recognized by UNESCO as an object of representative intangible cultural heritage of humanity. Confucian ethics was adopted in Vietnam, but it was influenced by the Vietnamese belief in the Mother Goddess. The cult of the Mother Goddess also had a great influence on the ideas about the role of women in society. The study analyzes the origins, features and values of this cult and indicates its influence on the Vietnamese Confucian ethics. It is established that the activities of the worship of the Mother Goddess contribute to strengthening the sense of community of the Vietnamese nation. In connection with the development of Confucian ethics within the framework of Vietnamese culture, the attitude towards women has changed to a more humane and open one. In modern times, the cult of mother worship has acquired secular features and can be seen as a sign of gender equality.

Contributing to Understanding Mother Goddess Worship in Vietnam

Mother Goddess worship is one of the important types of spiritual activities, reflecting the aspiration of Vietnamese people for abundant clothing and food, timely rains and favorable weather. Along with the flow of time, the belief of Mother Goddess worship has certain changes, increasingly meeting the diverse and rich spiritual needs of Vietnamese people. The article presents an overview of the situation of this worship in Vietnam, as well as some values and limitations.

The Great Mother Goddess on the Thracian Coast of Pontos Euxeinos: Forms and Traditions

Abstract This paper focuses on the worship of the Mother Goddess in the Greek colonies on the west coast of the Black Sea from the Archaic to the Roman period. The epigraphic and the archaeological evidence demonstrate the importance of the Milesian colonies in the spread of the cult. The political aspect of the Goddess’s personality is prominent and reminds of her Phrygian position. A Great Goddess very similar to the Phrygian Matar was worshiped in Thrace and on the western shores of the Black Sea before the arrival of the Greeks in 7th century BC. The Greek colonists and the Thracians were able to recognize simultaneously the continuum and the distinction in the forms and characteristics of their respective Great Goddess.

Borrowing and Borrowing Back: The Mother Goddess Religion in the Northern Mountains of Vietnam

Abstract: The Lên đồng spirit possession ritual and traditional festivals related to the Mother Goddesses religion are widely practised across Viet Nam. The process of integrating elements of ethnic minority culture into the Mother Goddess religious rituals themselves - worshiping indigenous ethnic spirits, and appropriating music, melodies, songs, and costumes, has similarly formed part of the long process of ritual creativity in development of the Lên đồng ritual. This paper describes practitioners of the Lên đồng ritual who have borrowed religious elements from minority communities, in particular the Tày and Nùng minority groups in the mountainous region of northern Vietnam. The recent fieldwork also revealed how knowledgeable ritual masters (thầy cúng) from these communities are often called upon to perform the invocation rites that initiate a Lên đồng ritual for Việt majority spirit mediums. The paper argues that people’s increased awareness of indigenous religious practices has contributed to their improved perception of ethnic minority people’s cultural practices. The authority and meaning of the religious expression of minority groups is shown in this story of a ritual master of ethnic minority origin with a reputation for high ritual efficacy.

A Hospital of Ritual Healing: Creativity, Empowerment, and Discipleship

Abstract: This paper features a case study of the rituals of a Mường shaman (known as a thầy Mo or ông Mo) practicing in a community of over 2,000 followers. This Mo master has combined the religious rituals of his ethnic group with those related to the Mother Goddess Religion of the Việt people. This study involves intensive interviews and participant observation in Mường communities in Hòa Bình province. The results demonstrate that the Mường shaman has engaged in a complex process of synthesis, smoothly integrating ritual practices and ontologies derived from the religious system of the majority Việt people into those of his own Mường community. Thus borrowings are a product of conscious efforts on the part of the Mường shaman. That is to say, the shaman took it upon himself to achieve this aggregation of spirits from the two systems of the pantheon to increase the efficacy of his religious rituals. In his words, he made a “general hospital” to cure all sorts of illnesses. This broadening of practices aims to meet a range of client demands and to achieve a distinction that will help the shaman attract more followers.

Logistics and Legitimation: Religious Pluralism in the Bà Tower, Nha Trang City, Vietnam

Abstract: Today, in the space of Poh Nagar Stupa in Nha Trang City, Khánh Hòa province, Vietnam, there exists a diverse abundance of religious practices. For many people from Bóng village and the Vietnamese communities who work as seafarers around the area, the deity located in the Stupa is the holy Mother Thiên Y A Na Diễn Ngọc Phi, a local goddess. For other Việt, especially the members of the Patronage Association of the Bà Stupa, the Goddess that they worship in the main Stupa is the embodiment of Nam Hải Guan Yin Bodhisattva. In the consciousness and practices of the Chăm people, especially the Chăm groups from Ninh Thuận and Bình Thuận provinces, the supreme deity in the Stupa is their Poh Nagar Goddess of Land. In tandem with this diversity of religious beliefs is a symbiosis of different ritual practices. The Chăm people practice the ritual in the traditional way of worshiping the Poh Nagar Mother Goddess of the Land. The Việt people of the Patronage Association practice Buddhist rituals. The ritual practice of the Bóng villagers follows procedures for rituals dedicated to the tutelary God of a Việt traditional village festival. Viewed from the practitioner's perspective, the co- existence of the diversity of religious practices at the Stupa reveals an ongoing need for compromise and sometimes contestation.

“We Know Only Our Po Then Luang ”: Heritagization, Religious Inculturation, and Resistance in Post-đổi mới Vietnam

Abstract: In 2016, the local government of Như Hoa multi-ethnic district of a northern province of Vietnam rebuilt a ruined temple of the Thái minority, a place associated with their long tradition of offering buffalos to their supreme God –the Po Then Luang. With the aim of meeting the spiritual needs of diverse ethnic communities in the district, the structure and altars of the temple were built with a combination of Việt Buddhist temple architecture and the iconic Thái stilt house. During the inauguration of the temple, a Buddhist ritual was celebrated by hundreds of different ethnic people including the Thái. However, in contrast to the local government's expectation, Thái villagers resisted local authorities’ efforts to integrate Buddhism and the Mother Goddess religion into the rebuilt temple. Thái villagers did not mind the architecture of the rebuilt temple or the devotional practices of the Vietnamese people, but they resisted the inclusion of altars dedicated to Buddhist figures in the temple and the inclusion of Buddhist rituals in their own site of worship. Their resistance revealed the complexities of religious accommodation in contemporary Vietnam. This article examines this episode of contestation in relation to state efforts of heritagization, and situates this local resistance within the larger context of religious dialogue and revitalization in contemporary society.

Lineal Megalithic Scripts found at Degollada de Facay, Fuerteventura (Canary Islands, Spain): A support of prehistoric megalithic Guanche Culture

Lineal Megalithic Rock Scripts have been found by us: 1) associated to megaliths in Southern Iberia Dolmens at Alcalar Dolmen (Portimao, Portugal), Cumbres Mayores Dolmens (Huelva, Spain) and in a fallen menhir at Zalamea la Real (Huelva, Spain); 2) not associated to megaliths in rocks or stones sizing from a fist in size to 110 cm or more at Zalamea la Real (Huelva, Spain) and other Malaga coastal sites; 3) in widespread rocks and stones in all main Canary Islands; and 4) in an Algerian Sahara shelter (Ti-m Missaou, Ahaggar Mountains area). These lineal megalithic rock scripts are sometimes identical to those of Iberian-Tartessian signary or are admixed with them on rocks. Other authors have also found them in several parts of southern Europe and also in Canary Islands. Some of the signs are repeated and have for us a funeral and religious meaning on the basis of Mother Goddess neolithic/paleolithic religion and Basque Iberian correspondence. It is postulated that these scripts may be the origin of Iberian-Tartessian signary and/or that these widespread stones/rocks were written by people who were learning to write, in contrast to, for example, the defined Iberian scripts found both at Lanzarote and Fuerteventura (Canary Islands), sometimes admixed with them. In the present paper, we describe Lineal Megalithic Script on rock/stones at a pass (between a chain of volcans or “degollada”) on the way from Tefía to Tetir, close to Fuerteventura capital, Puerto del Rosario. These Lineal Megalithic Scirpts are postulated to be precursors of lineal writing of Berber, Iberian-Tartessian, Etruscan, Old Italian Languages, Minoan, Latin, Greek, and others like Runes, Grandeshnitsa and Vinca scripts.

Mother Goddess Worship and its Influence on the Spiritual and Cultural Life in Vietnam Today

The belief in Mother Goddess worship (also known as Goddess worship) is a cultural and spiritual product of Vietnamese people in relation to nature and society. This is a typical form of belief and plays an increasingly important role in the cultural and spiritual life of Vietnamese residents, especially in the Red River Delta. Within the scope of the article, the author focuses on analyzing the content of Mother Goddess worship and its influence on cultural and spiritual life in various aspects; from there, some solutions are proposed to promote the positive effects and limit the shortcomings that the Mother Goddess religion brings.