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| GODDESSES OF LOVE AND FERTILITY cont. |
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| TELLUS She is representative of the all-embracing, all fertile Mother Goddess, which dates from the very earliest times. She is akin to the Greek Gaea. |
| TURAN The Etruscan Love Goddess. She represented Love and Sexuality. She was later identified with Venus (Rome) and Aphrodite (Greek). |
| TAUERET Popular Egyptian Goddess of Childbirth who symolized Maternity and suckling. She is depicted as a female hippo with pendulous breasts, standing upright on her hind legs, supported by two plaits of rolled papyrus in the form of the hieroglyphic sign "sa" which signifies protection. She was sometimes considered an avenging Goddess, at which time she is pictured as having the head of a lioness atop the hippo body, and carrying a dagger. She is the animal form of the Mother Goddess Mut. |
| VENUS As the Goddess of Love, Venus is the "Queen of Pleasure" and mother of the Roman people. Possibly the daughter of Jupiter, she was the daugther of Dione. Venus was the wife of Vulcan, God of Metalwork, but she was often unfaithful to him. Among her many lovers were Mars, The God of War; and the handsome sheperd Adonis. Venus was also the mother (by Mercury) of Cupid, God of Love. She was the Goddess of Chastity in Women, despite the fact that she had many affairs with both Gods and Mortals. As Venus Genetrix, she was worshiped as the mother (byAnchises) of the hero Aeneas, the founder of the Roman people; and Venus Felix, the bringer of good fourtune; and Venus Victrix, the bringer of victory; And as Venus Verticordia, the protector of feminine chastity. Venus is also a nature Goddess, associated with the arrival of Spring. She is the bringer of joy to Gods and humans. Venus really had no myths of her own but was so closely identified with the Greek Aphrodite that she "took over" Aphrodite's myths. |
| ZOCHIQUETZAL (AZTEC) The Goddess of Weavers who was also responsible for Fertility, Childbirth, Flowers, Singing, and Dancing. She was (like the Roman Flora) a deity of sexual license as well. Marigolds were her favorite flower, but she loved every plant and every creature. Much loved by Aztec women, she was honored with little pottery figurines that showed her with feathers in her hair; these are still frequently unearthed in Mexico. In some legends, this goddess was the only female survior of the great flood that destroyed the world preceding this one. With a man, she escaped the torrent in a small boat. Faced with the prospect of repopulating the world, they set to work as soon as the flood receded. But all of thier children were born mute. Finally, a pigeon magically endowed them with language, but every child received a different tongue so that each was unable to communicate with the others. |
| Information taken from www.crystalwaterfall.com/gods_goddesses.htm |
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