The Mother of the World Depicted by Roerich

Roerich, Mother of the World

Roerich, Mother of the World

 

Mother Earth

 

Kahlil Gibran, Mother Earth

Jenness Cortez Perlmutter, Mother Earth

Shri Chakra

The Shri Chakra or Shri Yantra is a cosmic diagram or mandala considered sacred in esoteric Hinduism. It is particularly associated with the worship of the Goddess Shri Lalita or Shri Tripurasundari, a form of Shri Parvati. 

The diagram consists of nine superimposed triangles, five pointing downwards (representing Shri Shakti, the feminine aspect of the Divine) and four pointing upwards (representing Shri Shiva, or the masculine aspect). In the centre is a dot (bindu) representing the non dual Self.

The interlocking triangles are enclosed by two lotuses, of eight and sixteen petals, representing creation. The outermost design is a temple with four gates facing the four directions of space.

Three dimensional representations of the Shri Chakra, in a mound form, also represent the sacred Mount Meru.

Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi has explained that the Shri Chakra is a representation of the subtle system of seven chakras seen vertically.

The Protective Mother Archetype

A friend emailed me an image of this statue of the Virgin Mary and Child Jesus. It appears to be from a Latin country (Italy?) and is unusual in that it depicts the Queen of Heaven wielding a cudgel or stick to strike a devil, prone beneath Her right foot. I have never before seen the Madonna portrayed in this martial aspect.
It is remarkably similar to Hindu depictions of the Mother Goddess, Shri Durga, battling with the demon Mahishasura. She holds underfoot the buffalo form Mahisha took, and She prepares to strike his true form as it emerges from the wounded animal.
Where an archetype is important in the human collective psyche, it will reappear, even where it has been suppressed, or within religious traditions that seem unsympathetic to it.
If anyone knows any more information about this statue, please add a comment.

Divine Wisdom

Detail from Wisdom and Strength by Paolo Veronese (1528-1588)

Divine wisdom is accessible through the Sahasrara Chakra at the crown of the head.

The Renaissance painter Paolo Veronese has depicted Divine Wisdom as a goddess with an illumined sahasrara.

She appears in the Bible, in the book of Proverbs 8:22-31, where She is described as taking part in the Creation, being present with God before it took place. She is therefore not a created being, but an aspect of God.

Shri Mahakali

The Hindu goddess Shri Mahakali is the fearsome destroyer of evil, an archetype which has appeared also outside of India. In Hindu iconography she is usually depicted with wide eyes, terrifying expression and protruding tongue, and sometimes sharp fangs.

The Gorgon of ancient Greece was originally a goddess whose image enjoyed positions of prestige on the facades of temples and at the centre of shields, where it was placed to repel negative forces.

There are many similarities between the cultures of ancient Greece and India. This could be due to physical cross-pollination between the two regions, or the archetypes may have emerged independently from the collective unconscious. It is likely that a terrific feminine aspect of the Divine fulfilled a need in the collective psyche of the Hindus and the Greeks.

The top image shows the Gorgon's head on the aegis (see Wikipedia entry below) of the goddess Athena, protecting the centre heart.

The winged Gorgon (middle) is from the pediment of a temple (Greek colony of Syracuse in Sicily), below this is a Hindu statue of Shri Mahakali, and the bottom image is a bronze head from a shield (National Archaeological Museum of Athens).

From Wikipedia:

An aegis is a large collar or cape worn in ancient times to display the protection provided by a high religious authority or the holder of a protective shield signifying the same, such as a bag-like garment that contained a shield. Sometimes the garment and the shield are merged, with a small version of the shield appearing on the garment. It originally was derived from the protective shield associated with a religious figure when related in myths and images. The wearing of the aegis and its contents show sponsorship, protection, or authority derived from yet a higher source or deity. The name has been extended to many other entities, and the concept of a protective shield is found in other mythologies, while its form varies across sources.

Now, the more modern concept of doing something "under someone's aegis" means doing something under the protection of a powerful, knowledgeable, or benevolent source. The word aegis is identified with protection by a strong force with its roots in Greek mythology and adopted by the Romans; there are parallels in Norse mythology and in Egyptian mythology as well, where the Greek word aegis is applied by extension.

A protective Gorgon's head is visible on the breastplate worn by Alexander the Great, in this first century BC mosaic.

Interesting, Enigmatic Engravings

Robert Fludd

Giorgio Ghisi (1520-1582) Italian engraver.

The Dream of Raphael, or Allegory of Life

The meaning of this intriguing allegorical engraving has never been fully explained but perhaps represents a philosopher, weary of a rather rugged looking world (materialism?) where misfortune pursues him in the form of harrying dogs (the senses?) and falling stars (dis-aster). He leans on a dead tree (the fruitless search for materialistic knowledge?), and is preparing to cross a treacherous sea (the mind?) where sea-monsters and submerged rocks threaten. On the far shore the Goddess of Wisdom invites him to an idyllic world of idealised and ordered flora. The rainbow in the background evokes the bridge between Earth and Heaven.

Kundalini - The Virgin Serpent and the Goddess

Statue of Athena, replica of the Parthenon, USA.



Medicine, Gustav Klimt

The Virgin Serpent is a symbol of the sacred, healing Kundalini energy, and is associated with the Feminine aspect of the Divine.
Read more about the goddess of healing here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hygieia