dan wilson on tue 22 apr 97
Now in the beginning there was the great mother goddess. The nurturing
provider of us all. We were born into this life and upon this
earth-sustained by her- a cornucopia of wealth upon which we lived until
death. We revered her and created images in her name. Fertile and pregnant.
We sang songs in praise of her beauty. It was in this context that the
language of pottery was born and it is in this context that it exists
today. We form the vessel from her essence. With foot, full belly,
gracefull shoulders, sinuous neck and sensuous lip. It has been said: "Our
reverence for her is beyond words."
Dan Wilson
dan wilson on thu 24 apr 97
Hi Folks,
Thought I'd pass this post along to all of you as I'm at a loss on the
subject of ancient myths connected to pottery. Maybe someone has a
reference or two they can pass along.
Thanks,
Dan Wilson
>Date: Tue, 22 Apr 1997 13:19:26 -0700
>From: Langlamet
>Reply-To: redear@ix.netcom.com
>MIME-Version: 1.0
>To: dwilson@nas.com
>Subject: Re: Mother Goddess
>
>Hiya Mr. Wilson!
> (Sorry I couldn't resist the pull of a favorite quote from Dennis the
>Menace.) Er... anyway, I'm not a potter (my brother is) but I read your
>story about the Mother Goddess. Can you tell me anything else about her?
>Does she have a name? What culture does she come from? I have been doing
>a little research recently about Mespoptamian dieties, is she on of
>these? I know of the earth goddess KI, and of Inanna (AKA Ishtar) could
>she be one of these?
> I'd really love to find out about any myhts that you know of connected
>to pottery and it's beginings, so, if you have the time, please drop me
>a line.
>
>ThankYou Kindly
>Tim Langlamet
>
Pamela Jo Stamper on thu 24 apr 97
Now in the beginning there was the great mother goddess. The nurturing
provider of us all. We were born into this life and upon this
earth-sustained by her- a cornucopia of wealth upon which we lived until
death. We revered her and created images in her name. Fertile and pregnant.
We sang songs in praise of her beauty. It was in this context that the
language of pottery was born and it is in this context that it exists
today. We form the vessel from her essence. With foot, full belly,
gracefull shoulders, sinuous neck and sensuous lip. It has been said: "Our
reverence for her is beyond words." Dan Wilson
Beautiful post, Dan Some potters do try to remember that we work
with earth & water -- fire & air. Others in our arrogance do forget.
Pamela Jo
Lisa Trocchia on fri 25 apr 97
Hi!
This is certainly not an academic view point on pottery associated
mythology, but I do know that when I was first learning my trade as an
undergrad at Mesa College in San Diego, we always made a kiln goddess
from clay to fire with our load and ensure success! It always worked,
so I continue that myth / tradition in my own studio today!
L. Trocchia
Keramos Studio
we3@bright.net
Erin Hayes on fri 25 apr 97
Any parties interested in the Earth Goddess in her many forms should
also look into the "Shekina," who is a biblical angel figure referred to
more often in Jewish texts.
The Shekina is the Judeo-Christian solution to the pagan earth goddess
dilemma. Interesting reading...other spellings abound.
Erin.
Marcia Selsor on fri 25 apr 97
Dear Tim and whoever else may be interested,
The best source of info on the "mother goddess" is perhaps the White
Goddess by Robert Graves. It discusses the poet's muse throughout many
cultures and goes well beyond. Full of wonderful references as well.
Marcia in Montana
dan wilson wrote:
>
Maybe someone has a
> reference or two they can pass along.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Dan Wilson
>
> >Date: Tue, 22 Apr 1997 13:19:26 -0700
> >From: Langlamet
> >Reply-To: redear@ix.netcom.com
> >MIME-Version: 1.0
> >To: dwilson@nas.com
> >Subject: Re: Mother Goddess
> >
I'm not a potter (my brother is) but I read your
> >story about the Mother Goddess. Can you tell me anything else about her?
> >Does she have a name? What culture does she come from? I have been doing
> >a little research recently about Mespoptamian dieties, is she on of
> >these? I know of the earth goddess KI, and of Inanna (AKA Ishtar) could
> >she be one of these?
> >
> >
> >ThankYou Kindly
> >Tim Langlamet
> >
--
Marcia Selsor
http://www.imt.net/~mjbmls/
mjbmls@imt.net
Laurie Force on sat 26 apr 97
I have not been closely following the goddess thread so my apologies if
someone has already mentioned this source:
Marija Gimbutas, CIVILIZATION OF THE GODDESS: The World of Old Europe.
1991. "Gimbutas is professor emerita of European Archeology at UCLA. She
is the author and editor of twenty books, including THE LANGUAGE OF THE
GODDESS." (quoted from the back cover)
I find her work astonishing and inspiring.
Laurie Force
Grand Junction CO
lforce@mesa5.mesa.colorado.edu
Don Goodrich on sat 26 apr 97
After reading Dan's first two posts on this thread I made a cursory search
through my books and found nothing connecting the Great Mother with clay. It
seems odd; perhaps I'm just looking in the wrong places. Thanks, however, to
Erin and Marcia for the references to the Shekina and the White Goddess.
One candidate, I would think, would be Tiamat of Assyrian-Babylonian
heritage. Her origin is the sea, but after being slain by Marduk, her body
was divided and became the sky and the earth.
I'm looking forward to reading more posts from the more scholarly among
us about this topic, as the spiritual aspects of clay are dear to me, and I'd
like to know what, if any, specific spiritual heritage we clayworkers have.
Have to be careful, though: last year when religion was brought up, there
seemed to be some resentment of the topic as inappropriate.
Don Goodrich on a clear, sunny spring morning in Zion, Illinois
GoodrichDn@aol.com
katie rose on sun 27 apr 97
At 09:44 AM 4/26/97 EDT, Don Goodrich wrote:
>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
> After reading Dan's first two posts on this thread I made a cursory search
>through my books and found nothing connecting the Great Mother with clay. It
>seems odd; perhaps I'm just looking in the wrong places. Thanks, however, to
>Erin and Marcia for the references to the Shekina and the White Goddess.
> One candidate, I would think, would be Tiamat of Assyrian-Babylonian
>heritage. Her origin is the sea, but after being slain by Marduk, her body
>was divided and became the sky and the earth...
>Don Goodrich on a clear, sunny spring morning in Zion, Illinois
>GoodrichDn@aol.com
hi clayarters,
excuse me if i am repeating here what has already been posted, but i haven't
been following the thread.
i'd like to suggest a book entitled *the Civilization of the Goddess" my
Maria Gimbutas. it is a scholarly and very reputable piece of research that
follows the civiization of the goddess in old europe (7th to 3rd millennia,
B.C.), often using clay figurines and pots/vases to do so! in the book the
Great Mother is seen in many of her goddess forms.
regards,
katie rose
****************************************************
katie rose
raven@sedona.net
"Love is the reflection of God's unity in the world of duality. It
constitutes the entire significance of creation." (Meher Baba)
Linda McNary on sun 27 apr 97
>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
as the spiritual aspects of clay are dear to me, and I'd
>like to know what, if any, specific spiritual heritage we clayworkers have.
>Have to be careful, though: last year when religion was brought up, there
>seemed to be some resentment of the topic as inappropriate.
>
>Don Goodrich on a clear, sunny spring morning in Zion, Illinois
>GoodrichDn@aol.com
Thanks Dan for your interesting information on the Goddess myths. I find
the resurrgence of Goddess theology fascinating and, as a woman,
comforting. I have some interesting source materials but just don't have
the time right now to get into it. I've too much clay to do. But if you
like, you can contact me directly and I could send you a bibliography I got
in a series of classes I took last fall.
But what I really want to say is that makes me sad that a caveat must be
included in your message (and that not to say I don't understand why you
included it!). How, when religion is supposed to the very foundation of
one's life and belief structure- at least that's what I've always thought-
could it ever be deemd inappropriate as a topic here. Unless, of course,
some folks take advantage of this forum to attempt to proselytize. But
even then, the delete key is very simple to use if one can't tolerate
reading about another's beliefs...
stamps@transport.com on mon 28 apr 97
---Original message----------- as the spiritual aspects of clay are dear to
me, and I'd like to know what, if any, specific spiritual heritage we
clayworkers have. Don Goodrich
Hello Don and others who are interested in this thread.
While checking through one of my books looking for ancient Goddess
names and came across this wonderful description of a vessel. from "The
Language of the Goddess" by Marija Gimbutas p. 64
"The Goddess as an anthropomorphic container with the spout as mouth
was a concept which took form shortly after the introduction of pottery
and found frequent expression for several thousand years.
A good example is an early Vinca vase from Parta, western Romania
(c5200 - 5000 B.C. Its spout is in the shape of a human head supported
by arms and incised with...symbols of the Goddess and liquid
respectively. When such vessels were used and liquid poured from the
mouth of the Goddess, her function as Divine Source of sacred moisture
was graphically reenacted."
Pamela Jo stampe@seasurf.com
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