Reading Notes Week 12: Seven Secrets of the Goddess A

Seven Secrets of the Goddess

Gaia is the earth mother in Greek Mythology
Her children were Uranus, who clung to her, Aphrodite, goddess of love, and the Erines, goddesses of retribution.
Kronos, their father ate all of his children so that they could not overpower him.
Gaia saves one son named Zeus.
Eventually Zeus attacks and kills Kronos.
Zeus then calls himself the god of men and takes his position at the throne of Mount Olympus.
Gaia stays respected but she is distant.

Adya is the mother god of India.
She took form as a bird and laid three unfertilized eggs.
These ended up giving rise to Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva.
Adya wished to unite (marry) with the three male gods she created.
Brahma refused because he only saw Adya as a mother.  Adya then cursed him so there would be no temples or shrines in his honor.
Adya found that Vishnu was too shrewd for her.
Shiva agreed but only if Adya gave him her third eye.
Adya agreed and gave Shiva her eye.  Shiva in return used the eye to set her on fire and turn her to ash.
Three goddesses rose from the ash.  These goddesses became the wives of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva.

One thing that I really love about this video series is that it not only covers the history of the gods in India but also the gods from other cultures.  Many of these gods are very different from each other while others are quite similar.  Details are often different, but overarching themes are often the same.
The images used in the videos are also great.  I'm sure it took a lot of time and hard work for the writers to find these.

I was surprised that in many ancient cultures, there were periods of time where women had more authority than men.  This is just the opposite of what I have learned in world history books.

Bibliography

Seven Secrets of the Goddess by Pattanaik
Image Information: Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva: Wikimedia commons