The Pregnant Goddess: Your Guide to Traditions, Rituals, and Blessings for a Sacred Pagan Pregnancy

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The ancient Egyptian protective goddess of childbirth and fertility, Taweret, is certainly one of the most unique goddesses of the ancient world. She is displayed in the form of a large upright hippopotamus, with feline legs and a crocodile tail, with drooping female breasts. Her bestial and frightening form is a part of her protective role - her ugliness was thought to repel demons and protect the newborn children. The hippopotamus goddess could be thought of as giving birth to the creator Sun god. In the secret crypts of the Temple of Ipet at Karnak, the hippopotamus goddess was said to give birth to the solar form of Osiris who rose again as Amun-Ra. In the Pyramid texts, the reborn king is nourished by the sweet milk of Ipy; Ipet (Pinch 142). The Persian goddess Ahurani was invoked by people for fertility, health, healing, and wealth. It’s believed that she helped women to become pregnant and brought prosperity to the land. Her name means belonging to Ahura, as she’s the mistress of the Zoroastrian god Ahura Mazda. As a water goddess, she watches over the rain that falls from the heavens and calms the waters. 7- Astarte goddess Astarté. Bronze, 7th century AEC. Archaeological Museum of Seville. Source. Unlike human sacrifices that were a common part of Aztec worship, Ichpōchtli was venerated in a more natural way, with ceremonies involving flowers, butterflies, and animal masks. She was portrayed as a youthful and luscious woman. Xochiquetzal was the mother of Quetzalcoatl, a major Aztec deity. Her attributes were desire, pleasure, wealth and excess, and beauty. Some scholars believe she was the patron of adultery as well. Živa The figure of Taweret I will be focusing on is the amulet in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s collection. The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s collection dates the piece between the twenty-sixth and twenty-ninth dynasty, which is part of the Late Period. They have defined that the amulet is made of faience.

The first fertility goddess for the Sumerians was named Innana, which by 2300 BCE, had transformed into the name Ishtar. It was with this later Akkadian name and even later worship by the Babylonians that made her famous. She was one of the most important of goddesses, being a figure associated with not only love (and thus fertility), but also war and the heavens. Physically, the goddess was thought to be the planet Venus.Dea Gravida, a term that has been applied to these types of figures by modern archaeologists, translates to "pregnant goddess." [2] The term gravida comes from the Latin word gravidus and is used to describe a woman who is pregnant. Tyria is a reference to Tyre, where many such figures have been found. [3] Role in cult [ edit ] Miroslav Verner, "A Statue of Twert (Cairo Museum no. 39145) Dedicated by Pabesi and Several Remarks on the Role of the Hippopotamus Goddess". Zeitschrift für Ägyptische Sprache und Alterumskunde 96 (1969): 53. The goal of Ancient Origins is to highlight recent archaeological discoveries, peer-reviewed academic research and evidence, as well as offering alternative viewpoints and explanations of science, archaeology, mythology, religion and history around the globe.

Freyr, god associated with peace, marriages, rain, sunshine, and fertility, both of the land and people A fertility deity is a god or goddess associated with fertility, sex, pregnancy, childbirth, and crops. In some cases these deities are directly associated with these experiences; in others they are more abstract symbols. Fertility rites may accompany their worship. The following is a list of fertility deities. Athena’s association with the acropolises of various Greek cities probably stemmed from the location of the kings’ palaces there. She was thought to have had neither consort nor offspring. She may not have been described as a virgin originally, but virginity was attributed to her very early and was the basis for the interpretation of her epithets Pallas and Parthenos. As a war goddess Athena could not be dominated by other goddesses, such as Aphrodite, and as a palace goddess she could not be violated. Liber, god of viniculture, wine, and male fertility, equivalent to Greek Dionysus; in archaic Lavinium, a phallic deity

Hera

D.D. “Amulets of the Late Period: Note on Some Recent Ascensions to the Egyptian Department”. Bulletin of the Museum of Fine Arts. 28.170: 117-123. Due to communication between Levantine coastal towns and Mediterranean localities, Taweret also became an integral part of Minoan religion in Crete, where it is known as the Minoan Genius. For a comprehensive discussion of Taweret's acceptance into Minoan culture, see Judith Weingarten, The Transformation of Taweret into the Minoan Genius: A Study in Cultural Transmission in the Middle Bronze Age (Partille: P. Åströms, 1991).