Gaia

[Maelli]

I find myself only wanting to have Gaia as my ultimate diety and am wondering if anyone else here does so. I have tried to look into other dieties but to me Gaia is the what I have been looking for. So does anyone here only worship Gaia and no other?

Just to add: Some people believe that Gaia isn't really a deity....whats your opinion on this also..

[David19]

To me, i think Gaia may be a very powerful god (or entity as she may even be above or beyond some gods), but i've also read in a book on Classical Mythology that to the Greeks, Gaia was both the earth itself, but also a actualy, individual goddess, in other words, she had her own desires, plans, motives, etc just like the other Greek gods (and other gods e.g. Yahweh, the Norse gods, Sumerian, Canaanite, Kemetic (Egyptian), etc).

I think there are a lot of people here who worship Gaia (from Wiccans to Hellenic recons, etc) so i think there are a lot of people who can help you out more than me, but i hope i've helped in some way, and if i remember any more, i'll post it :).

[Maelli]

Thanks David!

[Arion]

As far as I know, Gaia was the essence of the Earth itself, and the mother of a whole bunch of other gods and titans. I don't think she played a part in much of mythology, she was just kind of there as the earth womb. She was probably a more pronounced figure in pre-hellenic times. In the Hellenic age, Demeter took on her funtions, so I guess you could say that Demeter is a later form of her. The Oracle of Delphi was originally Gaia's temple, but was later taken over by Apollo.

[Fiamma]

I find myself only wanting to have Gaia as my ultimate diety and am wondering if anyone else here does so. I have tried to look into other dieties but to me Gaia is the what I have been looking for. So does anyone here only worship Gaia and no other?

Just to add: Some people believe that Gaia isn't really a deity....whats your opinion on this also..


Gaea is the essense of the earth itself, but she is also very definitely a deity in her own right....she didn't play a very active role in so many of the myths like Zeus or Athena, but she is definitely a goddess in her own.

Whether someone else believes it or not, that's them, but as far as I'm concerned, the answer is right there in Theogeny.

[skilly-nilly]

Separate from Greco-Roman mythology there is a biological construct that Gaia (as the whole of the Earth) is a living entity. Encompassing a lot of sub-beings (ourselves included) but as a One-Being as well; in much the same way that each of us is an entity but have a lot of stuff (bacteria, eyelash mites, mitochondria) living out their own lives on or in us.

OT1H, She can be perceived scientifically as an 'eco-system'.

OTOH, She can be perceived as a Goddess.

On the gripping hand, it makes no never mind, since if you affect one part of the Earth the whole Earth responds no matter what you call Her.

[Autumn-Forest]

Gaia is a large part of my worship, I also call her Mother Earth. To me, she is the essence in all life, and I always honor her. She has such wonderful energy and look what she gave us to live from! All the food and water and others to interact with. :)

blessed be-
Autumn

[Silver Crow2]

I think it is really obvious that there are two primary polarities in the universe - what our somewhat feeble minds identify as gender - masculine and feminine. I am not saying those concepts are "real", I am saying that is how we tend to perceive things.

I think as long as you respect both forces, you will find balance.

Dieties are nice, but if we are ultimately all just energy in the end....what do the specific names matter? Call the divine feminine Gaaia, or Fred......what does it matter?

[alabaster]

I'm also a 'gaiaist'! I think of Her as the ultimate Source of all, and find that really early conceptions of her (Venus of WIllendorf, Lausell etc.) are really...what....meaningful for me?

My concept of Gaia is similar to that of Lovelock's Gaia (even though he doesn't see Gaia as a deity, but a biological/cosmological entity) rather than the greek mythological concept.

[Autumn-Forest]

I think it is really obvious that there are two primary polarities in the universe - what our somewhat feeble minds identify as gender - masculine and feminine. I am not saying those concepts are "real", I am saying that is how we tend to perceive things.

I think as long as you respect both forces, you will find balance.

Dieties are nice, but if we are ultimately all just energy in the end....what do the specific names matter? Call the divine feminine Gaaia, or Fred......what does it matter?

That's interesting, because we are all energy in the end. :) I think we also need to honor both polarites, both Earth and Sky, etc. To balance things out.

blessed be-
Autumn

[Theres]

The Oracle of Delphi was originally Gaia's temple, but was later taken over by Apollo.

i have never heard this before, do you have a source?

i know that by the classical era the sanctuary at Delphi was shared with Dionysus, but it has always been my understanding that there were no such cults or sanctuaries devoted to Gaia in ancient times.

[Agaliha]

Originally Posted by purplepanther [/URL]
The Oracle of Delphi was originally Gaia's temple, but was later taken over by Apollo.



i have never heard this before, do you have a source?

I've read it before, here's some quotes from Theoi.com-- [URL="http://www.theoi.com/Protogenos/Gaia.html"]Gaia (http://www.mysticwicks.com/showthread.php?p=2824680#post2824680)

As Ge was the source from which arose the vapours producing divine inspiration, she herself also was regarded as an oracular divinity, and it is well known that the oracle of Delphi was believed to have at first been in her possession (Aeschyl. Eum. 2; Paus. x. 5. § 3), and at Olympia, too, she had an oracle in early times. (Paus. v. 14. § 8.)...
*
...and she had temples or altars at Athens, Sparta, Delphi, Olympia, Bura, Tegea, Phlyus, and other places. (Thuc. ii. 15; Paus. i. 22. § 3, 24. § 3, 31. § 2, iii. 11. § 8, 12. § 7, v. 14. §8, vii. 25. § 8, viii. 48. § 6.)
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GAIA & THE ORACLE OF DELPHOI--

"That word spoken from tree-clad mother Gaia's (Earth’s) navel-stone [Delphoi]." - Pindar, Odes Pythian 4 str4
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"The Pythia: ‘First of the gods I honour in my prayer is Mother Gaia (Earth), the first of the gods to prophesy, and next I praise, Themis, second to hold her Mother’s mantic seat [of Delphoi], so legend says." - Aeschylus, Eumenides 1
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"Many and different are the stories told about Delphoi, and even more son about the oracle of Apollon. For they say that in earliest times the oracular seat belonged to Ge (Earth), who appointed as prophetess at it Daphnis, one of the Nymphai of the mountains. There is extant among the Greeks an hexameter poem, the name of which is Eumolpia, and it is assigned to Musaeus, son of Antiophemos. In it the poet states that the oracle belonged to Poseidon and Ge (Earth) in common; that Ge (Earth) gave her oracles herself, but Poseidon used Pyrkon as his mouthpiece in giving responses. The verses are these:- ‘Forthwith the voice of Khthonies uttered a wise word, And with her Pyrkon, servant of the renown Earthshaker.’
They say that afterwards Ge (Earth) gave her share to Themis, who gave it to Apollon as a gift. It is said that he to Poseidon Kalaureia, that lies off Troizenos, in exchange for his oracle." - Pausanias, Guide to Greece 10.5.5
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"What is called the Omphalos (Navel) by the Delphians is made of white marble, and is said by the Delphians to be the centre of all the earth (Ge). Pindar in one of his odes supports their view." - Pausanias, Guide to Greece 10.16.3
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"The most widespread tradition [for the naming of Pytho, Phokis] has it that the victim of Apollon’s arrows rotted here ... The poets say that the victim of Apollon was a Drakon posted by Ge (Earth) to be a guard for the oracle." - Pausanias, Guide to Greece 10.6.5
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"Python, offspring of Terra (Earth) [Gaia], was a huge Draco who, before the time of Apollo, used to give oracular responses on Mount Parnassus [for Gaia]." - Hyginus, Fabulae 140

***

And non-scholarly site: Chapter Six: A Short Detour to Delphi and the Sibyls (http://www.moonspeaker.ca/Delphi/delphi.html)
The article is pretty long, so I won't post it here. It's interesting though.

[Theres]

interesting... thank you.
i'll have to investigate this further.

[Agaliha]

You're welcome :)

:reading:

[PoisonIvy]

Gaia or Gaea, known as Earth or Mother Earth (the Greek common noun for "land" is ge or ga). She was an early earth goddess and it is written that Gaia was born from Chaos, the great void of emptiness within the universe, and with her came Eros. She gave birth to Pontus (the Sea) and Uranus (the Sky). This was achieved parthenogenetically (without male intervention). Other versions say that Gaia had as siblings Tartarus (the lowest part of the earth, below Hades itself) and Eros, and without a mate, gave birth to Uranus (Sky), Ourea (Mountains) and Pontus (Sea).
Gaia took as her husband Uranus, who was also her son, and their offspring included the Titans, six sons and six daughters. She gave birth to the Cyclopes and to three monsters that became known as the "Hecatonchires". The spirits of punishment known as the Erinyes were also offspring of Gaia and Uranus. The Gigantes, finally, were conceived after Uranus had been castrated by his son Cronus, and his blood fell to earth from the open wound.

To protect her children from her husband, (the Cyclopes and the Hecatoncheires, as he was fearful of their great strength), Gaia hid them all within herself. One version says that Uranus was aghast at the sight of his offspring so he hid them away in Tartarus, which are the bowels of the earth. Gaia herself found her offspring uncomfortable and at times painful, when the discomfort became to much to bear she asked her youngest son Cronus to help her. She asked him to castrate Uranus, thus severing the union between the Earth and Sky, and also to prevent more monstrous offspring. To help Cronus achieve his goal Gaia produced an adamantine sickle to serve as the weapon. Cronus hid until Uranus came to lay with Gaia and as Uranus drew near, Cronus struck with the sickle, cutting the genitalia from Uranus. Blood fell from the severed genitals and came in contact with the earth and from that union was born the Erinyes (Furies), the Giants and the Meliae (Nymphs of the manna ash trees).

After the separation of the Earth from the Sky, Gaia gave birth to other offspring, these being fathered by Pontus. Their names were the sea-god Nereus, Thaumas, Phorcys, Ceto and Eurybia. In other versions Gaia had offspring to her brother Tartarus; they were Echidna and Typhon, the later being an enemy of Zeus. Apollo killed Typhon when he took control of the oracle at Delphi, which Gaia originally provided, and then the "Sibyl" sang the oracle in Gaia's shrine.

It was Gaia who saved Zeus from being swallowed by Cronus, after Zeus had been born, Gaia helped Rhea to wrap a stone in swaddling clothes, this was to trick Cronus in to thinking it was Zeus, because Cronus had been informed that one of his children would depose him, and so to get rid of his children he had swallowed them, Gaia's trick worked and Zeus was then taken to Crete.

Gaia being the primordial element from which all the gods originated was worshiped throughout Greece, but later she went into decline and was supplanted by other gods. In Roman mythology she was known as Tellus or Terra.

[Fiamma]

In Roman mythology she was known as Tellus or Terra.


these names are used interchangeably but they have slight semantic differences.

Terra referrs to the earth as nature or the element of earth, Tellus refers to the Earth as the big chunk of rock zipping around the sun.