Since Earth Day is tomorrow, this month's full moon altar honours Great Goddess Gaia, the deified personification of our planet Earth. Although Gaia's ancient mythology originated in Greece, her imagery and significance have seen a huge resurgence in the 20th and 21st centuries as a central symbol of modern environmentalism, the green movement and green politics.
The statue at the centre of the altar is a reproduction of "The Millennial Gaia" created in 1998 by Oberon Zell, a major figure in modern Neopaganism. It's a very well known statue and is widely available on the internet. I purchased mine about a year ago in a local Edmonton spirituality store.
Heavily pregnant Mother Earth Gaia births, nourishes and sustains all life on this planet. Without her, we are nothing. Her green foliage-hair showcases the evolutionary history of all life on land, while her green tattooed legs depict the evolution of life in the oceans. Mighty redwood and rainforest tattoes cover her arms. Her right breast is a cornucopia of plenty and her left breast is the moon. She has the Buddha's contemplative smile and meditative pose.
I surrounded Gaia on the altar with symbols of her four seasons -- vegetable seed packets for Spring, a sunflower candle for Summer . . .
. . . oak leaves and acorns for Autumn, and a sparkling snowflake swirl for Winter.
[Photos © Debra She Who Seeks, 2024]
30 comments:
..."The Millennial Gaia" is very interesting.
I wondered what the symbols were. Makes sense now.
What a great, thoughtful altar for Gaia and Earth Day! Thank you. I always appreciate your explanation of the figure at the center of your altars.
I love it. That statue is gorgeous.
She is gorgeous!!! Thanks for the info ~
bobbie
Thank you.
Will Ms She Who Seeks be planting a little garden of radishes and carrots this year?
@ Old Lurker -- No, I'm not a gardener. And those are Dollar Store seed packets. Not sure if they're even viable. I don't have faith in many Dollar Store products.
Another beautiful altar! ❤️
She is a lovely statue - that is my kind of Goddess!
Another beautiful and thoughtful altar. The altar cloth is lovely as well; reminding me of sunshine, maize, and almost a labyrinth.
All hail our Divine Mother.
Wonderful... thank you for the remembering on this special day.
Have a wonderful week, greetings by Heidrun
The Millennial Gaia piece is extraordinary. They are available directly from the artist at www.TheMillenialGaia.com
They are in sizes from 4 inches up to 24 inches for outdoor and large altars. Each one includes a pamphlet that explains all of the symbols embedded in the work.
Please beware of the numerous counterfeit versions that are around on Amazon and elsewhere. I work directly with Oberon to manage the sales and production of his art and to ensure the authenticity of the pieces we sell.
What a creative way to acknowledge and celebrate Earth Day! Those acorn jingle bells are divine!
One of my Greek mythology book starts with Gaia. What a creative and nice alter this season.
Love that statue. I wonder if the Ancient Greeks had anything similar. Obviously, not a round world with North and South America on it, but something that indicated birth of the Earth (whatever they thought Earth looked like at the time.)
Beautiful!
She’s beautiful. I’ve always admired her.
I love your alters. So thoughtful and so full of meaning.
Earth God looks very green with sprouts
I love that candle and the Earth belly. Both very, very cool.
She is so lovely! I love everything she stands for and you did a great job on this altar.
The Mother Earth Gaia is a lovely and evocative figure. She has so much inscribed symbolishm.
Hello Debra, Your altar shows the beneficence and fecundity of Mother Nature, but in today's ecological and political climate it calls to mind this thirty-second film Flora, by Jan Svankmajer (be sure to immediately put it full screen):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=np-kFkDLT7k&pp=ygUQZmxvcmEgc3ZhbmttYWplcg%3D%3D
--Jim
@ Parnassus (Jim) -- Well, that was disturbing!
@Debra In my experience dollar store seeds work okay, especially for simple crops like radishes or beets. The dollar store varieties tend to be limited, as compared to the types of seeds you can get from a proper grower.
Radishes are dead-easy to grow, and they are ready in 3-4 weeks, which from what I understand is the length of Edmonton's growing season. I have not tried growing them in containers but I bet it is possible.
There's no pressure to become a gardener if you don't want to, but watching things sprout is quite satisfying and worshipful to the Earth Mother.
Her "meditative pose" should be changed to a look of horror.
it is Great post with topic i love so much dear Debra
earth is our home with astonishing ability to born us ,sustain us and nurture us ,we return to in her eventually .
her endless love and patience for us teach us lot how we too can live life of true meanings and be support to all around us .
your display of earth statues is truly impressive and loveable hats of to you!!!
hugs and best wishes
Interesting statue of Gaia… love the acorns. I hope you had a wonderful Earth Day!
I've seen that statue a lot but never knew the history of it. Thanks!
Such a beautiful statue, Debra, so full of symbolism! I love your swirling snowflake, but not the snow outside my window nearly as much!
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