…And finally decended down the other side! Yes…I’ve finally conquered the mountain! I’ve gotten the victory! What victory you ask? The battle has been 11 years to this final conclusion. My mountain? Paperwork.

Ok…you are probably laughing, but I’m serious. I have been fighting to get rid of and organize paperwork for 11 + years…since before I left the ex. I had 15 years of postal paperwork, which also included EEO case files for cases I was handling, along with the magazines and scribblings I did for the union newspaper as the writer and editor.

I’ve had tons of notes taken in church or bible studies, along with my book of poetry, and my other notebooks of my writings. Add to all this,  the divorce, the case work with all the government agencies I’ve had to deal with from child support to the VA, to DCF and housing and so forth, as well as receipts I’ve kept due to being audited a year after kicking out the ex, because he messed up my taxes…it goes on and on.

However, I am pleased to say that I have now finally gotten rid of the big file cabinet (4 drawer) and the small one is being used for office supplies, so my paperwork currently fits into 1 large, and 1 medium tub, with a separate box for my writing stuff. It is all filed, or in binders, and finally defeating this demon has freed up my life to a great extent.

This is why you haven’t seen my much around these parts lately. I was in that last leg where you have to expend so much energy in a final push for the victory.

On other fronts…lil Miss Smokes or “Tootsie” as she prefers, is in heat. Poor baby…she’s just seven months old and already…and she’s meowing and rowring (spell check) all over the place, pushing her lil booty in the air for me to rub on the backside on her tail. She’s been all over my foot, holding on and even biting a bit. We (my son and I) say she has an “itchy batchie” problem, that won’t quit, and she can’t get any relief from. Of course my big boy Benny is of no use. It’s like he doesn’t even know what’s going on…tried to get on her once, but he’s fixed so he can’t do much for her.

At any rate..it’s short and sweet today. Will be back with more on the study soon. Doing research. Peace and blessings.

The Book of Isaiah

Chapter 1 V.1 Part 3.3 Asherah 7

 

 

Now I know some of you have seen my position on this in my “A Pause for a Cause” series, however, all of this is relevant to the rise of the worship of the goddess Asherah. Think about it. Oppressed and suppressed women in the nation of Israel find a source that appears to offer some freedom to them. It wasn’t being offered by the men of their time period, who treated them more or less like cattle.

 

The truth of God…the freedom in God was not being given or shown to be for women. This was part of the reason this goddess was attractive to them. In addition, she was alleged as the goddess of fertility and sex among other things, and I don’t doubt that some liberation was needed in some of those areas as well. But the main problem was a lack of faith in general among the entire nation, because there were not just false female deities, but male ones as well.

 

And like people in our day and time, the people of Israel had a tendency to “fall asleep” or forget concerning things about government…policies, even politicians or rulers that fulfilled or failed to fulfill their promises. They would forget who had wronged them, and Who had done right by them. They failed to tell their children…and so generation after generation forgot about God and had no faith, because it was not shared. This also gave place to the idols.

 

God told Eve she had to be submitted to her husband, but my point is this: All of this has eventually snowballed into the women’s movement we know of today and throughout history. The only reason that women were able to step out into extremism in this arena is because of the lack of balance in viewing this Genesis story, and the place or position of women by men who rule over all; and because men have done what Adam did, and acquiesced on some level-giving women the lead then turning and accusing women because of their own weakness.

 

So women…guys tend to submit to us first…so why do you even have a problem with the idea of submission? They get down on one knee in submission to ask you to marry them. They are called to love us as Christ loves the church, and Christ died for the church…which, if a man did this for us…it would be what we call chivalry. So I don’t even understand why some women have issue with the general idea of submission to their husbands. (It’s understandable as an issue only if the situation is abusive.)

 

However, just as in the photo a few posts ago of the Indian goddesses Shiva and Kali; each of whom was standing on her husband; that extreme portrait of women exerting their rights or position over a man, is one of (self) idolatry.

 

While prideful men in the church wish to claim the fall as the result of an act of Eve’s in usurping her husband, what we do know is that the serpent’s intent was to cause just such a situation of accusation between males and females. The question in my mind is…at that stage of creation…when there was no “war between the sexes,” why would the woman want to usurp her husband? What reason would she have? I don’t see any. They were completely free in the garden. She had just been given to him. It seems she didn’t even know she was to acquiesce to him. I mean think about it…everything was innocence in the garden. They didn’t even know they had a sinful nature until this situation occurred, and then…how would they even know how to deal with that side of their personage? They were babes! Babes learn through trial and error.

 

My son knew not to stick his fingers into an electrical outlet as a baby, because I smacked his little hands and said “Hot!” He felt the sting of the slap; it felt “hot” to him, and he learned. But without that experience of what “hot” meant…my saying “hot” would never have meant a thing to him. He actually had to put his hand there first, then I slapped him, said “Hot!” and he felt discomfort/pain and learned not to do that. I see the same scenario here.

 

Perhaps that is the reason for the judgment God gave Eve…so that she could understand her role and truly come along side her husband as his helper, not his/the ruler of their relationship; and certainly not as a punishment for trying to “assert herself over her husband” as we’ve been led to believe for years. I think the actual punishment was pain in childbirth, and I’m sure the ladies would agree with me.

 

But look how often God had to teach the children of Israel, via discomfort/pain/defeat that He was the only one they were to follow. Look how often He had to cast judgment on them for their disobedience and idolatry. Because it’s the end result of a training exercise, and in order to advance to the next level of growth, one must “pass the test.” If one fails the testing/proving, then judgment occurs to teach us. Pain is one of the best teachers around.

 

Worship of the goddess Asherah and these other gods (self idolatry) started back in this time frame, after they were kicked out of the garden. Evidence of an idolatrous mindset was found in Cain, when he chose self-righteousness over God’s way and ended up taking a life as a result and being banished away from God’s people and God’s presence.

 

It appears that Cain’s people perished in the flood, however, his mindset of self-idolatry did manage to survive through the flood in Noah’s son Ham, who was the father of Canaan; and whose people after the flood, populated Egypt and the surrounding nations where this idolatry originated.

 

Do you see the seed of Satan successfully planted in the Genesis accusation and the subsequent evolution of it? Isn’t it odd how fundamentalists and the neo-evangelicals (known as CBE) have allowed for the Garden of Eden…the Garden of God’s presence, to become labeled, through their bickering; as the Garden of Accusation while they fight over the rights and position of men and women in the church? Sadly, it is this false accusation that has been the basis of the subjugation of women in all areas, particularly in the church and has done more to further idolatry than perhaps the actions of pagans themselves. It all starts in the house of God and branches out from there. People take things and move into extremes with it, and it is in the extremism where you will find the enemy at work…the place of no balance.

 

I don’t think God intended women to be subjugated in everything, nor prohibited from utilizing God given gifts for ministry as a result, particularly because this “fall” was already in the plans of God. He already knew it would occur, because He formed us from earth that was in a fallen state. It was all part of the plan as specified in Revelations, so that He could bring salvation to us. (Again, see my study on “In the Beginning,” because I speak more about this and it will clear up any questions about what I’m saying that you may have.)

 

Without darkness we would never see our need for Him…it had to come, so in essence…no one is at fault, or both were at fault…either way…the end is a null set, so it doesn’t matter. It was part of the plan…they both partook of the fruit, so there is no point in pointing fingers and drawing lines in the sand. They were supposed to work together, and support each other, and in this fall at least…they certainly did that by both being in disobedience.

I am interrupting my study for a moment. Just want to drop some insights that have been coming lately. Usually, when I do this…I’m writing about several things over a period of about 1-2 weeks, so no doubt….this will be lengthy post, but it may be worth your while.

 

Of course, everyone is feeling the economic pinch these days…and probably none more than the unemployed like me. So, for reasons too in depth to delve into at the moment…my claim is being investigated and the checks just stopped. So since the beginning of Jan., I’ve had to wait for 4 weeks to see if they approve the claim. Then, if they don’t…I have to appeal the decision, which takes another 45 days to process before I get a final answer.

 

Course…it’s a God test…proving again. My initial reaction was calm. I mean, when I discovered that for the second time…checks did not arrive; while my situation started looking pretty desperate, I was calm at first. But over a few days…the build up of thoughts analyzing my situation (how would the bills get paid while food was running scarce in the refrigerator?) put me into a state of worry and stress.

 

Little did I realize exactly how much fear was creeping upon me. It was easing in…creeping into my subconscious and slowly infiltrating and taking over my conscious mind, but I wasn’t aware of it.

 

So I go see Gail…my sister in Christ – my eyes and my shield; and what does she have sitting on her table, but this book which, moments later she realized God had her purchase for me: “Who switched off my brain?” So she tells me…just look at chapter six…it tells you how to detox your mind. Well, I start for chapter six…but I’m really curious about this book in general, so instead, I go to chapter one and start reading.

 

Man! I was blown away! For those that don’t know…if I’ve never mentioned it out here…God talks to me sometimes through trees. I’m into textures…forms…maybe it’s the artist in me, I don’t know. But I like how certain rocks or stones look and feel. I like the look and texture of some trees…even down to the leaves. But I see spiritual things in trees sometimes, just like Gail sees them in numbers and pennies.

 

So by this time, the subconscious had worked things into my body, and my right side started hurting again. This hasn’t happened since I left my ex back in 1999…at least, not consistently for more than a few hours. (That was a hellish year…and my son was just 2 at the time…a story for another time.) This time it’s been more than a week of pain and discomfort.

 

When it happened then…I had insurance and the doctors found a mass…a cluster of unidentifiable cells in my liver. They biopsied it and found it to be benign, but could not identify it…other than a cluster of cells.

 

In the subsequent years, this “mass” seemed to be agitated when I was under extreme stress. I even went to a spirit-filled doctor I know…who is a chiropractor as well as a chemical specialist. He can see what’s wrong with you by the spirit and if you are receptive, he gives you scriptures as a treatment. It does work – the scripture thing. I’ve already been healed by him in that manner, but he also built a laser and was treating all sorts of disease with light via this laser, so I had him treat my liver to get rid of the mass. This was about 2-3 years ago.

 

Since then, haven’t really had any pain, but suddenly…there it is again. And here I am, sitting at Gail’s reading a book that is connecting the dots. You see, I have long been reading and researching things about nutrition. It’s probably been about 10-15 years. I had known that there were problems with my system, but all the different things I found to explain it did not answer everything…until I found the connection with the liver.

 

That was the missing link I needed and I found it about 5-7 years ago, before the mass was discovered. God was connecting the dots for me, and He still is. And what does this book tell me? What does it confirm?

 

Two years ago, the spiritual doc referred me to an acupuncturist due to a slip and fall injury and circulatory issue in the damaged leg. While in treatment with this doctor, I had been in search of information that connected the mind with the body, but I couldn’t find it, even delving into complicated medical reports and studies.

 

But I knew there was a connection. I mentioned it one day to another doctor that was filling in for my acupuncturist due to an obligation he had. This younger Jewish acupuncturist answered my question by telling me about the five elements chart, which shows what emotions are connected to what organs and systems in the body. I looked it up online and found oodles of info on it.

 

I was elated, and got more clarity from that, but the book at Gail’s went way beyond that information. This book showed the direct correlation of thoughts affecting emotions, and emotions affecting the body. This book showed trees in the mind! And…it was written by a Christian doctor so of course…it is speaking volumes to me, because it is correlating Christian principles in the explanation.

 

I start to realize the vast damage that negative emotions cause. They take up 2-3 times more space in your brain’s memory than positive ones do. In addition, I figured out the source behind the negative emotions, and the cause of that source.

 

It’s fear. Anger, frustration, stress, anxiety, anguish…all of these emotions are the direct result of fear. It’s crippling. Then God showed me the cause of the fear. It’s one of two things. It’s fear of no acceptance otherwise known as rejection; or its fear of loss on some level.

 

Then I realized that it was the second of the two that was bothering me. I looked around my place and started asking questions. What is it here that I fear losing? Well, I had no fear of losing God or my son, and I wouldn’t want to let go of my babies (2 cats) but outside of that…there wasn’t anything specific that I would suffer greatly at losing. I would want to have my family photos, but everything else was replaceable.

 

So it’s nothing in my house. I realized that without that income, I would lose the ability to take care of my house…meet the bills, possibly keep a roof over our heads…but even that thought wasn’t as disturbing as before when I hadn’t analyzed it. I’ve camped and loved it. We have the equipment to do so…so no problem.

 

It was loss of control…of what was familiar…what is the norm for us. And God said to me…“If you had a husband…the man you’ve been waiting for; and he was responsible, trustworthy, and a spirit-filled man of God…if that man said to you, “Baby, don’t worry, I’ve got this…I’ll take care of it,” how would you react?”

 

I said, “I’d be relaxed. I wouldn’t worry.” Then God said, “That’s how you should be with me…not analyzing the situation, because I’ve got it. I’m your husband until I provide your earthly husband…and I will take care of it.”

 

So finally…I’m breathing again. I’m learning to take long deep breaths and focus on Him, and praise Him for what I cannot see that He’s taking care of…and the pain is slowly dissipating. And He had been taking care of it. People have given me cash, food and paid for gas for my car. The income tax refund is on the way as well, so my stress is dissipating because I’m training my mind not to focus on fear-filled thoughts due to this new knowledge of the damaging effects of those thoughts.

 

My son told me yesterday morning about a dream he had in November, which he claims he already told me. I knew he never told me this dream…at least not in the entirety in which he told me today.

 

In his dream, he said a meteor hit the earth, and everything around our house, outside our gate burned up. There was nothing left…just us. He said a black cat crossed in front of him in our yard, and it had shields in its eyes, and it told him, “I came to protect you from what you see happening around you. What you see now is a vision of what may come.” Then he said he saw shields all around the property where our house was, and we were safe.

 

I started to say, “Why didn’t you explain all of this to me back in November?” But then I caught myself and told him, “No…God’s timing is always perfect. He wanted me to hear that now.” Of course, I did have to explain to him that the cat was merely a vessel that God spoke to him through…one he would understand and receive.

 

There’s another thing that’s made me happy; a very unexpected surprise. A friend of mine…that I’ve known for about 2-3 years casually…invited my son and I to dinner at his house with him and his daughter. It was lovely…good food and great company.

 

I honestly didn’t realize, when he called, that it was to be just us. I thought others would be there…like it was a get together with friends, so I went in very casual garb. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was really about just us.

 

Now, as you saw above…my son carries a bit of my gifting. I’m a dreamer and he seems to have inherited that gift too. I happened to mention my dream gift to my friend in the midst of our conversation, and he asked me, “Have you had any dreams about me?”

 

The question rattled me, because no one that knows of my gift has ever asked me that before. It may not seem significant to people who don’t communicate with God via this sort of gift, but to one who does…it’s very significant. My stunned response at that moment was, “Uh…not that I’m aware of at this moment.”

 

However, God works with me in 20 year timeframes. I think I’m in year 20, if I’ve calculated correctly; which seems to indicate the completion of a cycle. I thought about everything in our conversation, particularly that question, and I started thinking about the dreams and vision for this particular time period.

 

Since he asked the question, I’ve had to start examining those dreams and the vision; and I think that if he were to ask me that question again…my answer might be different. The actual answer might be hidden in the symbols or items or even timeframes in the environment of the dreams. Anything is possible…and if I just wait on God…He will reveal all I need to know.

 

The other thing it’s made me question though…is what does one do when such a cycle ends? You see…I was not aware of these cycles when the first one ended, so I don’t recall what became different in my life, with exception to…the dreams and the methodology of Satan’s attacks. That, I can see in hindsight, did change, just as my relationship with God changed in that timeframe as well.

 

But outside of that…it’s my actual life I’m wondering about. I mean, when you’ve been waiting 20 years for the fulfillment of a promise from God…how does one act when it happens?

 

And what DVD did I watch yesterday…The pursuit of happyness…with Will Smith. He did have a time period of struggle to get where he was predestined to go. I mean…the only thing I can think of…that one might do at the completion of a dream is…cry. Be happy and cry. That’s what Will did in the movie, and he didn’t wait 20 years. Anyone got an opinion on that?

 

So yesterday morning, we got out of bed and decided to go to the church for some exercise. I was going to walk around the grounds, which probably encompass at a minimum, 1-2 miles in circumference. He was going to skate.

 

When we got there and I started walking, I noticed not only the foliage and trees so beautifully cared for on the property, but also, that there were a lot of people on the fields in the west side of the property. They had soccer leagues playing games.

 

So I walked and came back around, heading back to the east parking lot. It was here that I noticed a grate on the ground next to the building. It was there, I guess, to catch water overflow from the buildings when it rained.

 

What caught my attention? A tree was growing out of the grate. I was looking to see where the trunk was…thinking it was immersed in the water at the bottom, but it wasn’t. I couldn’t find the base for a few minutes, and then I saw it. There was a large pipe coming out of the side of the concrete, and this trunk was attached to the side of the pipe.

 

It was the strangest thing. There was a minute amount of dirt there on the side of the pipe; probably residual dirt that had fallen on top of it due to the rains, but certainly not enough to support a tree.

 

While I marveled at this, God spoke to me again and said, “Grow where you are planted.” That blew me away, and I realized that the seed that fell down in that drain and found that tiny patch of dirt, started doing just that. They say that when you are truly seeking, you will find the source that will feed you…you will find God wherever you are. When you are truly determined…you’ll find a way.

 

That little seed did just that. It started growing in a difficult situation…in an environment that really wasn’t made for it…in extremely shallow ground, but it must have found a crack in the side where the cement and the pipe came together.

 

Its roots found an opening in a foreign environment…and dug in. It burrowed through till it found a place that was more suitable for it to get fed. As a result of that determination…leaves are coming up through a grate in the ground as this tree grows.

 

It’s like a two dimensional plane. What appears to be nothing…to be meaningless to some on one (upper) level is the place to be planting roots. The place that looks like it’s fantastic to some and looks like the best place to be planted can really be small and shallow, and not a place for rooting to occur.

 

So this of course, brought me back to that DVD I saw with Will Smith. It was a great film and definitely illustrated the power of determination. This tree in the grate also showed me that you have to be content with your circumstances, and wait with the expectation that God is going to do the unusual…He will do so much with so little.

 

If we just praise him from where we are, no matter how uncomfortable the situation or environment may seem…He can take that and turn it into blessings for us and lift us up…outside the “grates” that hold us down. As long as we seek His light…it will happen. Peace and blessings.

 

The Book of Isaiah

Chapter 1 V.1 Part 3.3 Asherah 6

 

 

Now let me pull this into modern times and the church today. This queen mother or goddess theology in all of its various forms is a variant of the following. (This information is related greatly to information I got from Gary. He did a series of posts on the subject of Ish, which got me studying in Genesis as well. That is where I need to take you…where this all starts. I touched upon it here.

 

I do suggest that you click on those links and follow Gary’s posts on Ish so you will know who I’m making reference to here. In following and subsequently studying his posts on the matter, I believe Ish and Ishshah to be the clay forms of Adam and Eve. In other words, their earthly beings, made of the flesh. Adam and Adamah then, would be the spirit beings that make up Adam and Eve.

 

When the serpent entered the garden look who he spoke to.

 

Gen 3:1   Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

 

Now note please…it does not say that the serpent spoke to Eve, but to “the woman.” There’s a difference in the wording here and a reason for that. Let’s look back a little more.

 

Gen 2:23   The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.”

Gen 2:24   For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.

Gen 2:25   The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.

 

All three of the above references to woman or wife have the Hebrew word Ishshah referenced to them. This is the same reference we see in Gen. 3:1.

 

So it was the “wife” the serpent spoke to. It wasn’t Eve’s spirit being Adamah. It wasn’t Eve the mother of nations. It was her role of “wife” that he addressed because he sought to plant seeds of division between men and women…and he succeeded. This helped him to usher in false deities such as Asherah and her successors in other cultures.

 

First, God gave a command to the man, Adam.

 

Gen 2:16   And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden;

Gen 2:17   but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.”

Gen 2:18   The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”

 

So Eve was formed after this command was given, (having been created in spirit at the same time as Adam, but not awakened in her clay form until this point in time…see my study on “In the Beginning”) and clearly, whatever knowledge she had of this command came by and through her husband, although scripture does not specify what he told her, nor how much.

 

But let me show you something else:

 

Gen 3:6   When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

Now, he was right there…apparently the whole time the serpent was rolling out this temptation to her, because there’s nothing that says that she went looking for him, or searching through the garden to bring the apple to him. Adam acquiesced, and submitted to his wife in taking the apple and eating it. This act of his was in direct contradiction or violation of God’s command, which had been given directly to him; and in essence was a willing relinquishing of his role over to her. {I mean, let’s face it ladies…most guys don’t know what to do, right? It takes them a while to catch on. } But look…

 

Gen 3:8   Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

Gen 3:9   But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”

 

God called to the responsible party. He addressed the responsible party first…the one given the command directly.

 

And here’s the point of division/accusation:

 

Gen 3:11   And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”

Gen 3:12   The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”

 

 

So when God started giving out disciplinary actions, He went in the reverse order in which He had first challenged and/or addressed the matter. He went after the serpent first, then the woman, and finally the man. Between the woman and the man, the greater disciplinary action/punishment (the heavier burden) was given to the man.

 

Gen 3:16   To the woman he said, “I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”

 

Here, God informs Eve of the order of things, because apparently, it was unknown to both of them. He also addressed the matter to Adam.

 

Gen 3:17   To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat of it,’  “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it

all the days of your life.

 

Note that God did not say that childbearing was cursed for the woman; she did not disobey God’s direct command. He did say the ground would be cursed because of the man and he gave the reason…the man disobeyed a direct command. The woman has painful toil in childbirth, and the man has painful toil with the ground for provision, but only the ground was cursed, not the woman.

 

Gen 3:18   It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.

Gen 3:19   By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are

and to dust you will return.”

 

God took away His provision. That was the curse. It now had to be earned, as opposed to just being a given…this under the law…the Old Testament/covenant. This curse was broken by Christ.

 

Yet after all of this, there is still a division of the church that wants to lay the total responsibility for the “fall” on women. Isn’t that just a control mechanism?

The Book of Isaiah

Chapter 1 V.1 Part 3.3 Asherah 5

 

(Bear in mind…I’m still digging under the reference of Isaiah 1:1 at this time, and what is following is the result of that search, but fair warning…it’s a vast amount of information and is quite complex. Also bear in mind that the deities presented here are only presented to give clarity to the identity of the same false goddess and to demonstrate the origins of that theology and the various cultures, forms and names of this false deity under this theology.)

Celtic goddess Brighid

 

 

She is part of what many people call the “Old Religion” of Western Europe, including Great Britain and Northern Europe. In Ireland she is called Brighde, in Scotland, Bride; in Northern Europe, Brigantia; in France, Brigandu.

 

 

Coatlique

Coatlique Placing the Moon in the Sky

 

 

Aztecs have a Mother Goddess, is known as Coatlique, or Lady of the Serpent Skirt, and is seen as being the creator of the fifth world that we live in now. Coatlique lived in an area called Aztlan, up in the mountains. She had 400 children that were stars in the sky, and so she is called the mother of the gods.

 

 

Spider Grandmother

 

American Indian tribes have a goddess known as the Spider Woman; also called Spider Grandmother, and is most popular in the American Southwest with the Pueblo people. Spider Woman is also called Thinking Woman because she merely thought things into existence or they came into existence when she spoke or sang her thoughts. Spider Woman went to work creating people, and she did this by molding the red, yellow, white and black clay of the earth. For every person she made, she spun a fine line of spider silk that she attached to their heads, so that they would always be connected to her and have access to her wisdom and teachings. As long as they kept the doorway from the top of their heads to let in the spider silk, they would always be protected by her.

 

Dreamcatcher

 

Wiccans and other Neo-Pagans worship the Mother Goddess. Most commonly she is worshiped as a Triple Goddess; usually envisioned as the Maiden, Mother, and Crone archetypes. She is associated with the full moon and with Earth. Many ancient Pagan religions had mother goddesses; it has been argued that the figure of Mary the mother of Jesus is patterned on these.

 

Catholic Mary

 

The Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches venerate her as the Ever-Virgin Mother of God (Theotokos), who was specially favoured by God’s grace (Catholics hold that she was conceived without original sin) and who, when her earthly life had been completed, was assumed bodily into Heaven.

 

Catholics regard Mary, the Theotokos, as a “spiritual mother”, since she not only fulfills a maternal role, but is often viewed as a protective force and divine intercessory for humanity. She is not worshiped as a divine “mother goddess” officially, but she is “highly revered” (more so than Christ).

 

The Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches identify “the woman” described in Revelation 12 as the Virgin Mary because in verse 5 this woman is said to have given “birth to a son, a male child, destined to rule all the nations with an iron rod” whom Catholics identify as Jesus Christ. Then, in verse 17 of Revelation 12, the Bible describes “the rest of her offspring” as “those who keep God’s commandments and bear witness to Jesus.”  

 

They also cite John 19:26-27 where Jesus entrusts his mother to the Apostle John as evidence that Mary is the mother of all Christians, taking the command “behold your mother” to apply generally. The Virgin Mary receives many titles in Catholicism, such as Queen of Heaven and Star of the Sea, that are familiar from earlier Near Eastern traditions.