Mother Earth

I’ve been thinking about the word “mother” lately. Although it is generally considered a noun (as in “I need to call my mother this weekend”), it can also be a verb.

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines the verb form of mother as:  To care for and protect like a mother

And the Cambridge dictionary defines it in this way:  To treat a person with great kindness and love and to try to protect them from anything dangerous or difficult.

The word mother is also used as a formal address for a religious woman – specifically within a convent (Mother Superior).

Traditionally, humans have also referred to our planet as Mother Earth. When you consider the definitions of the word mother, it makes sense that the earth is the universal mother.

Our earth provides humans and all living beings with all we need to survive like mothers do for their children:  the water we drink, the air we breathe, the food we eat. The earth’s atmosphere protects us from the deadly rays of the burning sun.

It can be said, then, that Mother Earth loves us because she nurtures and cares for us – and we, her children, are compelled to return that maternal love.

Pagan traditions throughout the world have long worshipped the earth as goddess, and she has been called by different names.

Isis was one of the most important deities of ancient Egypt. She had many roles, including as a magical healer. But her major role was that as mother figure and arbiter of fertility rites.

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Pachamama is a goddess revered by the indigenous people of the Andes. She is also known as the earth/time mother. She is a fertility goddess who presides over planting and harvesting, embodies the mountains, and causes earthquakes.

Coatlicue is the Aztec earth goddess, creator and destroyer of earth, mother of gods and mortals, the one who gave birth to the moon and stars. She was the fearsome goddess of childbirth and patron of those women who die in childbirth. She is the goddess of fire and fertility, of life, death and rebirth. 

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Asase Yaa is regarded by the Ashanti people of Ghana as Mother Earth, the earth goddess of fertility and the upholder of truth. She was primarily worshipped in the fields.

Danu is said to have literally suckled the gods. In Irish mythology, she is mother of the earth, the gods, fertility, wisdom, wind and of all the Celtic people.

Many more mother goddesses were revered throughout the world. There was the Norse goddess, Freya – a matronly figure associated with the hearth, the mead hall and childbirth. To the Greeks, the great mother goddess is Rhea, and in Roman mythology, she's called Cybele, the universal mother of not only the gods but also of all humans, animals and plant life.

They are the Great Mother, the personification of Mother Earth.

Regardless of her name, each variation of the mother earth goddess archetype has similar characteristics. She is a life-giver and the source of nurturing, devotion, patience and unconditional love. She represents fertility, and she has the ability to provide for her children.

Just as Mother Earth cares for, provides for, and protects all her creatures (including humans), we have an obligation to care for her in return.

Maybe we should call her this weekend.