Tibet
Tibet, gilt & solid bronze Goddess figure, bejewelled with turquoise, coral and semi precious cut stones. Standing on a lotus plinth, the workmanship makes this piece stand alone. Circa 19th century. Quote Reference Number: 1003
Dancing
With Maya In modern physics we have found out that all matter is essentially nothing, an energy which at its fundamental is governed by laws of uncertainty. At the same theoretical physicists are compelled to postulate the existence of an unobservable, eternal, substance which can create, destroy, and maintain any universe with its particular time and space attributes. |
Height 9in (23cm) |
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Cult
of Tara: |
Similar descriptions have been given to Gods and Goddesses in Indian
philosophies and religions. Shiva, Vishnu, and Brahma are the names of those Gods,
corresponding to the attributes of Nothingness mentioned above. So illusive is this idea
ultimately that the overriding characterization of this Nothingness-Oneness mystery is
Maya, the Goddess of illusion and reality. The connection between this mystery as
discovered in quantum physics and by the mystics of all ages is evidently human thinking.
The human spirit has found proof through thinking, experimentation in the laboratory, and
experimentation in human societies, that the fundamental truth of all is its mysterious,
unknowable nature. We are all that, and yet we cannot know it. The only knowable truth is
that the fundamental truth is unknowable.
In Dancing with Maya these ideas are explored through various philosophies of mankind, in
particular Tantra Buddhism, which is particularly rich in its imagery and iconography.
Many of these images are shown in this book and discussed. ?Maya represents the Indian
Goddess as the essence of all female Goddesses in Eastern philosophy, mythology, and
religion. Her origin goes back to Isis in Egypt and to even earlier neolithic times. She
is power,energy, action, love (Aphrodite in Greece) the essence of reality and therefore
also the essence of illusion. She is the female attribute of Reality. The male attribute
is represented by Shiva (Dionysus in Greece) who in Tibetan philosophy becomes a Buddha,
whose most important aspect is that of meditation and transcendence. The mystery and
beauty is that Shiva is Maya, and the male and female Buddha are one. To acknowledge and
embrace this oneness is Dancing with Maya.
The Hebrew Goddess
by Raphael Patai, Merlin Stone
Paperback (1990)
Customer Comments
Maryland, USA, 1998
Was the Hebrew God a Woman? The Bible gives the impression that all ancient Jews shared a
common belief system ... with only an occasional group straying from the fold. But the
evidence paints a different picture. As Dr. Patai states, "... it would be strange if
the Hebrew-Jewish religion, which flourished for centuries in a region of intensive
goddess cults, had remained immune to them." Archaeologists have uncovered Hebrew
settlements where the goddesses Asherah and Astarte-Anath were routinely worshipped. And
in fact, we find that for about 3,000 years, the Hebrews worshipped female deities which
were later eradicated only by extreme pressure of the male-dominated priesthood.
And then there's the matter of the Cherubim that sat atop the Ark of the Covenant in the
Holy of Holies. Fashioned by Phoenician craftsmen for Solomon and Ahab, an ivory tablet
shows two winged females facing each other. And one tablet shows male and female members
of the Cherubim embracing in an explicitly sexual position that embarrassed later Jewish
historians ... and even the pagans were shocked when they saw it for the first time.
This cult of the feminine goddess, though often repressed, remained a part of the faith of
the Jewish people. Goddesses answered the need for mother, lover, queen, intercessor ...
and even today, lingers cryptically in the traditional Hebrew Sabbath invocation.
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