These are dangerous times, y’all. The threats invade our bodies, homes, schools, town halls, and courtrooms. At the table of theocratic patriarchy, no one is nourished. They’re serving up a meal of nightmares, one bitter and horrifying dish after another. We choke at this destructive feast of ego, greed, and divisiveness currently being served as “American Greatness.” What the world needs now is a summoning of the bad-ass Mama Goddesses back to the table – so she can turn them back to compassion and cooperation!
That is the magick I’ve felt called to wield. Rather than spend my evening leisure time doom-scrolling, I’ve kept my hands busy creating devotional art. This focuses my thoughts on solutions. Through art, I’ve opened myself as a channel for powers of seven elder goddesses to emerge.
The first goddess to blast into my consciousness and demand to be drawn was the Orisha Goddess Yemaya. From there, a total of seven Goddesses flowed through my pens in turn, each of whom I associate with one of the seven celestial spheres of influence governed by a classical planet: Moon, Venus, Mercury, Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn.
Orisha Goddess Yemaya
Goddess Yemaya: Sphere of the Moon
Origins: Yoruban Orisha
Symbols: Cowrie Shells, Blue & White, the ocean waves and seaweed, pearls, seashells, the moon, fish, dolphins, peacocks.
Yemaya is known by the Yoruban people in western regions of Africa as a Goddess of oceans and rivers. She is an Orisha, one of the Seven African Powers. Yemaya is the ferocity of feminine divinity, and a beloved protector of women and children. She is often portrayed as a mermaid. I rendered Yemaya singing like the sirens of the deep waters, luring unworthy seafarers to their demise.
Yemaya is known as the Mother of All living beings, and the gods themselves. All life on earth was originally birthed from the salty waters of our primordial oceans, and she still reigns as Queen of the Sea. Yemaya is a life-giver, often called upon for aid with fertility, reproductive health, and blessings during pregnancy. However, she is also sought for guidance, nurturing, and emotional healing of all kinds. These powers place her as a governor of the lunar sphere of influence.
Hail Queen Yemaya, Queen of the Lunar Domains!
Greek/Roman Goddess Aphrodite Venus
Goddess Aphrodite: Sphere of Venus
Origins: Greek, Roman
Symbols: Blossoms of roses, apple and myrtle trees, the dove and swan, enthronement within a cockle shell.
Also born of the sea foam, and depicted in art carried to shore on a cockle shell, is the Greek Goddess Aphrodite, and her Roman counterpart Venus. Like her namesake sphere of influence, love and relationships are her domain. Passion and sensuality, beauty and grace, are her gifts. Venus safeguards our rights of sexual freedom and expression, and the enjoyment of our physical lives.
Today, she is an especially important protector of women’s sovereignty over their own bodies, and issues surrounding sexual choice and consent. I appeal to Aphrodite and Venus as she affirms the worth and beauty of all human body-types, all origins, all races, all ethnicity, all sexes and genders. The beauty of Venus shines through how each individual embodies and expresses their divinity, and how they share themselves in relationship with others.
Hail Aphrodite, Queen of the Domains of Venus!
Greek Goddess Hekate
Goddess Hekate: Sphere of Mercury
Origins: Greek Goddess of the Crossroads, Witchcraft, Spirits, and the Underworld.
The Greek Goddess Hekate has long been appealed to for aid by witches and magickal folks. Ancient depictions of Hekate Triformis, show her in three aspects standing back to back, able to see clearly into the three realms of heavens, earth, and underworld. In this image, I show her as the strength of woman in her prime, as a wise elder, and through the transition of death.
Hekate stands as a guardian of the crossroads, holding the key to all realms, with the necessary torchlight and wisdom to guide seekers through those boundaries and beyond. Her mythology links her to Demeter and Persephone, guiding the Queen of Hades to and from the underworld during the winter months, then serving as her advisor.
Hekate can communicate with the spirit realm, and is a Goddess of the Dead. Hekate is considered a lunar goddess, especially the mutable, waning phase of the moon through the rebirth of the dark moon. However, in her aspect as psycho-pomp of the dead, magical practitioner, and wise counselor, I recognize Hekate as a governor over the Mercury Sphere of Influence.
The Goddess Brigid originates with the Celtic tribes and the Tuatha de Danann pantheon. She is a Goddess of many domains, She is the patron of poetry and smithcraft, midwifery, childbirth, and herbal healing. Her skills span all three realms of earth, sky and sea, as symbolized by the triskele. She is a gritty Goddess of fire and resourcefulness. She is shown tending the forge and creating practical and beautiful solutions to human needs. She is often portrayed as pregnant and wearing a green cloak-like mantle, that drapes around her the way the verdant green abundance cloaks the countryside. She is associated with candlelight, fire and sunlight, honored at the sabbat of Imbolc, so I see her governing the solar sphere, and crown her in sunflowers and sunlight.
Hail Brigid, Queen of the Solar Domains!
Greek Titan Goddess Gaia
Goddess Gaia: Sphere of Jupiter
Origins: Greek Gaia, Roman Terra Mater
Symbols: Great Blue Heron, Purple Lotus blossom, water, cattails, mountains, day/night, moon, stars, planet earth, pregnancy.
Keywords: Environmental Protection, Beautiful Childbirth, Giver of Gifts, Nurturer of Children.
The Titan Mother Goddess Gaia is the creator of the physical earth, and all her interconnected environments, waters, mountains, and living beings of the planet itself. Greek mythology holds that during the creation of the cosmos, Gaia brought order from the chaos. She divided the earth from the starry cosmos that wraps around her, dividing day from night. Gaia is the bridge of the middleworld that formed between the heavens and the underworld. In ancient Greece, Gaia was known by many epithets: the Giver of Gifts, the Nurturer of Children, and the Beauty of Childbirth. She is called upon for help with fertility, pregnancy, and as a protector of mothers. In Rome, Gaia came to be known as Terra Mater.
My association of Gaia with the sphere of Jupiter isn’t an obvious choice. She is literally the Earth. However, in Hermetic Alchemy, the earth itself was not on of the seven celestial spheres. Jupiter, or Zeus, was the deity said to govern this sphere – associated with the sky, Mount Olympus. He is a Father God, expansive, lucky, and beneficent. Well, Zeus was the son of Gaia. Gaia’s earthly domain is all-inclusive: sky, mountain, atmosphere, everything.
Hail Gaia! Queen Mother over the Domains of Jupiter!
Egyptian Goddess Bast
Goddess Bast: Sphere of Mars
Origins: Egypt
Symbols: Sun Disk, Sistrum (the rattle-like musical instrument she’s holding,) Turquoise, Black Cats, Blue Lotus, the Eye of Ra, and the Ankh.
Keywords: Pleasure, Music & Dance; Guardian against Evil; Protecting home & family; Fertility, Motherhood.
The Goddess Bast, or Bastet, originates from Egypt and is a fierce Goddess governing the realms of pleasure, dance and music, as well as motherhood, children, and the home. She is a warrior, protector, and guardian against evil spirits, disease and pestilence.
The Goddess Bast, or Bastet, originates from Egypt and is a fierce Goddess depicted as a black cat, or with the body of a lithe goddess and the head of a cat. She is another goddess who hold influence within multiple spheres of influence. Venus: the needs for pleasure, dance and music. Moon: motherhood, children, protecting them as they sleep.
However, she is also a protector of the home from all forms of disease, evil spirits, and pestilence. In Egyptian mythology she is known as a fierce warrior and guardian. Throughout the night hours, she fights off the serpent god of destruction and chaos, Apophis, defending Ra’s Sun chariot as he travels through the underworld overnight. For this aspect, I appeal to Bast as a governor of the warrior Mars’s Sphere of Influence.
Hail Bast, Queen over the Domains of Mars!
Goddess Kali Ma Candle Wrap – Original Artwork by Heron Michelle
Goddess Kali Ma: Sphere of Saturn
Origins: India
Symbols: Kali Yantra, Skull Garland, Lion, Red Hibiscus, Sword, Trident, Severed head/ego, bowl, skirt of severed arms/attachments; Shiva’s Heart, moon, and cobra.
The Goddess Kali Ma is known within Hinduism as the Great Mother Creator and Destroyer of everything and consort of Lord Shiva. Like the titan Saturn, she is a Goddess of time and karmic redemption, releasing us from any fear of death. Kali Ma is the womb and the tomb of the cosmos, whose stories tell of her ferocious slaying of demons, catching every drop of their blood in a bowl to contain their evils. She liberates humans from the cycles of time by “beheading” our petty ego motivations. Her sword “severs attachments” to materialism, so we may evolve in enlightenment. This is why her gruesome symbolism includes the severed head with bowl to catch the blood, and the skirt of severed arms.
Kali Ma is meant to terrify the forces if evil. She is the ferocity of motherhood defending her babies, so she is depicted with a lolling tongue, red eyes and raging expression. Her imagery shows her wild hair flowing, and a posture of constant forward movement. Her foot rests over the heart of her lover, Shiva. In her stories, her love of Shiva settles her rage, and slows her rampages.
Her domain is the whole circle of life, from creation to dissolution, through to rebirth again, like the mutable phase in the cycle. For this reason, I acknowledge her as a governor of the sphere of Saturn.
All of these images are now available online as 7” candle stickers, 3” vinyl die-cut stickers, canvas pouches and altar banners. Support my work and join the magick by shopping here: https://www.thesojo.com/shop/art/goddess-series
Many thanks!
~Heron Michelle
I’m now enrolling students in my online Elemental Witchcraft course in preparation for the 2025-2027 wheel of the year, following my book, Elemental Witchcraft. This year we can offer a monthly payment plan. Check it out here: https://www.heronmichelle.com/elemental-witchcraft-course
Heron Michelle (Greenville, NC) is a modern witch, priestess, artist, and owner of The Sojourner Whole Earth Provisions (thesojo.com). She is the author of "Elemental Witchcraft: A Guide to Living a Magickal Life Through the Elements" by Llewellyn Worldwide, and teaches courses online at HeronMichelle.com. You can read more about the author here.
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