{"id":16088,"date":"2018-04-01T01:10:42","date_gmt":"2018-04-01T06:10:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/paganpages.org\/content\/?p=17517"},"modified":"2018-03-23T14:18:33","modified_gmt":"2018-03-23T19:18:33","slug":"she-who-is-all-the-goddess-of-ten-thousand-names-37","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/2018\/04\/01\/she-who-is-all-the-goddess-of-ten-thousand-names-37\/","title":{"rendered":"She Who is All \u2013 The Goddess of Ten Thousand Names"},"content":{"rendered":"

Zemyna<\/span><\/b><\/u><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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(Photo Credit – Pinterest)<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Zemyna is a Lithuanian Earth Goddess. She is the Mother of all things. As the Goddess of Childbirth, one of Her functions concerns fertility. She creates life out of herself and represents the rebirth and renewal of every living thing. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

She is honored at the birth of every child. Offerings to Her are left at stones, near trees and in the water, thanking Her for a new life. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Her name, literally, means “Earth”. She is also called *Blossomer*, *Bud-Raiser* and *Flower-Giver*. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

All that comes of, and from, the Earth returns to the Earth and so, She also is related to Death.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

She is the personification of the fertile earth and nourishes all of the life on Earth, whether is be plant, animal or human. Trees with three leaves or nine branches were especially connected to Her, the most revered being oak, linden and spruce.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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(Photo Credit: Wikipedia)<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Her people believed that all plant and human life were connected and flowed together. They believed that souls took up residence in the trees that have died. The souls of women went in to lindens and spruce; men in to oaks, maples and birches, while the ancestors of the village would be within the fruit trees. Birds nesting in these trees became symbols of the force of life itself. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The love that the people had for the plant life of the Earth is in the “dainas”, spiritual <\/span>folk songs<\/span> of their culture.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

With the people being a part of nature, Zemyna helps and supports those who treat the Earth with respect, and helps Her in Her mission of defending the Earth.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

It was a terrible thing to dig or strike into the Earth with an iron implement before March 25, as the Earth is pregnant at that time.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

If you were to kill an animal for food, Zemyna would forgive you. If, though, you were to kill an animal for fun, or for the pleasure of it, Zemyna would not let you get away with that, and consequences will surely follow. The more you negatively do to Nature, the more She will make you pay. You can pray, but you will not deflect Her anger.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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(Photo Credit \u2013 <\/span><\/span>lituanus.org<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/u>, <\/span><\/span>Sculpture by Vytautas Maciuika)<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Beyond this, Zemyna is loving and good-natured. She rewarded those who took care of the Earth. She was a source of strength and power to Her people. Respect could be shown to Her by pouring some of whatever you were drinking upon the Earth itself.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Offerings were also left at regular intervals, mostly of bread and ale. If offerings were not made, there could be dire consequences. These offerings were left at Her places of worship, near large stones, which were a representation of the Omphalos, the power center of the Earth. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

She may have been married to Perkunas, the thunder God. The wedding is celebrated in the Spring, when the Earth reawakens.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Her greatest festival is at Summer Solstice. Families bathe in streams and rivers in celebration of the moisture of the earth.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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(Photo Credit \u2013 Pinterest <\/span>b<\/span>y Jennifer Kuhns)<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The worship of Zemyna is different than that of the patriarchal religions, which state that the Earth is secondary to man and that it is here for man’s consumption. For Zemyna, Her people know that Nature is sacred and permanent. While we, as humans, may die, Nature is always here.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

“When we are gone,<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

they will remain, <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

wind and rock, fire and rain<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

They will remain<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

when we return<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

the wind will blow<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

and the fire will burn”<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

~~ Reclaiming<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n