Z: Zoomorphic deities

Yeah, Z is hard :) I thought I'd close out the month with some thoughts on a few Gods and Goddesses traditionally represented with animal qualities or in animal forms.

Possibly one of the first zoomorphic gods people think of is Anubis: the jackal-headed Ancient Egyptian god of the dead. Several ancient Egyptian deities have animal features, in fact, usually combined with human aspects.

Cernunnos or Herne, the Celtic or British Pagan Lord of the forest, is usually depicted as antlered, linking him specifically to native deer. Blodeuwedd, the Welsh Maiden Goddess, was transformed into an owl, according to the Mabinogion.

In the British tradition, hares are associated with the Goddess, possibly representing her or being sacred to her. This may be due to their tendency to become 'moongazy', drinking in the moonlight (also seen as feminine and therefore associated with the Goddess), which some see as a kind of worship or reverence.

And, of course, shamanistic cultures often worship animals directly, and shamanic leaders may don animal skins to help them take on attributes of an animal, thus leading some early explorers of these cultures to claim that the shamans are seen as part-human, part-animal.

Even Christian tradition represents the Holy Spirit as a dove, and associates some of the angels with animals.

Well, I've posted something for each letter of the alphabet... Thus ends my daily posting adventure! I'll be back on Saturday with my thoughts on the A-Z challenge. I'm currently planning to post weekly on Saturdays from here on.

U: Universe

The Universe seems to have become a contemporary, New Age version of or replacement for God. Have you noticed this? People talk of 'asking the Universe' for help, inspiration or even material goods, in the same way they would once have prayed for them.

I wonder if this is related to a modern tendency to see religious faith as outdated? (Note: I'm only able to speak of the UK's attitude to religion here; I'm aware that this is not the same around the world). It's interesting that if you think of the word "credulous", the word "fool" fairly naturally follows it - maybe this newly negative association for a word that once simply described a person who believed something implies a new impatience with faith.

So perhaps in an age when people seem to equate religion with backwardness, reference to the Universe as an all-powerful force feels more modern. Personally, I feel it's all just labels, and we all use whatever makes sense to us. One God, many Gods, something that isn't anthropomorphic like 'The Universe' or 'The Divine': I think it's all essentially the same and we just perceive it in our own individual (and imperfect, being human) way.

A: The Ages of Woman

A is for the Ages of Women (and also for Archetype).

Maid, Mother, Crone. The Triple Goddess. Phases of the Moon, Ages of Woman: a key aspect of paganism is the tripartite female deity.

One of the things I love about paganism is the freedom to make connections. Different mythologies, different pantheons often reflect and relate to one another.

• Maiden goddesses, associated with the Spring, often with virginity and sometimes with hunting, can be found the world over. We may seek out Brigit, Diana or Blodeuwedd.
• The Mother archetype, related to the Summer, fertility and creation are equally widespread, from Isis to Demeter to Juno.
• Crone deities, linked with Winter, death and often war can also be found worldwide. Hecate, Persephone and Kali are examples.

These links between different systems speak to me of the amazing similarities between different peoples. Separated in terms of language, culture and geography, people have still represented the feminine divine in the same way. In some ways, a feminist approach to this representation might be to bristle at the seeming biological reductionism: women are their reproductive cycles. And yet, that isn't what we see at all, if we look closely at the range of femininity represented by goddesses the world over. Yes, we see doting mothers like Isis and grieving mothers like Demeter, but at the same time women opting for singlehood - huntress deities like Artemis and Diana can be seen to be choosing a life that isn't constrained by their ability to bear children.

Finally, A is also for Arlee Bird, creator of the A-Z challenge. It's thanks to him that I'll be blogging for A-Z this month. If you want to see more A-Z blogs, pop along to the A-Z focus blog.