From Pre-Christian of light

two was arranged. The unhappy union of and may reflect the resistance of her followers to the takeover Cet artick examine ks liens qui existent mtre &SdCesses~~co- ofHera's cult. Nevertheless, at Stymphalos, three temples romaines et celtiques et Ics saintes du christianisme. L hutare were erected to Hera: one to the child-, one to the met I'cmphase sur ks dlesscs Juno, Vesta et Brigid et sur leur wife-goddess, one to the widow-goddess. This declares her conurrsion en saintes & lumi2rt. a trinity goddess, revered under the names of, respectively, Hebe, Hera, and as well as deified "woman" par excellence. Hera was the goddess of marriage and mater- nity. At the same time, she was also Hera Parthenia, Hera Before the triumph ofpatriarchy and male gods, the virgin-virginity and motherhood, an impossible aim the "bright, shining One" was a goddess. Herd was for the average woman. However, major goddesses (, Diana, etc.) were simultaneously goddesses of originally queen of the sky, ruling over the cosmos, virginity and motherhood. In Christianity, the Virgin an independent virgin and unrelated to Zeus. Mary took over this ancient duality. Virginity and inspired motherhood (andtor midwifery): the goddess was the idealized perfect woman, the cause and beginner of all. In earliest Greco-Roman antiquity, the supreme , the Hera's Roman double was Juno, avery great -Italian bright, celestial light, possessed a feminine principle, Hera goddess who still had a right in the Capitoline temple to or Juno, as well as a masculine principle, Zeus or . the golden , the patera (offering dish), and the In ancient Greece, at the shrine of , Zeus (the . Juno's oldest titles have a direct bearing on bright, shining One) was worshipped jointly with a god- this communication: Juno Lucetia and Juno Lucina. Juno dess whose name also meant "brilliantly shining," , Lucetia was the feminine principle of the celestial light, his feminine counterpart. There are obvious links to be while Jupiter was the masculine principle. Like Jupiter, made between Dione and Hera, Zeus's wife in later . she also had a linkwith the moon, after all a light reflector. Hera's name is related to the Sanskrit war, "the sky." Furthermore, the moon is also a symbol of motherhood Later in historical times, Zeus became for the Greeks the and the regulator ofthe menstrual calendar. Juno was light major celestial light, "the bright, shining One." Zeus was and she was life-@verboth. From Juno Lucetia, goddess of the bright sky, andso was Roman Jupiter (same etymology light, to Juno Lucina, bringer of babies into light and the di, diu, "brilliant, celestial light," from the Sanskrit goddess of childbirth, the feminine principle of the celes- Dyauspitar). The name of the German God Tiw or Ziu tial light was made evident. Juno, the Queen of Heaven, similarly meant: "theshining One," as did the name of the was so loved by Roman women that she was later given powerful Irish and Welsh God Lugh. several other titles such as Juno Pronuba (for marriages), Notwithstanding these male examples, the adjectives Juno Ossipago (to strengthen the bones of infants), or used for god and goddess alike favoured our first examples Juno Sospita (the Saviour). This may be related to some of twin cosmic , female and male. For instance, litanies to the Virgin Mary. One may see a further link in when the pre-Christian Celts prayed to their most power- iconography: Juno Lucina was represented holding a child ful goddess, they addressed her as , meaning "the in her arms. most brilliant One." And Celtic was called After Alexander, during the Hellenistic period, mystery "the bright or brilliant One." (There was a famous shrine religions became very popular as alternatives to official to Apollo Belenus in the Vosges mountains of eastern state religions. Most of these religions came from the France where Constantine had visions of light and of his conquered Middle East and they opened the way for hture.) Celtic celestial light was both male and female. Christianity. (St. Paul himself used mystery terms). The However, ifwe choose to agree with Robert Graves (and mystery religions answered a need for warmth, inspira- not Moses Finley), the goddess was worshipped at a far tion, and mysticism lacking in the official cults. Indeed, earlier time than was the god. Therefore, before the the adjective mystical itself means "related to the myster- triumph of patriarchy and with it of the male gods, the ies" and secret. The mysteries were religious rites preceded "bright, shining One" was a goddess. As we have noted, by secret initiation. The initiates (mystes) made a vow of Hera was originally the queen of the sky, ruling over the silence about the holy secret revealed to them. With lips cosmos, an independent virgin and totally unrelated to closed and eyes opened, they were born again, in joy and Zeus. When her cult later hsed wirh and became subor- with hopes of a life after death, a new light to come. The dinate to the cult of Zeus, a hasty marriage between the Greek mystery religion of and Kore, the Mother

CANADIAN WOMAN STUDIESILES CAHIERS DE LA FEMME to Saints of Light

and the Daughter, has several links with light, often Clarke and Cripps, two Englishmen, caused a local riot by piercing total darkness. Just like Juno, Demeter was a removing the statue and shipping it to the Fitzwilliam goddess both oflife and oflight. Demeter and Museum at Cambridge, no doubt with the help of the gave the grain in this life and the hope of life after death, occupying forces. There are so many more examples, such and Christianity saved the message of the Two Goddesses as St. Eleftherios church in Athens, built on thespot where in the Lord's ("give us this day our daily bread") and Eleuthia, the goddess of childbirth was worshipper; or as at the hilltop chapels built to St. Elias, replacing , the Sun (including the chariot). Indo-European tradition in pre-Christian Europe did not distinguish between From Juno Lucetia, godrtess of light, to Juno light, bright, and sky and often included the sun in the Lucina, bringer of babies into light and the equation. Moreover, fire mirrored on earth the life-giving power goddess of chikibirth, the fiminine principle of of the sun in the sky, and the goddesses of the hearth are the celestial light was made evident. among the earliest European deities. The Greek goddess of the hearth, (or rather the fire itself burning in the hearth) , was one of the twelve Olympian deities. in theGospelofSt. John 12:24 (". .. exceptacornofwheat She was invoked first and given the first part at all fall into the ground and die, it abideth along: but if it die, . After the fifth century BC Hestia was displaced it bringeth forth much fruitn). by male gods, for instance, on the east frieze of the In the Homeric Hymn, Demeter appears bathed in Parthenon, by Dionysos, and in 's writing by - divine light. On a votive marble relief erected by Eukrates (even if the latter was strictly speaking never an (fifth century BC)for curing him ofhis blindness, Demeter Olympian). Although Hestia's importance had dimin- is goddess of light, almost a sun goddess. The yearly ished, very ancient rules still prevailed; to relight her sacred initiation into her mysteries was broadcast by the light fire, one elaborate ritual prescribed drawing fire from the shining suddenly from the top of the Telesterion (Hall of sun through burning glasses. Initiation) at , a light so bright that it could be seen Hestia's Roman counterpart was Vesta. Vesta's name, from very far away and thus could not be kept hidden as just like Hestia's, derives from the Sanskrit root vaswhich were all other rites ofthis most secretive religion. Thus, the has a connotation of "shining." The French scholar F. symbolism of this light must have been of the utmost Guirand notes that Vesta "is the most beautiful of Roman importance. The initiates were reborn carrying lit torches divinities bright and pure like the flame which is her to guide their way both in this and in the other world since symbol" (Guirand and Pierre 204). Although a virgin all mystery-religions taught that there was life after death, goddess, she was at the same time a symbol of fertility and for the soul. motherhood. The goddess Vesta was the sacred fire of Some Indo-European traditions have preserved the idea Rome, and she was the flame in every hearth. As such, she ofa femalegreat goddess symbolized by the sun. However, had both a private and a public cult. The private cult was the veneration of the goddesses of light implied much kept at certain appointed times every day in Roman more complex ideas than would a mere solar cult, even if, households. The College of Vestal Virgins, an ancient for instance for the Celts, their representation included order of priestesses, was in charge of Vesta's public cult. many sun-symbols (spoked-wheels, swastikas, etc.). This The college consisted of 19 Vestals plus the Great Vestal, is true of Brigid in Ireland and also of the goddess Sul at the Virgo Vestalis Maxima. Their major duty was to Aquae (waters of Sul), now the city of Bath in protect the goddess, to keep the eternal communal flame . There, C. Julius Solinus noted, in the temple burning in the round temple ofVesta on the forum. They dedicated to Sul "perpetual fires never whiten also prepared for and celebrated the many religious days of into ashes" (Solinus, Chapter 22, paragraph 10). Vesta's public cult. With the advent of Christianity, the Church replaced The College of Vestals was a remarkable order of the worship of Demeter with the cult of a male saint women who had enormous prestige as well as responsibili- Demetrios. However, at Eleusis, the much-loved goddess ties. Although there were never more than seven active became St. Demetra and the people kept their old marble Vestal priestesses at any time, Christianity feared them statue of the goddess now re-christened St. Demetra. In and suppressed them in the late fourth century. Nonethe- pagan defiance of the Church, the statue kept on accept- less, the Christian Church copied and adapted many of ing and garlands of flowers until 1801, when their rules for its nuns.

VOLUME 17, NUMBER 1 A most interesting example oftransition from goddesses the ashes of the hearth. Again, one is reminded of Vesta. of light to saints of light comes from Ireland: the trinity- This would also explain the emphasis on light and fire for goddess Brigid and Saint Brigid of Kildare. The patron Brigid's Christian namesake. Although St. Brigid is pic- saint of Irish women and the only female of the trim tured as a traditional bishop or mother Abbess, crozier and thaumaturga, (the miracle-making triad of Ireland with cathedral in hand, she is more often depicted with a Patrick and Columba of Iona), St. Brigid of Kildare lived burning flame symbolizing faith, coming from her head, between about AD 452 to AD 524. She was the daughter of an allusion to the shining fire of Kildare. Nonetheless, the Dubhtach and Brocca, a bondswoman, resented by popular St. Brigid's Cross, traditionally woven of rushes, Dubthach's wife. When she was still in her mother's is asolar emblem, although it is used to explain the Passion womb a Druid prophesied: of Christ and as a Christian symbol. It is the perfect illustration to this communication. Notwithstanding, in Marvellous will be the child that is in her womb. For iconography as in theology, St. Brigid is the symbol of the bondsmaid will bring forth a daughter conspicu- Celtic Christianity. ous and radiant, who will shine like a sun among the The cult ofSt. Brigid is phenomenal, not only in Ireland stars of heaven; her like will not be known on earth. where she is "the Mary of the Gaels, the radiant flame of (Stokes 102) gold," but also in the British Isles, where in England and in Scotland she is St. Bride. In Scotland she is invoked in She was born in Leinster, at sunrise, neither within nor childbirth. In the Western Isles of Scotland, the blessing without a house. Her birth ad limina (at the threshold) said over cattle is highly poetic: "The protection of God identifies her as belonging to the border no-man's land and Colmkille encompass your going and coming, and where souls and spirits meet. A flame and a fiery pillar from about you be the milkmaid of the smooth white palms, earth to heaven were seen. Three angels in the shape of Brigid of the clustering, golden-brown hairn (Montague clerics in shining white baptized her in milk and gave her 22). Several Gaelic greetings refer to her, such as Bridagus her name. There was no drapery over her cradle, but a Muirr dhuit ("Brigid and Mary be with you"). curtain of flame hung softly over it. The baby St. Brigid Throughout Western Europe there are more churches was surrounded by light. She was fed by the milkofa white dedicated to St. Brigid than to St. Patrick and many more red-eared cow. Her house looked ablaze. prayers, for instance, in French religious breviaries as well. As she grew up in rainy Ireland, Brigid would hang her In Brittany, she is Santez Berc'hed, and thesame traditions rain-drenched cloak on the rays of the sun. She founded a concerning her exist there as in Ireland. church and a double monastery at Kildare. Brigid built The death ofSt. Brigid, apparently on February 1,524, Kildare, the church of the Oak, on a hill ridge in the shade is however most peculiar. February 1 is , the Celtic of a giant oak tree that flourished until the tenth century. Feast of Spring, the time of the lactation of the ewes and In the inner sanctuary of St. Brigid's Christian church at the time when the goddess Brigid was celebrated by a fire- Kildare, a sacred and perpetual fire was maintained on the festival. On February 1, the Celts looked eagerly for signs order of St. Brigid, in a special enclosure, by 19 nuns plus of Spring in nature (after all, this precedes by a few hours the mother Abbess, and this continued until the Reforma- only our modern ground-hog day ritual). Christian Feb- tion with some interruptions, such as duringviking raids. ruary2 celebrationsdefinitely bear strong traces of Imbolc. Giraldus Cambrensis (who died around 1220) described And under the names Candlemas, Chandeleur, etc., this the shrine. The circular enclosure of the holy fire was is still a celebration of light; the main rite consists of the surrounded by evergreen bushes; no man was allowed to blessing of numerous candles for the faithful. enter. Here a close comparison may be made with the cult There is no doubt that St. Brigid replaced the powerful ofVesta and her Vestal priestesses. Furthermore, looming goddess Brigid and that in her person many of the tradi- behind Brigid, a mother Abbess and Christian saint who tions associated with the goddess coalesced, perhaps on spent all her life in Kildare and kept a Holy Fire burning, purpose. In hagiography (collections of stories of the there is an older all-encompassing Indo-European mother- saints), St. Brigid's symbolic name is the Fiery Arrow. Of goddess (as with Mary at the French cathedral of Char- course, Brigid the goddess is also characterized by the Fiery tres). The three-in-one goddess Brigid represented learn- Arrow (as are other gods such as Apollo, for instance). ing, culture, wisdom, prophecy, purification, fertility, From goddess to saint, continuity of tradition is evident: healing, motherhood, etc. No segregation of attributes is wise people do not renounce their religious past but are really possible: virginity and motherhood, war and heal- forever adapting its symbolism to the present. ing, spirituality and nature, all were attributes of the Notwithstanding, quite a few goddesses were not as trinity-goddess Brigid. Three, for the Celt, emphasized lucky as Brigid. Furthermore, the goddesses were often the multiplicity within the unique power; it represented simply replaced by male saints. Among the female saints of -. . - all divine aspects. light that supplanted the goddesses, one must mention St. Further, the trinity-goddess Brigid must have been Lucy. originally a goddess of fire as well as of light. When the Light was for pre-Christian Europe an intricate compo- goddess visited a house, it was said she left her footprint in nent of the Sacred, if not the essence itselfof the Sacred in

CANADIAN WOMAN STUDIESILES CAHIERS DE LA FEMME the universe. Christianity kept this light-and-fire compo- References nent of the Sacred and in the hands of its saints made it symbolize Christian faith itself. It is clear that the empha- Aldington, R., and D. Ames, trans. New Larousse Encyclo- siswas on evolution rather than on revolution. The heroes pedia ofMythology. London: Hamlyn, 1979. replaced the gods, and the saints replaced the heroes. Finley, Moses I. "Archaeology and History." Daedalw Christianity too likes its heroes to be ad limina and 100 (1971): 168-86. boundary-breaking. Only the names-and often the sexes Graves, Robert. The White Goddrss:AHistoricalGrammar as well-were changed. In the words ofLuce Irigaray, "the ofPoetic Myth. New York: Straus and Giroux, 1966. most extreme progression and regression goes by the name Graves, Robert. The Greek . New York: G. Braziller, of God" (Irigaray qtd. in Moi 127). From goddesses of 1957. light to saints of light-in the transition process the pre- Guirand, F., and A. V. Pierre. "." New Christian female symbolism of God was deliberately Larousse Encyclopedia ofMythology.Trans. R. Aldongton altered, neutralized. And human spirituality, meant to and D. Ames. London: Hamlyn, 1979. soar on two wings, was immensely impoverished. MacCana, Proinsias. CefticMythobgy.London: Hamlyn, 1979. This paper was presented at the Centre for Feminist Re- Migne, J. P., ed. "Cogitosus Ui Aido, 'Sanctae Brigidae search 5 "Conferenceon FmkSpirituality: A Cekbration of Virginis Vita."' Patrohgia Latina 72: 776-790. Worshippers, Goddeses, Priestesses, and Femalc Saints, "heki Moi, Toril, ed. French Feminist Thought: A Readcr. Ox- at York University in March 1996. Fundingassistancefiom ford: Blackwell, 1987. the SocialSciencesand Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Montague, H. P. The Saints and Martyrs of lrehnd. fir thepresentation andpublication of this paper isgratefilly London: Billing and Sons Ltd., 1981. acknowkdged. Solinus, C. Julius. Colkctanea Rerum Memorabilium. [c. 2001. Monique Nicholson wrote both berm and PhD theses on the Stokes, Whitley, eds. and trans. Lives ofsaintsji-om the Later Roman Empire. She teaches , Celtic Book of Lismore. Berlin: Weidmann, 1890. Christianity, and the pagan background of Christianity in the Department of Chics, Queens University.

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