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Thoughts, lessons, and theology from an eclectic witch from a varied background.

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Iconography of the Goddess.

In my earlier post, you may have noticed that I have an image of St. Anne and the Blessed Virgin Mary. What you may have figured out is that I am using this iconography to represent the Mother and the Daughter of Filianic faith. Borrowing images from established traditions is a frequent thing in the representations of the Goddess. It happens in almost every tradition or faith within the western world that involves a goddess figure.

In some cases, this is a symbolic reclamation of earlier iconography that has been carried forward through the traditions of other faiths. This is most frequently the case with Catholic Christian imagery. In other cases, the imagery of other faiths are recast with different meanings. An excellent example of this can be found in the use of various Catholic Christian devotional images within Voudon. (This is not with out precedent, for the early Catholic Church quite famously took Isis statues where she is nursing Horace and recast them as Marian images.)

While there are parties at work on building a modern vision of the Goddess in her many manifestations, I would kindly ask for others to view our borrowing of their iconography as a way of honoring them. We uphold these images so highly that we understand them to represent the fundamental truth of our deities. We treat them with respect and have as much love for them as you, though it may be for different reasons and seem rather odd to you.

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