Some Divine
Figures of the Seas
by Marian LoreSinger
Isis
Isis is associated with water because she is portrayed as traveling in a stone-carved moon boat in her temples. Her name may have originated from Ashesh, which meant pouring out or life giver. She is a womb or mother figure. One of Isis’s tears was said to have flooded the Nile.
Poseidon
The Greek version of Neptune, pictured holding a trident, Poseidon was not one of the gods acclaimed for his virtues. He (or his priests) was lustful of earthly kingdoms. In myth he often took territories from various forms of the goddess, including an attempt to take Athens from Athena.
Poseidon’s origins were less than potent. Early lore called him the spouse of the earth. He only became a god after these early associations were forgotten. Most of the stories of Poseidon center around him trying to outsmart or overcome the goddess, and thus reflect an age-old struggle between the sexes.
One story of Poseidon recounts a time when he tried to flood the Xanthin plain. The women there decided to oppose Poseidon by marching upon him with their genitals exposed. Poseidon, in a sudden burst of wisdom, chose a hasty retreat!
Mari
Known as Marian, Miriam, Myrrhine, etc., this particular goddess seems to have counterparts in every portion of the world. In Egypt, Mer was the goddess of water and a symbol of maternal love. In northern Europe, Maerin was the wife of Thor. Please note the similarity to the name Merlin, a mage whose life was closely linked with the grail, a potent water symbol. In Saxon mythology, Maerin was known as Wudu-Maer.
Mari dominated what is now known as the Holy Land until 1700 bce. Here, her name was often combined with the male aspect of the sun to become Meri-Ra in Egypt or Mari-Yamm to the Hindus. She was pictured as a great fish that birthed the gods. This image was later translated into the mermaid. Mari is also one of the earliest versions of the trinity in that she was not only mother of the sea, but also the earth and heavens. As the goddess of the grove, she was Maid Marian to the Celts, beloved of Robin, and archetypes of the Horned God of witches.
In Sumero-Babylonian traditions, Mari closely corresponds to Tiamat, the goddess mother whose name means deep or womb. Even in Israel, Mari was once worshiped in her own right as the consort to Yahweh.