GODDESS

A Note on the Archetypal Mother in Harappan Religion

MARIJA GIMBUTAS  

2nd August 2002. Turin, Italy

Dear All,

Returned Sunday 29th July from a wonderful 9 days in the Alps, Rey to be more precise, near Ollomont, above Aosta. Warm weather, high 20's for the whole week - with snow on the peaks. Went for some wonderful walks and bathed my feet in the ice cold mountains streams, ate fruit and yogurt and salads and feel generally much refreshed. Arrived in Ollomont on the day of the Festa di Asino - The Donkey Festival - and the popular DONKEY RACES - which is a local event, Each donkey had one person pulling in front, one sitting on the donkey and one pushing and shoving behind. One young man kicked his donkey in the backside - which I thought was very uncharitable.

These donkeys are most likely descendants of the poor donkeys that had to work in the copper mines which riddle the mountainsides with tunnels. Well, back in Turin, Summer is in the full blown state, lethargic heat, butterflies, the smell of burning leaves. There is a hammock strung between two pines trees where I sometimes lie and stare at the passing clouds through the branches. Celia, the wife of Cecil, the Letterbox lizard, has lost her tail, but, thank goodness nothing else. It will grow back.

This being the last month in Italy, I have more or less packed everything, so I can spend the next few weeks in a relaxed manner, writing and pottering about. This week I have, for some reason, entered a Goddess modality again. I must, in this connection recommend the excellent website of Anne Baring.

http://www.annebaring.com/index.htm

She has been very generous with placing her lectures and articles on her website, and more or less everything should be read. While in this goddess mood I found an exhaustive goddess bibliography at a very interesting Goddess Kali site in California:

Hinduism, Dark Goddesses (with Black Madonnas)
and What Gets You Through When East Meets West:  

BLACK MADONNAS

Some Recommended Readings

And both Anne Baring and the Mabatakali Site point towards the importance of the new:

ecofeminist visions emerging

That is all for today - I will do a few more postings until it is time to leave Italy.

Love and Peace

Samten  de Wet
Strada S. Margherita 158, 10131 Torino, Italy  

http://web.kyoto-inet.or.jp/people/tiakio/index.html

http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/classes/finALp.html

http://medusa.perseus.tufts.edu/essays.html

 http://medusa.perseus.tufts.edu/classes/women.html