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The Raven is sacred in many cultures throughout the world and is a symbol of protection, wisdom, and magic, and bringing back the sun. Raven legends were prevalent through many Native Americans tales and the Raven is associated with the Sky Woman myths. This large bird feeding as it does on carrion with its black plumage and disturbing deep hoarse croak is often viewed with some foreboding for it can be seen as an omen of death. It can also be associated as a source of power, straddling as it does the worlds of the living and the dead therefore often depicted as messenger between the two.

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The raven appears in various myths as a trickster appearing as dark and violent in the stories of the Hindu Goddess Kali and the Celtic Goddess the Morrigan, the shape-shifting Goddess of War, Fate and Death. She also presided over rivers, lakes and fresh water, in addition to being the patroness of revenge, night, magic, prophecy, priestesses and witches. The Morrigan and Kali are also seen as a benevolent mother goddess. The raven is considered to be one of the oldest and wisest of all animals and the favorite bird of the Celtic god Lludd, the Celtic god of artists and artisans.
 

In Greek mythology, ravens are associated with Apollo, the god of prophecy and are said to be a symbol of good luck, and were the god's messengers in the mortal world.

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In Viking myth two ravens sit on his (Odin’s) shoulders and whisper all the news which they see and hear into his ear; they are called Huginn and Muninn. He sends them out in the morning to fly around the whole world, and by breakfast they are back again. Thus, he finds out many new things and this is why he is called ‘raven-god’ In Cornwall, it is considered very unlucky to kill a raven as its believed that the Legendary King Arthur lives on in the form of a raven.

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Brigid appears in Irish mythology as a member of the Tuatha Dé Danann, the daughter of the Dagda and wife of Bres, with whom she had a son named Ruadán. She was, and continues to be, known by many names. Referred to as Bride, Bridey, Brighid, Brigit, Briggidda, Brigantia, one of her most ancient names is Breo-saighead meaning fiery arrow, and within that name is the attribute of punishment and divine justice. She is the traditional patroness of healing, poetry and smithcraft, divination and prophecy which are all practical and inspired wisdom. As a solar deity Her attributes are light, inspiration and all skills associated with fire.  Smithcraft is connected to stories concerning the creation of the world, utilizing all of the Elements to create and fuse a new shape. The role of the smith in any tribe was seen as a sacred trust and was associated with magical powers since it involved mastering the primal element of Fire, moulding the metal (from Earth) through skill, knowledge and strength.
 

As the Goddess of springtime and new growth her festival is held on Feb 1st, a Cross-Quarter of the Celtic Year called Imbolc. This celebration, involves itself with the lighting of fires, purification with well water and the ushering in of the new year (Spring) by a maiden known as the Queen of the Heavens.

She is also the Goddess of the Well and the Waters for they are the doorway to the Underworld and the womb of our Mother, the source of all life and she increases fertility of land, livestock, and women.

She is famed for Her green mantle (ie, cloak), which protects all who shelter beneath it.

Brigid is the Mother Bear archetype also known as a Warrior Goddess who is fierce and ruthless in the protection of women and children. She is said to be present at every birth, blesses midwives in their work, and protects all children, especially infants.
 

As a Celtic Goddess of flame, Brigid is a Sun Goddess, Goddess of the Dawn. (To the Celts, the Sun was feminine, and Light was masculine.) She is represented by the hearth fire and associated with the emotional warmth of the family home.

 

The Brigid Cross is associated with St. Brigid of Kildare and usually woven from rushes and typically has four arms tied at the ends and a woven square in the middle. Historically, there were also three-armed version and has pre-Christian origins is related to the sun cross. The crosses are traditionally made in Ireland on St Brigid's feast day, 1 February. Traditionally they were set over doorways and windows to protect the home from any kind of harm.

Priestesses used to gather on the hill of Kildare to tend their sacred ritual fires in pre-Christian times while invoking a goddess named Brigid to protect their herds and to provide a fruitful harvest.

When St. Brigid built her monastery and church in Kildare she continued the custom of keeping the fire alight. For her and her nuns the fire represented the new light of Christianity, which reached the Irish shores early in the fifth century.

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Kali

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Elen Of The Ways, This female pagan deity is unique in that she is the only horned goddess, wearing the antlers of the female reindeer, in turn the only deer whose females are antlered. Elen is the guardian of the leys, the ancient track ways and this is where "the Ways” part of her name comes from. Her earliest tracks were the migratory paths of the reindeer, some of which are now under the sea, like the trails of Doggerland, and here is the close association with them.  Another link to the trackways is her mantle as Star Goddess. Perhaps she's an early incarnation of Arianrhod. If you lay upon the ground the whole of a clear night, you would see that the stars and constellations move across the sky. Due to the turning of the earth, the stars follow a circular path, centred on the North Star. Here, at the centre of the circum-polar stars, is Caer Arianrhod, the heavenly Otherworld castle and abode of the dead.

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She is seen by many as a female equivalent of the Green man and Cernunnos, or a consort to Herne the hunter. She is Goddess of both fauna and flora. She has links to the shamanic peoples of Scandinavia, the territories of modern day reindeer. She also appears in the Mabinogion, a collection of Welsh myths, the daughter of a king. Elen Llwyddog, or Empress Helen, has been thought to be responsible for building the roads across Wales that connected the strongholds in order to protect the country. 
 

As Lady Sovereignty, she is concerned with the balance of the energies of the land, via the ruler, facilitating the sacred marriage. She is the Grail bearer, holding within her the sacred cup from which the royal line continues, along with the secret, sexual magic that activates the energies of the land, bringing fertility and plenty.

 

There are many similarities between the Irish Cailleach and Elen who are both indelibly linked to the land, both Ladies of the Beasts, though one Light and one Dark, perfectly balanced.

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Kuan Yin in Sanskrit means “she who hears the cries of the people”, she the Goddess of Mercy and Compassion, is a manifestation of the Divine Mother and serves mankind in much the same way as Mother Mary. Many thinks of her as the Buddhist Madonna and Saviouress of the East. Her names are as numerous as those of Mother Mary and her title and office as a Goddess denotes her level of attainment as a Cosmic Being.

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To the people of Japan, she is known as Kannon and in China her name is Guanyin and also Miao Shan, a legendary Chinese Princess known for her great compassion or by her popular Tibetan and Mongolian name of Tara.

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Kuan Yin is a bodhisattva, a being of wisdom destined to become a Buddha. She has taken the vow of a bodhisattva to save all beings from suffering by forgoing the final state of Buddhahood. She comes as the Mother to dispel all maya (illusion) and is called the Goddess of Mercy because she embodies the flame of mercy and compassion. She shows us through the flame of forgiveness how to free ourselves from all hardness of heart and teaches us to have compassion for all.

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There are many legends surrounding this celestial bodhisattva, one legend says Kuan Yin paused on the threshold of heaven as she was about to enter when she heard the anguished cries of the world. Out of compassion for the suffering of others, she turned and vowed to remain and help those in need for however long this may take. The bodhisattva vow is a sacred and holy vow and not one to be taken lightly. Kuan Yin is a nurturing Mother and the love and compassion she has for all is truly great. It is said that Guan Yin can take any form to help others. Thus, she can be represented in both a male or female body (although the female is more common).

 

The symbols that are associated with and sacred to Quan Yin include a lotus, black tea, rice, sweet cakes and rainbows. Being a fertility Goddess she is associated with birth and protects young children. Crystals and Minerals associated with Quan Yin are Rose Quartz, Amethyst, Malachite, Rhodocrosite, Aventurine, Rose Calcite, Nirvana Quartz, Kunzite and Green Tourmaline. All of which resonate primarily with the Heart Chakra energy center for healing and self-love.

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Sky Woman, tribal affiliation: Iroquois, Huron. Also known as: Mother Goddess, Sky Spirit, First Woman Grandmother Moon, the Woman who Fell from the Sky

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Sky Woman is the Iroquois mother goddess, who descended to earth by falling through a hole in the sky. She was a celestial being who was cast out of the heavens either for violating a taboo or through her jealous husband's treachery; waterbirds carried her down to the sea and set her on the back of a turtle, which became her home (Turtle Island.) Sky Woman is either the grandmother or the mother (depending on the version) of the twin culture heroes Sky-Holder and Flint, sometimes known as Good Spirit and Bad Spirit.
 

In some Iroquois myths Sky Woman is a minor character who dies in childbirth immediately upon reaching the earth, while in others, she is the central character of the entire creation saga. In some myths Sky Woman is the mother of the twins, but more commonly she is the mother of a daughter, Tekawerahkwa or Breath of the Wind, who in turn gives birth to the twins. In some Iroquois traditions, the twins represent good and evil, while in others, neither twin is evil, but Flint represents destruction, death, night, and winter to Sky-Holder's creation, life, day, and summer. Sky Woman is associated with the moon by many Iroquois people and in some traditions, Sky Woman turned into the moon; in others, Sky-Holder turned her body into the sun, moon, and stars after her death; and in still others, it was Sky Woman herself who created the sun, moon, and stars.
 

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Goddess Tara is probably the oldest goddess who is still worshipped extensively in modern times. According to the Hindu Mythology she originated as the Great Goddess Tara, she is the Mother Creator, representing the eternal life force that fuels all life, the Feminine Goddess who manages the Earth and Heavens, birth, love and war, death and regeneration, the seasons, the entire creature that lives and grows in Moon cycles, whose favorite animals are the sow, mare, owl and raven.
 

Tara is the Sanskrit word which means "star", Tara is seen as Mahatara, the supreme creator and mother of all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. She is only one goddess who is common in Buddhism, Jainism, and particularly, Tibetan Lamaism as well. She manifests asceticism, mysticism, & a protector of humanity. There are many embodiments of Tara, but the best known are the White Tara who gently protects and brings long life and peace and the Green Tara is the "Mother Earth", and a fierce goddess who overcomes obstacles, and saves us from physical and spiritual danger. She was also called She Who Brings Forth Life
 

Tara originated as a Hindu goddess, a Great Goddess -- the Mother Creator, representing the eternal life force that fuels all life. Reference to the goddess Tara, perhaps, is found in an ancient saga of Finland thought to be 5 thousand years old. The saga speaks of a group known as Tar, the Women of Wisdom. A version of the Goddess Tara exists in virtually every culture. Indeed, it is said that the Goddess Tara will assume as many forms on earth as there are needs for by the people.
 

The Celts called their Great Goddess Tara. Her name is thought to be the root of the word Tor, which is a mound of earth or hillock imbued with spiritual energy or connection to the other worlds. We also hear the echo of her name in the Latin word for earth, Terra, a connection between Tara and the concept of "Mother Earth".
 

The Goddess Tara is also associated with Kuan Yin, the great Chinese goddess of compassion. In South America she was known as the ancient mother goddess Tarahumara. The Cheyenne people revere the Star Woman who fell  from the heavens and whose body became the earth that provided them with food.

The ancient Egyptian Goddess Ishtar who, in her myths, came to earth from the heavens and instructed her people to co-mingle and intermarry with the earthlings to give them the benefits of their learning and wisdom was yet another incarnation of the Goddess Tara.
 

In the legends of Tibet where the worship of the Goddess Tara is still practiced  in the Buddhist tradition, it is told that the goddess Tara is the feminine counterpart of the Avalokitesvara, the Bodhisattva who is reincarnated as the Dalai Lama. Bodhisattvas are beings who have reached enlightenment and are 'eligible' for Budda-hood but have postponed their own nirvana, choosing instead to be remain in the cycle of birth and rebirth in order to serve humanity and assist every being on Earth in achieving nirvana themselves. It is told that Tara first appeared rising from a lotus blossom in the lake that had formed from Avalokitesvara's tears of compassion, tears that fell when he first beheld the scope of suffering in the world.

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In Celtic tradition, the hare is sacred to the Goddess and is the totem animal of lunar goddesses such as Hecate, Freyja and Holda - the hare is a symbol for the moon. The Goddess most closely associated with the Hare is Eostre, or Ostara. The date of the Christian Easter is determined by the phase of the moon. Buddhists have a saying about the "shadow of the hare in the moon" instead of the man in the moon. They see the hare as a resurrection symbol. The moon is perhaps the most manifest symbol of this universal becoming, birth, growth, reproduction, death and rebirth. The moon disappears, dies and is born again, and this underlies most primitive initiation rites, that a being must die before he can be born again on a higher spiritual level - thus the Hare is a symbol of immortality.  The gestation period of a Hare is 28 days, the same time as the moon.
 

It is also a major symbol for fertility and abundance as the hare can conceive while pregnant. Over the centuries the symbol of the Hare at Ostara has become the Easter Bunny who brings eggs to children on Easter morning, the Christian day of rebirth and resurrection. Hare hunting was taboo but because the date of Easter is determined by the Moon together with the Hare's strong lunar associations, hare-hunting was a common Easter activity in England (and also at Beltane). There are many examples in Celtic mythology, and storytellers still relate tales of women who can shape-change into hares and many witches were reported to have hares as their familiars.

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The hare was sacred to the White Goddess, the Earth Mother, and as such was considered to be a royal animal. Boudicca was said to have released a hare as a good omen before each battle and to divine the outcome of battle by the hare's movements. She took a hare into battle with her to ensure victory and it was said to have screamed like a woman from beneath her cloak.

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Mad as a March Hare: Spring equinox is a time for fertility and sowing seeds, and so nature's fertility goes a little crazy. In medieval societies in Europe, the March hare was viewed as a major fertility symbol -- this is a species of rabbit that is nocturnal most of the year, but in

Hares don’t live in warrens or have maternity nests and the young Hares are born so well-developed that they can fend for themselves within a few hours of their birth.

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