Symbol Dictionary Me-Mo
Mezuzah: This Jewish title for a door-charm against evil spirits is not unique to Jewish custom. Copied from the Egyptian “Pillars of Horus,” hieroglyphic spells engraved into tablets on either side of the door, door charms date back to Hindu statues of Kali guarding door entrances. In her book, The Woman’s Encyclopedia Of Myths And Secrets (1983), Barbara Walker asserts, “Touching or kissing the door-charm when passing through dates back to the Hindu custom of touching the yoni of the door-post Kali-figure ‘for luck,’ when entering her temple.”
Middle Earth: This concept comes from the Scandinavian Midgard, or the world of men. In her book The Woman’s Encyclopedia Of Myths And Secrets (1983), Barbara Walker asserts, Middle Earth is the “Scandinavian Midgard, the world of men, located between the spirit worlds above and below.”
Midwifery: Meaning “wise-woman” or “witch” from the Anglo-Saxon med-wyf, midwives originated as priestesses of the goddess, who had sole domain over Her temples of healing. Egyptian and Malayan Semai midwives were both ruled by Hathor and considered sacred; Mexican’s recibidora performed the duties of priestess, obstetrician, godmother, and witch, often using knot-magic; Rome honored midwives as obstetrix, who delivered the baby, nutrix who taught the mother to nurse, and ceraria who performed the birth rituals. Even through the middle ages of Europe, midwives were given exclusive rein over the mysteries of pregnancy and childbirth, partly due to the beliefs and customs of patriarchal religion about the un-cleanliness of menstrual blood. However, midwives had the secret knowledge of sex, birth-control, birthing-aids, and abortifaciants, which made them feared and hated among patriarchal authorities. In her book, The Woman’s Encyclopedia Of Myths And Secrets (1983), Barbara Walker asserts, “The real reason for ecclesiastical hostility seems to have been the notion that midwives could help women control their own fate, learn secrets of sex and birth control, or procure abortions.”
Inquisition handbooks stated, “no one does more harm to the Catholic faith than midwives” and in 1559 C.E., Eufame Macalyne was burned alive in Scotland for eliciting a midwife’s help in relieving birth pains (Walker, 1983). Midwives were a major target for the inquisition and unfortunately the profession fell into the hands of unqualified and uneducated male doctors and patriarchal clergy. Walker explains, “Christianity’s official view was that to relieve women’s suffering in any aspect of reproduction was to oppose God’s will in the matter of the curse on Eve... Consequently, up to the beginning of the 20th century, doctors refused to consider treatment of the major cause of women’s deaths, childbed (puerperal) fever,” as it was considered just and deserved. The use of chloroform to ease childbirth was hotly disputed by the clergy, who believed that it was a “decoy of Satan” according to one New England minister. However, Queen Victoria used it during the birth of her eighth child and publicly announced that it was a great blessing, which overruled the clergy’s protests. See Menstrual Blood.
Milky Way: The ancients saw a likeness between the Milky Way in the night sky and milk or rivers and proclaimed it the Great Mother’s life-giving milk. According to Barbara Walker in her book The Woman’s Encyclopedia Of Myths And Secrets (1983), “The ancients believed this heavenly star-stream issued from the breast of the Queen of Heaven. Worshippers of Argive Hera said the stars were made of milk from Hera’s Moon-cow incarnation.” This same Moon-Cow was called Io by the Ionians or Europa, consort of Zeus by others. Norsemen, Scandinavians, Celts, as well as other Europeans all believed in a “divine cow,” “White Cow,” or “Moon-Way.” This same cow became the cow who “jumped over the moon” in nursery rhymes and is shown hovering over the moon, just as the moon-cow is depicted in pagan icons. The Greeks called it gala, “mother’s milk.” Akkadians called it the River-of-the-Divine-Lady, the Great River Hiddagal; Egyptians called it Nile in the Sky, and Arabians called it Mother of the Sky. See Cow.
Mirror: Mirrors have a range of symbolism from a variety of cultures. Sometimes they are seen are reflecting the truth (like Medusa seeing evil reflected in Perseus’s shield), or divinity (such as the Christian speculum sine macula or “flawless mirror” of the Virgin Mary reflecting God’s flawlessness), or are connected with the sun, like the Japanese sun goddess Amaterasu Omikami (Shepherd, 2002). The reflection of the physical, in a mirror, water, or photograph have been invested with containing part of the onlookers soul and disruption of this image by rippling the water, breaking the glass, or ripping the photo, was believed to potentially damage the person’s soul (thus the taboo against breaking a mirror and the Native American’s reluctance to be photographed). According to Barbara Walker, in her book, The Woman’s Encyclopedia Of Myths And Secrets (1983), “The esoteric meaning of the mirror was explained long ago by Plotinus, who connected it with the Hindu concept of Maya, creatress of the ‘reflections’ of spiritual reality in the mirror of the material world. ‘Matter serves as a mirror upon which the Universal Soul projects the images or reflections of its creations, and thus gives rise to the phenomena of the sensible universe.’”
Mistletoe: See Trees.
Mola: This was the name of the salted flour sprinkle on sacrificial animals by the Vestal Virgins in Rome. According to Barbara Walker, in her book, The Woman’s Encyclopedia Of Myths And Secrets (1983), “Mola was credited with miraculous powers, as was the salt that Christians later used to dedicate altars.” See Virgin.
Money: The use of an intermediary substance to sell and buy goods has been used for eons, as opposed to a straight barter system. One popular form of “money” was the cowry shell, symbolic of the Great Mother’s yoni. The use of coins or mint for money did not evolve until Rome. Derived from the name of the Great Mother goddess, Juno Moneta, coins were manufactured and housed in her Capitoline temple. According to Barbara Walker, in her book, The Woman’s Encyclopedia Of Myths And Secrets (1983), “Silver and gold coins manufactured there were valuable not only by reason of their precious metal but also by the blessing of the Goddess herself, which could effect good fortune and healing magic.” The original Roman coins were manufactured with the face of the emperor on one side and the face of a god on the other.
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Moon: The moon has been associated with the goddess since the earliest of religions and peoples. Due to Her light-giving at night and connection with menstrual cycles and seasons, the Moon was believed to be the first creatress, Mother of the Universe and Great Mother for many peoples. Barbara Walker, in her book, The Woman’s Encyclopedia Of Myths And Secrets (1983), states, “The Moon-goddess created time, with all its cycles of creation, growth, decline, and destruction, which is why ancient calendars were based on phases of the moon and menstrual |