The growing concern about fertility and fecundity has been one of the main issues for human societies. Since fertility was an important factor for the survival of these primitive clans, they subsisted thanks to fertile agricultural productions, as the harvest was a key factor for the maintenance and development of these societies. However, it is also true that other civilizations considered reproduction as a divine mandate, crucial for the development of a new social, political and economic system (Mayor Ferrándiz, 2011).
The vital importance of fertility around these societies will be reflected in an iconography of mystical character associated with motherhood and fecundity. That is to say, a generic thought will be established mainly linked to female beings and feminine deities attributed with this gift of creation. It will be the multiple artistic representations that will become objects of study throughout this article where we will develop chronologically a thread conductor of the main mystical representations from the beginning of history until almost today.
Many of these primary representations associated with a type of magic or religiosity can be found during the Paleolithic, as it will be from this moment when a new iconographic trend will emerge: the idols.
That is to say, some primitive anthropomorphic images of an apotropaic character. Although there is a wide variety of iconography, we will see how from a certain moment onwards, female representations will be carried out, pieces represented with physical characteristics associated with fertility as well as large breasts for nursing, as well as wide hips and bulging abdomen alluding to the reproductive capacity of women.
Some of the most significant examples associated with these prehistoric societies are the famous Venus of Willendorf, the Venus of Lespugue, or the so-called Venus of Laussel (Mayor Ferrandiz, 2011).
In other civilizations such as in Mesopotamia, we will find a whole amalgamation of gods and goddesses mainly associated with the nature as well as some tasks like agriculture and livestock. The goddess Inanna was venerated along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Inanna is recognized as the goddess and patroness of the legendary city of Uruk. Among her many functions, she plays a fundamental role in Sumerian idiosyncrasy, which was later revered by the Akkadian and Babylonian peoples under the name of Ishtar (Alberro, 2003).
Inanna was the goddess of fertility and sovereignty considered as the mother of all the settlement. As the main deity of sovereignty, she would become an archetype to be followed by many other civilizations, which took her legacy as direct descendants of this goddess, producing some of the most distinguished deities of the Mediterranean, among them Astarté and Aphrodite.
Just as in Mesopotamia, another iconographic trend will develop in the Nile region associated with this iconography. Among a wide range of gods, we find the goddess Isis, who occupies an important role in Egyptian beliefs.
Isis is understood as the eternal protector of her son Horus and her husband Osiris. She was also responsible for announcing the floods of the Nile River, a function essential to this culture's development since they mainly subsisted on agriculture. Although her main role would be that of eternal protection of her husband and son, emphasizing her maternal role as well as being understood as the mother of the pharaoh, thus taking charge of his divine protection (Arrollo de la Fuente, 1999).
Associated with harvests, agriculture and motherhood, Demeter would play a fundamental role in the development of Greek mythology. Known as the goddess of nature, she would also feature prominently in some of the most important classical mythological tales, such as the Abduction of Persephone, her daughter, who spends six months with her uncle and lover Hades, god of the underworld, and the remaining months with her mother Demeter, who embodies a grieving mother over the loss of her daughter to her brother (Cartwright, 2019).
This story exemplifies the importance of the seasons and thus Demeter's fundamental role in nature. She is primarily responsible for the development of vegetation and with it, fertility on earth, providing new food sources and fertilizing vast lands. These lands would be affected by the new cold climate allegorical to a mother's loss.
It is in these narratives where we see the radical importance of agriculture as well as understanding the metaphor closely associated between the mother goddess and nature, understanding both as similar in their power to create and give life.
Equivalent to the Greek goddess Demeter, we find the goddess Ceres as a symbol of prosperity and motherhood in various rituals of ancient Rome. It was during this period that the Romans celebrated some rituals and festivals in her honor such as the Cerealia, promoting the prosperity of crops and fertility on earth.
In addition to these goddesses, there are other cultures that venerate similar goddesses such as the Nahuatl goddess Coatlicue, Coatlicue means "Serpent Skirt" and is considered by these peoples as the mother goddess of fertility but also death. The goddess Coatlicue, mother of the moon, sun, and stars presents a singular iconography, appearing represented with different elements native to nature (Leija, 2022).
It is a large female representation adorned with long snake skirts intertwined. Her majestic body is decorated with skulls, hearts and human hands serving as ornamentation for her attire symbolizing thus her dual nature as goddess of death.
Her terrifying face symbolizes again her double nature, appearing adorned with a snake head with long fangs and numerous snakes framing her expressionless face.
The numerous representations and iconographic contributions linked to the goddesses and mothers within religious practices in different civilizations are a primary source for understanding and comprehending the unitary conception and importance inherent in survival, hand in hand with agriculture and fertility, understood as an ancestral power unique and necessary for the development and longevity of various tribes and clans that have participated throughout history. These deities, therefore, not only reflect a spirituality almost current but also the interconnection between life and nature (Mirón Pérez, 1997).
Although many of these cultures reside now in collective memory, they have endured to this day as direct symbols of motherhood and fertility, elements that have been incorporated into numerous religious practices we practice today and their close association with Mary, who, despite being a virgin, was endowed by the Holy Spirit with the gift of fertility, making her part of the birth of an important figure for the development of currently prevalent faith, Christianity.
Conclusions
In this article, we have addressed the different artistic representations of the main goddesses associated with earth and fertility, establishing their vital importance for the development of various civilizations that have endured throughout history. This object of study has been interesting to address given the similarities found in each distinct culture.
Bibliography
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https://www.worldhistory.org/trans/es/1-778/demeter
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