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Cybele

 

            Cybele is perhaps the most commonly worshiped mother goddess. Her history is timeless, as she has taken many forms and names throughout the different centuries and in various civilizations. Her official Roman name is "Mater Deum Magna Idea." This paper will take you along her journey from Anatolia to Rome, and touch on her presence in Greece. She comes with many myths and worship practices. There is archeological evidence of her cult throughout much of the world. The following pages only provide a glimpse of her story, but will make clear the impact she has had on Classical- and Hellenistic- day civilization.
             Since the beginning of time, man has wondered about the phenomenon of nature. Events such as flood, drought, life, and death have eluded us. It is human nature to formulate cause and effect explanations for such occurrences. Before science, there was only speculation (myth and folklore). What happens when the cause is unobservable, not able to be seen as natural? We come up with supernatural explanations to appease our curiosity. This leads to the personification of such supernatural power, and we form an all-powerful being in our minds.
             Carl Jung best describes why this all-powerful being has taken a feminine form in many cultures, old and new. Most ancient societies were male-dominated, and patriarchal, which Jung calls animus. Women in these societies were often seen as care-givers and givers of life. He calls this anima.
             Males were seen as the "creative- transformation" side of humanity, while women were the "protective- nurture" side. With this in mind, it is clear why women were considered responsible for the "growth of all nature." Jung said this is the reason why the superior supernatural being was a female archetype. A Great Mother, a Mother Nature, a Cybele, the same being has many names, but all can be traced back to a single beginning, with the animus and anima idea, from pre-history (Jung: Ferguson, 1970, p.


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