Bau

THE GODDESS PROJECT: Made in Her Image

BAU

“O, Bau, mighty Lady who dwells in the bright heavens.”

-Ancient prayer to Bau for Lunar Eclipses

She is called the Great Physician. “She emerged into history as a Sky-Goddess bearing a name that means ‘space’. In very ancient times, Bau was the Mother-Goddess of Babylonia and Phoenicia, a life-giving figure who appeared in each morning’s light.” -Patricia Monaghan “The Book of Goddesses & Heroines”. Some of Bau’s epithets include: “‘Lady of Health’, the ‘Great healer’, ‘Great healer of the land’, ‘Great healer of the black-headed ones’ (pointing to Her wide-reaching ‘national’ significance), ‘Herb grower’, ‘The Lady who makes the broken up whole again’, and ‘Creates life in the land’, indicative of an aspect of a vegetation/fertility Goddess with regenerative powers.” -Yaǧmur Heffron in “Ancient Mesopotamian Gods and Goddesses”. Wikipedia claims She restored the Earth after the Great Floods but in the instances of smaller floods, Bau makes Her presence known. She could also make the Earth quake.

These ancient peoples’ lives depended on the growth of their food and so they prayed to Bau for their own health and fertility as well as for that of their crops. One Mesopotamian inscription found reads that Bau would often use Cedar essential oil ( and herbs) for healings.

Some hypothesize that Bau came to Europe from Egypt via Crete and Greece. “A fragment of a clay tablet dating from 2500 BCE..listed over 700 priestesses, priests and attendants who participated in the consecration of a temple belonging to the Goddess Bau, clearly a Divine person of importance.” from Durdin-Robertson’s “The Goddess of Chaldea, Syria and Egypt”.

Bau has been called “The Goddess of the Dog” and She is said to walk the Earth, accompanied by her hounds. “The deity’s name, Bau, represents the sound of the dog’s bark, as in the English ‘bowwow.'” according to Buffie Johnson’s “Lady of the Beasts: Ancient Images of the Goddess and Her Sacred Animals.”

A special thank you to our GP model, Janet, for gifting your Grace and poise. Janet has a PhD and teaches psychology and organizational psychology, is a life coach and organizational psychologist. She is also a healer – a Reiki Master, yoga instructor and newlywed.

Janet was born on the New Year Festival of Bau. Bau is Janet’s Goddess Group name, chosen from each’s birthday, so she’s had time (7 years!?) to sit with “being Bau”. Janet writes “Bau is the Goddess of healing and fertility originally a Sumerian Goddess known throughout other cultures including Hungary where she was known to be the Queen of Hungary. [She gives me] a deeper connection to my own Hungarian roots. [Bau is] always featured with Her dog as healing Goddesses often are. I love the depths and the unknown so the sea and the dark sky bringing fruit, flowers and vegetables harvest what we have wanted harvested in our lives today. She’s depicted during the time of the harvest moon in the golden glory. Bau has deepened my insights and intuition and brought me to greater trust of my strength, gratitude, abundance and healing powers.”

And keeping everyone at distance from our Goddess model is her dog, Bear. Bear is a beautiful (and very LARGE) Chow Shar Pei, and the first canine in the project! Like the Goddess she portrays, Janet too, walks the Earth with her hound. “Since the Neolithic era, the dog has been associated with the Goddess in the ancient myths. Its fierce yet dependable nature, nocturnal disposition, and relation to the moon bind it to Her. The dog’s violent and courageous defense of land, crops, and herds is invaluable, while its loyalty to household members and savagery toward strangers [Bear does NOT like postal or FedEx carriers!] makes it a natural ally, an ideal guardian.” also from Johnson’s “Lady of the Beasts”. We love Bear!

Special thanks to David Roges for the use his ethereal front porch!

For more on The Goddess Project or Free Sophia go to FreeSophia.com, Free Sophia Facebook page or the Free Sophia blog homepage: https://plus.google.com/107287050579003737566/posts/Vy6vakVnZ6x 🌹