When it comes to ancient goddesses, one goddess of great importance for the Indo-European people is the dawn goddess. An ancient epithet designating the Dawn appears to have been “Sky Daughter”. Depicted as opening the gates of Heaven when she appears at the beginning of the day, Hausōs is generally seen as never-ageing or born again each morning. Associated with red or golden cloths, she is often portrayed as dancing. She is also linked to the goddess Ēostre, which is the source for the name Easter. Also seen as a goddess of spring. She is in the ancient sense connected to Venus and the pouring of water. Becoming the one to distribute the nectar of the gods. In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Eos is the goddess and personification of the dawn, who rose each morning from her home at the edge of the river Oceanus to deliver light and disperse the night. Like her Roman counterpart Aurora and Rigvedic Ushas, Eos continues the name of an earlier Indo-European dawn goddess, Hausos. Eos, or her earlier Proto-Indo-European (PIE) ancestor, also shares several elements with the love goddess Aphrodite, perhaps signifying Eos's influence on her or otherwise a common origin for the two goddesses. Aphrodite’s name possibly meaning bright wanderer. Which could link to her shared origins with Hausos. Michael Janda points out that Aphrodite's name as an epithet of Eos could mean "she who rises from the foam of the ocean. Much like Eos guides the sun.
Her Ancient Mother
In Homer's Iliad, Aphrodite is the daughter of Zeus and Dione. This Dione is an archaic goddess, her name according to some meaning She-Zeus or 'divine one', also translated as "Goddess" from Dios, and also etymologically possibly linked to both Diana and the Celtic Divona a river goddess. Homer listed Dione among the early wives of Zeus, where she was also connected to the birth of Apollo and Artemis.
Károly Kerényi further notes that she was worshipped along with Zeus as a deity of springs and healing, making her also a water-goddess. Dodona, who was the oldest Hellenic oracle during classical antiquity, was an oracle devoted to this mother goddess Dione. According to various accounts, priestesses and priests in the sacred grove interpreted the rustling of the oak leaves to determine the correct actions to be taken. This is something she shared with Diana who was also associated with oaks. As such Dione was a goddess of fate and prophecy, connected to the wild and water.
She has been considered the original, Indo-European consort of Zeus, and also the mother of Dionysus. Dione was an ancient Mycenean goddess, as she had been found in Linear B script. She is then also considered the first wife of Zeus, before the cult of Zeus spread across Ancient Greece, combining Zeus with other goddesses from different regions until he ended up with Hera. Dione was later in classical Greece also re-interpreted as Hera, despite being an older archaic figure. Through this she became obscure within later Hellenistic times, so less is known about her. Dione was according to Hesiod born from the Titan Oceanus like the Titaness Metis. Yet this could have occurred at the time when these goddesses in Greece started to split into distinct figures. Dione as much as other various such goddesses being linked to the original Proto-Indo-European Sovereignty Goddess.
The Dawn Goddess and Venus
When it now comes back to the dawn goddess. Hausōs, as the goddess of dawn, from a Jungian lens embodies the archetype of renewal, rebirth, and the emergence of consciousness. Her appearance at the beginning of each day symbolizes the awakening of the psyche from the darkness of unconsciousness to the light of awareness.
In myth, each day Eos drives her two-horse chariot, heralding the breaking of the new day and her brother's arrival. Thus, her most common epithet of the goddess in the Homeric epics is Rhododactylos, or "rosy-fingered", a reference to the sky's colours at dawn, and Erigeneia, "early-born". Although primarily associated with the dawn and early morning, sometimes Eos would accompany Helios for the entire duration of his journey, and thus she is even seen during dusk. She is symbolized by the planet Venus. Rising early in the morning heralding the sun, as the morning star. Where she is also visible as the evening star.
In ancient Mesopotamian mythology, the morning star was associated with the goddess Inanna, while the evening star was associated with the god Tammuz. From a Jungian perspective, the dawn represents the ego's ascent into consciousness, while the evening star symbolizes its descent into the realm of the unconscious. As such she heralds the new day, the emerging of the light of consciousness. With this I would like to end this article on a poem I wrote in honour of the daughter of the sun.
Praise to the Daughter of the Sun
The sun she is swirling and dancing,
Her song of spring and renewal entrancing.
Oh, begone, you great winter that clutched my heart,
Through the waters and fires, the world will restart.From the beckoning Nymphs dwelling in trees,
To the resounding choral of Nereids of the seas.
With song and dance they sing of great praise,
For the sun's daughter is shining with grace.Reborn from the great slaying of the bull,
Birthed from the jaws of the great wolf.
Suns daughter grows with each warm embrace,
With solemn beauty doth she show her face.Great light of poets, well of sacred mead, honoured muse,
Into the world of matter your inspiration you diffuse.
Now lest us write praise in your name great shining one,
Bringer and rejoicer of flowers, magnificent daughter of the sun.
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