Goddess Quilts

by Peg Green

Even as a child I was fascinated by the ancient world and the wonders of archaeology. In my college and graduate studies exploring world mythologies, I learned of the ancient mother goddesses, their figurines now found by the thousands in archaeological digs throughout the world. Eventually, my feminist heart and my scholarly brain joined league with my artistic soul to create a series of re-imagined goddesses.

I love best the most ancient ones, 30,000 years old, found deep underground or hidden in caves, astonishing to discover and wonder about. Especially, I like that there’s no written text to explain who they were, their myths or symbols – I get to imagine them all fresh and new in my own creative way. I like to read the research from archaeological reports about the context, and then imagine myself in that ancient time and place, immersed in a world of living divinity.

Here’s the famous Venus of Laussel, carved into a cave wall in France 25,000 years ago. She’s 18” high and painted red, a symbolic color for birth and death. The drinking gourd has 13 lines marked on it, so I imagine these are moon-markings. She’s holding her belly, so I think she’s pregnant. Maybe this cave is a sacred birthing spot. In my vision, the figure is both the goddess and the birth-giving woman herself. She’s surrounded by women, a healer is among them, she’s been given an herbal drink to ease the pains of childbirth, or maybe to bring the contractions.

Laussel Elixir

Laussel Elixir

When I created “Laussel Elixir” in fabric, I wanted to give the feel of inside a cave, a narrow birth-canal-like passageway, with candlelight glistening on limestone walls. Time disappears, there’s a trance-like state, it’s a momentous, sacred event of holy creation.

This Lion Goddess figurine found in the excavations at Catal Huyuk, Turkey, is 8,000 years old and only 6” tall. It’s at the center of a huge scholarly controversy about the origins of patriarchy, and whether these figurines even represent goddesses at all. She sits on a throne supported by lions whose tails wrap sensuously around her.

Catal Huyuk Lioness

When I created my “Catal Huyuk Lioness” quilt I tried to imagine, to actually feel what it might be like to live in a world where people know they are under the eternal protection of the lioness embodied in magnificent female form. The figurine becomes the lioness. She is the ultimate mother, ever watchful of her cubs – protective, fierce, sleek, glorious. I envision her in a vast ancient landscape, golden, emblazoned by the sun, roaring her power across the earth and heavens.

My series of ancient goddesses re-imagined includes 21qults so far. You can see them and read more about their archaeological worlds at my website www.Peacepeg.com/Goddesses of Archaeology.

Peg’s artist page