Happy Mother's Day: Rhea; Mother Goddess of Greece

Rhea
Great Mother
Mother of the Gods
Titan Queen of Heavens
Titaness of Comfort, Blessing and Ease
Titaness of Fertility, Motherhood and Generation


Rhea is the daughter of Uranus (Father Heaven) and Gaia (Mother Earth). Her name means "flow" and "ease" relating to her role of the Great Mother where the flow refers to menstrual blood. It also links her to the tides and the moon. She is the Mother of the First Olympians:  Hestia, Hades, Demeter, Poseidon, Hera and Zeus. This earned her the title as “Mother of the Gods”. She is known to have been worshiped in different variations around the Mediterranean, and was closely associated with the Goddess Cybele (especially the Romans).
 Kronos, Rhea's Titan brother and husband, castrated their father, Ouranos. After this, Kronos re-imprisoned the Hekatonkheires and the Cyclopes, and set the monster Kampê to guard them. He and Rhea took the throne as King and Queen of the Titans. This time was called the Golden Age.
Rhea was originally the Patron Goddess of the Crete, and since Zeus was born there, the island was seen as sacred by the Goddess and God. The principal seat of her worship was at Crete. At her festivals, which took place at night, the wildest music of flutes, cymbals, and drums resounded, whilst joyful shouts and cries, accompanied by dancing and loud stamping of feet, filled the air.
She is the Great Mother and unceasing producer of all plant-life. She was also believed to exercise unbounded sway over the animal creation, more especially over the lion, the noble king of beasts. Rhea is generally represented wearing a crown of turrets or towers and seated on a throne, with lions crouching at her feet. She is sometimes depicted sitting in a chariot, drawn by lions.
There is a famous myth associated with Rhea, although you don't really ever hear much about her, you always hear of her husband, Cronus, and one of her sons, Zeus. This famous myth is about the birth of her children. Her husband Cronus heard a prophecy from Oracle that he would be taken over by one of his children. In hearing this, he decided to swallow each one them as soon as Rhea gave birth. Finally, when Rhea had enough of this, she decided to give birth to her youngest son, Zeus, in secret on the island of Crete. When she returned to meet Cronus, she handed him a rock dressed up like an infant, and he swallowed it. Then she hid Zeus in a cave on Mount Ida in Crete. He was brought there by his grandmother Gaea, and was raised by some nymphs there until he was old enough to take on his father.
Zeus and Rhea concocted a potion and gave it to Kronos to make him to disgorge his siblings in reverse order of swallowing: first the stone, which was set down at Pytho under the glens of Parnassus to be a sign to mortal men, then the rest.
Then The Power of Three (Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades) released the brothers of Kronos:  the Hekatonkheires, and the Cyclopes, who gave them powerful weapons which had previously been hidden by Gaea. These powerful weapons are the Master Bolt: the power of thunder and lightning, the Trident: the power of the earthquake and control all bodies of water, the Helm of Darkness: allows Hades to melt into shadows and pass through walls. While wearing it he cannot be touched, seen, or heard, and he can radiate fear so intense that it can drive a person insane or stop their heart.
 Zeus and his siblings, together with the Hekatonkheires, rogue Titans and Cyclopes overthrew Kronos and the other Titans.
After the Titan war it's commonly said that Rhea made some demands to be kept as sparing the Titanesses and to have a throne in Mount Olympus. Zeus agree most of her demands. He spared the all Titanesses and Titans who were neutral or allied. He allow her to place on Mount Olympus.
Most often Rhea's symbol is a pair of lions, the ones that pulled her celestial chariot, and were seen often, rampant, one on either side of the gateways through the walls to many cities in the ancient world. The one at Mycenae is most characteristic, with the lions placed on either side of a pillar that symbolizes the Titaness.
She was seen as an earth Goddess, a mother Goddess, and the mother to all the Gods. She kept all things in balance and kept the flow of life in her hands. In ancient art, she was portrayed on a throne with two lions at her side.
To honor the Goddess Rhea, honor your mother earth, and help keep the balance in your own life flow naturally.





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