goddesseswith corn, beans, and squash, that clothe them and which they protect.
The corn goddess functions, for instance, in three ways: she is the corn
itself, she is its spiritual protector, and she is the patroness of humans who
cultivate it. The Huichol Indians of Mexico worship a number of god-
desses called Our Mothers, who are associated with motherhood, growth,
fertility and water. The Eskimo worship Sedna, Sea Woman, who lives at
the bottom of the ocean in a big domed house that is guarded by seals who
bite intruders. Sedna is described as frightening with one eye, a body
covered with dirt, tangled hair, and no fingers. She is both the mistress
and creator of sea animals. Instead of a home in the bottom of the ocean,
Our Grandmother of the Shawnee lives in a house (wigwam) in the sky
from which she spies on her children. She possesses great mental powers
as shown by the fact, for instance, that she can answer questions before
they are even asked. Besides her role as a cultural heroine by teaching
people about the necessities of life, she rules over the abode of the dead,
and is associated with the end of time when she will gather virtuous
people into a basket that she weaves all night once her little dog stops
unraveling the basket of the previous day.
A polytheistic religion such as Hinduism manifests many goddess fig-
ures such as Aditi, Śrī Laksmi, Rādhā, Sītā, Durgā, Kālī, and many village
goddesses associated with a disease such as smallpox. Naked and immod-
est, Kālī is called the Black One because of the dark color of her body.
She is depicted with four arms in which she holds, respectively, a sword,
a noose, a freshly severed human head, and a cup made from half a human
skull that is filled with blood. She is attired with a necklace of human
heads, newly cut human hands dangle from her waistband, and two dead
infants serve as her earrings. She appears with a sunken belly, sagging
breasts, and disheveled hair, a mouth with large fangs, a lolling tongue,
blood trickling out of her corners of her mouth, and sunken reddish eyes.
She sustains herself on the blood of humans and demons. Her dancing
represents the pulsating of the universe, although her dancing can become
destructive when it becomes uncontrolled. She threatens the world with
her madness and perverse desire to bring about the destruction of the
world. Finally, she is closely identified with time as its mistress, symbol-
ized by her lolling tongue that consumes everything, and death, which is
symbolized by her raised and bloody sword. Kālī’s nature and appearance
manifests the goddess as frightening, awesome, and terrible.
Generally, goddesses are creative figures with strong, powerful, and
dynamic characters. In many patriarchical cultures, women are expected to
be passive, submissive, and inferior. But goddesses within these male-dom-
inated cultures are life-giving, powerful, aggressive, and transformative, and
can also be destructive. There is no connection between male dominance