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Posted: Mon Oct 04, 2010 3:32 pm
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This interests me as well, however there's a bit of an issue: it seems Columbia was a feminine personification of the United States up until World War II. There were poems, cartoons, paintings galore, but it was always as if Columbia was the United States and not simply a separate entity. I'm not entirely sure this has any connection with her being a potential deity, though given humanity's inability to comprehend the divine, I suppose anything is possible.
If she was first revealed to us by the statue, is she an old European goddess who decided to come to America? And why would she decide to leave her native land for this one, which has had its own deities (looking at Native American folklore) for quite some time?
If she were an old European goddess, did she first take note of the United States during the Revolution? Why would she? Or was she 'birthed' alongside our country, given our nature to revere the idea of liberty?
I suppose that, at the very least, Columbia was a deification of the United States, or the concept of liberty overall. But does this make Columbia a deity? I'm not entirely certain. I would, however, like to see how this pans out, as there are a few concepts I'm not entirely familiar with: the U.S. having a patron goddess, and even how deities come into existence, if that's even possible in modern times.
My apologies for only raising more questions. =P
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Posted: Wed Nov 10, 2010 2:42 pm
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Posted: Sat Nov 13, 2010 9:14 am
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MissDarc Columbia is, to my knowledge, a representative image of a nation and not a goddess who revealed herself.
I tend to agree with that interpretation. I don't think the people who wrote or drew her intended her to be an honest to goodness actual goddess. It interests me that people intpret the works now as "revealing" herself. I mean there are so many questions.
The whole idea of a God/Goddess revealing themselves fascinates me. The how, the why are so loaded. It's possibly one of the most interesting aspects of spirituality. I love hearing how different Christian people were "saved" with some personal realization of God and likewise pagans who "realized" there was more out there or something new and different from what they believed before. In this case we'd be talking about an almost modern birth of a not mystery based goddess (Wicca while interesting as it's new is too closed off for non-seekers to really dig into). Depending on whether the painters or writers meant to simply personify a country or to actually create a goddess one might argue it's a very new creation or revelation of a Goddess, if said goddess is more than a thought form or ideal.
Quote: However, it is my opinion that one could take any symbolic being and use it as a figure of worship for a particular aspect of the god and goddess, much as other god-figures.
What exactly would one worship with Columbia? Freedom, justice, liberty I mean it's all pretty vague about what the working plan is to embody and maintain those values are. Hasn't part of America's political problems been surrounding the fact that while we as a people may value these ideals we have no unified idea how to push them forward and maintain them in a productive way? I do think as a country we could use guidance, divine or not, regarding definition and protections of these words and ideals.
It's probably why a Goddess meant to embody such that originates or chose this land has pulled me in so strongly. I'd like it to exist and I'd like for there to be some kind of revelation or moment a clarity at least for myself that would help pull things together. Beyond that, I suppose my creative mind is captured by all the stories and possibly interesting narratives there could be here.
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