Buy the Ebook of this article for $5.00, (Read Only for the minimum of 3 months, extendable upon request to mago9books@gmailcom)
The Spiral and The Goddess as a Symbol of Life and Regeneration
Louis Lagana
Abstract The universal symbol of the spiral has various significance in many ancient cultures. Images of spirals appeared millennia ago, and ancient people associated the spiral as a symbol of the Goddess. In prehistoric Malta the spiral is closely linked to the Goddess of birth, death and regeneration. Artists were inspired by ancient spirals and interpreted and expressed it in their own way in their works. Some of them connected the spirals with the Goddess and gave it a spiritual significance.
Keywords Prehistoric Malta, the Spiral, Goddesses, Jung, Maltese Prehistoric Art, Archetypal Symbols, Contemporary Art
Introduction The interpretation of the symbols of the Mother Goddess and the Spiral (including other motifs from the Neolithic Art in Malta) is an important aspect of the creativity of the contemporary artist who is particularly interested in re-creating past images taken from the Neolithic period. The reason seems to be that artists are after recovering values that were lost throughout the ages. The recovery of prehistoric art at the turn of the 19th Century created interest which involved not only archaeologists and historians, but also artists. Therefore, artists felt to recapture the lost values of ancient times. The result is that “a new symbology and mythology is in the making.”[1] It is a transformation of a new consciousness “that holds promise of a renewal of our culture.”[2] Artists realize this renewal in….
[1] Elinor Gadon, The Once and Future Goddess, (New York City: HarperOne, 1989), 376.
[2] Ibid.
Subscription to receive the article in PDF.
S/HE: An International Journal of Goddess Studies Volume 2 Number 1 (2023)