Description
Since childhood, I loved writing and finding magickal threads amongst legends of old to connect the mundane and spiritual worlds. Everything was a metaphor—but the question was for what? When I discovered the Great Serpent Goddess, who I first met under the title Lady Wisdom, her story began to shine through everywhere I looked. I found her in science, mythology, religion, film, dreams, nature, and everywhere in between. Unfortunately, I’ve learned the hard way that other people often can only understand her through a singular lens. Some understand her divinity exclusively through religion as God, others solely through pagan eyes as Mother Nature, and others only through studying mathematics and the nature of the universe. What many have not yet come to accept, though, is that she is all of these things—and to connect to the magick and mysteries of life itself is to connect to her.
Quite literally since the dawn of human civilization, divine feminine and mother goddess figures who represented both darkness and light, and death and rebirth, have held a prominent place in the belief systems and cultures of peoples around the world. From the ancient Canaanite goddess Astarte to the Egyptian goddess Isis, the Greco-Roman Gaia, the Mesopotamian Hekate, the Hindu Kali, the Roman Venus, the Nordic Frigg, the Celtic Morrigan, the Mesoamerican Santa Muerte, the Catholic Mary, the First-Century Christian Holy Spirit, the Gnostic Sophia, and the East Asian Guanyin, the archetype of the powerful, nurturing mother deity has been revered and worshiped for millennia.
These mother goddesses were not mere fertility symbols, but complex, multifaceted energetic beings who embodied the creative, sustaining, and transformative powers of the natural world. They were seen as the primal source from which other forms of life could spring forth, the providers of abundance and prosperity, and the ultimate guardians and protectors of humanity. Their temples and shrines attracted devotees seeking blessings, healing, and guidance, whether it be in times of peace or times of war.
Even as patriarchal religions rose to dominance in many regions, the enduring power and influence of the mother goddess can still be felt, thanks to the faithful remnant who chose to never forget her. Her presence lives on in folk traditions, spiritual practices, and the deep-seated human yearning for the feminine divine to live on and thrive forevermore. This book was written to share my discoveries and beliefs on the Great Serpent Goddess that connects us all, the significance of the order she brings to the chaos of our universe, and the personified masks she wears to connect with and help her people heal, grow, and expand.
Prepare to meet the Mother of the Gods as she has revealed herself to me as one (1)—the connector of all things, as seven (7)—the structure of all things, and as one hundred and seventeen (117)—the manifestation of all things. May this work serve you well on your wisdom journey, whether you come to know her through religion, science, spirituality, magick, occultism, music, art, love, philosophy, or anything else that ignites your soul. May you walk your path with authenticity and love. Blessed are the snakes!
—Kate Jade
