The earliest image of the devine... is female
Today I want to introduce one of the oldest representations of devinity to you. Durga ist one of the many representations of the primordial deity. She's an equivalent to Isis in Egypt, Kuan Yin in the East, Tara in Tibet, the Lady Mary in mediaeval Christianity (source).
I found these figures of her in an unusual but then again not so unusual place. I'm speaking of the full packed, busy tourist zone of Playa del Carmen in Mexico. There are two stores called "Caravan" there and both are all about indian clothings and accessories.
You may find the (smaller) Caravan store, with the figures upstairs (and clothing and accessories aswell on the ground floor) here:
Calle Quinta Avenida entre calle 14 y 14, Centro, 77710 Playa del Carmen, Q.R.
And this is the larger Caravan store I strongly recommend if you want a huge selection of clothing and accessory:
Calle Quinta Avenida S/N X32Y 34 nOrte L 3-5, 77710 Playa del Carmen
Note, that the larger store has no entry in Google Maps yet.
What I found most interesting about Durga, was, that she is associated with the color red, white (in the form of Parvati, the white goddess) and black (in the form of Kali, the dark goddess) (source). These three colors are often associated with spring, femininity and the mother goddess thus refering to a holisting and monistic understanding of the source of all being. We also know these colors from the fairy tale "Snow White" and "Taketori Monogatari" ("The story of the bamboo collector")".
I must admit that as of right now, I can not make up sense of the two different beliefs or narratives. One saying, that our origin was first represented through a female goddess (as for exampe in the ancient greek mythology in the form of Gaya) and the other saying, that the "truth" is that the origin of all beeing is femininity and masculinity as for example Binah (the female) and Chochmah (the masculine) in the Kabbalah. Is anyone familiar with this and can say something about it?
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