10. Into the Sky

But then a dark cloud formed over the mountain and its river, driven by a strong wind; the sky was torn by lightning that revealed no fount or cave on the mountain peak; and that was soon followed by a deafening thunderclap and sudden downpour that made it clear to the desert people that the source of their precious water had nothing at all to do with the mountain, or even the earth—but with the rain, and ultimately the sky!

Which started a lot of nervous counseling by the various terrestrial cults that prople should ‘stay down to earth’, ‘keep both feet on the ground’, ‘have enough sense to come in out of the rain’, and so forth—with at least one Peruvian cult trying to sell people on the idea that its mountain goddess, Atoja, actually ordered the rain and hence remained the ultimate source of water; but alas, no one was buying.

Rather, there now arose Our Lady of the Rain; witness:

New Guinea’s Abeguwo
Aymara Peru’s Acacila, who‘s also perceived as producng hail and frost
Benin Africa’s Aida Wedo, whose special sign is the rainbow, and who has ultimately come to represent clear water in all its forms
Shinto Japan’s Ame-No-Mi-Kumari-No-Kami, who has also come to represent clear water in whatever form
Philippine’s Anitun Tabu, also controls the wind
Korea’s Aryong Jong, all clear water
Inuit Alaska’s Asiaq
Uganda’s Atida
ancient Russia’s Azer Ava, in whose name oaths were routinely taken
Assam’s Bardaichila
aboriginal Australia’s Bunbulama
Zaire’s Bunzi
Aztec Mexico’s Chalchiuhtlcue, another deity of clear water in all its forms
Mayan Mexico’s Chibirias, whose sign was also the rainbow
Chumash California’s Chup, who also controls the wind
Mesoamerica’s Cueravaperi
ancient Canaan’s Dewi
Afghanistan’s Gish
Melanesia’s Goga
Taino Caribbean’s Guabancex
Nigeria’s Hara Ke
Olmec Mexico’s Huixtocihuatl, also fertility goddess in charge of agriculture
Panama’s Inanupdikile
Greenland Inuit’s Ignirtoq
Zulu Africa’s Inkanyamba
Mayan Guatamala’s Ix Cu
aboriginal Australia’s Julunggul
Tibet’s Lumo
Dravidian India’s Mari
Tamil India’s Mariamman
early Aztec’s Matlalceuitl
Bantu Africa’s Mbaba Mwana Waresa
Uganda’s Min Jok
South Africa’s Mujaji
Uganda’s Nagadya
Uganda’s Nagawonyi
Bantu Africa’s Nanvula
Iroquois New York’s Neoga
Tanzania’s Quabso
Brazil’s Rainha Barba, who also controls the lightning and thunder
Finnland’s Rauni, who handles it all: rain, hail, snow, lightning, thunder, and the rainbow
ancient Persia’s Sadwes, ditto
Brazil’s Schetewuarha
ancient Canaan’s Shala
early Hindu’s Surupa
ancient Hittite’s Tasimmet
Huichol Mexico’s Tate Hautse,
Huichol deity specially responsible for rain from the north, Tate Hautse Kupuri
Huichol deity specially responsible for rain from the west, Tate Kyewimoka
Huichol deity specially responsible for rain from the east, Tate Naaliwahi
Huichol deity specially responsible for rain from the south, Tate Rapawiyema
Taoist China’s T’ien Fei
South Pacific’s Tomituka
Hopi Arizona’s Trukwinu Mana
ancient Persia’s Yasht, water in all its forms

And that’s not even counting her special assistants, such as

Aide, Basque goddess of the wind
Alohura, Polynesian goddess of lightning
Feng Po-po, Chinese goddess of the wind
Fulgora, ancient Roman goddess of lighting
Inazuma, Shinto Japanese version of same
Iris, ancient Greek goddess of the rainbow
Peperuna, Slavic goddess of thunder
Percunatele, another Slavic people’s goddess of thunder
Perkun Tete, Balkan goddess of lightning and thunder
Siris, ancient Babylonian goddess of rain clouds
Tempestas, ancient Roman goddess of rain storm
Tien Mu, Chinese goddess of lightning
Tsetse, Zaire goddess of lightning
Tu-le’tar, Finnish goddess of the wind
Veja Mate, Latvian goddess of the wind
Wakwiyo, Tewa giddess of the wind
Whaitiri, Maori goddess of thunder
Xiu Wenyin, Taoist Chinese goddess of thunder

All of which soon engendered its own stock of unique customs and stories.

For instance, it was decided that initiates into the new cult of the Rain-mother would be sprinkled with water, rather than immersed in it.

And that mesmerizing rainbow? Why, many people came to think of it as some spectacular bridge that actually connected this, well, now ever so lowly place with the Great Mother’s real realm in the sky.

In fact, some people appear to have gotten a story going that it was down this very span that the Ultimate One in her newly revealed aspect as the rain actually delivered her great, liquid treasure—quite as into some pot faithfully set up by all her thirsty children down at this end, you know?

Of course, as the long-established symbol of fertility, the Serpent claimed that the rain was simply one of its forms and tried to claim the rainbow as its own symbol up there—causing many people to suddenly start speaking of the ‘Rainbow Serpent’.

But others dared to point out that the wind moving the rain-clouds all about was what actually initiated the whole fertilizing process; hence Our Lady of the Wind should be viewed as the real Ultimate One, they argued most vociferously.

Which in time led them to tell of this Great Bird that was as dark as the rain-clouds themselves, while her beating wings veritably made the wind, her flashing eyes the lightning, and her wild call the thunder as she periodically swooped down from her Mountaintop Nest on her mission of regeneration and delivered the rain wherever it was needed, before finally returning to her Primordial Egg up there; from which everything had really hatched in the Beginning, they claimed triumphantly!

Furthermore, the Great Mother’s true sign up there, they pressed on, was this Great Cross that was naturally formed of her body and wings as she passed overhead—not that silly rainbow, which simply revealed that the Serpent, or Pretender was attempting to scale Paradise!

Scarcely to mention, of course, that anyone worthy of that place would actually be issued wings.

“Beware the divine whirlwind!” they typically cried—while suddenly brandishing this cruciform statuette of a beaked, bosomy figure with outstretched wings seemingly reaching to embrace the whole world, save for an unhappy snake gripped tightly in its talons, or sometimes its beak.

So now check these out.