Goddesses and Gods.wps - Welcome to Our Temple

All About Brigid
In Mexico, there are two "patron saints." The first, and foremost, with a holiday on
December 12, is Guadalupe, called variously St. Guadalupe and Our Lady of
Guadalupe. The Church now says this is the Virgin Mary who made an appearance
before a young man named Juan Diego in December 1531. She looked like an Indian
maiden and she appeared on Tepeyac Hill near Mexico City.
Although she is assumed to be the Virgin Mary, she is nonetheless called the "patron
saint" of Mexico. She is most likely nothing but the ancient Aztec goddess Coatlique,
whose holy day also happened to have been December 12.
The other saint you hear about a lot in Mexico is the mysterious "San Juan de los
Lagos," Saint John of the Lakes. There never has been such a person, of course. It was
obviously an ancient lake god, presumably the patron saint of Mexico City, which
was built on top of Lake Texcoco. He could have been Tpoztecatl, ancient god of
agriculture, or even Huitzilopchtli, sun god of the Aztecs.
All over the world, in Roman Catholic countries, you will find "patron saints" who
never existed. They are the early pagan gods and goddesses converted to Christianity
for public relations purposes.
The earliest recorded "conversion" of a pagan goddess was Saint Sophia in Asia Minor.
Very early, Christians had a hard time converting the populace of Greece and the
Hellenic cultures of the region because the people were quite happy with their
goddess, Minerva, also known as Pallas Athena, the patron deity of the city of Athens.
The word "pallas" is the ancient Greek term for a maiden. Athena is thought (by
Robert Graves and others) to be a version of Anatha, the Sumerian Queen of Heaven.
With the title of Pallas, she would have been the ancient Goddess in her maiden
aspect.
Minerva was universally called Sophia -- wisdom. So a "Saint Sophia" was invented,
and churches all over Asia Minor were built in her honor. She was even said to have
had three daughters -- St. Faith, St. Hope and St. Charity!
The entire region converted to Christianity as soon as the church declared the
region's favorite goddess to be a Christian saint.
So it really wasn't the inherent stupidity of the Irish, as some scholars allege, that