Never Late to Return to Roots or Rewrite the Herstory
For a very long time I have been thinking what collective memory Armenians hold in their sub or unconsciousness — that of Goddess (which values all life forms ) or that of her denial (that brings chaos and destruction)? The answer is important as the choice between the first or the second is what defines the course of history for any people.
Most probably Armenians made this choice millennia ago as the founding legend of Armenians — Hayk & Bell hints us. The only question was whether the choice was pro or against the Great Mother. The choice presumably was made when Hayk long time ago travelled from somewhere near Babylon to the lands of his ancestor Noah near mountain Ararat. The legend tells us that he travelled there to keep his family and everyone who followed him away from the tyrant Bell of Babylon. Then Bell, apparently offended by Hayk’s move, travelled after him to defeat him and supposedly to restore his honor. The battle took place some 4500 years ago near the lake Van. Hayk won the battle. And this became the founding story of Armenians.
Whether a historical fact or a myth, narratives in legends are important, and almost any people have their own founding legend. As mentioned earlier, these narratives shape the course of history. As such, the great shift from Goddess traditions to patriarchy is all about narratives which I have discussed earlier in this blog. Everything else such as destruction and massacres followed these narratives.
Back to Hayk. Interestingly enough Hayk is also known as the great patriarch — ‘nahapet’ in Armenian. But this doesn’t convince me that he carried patriarchal values. In fact, this adjective can be a later addition under the influence of patriarchy. What I am inclined to believe based on my reading and feeling is that Hayk decided to leave not only Bell’s tyranny, but the gradual decline of Goddess belief in and near Babylon.
For one reason, patriarchy crept in to the Fertile Crescent region through techniques such as creating consorts to the Goddess (which would later completely oust out the Goddess from all narratives). Baal — whose name could be the root for Bell, was one such god-consort of Mother Goddess. Another one was Dumuzid (might be similar as Baal), who tried to usurp Goddess throne, while she was in underworld for personal matters. As a result he was punished for that attempt by being forced to spend half of the year underworld himself.
And so this gradual shift towards patriarchy could be the greater reason for Hayk trying to keep alive the Goddess belief and thus moving to what he thought a more peaceful and just land a few kilometers to the north. After all this area in the north, geographically known as Asia Minor, part of which historically was Armenian Highland, even centuries after Hayk, was still full of peoples with Goddess beliefs — sun goddess Arinna of Hittites, Mountain Mother Cybele of Phrygians. Of course later the patriarchal shift crept into this region as well. But back then, when Hayk moved in, Goddess beliefs most apparently were well alive and widespread.
One thing that confused me in this story is the comparison of Hayk with the Orion constellation that is in a threatening position to the Taurus (Bull) constellation. This can be a later addition to the story. After all Bull had been a Goddess symbol. So this conflicting position in the sky would make me question Hayk’s position towards the Goddess belief. However, the change of narratives had impacted our perceptions in the sky too. After all Goddess symbol initially was the cow, which then under the slow patriarchal shift changed to the male form — the bull, and then completely became a tool for abduction of women/female deities as we remember from the story of Zeus turning into a bull to abduct Europa. Similarly the Taurus-Bull in the sky could represent Bell for Armenians opposed to which is Orion-Hayk.
There is also an interesting interpretation of the origin of the name Hayk. Some sources mention Haya being the root for Hayk and Hayastan (‘Armenia’ in Armenian), which in its turn is mentioned to be the water goddess. Such goddess was also present in Greek mythology — Aia. The Greek word Hagia (as in Hagia Sophia - Holy Wisdom) could have emerged from this.
Back to Armenians. A few more hints helped me in search for the answer as to whether or not Armenians have kept Goddess in their hearts & minds. Anahit was the powerful and most venerated Goddess in Armenian mythology, ‘benefactress of the whole human race, mother of all knowledge’. And even though many churches were later constructed in places of once Goddess temples, in many, if not all of them even today you will see the welcoming painting of the Goddess standing right in the center of the altar (she now goes with the name - Mary). This could be the best demonstration of continuous sub or unconscious veneration or memory of the Great Mother by Armenians.
The whole world, including Armenia, much like millennia ago, is now again challenged with the choice of submitting to tyranny of patriarchy - that brought with it hierarchy, loss of value of life, climate crisis, endless conflicts, or choosing the way of Goddess — that respects all forms of life, and nurtures harmony among all. This choice was made by Armenians (and maybe other peoples too) long time ago. Now is the time to remind ourselves about it and live by it to overcome the global crisis that we all face.
