Goddess will follow three characters in the past and in the present day timelines of the play. These characters are related to the Triple Goddess which is made up of The Maiden, The Mother and The Crone.
Here you will find all the information we are gathering about The Mother. We’ll be sharing some of the research and character development work we are creating around The Mother as an ancient celtic goddess and as a modern Scottish woman. Do you know any Mother goddesses, past or present?
Photography by Kerstin Grunling
Goddess 
First Mother Question
IS OK TO NOT WANT CHILDREN?
Is having or wanting to have children still an essential part of what it means to be a woman?
For me it was an essential part of being a woman ,but I don’t think it is for all women.There is alot of pressure on women who don’t feel it is for them.My body felt at it’s most womanly when pregnant and breastfeeding.I think having children will be the at times the best and worst thing I have done in my life.
A lot can be learnt from ‘mothering’ relationships, whether that is with children in the obvious sense of the word, or with creations. This link leads to words on a card / deck to which I believe you have access, but while it focuses on the positives shown (never a bad thing), there are issues about control here and not letting go.
http://tabitarot.blogspot.com/2012/02/goddess-demeter.html
Motherhood is a delicate balance, I think, of nurturing and releasing and the myth of Demeter and Persephone explores this.
Who understand Demeter and who also thinks she behaves well?
Thanks for this Danielle!
Will the term ‘childless’ ever be seen as positive for a woman?
I think nowadays more young women are opting not to have children as they do not need this mothering role as affirmation of their femininity or identity. For me personally I did not want children to start with but then when I was pregnant it felt like this was what my body was made for. To see my baby at my breast, watching her grow, healthy and happy, and knowing that my body was nurturing this beautiful child, and providing for all its needs, was such a fulfilling feeling. Its hard to imagine not having that.
Interesting that the physical is so important for your thoughts on motherhood. Women are so aware of their body, it seems such an important part of the gender issues for all three of our characters. Is this the same for men? Do we need to disassociate ourselves from our bodies in order to fight for equality?
I feel that ‘disassociating’ from our bodies is potentially damaging. Men and women are not the same. Our physicality is a huge part of ourselves and our lives. Equality is about equal opportunity and ‘rights’ – it is not about being the same.
Any ‘fight’ must come from who we are, including our physical selves. And yes, I am sure that is also the way for men. Part of the fight may be in trying to gain re-evaluation for the physicality of women – disassociating makes it seem as if our physicality is negative, and if one tries it and seems to get ‘better results’ in communicating with men, that would appear to affirm negativity attached to female physicality, and be part of what should be fought.
Interesting article and comments:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2012/feb/25/child-free-women-jody-day?fb=native&CMP=FBCNETTXT9038
Hey Danielle, thanks for the link to the above article! I’ve read it and about 1/3 of the near 200 responses it has illicited thus far. It is a very hot topic indeed, and the very crux of what we are trying to discover/define/devise in relation to my character as Mother in the modern world. It appears that we are not the only people questioning what it is to be a mother and whether motherhood is the defining factor of womanhood.
As you yourself wrote elsewhere above, there is a broader definition of mothering, one that encompasses the creation aspect of motherhood without the actual having a child part. Likewise, nurturing & nourishing are not wholistically mothering attributes.
Something i find really interesting is how in the responses to the author’s article, so many of the other issues about womanhood & feminism we are exploring n the rehearsal process come up – issues revolving around lack of “sisterhood”. Why do some women, or women sometimes, seem so inclined towards knocking each other down?
Happy Mother’s Day to all you Mothers – the ones with and without children!
What did you think of the Mother’s story in the play? Anyone feeling the pressure to catch the Mother-Bus?
I’ve been on the bus for pretty much my whole adult life. It’s been a long and bumpy journey so far but I’m enjoying the ride. Some times I wish for a pit stop though, to refuel and stretch my legs. It’s a constant tearing feeling between wanting to be a good mum and wanting my freedom. I feel sometimes as though I lost my freedom as soon as I found it, and didn’t even know I had it until it was gone.
In the play, The Mother chose her freedom. Will it ever be possible to have both?
Single childless women on TV / Film / Stage / Media are always portrayed as pining for kids and the ones with kids are always shown as tired and stressed. It’s a bit depressing. The post-mother stage is often portrayed with empty nest syndrome and empty lives, or regrets for having not enjoyed them while you had them. You’ve had them too soon or you’ve left it too late. You’ve neglected your children or you’ve neglected yourself. Why so much guilt??
Wish I could find the right recipe! And I wish I could ignore the pressure that’s always around me and in my head.
This isn’t a reply to the questions raised – but a poem
God’s Sunday Lunch
I was the first
On that very first Sunday
of the world
The first
to find myself,
mid afternoon
scraping congealed meat fat
off a baking tray
with a blunt knife
in the kitchen
alone
I was the first
To wake up early
Worry about the timings,
the number of pots
the size of the trays
The first
to watch my hands grow
red and old
peeling the
white marble hearts
of potatoes
for eternity
I was the first
to brand my inner arm in lines
from the shelf of the oven
to wonder whether
there would be enough
to count the potatoes out again –
giving myself less,
to make sure there was
The first
to cut and peel and rinse and wash
to top and tail and scour and steam
to weigh and bake and stir and boil
to cut and peel and rinse and wash
to top and tail and scour and scream
the first to feel resentment
settle over me
like skin on the back
of cold gravy
I was the first-
no ancestors in aprons
with interfering yet kindly eyes
no Nigella to make it all seem
somehow divine
I was the first
to find myself
scraping congealed meat fat
off a baking tray
in the kitchen
alone
and see stretched out in front of me
two more millennia of similar Sunday afternoons
It was a first – for me- to say
Bugger this for a day of rest,
Jehovah,
here’s a tea towel sweetheart,
next week,
it’s your turn.