A Mother Goddess

[Local Magpie]

Hello everyone! I recently started worshiping a Goddess who contacted me during a ritual for another Goddess. She was dancing in a field and identified herself as the "Great Mother". She is often laughing (almost playfully?) and when I laugh in my day-to-day it makes me feel more connected to her.  She has warm vibes and golden/blonde hair. I've been using The Empress tarot to represent her. She might have some kind of connection with birds. I used to hear birds chirping only after my rituals, I had an experience with a crow/raven after asking for a sign (though she didn't confirm or deny this was her) and I saw three sparrows which I felt to be a sign.

I've been told to be more open to who She might be, which until this point I haven't been very good at. She also seems to want me follow a tradition. Anyone have any ideas on who she might be?

[Zlote Jablko]

Hello everyone! I recently started worshiping a Goddess who contacted me during a ritual for another Goddess. She was dancing in a field and identified herself as the "Great Mother". She is often laughing (almost playfully?) and when I laugh in my day-to-day it makes me feel more connected to her.  She has warm vibes and golden/blonde hair. I've been using The Empress tarot to represent her. She might have some kind of connection with birds. I used to hear birds chirping only after my rituals, I had an experience with a crow/raven after asking for a sign (though she didn't confirm or deny this was her) and I saw three sparrows which I felt to be a sign.

I've been told to be more open to who She might be, which until this point I haven't been very good at. She also seems to want me follow a tradition. Anyone have any ideas on who she might be?

Makes sense, but not a lot to go off of. Lots of European Goddesses are associated with birds, including crows, ravens, magpies, doves, cuckoos, swans, geese, etc. Some like Marija Gimbutas believed in a European bird Goddess going back to the Neolithic.

Golden hair reminds me of a number of figures like the Norse Sif, Ossetian Dzerassae, and the Czechoslovak dawn maiden Zlatovlaska.

[EmberHearth]

Hello everyone! I recently started worshiping a Goddess who contacted me during a ritual for another Goddess. She was dancing in a field and identified herself as the "Great Mother".

Dea Matrona is Latin for Mother Goddess, and seems as good a place to start as any.

https://earthandstarryheaven.com/2015/03/20/matrona/

One of my friends, following the Wiccan-esque dualism, simply called the goddess "Mom" and the God "Dad."

She is often laughing (almost playfully?) and when I laugh in my day-to-day it makes me feel more connected to her.  She has warm vibes and golden/blonde hair. I've been using The Empress tarot to represent her. She might have some kind of connection with birds. I used to hear birds chirping only after my rituals, I had an experience with a crow/raven after asking for a sign (though she didn't confirm or deny this was her) and I saw three sparrows which I felt to be a sign.

I've been told to be more open to who She might be, which until this point I haven't been very good at. She also seems to want me follow a tradition. Anyone have any ideas on who she might be?

Unfortunately, many of the 19th and early-20th century sources for Paganism tend to assume that there was just one mother goddess, known by many names.

I tend to associate gold, amber and honey with Brighid and Freya, to the point that for my personal use, I'm beginning to think they are the same.

In her war-aspect, I connect Freya to the Morrigan, whose bird is the raven.

One of the best-known stories of Sif is connected to her golden hair, which Loki cuts off and then has craftsmen (elves or dwarves) make a golden wig for her.

Just as Odin is titled "All-Father," some worshippers call Frigga "All-Mother."

Both Frigga and Freya are rumored to have a feather coat or cloak that allows them to transform.  Sometimes I've read it's a bird of prey like a hawk or falcon.  But they're also connected to swans.

Idunna is the keeper of the Golden Apples in Norse mythology.  Some practitioners associate her with a child-like innocence.

That's four Germanic possibilities, one Celtic, one from Roman inscriptions, and I doubt we've scratched the surface.

While unattached virgin goddesses are a thing, many/most goddesses are considered to have spouses and children.

[Hariti]

Hello everyone! I recently started worshiping a Goddess who contacted me during a ritual for another Goddess. She was dancing in a field and identified herself as the "Great Mother". She is often laughing (almost playfully?) and when I laugh in my day-to-day it makes me feel more connected to her.  She has warm vibes and golden/blonde hair. I've been using The Empress tarot to represent her. She might have some kind of connection with birds. I used to hear birds chirping only after my rituals, I had an experience with a crow/raven after asking for a sign (though she didn't confirm or deny this was her) and I saw three sparrows which I felt to be a sign.

I've been told to be more open to who She might be, which until this point I haven't been very good at. She also seems to want me follow a tradition. Anyone have any ideas on who she might be?

Hmm. I see all the forms of Shakti as being embodiments of the singular Mother Goddess. AFAIK, none of them have blonde hair, but of course that's something a deity can change on a whim.

Ravens and other corvids are generally associated with Dhumavati, but she's also the least mother-like of the Mahavidyas and the least likely to be joyful or laughing.... so I can't say definitively that this goddess was any of the powers I work with. She could be one of them, but there's nothing that verifies that possibility.

Did this figure have any other identifying accessories? Clothing? Objects?

[Local Magpie]

Thanks everyone for your replies so far!

Did this figure have any other identifying accessories? Clothing? Objects?

Honestly aside from her hair and a motherly vibe, Not really. I think that's why I'm struggling so much to figure it out, because it's so vague.

[Starlight]

Thanks everyone for your replies so far!

Honestly aside from her hair and a motherly vibe, Not really. I think that's why I'm struggling so much to figure it out, because it's so vague.

Could it be Persephone's mother, Demeter? I believe she was the inspiration for The Empress in the Mythic Tarot, and as I read your description it was that Empress I pictured.

[Jenett]

I've been told to be more open to who She might be, which until this point I haven't been very good at. She also seems to want me follow a tradition. Anyone have any ideas on who she might be?

My primary deity work is with a deity I still don't have a name for (other than a not-at-all-useful usename) After 17 years, I'm pretty sure she's one of the many English deities associated with particular bodies of water, many of whose names we don't actually know, or are hard to tell.

Which is to say, it may be that figuring out a name other people know for a deity can be a very long process, and it's not actually essential to have a long and meaningful relationship with them.

Things that have helped me get more data:
- Trying different methods - divination, but also meditation, different ritual techniques. Astral travel work to find/create a space that was devoted to her in particular. Basically, more symbols/colours/etc. can sometimes help you move in a more specific direction.

One of the most useful things for me was a priestess and small group who were willing to try Drawing Down/aspecting for me, based on my interactions and what I knew. That actually worked pretty well: I didn't get a lot more information, but I did get a lot more certainty that what I had was accurate, and that was enough to make sure I was on reasonably solid ground with what it meant. This is a tricky one to find help for, but being open to options if/when they come up is probably worth doing.

- Trying offerings of different kinds, and keeping track of which ones were pleasing.

- Regular (I do about every six months, these days, it was more frequent when I was seeing if I could get more data) runs at doing some more research, based on the information I know, and making a point to test some of it when I can.

(One of the strongest things I have is a floral smell, and it is really really hard to track down a flower purely from the smell if you're researching. Especially since my best guess is not something that grows readily in places I've lived. So when I'm in conservatory gardens/etc. I wander around and smell things that have labels.)

- Remembering that points are points, not lines. For example, you describe several different birds, not a single bird - that could be because it's birds in general, not specific kinds, but it could also mean that one of your things you think might be related isn't, and instead it's a specific kind of bird that's relevant. More data helps with this! If your data points end up being ten different kinds of birds, that's useful info, or if it's mostly one kind of bird with a few outliers. Etc.

- A lot of agriculturally focused deities shift over the seasons, so it can be worthwhile to repeat the information gathering stuff you're trying deliberately at intervals (meditation, ritual, etc.)

And as a "If you haven't added this to your list, it might be worth a quick review", the goddess that sprang to mind when I read your comments was Rhiannon of the Birds (the deity information is a little more obscure here). Not sure if that's the right place, but wonder whether that's a useful direction for your investigation for some reason.

[Local Magpie]

My primary deity work is with a deity I still don't have a name for (other than a not-at-all-useful usename) After 17 years, I'm pretty sure she's one of the many English deities associated with particular bodies of water, many of whose names we don't actually know, or are hard to tell.

Which is to say, it may be that figuring out a name other people know for a deity can be a very long process, and it's not actually essential to have a long and meaningful relationship with them.

Things that have helped me get more data:
- Trying different methods - divination, but also meditation, different ritual techniques. Astral travel work to find/create a space that was devoted to her in particular. Basically, more symbols/colours/etc. can sometimes help you move in a more specific direction.

One of the most useful things for me was a priestess and small group who were willing to try Drawing Down/aspecting for me, based on my interactions and what I knew. That actually worked pretty well: I didn't get a lot more information, but I did get a lot more certainty that what I had was accurate, and that was enough to make sure I was on reasonably solid ground with what it meant. This is a tricky one to find help for, but being open to options if/when they come up is probably worth doing.

- Trying offerings of different kinds, and keeping track of which ones were pleasing.

- Regular (I do about every six months, these days, it was more frequent when I was seeing if I could get more data) runs at doing some more research, based on the information I know, and making a point to test some of it when I can.

(One of the strongest things I have is a floral smell, and it is really really hard to track down a flower purely from the smell if you're researching. Especially since my best guess is not something that grows readily in places I've lived. So when I'm in conservatory gardens/etc. I wander around and smell things that have labels.)

- Remembering that points are points, not lines. For example, you describe several different birds, not a single bird - that could be because it's birds in general, not specific kinds, but it could also mean that one of your things you think might be related isn't, and instead it's a specific kind of bird that's relevant. More data helps with this! If your data points end up being ten different kinds of birds, that's useful info, or if it's mostly one kind of bird with a few outliers. Etc.

- A lot of agriculturally focused deities shift over the seasons, so it can be worthwhile to repeat the information gathering stuff you're trying deliberately at intervals (meditation, ritual, etc.)

And as a "If you haven't added this to your list, it might be worth a quick review", the goddess that sprang to mind when I read your comments was Rhiannon of the Birds (the deity information is a little more obscure here). Not sure if that's the right place, but wonder whether that's a useful direction for your investigation for some reason.

Thank you this is all very helpful! It's odd that you mention Rhiannon, I had a dream about her the night before I read this.