One of the most important deities of ancient Egypt, Isis held several roles. Not only was she a principal deity in the rites connected with the dead, but she was also a magical healer, and as a mother figure and arbiter of fertility rites, she was a role model for women. Isis was the daughter of the earth god Geb and the sky goddess Nut and was married to Osiris, King of Egypt, whom she restored as a mummy after his brother Seth threw him in the Nile and then chopped him into pieces.
Forget Mother Earth: the Hindu goddess Durga ("the inaccessible") is considered the mother of the universe. It's only right that such a powerful deity have at least eight arms, ride a lion, and be able to defeat demons that other gods cannot. It's also fitting that the beautiful protective-warrior goddess have a festival in her honor each year: Durga Puja is celebrated, primarily in eastern India, during the harvest season.
She had a human head but the body of snake. Or a fish. In Chinese mythology, Nu Gua (in one story Nu and Gua were considered the first human beings on earth) was the patroness of matchmakers, meaning she established the norms for marriage and developed the rules of conduct between the sexes. But she did much more than that. Pillars of heaven need refurbishing? Nu Gua fixed them. Corners of the earth broken? Nu Gua brought her tool kit of a tortoise and melted-down stones. She even built a palace made with material prepared by mountain spirits.
While the ancient Greek poet Hesiod didn't use the words "Captain Planet" to describe Gaia, if anyone deserves the title, it's her. Hesiod writes in his Theogony that she showed up after, but is not the child of, Chaos. "Broad-bosomed Earth (Gaia), sure-standing place for all / The Gods who live on snowy Olympus' peak" creates the sky, the mountains, and the sea. That sky (Uranus), "an equal to herself," is not just her offspring; he also becomes her husband. Despite this, she has won a rightful spot on another of our lists: Best Moms.
Coatlicue is multifaceted. As Coatlicue she is the Aztec earth goddess, creator and destroyer of earth, mother of gods and mortals, the one who gave birth to the moon and stars. But she is also called Teteoinnan, the "mother of the gods," Toci, "our grandmother," Cihuacoatl, the fearsome goddess of childbirth and patron of those women who die in birth, Tonanantzin, "our mother," Tlazolteotl, the goddess of sexual impurity and wrongful behavior and simply, "Snake Woman." Additionally she is also known as the goddess of fire and fertility, of life, death and rebirth, and mother of the southern stars. Fitting for a goddess of such vast meanings and responsibilities, her appearance is... complex. As snakes symbolize fertility, her face is said to have been of two fanged serpents, her skirt of interwoven snakes. Her breasts are depicted as flabby, for she nourished many. And, as the earth consumes all who die, her necklace is made of human hearts, hands and a skull. Yeah, not exactly the portrait of a loving mother.
Ninsun
Gilgamesh son of Ninsun
Ninsun means Lady Wild Cow, which implies bovine form. But the Sumerian deity was actually called many things: "the flawless cow," "the wild cow of the enclosure" and "the mother of good offspring that loves the offspring." It's said that she was the divine power behind the qualities that herdsmen hoped for in their own cows. But she wasn't just in cow-like form. She was also represented in human form and could actually give birth to humans, including (legend has it) to Gilgamesh, one of the great mythical Mesopotamian kings.
The Akan people of West Africa regard Asase Yaa as Mother Earth, the earth goddess of fertility and the upholder of truth. When a member of the Akan tribe wants to prove his credibility, he touches his lips to the soil. Another tradition holds that because Thursday is reserved as Asase Yaa's day, the Akan generally abstain from tilling the land on that day.
Danu is said to have literally suckled the gods. In Irish mythology, she is mother of the earth, the gods, fertility, wisdom, wind and of all the Celtic people. The story of Danu lingers with her offspring, Tuatha De Danann, or people of the goddess Danu, who in Irish folklore are known as the fairy people who are skilled in magic. When the Tuatha De Danaan reached Ireland's shores to wage war against the Fir Bolg — a race of evil giants — Danu provided them sustenance, life and law.
Being born into the mythical equivalent of a modern day dynasty has meant that Artemis has lingered in memory. A key deity in Greek myth, she was the daughter of Zeus and Leto and the twin sister of Apollo, the sun god. Most commonly thought of as the goddess of the hunt, she is often depicted with a quiver full of arrows, and accompanied by a deer or a bear. However, Artemis could also refer to a number of other deities, depending on the time period or the region — and many of them had a more nurturing role. The Ephesian Artemis — revered in modern day Turkey — for example, was originally worshiped as a great mother goddess, and pre-dated the Artemis that was eventually revered in Greece. Later on, Artemis filled another mother role, sometimes being associated with childbirth and rites of fertility.
Frigga, wife of Odin, is a matronly figure in Norse mythology, associated with the hearth, the mead hall and childbirth. But while that seems a boring portfolio, it's an important one given the violence and instability of Scandinavia in the dark ages. Frigga is also remembered in the context of her spinning wheel, twining the threads of fate that tie all humanity.
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