The Earth Goddesses - Prithvi, Gaia & Sif

In many ancient religions, the #earth is often regarded as a mother-deity, since the earth is the source of life-giving boons of nature such as food (grains, vegetation), water the sustainer of life, a solid base to stand on, etc. 

All these are the attributes that are generally linked with a motherly figure. Possibly this is why we mostly have earth-goddesses, and not gods. There are exceptions, such as Geb in Egyptian #mythology, but usually in the Indo-European religions, the opposite is the case. 

Prithvi 

The goddess #Prithvi, as the personified form of the planet itself, is hailed as the provider of food, bestower of vegetation and protector of the Aryan settlements. In ancient Vedic texts, Prithvi is one of the main goddesses, although her concept remains more of an abstract one. 

In later Hinduism, especially during the era of the epics Ramayana andMahabharata, Prithvi gained a more personified image - as the mother of the terrifying demon Narakasura. 

Gaia/Terra 

In many other religions of the Indo-European pantheon, we have earth-goddesses. For example, the religion of the ancient Greeks worshipped #Gaia, the mother of all gods, and the first Titan. She is seen as the embodiment of the earth, and the creation itself in a more extensive sense. 

Gaia gave birth to her sons Ouranos (Uranus) and Oceaneous, although Ouranos is seen as her equal. Together, they gave birth to the first Titan deities, including Cronus (Saturn) and Rhea, the parents of the Olympian gods Zeus, Poseidon and Hades. 

Terra is the Roman equivalent of Gaia, although she is usually regarded in an even more abstract sense. It is from Terra that the word terrain is derived. 

Sif 

In the Norse pantheon, Sif is the personification of the earth, and the wife of the mighty #Thor, the god of lightning and thunder. Her golden hair is said to represent the golden wheat fields, which she is said to bounteously provide for the people of earth. 

NOTE: Since we post on a multitude of topics (because interesting facts can't be kept confined to any specific genre), we have decided to add a subtitle to each post, such as StuffThatMatters - Science or StuffThatMatters - Literature etc to help you quickly find out what the whole post is about. 

Thanks for reading!