Goddess Rhea on How to Make the World Better for Humanity
Summary of contents: Goddess Rhea Mythology | Arrival and Appearance | Only Nature-Based Test | Purpose of Prayer | Goddess of Arabia | On Matters of Abundance | Rhea's Message to the World
Festival Day - 28 June & 11 August
Goddess Rhea Mythology
Rhea is listed in Hesiod's Theogony 'Birth of the Gods' among the first generation of Gaea's and Uranus' children. Sister and consort of brother Cronus, she is often described as the goddess who presides over the seasons, harvest and abundance.
As mother of Zeus and Hera, protectress of her son, she is also the patron goddess of motherhood, childbirth and nurturing.
Perhaps as a consequence of her fierce defiance of Cronus, Rhea most often is the designated goddess of women.
Classification note: Rhea is not strictly an Olympian goddess, according to Hesiod's list of Goddesses and Gods. Since that classification cannot be independently confirmed, this site regards all Gods as Olympians.
Mythological references to Goddess Rhea
Goddesses, Gods and You
What kind of Heaven do you expect. Soft fluffy paradise of eternity, or oblivion of nothingness? Out-of-body survival expert Margo Williams discovered a surprisingly simple system of management and afterlife recycling.
There are many goddesses and gods in the community. Speaking their name aloud evidently sends a signal; creates a link to wherever they are at any given moment. If it works for you as it worked for Margo, and they respond, be respectful but be yourself. Honesty and thoughtfulness are appreciated.
Sacrifice nothing but your time. Most of them seemed approachable and appreciated being remembered.
The ancient temples that still can be found in some places, although mostly broken, are huge monumental structures; impressive sacred spaces, their scale designed to impress, to be worthy of divine visitation.
However, it is not the size and splendour of any sacred space but the sincerity of the person seeking contact.
"Rhea is a Titan goddess, mother of the Olympians?" asked Nick Hammond
Rhea Arrival and Appearance
"So Hesiod claimed in his book on the story of the Gods. She didn't ever confirm this to be so.
On first arrival, I felt someone stroke the top of my head. Then a cluster of tiny stars formed a twinkling silvered outline of a female with long flowing hair.
Face and body formed, dark eyes, toned skin; hair changed colour from star silvered to red brown. Strands of stars wove into golden cloth to dress her body in a long off-one-shoulder robe.
I guessed her age as thirty-something.
"You, with the pretty soft hair have a great gift," she gestured. "You hear and experience. May you always appreciate this."
Rhea stepped close, she hugged me. "I thank you for welcoming me. I embrace you. I trust my presence soothes you." Golden robe sparkled as she moved. "Come with me." I saw no jewellery worn on her smooth skin.
We arrived in open country, on a grassed ridge overlooking a wide river valley. A lone oak tree provided shade from the warm sunshine.
From the ridge-edge we looked down over the valley, saw a farmstead and barns; woodland, dark flowing river. A family of swans steered its currents, six cygnets in the water close behind their mother.
"Your life so far has been like that river," Rhea gestured.
I thought it looked too peaceful.
She smiled like she saw that thought. "Whirlpools and rough water, with some smooth water in between," she added. "But no mortal ever walks through life without a little annoyance; a little irritation."
Only Nature-Based Test Rhea Ever Set
She turned to me. "You appear to have had more than most. You can now make a decision. You can come and work for me, leaving your physical body behind."
I looked at her, surprised by the offer.
"No more tests. Neither would you face any monsters, as you refer to them. I know how terrifying those can be."
She waited for my answer but I made no reply.
"Surely you would rather come with me?"
I thought about that.
"You would exist in another dimension. There would be no discomfort and no terrifying experiences."
"Mighty one," I said. "I would rather face the monsters than give up the work I’m doing now, which brings me happiness."
She remained silent for a long uncomfortable time, long enough for me to reflect on what I had said, and think again.
"That was a test," she said at last. "But if you did not have the work to do, I would have you with me."
She gestured. "Now, bring me twenty different flowers."
‘That is easy,’ I thought; flowers bloomed everywhere.
"Each must be different," she added.
I roamed picking flowers, buttercups and daisies and dandelions; there were lots. Looked in the farmhouse garden and soon gathered a small bunch in my hand: one, two, three, as many as nineteen but needed one more.
Searched everywhere, found nothing else. Looked in the vegetable garden, saw something but instantly discounted it. ‘I can’t give her a cauliflower.’
So, I chose to take the nineteen and so fail her test.
Rhea stood waiting by the farmhouse gate. I approached carrying the bunch of flowers, less than what she had asked for.
‘Get the cauliflower!’
I ran back to the vegetable garden, broke off a big head from its root and returned to present Rhea with the full twenty.
"There is always an answer to every problem," she said. "You have to be wise."
Offers of employment came unexpectedly often.
Other goddesses and gods offered the opportunity to work for them. Rhea’s offer indicated that working for a god or goddess is among the options for what is next available.
Purpose of Prayer
Our time together during the months that followed mostly was spent in my world. Through which she moved easily, unseen unless she wished to be. And so I acquired some insight into her nature.
Rhea revealed an interest in human community,
What most concerned Rhea, so far as I saw, was not the earth’s fertility but the challenging experiences women face in our world. Most Titans expressed dislike of mortals but Rhea, assuming she is a Titaness, is interested in people.
We arrived inside a large plain-furnished gloomy room pungent with furniture polish. A few hard-looking chairs and a refectory table, figures on crucifixes hung on walls.
The Virgin Mary stared out from a large portrait painting dominating the room.
A door banged open, a young woman fell into the room close-followed by a hard-faced female dressed in black nun’s habit.
The nun roughly forced the girl into a chair and subjected her to a haircut. Soft curly hair shorn down to rough-cut stalk stubble; then she was handed a sack apron.
The nun dragged the girl back out into a long stone hallway.
Rhea gestured that we follow. The nun pushed the girl head-first toward a bucket on the floor, a scrubbing brush and bar of soap lay ready beside.
“Scrub!” yelled the nun.
We watched. Time passed as if Rhea speeded it up in fast-motion then slowed again with a gesture of her hand, as the girl scrubbed floor paving-stones to the hallway’s distant end.
She looked tired, hands red-blistered and sore. She stood to face a picture on the wall. The Holy Mother stared back, eyes unsympathetic.
The girl didn’t see the second nun approach.
She carried a small w..p and thrashed it hard down across the girl’s back. “Do it again!” said the nun. “You were not praying as you scrubbed, and our Lord needs your prayers.”
"This is unnecessary," said Rhea.
The girl picked up bucket and brush then was force-marched back to the start. “Do it again!” repeated the nun.
I heard and saw no more but felt Rhea’s hand on mine.
Smell of soap and sound of bristle on stone vanished, only Rhea’s soft voice as we exited. "Where we are it is perfection," she said. "Where you are, be thankful you do not have the extreme heat or extreme cold. Yet I know you may think you do sometimes."
Goddess of Arabia
We arrived at our next destination, stepped into a dusty city street of pale buildings near a mosque.
Sun high and bright over its towering minaret. Rhea, golden gowned pointed across the street.
The mosque door banged open. Two heavy-set men dragged a veiled female down the steps into the road. A third man with rolled sleeves followed them and stood behind the woman.
He carried a w..p. He seized her veil, ripped the cloth from her back, and took aim at exposed flesh.
A crowd of people gathered to watch.
"She spoke against her husband," Rhea interpreted. "This is what happens to women, though not always publicly."
The w..p-wielder added a final spiteful sweat-showered finale then left the weeping girl cowering on the road. No older than the novice nun.
The men irritably dispersed the crowd then returned inside the building but a small group of veiled women remained. They clustered around the girl, helped her stand.
Rhea approached them. To my surprise, all five women turned as if they saw her, too. "You should not hide your beautiful faces like this," she said.
I heard Rhea speak to them in my language, but each woman responded as if they heard their own tongue.
On the Matter of Abundance
That was Rhea’s concern: how daily life is made harder for young women.
During my time in her company she also expressed disappointment at the disparities in human life. The suffering of impoverished people when others who have the resources do not help, and instead gorge without sharing.
Disappointment bitter-tinged over how the super-rich seemed rarely made happy by their excessive wealth, instead it led only to ingratitude and mistrust.
We visited palatial Florida mansions resplendent with mega-pools and obese children. And we toured sparse grasslands and devastated villages in Africa without green lawns and sprinklers, where emaciated children died of hunger.
That angered Rhea. "With all the riches mortals possess, there should be no starving."
And when faced with such gross comparison I had to agree.
I saw no starving Gods, ever. Skinny ones, yes but presumed that was a matter of personal choice rather than deprivation.
Nor did I see the indifference of excess among them. Rhea seemed sensitive to and disappointed by the inequalities we humans create.
She cares about humankind.
Rhea's Message to the World
Not once did Rhea share with me any reference to her own family relations.
"I am one of the mightiest of goddesses," was all she ever said by way of personal information and what she does.
However, she did seem optimistic for the future.
To my surprise Rhea made a promise. "Your world will become a better place but it will take time, as you know it."
I don't know what happened to the Muslim wife or the young nun. Women are b....n every day somewhere in our world. And go missing, certainly too many for Rhea to rescue; which she did when possible.
But no act of cruelty escapes her notice was another message she shared.
"You think me a gentle goddess?" Rhea asked.
Truthfully I answered "Yes."
Rhea is not a gentle goddess to those who harm the vulnerable.
Thank you for your company on this short introduction to goddess Rhea. If you would like to know more about Margo Williams' experiences and suggestions for how to survive the hereafter, read this book. Now available from Amazon.
