Egypt : 6th century BCE : the women of the Hebrew settlements in Egypt are confronted by the exiled scribe & prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah 44:16-19) :

As for the word that thou hast spoken unto us
in the Name of Yahweh
we will not hearken unto thee
instead we shall remain faithful
to every promised word
that ever flowed from our mouth
to burn incense
unto the Queen of Heaven
and to pour out libations unto Her
as we have always done
we, and our ancestors.
our kings, and our princes
in the cities of Judah
and in the streets of Jerusalem
for then we had food enough
and we did well
and evil was not seen
but since we have neglected
to burn incense
unto the Queen of Heaven
and to pour out libations unto Her
we have wanted for everything
by the sword
by the famine
we are consumed
and when we burned incense
unto the Queen of Heaven
and poured out libations unto Her
did we bake crescent cakes to offer Her
and did we pour out libations unto Her
without our men?

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As in many ancient and indigenous traditions, the Great Goddess is invoked by Her titles and epithets.

Malkuth haShamayim (מלכת השמים) - in English "the Queen of Heaven" - in Vulgate Latin "Reginae Caeli" - grew to become one of the best loved of the divine epithets that exists in the liturgy and rituals of the Catholic Madonna.

The same tradition holds true of the Panaghia of the Eastern Church.

She is addressed as Basileia, Basilissa, Anassa and Despoina - primal names of royal power that reach back to the dawn of the Minoan/Mycenaean civilisation.

This multi-layered meaning is present in many languages and on the surface may simply represent a linguistic abstraction arising from the gender of the noun yet it may spring from far deeper tap-roots and transmit some memory of matrilocal marriage in which a king is raised to power by right of marriage to an heiress of the ruling lineage : the personification of the right to rule.

The encoded phrase in early tongues may be seen to cloak a subliminal message, a cyphered thread.

One that holds profound Elysian significance for those who still have eyes to see and ears to hear ...

For the original words of the title of Malkuth haShamayim : the Queen of Heaven were strategically reinterpreted to mean "Kingdom of Heaven".

They enter into orthodox scripture in that very form ... and the Goddess is once again lost in translation.

The Greek version of this phrase that appears in the New Testament gospels is : he Basileia ton Ouranon (ἡ βασιλεια των οὐρανων).

Basileia is an ancient Greek word which meant both "queen" and "royal woman and may also denote "sovereignty" and "royal domain".

That this profound phrase should flow with the imagery of paradise itself speaks volumes ...

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Tags :

Malkuth haShamayim, Basileia ton Ouranon, Reginae Caeli, Queen of Heaven, Basileia, Basilissa, Anassa, Wanassa, Despoina, Potnia, Po-ti-ni-ja, Jeremiah, Elephantine, Anath-Iahu, Anath-BethEl, Shekhinah, Shabbat haMalka, Matronit, Asherah, Elath, Ashima, Ashima-BethEl

βασιλεια των οὐρανων, Βασίλισσα τῶν Οὐρανῶν

.:.

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ὁ λόγος ὃν ἐλάλησας πρὸς ἡμᾶς τῷ ὀνόματι κυρίου οὐκ ἀκούσομέν σου

ὅτι ποιοῦντες ποιήσομεν πάντα τὸν λόγον ὃς ἐξελεύσεται ἐκ τοῦ στόματος ἡμῶν θυμιᾶν τῇ βασιλίσσῃ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ σπένδειν αὐτῇ σπονδάς καθὰ ἐποιήσαμεν ἡμεῖς καὶ οἱ πατέρες ἡμῶν καὶ οἱ βασιλεῖς ἡμῶν καὶ οἱ ἄρχοντες ἡμῶν ἐν πόλεσιν ιουδα καὶ ἔξωθεν ιερουσαλημ καὶ ἐπλήσθημεν ἄρτων καὶ ἐγενόμεθα χρηστοὶ καὶ κακὰ οὐκ εἴδομεν

καὶ ὡς διελίπομεν θυμιῶντες τῇ βασιλίσσῃ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ἠλαττώθημεν πάντες καὶ ἐν ῥομφαίᾳ καὶ ἐν λιμῷ ἐξελίπομεν

καὶ ὅτι ἡμεῖς θυμιῶμεν τῇ βασιλίσσῃ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ ἐσπείσαμεν αὐτῇ σπονδάς μὴ ἄνευ τῶν ἀνδρῶν ἡμῶν ἐποιήσαμεν αὐτῇ χαυῶνας καὶ ἐσπείσαμεν σπονδὰς αὐτῇ

.:. ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν.:.

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