Apuleius, The Golden Ass
Goddess, we know you by so many names:
Ceres, Mother of the Harvest, you who in the joy
of finding your lost daughter gave a new diet
to our forebears, no longer acorns to eat but
nourishing bread raised in fertile soil; and Venus,
inventor of that clever way of luring us to procreation;
and Artemis, the physician who eases women's birthing pains;
and Proserpine to whom the owl cries in the night.
We have many names for all of you, and all
are your true names. We have many rituals
for you, and all are your true rituals.
There is no end to you, Goddess, heaven's queen.
~Apuleius, The Golden Ass
On this day in ancient Rome, (April 24) a ritual was celebrated to beg protection for the sprouting grain. Subject at this stage in its growth to mildew and other diseases that could devastate the crop, the grain was vulnerable - and so were the people who depended on it.
Propitiatory sacrifices and prayers that the Goddess protect her children were part of this festival, called the Robigalia. The Goddess, who could turn a deaf ear to her children's cries had to be encouraged to show her more beneficent side.
There is no one way to honor the feminine, just as there is no one name that defines all aspects of the goddess. Over and over, ancient writers remind us of her multiplicity - the many names under which people have invoked her, the many images they have had of her, the innumerable stories they have told of her. None is more or less true than another. Finding her means being aware, in every moment, of her varying and dynamic powers.