Mother Nature (sometimes known as Mother Earth or the Earth Mother) is a personification of nature that focuses on the life-giving and nurturing aspects of nature by embodying it, in the form of the mother.
Joseph Werner: Diana of Ephesus as allegory of Nature, c. 1680
Mother Nature image, 17th century alchemical text, Atalanta Fugiens
The word "nature" comes from the Latin word, "natura", meaning birth or character [see nature (philosophy)]. In English, its first recorded use (in the sense of the entirety of the phenomena of the world) was in 1266. "Natura" and the personification of Mother Nature were widely popular in the Middle Ages. As a concept, seated between the properly divine and the human, it can be traced to Ancient Greece, though Earth (or "Eorthe" in the Old English period) may have been personified as a goddess. The Norse also had a goddess called Jörð (Jord, or Erth).
The earliest written usage is in Mycenaean Greek: Ma-ka (transliterated as ma-ga), "Mother Gaia", written in Linear B syllabic script (13th or 12th century BC).[1] In Greece, the pre-Socratic philosophers had "invented" nature when they abstracted the entirety of phenomena of the world as singular: physis, and this was inherited by Aristotle. Later medieval Christian thinkers did not see nature as inclusive of everything, but thought that she had been created by God; her place lay on earth, below the unchanging heavens and moon. Nature lay somewhere in the center, with agents above her (angels), and below her (demons and hell). For the medieval mind she was only a personification, not a goddess.
In Greek mythology, Persephone, daughter of Demeter (goddess of the harvest), was abducted by Hades (god of the dead), and taken to the underworld as his queen. Demeter was so distraught that no crops would grow and the "entire human race [would] have perished of cruel, biting hunger if Zeus had not been concerned" (Larousse 152). Zeus forced Hades to return Persephone to her mother, but while in the underworld, Persephone had eaten pomegranate seeds, the food of the dead and thus, she must spend part of each year with Hades in the underworld. Demeter's grief for her daughter in the realm of the dead, is reflected in the barren winter months and her joy when Persephone returns is reflected in the bountiful summer months
Demeter would take the place of her grandmother, Gaia, and her mother, Rhea, as goddess of the earth in a time when humans and gods thought the activities of the heavens more sacred than those of earth.[2]
— Leeming, Creation Myths of the World: An Encyclopedia
Ancient RomeEdit
Roman Epicurean poet Lucretius opens his didactic poem De rerum natura by addressing Venus as a veritable mother of nature.[3] Lucretius uses Venus as "a personified symbol for the generative aspect of nature".[4] This largely has to do with the nature of Lucretius' work, which presents a nontheistic understanding of the world that eschews superstition
Basque mythologyEdit
Amalur (sometimes Ama Lur or Ama Lurra[5]) was the goddess of the earth in the religion of the ancient Basque people.[6] She was the mother of Ekhi, the sun, and Ilazki, the moon. Her name means "mother earth" or "mother land"; the 1968 Basque documentary Ama lur was a celebration of the Basque countryside.[7]
Indigenous peoples of AmericaEdit
Algonquian legend says that "beneath the clouds lives the Earth-Mother from whom is derived the Water of Life, who at her bosom feeds plants, animals and human" (Larousse 428). She is otherwise known as Nokomis, the Grandmother.
In Inca mythology, Mama Pacha or Pachamama is a fertility goddess who presides over planting and harvesting. Pachamama is usually translated as "Mother Earth" but a more literal translation would be "Mother Universe" (in Aymara and Quechua mama = mother / pacha = world, space-time or the universe).[8] Pachamama and her husband, Inti, are the most benevolent deities and are worshiped in parts of the Andean mountain ranges (stretching from present day Ecuador to Chile and Argentina).
In her book Coateteleco, pueblo indígena de pescadores ("Coatetelco, indigenous fishing town", Cuernavaca, Morelos: Vettoretti, 2015), Teódula Alemán Cleto states, En nuestra cultura prehispánica el respeto y la fe a nuestra madre naturaleza fueron primordiales para vivir en plena armonía como seres humanos. ("In our [Mexican] prehispanic culture, respect and faith in our Mother Nature (emphasis added) were paramount to living in full harmony as human beings.")[9]
In the early 1970s, a television ad featured character actress Dena Dietrich as Mother Nature. Vexed by an off-screen narrator who informs her she has mistaken Chiffon margarine for butter, she responds with the trademarkedslogan "It's not nice to fool Mother Nature" (underscored by thunder and lightning).[10]
Mother Nature appears in the 2008 sequel A Miser Brothers' Christmas voiced by Patricia Hamilton. Besides Heat Miser and Snow Miser, she is also shown to be the mother of Earthquake, Thunder and Lightning, the Tides, and North Wind. After Santa Claus was injured during one of the Miser Brothers' feuds (with some part of North Wind's henchmen secretly sabotaging Santa's new sleigh), she and Mrs. Claus make the Miser Brothers work at Santa's workshop to make it up to her.
Mother Nature appears as a recurring character in The Smurfs voiced by June Foray.
Mother Nature is often mentioned in the Garfield comic strip.
Progressive rock band Kansas recorded the song "Death of Mother Nature Suite" as a protest against industrialization.
Mother Earth appears in The Earth Day Special, portrayed by Bette Midler. When she falls from the sky and faints due to the problems with nature, she is rushed to the hospital where she is tended to by Doogie Howser and other doctors.
Mother Nature is featured in Happily Ever After, voiced by Phyllis Diller. She is depicted as the most powerful force of good in this movie, having complete control over nature, as well as the ability to create creatures from potions she makes in her sanctuary.
Mother Nature is featured in John Hancock written by Bo Bissett. She is referred to as Tara, a tribute to her name in Roman Mythology which is Terra or Terra Mater.
The animated film Epic features a character named Queen Tara (voiced by Beyoncé Knowles) who is a Mother Nature-like being.
Mother Nature is a character in the Guardians of Childhood series by William Joyce. The long lost daughter of the Boogieman Pitch, she is a young woman who can control phenomenons of nature. She stays hidden while she watches the world. Her character is expanded in the latest book The Sandman and the War of Dreams.
She appears in an ad campaign for Tampax feminine hygiene products, as a woman in a green tweed skirt-suit, handing a red "gift" to young women, who typically chase her away or beat her up, as the voiceover says, "Outsmart Mother Nature".
Mother Nature appears in a major recurring role in the seventh season of Once Upon a Time. Mother Nature is a title for the leader of the dryads. The previous Mother Nature was Mother Flora (portrayed by Gabrielle Miller). Following the death of Mother Flora at the hands of some humans, Gothel (portrayed by Emma Booth) becomes the next Mother Nature.Mother nature - a graphic novel
Mother Nature is mentioned in the hit song "It's Raining Men." by The Weather Girls & eventually remixed by RuPaul. The lyrics say she is a single woman who is to blessed... That she took on the heavens, every angel, and rearranged the sky so that each and every woman could find the perfect guy."
^Palaeolexicon; Word Study Tool of Ancient Languages;
^Leeming, David Adams (2010). Creation Myths of the World: An Encyclopedia. Vol. 1 (2 (revised, illustrated) ed.). ABC-CLIO. p. 118. ISBN978-1-59884-174-9.
^Catto, Bonnie A. (1988). "Venus and Natura in Lucretius: "De Rerum Natura" 1.1-23 and 2.167-74". The Classical Journal. 84 (2): 97–104. ISSN 0009-8353. JSTOR 3297566.
^"Mitologia - Auñamendi Eusko Entziklopedia". aunamendi.eusko-ikaskuntza.eus (in Basque). Retrieved 8 October 2018.
^Davies, Ann (13 April 2012). Spanish Spaces: Landscape, Space and Place in Contemporary Spanish Culture. Oxford University Press. ISBN9781781387962.
^Lira, Jorge A.; 1944; "Diccionario Kkechuwa - Español;" Tucumán, Argentina
^Alemán Cleto, Teódula (2015). Coateteleco, pueblo indígena de pescadores [Coatetelco, Indigena fishing town] (in Spanish) (1st ed.). Cuernavaca, Morelos.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^"This Day in Quotes: "It's not nice to fool Mother Nature"". 3 December 2010.
External linksEdit
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October 23, 2023
mother, nature, other, uses, mother, earth, song, temptations, song, environmental, organization, cambodia, confused, with, earth, goddess, this, article, multiple, issues, please, help, improve, discuss, these, issues, talk, page, learn, when, remove, these, . For other uses see Mother Earth For the song see Mother Nature The Temptations song For environmental organization see Mother Nature Cambodia Not to be confused with earth goddess This article has multiple issues Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page Learn how and when to remove these template messages This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Mother Nature news newspapers books scholar JSTOR October 2023 Learn how and when to remove this template message This article describes a work or element of fiction in a primarily in universe style Please help rewrite it to explain the fiction more clearly and provide non fictional perspective October 2023 Learn how and when to remove this template message Learn how and when to remove this template message Mother Nature sometimes known as Mother Earth or the Earth Mother is a personification of nature that focuses on the life giving and nurturing aspects of nature by embodying it in the form of the mother Joseph Werner Diana of Ephesus as allegory of Nature c 1680 Contents 1 European tradition history 1 1 Greek myth 1 2 Ancient Rome 1 3 Basque mythology 2 Indigenous peoples of America 3 Southeast Asia 4 Popular culture 5 See also 6 References 7 External linksEuropean tradition history Edit nbsp Mother Nature image 17th century alchemical text Atalanta FugiensThe word nature comes from the Latin word natura meaning birth or character see nature philosophy In English its first recorded use in the sense of the entirety of the phenomena of the world was in 1266 Natura and the personification of Mother Nature were widely popular in the Middle Ages As a concept seated between the properly divine and the human it can be traced to Ancient Greece though Earth or Eorthe in the Old English period may have been personified as a goddess The Norse also had a goddess called Jord Jord or Erth The earliest written usage is in Mycenaean Greek Ma ka transliterated as ma ga Mother Gaia written in Linear B syllabic script 13th or 12th century BC 1 In Greece the pre Socratic philosophers had invented nature when they abstracted the entirety of phenomena of the world as singular physis and this was inherited by Aristotle Later medieval Christian thinkers did not see nature as inclusive of everything but thought that she had been created by God her place lay on earth below the unchanging heavens and moon Nature lay somewhere in the center with agents above her angels and below her demons and hell For the medieval mind she was only a personification not a goddess Greek myth Edit nbsp Aion Gaia and four childrenIn Greek mythology Persephone daughter of Demeter goddess of the harvest was abducted by Hades god of the dead and taken to the underworld as his queen Demeter was so distraught that no crops would grow and the entire human race would have perished of cruel biting hunger if Zeus had not been concerned Larousse 152 Zeus forced Hades to return Persephone to her mother but while in the underworld Persephone had eaten pomegranate seeds the food of the dead and thus she must spend part of each year with Hades in the underworld Demeter s grief for her daughter in the realm of the dead is reflected in the barren winter months and her joy when Persephone returns is reflected in the bountiful summer months Demeter would take the place of her grandmother Gaia and her mother Rhea as goddess of the earth in a time when humans and gods thought the activities of the heavens more sacred than those of earth 2 Leeming Creation Myths of the World An Encyclopedia Ancient Rome Edit Roman Epicurean poet Lucretius opens his didactic poem De rerum natura by addressing Venus as a veritable mother of nature 3 Lucretius uses Venus as a personified symbol for the generative aspect of nature 4 This largely has to do with the nature of Lucretius work which presents a nontheistic understanding of the world that eschews superstition Basque mythology Edit Amalur sometimes Ama Lur or Ama Lurra 5 was the goddess of the earth in the religion of the ancient Basque people 6 She was the mother of Ekhi the sun and Ilazki the moon Her name means mother earth or mother land the 1968 Basque documentary Ama lur was a celebration of the Basque countryside 7 Indigenous peoples of America EditAlgonquian legend says that beneath the clouds lives the Earth Mother from whom is derived the Water of Life who at her bosom feeds plants animals and human Larousse 428 She is otherwise known as Nokomis the Grandmother In Inca mythology Mama Pacha or Pachamama is a fertility goddess who presides over planting and harvesting Pachamama is usually translated as Mother Earth but a more literal translation would be Mother Universe in Aymara and Quechua mama mother pacha world space time or the universe 8 Pachamama and her husband Inti are the most benevolent deities and are worshiped in parts of the Andean mountain ranges stretching from present day Ecuador to Chile and Argentina In her book Coateteleco pueblo indigena de pescadores Coatetelco indigenous fishing town Cuernavaca Morelos Vettoretti 2015 Teodula Aleman Cleto states En nuestra cultura prehispanica el respeto y la fe a nuestra madre naturaleza fueron primordiales para vivir en plena armonia como seres humanos In our Mexican prehispanic culture respect and faith in our Mother Nature emphasis added were paramount to living in full harmony as human beings 9 Southeast Asia EditIn the Mainland Southeast Asian countries of Cambodia Laos and Thailand earth terra firma is personified as Phra Mae Thorani but her role in Buddhist mythology differs considerably from that of Mother Nature In the Malay Archipelago that role is filled by Dewi Sri The Rice mother in the East Indies Popular culture EditIn the early 1970s a television ad featured character actress Dena Dietrich as Mother Nature Vexed by an off screen narrator who informs her she has mistaken Chiffon margarine for butter she responds with the trademarked slogan It s not nice to fool Mother Nature underscored by thunder and lightning 10 Mother Nature is featured in The Year Without a Santa Claus voiced by Rhoda Mann This version is the mother of Heat Miser and Snow Miser She was played by Carol Kane in the 2006 live action version Mother Nature appears in the 2008 sequel A Miser Brothers Christmas voiced by Patricia Hamilton Besides Heat Miser and Snow Miser she is also shown to be the mother of Earthquake Thunder and Lightning the Tides and North Wind After Santa Claus was injured during one of the Miser Brothers feuds with some part of North Wind s henchmen secretly sabotaging Santa s new sleigh she and Mrs Claus make the Miser Brothers work at Santa s workshop to make it up to her Mother Nature appears as a recurring character in The Smurfs voiced by June Foray Mother Nature is often mentioned in the Garfield comic strip Progressive rock band Kansas recorded the song Death of Mother Nature Suite as a protest against industrialization Mother Earth appears in The Earth Day Special portrayed by Bette Midler When she falls from the sky and faints due to the problems with nature she is rushed to the hospital where she is tended to by Doogie Howser and other doctors Mother Nature is featured in Happily Ever After voiced by Phyllis Diller She is depicted as the most powerful force of good in this movie having complete control over nature as well as the ability to create creatures from potions she makes in her sanctuary Mother Nature is a recurring character in The New Woody Woodpecker Show voiced by B J Ward She is depicted as a fairy who often makes sure that Woody Woodpecker is doing his part in nature Mother Nature is a supporting character in The Santa Clause 2 and The Santa Clause 3 The Escape Clause portrayed by Aisha Tyler She is shown as the head leader of the Council of Legendary Figures which also consists of Santa Claus Easter Bunny Cupid Father Time Sandman Tooth Fairy and Jack Frost Mother Nature is featured in John Hancock written by Bo Bissett She is referred to as Tara a tribute to her name in Roman Mythology which is Terra or Terra Mater Mother Nature is a recurring character featured in Stargate SG 1 She is portrayed as an ascended Ancient called Oma Desala The animated film Epic features a character named Queen Tara voiced by Beyonce Knowles who is a Mother Nature like being Mother Nature is a character in the Guardians of Childhood series by William Joyce The long lost daughter of the Boogieman Pitch she is a young woman who can control phenomenons of nature She stays hidden while she watches the world Her character is expanded in the latest book The Sandman and the War of Dreams She appears in an ad campaign for Tampax feminine hygiene products as a woman in a green tweed skirt suit handing a red gift to young women who typically chase her away or beat her up as the voiceover says Outsmart Mother Nature Mother Nature appears in a major recurring role in the seventh season of Once Upon a Time Mother Nature is a title for the leader of the dryads The previous Mother Nature was Mother Flora portrayed by Gabrielle Miller Following the death of Mother Flora at the hands of some humans Gothel portrayed by Emma Booth becomes the next Mother Nature nbsp Mother nature a graphic novel Mother Nature is mentioned in the hit song It s Raining Men by The Weather Girls amp eventually remixed by RuPaul The lyrics say she is a single woman who is to blessed That she took on the heavens every angel and rearranged the sky so that each and every woman could find the perfect guy A Mother Nature costume was used for a contestant in the sixth season of The Masked Singer She was revealed to be actress Vivica A Fox where she was eliminated during the two night premiere alongside Dwight Howard as Octopus and Toni Braxton as Pufferfish Jamie lee Curtis co wrote a graphic novel called Mother nature 1 See also Edit nbsp Environment portal nbsp Religion portal nbsp Mythology portalAmalur Atabey goddess Ecofeminism Father Time Gaia hypothesis Mother goddess PantheismReferences Edit Palaeolexicon Word Study Tool of Ancient Languages Leeming David Adams 2010 Creation Myths of the World An Encyclopedia Vol 1 2 revised illustrated ed ABC CLIO p 118 ISBN 978 1 59884 174 9 Leonard William Ellery 1916 Proem Lucr 1 1 Perseus Project Tufts University Catto Bonnie A 1988 Venus and Natura in Lucretius De Rerum Natura 1 1 23 and 2 167 74 The Classical Journal 84 2 97 104 ISSN 0009 8353 JSTOR 3297566 Mitologia Aunamendi Eusko Entziklopedia aunamendi eusko ikaskuntza eus in Basque Retrieved 8 October 2018 Ortiz Oses Andres 1985 Antropologia simbolica vasca in Spanish Anthropos Editorial ISBN 9788485887842 Davies Ann 13 April 2012 Spanish Spaces Landscape Space and Place in Contemporary Spanish Culture Oxford University Press ISBN 9781781387962 Lira Jorge A 1944 Diccionario Kkechuwa Espanol Tucuman Argentina Aleman Cleto Teodula 2015 Coateteleco pueblo indigena de pescadores Coatetelco Indigena fishing town in Spanish 1st ed Cuernavaca Morelos a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint location missing publisher link This Day in Quotes It s not nice to fool Mother Nature 3 December 2010 External links Edit nbsp Wikiquote has quotations related to Mother Nature Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Mother Nature amp oldid 1181202172, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
