Tirza Schaefer: Romance Author & Goddess Facilitator
Allat
I love to explore the Divine Feminine and write about Goddesses. For a list of those, click on the link: Goddesses. In order to become more balanced within ourselves and, through that, to bring greater balance and harmony to the world around us, we must find greater balance between the masculine and feminine energies within ourselves that each one of us possesses, regardless of physical gender or any other ways of self-identification.
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Creator Goddess & Daughter of Allah
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The Name Allat or Elat means Goddess, as Allah, or the Semitic El, mean God. Allat is mostly referred to as Allah’s daughter, along with her sisters Al-Uzza and Manat. However, in some sources, she is referred to as Allah’s wife as well. Allat, also called variously Al-Lat, Lat, Alilat and some other names, has been associated later with the Greek Athena and her Roman equivalent Minerva.
Her cult was predominantly centred in Northern Arabia and at the border to Yemen but also reached into other areas as well. Allat was considered to be a creator Goddess but held various other functions from mercy to solitude, protecting travellers, meting out vengeance, granting abundance and gifting booty from raids, as well as inflicting pain and disease on enemies.
In her temple, the common Arabian practice of casting divination arrows was a regular event and she was worshipped in the form of a granite cube. Around this shrine, the area was held sacred and it was forbidden to take any life, plant, animal or human there. This also had the advantage that all could worship without tribal blood feuds preventing anyone from having access to her shrine to pray and venerate the Goddess.
The Islamic prophet Muhammad ordered the destruction of her shrine and with him, the Goddess cult was eradicated from the Arabian peninsula. Subsequently, an era of patriarchally structured culture and religion began which still lasts to the present day.
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Allat was also associated with vegetation and grains, she is, therefore, a Goddess of creation, fertility and abundance, as well as of war and strife. She was worshipped by seven naked priestesses who circled her cubic stone in Mecca seven times, a ritual that is practised to this day in Islam by the pilgrims. The seven rounds represented the seven planets that were then known, Sun, Moon, Venus, Mars, Saturn, Jupiter and Mercury.
To this day, the men guarding the Kabaa (the cube) are called Beni Shaybah, which means son of the old woman or son of Saba. Saba, pronounced Shaybah, means midwife or wisdom of the old. At the time of the Goddess’ worship, the Kabaa was guarded by priestesses who were called Bathisheba, girls of the old wise woman, or Bathsheba, meaning daughter of Sheba.
Allat is a strong Mothergoddess, a solar deity. The black stone at the Kabaa, which looks like a vulva with a baby’s head emerging, was used by women to rub their genitals against to increase their fertility and priestesses would smear menstrual blood on it as part of the cult. In all ancient cultures in which Goddess worship was part of the religious tradition, menstrual blood was seen as powerful and used in fertility and other magical rituals.
With the rise of patriarchy, women have systematically been oppressed and the menstrual blood has been associated with contamination, impurity and strong taboos were placed on it. For example, oftentimes a menstruating woman is not allowed to be touched by a man sexually as she is considered unclean and impure. In some religions, menstruating women are not allowed into temples and their shadows are not allowed to fall on the depictions or statues of deities, etc.
At her shrine at Ta’if, Onyx stones were found and have been considered sacred to her ever since. Black Onyx is a powerful protective stone that absorbs and transforms negative energies and aids the development of emotional and physical strength and stamina. Granting strength in times of stress and grief goes well in line with Allat’s properties of helping with vengeance, granting strength and abundance, as well as good health and emotional stability.
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Solar Power
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Allat’s influence had many different areas. Amongst many other areas, she was also the protector Goddess of the dead who dwelt under the earth and, incidentally, Allatu, the Western Semitic Goddess of the Underworld, seems to be closely related not only in name. Allat was also equated with Al-Uzza at times, said to be the same and Al-Uzza being an additional title, rather than a separate Goddess.
The assumption that Allatu and Allat are the same Goddesses, one in a specific form, is a logical conclusion. Allatu’s consort was Dhu’l-Shara who was a God of vegetation and mountain springs and depicted as a lion. Thus, yellow-golden cats are associated with the solar Goddess Allat to this day. As her worship is on the rise again, white granite blocks are substituted with a white paper square and yellow-golden cats are worshipped as incarnations of the Goddess or animals with a special sacred connection with her.
Unfortunately, the surviving historical references to and evidence of Allat’s worship are sparse, which leaves a lot of room to subjective interpretation or theses that can never be proven one way or another. However, when we look at Allat as a psychical archetype, rather than an archaeological find, we have enough information to connect to this powerful energy that is hers.
Allat is a creator Goddess and she is determined and unafraid to use her powers in bestowing blessings, as much as meting out vengeance, disease and other catastrophes. She is a powerful ally in war and in peace. Referring to the fact, however, that deities are archetypes of your own psyche, it gets really interesting.
Allat is that within us that we could possibly call our inner company CEO. She manages, wields power, she is a leader in all types of situations, whether it be war or peace. She may advise you on the best farming techniques as well as infuse you with strategical insight in how to best overcome obstacles, challenges and enemies.
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A Strong Character
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Allat does not apologise for wielding this power and fully embracing it. She shows us that it is not “unfeminine” to stand up for ourselves and who or what is important to us, to set clear boundaries and yes, also be a warrior when the need arises. As she gives plentiful life, so she can take it. She can destroy as easily as she can create and when we look at this through an inner perspective, it puts all the willpower and emotional strength and resilience we need to create a life of our desire and protect it from any negative influences.
When I meditated and connected to the Goddess in order to write this article on her, I saw her as an Arabian-type woman with a character face that was not cute but beautiful with the strength of its character, the intelligence and wisdom that shone from her eyes and the fine lines around her eyes and mouth. In human terms, she was probably in her late 30s or early 40s. Her body was strong and lithe and she carried arrows in one hand and a shield on her back.
Allat isn’t the type of feminine that cuddles you and loves you up. She is the one who pushes you beyond and out of your comfort zone to show you how much strength there is inside you that you have not yet tapped into out of fear of your own power or the fear of being rejected by others who couldn’t handle your power if you fully unleashed it onto the world. Allat stepped behind me, her hand reached inside my back and held on to my spine.
There wasn’t an open wound with pain, though. She infused my spine with solar energy, letting me know, I had this power within me to carry me through all despair, pain and past all obstacles and challenges in my life. A power I sometimes doubt I possess enough of to carry me through. And let’s face it, in moments of self-pity, a kick up your backside is more supportive than consolation, as the latter allows you to wallow in victimhood in that moment.
Allat is our inner drill sergeant and general, the one who plants and harvests at the perfect time with the perfect tools, sets boundaries firmly and with complete conviction. Allat is not someone prone to self-doubt. She is self-assured, confident and convinced of her own power, skills and wisdom. That makes her a particularly great ally for anyone suffering from low self-esteem, fear of rejection and victims of abuse and gaslighting.
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In my romance novel Badass Heroes, the female MC Ricarda goes through an inner development from being scared and leaving the “dirty work” to the better trained and much more highly skilled warrior Luis. It makes sense to each stick to their own areas of expertise but when Cadda finds herself alone without her protector, she has to “man up” and go beyond her comfort zone, access her inner warrior and train, honing her skills, to be prepared to fight her own battles.
And although she has the support of seasoned warriors and brave helpers at all times, she draws on her newly gained skills and uses her strengthened mental powers and body to carry her through all trials, tribulations and challenges without which she could not have reached her final destination, no matter how many other people were there to help because some things cannot be done for you, you just have to do them yourself.
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