1) In ancient Babylon, the goddess-mother was seen as the dwelling place of God and was called names meaning "tabernacle" or "temple." She was seen as embodying all power, grace, and goodness.
2) When the goddess died, she was sometimes represented as a dove to symbolize her gentle, benign nature. Doves were seen as symbols of the divine spirit that hovered over creation.
3) The goddess as a dove holding an olive branch referenced both the divine spirit and the story of the flood. The dove and olive branch came to be symbols used to represent her.
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Zemir amit ; means "the branch-bearer.
1. ( The Myths Likes Data Acquired from
www.Google.com ) .
…………………………………………………..
Even when Vesta is identified with fire, this
same character of Vesta as "The Dwelling-
Place" still distinctly appears. Thus Philolaus,
speaking of a fire in the middle of the centre of
the world, calls it "The Vesta of the universe,
The HOUSE of Jupiter, The mother of the
gods."260
In Babylon, the title of the goddess-
mother as the Dwelling-place of God was
Sacca,261
or in the emphatic form, Sacta, that is,
"The Tabernacle." Hence, at this day, the great
goddesses in India, as wielding all the power of
the god whom they represent, are called "Sacti,"
or the "Tabernacle."262
Now in her, as the
Tabernacle or Temple of God, not only all
power, but all grace and goodness were believed
to dwell. Every quality of gentleness and mercy
was regarded as centred in her; and when death
had closed her career, while she was fabled to
2. have been deified and changed into a
pigeon,263
to express the celestial benignity of
her nature, she was called by the name of
"D'Iuné,"264
or "The Dove," or without
the {p.79} article, "Juno," the name of the
Roman "queen of heaven," which has the very
same meaning; and under the form of a dove as
well as her own, she was worshipped by the
Babylonians. The dove, the chosen symbol of
this deified queen, is commonly represented
with an olive branch in her mouth (Fig. 25269
), as
she herself in her human form also is seen
bearing the olive branch in her hand;265
and from
this form of representing her, it is highly
probable that she has derived the name by which
she is commonly known, for
266
When the
3. goddess was thus represented as the Dove with
the olive branch, there can be no doubt that the
symbol had partly reference to the story of the
flood; but there was much more in the symbol
than a mere memorial of that great event. "A
branch," as has been already proved, was the
symbol of the deified son, and when the deified
mother was represented as a Dove, what could
the meaning of this representation be but just to
identify her with the Spirit of all grace, that
brooded, dove-like, over the deep at the creation;
for in the sculptures at Nineveh, as we have
seen, the wings and tail of the dove represented
the third member of the idolatrous Assyrian
trinity. In confirmation of this view, it must be
stated that the Assyrian "Juno," or "The Virgin
Venus," as she was called, was identified with
the air. Thus Julius Firmicus says: "The
Assyrians and part of the Africans wish the air to
have the supremacy of the elements, for they
have consecrated this same [element] under the
name of Juno, or the Virgin Venus."267
Why was
air thus identified with Juno, whose symbol was
that of the third person of the Assyrian trinity?
Why, but because in Chaldee the same word
4. which signifies the air signifies also the "Holy
Ghost" The knowledge of this entirely accounts
for the {p.80} statement of Proclus, that "Juno
imports the generation of soul."268
Whence could
the soul the spirit of man be supposed to have its
origin, but from the Spirit of God. In accordance
with this character of Juno as the incarnation of
the Divine Spirit, the source of life, and also as
the goddess of the air, thus is she invoked in the
"Orphic Hymns":—
"O royal Juno, of majestic mien,
Aerial formed, divine, Jove's blessed queen,
Throned in the bosom of caerulean air,
The race of mortals is thy constant care;
The cooling gales, thy power alone inspires,
Which nourish life, which every life desires;
Mother of showers and winds, from thee alone
Producing all things, mortal life is known;
All natures show thy temperament divine,
And universal sway alone is thine,
With sounding blasts of wind, the swelling sea
And rolling rivers roar when shook by thee."270
Thus, then, the deified queen, when in all
respects regarded as a veritable woman, was at
5. the same time adored as the incarnation of the
Holy Ghost, the Spirit of peace and love.