Also called Rheia, Mother of the Gods, Cybele (later identified).
Their story
Rhea is a Titaness, sister and wife of Kronos. Because Kronos swallowed each of their children, she went to Crete to give birth to Zeus, and gave her husband a stone wrapped in swaddling clothes to swallow instead. The Kouretes clashed their weapons so the baby's cries would not be heard. She was later identified with the Phrygian Mother, Cybele.
Best times to give to them
- The Galaxia, the Athenian festival of the Mother of the Gods, with barley porridge cooked in milk
- When protecting a child
- At the winter solstice, recalling the hidden birth of Zeus, in modern practice
What they like being given
- Barley porridge made with milk
- Honey
- A drum or tambourine played for her
- A smooth stone
How to honour them
- Pray for mothers who protect their children against harm.
- Make a simple milk and barley porridge and offer the first spoonful.
- Drum for her, as her attendants the Kouretes did.
How they can help you
- Protecting children
- Courage against abuse of power
- Motherhood
Symbols
- tambourine
- lion
- swaddled stone
- turreted crown
Sources
- Hesiod, Theogony 135, 453-491
- Homeric Hymn 2, to Demeter 441-469
- Apollodorus, Library 1.1.5-7
More Greek goddesses
- Hera Queen of heaven and guardian of marriage
- Athena Grey-eyed goddess of wisdom and craft
- Artemis Lady of wild things and the hunt
- Aphrodite Foam-born goddess of love and beauty
- Hestia Goddess of the hearth and the home fire
- Demeter Mother of the grain and the harvest
- Persephone Queen of the underworld and the returning spring
- Hecate Keeper of crossroads and keys