Universal names of Dea and Her Daughter

Esteemed Miss Sushuri writes (emphases mine):

 

On the Name Inanna, I should say that Aristasians do not regard this as a Sumerian or Mesopotamian name, but regard Anna/Inanna is the Universal Name of the daughter, just as Mari/Marya is the Universal Name of the Mother. "Ma" names are found everywhere, in almost all cultures, for Dea; and "An" names are very universal too.

In Christianity it seems that the names are "reversed" with Mary as Daughter and St Anne as Mother. This is because of the fact that Mary is an Iconographic rather than a Thealogical depiction of Dea. She is depicted as Mother in many contexts and Daughter in many others but since Her primary form is as Mother, She has the Mother's name.

Quite some time ago I made a list of names that are variations of Ana/An/Anna:
http://www.bluecamellia.org/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=351

The list was derived from the book Goddesses in the World Mythology by Ann Martha and Dorothy Myers Imel (Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 1993; ISBN10 0-87436-715-8).

 

Nana, primordial creator. Also known as Nanan. Nigeria (Yoruba).
An(-alai-Khotun), creator goddess {sic}, Siberia (Yakut).
Nan, creator of life. Slavic.
Anta, "Lady of Heaven" possibly cognate with Anat or Anaitis. Also called Anthat. Egyptian.
Isis -- whose aliases are Amit, Anael. Egyptian.
Anaea -- alias for Anaitis, creator of life. Greek.
Anna Perenna -- giver of life; symbolizes eternity. Possibly derived from Etruscan. Cognate with Anu. Greek.
Amma, protector and creator. India (Dravidian).

Ana, mother, cognate with Anu and Ana. India (Sanskrit).
Annapurna, possibly cognate with Greek Anna Perenna. India.
Aima, great mother. Near East.

Ana, spirit of heaven. Also known as Anan, Anat and Anu. Babylonian.
Anael, ruler of astral light. Similar to Ceres, Persephone and Isis. She is called the Celestial Virgin and Sophia-Achamoth. Babylonian.
Anath, creator and destroyer of life. Mesopotamia, Ugarit, Canaan, Phoenicia, Israel (early Hebrew religion treated her as the "wife of Yahweh.")
Anatu, ruler of earth and heavens, queen of the sky. Mesopotamia (Sumerian), Armenia, Anatolia.
Iahu Anat, possibly predecessor of Yahweh. Palaeo-Hebrew. (n.b.: Iahu in Sumerian is equivalent for Isis.)
Inanna, queen of heaven. Mesopotamia (Sumerian). Also called Ininni, Ishtar, Innin, Nini, Ninni, Ama Usum Gal Ana.
Anunit, the Assyrian for Ishtar, creator.
Nana, the Sumerian for Ishtar, lit. "queen."
Nanai, the Armenian for Ishtar or Nana (see above).
Nammu, the primordial being, creator of life. Sumerian.
Nanne, mistress of heaven. Armenian.
Anua, creator of life. Tahiti (Polynesian).
Atea, mother of gods. Maori.
Atua'anna, God-mother, creator of life. Easter Island (Polynesian).
Hina, creator, mother goddess {sic}. Polynesian.
Na Ina, creator of life. Ifugao language in the Philippines.
Aima, great mother. Spain.
Aine. Irish.
Anna Livia Plurabelle, creator, lady of water. Irish.
Annis, possibly equivalent of Anu or Inanna. Celtic.
Anu, creator. Also called Dana, Ana, Danu and Black Annis. Irish.


The similar argument is being made by author Kathy Jones in her books The Ancient British Goddess and Goddess in Glastonbury (though readers should exercise caution and discernment when reading these books, which are written by a neo-pagan "feminist" who with no doubt sees all this as some kind of "collective subconsciousness".)

 

It is a curious fact that the Christian Church reversed Mary and Anne.

 

In the Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets (by Barbara G. Walker, New York: Harper Collins, 1983; ISBN10 0-06-250925-X), page 584, the article under entry "Mari" lists various occurrences of Mary/Mari/Mara throughout the ancient world. The author writes of Mari, "the basic name of the Goddess known to the Chaldeans as Marratu, to the Jews as Marah, to the Persians as Mariham, to the Christians as Mary; as well as Marian, Miriam, Mariamne, Myrrhine, Myrtea, Myrrha, Maria and Marina. Her blue robe and pearl necklace were classic symbols of the sea, edged with pearly foam." (Walker 584)

 

The article also mentions the Semitic worship of Mari-El, and Syrian worship of Mari or Meri, Slavs' Marianna or Marzanna, and Nestorian saint St. Mari the Apostle, St. Mari the Bishop (!), and St. Maura/Moera (Walker 585). In Spain she was worshiped as a "Mistress who lived in a magic cave and rode through the night sky as a ball of fire." In Scotland, there was a ruined temple on Innis Maree dedicated to "St. Mouree."

 

The author of the article lists even more interesting facts about Mary/Mari in the page margins.
 

Also there is a well-written article on the Lady Mary on Mother-God.com at www.mother-god.com/blessed-virgin-mary.html.
 

This subject is very close to my heart for a number of reasons, in particular because of how these discoveries shaped and formed not only my spirituality but also how I view the world and interact with it.  Though I was raised by largely secular and atheist parents, I always sought spiritual matters and spent my entire adolescence in various evangelical and fundamentalist Protestant churches (mostly Baptist while I was in high school, Pentecostal/Charismatic while I was in college). Through several difficult times in life during my early adulthood I began questioning my highly-informed-yet-blind beliefs in these expressions of Christianity (and also felt alienated by it as I discovered and experienced more hypocrisy and un-Christian behaviours within these churches) and explored a number of other religious "options" available to me at the time in the "marketplace": Judaism, Buddhism, Neo-Paganism and so-called Unitarian-Universalism.  One thing I knew was I could no longer follow an overtly patriarchal religion; yet I also had a serious difficulty (unlike many so-called "feminists") accepting a "mother" figure as a God (in my early childhood my mother was far more abusive and violent than was my father). Likewise, I did not consider "Mary-worship" as a viable option as I had no cultural exposure to the Roman Catholic Church nor did I find a veneration of a post-Vatican II "Mother of God" appealing.

 

One certain night, about eight years ago, after having disillusioned by just about every religion I could find I felt that I had nothing to lose by opening up to whatever the Spirit would lead. In bed I sent out a prayer so someone -- an angel, a goddess, an ancestral spirit, whoever that might be -- to reveal herself or himself. She suddenly revealed herself in a beautiful, gentle voice; and she said her name was Anna.  I did not question her much further; I was not interested in theological details as much as answers to my life's immediate problems at the time, and I explained to myself that she was an angel.  A couple of years later I encountered the book Goddesses in the World Mythology at a library and beginning to find all these variations of Anna (see the above list) and began wondering who in the heaven she is.

 

Many more years later, I find that in the ancient tradition that was the name of the Daughter of God (explained above), and thus through her I found the Lady Mary, as well.

 

May the eternal Holy Names be glorified and worthily magnified.