Speaking of ancient Greek Athena, the Encyclopedia of Myths notes the following: «The powerful, terrible, owl-eyed goddess of the archaic… she demands sacred reverence for herself, no mortal can see her.»
Note that the most ancient Egyptian goddess of the first dynasties (beginning of 3 thousand BC) – Nate (Neath) was an analogue of Athena. Recall that it was her image in the temple of Sais that was always covered with a veil. The name of Nate’s late hypostasis, Nephthys, sounded like «Lun.» Nate herself was the patroness of the city of Lunit, which the ancient Greeks also called Latopolis – the city of Lato (Lunit).
Let us specially repeat that Herodotus identified Neith with Athena, and that the Hittite-Hurite goddess «Shavushka» (Owl) is close to Neith. In connection with the city of Lunit, we present the text of a Russian ritual song, which became by the beginning of the 20th century children’s nursery rhyme»:
Owl is an owl, big head,
Sits on an oak tree, turns his head.
Little owl, little owl – a big head,
Where have you been, who have you seen?
I flew, owl, a big head
To a feast, to a gazebo.
They saw me as a little owl – a big little head,
Two white moon, two lovely friends.
Loonies are also owls, one of their varieties. Apparently, their name directly unites these birds with the Moon, with lunar cults.
In this context, it is interesting that the image of the Sumerian Ishtar (Lilith) with owl’s wings and paws, standing between two owls (beginning of the 2nd millennium BC), is perceived as a direct illustration of the above «nursery rhyme».
Perhaps it was this structural scheme, born in deep Paleolithic antiquity, then, with the development of cattle breeding and the domestication of the horse, was replaced by the one we know well – the Mother Goddess with two horses or two riders on the sides.
Note that Athena was called: Pandros (All-Moist), Aglavra (Light-Air), Agravla (Poleborozdnaya).
Agricultural holidays were dedicated to Athena: Procharistoria (sprouting of grain), Plinteria (the beginning of the harvest), Arrephoria (giving dew for crops), Scriphoria (aversion to drought).
Summarizing the above, we can conclude that Athena as a whole retained the main features of the ancient Mother Goddess, the Owl-Mother-in-law.
Interestingly, Athena’s name is not derived from Greek. Its pre-Greek origin is suggested.
Let us assume that this name originated from the term «Owina».
There is good reason to believe that in a patriarchal society, many of the sacred terms of matriarchy have been recoded into a masculine version. So the name of the barn «Shish» clearly replaced a completely different term meaning the female genital organ (the symbol of which in Polish riddles was the Owl).
Here it makes sense to recall again that in the Russian folk tradition, the «name day of the barn» was celebrated on the days of Thekla Zarevnitsa (September 24) and the Most Holy Theotokos (October 1), and the Ir rune, which looks like a schematic representation of an ancient barn, was a sign of the feminine principle and was understood as «Comprehensive». Then Ovina or Avina will be the same as Ovinnitsa, that is, «The Mistress of Ovin.»
Another argument in favor of such an assumption is the fact that Athena (as the Great Goddess – Mother) gives and takes life. But in Sanskrit, the term «avi» means «pain, suffering, and labor pains». Recall that in the Old Russian folk tradition it was customary to give birth in a barn.
Since Sanskrit is extremely close to the Russian language, we use its terms to clarify this situation.
Av (avati, ava, avit) —
1) contribute
2) saturate
3) protect
4) desire, love.
Ava – to rush, descend, favor.
Avata – pit, burrow.
Avati – earth, soil, base.
Avi – pain, suffering, labor pains.
Avinacin – eternal, everlasting.
Of no less interest is the word «Sova».
We look close to him Sanskrit phonemes:
Sava —
1) revitalization, excitement
2) sacrificial rite
Sava – squeezing soma.
Savana – 1) revitalization, excitement
2) a sacrificial rite.
And here it is appropriate to recall the wedding ceremony, preserved in the Russian tradition, where beer was prepared and drunk in the barn.
Savana – wooded
Savana —
1) fire
2) hell.
Savitri —
1) producer
2) mother.
Sva – his, her, them, to have.
Saviman —
1) setting in motion,
2) awakening,
3) an indication,
4) direction.
Savidya is endowed with knowledge.
Savicesana – endowed with special properties
Apparently, Mother-Sva of the Vlesova book is the Mother-Owl of deep Paleolithic antiquity, the Goddess of life and death, the Owl-Mother-in-law of the Vologda and Vladimir ritual songs.
But there is also:
Sauva – heavenly (about sound),
Suvari – giving birth to someone
Savega – fast, impetuous,
Savisa – poisonous, poisoned.
It makes sense here to remember that in the zoomorphic incarnation Athena, Neith, Lilith is not only owls, but also snakes that the palace of the Minotaur in Crete was guarded by an owl and a snake. That the plot of the goddess with snakes in her hands was preserved in the North Russian embroidery until the 20th century. And that snakes eat mice too, and owls hunt snakes.
And an owl carrying a snake in its claws is a common sight, so it’s okay to call an owl a poisonous one.
In the North Russian dialects there is such a name for an owl as «Guha», supposedly repeating the cry of this bird. But if we again turn to Sanskrit, it turns out that: Guh – shelter, cave.
Guhya – to be hidden, hidden, mysterious.
Guha-caya – living in a secluded place, in a cave, kept in secret, intimate.
Guha – heart (remember that it is the heart of an owl that is considered to be what can make a sleeping person talk about his innermost dreams and secrets).
And finally, guha is an epithet of God Shiva – the Creator and Destroyer of the Universe.
In addition, Sanskrit has its own name for the Owl – Kaucika (literally «having clawed paws»). Based on the terms of Sanskrit, we can assume the following semantic series: the sacrificial rite (sava or savanna) associated with fire (savana) consisted of squeezing out soma (sava) and reviving, arousing (sava). Soma (beer) is strained through a straw grate (kauca), standing on a bed of straw (kusa) in a barn, warehouse, granary (kucala). This drink made from grains (barley, rye, wheat) and hops gave health, dexterity, intelligence, experience, happiness and goodness