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Radha-Rhoda  ~  The History of The Goddess

This article is a continuation of my page Who Is Sri Radha and is based on the research of Bhakti Ananda Goswami. You can read his other articles on the History of Religion here. This illustrated guide to the history of the ‘World Goddess’ explores the many different Names and Forms of Sri Radha (known as Goddess Rhoda in the ancient Mediterranean). Both in the East and the West, She was worshipped as the Divine Youthful Maiden, and as Her Primary Expansions as the Mother Goddess, and the Priestess of Compassion.

Written 5,000 years ago in the Bhagavata Purana (10.4.13) She herself declares her world-wide fame:

iti prabhāṣya taṁ devī māyā bhagavatī bhuvi
bahu-nāma-niketeṣu bahu-nāmā babhūva ha

In Her majestic form as Yogamaya Bhagavati, She declares to King Kamsa “All over the surface of the Earth, I will be known in many different places, by many different names”. Thus, in cultures around the world which worship ‘The Sacred Virgin’ or ‘The Mother of Heaven’ or ‘The Goddess of Compassion’ they are actually worshiping Yogamaya, the sister of Vishnu, the expansion of Radharani. She manifests as Purnamasi in Braj-lila and as Vrinda in Rasa-Lila, and as Subhadra in Dwarka-lila. In Christianity she is worshipped as Mother Mary, and in Egypt as Mother Isis, and by ancient Greeks as Virgo, Astria or Kore, the Babylonians as Ishtar, Frigg to Germanic tribes, to Tibetans as Tara, and the Chinese as Guan-yin.

Since the beginning of written history, the Sacred Love Tradition (or Bridal Mysticism) of Radha and Krishna was at the center of the Great Civilizations of the Mediterranean and Fertile Crescent. From Sumer to Egypt to the Greek Islands, the Godhead was worshipped as a the Divine Couple Rhoda and Kouros. This Heliopolitan Religion called the Eternal Youthful God and Goddess ‘Kouros and Kore’ ‘El and Asherah’ ‘Osiris and Isis’ & ‘Dumuzid and Inanna’ throughout the ancient cities of Middle-Earth. It was essentially an emanational and incarnational monotheistic religion, meaning, all of the so-called ‘Gods & Goddesses’ were either expansions or cosmic incarnations of the Divine Couple Rhoda and Kouros. This tradition had been practiced since time immemorial by the peoples to the east of the Indus River who spoke Sanskrit. In fact the oral and pictorial Sanskrit theology is very evident in these Near-East cultures, as we will see from both archaeology, linguistics and legend.

 

 

RHODES – Radha’s Island Sanctuary

On the ancient island of Rhodes, Radha and Krishna were called Rhoda and Rhodos, Halia and Helios, Kore and Kouros, & Nymphia and Nymphos. It was a sanctuary, asyla or Elysium (Isle of the Blessed) in the Mediterranean (Middle-Earth) Sea, and was known to the Minoan traders of 3,000 BC. Here was a Rhodian-Heliopolitan Mystery School, were Rhoda and Kouros were worshipped as the Original Divine Lovers, in their Bucolic (Gokula) Paradise (Paradesh). Kouros would take his Aulos (flute) and perform the Sacred Circle Dance Rite (Caroling) in their Boukolion (garden of paradise).

Rhoda-Kore (Radha or Hare) the ever-youthful maiden, Krishna’s Supreme Consort, was known by other Egyptian-Hebrew-Sumerian-Greek-Roman names such as Sekhet or Shekinah (Shakti), Asteria, Ishtar (Astraya), Stella (Tara), Nymphia (Padma), and Juno-Juventa (Nava Yauvani). She expands into many youthful goddesses; the Kore milkmaids (gopis) Nymphs, Nyads, the Seasons, the Hours (Horae) and the Muses (Sacred Arts and Sciences) including Subhadra, Krishna’s sister, and Varuni, Baladeva’s honey-maiden, who were worshipped as Apollo’s sister Artemis, and Dionysos’s maidservant Methe. Kouros-Meghistos, the Greatest Youth, known to the Greeks and Romans as Apollo (Gopala) or Jupiter Juvenalis (Nava Yauvana), would herd Europa (Surabhi) and his 365 Sacred White Cows while playing with his brother Dionysos (Baladeva) and the Kouroi cowherd boys (gopas).

 

Isis Sekmet Seshat Sept – Radha in Egypt

To the south of Rhodes in the fertile Nile Delta arose another centre of Rhoda-Helios worship. One of Egypt’s oldest cities, called Heliopolis (the Biblical On) was said to be founded by the sun of Helios, called Actis, the father of Egyptian astrology. Worshipped here in her original form of Rhoda, she also became identified in Egypt as Iset or Isis (Ishvari) Queen of the Gods and consort of Osiris. Her expanded forms included Serket consort of Horus (Hari), Sept, goddess of the Star (Tara), Seshat (Sarasvati) goddess of wisdom and writing, lioness Sekmet (consort of Narasimha) and Qetesh (Kali-Durga). The name Isis is connected to the Hebrew Ishish (נָשִׁים), which means virgin, woman & wife, from the Sanskrit root, Ishi & Ishvari (Sri Radha).

Rhoda as Isis, the Ideal Wife or Mother. In Her form as Seshat She is Sarasvati the Goddess of Learning and as Sept or Sopdet the Star Goddess. As Sekmet and Qetesh She is the Divine Shakti of Nrshimha and Shiva

 

Rhoda Rhodanim Miriam Nymphia Sophia Shekinah Hebe

To the east of Rhodes is the Baalbek Heliopolis in Lebanon, known for its ancient ruins and colossal stone megaliths, it was another capital of Rhoda-Kouros / Radha-Krishna Worship. To the south was Jerusalem (Heru-Asylum) another sanctuary of Hari-Helios, it was known as Hierosolym to the Greeks. Here, the Song of Songs in the Bible celebrated the Divine Love Affair of the Dodanim / Rhodanim, the Sacred Wedding ‘Hierogamos Mystery School’ of Rhoda & Rhodos of Rhodes. The Hebrew-Egyptian word for beloved is MYR, Miriam, Mary, and the word for ever-youthful is NHR, Nari, Naharym, or Nymphia in Greek. This relates to Radha’s names Yauvani and Narayani. Greek and Hebrew variants of the Ever-Virgin Maiden names are Kore, Hebe, Heva & Eve. In Hebrew, Radha was also known as ‘Holy Wisdom’ or Chokmah, Sophia, Shekinah, Sarah (Sarasvati) and Egyptian Seshat.

Satkona, the Seal of Solomon, Gopala and Hecate

Amongst the Hebrews, Canaanites and Sumerians eastward in Mesopotamia, Radha’s forms changed from Nymphia (maiden of youth) and Sept & Asteria (maiden of the star) Isis and Sophia (maiden of wisdom) to Asherah, Inanna, Ishtar, Astarte and Ashtaroth. In the ancient cities of Mari, Ashur, Babylon and Ur, as the symbol of female youth, and the union of God and Goddess, She was often depicted naked, or with a Star or Satkona, the union of male & female triangles. The by-names of Shakti-Satkona-Sekhet-Shekinah include the names Hexad, Hex, Hekate, Sex and Six. The Star of David is actually the much older ‘Sat-Kona’, or six pointed star, the Gopala Yantra, the emblem of Goloka, the paradise garden of Radha and Gopala. The deviant Kali-Ma rajasic & tamasic sex & blood rituals in Babylonia became the perversion of the sattvic Heliopolitan Bridal Mysticism.

Asherah Ishtar Astarte Inanna – Radha, the Shakti of God

There was a period during the second millennium BC when the Holy Name of Eli-Yahu BAAL became ‘diabolized’. Prior to this period, Yahu was commonly worshipped as BAAL, as Apollo is with Dionysos and Artemis or Rhoda. Eli-Yahu was worshipped with His Feminine Shekinah / Chokmah Who was called Asherah, and scores of other names, Sekmet, Sophia, Sarah, Ishtar, Astraya, Astrea, Astarte, Isis etc. After this period (which has not been reliably dated) the Israelite’s no longer called Yahu ‘BAAL’, and no longer publicly worshipped the ‘consort’ or Feminine aspect. Baal has both Vaishnava and Shaivite attributes. Asherah has both Vaishnava and Shaivite related Shakti attributes. However, after the Great Trauma, we see a separating-out of these traditions into two historical streams. One in the mode of goodness, and the other with the darkness of blood sacrifice, wine and sexuality. Shiva-Shaktism apparently split-off as separate religions from the Primal Tradition, somehow during a period of religious trauma and related social crisis involving the HYKSOS Baal-Yahu and Asherah-Shekinah worship in the Levant, Egypt and Mediterranean Region. This is why the so-called ‘Left hand Tantric’ Traditions of Shiva and Shakti, have been so frequently identified with the orgiastic traditions of the late, pseudo-Dionysian Bacchants and Maenads. The Ascetic Heliopolitan Tradition of the Hierarchos / Hierophant Dionysos (Baal) became corrupted in association with orgiastic Hekate, Asherah, Astarte, Inanna worship. Thus the need for careful comparative study of both the ascetic and corrupted (orgiastic) Baal & Asherah Traditions. For example, modern Biblical scholars would cite Ashtoreth (Astarte) as the whore of Babylon, and would not confuse her with the Feminine Godhead Asherah (the form of the names being quite distinct as Asherah begins with consonant א, while Ashtoreth begins with consonant ע) However, deep in the Bridal Mysteries of Rhoda-Kouros, the Goddess of Love and Goddess of Lust find their ultimate reconciliation. Therefore, without understanding the transformations of ‘Shakti’ from Radha to Kali-Ma, the Goddesses of Love and the Fertility Goddesses became mixed and misrepresented during the 1st millennium BC throughout Greece and the Levant. In the same way the Greek Goddess Astraea or Astrea, the celestial virgin of the Golden Age, can easily be confused with Asteria, the goddess of the stars, night oracles & astrology.

Astrea Astria Virgo Sophia Mary – The Virgin Goddess of the Stars

Rhoda of Rhodes also came to be known as the Greek Goddess Astraya, Astria, Astrea or Astreus the “star-maiden” who was the ambassador of Paradise, the virgin goddess of Innocence and purity. Astraya (Tara), the celestial virgin, was the last of the immortals to live with humans during the Golden Age, or, according to Ovid, She abandoned the earth during the Iron Age. Fleeing from the new wickedness of humanity, she ascended to heaven to become the constellation Virgo. According to legend, Astrea will one day come back to Earth, bringing with her the return of the utopian Golden Age. This is strangely reflected in the New Testament book of Revelations, which describes the Queen of Heaven appearing with a corona of stars, returning to rule the new Heaven & Earth with the King of Heaven. In so many ways, The Ever-Virgin Mary is Nari-Yauvani, Nymphia, Radha the Maiden, Astria the Star-Virgin, Juno-Marina or Stella-Maris Goddess of the waters, and Rhoda-Mystica the mystical Rose-Red dressed Virgin-Bride of Krishna. We have already discussed how the six-pointed star represents both Rhoda’s Divine Love and Rhoda’s Abode of Divine Love.

Hera Juno Juventa Regina Fortuna Moneta – Radha as Laksmi

In all of Their Royal Places of Worship (e.g. the Greek Polieus and Tyche), the ever-juvenile Radha-Krishna were worshipped in awe and reverence as Prakriti and Purusha, the Universal Mother and Father of All, the Sacred Queen and King. Thus the Great Goddess of all of Humanity became Juno Marina & Mari-Miriam (Nari-Narayani), Fortuna-Lucretia-Moneta (Laxmi), Koronis & Hera (Harini) Regina (Rajani & Rani) and Basilea & Menthe (Vasudevi & Tulasi).

In Her form as the Supreme Shakti of Lord Helios-Eli, Rhoda-Sophia is associated with His Sacred Peacock. The montage below illustrates how the Roman Juno and Greek Hera ‘Queen Mother of the gods’ was typically depicted with Her Sacred Peacock. Note that She is depicted either seated with Her Peacock by Her Queen’s Throne, or in a peacock vehicle or vahana. This is important because in Indian and Oriental Vaishnava and Pure Land (Mahayana) Buddhist Iconography, Krishna-Vishnu’s Shakti as Sarasvati (Biblical Sarah-Sophia) is seated-on a Peacock Asana (Throne) or rides a Peacock vehicle.

Radha Goddess of Youth – Kore Hebe Eve Jiva

In the ancient Indian Vedic tradition, Sri Radha sometimes symbolises the soul (atman and jeeva) representing its ontological position as the eternal servant and lover of the Lord. Thus one of her Names is Jiva (the soul, who is separated from her lover, the Lord). In the ancient Hebrew tradition, the forgetfulness of the souls divine nature is represented by Adam and Eve’s expulsion from the Garden of Eden. This is also represented by the fall of ‘BA’ (the soul bird glyph) from her union with the ATON in Egyptian theology. Thus Rhoda is called Jiva, Hebe, H’eve & Eve, and the Rhodon-Rose-Red icon becomes identified with the forbidden Red Fruit or Red Apple of the Tree of Knowledge, or the Red Pomegranate seeds in the ‘fall’ of Persephone into the World of Death each winter.

Commentary by Bhakti Ananda Goswami:

Bridal Mysticism, the ‘FALL’ of the Finite Self, and the Vedic ‘ATMAN and JIVA’ as the Biblical ‘ADAM (ADON-YAHU) and EVE’, and the Afro-Egyptian ‘ATUM and ‘BA’, and as the Heliopolitan Greek ATOMOS and BIOS etc….

Only by careful study of Srila Prabhupada’s authorized books with their approved illustrations can ancient history and the theology of the World’s religions finally be understood.

This passage with its illustration of the Two Birds as Atman and Jiva in the Mystical ‘Tree of Life’ is a perfect example of how Srila Prabhupada has provided the KEY to understand the primal and ancient relationships between the various Bhakti Traditions of the Global ‘East’ and ‘West’.

In the ‘West’ of the primal Mediterranean Region Radha-Krishna and Baladeva centric Bhakti Tradition of Rhodes and Heliopolis etc., the all-pervasive hidden Form of the Lord HERU-AUSU (Biblical ELI-YAHU) was His ATUM / ATON / ATEN or ADON-Yahu or ADON-iEL Form. The Lord descends to rescue His beloved ‘fallen souls’ in the Bridal Mysticism stories of the FALL of the feminine ‘B/V soul or self. The Biblical Story of ADAM and EVE was one of these Bridal Mysteries or Hiero-gamos ‘Sacred Wedding’ Traditions of that Region. Like the Greek and Egyptian Bhakti Tradition theologians, mystics, philosophers and metaphysicians, the advanced Jewish and Catholic Devotees understood the Story of ADAM and EVE to be the Story of the ‘Fall’ of the finite feminine RECEIVER SELF from the conscious PRESENCE and RELATIONSHIP with her LOVER, THE SUPREME PERSONALITY OF GODHEAD. Thus in the Judeo-Catholic ‘Bridal Mysticism’ Tradition, the ‘FIRST ADAM’ (ADON-YAHU) or ADAM KADMON is GOD HIMSELF and ‘EVE’ (Hebrew HEVA) is a manifestation of God’s Feminine SHEKINAH / SHAKTI and the ‘Mother of all Living’. HEVA means exactly the same thing as JIVA.

It is SHEKINAH-HEVA’s / JIVA-SHAKTI’s separate enjoyment of the ‘forbidden fruit’ of the TREE that constitutes Her FALL and the FALL of all of Her Spiritual ‘sparks’ into the state of conscious separation from God in His Original Deathless Paradise.

But in the Bridal Mysticism Bhakti Traditions, God so loves His Jiva-Souls that He descends into the ‘Fallen Worlds’ HIMSELF to rescue them! Thus there are countless stories in the primal Bhakti Tradition of the Lord COMING or sending His Representatives to SAVE His beloved ‘fallen souls’!

Only apasampradaya and badly educated, unrealized Jews and Christians do NOT understand that the Biblical Story of ADAM and EVE is about the spiritual ‘fall’ of the finite Soul-Self (HEVA / JIVA) from the Presence of God, the ‘FIRST ADAM’ or GOD as ADAM KADMON (ADON-YAHU).

Looking at the historically and theologically related Bhakti Traditions in Africa and Europe, we can see that the finite soul-self and GOD were depicted as a pair of LOVE BIRDS, especially DOVES who mate for life! Thus the feminine (receiving YIN) finite ‘falling’ HEVA / EVE-soul and masculine (giver YANG) DESCENDING HOLY SPIRIT OF GOD WERE BOTH DEPICTED AS DOVES. A bird was the hieroglyph for the finite soul-self in Egypt for THOUSANDS OF YEARS, and the phonetic value of this symbol for the finite self was ‘B, which is usually now rendered BA, but this (B=V) ‘living being’ JIVA can be connected-to the Hebrew HEVA (JIVA), and BIOS, VIVOS, the Goddess HEBE and even the word to BE or BEING.

Since linguistically the B-equals-V is a common rule of sound shifting, and the original placement of any vowel sounds is unknown, by using other interdisciplinary evidence we can positively identify that the Biblical ADON / ADAM (as GOD) and HEVA Story is related-to the Afro Egyptian Heliopolitan Theology of HERU-AUSU as ATUM / ATON / ATEN and the soul-self ‘BA’. From there we can trace this to the Greco-Roman Bridal Mysticism and other related Hiero-Gamos Traditions. In the Mediterranean Region, these were ALL, including the Biblical Tradition connected to the Original PRIMAL worship of RHODA-KOUROS and BAL-DIOS / RADHA-KRISHNA and BALADEVA on THEIR Sacred LOTUS ISLE of RHODA-NYMPHIA-ASTERIA in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea.

The worship of Meghistos Helios-Kouros and Rhoda-Kore and Their Supreme Master of Divine Love Mysteries on Rhodes was absolutely historically and theologically connected-to the worship of Radha-Krishna and Baladeva in the Region of Vrndavan-Mathura in India.

By delivering the primal Bhakti Tradition of Radha-Krishna and Baladeva Worship UNCHANGED to the ‘Western World’, Srila Prabhupada has provided humanity with the KEY to unlocking ALL of the MYSTERIES of our ancient ancestors’ devotional Traditions.

For THOUSANDS OF YEARS HERU-AUSU-ATUM / HARI-VASU-ATMAN / ELI-YAHU-ADON / KRISHNA-BALADEVA-PARAMATMA was worshiped in the Mediterranean Region with Their Shaktis. The Finite Jiva Soul was considered a ‘spiritual spark’ of His Feminine SHEKINAH / SHAKTI. HE was the Lover of His SHEKINAH (SHAKTI) and Her soul-self ‘Daughters’ and thus HE was celebrated / worshiped in His Theophanies and Incarnation(s) as coming AGAIN AND AGAIN into the ‘fallen’ World of His Beloved Shekinah’s separation to SAVE HER and Her soul-‘SPARK’ ‘Daughters’ !

The Sattvic Ascetic’s Tzaddik’s, SADHAKA’S Judeo-Catholic and Greco-Roman Divine Love Mysteries were ALL originally related-to this primal Bhakti Tradition of Radha-Krishna and Baladeva worship, in which ATUM / ATON / ADON / ADAM (GOD) / ATEN was the World-Pervading Person of the HERU-AUSU-ATUM / ELI-YAHU-ADON / HARI-VASU-ATMAN GODHEAD. The Catholic Trinity is historically and theologically this SAME GODHEAD, as is the TRIKAYA of PURE LAND BHAKTI BUDDHISM.

Demeter Ceres Persephone Proserpina – Sita and Spring

Now we can see how the Eleusinian Mysteries of Persephone and Demeter were also part of the ancient Tradition of Helios-Kouros (Krishna) and Rhoda-Kore Worship. Demeter is Mother Earth (Da-Mater) who gives birth to Persephone (spring). In the same way Mother Earth gave birth to Sita-Devi when a furrow was being ploughed.

The grief of Demeter is manifest in the seasonal dying of vegetation, and by extension, the dying and mourning of all life. This is exactly what is taught in Sri Lanka, India and Nepal about Mother Earth’s seasonal Mourning of Sita Devi when She is the chaste Hostage of Ravana. The Lila of Rama’s rescue of Sita has many versions throughout the ancient World, but Sita’s final or periodic return into the Earth is a part of most of them. The Names of the feminine Goddess Rhoda included these by-names of Kore Persephone, Proserpina, Minthe-Basilea (Mint-Basil Queen Tulasi) as the kidnapped Daughter of Mother Earth (Demeter, Ceres, Sita) and the Orphic Mystery of the dying and reviving of the Earth in the winter and growing seasons.

The Goddess  500 BC – 1000 CE

Click to enlarge map

Tara Padma Harati Kuan-Yin  –  Radha & Yogamaya

From the time of Gautama Buddha (500 BC) and into the Indo-Greek Era, the original Pure-Land Buddhism of Vishnu Buddhadeva describes the eternal paradise of Gokura-ku (Goloka), a land of beauty that surpasses all other realms. It is obtained by the mercy of the Buddha of Light (Amitābha) and Goddess of Compassion (Kuan-Yin) and is said to be inhabited by many gods, men, flowers, fruits, and adorned with wish-granting trees where rare birds come to rest. Buddhist centres in Mathura, Varanasi, Ajanta, Gandhara, & Taxila were part of the Greater Heliopolitan asyla alliances of the ancient world.

NOTE from Bhakti Ananda Goswami:

Guanyin was once both ma mother Kuan Yin and father (male) Avalokiteshvara, but over time, they became confused.  So we must carefully study every murti or painting / thangka to see if it depicts mother Guanyin or ‘father’ Guanyin.  The breasts on mother and father will be drawn or sculpted differently.

The diffusion of the particular stone carving techniques from Rhodes and the Mediterranean to India and Mahayana Buddhist Asia has been well studied by art experts. King Asoka, who’s Buddhist School was based in Mathura, sent missionaries to Judea, Greece and Egypt around 270 BC. Over the centuries, the worship of sacred brass, stone and mural images of Radha / Yogamaya as the Feminine / Mother Divinity Kuan-Yin (Padma & Tara) also spread north from Taxila to Bactra, along the silk road to China, Korea & Japan by Mahayana missionaries. The Gandhara deities of ‘The Goddess’ are now rare in Afghanistan, as the Islamic conquerors destroyed many temples and works of art. However, surviving examples are shown below of Radha/Rhoda and her forms as; ‘Tara’ Nymphia-Padma with lotus, ‘Harati or Hariri’ Fortuna-Laksmi with cornucopia, and Guan-yin or Gangadevi on a dragon. Her Greko-Roman forms as Queen of the City, and of Good Fortune, are seen in Bactria. Following the silk route and into China, the sculpture and cave paintings of Padma-Tara, the Supreme Goddess of Mercy, now called Quanyin or Kuan Yin, develop their East Asian features. We find similar deities in the mountains of Ancient Nepal, and also in Tibet and South-East Asia, where Buddhist and Hindu monks brought the Goddess forms of Rhoda-Radha-Tara-Shakti during the first millennium AD.

 

The Star Lovers of Tanabata, Japan

In Japan the Tanabata Festival is the one example of how the Rasa Lila Love Affair of Rhoda-Kouros / Radha-Krishna as the STAR Lovers Asteria and Asteros has been preserved to this day via a popular yearly Religious Festival. Tanabata means “evening of the seventh” and originates from the Chinese Qixi Festival, celebrating the yearly reunion of the cowherd and the weaving maiden, or in this case, Hikoboshi and Orihime. According to the legend, weaving maiden Orihime, the daughter of the Heavenly King, married Hikoboshi the cowherd and both subsequently neglected their duties. This festival is directly related to the ancient Radha Krishna Vaishnava Tradition as well.

Radha & The Mystical Rose Emblem

After the ministry of Jesus through the ancient land of Judea, the tradition of the Divine Female, Mary, now as the Divine Virgin-Mother, spread across the Christian Roman Empire. In the five original Christian schools at Rome, Greece, Antioch, Jerusalem and Alexandria, the Mystical Rose / Rhoda Mystica / Mary Rosa Mystica / Mary Basilea (Vasudevi) / Mary ‘Mother Most Tolerant’ – Tula (Tulasi), the name & form of Sri Radha as Mary Regina (Rajini-Rani) Virgin Queen of Heaven, was often held to be so sacred that Her name and form were not openly said or depicted.

Instead Her hierogyph, ideogram or an-iconic Form of a Rose or Red or Pink Flower, often a Lotus, was used to invoke Her Name and Form. Thus Her Red Rhodon (‘Rose’) or Lotus (Nymphia) represented Her throughout the ancient World for both maiden and mother goddesses, and the colour Red (or pink) was a ‘pictorial pun’ for Her Most Holy Name, Rhoda / Radha. This is why She was traditionally depicted in Her full Iconographic Form as wearing Red clothing and/or holding or sitting/standing in or on a Red Flower or Lotus. The red rose may also be symbolized by a lotus, lily, a star, or the Sri Yantra Hexad of Hekate.

The Catholic’s Mary-Mariam (Juno-Marina) wears a Red inner dress and a Blue / Nila (Durga)  outer mantle or veil. This reveals Her Inner Mysteries as the Ever-Virgin Rhoda, and Her Outer Mysteries as the Supreme Mother Nila or Durga. The tradition of dressing a bride in Rhoda’s / Radha’s sacred Red cloth for her wedding, continues today in Africa, Europe, the Levant, India and the Orient, where Radharani – Mary is worshipped as Tara, the mother of all Buddha avatars.

The Red Robes of Radha in Every Culture

As the centuries passed, the Isle of Rhodes remained sacred to the Supreme Lord even under the Catholic Knights Templar, who held-off the Muslim invaders for a long time. After the Templars were driven out, the Muslims destroyed the thousands of years of Religious History and Culture of Rhodes, almost completely obliterating the primary evidence of our Common Afro-Helleno-Semitic Bhakti Yoga Inheritance.

We can see that from the beginning of written history, both in the west at Rhodes, and east in India, The Supremely beautific and merciful Goddess Sri Radha was worshipped. Starting with Her Original Form as youthful maiden Radha or Rhoda, She expands into many Forms and Names, including the Great Mother Goddess of all nations, and the Priestess of Mysteries around the world.

The Holy Names of Radha and Rhoda

Below is a list of Her Primary Names, compiled by Bhakti Ananda Goswami.

RADHA is	RHODA is
1 RADHA	RHODA, ROSE
2 HARE	KORE
3 SHAKTI	SHEKINAH, SEKHET
4 NARI, NARAYANI	MARY, MARIAM, JUNO MARINA
5 ISHVARI	ISHISH (Hebrew), ISIS
6 YAUVANI	JUVENTAS
7 VASUDEVI	BASILEA
8 DEVI	THEA, DIA
9 RAJANI, RANI	REGINA
10 TARA, ASTRAYA	STELLA, ASTERIA
11 ‘Lunar’ ROHINI	LUCHINA
12 PADME  (LOTUS)	NYMPHIA (LOTUS)
13 JIVA SHAKTI	HEVE SHEKINAH (EVE), ZOE, BIA, BA (Egypt)
14 LAKSMI	FORTUNA-MONETA (TYCHE as LADY LUCK)
15 SARASVATI	SARA-CHOKMAH-SHEKINAH
16 HARINI	CORONIS
17 TULASI	BASILEA as MOTHER MOST TOLERANT (TULA)
	MARY as REFUGE OF PRIEST SLAYERS
18 KALI	KORONE-SEKMET
19 MAHA MATA	MAGNA MATER
20 MAYA	Hebrew MAYIM (kenotic and chaotic)
21 SANI DEVI	SATUREJA, QUEEN SABBATH
22 BHUMI	BOU
SURABHI	EUROPA
GO-MATA  (LOKA)	GE, GEO, (MOTHER EARTH and COW)

Note the comparison below between images of Radha-Krishna’s Festivals. and the Festivals of Rhoda, Apollo and the Muses.

Sri Radha is the most beautiful and powerful of all Goddesses. She is not different from Bhagavan Sri Krishna, who is the source of all beauty, power, knowledge and wealth.

Copyright © 2016 Steve M. Doyle (Soolaba)
Copyright of paintings belongs to respective artists (permission obtained where possible)
Copyright © 2010 David M. Sherman (Bhakti Ananda Goswami)