CafeLitt 159: Ancient Iranian Goddess of the Waters

Thu 25 Feb 2010, 19:00, by Manya Saadi-nejad, at Bistro Burritoville:3rd floor, 2055 Rue Bishop, Montreal,QC (Map)

Anahita is one of the major deities of Iranian Mythology. Aredvi Sura Anahita (Arədvī Sūrā Anāhitā) is her name in the Avestan language; it means "the humid, strong, pure and immaculate one ".

Anahita is a pre-Zoroastrian goddess of water, abundance, blessing, fertility, marriage, love, motherhood, birth and victory. She embodied the physical and metaphorical qualities of water. She is also associated with rivers and lakes, as the waters of birth. Many of the surviving temple structures that were dedicated to her are connected with water, and perhaps all sources of water were considered to be her sacred places. She also ruled over semen and human fertility. She was viewed as the "Golden Mother" and as a warrior maiden.

Anahita was very popular. She was an independent and powerful Goddess, not dependant on any male agent for her authority. It was her water that brought fecundity to the land, and her influence that brought fertility to animals and humans. She is one of the forms of the "Great Goddess" who appears in many ancient eastern religions (such as in Mesopotamian and Vedic mythology).

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CaféLitt is not a place; it is a gathering of minds. We are a group of mostly Persian young students, scholars and professionals who gather every Thursday evening around 19h00 to discuss various subjects and share different ideas, ranging vastly from history to science, from literature to fine arts. We started these gatherings on Jan 17th, 2006 with 5 people and have reached an average weekly audience of about 40 people. Each week, one of us takes the responsibility of presenting a topic for about an hour in a subject s/he is intimately familiar with or has an expertise in. Afterwards, the evening turns into a discussion forum and all members of the audience will have an opportunity to ask their question(s) and share their points of view.

Some new and exciting ideas were born out of CaféLitt sessions. We have started a series of monthly meetings called CaféCinema during which a movie is presented and discussed in some detail afterward. This year's program of CaféCinema revolves around the history of Iranian cinema. Some Cinema students hold these sessions (mainly conducted in English) on the last Sunday of each month.

Likewise, CaféLitt BookClub is an activity where people who like books decide to read a book each month and discuss it during a cozy Café session on the second Sunday of every month.

CaféTheatre is a series of semi-rehearsed sessions in which we select a play, divide the roles among different people and read the play from the text in front of an audience. Similar to other CaféLitt sessions, each CaféTheatre session will end with a discussion of that day's play.  

CaféScience and CaféPhilo are our plans for near future. The purpose of CaféScience is to provide a forum for the public discussion and understanding of all scientific findings and ideas, with an emphasis on new, interesting and publicly relevant topics. During CaféPhilo sessions, we will talk about philosophy, its history and all its related aspects.

CaféLitt is pen to all comments, suggestion and new ideas. CaféLitt provides an unparalleled opportunity for learning about culture, science and philosophy in a relaxed and friendly environment, and for sharing your knowledge and expertise with like-minded members of your community.

CafeLitt is a nonpartisan, nonreligious and nonpolitical entity.
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