In myth and spirituality the divine cow signifies abundance, prosperity, motherhood, nurturing, generosity and renewal of life. In one myth of ancient Egypt, celestial cow goddess Nut swallows the sun every night and gives birth to him the next morning.
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Cows provide milk, cheese, butter, yogurt and calves. While bulls are common sacrificial animals the cow, with a few exceptions, is more valuable alive. Evidence of butter and cheese offerings are found at some ancient sites.
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Ancient World Cow and Cattle Goddesses
Selene is the Greek Moon goddess. Daughter of Titans Hyperion and Theia, she's sister of sun god Helios and the dawn goddess Eos. Selene is often described as having horns, like the crescent moon.
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Hera, Greek Queen of the Gods, also appears as a goddess associated with cattle. Her sacred symbols are the cow, peacock, cuckoo and pomegranate. She blesses weddings and protects women in childbirth.
Io, a mortal woman, is lusted after by Zeus. He turns her into a heifer to hide her from his wife. Hera sends Argus of 100 eyes to watch her so Zeus can't visit her. Eventually Io is turned back to a woman but plenty happens in between.
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Ninsun (Ninsumun; Sumerian: Nin-sumun(ak) "lady of the wild cows") - Mesopotamian goddess at Uruk and mother of Gilgamesh. She's considered a lamma or protector goddess, and her symbol is the wild cow.
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Sosamshin (Korean: 소삼신; lit. Birth Goddess of the Cow) is a Gashin, or household deity, in Korean myth. She is the goddess of the birth of cattle (So), just as Samshin is the goddess of human birth, hence her name Sosamshin.
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Hesat, ancient Egyptian goddess in form of a cow, provides humanity with milk (beer of Hesat), and in particular to suckles Pharaoh and ancient Egyptian bull gods. The Pyramid Texts depict her as mother of Anubis and the deceased king.
Pasiphaë is an ancient Queen of Crete, mother of the fabled Minotaur. She's often called goddess of witchcraft and sorcery. Poseidon makes her fall in love with the Cretan bull when her husband Minos refuses to sacrifice it. She mates with the bull by hiding in a hollow cow.
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Tellus, a Roman goddess of earth, receives sacrifice of a pregnant cow at the Fordicidia, a fertility festival relating to animal husbandry. The ritual is April 15 during Cerialia (April 12 - 19) festival of the grain goddess Cybele. Cybele herself receives a bull sacrifice.
Nut, Egyptian primal goddess stretches out her body to form the night sky. Sometimes an aspect of Hathor is associated with the same talent. The spots on her belly are the stars in the cosmos. Eight gods may help support her - they're the infinite Heh Gods of Egypt.
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The center figure beneath the cow is Shu, god of air. Like cow horns his arms imitate the Ka sign. Ka is the life essence of a being. Shu must hold up the divine cow of the sky, or life as it's known will cease to exist. Raised arms also signify joy and exaltation.
Nineigara is a Mesopotamian goddess connected with dairy products. She is wife of the cattle god Ningublaga, and like him belongs to the court of the moon god Nanna (Sin). Her name means "Lady of the House of Butter & Cream".
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Mut is a Mother Goddess in Egypt. Her name means 'mother'. She can appear as a woman, cobra, cat, lioness, vulture or cow.
Her children include Sekhmet, goddess of war and medicine; Hathor, maternal cow goddess of love and joy; Bastet, lion-headed or cat-headed goddess, any of whom can also act as the Eye of Ra; and Ma'at, goddess of justice.
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Auðumbla is a primal cow in Norse mythology. She suckles the primordial frost jötunn Ymir. Over three days she licks rime from rocks and reveals Búri, grandfather of Odin. She's attested only in the 13th century CE Prose Edda by Icelandic poet Snorri Sturluson.
Kamadhenu (Sanskrit: कामधेनु, [kaːmɐˈdʱeːnʊ], Kāmadhenu), is a divine bovine-goddess in Hinduism known as mother of all cows. A miraculous cow of plenty, she provides her owner with all the person desires.
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In iconography, she's typically depicted as a white cow with female head and breasts. She has the wings of a bird, and the tail of a peafowl; or she appears as a white cow containing various deities in her body.
Mehet-Weret or Mehturt - ancient Egyptian deity in the form of a primordial cow. Her name means "Great Flood". She's associated with the sky and cosmos as well as waters of creation.
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Bat, Cow Goddess of Hu, Egypt - she is worshipped together with Hathor and eventually the two become one. Hathor assimilates many of her qualities. The cattle cult of Bat is thought to go back to Paleolithic times.
Flidas or Flidais is a female figure in Irish mythology, known by the epithet Foltchaín ("beautiful hair"). She shares this beauty trait with Egyptian Hathor. She is believed to be a goddess of cattle and fertility.
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Hathor is one of the most prominent goddesses in the mythology of Egypt. Like Flidas she's known to have lovely lush hair, or sometimes a gleaming lock of hair which represents her animal nature as well as association with youth and beauty.
Egyptian men and women shave their heads and bodies since c. 3000 BCE, when copper tools are common. A young person retains a lock of hair known as the lock of youth. When the child becomes an adult the lock is cut and given as an offering to the god Horus.
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Isis is also a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion. She assumes features or qualities of Hathor, such as the horned headdress, and a bovine connection as her worship spreads through the Greco-Roman world.
Neith is an ancient Egyptian goddess with cosmic epithets such as Cow of Heaven. A sky-goddess akin to Nut, she also represents the 'Great Flood', Mehet-Weret, the cow who gives birth to the sun daily. Neith is protectress of Sun God Ra and the Pharaoh.
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Neith is called the first and the prime creator. She creates the universe and all it contains, and governs how it functions. She is the goddess of the cosmos, fate, wisdom, water, rivers, mothers, childbirth, hunting, weaving, and war.
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