A Warrior Goddess

Life, Wisdom and War.

Roughly translated from Greek, that is what my daughter's name means.  Zoey Athena.  As I'm wrapping up the final hours where she will be in my womb (I am having a c-section in just about 24 hours from now), I am tingling with anticipation!

My husband jokingly at first said "let's keep it Greek, Athena" for her middle name.  The more we thought about it, the more we liked it.

Her name, as with my son's came after thoughtful consideration as to the meanings behind the name.  My son's name means "protector of human kind" and seeing him in his nearly 6 year old self (will be six the day after his little sister's birth) he lives up to his name completely.  He's very selfless (as much as 6 year old can be) and is constantly looking out and helping others in need.  He is so excited about his little sister and has already proclaimed to the world he will always be there to protect her.

Zoey means 'life'...Athena, for those who don't know is the Greek Goddess of wisdom, war and a bunch of other things such as courage, strength, arts, crafts and skill.

She has always been my favorite Goddess when studying Mythology.  No, I am not pagan, nor do I necessarily believe in the actual existence of the Goddess Athena.  I do, however believe in a God and Goddess moving and flowing as one being.  I am LDS, in that faith we believe that we do have a Heavenly Mother, but we don't know her name.  The reason, we believe is that God holds her in such high revere that he didn't want her name trampled on like his is today.  Being we don't know her name, I feel like the name of an awesome Goddess is a way of showing respect and love towards her and my gratefulness of the divine feminine that I hold dear to my heart.

The most interesting part of it, is that of the "war" part.  I have joked and others have too about her name meaning "war" and how that will reflect greatly in her teen years.  But when looking further, the war part is the strategy part of battle, the discipline.  Athena never delighted in blood shed, she is all for standing up and fighting for a cause and ending a conflict as quickly as possible...unlike her brother Ares.

This pregnancy has been a whirlwind of emotions and experiences.  I have witnessed and been a part of some of life's greatest joys as well as life's deepest sorrows.  In the last nine months, I have experienced physical and emotional pains from my health problems, my husband going through major surgery, financial woes and other personal struggles.   I have witnessed dear friends go through deaths of spouse, parent and child...I have had friends go through divorce, through major surgeries, through other trying times.  I have celebrated with many friends over pregnancy, births, weddings and other successes.  I have become even closer with friends.  I have never felt so guilty, so helpless, so dependent, so sad, so strong, so peaceful, so happily blissful.

And through it all, my baby girl has grown and experienced this all with me.  Right now, she is kicking furiously, I think she already knows she's being brought into this world at such troublesome times, not giving up, showing me that she is one tough cookie, a fighter, a warrior.

So, it looks like already she is living up to her name.  We couldn't have named her more aptly if we tried.  She is indeed a Warrior Goddess.