GODDESS IN THE BODY




The Metaphor



In the heart of hearts the Goddess dwells,

Burning, burning, her flame transforming dead world

Into living being.


Within Her creatures ever present,

Bringing life from nothingness

Ever separate, eternally joined.


From what is universal, always Being,

Through Her secret nature transformed 

To what is unique, always Becoming.


Great Mother of the World.




The Biology



	Within every human cell are colonies of small, 

independent entities called mitochondria.  Without them, 

human life would be impossible.  They live their separate 

micro-lives within each of our cells, inextricably linked 

with our macro-lives since long before humankind became 

human.  

	They are seen as separate entities because each has its 

own DNA that is different from, and independent of, the 

nuclear DNA which gives each person his or her own 

individuality, and is contained in the chromosomes of the 

nucleus of the cell. (In their origin they were probably
independent bacteria, later entering into symbiosis with
multicellular life forms.)

  The function of mitochondria within the cell is to 

transform the potential energies of food from the outside 

world into the oxygen and energy, through the medium of a 

substance called adenosinetriphophate (ATP).  

	Through ATP, the mitchondria, in effect, mediate between 

the raw materials of the outside universe and transform them 

into that mysterious inner vitality we call Life.  They are 

the Life-Givers.

	The DNA contained in the nucleus of the cell, the 

genetic heritage of the individual, is drawn equally from the 

father and mother, through the more-or-less random mixing of 

the chromsomes of the sperm and egg.  This is not the case 

with mitochondrial DNA, which can be seen as the underlying genetic

heritage of the species as a whole.  This DNA is what our species holds 
in common; nuclear DNA differentiates.

	Mitochondrial DNA comes solely from the mother, is 

transmitted only through the female line, and is not re-

combined in the individual breeding process.  While it has 

been modified by mutation over history, mitochondrial DNA (in 

both male and female individuals) is exclusively from the feminine

line.

	By tracing mutations backward mathematically, archaeo-

biologists believe they have traced this species heritage 

back to a single woman they call Eve, (more probably a small 

group of under 20 or so), a band that lived in Africa in the 

dim mists of prehistory.

	The mathematics of this backward tracing seem dubious, 

but the exclusively feminine nature of the mitochondrial DNA 

is well founded.  The stable and unchanging genetic heritage 

of our species through history is the Mother.