When a Kogi tribal member dies, the shamans, or mamas, return him or her back to the Womb of Mother Goddess, in a burial pit that is considered to be a womb. The dead body is placed in a fetal position, in a carrying net, with a braided rope tied to the hair. The net symbolizes an energetic placenta, nestled into the Earth Womb, which is connected

Womb religions recognized that just as an umbilical cord connects us to the birth womb, so an umbilical cord of light also connects us to the death womb.

In Mayan sacral art, umbilical cords are shown descending from the heavens into this world to allow for divine communion.

The first peoples of Earth ascribed magical powers to the placenta. It was the spiritual twin of the living baby and held the child’s soul signature. Placentas were often left connected to the newborn for an extended period of time, or until they fell away naturally, a practice more recently named lotus birth in recognition of the ancient symbology

The significance of the Cygnus constellation is that it rests in the “vulva” of the galaxy, the dark rift of the Milky Way through which souls enter or exit the galactic womb—the black “mother” hole at the center of the galaxy. Depictions of this symbolic connection are found in ancient texts and temple carvings across the world.20 In Mayan lore th

A number of womb sites across the world were aligned to the constellation of Cygnus—the celestial swan—said to be the vulva and Womb of the Cosmic Mother, and the celestial origin of our species.

The Kogi conceived of a womb medicine wheel that recognized the four cardinal directions of north, south, east, and west, with three additional directional points of the zenith (up), nadir (down), and the center. These coordinates were visualized as an egg shape, surrounding them on all sides and orienting them in time and space.

Often, at the moment of birth, the world egg breaks apart into two halves, forming the earth below and the skies above, or the male-female creator twins. Symbolically, this is represented by a half-white, half-black circle or oval, as in the Taoist yin-yang symbol.

The web of life motif is also found in the Hopi and Zuni traditions of America, in which Grandmother Spider Woman weaves life into being. Spider Woman, who represents the female creative principle and Earth itself, sings aloud “I receive Light and nourish Life. I am Mother of all that shall ever come.”