Terra Mater
In this section, Eliade describes the mythology of the Terra Mater ("Mother Earth"). Through the stories of the Indian prophet, Smohalla, Eliade describes the rather disseminated belief that humans are "born of the earth" (140) and to the earth they feel a sense of belonging to. Because of this feeling of being born from Mother Earth, human beings also desire to be able to return to her in death.
Humi Posito: Laying the Infant on the Ground
Eliade continues on to discuss how the human mother (which is only a representation of the Great Mother Earth) has given "birth" to many customs. Of these customs, giving birth on the ground is seen as necessary in order for Mother Earth to give her "beneficent energies" to the human mother so that the woman can secure her "maternal protection" (142). It is also a ritual in many cultures to place the infant on the ground so that the true Mother can "legitimize it and confer her divine protection on it" (143).This is also done with the ill to be reborn again as new as well as in baptism to signify death and rebirth as a new living being.
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