Jyestha (goddess)

Jyestha or Jyeshtha (Sanskrit: ज्येष्ठा, Jyeṣṭhā, "the eldest" or "the elder") is the Hindu goddess of inauspicious things and misfortune. She is regarded as the elder sister and antithesis of Lakshmi, the goddess of good fortune and beauty.

Jyestha is associated with inauspicious places and sinners. She is also associated with sloth, poverty, sorrow, ugliness and the crow. She is sometimes identified with Alakshmi, another goddess of misfortune. Her worship was prescribed for women, who wished to keep her away from their homes.

Jyestha appears in the Hindu tradition, as early as 300 BCE. Her worship was at its peak in South India in the 7th-8th century CE, but by the 10th century, her popularity waned pushing her into oblivion. Today, numerous ancient images of Jyestha still exist, though she is rarely worshipped.

Description and Iconography

Texts that elaborate on the iconography of Jyestha are: the Agamas such as the Amshumadbhedagama, y=the Suprabhedagama and the Purvakarangama; the Vishnudharmottara Purana and other shorter references in the Baudhayanagrhyasutra. The earliest recorded bilingual inscription detailing the iconography and worship practices from the 8th century is found in the caves of Tiruparankunram near Madurai.

Goddess

A goddess is a female deity with supernatural powers in polytheistic religions. Goddesses most often have feminine characteristics that are apotheosized in their pure form. However, in some cases goddesses may embody neutral forms personifying both male and female characteristics (like Sophia), or they may even exhibit traits that are traditionally associated with the male gender (such as in the case of Artemis). Goddesses have been especially linked with virtues such as beauty, love, motherhood and fertility (Mother-goddess cult in prehistoric times), but because of their flexibility in gender portrayal, they have also been associated with ideas such as war, creation, and death.

In some faiths, a sacred female figure holds a central place in religious prayer and worship. For example, Shaktism, the worship of the female force that animates the world, is one of the three major sects of Hinduism. In Tibetan Buddhism, the highest advancement any person can achieve is to become like the great female Buddhas (e.g. Arya Tara) who are depicted as supreme protectors, fearless and filled with compassion for all beings.

Banks (singer)

Jillian Rose Banks (born June 16, 1988), known simply as Banks (often stylized as BANKS), is an American singer and songwriter from Orange County, California. She releases music under Harvest Records, Good Years Recordings and IAMSOUND Records imprints of the major label Universal Music Group.

She has toured internationally with The Weeknd and was also nominated for the Sound of 2014 award by the BBC and an MTV Brand New Nominee in 2014. On May 3, 2014, Banks was dubbed as an "Artist to Watch" by FoxWeekly.

Early life

Jillian Rose Banks was born in Orange County, California. Banks started writing songs at the age of fifteen. She taught herself piano when she received a keyboard from a friend to help her through her parents' divorce. She says she "felt very alone and helpless. I didn't know how to express what I was feeling or who to talk to."

Career

2013–present: Breakthrough and Goddess

Banks used the audio distribution website SoundCloud to put out her music before securing a record deal. Her friend Lily Collins used her contacts to pass along her music to people in the industry; specifically Katy Perry's DJ Yung Skeeter, and she began working with the label Good Years Recordings. Her first official single, called "Before I Ever Met You" was released in February 2013. The song which had been on a private SoundCloud page ended up being played by BBC Radio 1 DJ Zane Lowe. Banks released her first EP Fall Over by IAMSOUND Records and Good Years Recordings.Billboard called her a "magnetic writer with songs to obsess over." Banks released her second EP called London by Harvest Records and Good Years Recordings in 2013 to positive reviews from music critics, receiving a 78 from Metacritic. Her song "Waiting Game" from the EP was featured in the 2013 Victoria's Secret holiday commercial.

Goddess (Emm Gryner album)

Goddess is the eleventh studio album by Emm Gryner, released in February 2009 on Dead Daisy Records in Canada and Second Motion Records in the United States.

Track listing