>>Personally, I think that the idea of a mother and father (the way we
>>think) is completely absent from the lives of the goddesses (and gods).
>
>Quick where in the manga did I get the idea for this?
>
>"No, but mother pointed you out in the Big Picture Book of Supernatural
>Beasts.  She said that you'd come to give naughty little goddesses bad
>dreams."
>
>"That's right, I haven't run you through her death yet."
>
>Skuld sneered at the demon, "Is that the worst you can you do, dredge up
>my past?"

-- it's amazing how confrontational the ML has become since I left it over a
year and a half ago. ^_^

1)  I said "personally" - that I thought the idea of a mother and father in
the sense of our own parental units is absent.

2)  Your quotation, while "pointed", could be interpreted in a number of
ways - yours, of course, is your own interpretation.

3)  The thought of a motherly "figure" is never challenged.  While we have
one mother and father, we often have motherly and fatherly figures.  This is
what I believe to be the case (of course, my opinion, again).  The problem
with humans (yes, all of us) is that we tend to take things and personify
them - or, rather, move them into our own familiar realm of living and
thinking.

Let's use "real" religions for instance - Christianity, Muslim, Ancient
Egyptian (etc) all humanized their gods and goddesses.  Christianity quite
literally humanized their saviour.  Many people of various beliefs also
acknowledge their supreme god as "Father" or a fatherly figure.  Kosuke also
uses this approach to make the Heavens make sense.

In Asian culture, it's not uncommon to find a "nanny" figure to also be the
motherly figure of the family - a background that would not be unfamiliar
with Kosuke.  Thus, it would show credibility that the caretakers (yes,
plural) of the goddesses (probably full-fledged, wisdom filled goddesses)
would be referred to as "mother" or - transliterative, "motherly figure".

-- disclaimer: it's all my opinion that should be used as another view on
the subject for enhancement or critical purposes --

Remember: "religious"/philosophical debates never go forward or backward -
each contributes his own wind and refuses to take in the other.

 ***************************************************************************
 * Michael Lee Yohe                                   Office:      TH N318 *
 * UAH ASPIRE System Administrator                    Office: 256-890-6904 *
 * UAH CS Assistant Administrator                       Home: 256-828-2667 *
 * Email: myohe@cs.uah.edu        Web: http://www.aspire.cs.uah.edu/mlyohe *
 ***************************************************************************