"The woman who gave birth to Buddha Shakyamuni is called in the scriptures, Mahamaya, meaning Great Maya, or Mayadevi, the Goddess Maya. ... Not only the month but many other traditions attest to the great age and wide distribution of the Goddess Maya. She was more than the Maia who mothered Hermes; she was also Maga the Grandmother-goddess who bore Cu Chulainn's mother; and the Mandaean Christian's Almaya, called "Eternity," or "the World," or "Beings"; and Maga or Maj the May-maiden in Scandinavia. Like the Hindu Maya who brought forth earthly appearances at creation, the Scandinavian one personified the pregnant womb of chaos before the beginning: Ginnungagap."

From a fascinating multi-cultural essay called Buddha's Mother found at khandro.net ~ a "premier site unique in situating Tibetan Buddhism within a wider context". Lovely.

chaos?

"It is from the 1st century BC Roman poet, Ovid, that we are given more description of Chaos. Before the earth, sea and heaven (as well as the heavenly bodies, such as the sun, moon and stars), before even there was the deathless gods, Chaos existed as formless mass. It was lifeless matter, where all elements of creation were heaped together, so that nothing could be distinguished from one another." Timeless Myths

How is Ginnungagap different from chaos? Is it different?

"In Norse mythology, the yawning chasm that existed at the beginning of the universe. The ‘Voluspa', a poem in the ‘Poetic (or Elder) Edda' whose name means “Sybil's Prophecy,” describes a land “at the beginning of time, when nothing was; sand was not, nor sea, nor cool waves. Earth did not exist, nor heaven on high. The mighty gap was, but no growth.” This was Ginnungagap.

Ginnungagap was not featureless or devoid of topography. Within it, to the north, lay Niflheim, a grim, mist-filled, icy wasteland. In the center of Niflheim the great spring Hvergelmir, the source of all rivers, churned and bubbled. The northernmost part of Niflheim was frozen solid. Its immense mountains of ice had been formed from Elivagar (or Élivágar, which means “icy waves”), a primordial river so ancient that its origins could never be known.

Some type of a poisonous flow had accompanied these waters from their indeterminable source. When the water had turned to ice, the vapor rising from the poison froze on top of it and turned to rime, and increased, layer upon layer. The northern part of Ginnungagap became filled with the weight and heaviness of ice and rime.

In the south of Ginnungagap lay Muspelheim, a region of fire, bright and hot, burning and impassible. A fire-giant, Surt, stood at the border of Muspelheim, ready to defend it, armed with a flaming sword.

Sparks and molten particles came flying out of Muspelheim up toward the center of Ginnungagap as the poisonous frost of Niflheim encroached from the north. Ginnungagap itself was as mild as a windless sky. Where the warmth met the ice and poisonous mist, the ice thawed and dripped, and the shape of a man formed. This was Ymir, whom the frost-giants called Aurgelmir (Mud Seether), and from him all the generations of frost giants descended. The next being to form was a great cow, Audhumia, who licked the ice and formed the progenitor of the gods, Buri. Buri's grandsons, the first gods, killed Ymir and brought his body to the center of Ginnungagap, and created heaven and Earth from it.

Niflheim and Muspelheim were not destroyed when Earth and heaven were created; they were realms that continued to exist in Norse cosmology. The Vikings believed that at the end of the world—Ragnarok—the fire-giant Surt would leave Muspelheim to engage in the battle and, with his flaming sword, would burn the whole world." Britannica Student Encyclopedia

"Long ago, before the Kings of Norway and Sweden and Denmark lived, before the Althing came to session every year, before the great Vikings found Vinland, before the Great Raids began, there were no men nor animals. There was no earth, no life, no water. Only a great and massive void, an eternal, an abyss called Ginnungagap. Out of the Ginnungagap came a terrible land shrouded in mist eternal, darkness everlasting. It was to the north, and it was known to all as Niflheim. In the midst of this dark and misty land burst forth a fountain known to the world as Hvergelmir, which was the beginning of twelve rivers which sprouted from it to travel throughout the void. To the south was the land of fire and brimstone, a land of heat unsatiable, of death and horror, Muspellsheim. Guarding the entrance to Muspellsheim was Surtur, who had a flaming sword. From this land came rivers of fire, containing poison the little by little gathered into solid mass. The ice flowing down from Niflheim and the solid poison from Muspellsheimm met whereupon the ice froze the poison. The heat from Muspellsheim melted the ice and borne from the poison was Ymir, the Father of the Frost Giants."

Not credited, but well written.

"Hel's womb in the earth ..."

"Hel was the Nordic Crone Goddess of the Afterlife whose abode was Niflheim. As Queen of the Underworld, it was said that she received the spirits of the dead, housing them in the elder tree until it was time for them to be reborn. In Denmark, she was worshipped as Hyldemoer, that is, Elder Mother. She was also seen as the Mountain Mother, dwelling in the earth where fire and ice meet. According to an Icelandic creation myth, in the beginning only a great chasm existed, called Ginnungagap, which was the opening to Hel's womb in the earth. On one side were the fiery volcanoes and on the other side, the ice and waters." In reference to the painting "Hel" by Sandra M. Stanton.

I've been a big fan of Ms. Stanton's work for a few years now ... beautiful Goddess images from every culture. Her full color prints are very reasonably priced and truly inspired. Highly recommended!

The Goddess In World Mythology