Forty thousand years ago our ancestors returned to sacred caves to ceremonially re-birth into the womb of Mother Earth and to initiate their shamans. This image of initiation  shows a shaman is in a state of epiphany and ecstacy (he is falling backwards with an erection) at the appearance of the Bull of the Divine Goddess.  He wears a bird mask and carries a bird staff . The bird represents the ability to inhabit the realm of the earth, water, and sky, and is the carrier of souls to the spirit world. The Bird is also twice born, once as an egg and once as chick.In the Goddess Culture, life is an endless cycle of birth and re-birth.