Malkuth haShamayim (מלכת השמים) - in English "the Queen of Heaven" - in Vulgate Latin "Reginae Caeli" - grew to become one of the best loved of the divine epithets that exists in the liturgy and rituals of the Catholic Madonna.<br /><br />The same tradition holds true of the Panaghia of the Eastern Church.<br /><br />She is addressed as Basileia, Basilissa, Anassa and Despoina - primal names of royal power that reach back to the dawn of the Minoan/Mycenaean civilisation.<br /><br />The original words of the title of Malkuth haShamayim : the Queen of Heaven were strategically reinterpreted to mean "Kingdom of Heaven".<br /><br />They enter into orthodox scripture in that very form ... and the Goddess is once again lost in translation.<br /><br />The Greek version of this phrase that appears in the New Testament gospels is : he Basileia ton Ouranon (ἡ βασιλεια των οὐρανων).<br /><br />Basileia is an ancient Greek word which meant both "queen" and "royal woman and may also denote "sovereignty" and "royal domain".
