'I am nature, the Universal Mother, 

Mistress of all the elements, primordial child of time,

Sovereign of all things spiritual,

queen of the dead, queen of the immortals,

The single manifestation of all gods and goddesses that are.

My nod governs the shining heights of Heaven, the wholesome sea-breezes,the lamentable silences of the world below. Though I am worshipped in many aspects, known by countless names, and propitiated in all manner of different rites, yet the whole round Earth venerates me.'

The Golden Ass, Apuleius (translated by Robert Graves).