Girls, Gods and Trance

“Shivering, they say, my face did change to something less than mortal, yet more mighty and beautiful than my corporeal form.  Taller they say I stood with a voice which was not quite my own.  I simply gave myself wholly and gave myself utterly over to the words and inspriation of Leto’s glorious son.”
(Bolina Oceanus, in her essay “For Lo! Apollo is within me” published in Priestesses, Pythonesses & Sibyls)

My previous two blogs looked a little at the Goddess Artemis and how she was venerated by men, something which is often overlooked by those who are reinstating the worship of the old gods today.  Likewise, the worship of her twin brother Apollo provides us with some interesting challenges to modern perceptions of gender within a spiritual and magical setting.  In modern practices it is more often a female Priestess who will open herself up to an invocation of a Goddess into her for the purposes of trance and oracular work.  It is still considered rather avant-garde in some circles for a woman to open herself up for possession by a God (or indeed for a male Priest to have a female Goddess invoked into him).   But why should such a thing be considered innovative today when one of the most famous oracles of the ancient world involved the possession of a Priestess by a male God for the purposes of prophesy?

The Oracle of Delphi was home to the cult of Apollo, twin brother to the goddess Artemis.  These two deities were born to the goddess Leto, through a union with the king of the gods Zeus.  The story of their birth is one an epic one.  Leto is impregnated by Zeus, who is of course married to Hera, goddess of marriage, who was not at all pleased with the news that her husband was to father children with another goddess (yet again, as Zeus often got himself into trouble for fathering children with both mortals and gods!).   She forbade Leto to give birth on solid land and wherever the pregnant goddess went she was made to move on and denied the right to rest and give birth to her children.  In one version of the story Hera instructs the Python of Delphi, a giant serpent, to chase Leto and prevent her from getting rest.  In the end she finds refuge on the floating island of Delos, believed to have once been the body of the star goddess Asteria (sister of Leto) when she, in an effort to escape the advances of Zeus, flung herself into the ocean.  In alternative version we are told that Asteria was turned into a quail by Zeus, when she flung herself into the ocean, or that Zeus helped Leto by turning her into a quail so that she could reach Delos more easily.  Either way, the quail seems to be a key theme in this myth.

When Artemis is born, she then (as she is a god, of course) helps her mother to birth her brother Apollo – and the two would always remain absolutely loyal to each other and to their mother.  As soon as they reached adulthood, they started the process of killing many of those who brought dishonour upon their mother when she was looking for a place to rest and give birth to them.  The first to suffer at their wrath was the Python of Delphi, who had been guarding the oracle there for many years.   The Python, described as a giant serpent or dragon like creature was slayed by the arrows of the twins and Apollo took over the shrine at Delphi, and became the God of the Oracle.

It was said of the Oracle:

“The oracle at Delphi never would have been so much frequented, so famous, and so crowded with offerings from peoples and kings of every land, if all ages had not tested the truth of its prophesies.” (Cicero, On Divination)

In her essay “The Pythia”  Caroline Tully wrote that:~

“A regular Greek priestess’ sphere of influence reached only as far as the temenos walls of her sanctuary.  The authority of the Pythia, or the Priestess of the Delphic Apollo, on the other hand extended much further into areas such as religion, politics, warfare and overseas colonisation.  This was unusual not only for a priestess, but for a woman in what was predominantly patriarchal ancient Greece”.
(Caroline Tully, from The Pythia, published in Priestesses, Pythonesses & Sibyls)

It is clear from these examples that the Oracle of Apollo in Delphi was a very important one, and that it held a lot of power, and that likewise women who held the office of Pythia there, were valued and honoured members of society, whose position gave them a high office in many affairs.  What however is interesting and something I personally believe modern Pagans who do trance work with the gods might wish to take notice of is that arguably the most famous of the oracular priestesses of the ancient world gained their prophesy from a Apollo, a male god.  This was not considered unusual at all in the ancient world and there are examples which illustrate that the pythia did not just speak ‘for’ Apollo, but was actually speaking ‘as’ Apollo:

“The Pythia not only spoke for Apollo, as other priestesses might presume to do for the deities they served, but spoke as Apollo.  Ancient authors believed that she was fully capable for channelling Apollo’s words…”
(Caroline Tully, from The Pythia, published in Priestesses, Pythonesses & Sibyls)

What is described in terms of history and academic research by Caroline Tully, is described in modern experiential terms by modern day Priestess of Apollo, Bolina Oceanus when she wrote in the same anthology:
 

“Becoming a Priestess for Apollo and allowing him to speak through me has allowed me to be free in ways I never expected I could be, but with it I have also been given a great responsibility.  I have to speak his words and I am not allowed to interpret them for others…

I have worked in groups where it was my role to assume the form of a Goddess and enjoyed those rites greatly, though I often found that something was missing or not quite right.  It was only when I first experienced Apollo speaking through me that I gave the matter much thought and realised some very obvious things.  in the ancient magickal and religious practices there were always specific deities who had associations with prophecy, whilst others had specific associations with for example agriculture, love, war or wealth.  This makes for an interesting point to consider, is it all that polite (or for that matter safe!) to invoke deities into ourselves who have no interest in prophesy?)”

(Bolina Oceanus, in her essay “For Lo! Apollo is within me” published in Priestesses, Pythonesses & Sibyls)

So, how do you decide which deities you will allow to possess you for the sake of oracular work?  And how do you test your results?

The Temple of Apollo

 This blog was originally posted to www.sorita.co.uk and is (c) Sorita d’Este 2010

Blood on Her Altar

The idea that Artemis was only worshipped by women in the ancient world, which is a common one amongst modern pagans, is simply not true.  Men often played a role in ceremonies honouring her, though in a very different way and for different reasons from women.

In Sparta during the Roman period, young men had to undergo severe flogging on the altar of Artemis Orthia, the scourging would continue until the entire altar was covered in their blood.  This ritual flogging was known as diamnastigosis   (from diamastigô - ”to whip harshly”), and was a test endurance through which the men had to demonstrate their willingness and worthiness to be devotees and warriors fighting in the name this goddess.  

This particular ceremony is believed to have its origins in the discovery of the image of Artemis Orthia which was lost from a temple and then subsequently rediscovered.  The statue was found by two Spartan warriors, Astrabakos and Alopekos, who went insane when they found the statue.  The statue was then replaced in the temple, an altar set up and Artemis temporarily propitiated.  Then at a sacrifice honouring Artemis at this icon, groups of Limnatians, Kynosourians and Mesoans got into a quarrel, which developed into a fight during which several of the men were killed at the altar.  The Goddess was furious and killed the remaining men through a disease! 

The disease started spreading and the Spartans were understandably concerned and therefore consulted with an Oracle.  They were told that the only way in which they could appease Artemis and thereby prevent further spread of the disease would be to stain her altar with human blood.  Initially this took the form of human sacrifice on the altar, with the blood of the sacrifice being smeared on the altar.  But it was eventually substituted with the ceremonial scourging of young men as part of their coming of age, journey into manhood.   During the scourging a Priestess would hold the wooden image of Atemis, and if the image became heavy to her, it meant that the men scourging the boys were giving favour to a boy, maybe because of the rank of the child or because of his beauty.  If this happened then the Priestess would chastise the scourgers and make sure that the boy in question is scourged properly.

This combined with the use of ritual flogging as described by Xenophon as I discussed in my blog of yesterday and the mock sacrifice at the temple of Artemis Tauropolos in Attica demonstrate examples of where men were very much the centre of ceremonies honouring Artemis. 

As always I would love to hear your thoughts on this practice, you can respond here or at the original blog www.sorita.co.uk

For more info see: ARTEMIS Virgin Goddess of the Sun & Moon

Lets steal the cheese of Artemis!

When you think of cheese, its unlikely that the Goddess Artemis will be the first thing to cross your mind!  However, ever since chancing on a snippet about a ritual recorded by Xenophon when I was doing the research for my book ARTEMIS Virgin Goddess of the Sun and Moon some years back, I often find myself thinking of Artemis when I see one of those cheeses wrapped in red, as the red makes me think of the bloodshed which might have accompanied the “cheese stealing ritual” of Artemis!

In Lakedaimonion Politeia (2.9) we find a reference to this cheese stealing ritual in which two opposing groups of young men would contest some cheese, which would be stored on the altar of Artemis.  The first group would defend the cheese with whips and the second group would try to steal it.  This ritual seems to have been a variation of many others which would involve some form of fighting, violence and bloodshed on Artemis’ altars. 

In another example Euripides recorded a mock sacrifice which was performed at the temple of Artemis Tauropolos in Attica.  In this rite a man would have his neck scratched with a knife, so that blood was drawn.  We can speculate that this might have formed part of an initiatory rite, with the first of the blood being shed as an offering to Artemis.

“And institute this custom: when the people celebrate, as atonement for your sacrfice let them hold a sword to a man’s neck and cause blood to flow, for holidness sake and that the goddess have due honour.” (Euripedes)

For those of you who have undergone esoteric Wiccan Initiations will recognise the theme which runs through the above reference, something which again illustrates how the same practices which were found in the ancient world continues to be echoed in modern ritual practices, often with no recognition of the original and with the vague idea that our modern rites have all just been invented the other day.  But that is part of the illusion of the Moon!

For those familiar with the image of the goddess Artemis in modern paganism, the above might have raised an eyebrow as the examples noted involve MALE devotees, contrary to the modern idea that Artemis’ worshippers were all female!  Though it is true that the majority of her devotees were young female virgins, there are many examples of men who did devote themselves to Artemis too. 

Tomorrow I will draw again from the work I published in ARTEMIS to explore the idea of men as worshippers of Artemis a little more, and will also consider the role of male gods in her mysteries.  I would love to hear your thoughts about Artemis & Men, and of course Cheese – either directly here on my blog (www.sorita.co.uk ) or where-ever you are reading this!

Wrath by Artemis

It is interesting that the Goddess Hekate would have such a “dark” image in the modern world, whilst Artemis, her cousin according to some accounts of the genealogy of the Greek Gods, is usually described as a Goddess of Light; or as the Huntress of the Moon – usually in a positive manner.  It is interesting because Artemis had a wrathful side to which there is no equal amongst the known history of Hekate; in fact Hekate looks like a saint in comparison!

My favourite “Artemis Revenge Story” is when she changes Actaeon into a Stag and hunts him down.  The story goes that Actaeon was a prince of Thebes and a very keen hunter.  Whilst hunting he had the misfortune to see Artemis naked as she was bathing in a stream.  A nymph spotten him hiding in a tree and screamed, allerting the goddess who slid underneath the water to cover herself.  Angry at what Actaeon did Artemis transformed him into a stag, whilst he still retained his human awareness.  She then put his own hunting hounds after him, who hunted him down and ripped him apart slowly as punishment for looking upon her whilst she was naked.

This myth is an interesting one for modern Pagans, though they often seem to be unfamiliar with it, as it in some ways echoes the story of Herne the Hunter of English folklore who is also a man who turns into a Stag.  Likewise it is by the power of a goddess that Actaeon is turned into a stag, and it is also by her control over nature (the dogs) that he is slain.  This is not something which is attributed to the modern stag antlered man-gods, so something to ponder on a rainy day in the woodlands when you come upon a stream?

Artemis’ wrath of course extended and manifested in all kinds of directions and manners.  Adonis, the lover of Aphrodite was killed by a boar on instruction of Artemis after he boasted that he was a better hunter than her.  Artemis stirred up the hero Khronios to slay the King Aristomelidas after he defiled one of her maidens, showing good sense for a hero Khronios then set up a sanctuary to Artemis in Tegea.  Bouphagos set out to molest Artemis and he was killed for his actions.

But it wasn’t just men who had to face Artemis for their actions, the Amazonian Queen Hippo who it is said to have founded the shrine of Artemis at Ephesus refused to dance around the altar of Artemis.  In her anger Artemis transformed Hippo into a horse.   Koronis the Princess of Trikka in Thessalia was the beloved of Apollo, the brother of Artemis.  Whilst pregnant by Apollo she gave herself in lust to another mortal man and in revenge for this Artemis shot her during labour with her arrows for the insult to her brother.  She also killed many of Koronis’ neighbours for not keeping a better eye on her to prevent her from straying.  Hermes, the messenger god snatches the child whilst the body of Koronis was being burned on a funeral pyre.

Then there are many stories of the revenge enacted by Artemis, sometimes with her twin brother Apollo, for the way in which their mother, the Goddess Leto, was treated when she was pregnant and seeking a safe place to give birth to them.  Leto was turned away everywhere she went, this was due to Hera’s anger with Leto for getting pregnant with her husband the god Zeus.  Possibly one of the best known of these stories are that concerning the Python.  The Python was a giant serpent of dragon that guarded the shrine of Delphi, one of the places Leto sought to rest during her pregnancy, but where the Python pursued her across the land.  After their birth the twins killed the Python with their arrows and Apollo subsequently became the god of the Delphic Oracle, one of the best known oracles in the ancient world.  It was here that the famous Pythia would go into trance and make predictions which would often influence nations.

She might be best known today as a Goddess of the Hunt and of the New Moon, but that does not diminish the power and the influence she had on the myths and stories of history.   And those myths and stories, along with all the other myths and stories of human history, shaped the world we live in today.

Horns of Grace… Horns of Beauty

When the work on Horns of Power was coming to an end just a little more than a year ago, I was really excited about the prospect of including at least some information, in the anthology which is primarily about the Horned Gods, about “horned Goddesses”.  Admittedly it is a small section, in comparison to the material on the male gods with horns, but it was one which alllowed me to open up the scope of “horned god” a little bit more and get people thinking about the many female divinities which are also depicted as having horns.

Someone asked me this morning about Hekate and the greek magical papyri, which is something we mention in Hekate Liminal Rites, where we give a table with references to Hekate PGM.  Something the correspondent asked me reminded me of the essay “Triple Horns of the Greek Magical Papyri” which I wrote for Horns of Power, where I show that the lunar crescent is often used interchangeably with the symbol of a lunar crescent to depict an association with the Moon, especially so for the Goddesses Hekate, Artemis and Selene.

This made me ponder the connection, if any, between the many unnamed male horned gods of Ancient Britain, many (if not most!) of whom were Bull Horned and the Moon?  So often because of modern interpretations and reinventions of myths we seem to overlook basic associations in favour of our own preconceptions, colouring the ancient myths and burying the true symbolism and magic they already contain and have contained since time immemorial.  So for example, male horned gods are often viewed as being “solar” in modern paganism, and goddesses are generally viewed as being lunar.  Yet there are many examples where the opposite is true, in fact if you look at it across a wide spectrum it is probable that there are more lunar male deities, and more female solar divinities than the other way around.  In some instances, for example Artemis if we look closely at her origins and the symbolism she is surrounded with we find that she too has many more solar associations than lunar ones, until in the later period when her worship begins a process of merging with that of Hekate and Selene, the latter whom of course was “The” Moon of the Greeks.

How often do you question that which you are told, or that which you read?

Artemis – Virgin Goddess

Oscar Wilde wrote:

“Wonder what young intruder dares to sing
In these still haunts, where never foot of man
Should treat at evening, lest he chance to spy,
the marble limbs of Artemis and all her company”

(From the “Garden of Eros, 1881)

The Goddess Artemis is a subject I have written and lectured about extensively over the years.  One of the most questioned subjects linked to her is that of “virginity”.  In modern pagan magical circles the idea of “virginity” is often reinterpreted as being “a woman who has not given birth” or similar, this then fits nicely into the “maiden mother crone” psychological construct which has also become popular in the last few decades.  Maybe this is true for some cultural concepts of virginity from a historical perspective, though I would very much like to see some evidence for this.  Virginity, like it or not, was prized in many cultures for, amongst other things, its magical potency and other power related reasons.  The sacrifice of virginity is something most women remember.

In the myths associated with Artemis, she vows as a child to remain forever a virgin and it is a title which is associated with her throughout the literature of the ancient world; she also illustrates her views through her actions in the various stories which have been recorded.  With Artemis however the idea of “virginity” is clearly indicated as being closer to the dictionary interpretation rather than the modern pagan one.  It meant no sexual intercourse and there can be no doubt about that.

Virginity was prized amongst her attendants, and Artemis inflicted severe punishments upon those who lost their virginity – regardless of the cause – even when one of the girls were raped by a god, Artemis would usually punish the girl.   There were three main Virgin Goddesses amongst the Greek goddesses, in addition to Artemis these were:

Athena: Goddess of Wisdom
Hestia: Goddess of the Hearth

Together, Artemis, Athena and Hestia had immunity from the powers of the Goddess of love, Aphrodite.  Homer wrote that the laughter-loving Aphrodite could never tame Artemis in love, saying that the huntress loved archery and slaying of wild beasts in the mountains.  Likewise, Artemis was also immune against the arrows of love from Eros.  Sappho went as far as to say that Eros simply never approached Artemis.

Artemis made herself the ultimate unattainable trophy, both as a sworn virgin and as a very effective warrior. It was dangerous for both mortals and gods to attempt to force their adorations on her, but of course this didn’t stop them from trying!

Sometimes Artemis was kind in her dealings with the love sick of the male species.  When Alpheios, a river god, fell in love with her, she disguised herself and her attendents when she found out that he was going to attempt to molest her at an all night gathering she was holding with her nymphs.  She smeared herself and all the nymphs with mud, so that Alpheios would not be able to distinguish between them.  Frustrated in his efforts to recognise Artemis, he eventually gave up and left.

Whilst Artemis did her best to protect her attendants if their virginity was threatened, she would also punish those who did not defend themselves effectively.  She turned the arcadian nymphs Arethousa and Syrinx respectively, into a spring and reeds to save them from losing their virginity, likewise she turned Amethyst into a rock to save her.  When the young prince Hippolytus, who had devoted his chaste life to her was killed through the machinatiosn of Aphrodite, Artemis persuaded Asclepius (god of healing) to bring him back to life and he then became a temple attendant at Aricia (in Italy).  Thus illustrating Artemis’ connection not just with female virginity, but also with male virginity.

However, when Actaeon, the prince of Thebes has the misfortune of seeing Artemis naked as she bathed in a stream, Artemis did not look kindly on his misfortune.  Instead she turned him into a stag and sent his own hunting hounds after him, who killed him very slowly, as a punishment for seeing her naked.

When the king Aristomelidas defiled one of her maidens, Artemis stirred up the hero Khronios to slay the king.  After killing the king Khronios, showing a good sense of honour (or fear) set up a sanctuary to Artemis.  When the mortal Bouphagos decided to attempt to force himself upon her and take her virginity, he was killed for his sacrilege.

When one of Artemis’ priestesses defiled the sanctity not only of her own body, but also of that of the inner sanctuary of the Temple at Patrai it is obvious that it would not end well.  Lomaitho, the priestess of Artemis made love with her lover Melanippos in the temple here, and Artemis was furious.  She inflicted punishment on the entire community making the harvests fail and fatal diseases began to afflict one and all.  When the Delphic Oracle was consulted the Pythia accused the lovers and ordered their sacrifice to Artemis.  Subsequently each year the most handsome young and the fairest of the maidens would be sacrificed to Artemis here.  From this the river by the sanctuary gained its name “Ameilikhos” (relentless).

Many other examples exist to illustrate Artemis’ association with virginity and sexual chastity – which is a clear association with her throughout history.