Ariadne's Tribe: Minoan Spirituality for the Modern World

Walk the sacred labyrinth with Ariadne, the Minotaur, the Great Mothers, Dionysus, and the rest of the Minoan family of deities. Ariadne's Tribe is an independent spiritual tradition that brings the deities of the ancient Minoans alive in the modern world. We're a revivalist tradition, not a reconstructionist one. We rely heavily on shared gnosis and the practical realities of Paganism in the modern world. Ariadne's thread reaches across the millennia to connect us with the divine. Will you follow where it leads?

Find out all about Ariadne's Tribe at ariadnestribe.com. We're an inclusive, welcoming tradition, open to all who share our love for the Minoan deities and respect for our fellow human beings.

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Days of the Week, Minoan Style

Posted by on in Paths Blogs

You probably already know that the names of the days of the week are associated with deities (Greco-Roman, Norse, and others). Many people use the deity-day connections to guide their spiritual practice, choosing a particular deity's day for activities that focus on them.

We thought it would be nice if we could do something similar for the Minoan pantheon.

Of course, we have no idea whether the Minoans had a seven-day week. They probably didn't, since the seven-day week as a year-round calendar setup (rather than just a seven-day festival) probably dates to the Iron Age, many centuries after the end of Minoan civilization.

But we modern folx live in a world organized by the seven-day week. So we have come up with a system that arranges the deities of the MMP pantheon into a weekly format:

Sunday: Therasia
Monday: Rhea
Tuesday: Posidaeja
Wednesday: the Daughters
Thursday: the Sons
Friday: Minos
Saturday: the Whole Family

So we have a week-long flow that moves through the Mothers to the Daughters then the Sons then Minos (the Underworld face of the Sons) to the rest of the pantheon, then back again in a circle.

In this system, you can fit the rest of the pantheon wherever it seems pertinent as well as on Saturday. For instance, if you want to focus on the Melissae, you could do that on Wednesday (Ariadne's day as one of the Daughters) or Friday (Minos's day as part of the Underworld). The Horned Ones would fit in with the Sons and Daughters, but the female Horned Ones also connect with Rhea, so you could pick whichever day feels right for whoever you're working with and what you're doing.

Daedalus/Talos is another of Korydallos's faces, so he goes with the Sons, as does Vikaro. Thumia and Kaulo go with Therasia and Dionysus's days, and the Daktyls and Hekaterides can go with either the Sons or Rhea. You could also work with any of the Sons or Daughters on their Mother's day, if you're looking to reinforce that connection. So there's a lot of flexibility. Listening to your inner voice and the voices of the deities will guide you to the specifics you need.

You'll notice that this arrangement conflicts somewhat with the 5-day work week/2-day weekend setup that has become the standard in modern capitalist culture. That is on purpose, both because we would rather not reinforce industrial capitalist energy structures, and because a great many people don't work nine-to-five, despite the cultural assumption that it's the standard.

All those essential workers we've been hearing about during the pandemic - the retail employees, health care workers, and so on - typically work odd schedules that don't fit into the nine-to-five framework. And they are truly the backbone of society and the economy. Not to mention all the people who are full-time caregivers for children, the disabled, and the elderly, whose work schedule is constant and around the clock.

So this more fluid setup acknowledges that people's lives and schedules are as varied as their spiritual experiences.

How will you incorporate these daily correspondences into your spiritual practice?

In the name of the bee,
And of the butterfly,
And of the breeze, amen.

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Laura Perry is a priestess and creator who works magic with words, paint, ink, music, textiles, and herbs. She's the founder and Temple Mom of Ariadne's Tribe, an inclusive Minoan spiritual tradition. When she's not busy drawing and writing, you can find her in the garden or giving living history demonstrations at local historic sites.

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