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Subscribe to this list via RSS Blog posts tagged in Artemis

Posted by on in Culture Blogs

 

 

Three things stand out in my memory from my trip to the ancient city of Ephesus, City of the Moon.

The first, quite frankly, was the public toilet. Astoundingly, the row of side-by-side toilet seats—the ancestors were social people—looked exactly—exactly—like modern toilet seats.

But these were hand-carved from marble. Wow.

The second was the civic amphitheater. Here Saul of Tarsus—later known as “saint” Paul—was nearly lynched by an angry mob for blaspheming the city's patron goddess, the famously many-breasted Artemis (Diana) of Ephesus. Megálê hê Ártemis tôn Efesíôn! they chanted: Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!

According to the New Testament book of Acts, the mob was led by a guild of souvenir-manufacturers, cynically worried about loss of revenue. (Why do non-pagans find it so difficult to believe that we, too, might love our gods?) Unfortunately, in the end a conscientious city official intervened to save “Paul's” life.

During my visit to the theater, I had the pleasure of standing in the middle of the stage and chanting, in modern pronunciation, the chant of the ancients: Megháli i Ártemis tôn Efesíôn!

Indeed, as reputed, the acoustics were wonderful.

My third memory from the day is much more humble, but—in many ways—the most telling of all.

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  • Jamie
    Jamie says #
    Mr. Posch, That story is awesome. Praise be to Artemis, Goddess of the forest and the swamplands, of the Moon and the wild plac

 

Scene: Department store, Women's Wear

Brassiere display, two racks side-by-side.

Sign on first rack:

Bras for Cowans

(Shows regular two-cup brassieres.)

Sign on second rack:

Bras for Witches

(Shows bras with three, four, and five cups.)

 

You know about witches' nipples: we've got extra. All the better to feed our familiars with, they say.

Polymastia: the condition of having extra breasts. Some years back, I gave a workshop on the subject at a local festival. My plan was to discuss the lore from the trials. I hadn't expected the workshop to turn into a show-and-tell. Turns out, some witches actually do have extras. That's just how some bodies are made, although of course in this particular instance we do have to factor in a certain self-selecting demographic.

In the minds of the Hunters, of course, a witch's polymastia made her something less than human. Humans have two nipples; animals have many. The witch's extra nipples demonstrate her essentially bestial nature.

Still, I can't quite help but think of Many-Breasted Artemis of Ephesus: Goddess of Witches, She Who Feeds the World. Like Goddess, apparently, like votary.

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Posted by on in Paths Blogs
My Distant Gods

At the healing ritual, held one night in a mountainside lodge, scores of people paced, swayed, chanted, lay on the floor, laid their hands on others. I too paced and swayed, watched and lay down. It was overwhelming to see so many vulnerable, so many moved to a caring beyond words. Filled to overflowing, I walked out to the open lawn, leaving the longing and tears behind me.

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Posted by on in Culture Blogs
The Goddess Abides

I stand on the stage in the Roman theater of the ancient city of Ephesus, thinking of how different history might have been.

Here, if the anonymous story in Acts 19 is to be believed, the enraged citizenry of Ephesus nearly lynched Saul of Tarsus, known later to the church as “saint” Paul. Angered by his blasphemies against their patron goddess Artemis—known to the Romans as Diana—for two solid hours they chanted “Great is Diana of the Ephesians!”

Alas, Saul's life was saved by a conscientious city magistrate who talked down the crowd by reminding them that extrajudicial killings are morally wrong.

Such conscientiousness in a public official is surely to be praised. Still, one can only wonder.

According to Acts, the crowd's anger was fomented by a souvenir manufacturer worried about potential loss of trade. One need only think about this to see how unlikely such a scenario really is. Why do non-pagans find it so difficult to believe that pagans, too, might actually love our gods?

Walking the streets of the city earlier that day, I had been struck by the frequency with which one found little bas-reliefs of the Ephesian Goddess, with her distinctive polymastate (many-breasted) shape, carved into the gateposts of doorways, watching maternally over the comings and goings of her people.

Me, I know a mezuza when I see one. You can't tell me that the ancients didn't touch these little goddesses and then kiss their hands, coming and going. In fact, I did so myself.

Thanks to this episode, historical or not, Artemis/Diana is the only goddess to have been mentioned by name in the New Testament. If Craft historian Ron Hutton is correct, for this reason through the Christian centuries She became the paradigmatic example of the pagan goddess—think of all those medieval accounts of wicked women flying by night with the goddess Diana, dea paganorum—and thus, eventually, the patronal Lady of Revival Witchery, She Who Shines by Night.

If that's so, then I'm standing in the place where the New Paganisms were seeded, nearly 2000 years ago.

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Posted by on in Culture Blogs
ARTEMIS or CANDLE CRYSTAL - REVISIT

We're going to revisit all the quartz types, using some drawings from my Crystal Mandala books(in which I have drawn a mandala of each type of crystal, condensing the information to 4 to 5 items to make remembering easier).

artemis or candle crystal

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Posted by on in SageWoman Blogs
Samhain...West Coast Style

I was recently interviewed for a Huffington Post article on Samhain, asking how I celebrated this holy time.  Here's what I told the reporter, Laurie Lovecraft, for her article, Samhain: West Coast Style, sharing what a group of people in the West Coast community do during this often misunderstood sacred time.  Perhaps you'll put in the comments below how you practice Samhain.....

At Samhain I check in with myself and see how I feel -- if I 'm feeling celebratory or want to participate within the community I'll attend a public Samhain ritual. But if I'm seeking guidance or feeling like going within, I'll steer toward a more private ritual, alone or with my closest friends.  My mother passed away a year ago and my sister very recently.  No doubt they will be in my thoughts.

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The past two weeks have been full of movement and change, not to mention the perils (and blessings) of Mercury Retrograde. One of the major gifts of a Mercury Retrograde is the ability to finally put to rest things that have been unfinished, and this has been happening for me on a major scale. I have had the chance to really look at past patterns and lay them to rest, to pick up neglected projects and work on them, to revisit things I had laid aside. I led my first public women's Full Moon circle in over a decade, and remembered how much I love creating ritual space and sharing it with other women. I did a major cleaning of my living space, and am engaged in energetic decluttering even now, creating a space that will nurture me and my loved ones. I began teaching my first online class at Mystery School of the Goddess, and am plunging excitedly into developing more courses. And, just as Mercury came out of Retrograde, I was offered an amazing full time job -- after nearly a decade of poorly paid contingent faculty work. It's been a time of immense growth.

I am excited to have Diana, Roman Goddess of the Hunt and of the Moon, along with me during this exciting, energetic time:

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  • Michelle Gruben
    Michelle Gruben says #
    It was lovely meeting you at the Full Moon circle--found my little stone yesterday! Many blessings in your new job.

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