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What's missing from Minoan art?
Before you answer "The women's shirts," let me clarify that I mean here: What kind of animal is missing from Minoan art?
There are all kinds of animals in Minoan art, inhabiting the realms of land, sky, sea, and imagination. But there's one that doesn't show up until very late in the game, for very specific reasons.
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A lot of people have the impression that Minoan art mostly contains depictions of women and girls. But that's all it is: an impression.
Back in the early days of this blog, I went through Nanno Marinatos's book Minoan Religion and counted up the male and female figures in the art depicted in the book. They came out just about even.
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CW: Meat eating and animal slaughter/sacrifice
Animals show up a lot in Minoan art and in religious iconography from ancient Crete. In MMP we tend to pay special attention to the ones associated with deities - the Horned Ones, for instance, the gods and goddesses connected with cattle, goats, and deer.
It's clear from the archaeological record that, in addition to revering these animals as earthly reflections of certain deities, the Minoans also slaughtered them and ate their meat on a regular basis. Animals that were ritually sacrificed were also eaten, probably by temple clergy.
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One of the projects I'm working on these days is a book of modern Minoan myths, tales to bridge the gap between the Bronze Age and our times as we learn to live in relationship with the Minoan deities. The working title is Tales from the Labyrinth. The book will be illustrated, but before I can start on the art, I have to complete the stories.
Today I'm sharing one of them with you - a very important story, the the first one in the book. It's just a little taste of the whole collection of tales. I hope you enjoy it.
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Imagine climbing halfway up a mountain to a plaza in front of a small building just so you could make an offering - to ask a deity for aid or healing, or perhaps to give thanks for what the deity has already done for you. This is something the Minoans did on a regular basis, making pilgrimages up the mountainsides to the four dozen or so peak sanctuaries that were in operation before the Thera eruption (a number that dropped dramatically by 2/3 to 3/4 after the eruption, for complicated reasons).
The photo (CC BY 4.0) at the top of this post comes from the peak sanctuary at Petsofas on the far eastern end of Crete. This fascinating artifact appears to be a model building in the shape of doubled sacred horns, with more small sacred horns over the central doorway. This piece was probably not a pilgrim's offering, but may have been part of the sacred paraphernalia that had a permanent home in the building at the peak sanctuary. Maybe it was used during rituals of some sort.
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What is a micropantheon, you ask? (Of course you do, because you're the inquisitive type!)
Sorry, but it has nothing to do with small gods, of the Terry Pratchett variety or otherwise.
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Divination has many different forms and is a popular practice. You don't have to formally involve a deity to do divination; many of us throw down Tarot cards, runes, or bones in a somewhat casual way when we feel the need.
But there are times when you need to do something more formal, and when you need some help. The word "divination" includes the divine, after all. That's when you invite the appropriate deity and ask for their assistance. (Note that in MMP we never invoke deities, only invite them and then welcome them when they appear.)
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