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The Minoans were a seafaring people, so it's no surprise that their art is full of marine life, exhibiting their deep connection with the sea goddess Posidaeja. Most people are familiar with the dolphins and octopuses that appear on so many Minoan marine ware vessels and frescoes. But there's another sea creature that shows up in Minoan art, mostly on ceramic containers, a creature that was so odd, it took us a while to figure out its identity.

Have a look at the marine ware jug at the top of this post. The critter painted on it looks like an octopus that's holed up in a nautilus shell, sticking its tentacles out and waving them.

Many pagan rituals begin with the purificatory sprinkling of salt water. This act mythically reenacts creation: as all life arose in the womb of the Sea, so too do the touch of its waters make new.

What follows are the preparatory formulas that I myself generally use.

The Blessing of Salt and Water

(Take up dish of salt)

Blessings be upon you, O Salt.

(Sign)

In the name of Mabh, be blessed.

(Raise dish of Salt)

(Take up bowl of water)

Blessings be upon you, O Water.

(Sign)

In the name of Mabh, be blessed.

(Raise dish of Water)

(Add three good three-finger pinches of Salt into Water. Using aspergillum, stir three times.)

In the beginning was the Sea.

(Sprinkle.)

Comment

Marine ware is one of the more striking styles of ceramics created by the Minoans of ancient Crete. Vessels such as the one above (image CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons) evoke the motion and beauty of the many fascinating creatures that live in the Mediterranean Sea. Minoan potters made marine ware vessels in a variety of different shapes and sizes, featuring a handful of fascinating sea creatures.

The jug above shows argonauts, a.k.a. paper nautiluses, along with the coral-and-seaweed background that appears on most marin eware. The females of this fascinating type of deep-sea octopus secrete a papery egg case that looks very much like a nautilus shell. Interestingly, the better-known nautilus mollusk was named after the paper nautilus and not the other way around. Minoan sailors and traders must have encountered these fascinating creatures on their voyages around the Mediterranean.

Goddess of the untamed shore
smooth my edges into gratitude,
tumble me into letting go,
teach me what it means
to let my longings
ebb and flow.
Roll me until my to-do list
becomes rubble
and my bindings become loosened
by the touch of salt and time.
Carve me back to my
most essential self,
erode my need to know
until it is replaced
by space
around my heart
to grow.
Sweep over me
and leave me expansive and free,
help me to remember
to wait for nothing
while somehow also being
as patient as the moon.
Encourage me to
chart my own course
and steer my own craft,
trusting the transformations wrought
by truth and trust and tide.

Title: American Witch

The majority of sea snakes live in the warm seas of the Indian and Pacific Oceans.  Most of the species are found in the Coral Triangle region of Southeast Asia, with Australia a close second. Built for marine life, sea snakes have rounded bodies and flat tails.  Furthermore as they swim, small flaps cover their noses to keep the sea water out.

 The families of sea snakes differ in their need for land and fresh water.  The Hydrophiinae like the yellow-bellied sea snake spend their entire lives at sea.  They have glands under their tongues to discharge salt.  Also, the powerful lung of these snakes allows them to dive deeply, and stay underwater for a long time.  Great numbers of these sea snakes can be found floating out in the open ocean in a giant raft (“slick”).

If you live on an island, even a big one like Crete, the ocean is a constant presence. And if you spend a lot of time in boats and ships, like the Minoans did when they went fishing or traveled across the waves to trade, the ocean becomes a powerful focus for your safety and livelihood. So it's no surprise that the Minoans had a goddess of the sea, the sacred embodiment of the womb-ocean that their island rises up out of. Her name is Posidaeja.

Posidaeja's name shows up in the Linear B tablets, which record the Mycenaean Greek language. We don't know for sure that Posidaeja is what the Minoans called her, but when we use the name, she answers, so at the very least she's agreeable to it. Many of us who practice Modern Minoan Paganism simply call her Grandmother Ocean.