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Artemis Articles: The Virgin Goddess and Artemisian UPGs by Thista Minai, Exegete of Artemis Blessing: Artemis' blessings are wildness, self-reliance, physical prowess, cunning, skill, and closeness to nature. She protects the innocent, especially the wild creatures of the forest, but also pregnant women, children, and those who are just. She punishes wrong-doers, especially those who offend the Gods through hubris or unremitting pride. Epithets: Agreia (Hunteress), Agrotera (of the Wilderness), Arktos (the Bear), Cedreatis (Cedar), Daphnaia (of the Bay Laurel), Delia (of Delos), Eukleia (Glorious), Hegemone (She Who Leads), Karytis, Keladeine (Sounding [of the chase]), Koruthalia (Laurel-Maiden), Kynthia, Laphria (of the Hunt), Leukophruene (White-Browed), Limnatis (of the Marshes), Lokhia (Protector in Childbirth), Lygodesma (Willow), Megale (Great), Ortheia (the Upright), Parthenos (the Virgin), Phoebe (Shining), Phosphoros (Lightbringer), Potnia Theron (Mistress of the Animals), Puronia (Fiery), Sosipolis (Savior of the City), Soteira (Savior), Tauropolos (Bull-Hunter) Symbols: bow, moon, deer Animal(s): all wild creatures, but especially deer, bears, boars and the female of the species Sacrifices: moonstone, pearl, crystal, damiana, almond, mugwort, hazel, frankincense, jasmine, ginseng, camphor, aloe, menstrual blood Primary Cult Center(s): Delos, Magnesia, Pamphylia, Pergemon, Ephesus Festivals: Brauronia: (date unknown) Elaphebolia: 6 Elaphebolion (March-April) Kharisteria: 6 Boedromion (September-October) Mounikhia: 16 Mounikhion (April-May) 6th day of the month Ways to honor: The best way to honor Artemis is to care for the natural world. Clean up pollution, protect wildlife, donate time and money to ecological concerns. But don't just do it from your safe cities: actually get out into the wild, and experience the natural world. Go on nature walks, go for picnics, camp, hunt - but get outside! If you eat meat, respect the animal that it came from. Hunt, if you can. Be mindful of what the animal went through, and the intimate connection that exists between its death and your life, even if you can't. Be respectful of personal space, privacy, and of women-only spaces. Support pregnant women, children's rights, and women's sports. For more information: Acts 19:28 Apollodorus' Library 1.4.2-5, 1.6.2, 1.7.4-5, 1.9.16, 2.5.4, 3.14.4, 3.5.1, 3.5.7, 3.9.1 Euripides' Hippolytus Euripides' Iphigeneia in Aulis 1089 Hesiod's Theogony 920 Homer's Iliad 6.4.14, 9.533-536, 20.30-39, 20.70-71, 21.468-513, 24.605-607 Homer's Odyessey 15.475, 20.60 Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite 5.1 Homeric Hymn to Apollo 3a.1 Homeric Hymn to Artemis 9, 27 Hyginus' Fabulae 9, 28, 53, 98, 122, 150, 189, 195, 200 Hyginus' Poetica Astronomica 2.1, 2.7, 2.16, 2.18, 2.26, 2.34 Ovid's Metamorphoses 3.138-252, 2.401-530, 5.330, 6.204-312, 8.271-283, 11.321-327, 12.27-38, 15.487-551 Papyri Graeci Magicae 7.686-702 Pausanias' Description of Greece 2.7.7-8, 2.26.6, 3.18.15, 8.27.17, 8.53.1-3, 9.19.1, 9.19.7 Pindar's Olympian Odes 3.25-30 Pindar's Pythian Odes 3.31-37, 4.90-92 Links Temple of Cataleos About Artemis by El Sharra

The Virgin Goddess

by Thista Minai (Exegete of Artemis)

In ancient Greece, Artemis was known as a virgin Goddess. Today, as modern Hellenes attempt to revive ancient Greek religion and apply it to the modern world, we must reassess the meaning of Artemis's virginity, and attempt to understand why She chose this state.

It's important to clarify that 'virginity' was a very different thing in ancient Greece than it is for us in the modern world. To them, sexual abstinence was an after effect of virginity, not the definition of the word. The ancient Greeks did not believe the hymen existed, and virgin births were a regular occurrence rather than a rare miracle (see Giulia Sissa's Greek Virginity). Parthenos is the Greek word that generally gets translated as "virgin". Determining what it actually meant to be a parthenos is incredibly complicated, and one is likely to come up with a different answer for every polis. Luckily for Hellenes and modern scholars, the vast majority of what we know of ancient Greek myth and culture comes from Athens. Furthermore, the other Greek city-states were tremendously influenced by Athens due to its early victory over Persia and its subsequent financial and cultural success. So, while what we conclude about ancient Greek virgins based on Athenian social structure might not apply to all city-states (Sparta being the classic example), it will hold true to most of them, and will be at least relevant to all of them.

So what did it mean to be an Athenian parthenos? Ideally it meant an unmarried young woman who still lived with her father and never had sex. Athenian men wanted to ensure that their wives would bear legitimate heirs, so daughters were kept under strict supervision and seclusion to ensure that they had not been exposed to any other men before meeting their husbands. The one interesting exception was at certain festivals for Artemis, where unmarried women performed dances that the men watched, and this was often men's only opportunity to see their future brides.

There are many situations in which this ideal wasn't quite the same as the reality. Lower class families, for example, often couldn't afford to have their daughters spinning and weaving in seclusion, and so these young women would work the land with the rest of the family. However, even these women were still supposed to remain virgins. In the cases where a young woman did have sex, that did not necessarily end her parthenia, or virginity. Sissa writes, "Penetration by a male organ deflowered a virgin, yet the event existed only if it was found out by family and society or revealed by its consequences: the parthenic state depended on sexuality, hence on the body, yet was also a purely negative fact." Thus, if no one knew a woman had sex, she was still a parthenos, in contrast to the modern idea where once you've had sex, you're no longer a virgin, regardless of whether or not other people know about it. Unmarried women who managed to conceal a pregnancy, were allowed to give birth under other strange circumstances (usually only applicable in myth), or who bore a child without anyone having discovered the circumstances under which the child was conceived, were said to have had a 'virgin birth', and their sons were known as partheniai, or sons of virgins (Sissa, Greek Virginity, 79-83).

All these details considered, the fact remains that the ideal parthenos was a virgin in the modern sense of the word. Men wanted to know their children would be theirs, and not sired by some other man their wife had lain with in secret. If we keep in mind the fact that almost all ancient Greek myths we have to study today were written by men, and that the Greeks believed their Gods, especially the Olympians, to be perfect - that is, they embodied ideals, then we can assume that the variety of parthenia intended in the myths of Artemis we are familiar with would be the Athenian man's ideal model of a parthenos. Therefore, according to ancient Greek myth, Artemis doesn't have sex, never has, and never will.

Assuming that ancient Greek myth is valuable to modern Hellenism despite the overwhelmingly male point of view from which it was written, the important question becomes why. Why would Artemis choose to be a virgin? She asked Zeus of Her own will to remain a parthenos forever, so there must be some reason that She desired to abstain from sex and marriage. What is that reason?

The answer to this question can be found by studying the oracle of Apollo at Delphi. The Pythia was a virgin priestess of Apollo who gave prophecies from the God in His temple at Delphi. Sissa tells us (again in Greek Virginity) that vapors coming from a crack in the earth induced a hallucinogenic trance in which the Pythia delivered these oracles. The fumes entered the Pythia's vagina as she sat on a tripod perched over the chasm. Sissa goes on to explain how the significance of this lies in the ancient Greek perception of symmetry in the human body: the ancient Greeks believed the body to be symmetrical not only horizontally, but vertically as well. Thus the vagina and the mouth corresponded to one other. Therefore, when the essence of Apollo, in the form of fumes emitted from the earth, entered the Pythia through her vagina, it was logical to the ancient Greeks that this essence would then exit her body through her mouth in the form of divine prophecies. In order for the Greeks to be absolutely certain that all the words escaping her lips were sent by the God Himself and only Him, the Pythia must be completely pure and devoid of outside influences, i.e. chaste. In this way the authenticity of her oracles were guaranteed, because the only things coming out of her mouth were the same things that went into her 'mouth.'

The implications of this are tremendous. This relationship between Apollo and His priestess echoes a widely held belief about ancient Greek women and their husbands: Not only did a woman belong to her husband, but his essence permeated her. His influence entered her during sex, and so every word she spoke was his word channeled through her. This basic concept also applies to the ancient Greek understanding of men and women in general. Men were considered purely projective (as their penis spews forth their essence, so must their mouths when we apply vertical symmetry) and women were considered purely receptive. Furthermore, a woman's individuality is somehow contaminated by a man's spirit during intercourse. Once he spills his essence into her, everything she says and does has his essence in it.

This is where we find the reason behind Artemis's virginity. As a Goddess of both freedom, independence, and the untouched purity of wild nature, Artemis must preserve an identity that is completely uninfluenced by any other being. She could not allow anyone else to cloud Her individuality. The ancient Greeks believed that the only way for a woman (or Goddess, in this case) to remain purely herself and not have her identity influenced by anyone else was to abstain from sex. In the minds of the ancient Greek men who wrote down the myths we are now familiar with, the only acceptable way for Artemis to avoid intercourse permanently was to remain a parthenos eternally, and thus never be bound by the responsibilities of a wife to bear children.

To take all this information one step further and ask how Artemis would manifest Herself in modern society, or if She would still require Her followers to be virgins today (as they were in ancient Greece) is effectively unsolvable. The answer would be dependent not only on the individual person in question, but also on their personal approach to reconstructing ancient Greek religion. For example, for a woman determined to be as authentic to ancient Greek culture as possible in every aspect of their worship, perhaps they would need to abstain from sex with men. Having sex with women is arguably acceptable, for if this woman is working with the ancient Greek understanding of men and women, then two women, both being purely receptive beings, are incapable of contaminating each other's identities. If this were a man instead, the answer might be entirely different. Perhaps they could have sex freely without needing to worry about contamination of their identity, for if men are only projective, then they have no receptiveness with which to receive the identity of another. However, one could also look at the myth of Hippolytos and assume that virginity is the best way to stay close to Artemis regardless of one's own gender, although I would caution anyone determined to abstain entirely from sex, and suggest they take a good look at what ultimately happens to Hippolytos and why. On the other hand, this same question could yield a very different answer for someone who wishes to use a modern understanding of gender and sex. Perhaps sex is less binding to them, and it is instead relationships which have an unquestionable influence on their independence and individuality, or perhaps they are one of those rare and unique people who can keep their individuality and freedom in tact while being romantically or sexually involved with someone. The point is that there is no longer a set rule in this matter. In the modern world it is up to each individual who wishes to be closer to Artemis to approach Her and discover which path is best suited for them.

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Artemisian UPGs

by Thista Minai (Exegete of Artemis)

I've been asked to write something personal about the Goddess Artemis that I can share publicly, and I've found this very challenging. One difficulty is that there's so much, I don't know where to start, and the other difficulty that it's all so personal. I see Artemis as a Goddess of independence and freedom and individuality, so the way that I interact with her is going to be specific to me. I see a lot of people claiming what they call UPG - Unsubstantiated Personal Gnosis - and then using whatever understanding they gain from UPG to make a general claim about the God or Goddess in question. I think that causes a lot of problems. Where do you draw the line between UPG and making it up? How can anyone prove their UPG to anyone else? I handle UPG - even my own - with extreme skepticism, but not because I think UPG is worthless. I think those experiences can be extremely valuable to the person that has them.

I think it's possible that the Gods come through to a person in whatever way that person needs Them to. I don't think that I can really assess that need. Only the Gods Themselves can. I think that because different people have such different needs, the way in which a God comes through to one person will frequently be different from the way that a God comes through to another, and I think that this may mean that sometimes the experience or understanding of a God that is valuable to one individual may be meaningless to another. I think that these experiences are very personal, and sharing them is difficult. I don't think people should expect their UPG to be meaningful to anyone else. They might be, but I don't think they always will be, and for strangers I think they frequently won't be. I will be happy to share some of my own "UPG"s of Artemis at the request of Neokoroi, but please understand that they may not have any significance for anyone besides me, and there is frequently no evidence from the ancient world to back them up. I usually don't share them unless someone asks.

Artemis has a very dark aspect to me, as a Goddesss of death and sacrifice. I resonate with the concepts of life feeding death and death feeding life, and in my experiences, Artemis seems to embody this, as She is both Huntress and Protectress of wild animals. I sympathize not only with the instinctual desire to hunt and eat meat, but I also sympathize with the animals that die. For me, Artemis's connection with sacrifice comes from the sacrifice of the hunted animal: they die so we live. On a practical level, I work with this aspect of Artemis when I care for my snakes. I feed my snakes rats and mice, animals that I also see as being pets. I sympathize with the rodents, and try to treat them well and ask Artemis to make their deaths swift and painless, but when it comes right down to it, they have to die, or my snakes will die. It's part of nature, and a necessity to having snakes as pets. As amusing as it might sound, I keep a token for the rodents on my shrine for ancestors and the dead, and I honor them for their sacrifice at Genesia and Samhain.

The connection between Artemis and sacrifice doesn't really stop there for me, though. I extrapolate from that how many things in our lives must 'die,' or be cast away or left behind, and how this process often allows for new and better things to come instead, or just provides a release and relief when unnecessary things are finally destroyed. Whenever I have 'baggage' I need to get rid of, or when I there's something detrimental affecting my life, I will often ask Artemis to help me 'shoot' it, to help me kill it and get rid of it. Just as often, there are times when I put up with things in my life that I really shouldn't, for one reason or another, and often something will happen that forces those things out of my life. Sometimes this can be extremely painful, especially when they are things that I think I want or need or enjoy, but I always end up looking back a month later and realizing how much better off I am, or how much happier I am, now that those things are gone. I think this is Artemis's way of helping me be who and what and where I need to be. In my experience, Artemis's lessons are frequently harsh and transformative, and the amount of pain that comes with learning is directly proportional to the value of what is learned.

I think a lot about Artemis's connections with light and fire. I'm not certain how much important those aspects had in ancient Greece, but it doesn't look like they were central to Her worship. Although She had some ambiguous connections with the moon, Artemis was not a moon Goddess in ancient Greece, and yet when I look up at the moon I feel Her in a way that I can't articulate. There's something to that. Many of Artemis's associations with had to do with bringing light into darkness, or shedding light on dark places. I think this ties in with Her association with transitions and the initiations of women, and when I work with this aspect of Her, it's to help me learn about the unknown, to bring unseen things to light, and to shed some light on the darkness within myself.

Of course, all that said, there is this lovely scene in Callimachus where Artemis dances and Helios stops to watch, causing the hours of daylight to be extended. I want to look into that connection on a more personal level this summer, and see how that affects my sense of Her around midsummer.

Aside from Her usual favorite animals, I also feel a special connection between Artemis and horses (probably because of a dream I had as a child) and lions - or maybe just cats in general. The aloof and independent nature of most felines seems very Artemisian to me, and although lions are social animals, the association still works for me, since it's the female lion that hunts, and because there's actual ancient Greek evidence to support a connection between Artemis and lions. Although saffron-yellow seemed to be Her sacred color in ancient Greece, I see 6 colors (6 being Her number) as being particularly meaningful for Her: pure white, blood red, forest green, brown of tree trunks and animal hides, silver of moonlight, and black of night. But, that said, I also see how yellow (light and joy and childhood) and gold (frequently associated with the Gods in Homeric literature) and blue (She was patroness of harbors and known by some as a river Goddess) hold special meaning for Her, so maybe all colors relate to Her in some way. In my experiences thus far, Artemis seems to like snow, and I frequently "see" Her hunting in woods covered with white in the winter. I think this might have to do with the pristine look of the woods when they're covered with a fresh coat of snow. We even call it "virgin snow" before anything walks through it.

These experiences and ideas are meaningful to me, but they may not be to anyone else, and I have no way to prove them so I can't ask that other people give them any value. Perhaps someone will have a similar experience or feel similarly about the Goddess, but otherwise, this is just how Artemis comes through to me. After all, the important part, I think, is not so much the details and specifics, but the meaning behind them. If the essence of the Goddess behind all the details is the same, then we know we're talking about the same entity, regardless of the specifics of how She comes through to different people. She is a Goddess of hunting, of freedom, of purity, of wilderness and wild things, of nature, of life and death, of independence and self-reliance, of femininity, of animals, of youth, of liminality and transitions... In my opinion, these concepts are important, rather than the details by which they are expressed.

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