text:
Greek Theme Asteroids:
5731 Zeus
103 Hera
399 Persephone
46 Hestia
1108 Demeter
2 Pallas (also called Pallas Athene)
881 Athene
433 Eros
16 Psyche
1388 Aphrodite
1862 Apollo
3361 Orpheus
80 Sappho
201 Penelope
1943 Anteros
2101 Adonis
108 Hecuba
4450 Pan
74 Galatea
88 Thisbe
14871 Pyramus
875 Nymphe
499 Venusia
60 Echo
1036 Ganymede
3671 Dionysus
1809 Prometheus
258 Tyche
128 Nemesis
5 Astraea
19521 Chaos
638 Moira
273 Atropos
97 Klotho
120 Lachesis
57 Mnemosyne
600 Musa
22 Kalliope
84 Klio
18 Melpomene
27 Euterpe
62 Erato
81 Terpsichore
30 Urania
23 Thalia
33 Polyhymnia
14827 Hypnos
10 Hygeia
2878 Panacea
1027 Aescualpia
3063 Makhaon
4086 Podalerios
5261 Eureka
5450 Sokrates
5451 Plato
6123 Aristoteles
193 Ambrosia
7 Iris
307 Nike
40 Harmonia
55 Pandora
43 Ariadne
79 Eurynome
105 Artemis
407 Arachne
52 Europa
212 Medea
34 Circe
100 Hekate
69230 Hermes
114 Kassandra
432 Pythia
4341 Poseidon
382 Dodona
342 Endymion
157 Dejanira
1009 Sirene
1309 Hyperborea
5731 Zeus (Greek):
Zeus, king of Olympus, the home of the Greek Gods, was father of Gods and men. He was Lord of the sky - the rain God and the cloud gatherer who wielded the terrible thunderbolt. As God of the sky he controls the weather: rain, thunder and lightning (which he used as a weapon, hurling thunderbolts at those who displeased him). He is one of the oracular Gods, especially at Dodona with its sacred oak. He is known to punish those that lie or break oaths. He is represented as the God of justice and mercy, the protector of the weak, and the punisher of the wicked.
Zeus was the son of the Titans Cronus and Rhea, and brother of Poseidon and Hades, as well as sisters Hera (who he married), Demeter and Hestia. Zeus became ruler of the Olympian Gods when he overthew his Father Cronus. He drew lots with his brothers Poseidon and Hades; Zeus won the draw and became God of the sky and the supreme King of the Gods. Though married to Hera, he mated with many mortals and Goddesses and was famous for his many affairs. From his affairs he had many children - thus, Zeus is also credited as the father and ancestor of many Greek Gods, Goddesses, heroes, and mortal men. Though often hurt by her husband's amorous escapades, the Goddess Hera eventually led him to achieve the spiritual union which she yearned for.
Zeus is shown with a beard and long hair. His other attributes include scepter, eagle, cornucopia, aegis, ram, and lion.
The cornucopia or (goat) horn of plenty comes from the story of his Zeus' infancy when he was nursed by Amalthea.
His breastplate was the aegis, his bird was the eagle, his tree was the oak.
103 Hera (Greek):
Greek counterpart of Juno.
Marriage, commited and bonded relationships, legal ties and protection of rights within the relationship. Marriage and commitment in relationships. Check synastry for connections. Partnership dynamics, fidelity, jealousy and the property of scorekeeping in relationships. She is the attribute of the Goddess who is the queen, the divine consort of the king of the Gods.
Hera is the Wife. As the Greek Goddess of Marriage, Hera symbolises the union of the feminine and masculine through the vehicle of committed relationship. The reproductive energy of Venus is utilised to foster relationship and consummate union with the other. On an occult level, Hera holds the secret teachings of sexual tantric practices where perfected relationship is used as a path to spiritual realisation.
Hera is the principle of relatedness and commitment to the other. In her longing for union, Hera's gifts of intimacy and sharing are often expressed as jealousy and manipulation. This occurs when she feels powerless and tries to regain her lost influence through covert means. She is passionate and has a desire to possess. Her inner colour is blue-violet, symbolising the transcendence of deep union. Her emotional qualities link her to the element of water, a medium which dissolves separate forms and unifies their essences.
In the symbolism of the astrological wheel, Hera corresponds to the Descendant as awareness and co-operation with the other. Astrologically, Hera represents one's capacity for meaningful relationship and commitment to another person. Hera's cycle takes one through the transformative process of consummation and separation in relationships. She teaches the wisdom that forgiveness and fair play lead to depth and renewal with others.
Hera represents what "stands between the two [partners] and prevents the relationship from being utterly fulfilling. So Hera addresses the bone of contention. It's also part of the important dynamic that was learned from the relationship of the parents (and particularly the mother's role and attitude in that marriage)." Or, "Marriage at any cost."
Transits and progressions can signify timing of marriage. Hera relates to working through relationship betrayals, infidelity. Sharing power within relationships in a balanced manner. A passionate focus on the partner, with the urge to protect each other's vulnerabilities. A drive for equality in sexual expression. In synastry, strong Hera contacts indicate that marriage can be important for the two people, due to the need for a guideline or structure and a safe long term solution for the sexual relationship. Strong synastry contacts are great for marriage as the sex life keeps on keeping on, no matter how long the couple is together. Mutual love is important for them. Even betrayals and other partners may not signal the end for the relationship/union.
The Greek Goddess Hera was a powerful queen long before her marriage to Zeus, the mighty king of the Olympian Gods. She ruled over the heavens and the earth and was responsible for every aspect of the environment, including the seasons and the weather.
The Goddess Hera's name means "Beautiful Lady", and she was loved by all and served as the gracious Queen of the Olympian Gods and Goddesses. As the Goddess of committed love and marriage in Greek mythology, Hera valued her relationship with Zeus above all else.
Though often hurt by her husband's amorous escapades, the Goddess Hera eventually led him to achieve the spiritual union which she yearned for.
More than any of the other Greek Goddesses, the Goddess Hera represents the fullness of life and reminds us that we can use our own wisdom in the pursuit of any goal we choose.
Hera in the horoscope gives a good indication of the kind of marriage partner that we need and will get. Not the partner we think we want (those are ruled by Venus and Mars), but the one we need and actually wind up with. Let's get things straight here before we go into the details about Hera in your horoscope. Venus and Mars show what we consider to be our ideal man or woman. The 5th house describes the type of people we tend to get involved with romantically. The 7th house tells us the kind of person our first marriage partner will be (and the 9th house describes our 2nd marriage partner, if any). Hera works on a more fundamental level.
Hera in the Signs:
Hera in Aries: The partner will tend to be fiery, aggressive, assertive, and active. Grass doesn't grow under their feet.
Hera in Taurus: Solid, stable, and of course stubborn describes this partner.
Hera in Gemini: You should never marry a silent type. Talk, talk, and more talk in a partner is what you need. It also helps if they are versatile and clever.
Hera in Cancer: You need a sensitive, nurturing partner. Careful though. If Hera is making too many stressful aspects, you will have to nurture them, and they will whine and complain endlessly.
Hera in Leo: No, your partner does not have to be in show business, but they will tend to have showy qualities, be creative, or be very playful. On the other hand, they may be arrogant, bossy childlike, or immature, especially if Hera makes some stress aspects. In any case, give up any idea of attracting a shy, retiring type.
Hera in Virgo: You need a partner who is efficient, works hard, and watches out for your health. All right, so they may be a little critical at times (or at all times), especially if your Hera has stress aspects (the square, opposition, and some conjunctions).
Hera in Libra: You need a partner who is charming, social, and has a good artistic sense.
Hera in Scorpio: The need is for a partner who is intense, strong, and a bit secretive. They definitely must be good in bed.
Hera in Sagittarius: The partner will tend to come from an entirely different background and may even be a foreigner. Even if the partner is not a Sagittarian, they may have Sagittarian traits. They may be involved in higher education or take frequent long trips, and they may talk a lot and listen only a little (if at all).
Hera in Capricorn: Your need is for a practical partner who is a good organizer and can help you in business. Don't expect them to show too much emotion.
Hera in Aquarius: You need a partner that's - well - different. They may be a genius, eccentric, or just plain insane (maybe all of the above). It may be the partnership that is different. Aquarius is a sign that is fanatic about independence and having enough space. A bi-costal marriage where the two people spend a good deal of time apart is a good situation for the Pallas in Aquarius individual.
Hera in Pisces: This one may be satisfied with an imaginary partner! If they happen to be married to (or living with) a real person, then they can use imagination to eliminate the partner's shortcomings and add virtues to taste. Please be careful not to marry someone because you feel sorry for them or want to "save" them.
Hera in the Houses:
Hera in the 1st House: The 1st house is you, how you approach the world. Hera placed here can make being a partner the centerpiece of your life. Hera in the first house can also give you an air of innocence, something like a newborn child. This is especially true if Hera is within 10 degrees of the Ascendant and in the same sign.
Hera in the 2nd House: This is the house of money, possessions, and one's sense of self-worth. Marriage will likely bring an increase in the sense of self worth. They could also seek to get married to improve their sense of self worth, but of course that seldom works. In this case, they usually don't pick the best partner. They will tend to stay even in a bad marriage because divorce for them could be devastating. They could also marry for money or regard their marriage partner as a possession. On the other hand, they may literally be married to their possessions, spending most of their time accumulating more and more.
Hera in the 3rd House: Communication will tend to be an especially important here, and marriage or partnership will tend to improve the communications ability of anyone with this placement, especially if there are harmonious aspects to Hera (sextile and trine). Stressful aspects on the other hand (square and opposition) could indicate that the marriage can reduce communications ability.
Hera in the 4th House: This person can be married to their home. Hera in the 4th house can also indicate a need for a partner who is attached to the domestic environment. Another possibility is that you become more of a domestic type after marriage.
Hera in the 5th House: Marriage tends to improve creativity with this placement. The partner would also tend to be a creative person, or good with children, sports, games, and hobbies. If afflicted, watch out. They may act like a child themselves and want to play all the time instead of work.
Hera in the 6th House: This person can be married to their work. They are more likely to marry a co-worker! More often, though, Hera in the 6th house shows a need for a partner that one can work with. If there are stress aspects (the square or opposition, or the conjunction to a malefic) then partnership and work won't blend well. In that case, either you will try to turn the partner into a servant, or they will try to do the same to you. Strive for some equality here if you don't want the partnership to break up.
Hera in the 7th House: This simply increases the need for a marriage or partnership. Those things will tend to be the cornerstone of your life.
Hera in the 8th House: You need a Sex Machine for a partner. Since the 8th house rules the partner's possessions, well, they may regard you as a possession (especially if there are stress aspects). Marriage and partnership can also help you to reconstruct or transform yourself (whether you want to or not).
Hera in the 9th House: You need a partner with whom you can travel (long trips, not short ones) and "philosophize." The partner will tend to be someone born a great distance from you (even a foreigner) or from a totally different background.
Hera in the 10th House: This placement of Hera can indicate marriage to the career. More likely, it will show that the partner will help you in your career and social standing. If there are stressful aspects to Hera, the partner may "help" you whether you want them to or not. Or you may not like the partner, but you feel you cannot get a divorce because either your career or social standing will suffer.
Hera in the 11th House: Marriage to social activities is a possibility here. You could marry a friend, or become friends with the partner after marriage. The partner may be the one involved with organizations or social causes, or you could get involved with those things yourself after marriage.
Hera in the 12th House: Watch out for this one. There is an increased chance that the first marriage (or business) partner can do you in, or even be an enemy. More likely, it is you who are doing yourself in by getting attracted to the wrong person. This will be especially true if there are stressful aspects to Hera or to the ruler of the 7th house. It could also work out that the partner is really a nice person, but is restricted in some way and requires your constant help.
Hera Aspects:
Hera in aspect to any planet can mean you will tend to attract a partner who has traits of the sign that planet rules. For instance, Hera aspecting Mars could attract you to an Aries type.
Hera Aspects the Sun: There will be a tendency to attract showy, dramatic, Leo types of partners. Conversely, this person could themselves become more showy and dramatic after marriage. The harmonious aspects (conjunction, sextile, and trine) can act in a similar fashion to Venus. They increase the charm and social graces to a degree. But Hera goes further. It can give one an air of innocence. We like people with Venus in conjunction the Sun because they are charming. Those with Hera in harmonious aspect to the Sun are liked because they are "cute." The stressful aspects, however, are indicators of ego conflicts with partners. Frequently, there are big problems with getting and holding on to a partner. In many cases, there is no desire to have a partner at all.
Hera Aspects the Moon: The attraction will be to emotional and nurturing partners, and domestic types. At least they will tend to be nurturing with the harmonious aspects conjunction, sextile and trine. The stressful aspects (square and opposition) can indicate a clash between your emotional and partnership needs. You could get a partner who is over-emotional or whines a lot. Conversely, the partner could bring out those traits in you.
Hera Aspects Mercury: Well, your partner won't be quiet. Forget the silent type. Anyone who marries you will have to communicate, communicate, communicate. The harmonious aspects (conjunction, sextile and trine) indicate good communication between the two of you. It could also show that your ability to communicate improves with partnership. The stressful aspects (square and opposition) can indicate communication problems with partners. One of you may try to stifle the other here because you both want to talk at once.
Hera Aspects Venus: The attraction will be to a charming partner with good artistic ability and taste. At least that will tend to be true for the harmonious aspects (conjunction, sextile and trine). The stressful aspects (square and opposition) could attract a lazy, slothful, and indolent partner. Partnership could also bring out these traits in you. With stressful aspects, there will tend to be a clash between your partnership needs (Hera) and your ability to express love and affection (Venus). As a result, you might find it difficult to express love to your partner (or vice-versa) and would seek to do this elsewhere.
Hera Aspects Mars: Marriage and partnership will stir you to action. In fact, you may need a partner to be active at all. The partners you attract will tend to be active, assertive, and aggressive. Conversely, having a partner may bring out these traits in you. The stressful aspects (conjunction, square, and opposition) are indicators of arguments with partners. One of you may try to dominate the other.
Hera Aspects Jupiter: The partner will tend to be expansive optimistic, and "jovial" (jovial comes from Jove, Jupiter). Marriage and partnerships will also have an expansive effect on you. Yes, it can make you more optimistic. Watch out that it doesn't make you fat as well. At least this will be true for the harmonious aspects (conjunction, sextile and trine). The stressful aspects (square, and opposition) can attract an over-optimistic partner who is always expecting their "lucky break" to be right around the corner. There could also be a clash over religious or philosophical differences. The over-expansiveness could also apply to extra-marital affairs. If you have a stress aspect between Hera and Jupiter, either you or your partner might think that the "to have, hold, and love" part of the marriage vow means anyone whom you fancy at the moment.
Hera Aspects Saturn: The partners will tend to be older (in spirit if not in actual years). With the harmonious aspects (sextile and trine) partners are likely to be solid, practical, and dependable, but, unless there are other indicators, don't expect them to be the life of the party. Conversely, partnership could bring out the solid, practical, and dependable side of you.The stressful aspects (conjunction, square, and opposition) may cause marriage to be delayed, or even denied. If you have this one, try not to get married before your first Saturn Return (which occurs around the age of twenty nine). Stressful aspects between Hera and Saturn can have a similar effect to Saturn placed in the 7th house. An early marriage (before the Saturn Return) will slowly decay until there is no affection left and the marriage collapses. Hera/Saturn stress aspects can also indicate someone who makes a bad marriage for "practical" reasons, such as security. They will also be prone to stay in a bad marriage to protest their social image, or because "a half a loaf is better than none." As if there is anything "practical" about having a bad marriage! These people have to learn to cut their losses and make a fresh start.
Hera Aspects Uranus: If you have this combination in your horoscope (especially the stressful aspects, the conjunction, square, or opposition) I have a question for you. Let's say you walk into a room where there are twenty people, and nineteen of them are sane and normal, but the twentieth person either escaped from an insane asylum or just got off of a UFO, guess which one you would be most likely to marry? (Hint: it's not the first nineteen). Uranus always has to be Different. When Hera aspects Uranus, the partner or the partnership has to be different. With the harmonious aspects (sextile and trine) you don't get into as much trouble. The partner will tend to be independent, or very bright, or a bit odd. The partnership itself will likely be more "open" with each partner doing their own thing and going their own way. Uranus is fanatic about having enough of its own space. The stressful aspects can lead to several marriages. Hera in Cancer always wants it to last "forever" and Uranus always makes you think it's the "real thing." If you have a Hera/Uranus stress aspect, don't rush into marriage. And forget about having a partnership that is conventional. It would bore you to tears - and divorce. Make sure that you and your partner each has enough "space." It helps if one of you travels a lot (Uranus aspects are perfect for bi-costal marriages). Absence for this combination truly makes the heart grow fonder.
Hera Aspects Neptune: If you have a stressful aspect (conjunction, square, or opposition) between Hera and Neptune, please, PLEASE do not marry someone because you feel sorry for them or because you want to "save" them. Remember this magic number. If you do, you will never again have the problem of getting into a marriage for the wrong reasons. Please memorize it. It's 911. Dial that and have them taken away so they can be helped by a professional. Then, get into therapy yourself to cure your masochism. On the positive side especially with the harmonious aspects (sextile and trine) the partner will tend to be sensitive, empathetic, and imaginative. Marriage and partnership can also bring out these same traits in you. In all cases, there will be an inclination to over idealize the partner, to see what we want to see about them.
Hera Aspects Pluto: Partners will tend to be intense and secretive. Sex can be volcanic. Pluto is the planet of extremes, death, and transformation. Either your power or that of your partner will be affected by marriage. One of you is likely to be transformed in some way. The harmonious aspects (sextile and trine) can bring out a strength you never thought you had. The stressful aspects (conjunction, square, and opposition) will bring out strength too, in the form of dictatorial attitudes and power struggles. One of you will try to dominate the other. The feelings towards the partner can easily go from "I love you" to "I hate you" to "I'm obsessed with you." Even if the two of you break up, this will be the partner you never forget (for better or worse).
Hera Aspects the Ascendant: Hera in conjunction with the Ascendant makes us more attractive, like Venus. But while Venus uses charm, Hera attracts by giving us an air of innocence, like that of a young baby. This trait is also present with the other harmonious aspects (sextile and trine) but not quite as strong. The opposition is not a stressful aspect here. Remember that an opposition to the Ascendant is also a conjunction to the Descendant. The conjunction to the Ascendant makes a person more marriage oriented, especially if Hera is in the 1st house. If Hera is on the 12th house side of the Ascendant, however, then there will still be an increased desire to marry, but there will be increased restrictions of some sort (see Hera in the 12th house). With the square aspect of Hera to the Mid-Heaven, there would tend to be extra stress in marriage that requires constant adjustment and re-adjustment. At least it will not be dull.
Hera Aspects the Mid-Heaven: Aspects to the Mid-Heaven affect one's career and "public image." Hera-ruled careers include marriage councilor and people who work in organizations that try to prevent wife-battering and child abuse. Like Venus, Hera has an attraction for all occupations that involve beauty and adornment. This also includes anything involving the arts. When it comes to career, it doesn't matter if an aspect to the Mid-Heaven is harmonious or stressful. In fact, the stressful aspects can frequently bring greater success since they generate more power. Those with harmonious aspects may take it too easy and not push hard enough.
399 Persephone (Greek):
Wife of Hades (and daughter of Demeter and Zeus), the Greek equivalents of Roman God Pluto and the Roman Goddess Proserpina.
Persephone was such a beautiful young woman that everyone loved her, but Hades wanted her for himself so he kidnapped her.
Broken-hearted, Demeter wandered the earth, looking for her daughter until Helios revealed what had happened. Demeter was so angry that she withdrew herself in loneliness, and the earth ceased to be fertile. Knowing this could not continue much longer, Zeus sent Hermes down to Hades to make him release Persephone. Hades grudgingly agreed, but before she went back he gave Persephone a pomegranate (or the seeds of a pomegranate, according to some sources). When she later ate of it, it bound her to underworld forever and she had to stay there one-third of the year. The other months she stayed with her mother. When Persephone was in Hades, Demeter refused to let anything grow and winter began. This myth is a symbol of the budding and dying of nature.
Persephone, a Greek Goddess known in her childhood by the name Kore (or Cora, meaning young maiden), was the only child of the union of Demeter (Goddess of the bountiful harvest) and Zeus, the mighty king of the Olympians. The Greek Goddess Persephone was born when Demeter was Zeus' consort, long before his marriage to the Goddess Hera. By all accounts Persephone had an idyllic childhood, raised by her nurturing mother and played with her father's other daughters, the Greek Goddesses Athena and Aphrodite. Always a cheerful and compliant child, the little Goddess Persephone was a parent's dream.
According to Greek mythology Persephone's life was soon to change. As signs of womanly beauty began to shine along side her childlike innocence, the adolescent Goddess Persephone unwittingly attracted the attention of the Greek God Hades, brother of Zeus and ruler of the underworld. One can hardly blame Hades because the underworld, in Greek mythology, was the realm of the sleeping and the dead. It probably needed some "brightening up", and the young Goddess Persephone's radiance would assuredly liven up the place.
The God Hades, however, did not bother to woo the young Persephone, traditional Goddess protocol notwithstanding. After asking for (and receiving) her father's approval for Persephone's hand in marriage, Hades simply abducted her one bright sunny day when she stooped to pluck a narcissus from a field of wildflowers near her home. The meadow was suddenly rent open, and Hades simply reached out and snatched Persephone away, taking her to his underworld kingdom and making her his queen. Although the young Goddess Persephone grew to love Hades, she remained lonely for her mother and the life she'd known on earth.
Her mother, the Goddess Demeter, had heard Persephone's screams when Hades grabbed her. She began an intensive search for Persephone. After learning how Zeus had betrayed their daughter, and consumed by grief and sorrow, Demeter demonstrated her outrage by withholding her blessing from the earth until Persephone was returned to her. Droughts ensued, and the earth lay barren. Mankind was facing a major famine. Zeus finally relented and sent the God Hermes to bring the young Goddess Persephone back to her mother.
Part of Persephone missed her mother horribly, but another part had grown rather fond of the God Hades. And Persephone was rather enjoying her role as Queen, even if it was in the underworld. While preparing to return to the earth with Hermes, Persephone accepted a pomegranate offered to her by Hades. She knew full well that anyone who had eaten while in the underworld would not be allowed to return, even a Goddess - Persephone went ahead and ate seven of the seeds. Her choice prevented her from ever being fully restored to Demeter, but did open up the possibility of a compromise. Hermes was able to negotiate an agreement on her behalf between Hades, a God who was usually rather cold-natured and self-centered, and Demeter. Persephone would be allowed to stay with Hades in the underworld for four months each year (winter) and would return to the earth and her mother the remaining months. The Goddess Persephone was soon reunited joyfully with her mother. Each year as Persephone left to join her husband in the underworld, Greek mythology tells us that the Goddess Demeter would begin to grieve, bringing on the cold, barren winters. But a few months later Persephone, the Goddess associated with awakening, would return to bring spring and its verdant growth in her wake . . . thus were the seasons established.
The Greek Goddess Persephone represents both the youthful, innocent, and joyous maiden aspect of a woman as well as the more womanly self who, innocence lost and family attachments loosened, can begin to consciously decide for herself.
In Greek mythology Persephone, Goddess of the Soul, is the possessor of its dark and frightening wisdom. But the Goddess Persephone is also the harbinger of Spring and a reminder of all the growth and hope that it brings.
Greek Goddess Persephone: Innocent Maiden and Queen of the Underworld
The Greek Goddess Persephone represents both the youthful, maiden aspect (innocent and joyous) as well as the more womanly self who, innocence lost and less attached to her parents, can begin to make healthy decisions for herself.
Carefree and innocent, a young girl-child just approaching adolescence, Persephone was the daughter of Demeter and Zeus. While gathering flowers, she was abducted by Hades and taken to the Underworld to become his queen.
Although Persephone's beloved mother Demeter eventually secured her release, Persephone managed to insure that she could "have it all"!
Persephone spent part of the year above ground with her mother but returned to her husband each winter (for she had grown rather fond of him and enjoyed her role as Queen of the Underworld). Spring represents the return of the eternally youthful Persephone to our world each year.
The Greek Goddess Persephone was also known in her youth as the Goddess Kore (or Cora), whose counterpart in mythology is the Roman Goddess Prosperina.
In Greek mythology the Goddess Persephone is thought to be the Goddess of the Soul, the possessor of the psyche's dark, unseen wisdom. But she also brings us all the bright green growth of Sring and all the hope that it brings.
46 Hestia (Greek):
Hestia is the Greek Goddess/counterpart of Vesta.
Hestia is so ancient a Goddess that she is invoked by simply lighting a fire in your hearth. She was central to civilization because she represented the center of the home, the community, the town, the city. No meal could be eaten without her, for she was the very fire that transformed the ingredients into nourishment. Conscripted into the Olympian pantheon, eldest Goddess Hestia gave up her seat and went to tend the hearth so the new God of ecstasy and wine, Dionysus, could be seated.
The Lessons of this Goddess:
Hestia has come to tend her hearth fire in your life and to tell you it is time to focus on home. Whether you are living alone, with your family, or with friends, it is time to make your home a priority. Perhaps you are living in a house that is not your home or with people you don't want to live with. Perhaps your home is filled with so many others that you have no space of your own. Perhaps your life is such a busy whirlwind that your dwelling is not your home, merely a place to change clothes and sleep. Now is the time to come home. The Goddess says that wholeness is nurtured when you learn to come home to yourself and then to creat the appropriate physical manifestation: a home that will nurture you.
Hestia's placement in the horoscope shows where and how we can be dedicated, where we can focus our energies to the greatest effect. But it also shows where, periodically, we have to withdraw and "recharge our batteries." If we don't, we will become drained, and even sick.
Hestia also has an effect on our sexuality, but it is not the raw, animal drive of Mars or Pluto. It is more of a reasoned choice, which is in tune with Hestia's affinity with the sign of Virgo.
Hestia also rules small, confined places.
Hestia in the Signs:
Hestia In Aries: the Warrior Queen/Priestess bringing courage, bravery and sometimes a bit of rash LETS GO FOR IT RIGHT NOW into your life this lifetime. Hestia in Aries is the most powerful energy of healing self and of showing others the wisdom and the bravery of self care. FIRE and passion are the gifts of this sign.
Hestia in Aries: gives the ability to focus quickly and intensively on any task. Good for non-routine projects requiring direct action.
Hestia in Taurus: the Earth Goddess energy connected to fertility, the planet, the earth and all things sensual and rich. Hestia in Taurus is not quite as ready to move out of comfort as in some of the other signs but she is so comfortable and at home in this richly abundant sign of Growth and prosperity and gives this gift to all around her generously. She is very connected to all things earthly and creates healing through the earth.
Hestia in Taurus: takes time to focus, but once they do, they may find it difficult to stop. Good for anything requiring lots of persistence.
Hestia in Gemini: the Teacher/Goddess, the one who asks the questions and finds the answers knowing that in each answer lies more questions. Hestia in Gemini is all over the place acquiring knowledge, dispersing it and showing us that only in Knowledge can we understand our true nature of sexuality, growth, regeneration and rebirth. Hestia in Gemini at times needs to slow down and reconnect to herself.
Hestia in Gemini: focuses on communication and information. Good for focusing on multiple projects.
Hestia in Cancer: the Earth Mother/Goddess/Priestess energy. This Watery Hestia placement wants to nurture and to bring healing and care to the planet. It is full of warm compassion, unconditional love and healing and often can immerse itself so strongly in another's pain or suffering that they heal others almost through their own body. Hestia in Cancer has to learn this lifetime to create safety and healing for the self.
Hestia in Cancer: focuses on home and domestic matters. Good for any project requiring intuition and for focusing on the emotional or feeling side of any situation.
Hestia in Leo: the Queen/Priestess/willing to give all for love and heart connection. This Hestia carries creativity, passion, power and a strong willfulness within its sacred energy. Hestia in Leo is proud and gives from the heart and soul and can sometimes be caught in the lessons of pride, and must learn what she can do and what has to be handed over to a higher power than herself.
Hestia in Leo: focuses on creativity and self-expression. Good for focusing on the dramatic or creative side of any situation.
Hestia in Virgo: the Healer of the world/Priestess Earth Mother. This is the Goddess energy of healing the soil, the land and shows our connection to all living earthly things. Hestia in Virgo truly carries the Virgin energy as it is truly intended. Virginity is not so much a physical being, as an ability to recreate and regenerate the self into a new being when necessary and this placement sometimes has to learn this lifetime often through its wounds in order to generate the life lessons.
Hestia in Virgo: focuses on details. Good for any project requiring precision and attention to detail.
Hestia in Libra: the Goddess/Priestess of diplomacy, compromise, marriage of sister and brotherhood and carries forth the message that we can do more together than apart. Hestia in Libra attempts to find the balance between self and others. Hestia in Libra has a concern for partnerships of all kinds and brings this gift to others. Often Hestia in Libra needs to be reminded to do this for self and is more concerned with relationships than herself.
Hestia in Libra: focuses on partnership matters. Good for focusing on either the social or artistic side of any situation. Good also for projects requiring an artistic sense or social interaction.
Hestia in Scorpio: the Goddess/ Priestess of Passionate healing through giving 100% and more. Hestia in Scorpio is truly the death, regeneration, and rebirth energy of bringing the gift of self into all healings and showing others how to completely merge with others. Hestia in Scorpio goes through intense and passionate healing of self on a constant basis and has much to give as it often gives either too much or not enough. Balance and moderation in giving is part of this lesson and when to let go in trust and be totally present and out of self with others is part of this difficult balancing act.
Hestia in Scorpio: focuses on finding hidden secrets, or on matters concerning rehabilitation or elimination. Good for projects where something is either transformed or eliminated, or where something hidden must be investigated.
Hestia in Sagittarius: the Goddess of the Hunt, of passion, of truth, of Justice and the knowledge that whatever you believe, there is always more unseen for you to learn about the connection of Spirit to life. This is the constant search for higher holy connection aligned with self and higher power. Hestia in Sagittarius when it finds what it feels is the total truth can become the greatest of teachers and one which it is hard to shift their mindset. Remembering that growth is a constant thing and there is never an end to this journey of learning this lifetime is the lesson of Hestia in Sagittarius.
Hestia in Sagittarius: focuses on the "big picture." Good for projects requiring enthusiasm and the adventure.
Hestia in Capricorn: the Goddess/High Priestess holding the laws of Justice, truth and balance within her hands. Healing here is often done through a powerful force of the laws of the universe. Hestia in Capricorn knows that to show others the road you have to align yourself not only with mans laws but with Higher power and that the rules must be obeyed in order to create order. This is a strong leadership placement of Hestia and carries a harsh judgment of self with it often.
Hestia in Capricorn: focuses on organization and control. Good for projects requiring a lot of planning and persistence.
Hestia in Aquarius: the Priestess/ Goddess of Chaos/ and creation. She is the energy of knowing that in all creation there must be an ending, that all rules must eventually be changed as circumstances change and that we are truly all here to assist each other. Hestia in this Fixed Air sign is possibly the most transformational of the signs as she constantly searches the information looking for what must be changed and sometimes this energy just likes to change things for the heck of it. Constant reconnection to universal laws are a must for this placement.
Hestia in Aquarius: focuses on friends or dealing with groups of people. Good for projects that are new and "different," even a bit shocking.
Hestia in Pisces: the Priestess energy here is at one with all things living, on the other side, and things which have not come into being yet. This Hestia cures and heals through magical KNOWING that it can be done, and is often unsure of just how she is doing whatever she is doing. The danger in this placement is becoming lost in the dream and not manifesting these wonderful gifts into reality. Constant awakening of self, and coming into Body in order to manifest the life path is what this sign must do. The BODY, MIND, Spirit connection is the goal of this placement of the sacred energy of Hestia.
Hestia in Pisces: focuses on dreams and imagination. Good for projects focusing on helping people, or for any project requiring lots of imagination.
Hestia in the Houses:
Hestia in the 1st House: Every now and then, you have to get away from everybody and everything in order to recharge. If Hestia is close to the Ascendant, there may have been some blockage at the time of birth.
Hestia in the 2nd House: You have to stop work more often than other people in order to recharge, but this only applies to work where you earn money. You can still do personal tasks around the house. This is different from those who have Hestia in the 6th house because those folks have to stop all work periodically.
Hestia in the 3rd House: To recharge, you have to clam up and stop communicating for a while. If you have brothers or sisters, you can't be around them continuously because they can drain you. You have to get away. Neighbors have the same effect, but since one is not usually around them 24 hours a day, this will be less of a problem.
Hestia in the 4th House: Being home too much will drain you. This is easy enough to cure. Just get out more.
Hestia in the 5th House: Romance can be hot and heavy, but then you simply have to take a break. Be sure to explain to your lovers that you have Hestia in the 5th house and that means you have to get away for a while to recharge because otherwise you may get sick. I'm sure they will understand. The 5th house also rules children, sports, games, creativity, gambling, speculation, hobbies, and any activity that is fun. Explain to your spouse that every now and then, THEY have to watch the little darlings because you get too drained. Creative pursuits, sports, and games can also be tolerated for only so long. Then you have to withdraw and recharge. It is the same with hobbies. No matter how much you love them, you have to get away for a while every now and then. As for gambling and speculation, well, don't become a day-trader.
Hestia in the 6th House: Every now and then, you have to take an extra day off from work. If you don't, you will get drained and sick. When you do work, you can be highly focused. The nature of your work style will depend on the sign that Hestia is in.
Hestia in the 7th House: When you are married or living with someone (someone you are involved with, and not just a roommate) you have to have your own space. You cannot be around them 24 hours a day. Get away, even if it is just for an hour or so at a time. If not, you will tend to get drained and sick. Be sure to discuss this with them before you move in together, otherwise they might think it is strange when you want to take separate vacations.
Hestia in the 8th House: A long time ago, there was a quiz show called "You Bet Your Life" hosted by Groucho Marx. One of the contestants had nine children. When he was asked why he had so many children, the gentleman replied "I like it Groucho." Groucho's punch line was "I like my cigar too, but I take it out of my mouth every now and then." Sorry, but if you have Hestia in the 8th house, you (unlike that gentleman) simply cannot have sex 24/7. Take a break.
Hestia in the 9th House: This is the house of long journeys, both mental and physical. This includes higher education. If you are studying for an advanced degree, make sure to allow extra time in the schedule for rest. You can only be on a long trip for a certain length of time. Stay away from home too long and you will get drained.
Hestia in the 10th House: Like those with Hestia in the 6th house, you have to get away from work in order to recharge. In addition, you also have to stay out of the public eye. Hide for a while until you recharge. The 10th house rules the "boss" as well. If you have one, you have to find some way to avoid them every now and then.
Hestia in the 11th House: Let your friends know that periodically you have to get away from them in order to recharge. You also have to take a periodic break from pursuing your own "hopes and wishes."
Hestia in the 12th House: This is the house of withdrawal. Paradoxically, you have to withdraw from withdrawing! Don't spend a long time on a religious retreat, for instance, or in a hospital. Just being in a place of restriction or withdrawal will tend to drain you.
Hestia in Aspect:
Hestia Aspecting the Sun: The harmonius aspects (conjunction, sextile and trine) mean that the ability to focus will come more naturally to you. With the stressful aspects (square and opposition) you have to work at it. The tendency with the stressful aspects is either to be over focused, or have difficulty focusing at all.
Hestia Aspecting the Moon: The harmonious aspects (conjunction, sextile and trine) can give an instinctive ability to focus (as contrasted with the conscious, direct focusing ability of Sun-Hestia aspects). The stressful aspects (square and opposition) can indicate someone who uses work to avoid their own feelings, or a mother who was like that. The other side of Moon-Hestia stress aspects is the person who cannot seem to focus because their emotions run wild. It goes without saying that the real job in these cases is to work on expressing feelings without loosing focus and getting hysterical.
Hestia Aspecting Mercury: The harmonious aspects (conjunction, sextile and trine) increase the ability to focus on communication and other mental tasks. The stressful aspects (square and opposition) could mean a tendency to focus compulsively on details and day-to-day tasks (Mercury) or someone who cannot seem to handle them at all. There could also be a tendency to talk much and say little, or, more generally, a difficulty with communicating. This could also indicate someone who talks a good deal about sex, but can't deliver when it counts.
Hestia Aspecting Venus: Venus rules one's social skills and artistic abilities. More generally, it governs our ability to experience pleasure and be happy. Harmonious aspects ((conjunction, sextile and trine) with Hestia can make it easier to focus on these things. The stressful aspects (square and opposition) may indicate a tendency to avoid happiness by concentrating on work, or someone who has difficulty getting any pleasure from their work. Work could also be used to avoid social interaction. Conversely, this could be someone who only focuses on pleasure and social situations and refuses to work at all.
Hestia Aspecting Mars: The harmonious aspects (conjunction, sextile and trine) show increased ability to focus one's energy, especially on work. The stressful aspects (square and opposition) can indicate a tendency to overwork in order to compensate for sexual problems or problems with repressed anger. Other negative outcomes include an increase in angry behavior or other forms of aggression in order to compensate for impotence.
Hestia Aspecting Jupiter: Jupiter is the planet of optimism, and it expands whatever it touches. The harmonious aspects (conjunction, sextile and trine) between Jupiter and Hestia are good for focusing on the big picture or big projects, on intellectual, philosophical, or religious matters. The stressful aspects (square and opposition) could manifest as religious or philosophical fanaticism (too much focus on one's own point of view) or, conversely, a total lack of focus on matters involving general principles. Overemphasis of sexual matters is also more likely with the stress aspects.
Hestia Aspecting Saturn: Both of these have to do with the ability to focus. The harmonious aspects (sextile and trine) can increase the discipline, organization, and dedication that you devote to work. The stressful aspects (conjunction, sextile and trine) can make for a workaholic drudge or someone who has difficulties (Saturn) focusing on work at all. Needless to say, stressful aspects between Saturn and Hestia increase the chance of sexual hang-ups, especially repression and denial.
Hestia Aspecting Uranus: Uranus shows where we cannot stand to be ordinary, where we tend to want to do things differently, where we may be able to manifest genius. The harmonious aspects (conjunction, sextile and trine) make it easier to focus our innovative abilities. The stressful aspects (square and opposition) could cause difficulties in focusing on ordinary, day-to-day pursuits (like doing the laundry or taking out the garbage) as well as giving a dislike or "normal" social obligations.
Hestia Aspecting Neptune: Neptune rules dreams and imagination. The harmonious aspects (conjunction, sextile and trine) tend to increase the ability to focus the imagination. This can be a very good placement for both artists and scientists, since it makes visualization of the final product easier. The stressful aspects (square and opposition) can make concentration on ordinary tasks more difficult. Contrast this with the Uranus/Hestia aspects. Uranus and Neptune both loathe anything ordinary, but whereas Uranus rebels, Neptune simply takes your mind away to daydream land.
Hestia Aspecting Pluto: Yes, Pluto concentrates too, but in a different way. Pluto rules obsession, which is a highly emotional thing. The harmonious aspects (sextile and trine) make it easier to transform things, to focus on finding whatever is hidden from normal view. This is a good placement for doctors, salvage operators, and detectives. The stressful aspects (conjunction, square, and opposition) could indicate a problem with the more destructive side of Pluto. I really hate to give negative examples because there is always someone out there who will say "Oh no! I've got the same thing as that terrible person! I'm doomed to be just like them!" No you're not. It takes more than one aspect to do that, and yes, we DO have some choice in the matter. We can choose to manifest the positive side of any aspect. That being said, the serial killers Ted Bundy and Richard Cottingham (who were born only one day apart) both had the Sun opposite the Pluto/Hestia midpoint (as did thousands of others who were born on those days and who didn't become serial killers). Both had several other signatures of killers in their horoscopes, but this aspects tendency to focus on destruction didn't help. Of course, with proper therapy, they could have gone into the healing professions instead. In fact, Bundy was interested in psychology in college.
Hestia Aspecting the Ascendant: The harmonious aspects (conjunction, sextile and trine) make it easier to focus in general (particularly the conjunction). The opposition aspect could indicate focus on someone else (particularly a partner). It could also indicate that one focuses better when there is someone else around. The square aspect could show difficulties with partners over who does what work. Partners could also interfere with work and focus, but with the square, there could be difficulty focusing even without a partner because the things you want to focus on (shown by the sign where you have Hestia) clash with the type of person you are (shown by the sign on the Ascendant).
Hestia Aspecting the Mid-Heaven: The harmonious aspects (conjunction, sextile and trine) make it easier to focus on career and career related matters. But remember that any aspect to the Mid-Heaven is also an aspect to the Nadir, the beginning of the 4th house. This means that Hestia in aspect to the Mid-Heaven can increase focus on domestic matters as well. For this reason, the opposition cannot be considered to be as stressful. In fact, the only stressful aspect here is the square. The square indicates someone who is (once again) a workaholic or, conversely, someone who has difficulty focusing on work, or tries to avoid it at all costs.
1108 Demeter (Greek):
Greek counterpart of Ceres.
Mother, nurturing, feeding emotional and physical needs. Taking care of each other. Relates to food and nurturing, and where the two meet. She can represent the quality of nurturing we got as a child, and how we function (or don't) as nurturers in our relationships. Enhances the ability to nurture the self and others - also for those suffering from the loss of a loved one. Children who have lost a parent or other primary care giver. Very sensual and passionate in lovemaking, with a strong desire to satisfy both desire for one's self and the other. The heat is high and many aids may be important (i.e. food, oils and luxurious settings). Attachment to one partner is common, for security and safety, yet extras could be optional. This asteroid can bring jealousy, co-dependency and often controlling behaviour (if one is insecure).
Demeter is the Mother. As such, she goes beyond sexual magnetism of Venus which activates the potential for life, by utlising the creative energy for the procreative generation of physical forms. The mother nutures the embrionic new life within her and then gives birth to the child. The nuturance continues until the child becomes independent and self sufficient in its own right. Thus, the mother is also responsible for producing the foodstuffs which feed and nourish the propagation of the species.
As mother, Demeter also symbolises the principle of unconditional love, sustaining and nourishing newly created life forms. Demeter also contains the secret of the great mystery of birth, death and renewal, which speaks to the feeding and nourishment of the soul and spirit.
Demeter's outer colour is green, symbolising the abundant display of the vegetation of cultivated soil. Her inner colour is blue-black, the colour of the underworld where seeds lie dormant within the earth during winter incubation. Demeter's practical qualities also associate her with the element of earth.
In the symbolism of the astrological wheel, Demeter corresponds to the north position of the IC representing the principles of foundation, roots and family. Astrologically, Demeter represents the ability to unconditionally love and accept yourself and others. She teaches the wisdom that sharing and letting go lead to reunion.
Demeter, whose name means "doorway of the mysterious feminine", was worshipped as the Great Goddess long before the patriarchal Greeks conquered the Goddess-worshipping peoples of what is now Greece and imposed their Olympian male-dominated patheon. As Great Goddess, Demeter is known for the founding of agriculture, instituting the social order, and for her mystery rites at Eleusis. One fine spring day, Demeter's daughter Persephone was captured by Hades, God of the Underworld. Demeter, in her grief and emotional trauma, withdrew her life force from the earth and winter came. Zeus, persuaded Hades to return Persephone to Demeter. To trick Persephone into staying with him, for no one could return from the Underworld having eaten the food of the dead, Hades gave Persephone a pomegranate and she ate six seeds. Therefore she was allowed to return to Demeter for siz months of the year. The other six she spends with Hades in the Underworld.
The Lessons of this Goddess:
Demeter has come to light your way through the dark and challenging labyrinth of feelings/emotions. It is time to nurture wholeness by accepting, acknowledging, and expressing your feelings. Feelings are what you feel. Emotions are your reactions to your feelings. Feelings left unexpressed build up and can create disease for they take up space inside and keep heathly energy from flowing.
Perhaps as a child your feelings (and you!) weren't heard, therefore you needed to give them more energy in order to get any sort of response. Perhaps you fear your emotions and/or feelings will render you too vulnerable, overwhelm you, or take you to places from which you won't be able to return. The Goddess says the more you learn to accept and acknowledge your feelings, the less time you will spend in emotional turmoil and the more energy you will have to live life. The more you learn to accept and honor your feelings, the safer it will become to express them.
Demeter in the horoscope shows the early nurturing we received and how we nurture others. It also directly rules food and clothing. I have seen two cases of professional designers who had Demeter aspecting Pallas (which rules the ability to see patterns).
Demeter in the Signs shows our nurturing style and the types of things that make us feel nurtured.
Demeter in the Houses shows where we are most likely to express our nurturing side and also where we can best receive nurturing.
Demeter in Signs:
Demeter in Aries people identify nurturance with autonomy and being granted independence. In turn, the Demeter in Aries individual nurtures others through promoting their self-determination and self-sufficiency. To feel truly loved, this person must receive these experiences from his or her significant others. Pathology or imbalance can occur when the child feels either dominated by the nurturer or pushed toward autonomy before he or she is ready to take on this responsibility.
Demeter in Aries: is nurtured by action and physical activity. What kind of action? Any kind. Aries isn't that particular as long as it's moving. If you have this placement, you are less likely to nurture others by being cuddly. More likely, you will take them on some strenuous activity. If you have children with this placement, they may require fewer hugs and more mutual activities with you.
Demeter in Taurus individuals receive nurturance through physical sustenance, a sense of stability, and being touched and held. In turn, they can nurture others by fostering their physical security and providing for them in tangible ways. Feelings of self-worth and acceptance are derived from learning how to provide materially for themselves. Imbalance results when the individual overidentifies with substance, and feelings of material lack promote excessive hoarding of possessions.
Demeter in Taurus: Want to nurture someone with this placement? FEED THEM. A lot. These folks will also feel nurtured if you massage their shoulders and the back of their necks Hard, and for a long time.
Demeter in Gemini persons receive nurturance through being educated, talked to, and listened to. These people nurture others mentally through communicating knowledge to them. Self-acceptance is based on feeling smart or intellectually competent. Imbalance occurs when feelings of mental inadequacy lead to learning difficulties or to attempts to intellectually impress or verbally manipulate others.
Demeter in Gemini: Let's talk. Or write. Any sort of communication will make a Demeter in Gemini person feel nurtured. Gemini is also the sign of variety and short trips. Travel and doing several little tasks at once are other things that will bring up that nurtured feeling when Demeter is in Gemini.
Demeter in Cancer individuals receive nurturance through bonding with the mother, feeling loved, and being fed. If these needs are met at an early age, these people will excel at caring for others physically and emotionally. Self-acceptance is based on one's ability to express feelings and master emotions. Imbalance occurs when the child is either deprived of nurturance or smothered with love and affection. Excessive neediness or emotional dependency are the resulting psychological afflictions.
Demeter in Cancer: These people feel nurtured around the home. Hugs definitely can work here. So can housework. They want to be mothered and are good at mothering in turn. The negative side is they may get the "Cancer Crazies" when they feel a need for nurturing, the "Nobody loves me, nobody cares about me, and I'm going to die in the poorhouse" syndrome. In that case, just tease them like crazy. It will shock them out of it.
Demeter in Leo people identify nurturance with self-expression. Ideally, the parents will foster in the child a sense of pride, confidence in his / her ability, and an appreciation for the creative efforts of others. These people can nurture others by helping them to express their creativity - thereby making a unique impression upon the outer world. Self-acceptance is based upon one's ability to create and share something he / she takes pride in. The inability to do so may bring self-rejection and lack of self-confidence.
Demeter in Leo: Attention, respect, and admiration will make this one feel nurtured. Put on a show for their benefit. Better yet, make them a participant. Leo's motto is "Nothing but the best." It may be expensive sometimes, but that will make Demeter in Leo feel nurtured. If you want to go via a cheaper route to satisfy someone with this placement, do something to make them the center of attention and admiration.
Demeter in Virgo persons identify nurturance with perfection or with service. Ideally, the mothering experience can foster the child's sense of competence, discrimination, and self-discipline, which gives the ability to extend skills to others. Nurturing is expressed through teaching others to achieve excellence by right application of skills and talents. Feelings of self-worth arise through mastering a skill or technique and expressing it in the work world, or through feeling useful to others. Imbalance often results when the children are constantly criticised for their efforts, no matter how good they were. This can lead to an obsessive need to be perfect and to be critical of the imperfections of others.
Demeter in Virgo: Put them to work, especially detailed work. Sometimes Demeter in Virgo people will try to nurture you by criticizing you. Don't let them get away with it. However, they can also feel nurtured if you give them a highly detailed criticism. This is OK in moderation, but don't let yourself get carried away. If you are a parent with a Demeter in Virgo child, always give them work to do around the house---or even in your business!
Demeter in Libra individuals identify nurturing with co-operation. Ideally, the mothering experience fosters a sensitivity to others and a positive attitude toward relationships. Nurturing is expressed through imparting instructions on how to interact, co-operate, and exhibit right conduct in egalitarian relationships. Self-acceptance may be based upon one's demonstrated ability to create harmony in one's relationships and environment. Imbalances occur when one is so other-directed that he or she places being accepted above a need for self-determination.
Demeter in Libra: These people are nurtured by beauty. And Libra, remember, is always impressed by the small, subtle things that show you care. Good manners and a tasteful, balanced appearance will work wonders here. They will also tend to nurture others in the same way, with small, tasteful touches.
Demeter in Scorpio natives identify nurturance with intense and deep emotional bonding. Ideally, the mothering exprerience was intimate and fostered a sense of emotional self-control. Nurturance is expressed through emotional commitments to others and through acting as a catalytic agent that transforms or heals them. Self-acceptance may be gained through transforming one's own inner negativity and lack of trust into the healing power of love. Imbalance occurs when feelings of isolation are expressed as selfishness, jealousy, envy, anger and revenge.
Demeter in Scorpio: Demeter in Scorpio people tend to feel nurtured through sex. They could also make their sexual partners feel nurtured. This is wonderful if you are dating them, but more of a problem if the person with this placement happens to be your child. Contact with anything deep, mysterious, or transforming will also bring up that nurtured feeling. Those with this placement would probably (assuming no severe afflictions to Demeter in their chart) feel nurtured if they visited Pompeii or some other archeological ruin. Probably, Demeter in Scorpio would be a good placement for a doctor or heath care professional because Scorpio rules healing and they could make their patients feel nurtured during the therapeutic process.
Demeter in Sagittarius people identify nurturance with the freedom to explore and expand their horizons. Ideally, the mothering experience encouraged and fostered these needs. Nurturing is expressed through teaching others how to expand their mental and physical horizons (e.g., the guru or spiritual teacher). In addition, the Demeter in Sagittarius individual may help others to develop a philosophy or belief system that gives meaning to his or her life. Self-acceptance may be based on the ability to find purpose in one's life and constantly move forward in consciousness. The failure to do so may lead to the belief that life is meaningless and purposeless ("a tale told by an idiot, signifying nothing" - Hamlet). Feelings of aimlessness that cause the person to wander without direction may result.
Demeter in Sagittarius: My Demeter is here. Knowledge, wisdom, and adventure are the nurturers here. This placement can make you feel nurtured while on long journeys. If you are intellectually inclined, you could get that nurturing feeling through giving advice to people or by teaching or instructing them in some way. Reading about abstract philosophical topics could have the same effect. You can also make other people feel nurtured or inspired by giving them advice or instruction.
Demeter in Capricorn individuals identify nurturance with achievement. Ideally, the mothering experience taught the child how to be responsible, organize his / her time, and to carry out plans that would lead to the accomplishment of specific goals. Nurturing others takes the form of teaching them to be responsible for themselves, as well as giving them practical tools that they can use to succeed in the outer world. Self-acceptance is derived from tangible accomplishments that the individual attains through his or her own efforts. Imbalances occur when the person equates feeling loved with how well he or she performs in the world. This leads to the syndrome of using outer achievements to impress others in order to gain their recognition.
Demeter in Capricorn: Feeling organized and in control makes this one feel nurtured. Since Saturn, which has the effect of reducing things, rules Capricorn, the early nurturing received was probably, well, wanting. Even if the family happened to be wealthy, the parents could have been cold, withdrawn, or believed in giving strict discipline to the children in order to keep them from being "spoiled." People with this placement will nurture you by making sure that everything is arranged and organized properly. Try to get them to lighten up a bit.
Demeter in Aquarius persons identify nurturing with individuality. Ideally, the mothering experience fostered self-determination and a recognition of the rights of others. Nurturing is expressed through teaching others to accept their eccentricities and themselves, even if they 'follow the beat of a different drummer'. Self-acceptance can be gained through following one's own original and unique path. Imbalances may occur if the child was not given limits and guidelines, and therefore received more freedom than he or she was prepared to cope with. This would manifest as the 'rebel without a cause', the individual who needs to gain inner control and self-discipline so that he / she can handle the responsibilities of freedom.
Demeter in Aquarius: If it's weird, someone with Demeter in Aquarius will be likely to find it nurturing. Being with friends would also be a nurturing experience, and the friends, in turn, will probably feel nurtured. However, the early nurturing received was most likely erratic. When mommy isn't there when the child is crying, the kid has to eventually cut off from the feelings of abandonment. Eventually, the child grows up, starts dating, and, when they really like somebody, up comes the feeling "I need you." That's when they get the great urge to run away. The negative side of Demeter in Aquarius is that it tends to have contact difficulties in intimate relationships.
Demeter in Pisces people identify nurturing with compassion. Such a person receives nurturance through feeling connected to and unified with a reality beyond him or herself. Nurturance is expressed through alleviating the suffering of others - either through empathy or inspiring in them the qualities of faith, universal love, and recognition of a transcendant reality. Self-acceptance may be based upon the ability to serve others selflessly without expecting anything in return. Imbalances occur when the individual does not receive the proper reassurance and emotional support as a child. This often leads to feelings of helplessness and powerlessness which in turn promote the victim-martyr syndrome.
Demeter in Pisces: Imagination and fantasy are the keywords here. Demeter in Pisces folks are nurtured by anything imaginative. Being near the sea, hearing the sound of the surf, and smelling the salt air will also do the trick. When you are in a down mood and need someone to listen to your troubles, to lend an uncritical and sympathetic ear, find a person with Demeter in Pisces.
Demeter in the Houses:
Demeter in the 1st house implies the projection of one's personality as nurturing, sympathetic, and concerned for others. One may identify one's role as being a parent or provider. It may be necessary for this person to nurture him- or herself.
Demeter in the 1st House: People will always be mistaking you for their mother, even if you are a guy. That's because Demeter in the 1st house people just seem to be nurturing. This effect is lessened if Demeter is located more towards the end of the house, or in a different sign from the Ascendant. There can be a problem if you happen to have a lot of planets in Gemini, like a friend of mine. She would rather talk than nurture, but emotionally needy people gravitate towards her constantly.
Demeter in the 2nd house represents an urge to nurture by providing fundamental needs - shelter, food, and money for loved ones. There can also be an obsessive attachment to what or whom one loves, creating struggle for independence on the other end. Nurturing oneself may take the form of buying things, indulging, or pampering oneself.
Demeter in the 2nd House: If well aspected, your physical nurturing needs will always be provided. And you will tend to nurture others in the same way. And nothing makes you feel more nurtured than a large bank balance and a full refrigerator.
Demeter in the 3rd house suggests nurturing through feeding ideas, teaching, and exposure to a variety of ideas and stimuli. Nurturing is expressed through creating networks that link together one's friends and associates.
Demeter in the 3rd House: Nurturing could have been provided for you by brothers and sisters, or even neighbors. Conversely, you could have been the one nurturing them. Your words tend to be nurturing. This could be a good placement for a therapist or counselor.
Demeter in the 4th house can signify an idealied image of mother nurturing in the home and family. One's role as a parent is the foundation of the chart and life. In a universal sign this may manifest as mother to the world or whoever comes into the home. When Demeter is near the IC, the mythos of Demeter is especially predominant as a psychological foundation - an emotional connection with the themes of loss and return of loved ones, or of rejection and acceptance.
Demeter in the 4th House: Being home nurtures you, and there is a tendency to nurture anyone and everyone in your home. It's as simple as that. But you could also feel nurtured by the homes in general, so this is a good placement for dealing in domestic real estate.
Demeter in the 5th house denotes the experiencing of nurturing issues through a strong involvement with children or the creative arts. One is nourished through play or through putting oneself in risky situations.
Demeter in the 5th House: The tendency with this placement is to feel nurtured by fun, sports, games, romance, children, gambling and speculation, you name it. Any form of excitement will do. There will likely be a need to feel nurtured by romantic partners, and, conversely, to nurture them. Be careful, though, about getting a nurturing feeling through gambling.
Demeter in the 6th house symbolizes fulfilling one's needs through engaging in the day-to-day activities of maintaining the efficient functioning of one's family. There is a strong service aspect here especially in the areas of nutrution and health. A parent who works, or has values of the work ethic, is also symbolized by this position.
Demeter in the 6th House: Work could easily give you that nurturing feeling. People with this placement would either tend to nurture co-workers or feel nurtured by them. This placement can also feel nurtured by doctors and other health care workers.
Demeter in the 7th house points to a need to nurture or be nurtured and protected by one's mate. One's parent is often a role model for one's relationship needs. There is sometimes difficulty in outgrowing a dependent relationship with one's partner. Unconditional love provides and essential foundation for egalitarian functioning.
Demeter in the 7th House: This placement would either tend to nurture partners (both marital and business) or attract partners who nurture them. Strive for a balance if you have this one, otherwise either you or they will be doing all the work, and that could eventually cause resentment.
Demeter in the 8th house indicates receiving nurturing through intense peak experiences and through deep emotional involvements. Sexuality is often an essential component in giving and receiving nurturance. Nurturance may also be expressed through assisting the dying in hospice settings.
Demeter in the 8th House: You poor thing. You need sex to feel nurtured. Oh well, we each have our cross to bear. Carry on (and I'm sure you will). Actually, you might also nurture your partner with this one. The 8th house also rules other things besides sex. This placement is also good for nurturing people who are undergoing a process of rehabilitation. Demeter in the 8th house might also be found in the horoscopes of those who work in a hospice providing nurturing to those who are dying.
Demeter in the 9th house suggests nurturing oneself and others through the pursuit of knowledge, freedom, truth, and travel. There can emerge the development of philosophies that address the question of providing for fundamental human needs, e.g. Marxism. THis placement can also denote philosophies that are based upon teh worship of the all-nurturing mother such as those that revere the Virgin Mary or other goddesses.
Demeter in the 9th House: You would tend to feel nurtured by taking long trips, either physically or mentally. Travel will do it, but so could study and discussion of religious or philosophical matters.
Demeter in the 10th house connotes expressing the nurturing urge by caring and providing for others through one's profession or social destiny. Careers and public work in children services, health care, and food-related businesses can fulfill one's sense of social responsibility. This position of Demeter may indicate that love is given conditionally, based upon the performance or achievement of the child. When, however, the child fails to live up to parental or societal expecations, he or she may feel either rejected or abandoned. Hence, many individuals with Demeter in the tenth house must learn to love themselves for what they are, not what they do.
Demeter in the 10th House: Well, this placement can make you popular (even if you don't want to be). As soon as you set foot in public, people will start coming to you for nurturing. Not in private, thankfully. At least you will be safe in private. Even the boss could come to you for this (or you might have a tendency to nurture the boss). Conversely, you could tend to attract bosses who like to nurture you (hopefully with constant raises). You could also be attracted to careers ruled by Demeter, namely anything connected with food or clothing.
Demeter in the 11th house symbolizes extending the nurturing urage into the collective - extended families, mothers' support groups, child-care co-ops, and communes. This position can also show giving birth to humanitarian visions and ideals. One may express or receive mothering through one's friendships.
Demeter in the 11th House: The tendency here is to nurture your friends or attract friends who nurture you. Since the 11th house also rules your hopes and wishes, you could easily have a wish to nurture large groups of people, perhaps by joining (or founding) a humanitarian group of some sort.
Demeter in the 12th house denotes karmic themes in the responsibilities of parenthood and in the development of empathy and understanding for the suffering of others. This position may symbolize experiences such a loss, illness, rejection, and denial of one's parents or children. The key to relieving one's own grief is to extend love and assistance to those in pain or need. This position of Demeter denotes the potential for nurturing the entire universe, and connection to higher reality through unconditional love.
Demeter in the 12th House: This is the house of hidden things, psychological problems and "restrictions." Whatever is in this house shows what we don't want to show to the world, or even to ourselves. Demeter in the 12th house can show that nurturing needs were suppressed. This could also make it difficult to nurture others. On the positive side, this placement could channel these frustrations into charity work where you provide nurturing to the poor, the sick, and the unfortunate.
Aspects to Demeter:
Demeter Aspects the Sun: Nurturing will tend to be part of your character. With the harmonious aspects (conjunction, sextile and trine) the effects are smooth and easy. You probably had a nurturing father, and the nurturing you received was compatible with who you are (the Sun). The stressful aspects (square and opposition) show problems. The opposition could mean that you tend to nurture others, but not yourself. Conversely, it might be an indicator of someone who always expects others to nurture them. The square means that the early nurturing you received (especially from the father) was not compatible with the type of person you are, or that you tend to be suspicious, or even reject the nurturing that you really need. For example, suppose the Sun is in Aries and Demeter is in Cancer. This person needs lots of soft, emotional nurturing, but that is not in accord with the self-sufficient image that Aries has of itself, so the needed nurturing is rejected.
Demeter Aspects the Moon: The harmonious aspects (conjunction, sextile, and trine) are really easy to deal with here. One's emotional needs and nurturing requirements are compatible and work well together. The nurturing received from the mother tended to be favorable. There will probably be an instinctive need (the Moon) to nurture others. The stressful aspects (square and opposition) are indicators that the early nurturing from the mother was not compatible with your emotional needs. With the opposition, there is usually some issue with "others" over nurturing. Perhaps someone with the Moon opposite Demeter will concentrate on nurturing others in order to avoid their own emotional needs. It could work in the other direction as well, with the person always searching for (even demanding) constant nurturing from someone else, demands that can never be satisfied by any amount of nurturing because there is an emotional void that never seems to be filled. The square means that the nurturing the mother gave was not right for your emotional needs. For instance, if the Moon is in Leo and Demeter is in Taurus, you would tend to have an emotional need for attention and respect while all you got was lots of food and clothing.
Demeter Aspects Mercury: This is a nice aspect for a therapist to have because you can nurture others with your words. It is also good for a salesperson or someone who writes advertising copy for the same reason. The stressful aspects indicate that the words you heard as a child were not very nurturing. Be careful that you don't do the same to your own children.
Demeter Aspects Venus: Oh for a lover with the harmonious aspects (conjunction, sextile, or trine) between Venus and Demeter! The ability to express love and affection and the nurturing nature are in harmony. They can love you and feed you at the same time. These people will tend to be nurtured by beauty and beautiful things, as well as by pleasant social gatherings. The stressful aspects (square and opposition) indicate that what you need to feel happy and your nurturing needs are out of alignment. Perhaps the clothes you were given as a child made you feel ugly. There will tend to be nurturing issues with partners and lovers. With the stressful aspects, you could constantly attract partners and lovers who always seem to require nurturing from you. Conversely, the nurturing you get from them never seems to be right. As always with the stressful aspects, do not look upon this as some terrible fate, but rather as a problem that needs to be solved or as an obstacle that needs to be overcome.
Demeter Aspects Mars: Energy, action, and nurturing combined. This person feels nurtured through physical action, adventure, and even combat. When it comes to nurturing others, they can dive right in and nurture you whether you want them to or not. The stressful aspects (square, opposition, and, here, the conjunction as well) are an indicator that the early nurturing tended to be in conflict with the need for assertion. The parents could have withheld nurturing when the child was in an angry mood, causing the anger to be repressed. Conversely, at least one parent could have expressed anger at the child's nurturing needs, affecting the child's sense of self-worth. Adults with the stressful Mars/Demeter aspects may get angry when asked to nurture others. They may even get angry when they have to nurture themselves!
Demeter Aspects Jupiter: Jupiter expands whatever it touches. At least there will tend to be plenty of early nurturing, whether the kid wanted it or not. Even in a poor family, where there is little to go around, this will be the child that gets more of the goodies. The nurturing given will also tend to be excessive. The stressful aspects (square and opposition) could be an indicator of much too much early nurturing, and generally not the kind the child wants or needs (especially with the square). For instance, if Demeter is in Libra (feeling nurtured by beauty) and Jupiter is making a square from Capricorn, the child could feel suffocated by getting excessive nurturing of the "practical" kind (ugly, but practical clothing for example). As an adult, they could nurture others in the same excessive, uncaring way and never be aware of what they are doing. Jupiter under stress aspects shows where we never listen because we think that (in that area) we "understand" everything already. If the rest of the chart agrees, Demeter/Jupiter aspects could be an indicator of someone who joins (or starts) organizations to fight for the rights of the underdog to be nurtured. If the aspect is a stressful one, they will nurture those poor underdogs whether they want it or not.
Demeter Aspects Saturn: Saturn organizes and restricts. With the harmonious aspects (sextile and trine) between Demeter and Saturn, the early nurturing received will be adequate, efficient, and well organized. As an adult, this person will tend to nurture in the same way. The stressful aspects (square, opposition, and, here, the conjunction) tend to diminish the early nurturing. Many with this combination will say, "What early nurturing?" Even in a wealthy family where there was plenty of everything, those with this combination usually get the short end of the stick. As adults, they could also withhold nurturing from others, regarding it as too "sentimental" or "impractical." If you come across anyone like this, tell them that it is really impractical to be miserable.
Demeter Aspects Uranus: Stressful aspects between Demeter and Uranus indicate that the early nurturing was erratic. Like stressful aspects between the Moon and Uranus, this could cause contact difficulties as an adult. When these people feel a need for nurturing, they could simply run. What is happening is that, as an infant, the unstable nurturing caused panic (if I don't get nurtured, I'll die). The panic is frequently dealt with by denial (I don't need them). Sure, the child survives, but when they grow up and start dating, they eventually meet someone that they start feeling close to. At that point, up comes the emotion-laden thought, "If they find out I need them, they're going to leave me and I'll die!" Solution: leave first. Except Uranus doesn't just leave. It ejects. People with stressful Demeter/Uranus aspects are more likely to get romantically involved with unstable types who are incapable of providing nurturing. Then they go to an astrologer and complain that they can never find a good person, and when are they ever going to meet their soul mate. At that point, the best thing to do is tell them that if they were to meet a soul mate, they would probably mess that relationship up too. The instability is a diversion. Their real goal is to avoid and ignore their own nurturing needs and the childhood panic they felt by not having those needs met. Once this is recognized, steps can be taken to break this self-destructive pattern.
Demeter Aspects Neptune: If you have this combination, you can feel nurtured by your imagination. When it comes to nurturing others, you will tend to add a note of fantasy. Parents with this one can play imaginary games with their children.
Watch out for the stressful aspects (conjunction, square, and opposition). Neptune is the planet of sympathy, and, when Demeter is in stressful aspect, it could indicate a tendency to try to "nurture" people who are constantly draining you, like the alcoholic who is always falling off the wagon and needs you to pick them up "just one more time." It could easily work out the other way as well. The person with Demeter in stress aspect with Neptune could be the one who is "needy" and constantly drains everyone around them, until those people get fed up and leave. Then, they search for another sympathetic soul to con into providing "nurturing" and the cycle repeats. The irony is that no amount of nurturing will ever feel satisfactory because the Demeter/Neptune stress aspect means that, deep down inside, there is a feeling that the nurturing is undeserved. Neptune is also the planet of escape. The stressful aspects could also indicate a tendency to feel nurtured (or avoid the pain of not feeling nurtured) through alcohol or drug abuse. Needless to say, in cases like these, therapy is a necessity. The positive side of Demeter/Neptune can be very loving and giving. There is real feeling behind the nurturing, and people will notice it. A good outlet would be doing volunteer charity work with a Demeter quality, such as working to collect food or clothing for the poor and needy.
Demeter Aspects Pluto: The stressful aspects (conjunction, square, and opposition) can indicate what I call negotiation nurturing. It goes something like this. "You want some nurturing? OK, first you have to do this for me. You want some more nurturing? Then you will have to do that for me." In other words, the nurturing is not given freely. There is frequently a power struggle. A negative Demeter/Neptune (see above) will drain or be drained. A negative Demeter/Pluto, by contrast, will coerce or be coerced. On the positive side, a Demeter/Pluto person can nurture others back to health even if (especially if!) they are at death's door. They can transform others through nurturing. On the negative side, they may never want to let go (remember the myth of Persephone).
Demeter Aspects the Ascendant: If Demeter makes any aspect to your Ascendant, people will come to you for "nurturing" whether you want them to or not. This is especially true of the conjunction. The harmonious aspects (sextile and trine) generally do not cause problems here. Neither do the conjunction and opposition, for that matter. Nurturing can be both given and taken smoothly. The square aspect is the real problem. There will tend to be battles with partners over who is giving and who is getting more nurturing. Remember that an opposition to the Ascendant is a conjunction to the Descendant. Someone with that aspect could make nurturing the centerpiece of their partnerships. On the positive side, that means they just like to nurture partners. On the negative side, it could indicate that are neglecting nurturing themselves, or that they attract partners who drain them.
Demeter Aspects the Mid-Heaven: This could indicate a career that is ruled by Demeter: professional chef or other jobs connected with food, work in the clothing industry, or any sort of activity where nurturing is done. The only aspect that may be a problem here is the square, which could indicate that the parents disagreed over the best way to nurture you.
Pallas Athene (Greek):
Rules wisdom and artistic abilities. Pineal Gland Awareness. Wisdom, strategy, knowing what action to take and when. Being a warrior of principles and peace.
artistic, arts and crafts, biotechnology, confidence, conflict, creative, daughter, diplomacy, genetics, healing, horses, immune system, injustice, intelligence, intuition, justice, learning, legal battles, logic, politics, science, strategy, strength, wisdom
Wherever Pallas falls in the birthchart shows the area of life where these talents are likely to be found and in what capacity.
The wisdom of reflection and strategy.
Extremely sexual and responsive and sexually caring to partners. Sexual negotiation skills. Sex is deeply transformative and regenerative and can go through certain cycles. Honour and respect is number one here. Sex and lust could take over in spontaneous busy days and nights. Profundity in sex. Sometimes sexual obsession. Both partners need to contribute, as control dampens the enthusiasm.
Athene is the warrior-Goddess, who is making a re-emergence in a number of forms in our culture. Astrologically, she represents political and negotiating skills, having been transformed into a kind of modern lawyer-like warrior.
Defenses and defensiveness can be involved with this asteroid. She is, after all, an armed defender. Righteous, just and true, but defensive about it. So we can look at the placement and aspects of Pallas for some clues about this attribute of who we are and how we react.
Pallas Athene is the Daughter. As Goddess of Wisdom, she is active, creative intelligence that gives birth to thought forms. Here the reproductive energy of Venus is released not through the genitals, but rises like the kundalini serpent to the head where the creative generation of ideas (mental progeny) is born. hence, Pallas Athene represents the principle of creative wisdom.
Her colour is yellow, symbolising the mastery of the intellectual domain, and her mental qualities link her to the element of air.
In the symbolism of the astrological wheel, Pallas Athene corresponds to the Midheaven, where visibly, socially useful accomplishments are realised. Astrologically, Pallas Athene represents one's mental creativity and the capacity to create and control one's reality. When a person becomes clouded by ignorance, Pallas Athene's cycle takes them through the transformative process of destruction and renewal of their life structures. She teaches the wisdom that the mind's eye contains the seed of manifested form.
Pallas or Pallas Athena or Pallas Athene, also known as Minerva, is associated with wisdom and intuition. Brought in with these attributes are those of logic and applied strategy. It is also creative of original thought, showing artistic ability. Pallas also rules the relationship between father and daughter. It is also representative of the Warrior Woman and the fight to escape from oppressive male domination. On the negative side, it also rules such things as incest and abuse. It is also concerned with science, the code of genetics and with biotechnology.
Pallas Athena is sympathetic to the air signs especially the justice and strategy of Libra and the intelligence and objectivity of Aquarius. She is aligned with the masculine archetypes of Mars and Uranus and close to Jupiter, her father's realm.
Reflection and Strategy
The architectural masterpiece, the Parthenon, was dedicated to the Goddess whom the classical Athenians cherished. Pallas Athena was their advocate for law and order, the teacher of household arts like spinning, weaving, and cooking, as well as their protector and defender. As their Goddess of war she helped the Greeks defeat Troy, the Athenians repel the Persians; as their Goddess of useful and decorative arts she inspired them to build exceptional monuments and temples. The Goddess of merciful justice transformed the law courts and at the dawn of the fifth century she inspired the democratic shift in Athenian politics. Athena was the revered Goddess of the Athenians who celebrated her birthday each year with a great festival and procession through the Agora up to the Acropolis.
As a multi-tasked Goddess many images are associated with Pallas Athena but it is the owl that reminds us of her wisdom. Her intelligence is 'bright-eyed' and sharp, focused on the immediate, located in the present, aligned with the head and not the instinct. Pallas Athena embodies the rational and encourages left-brain thinking. Her wisdom controls the instincts, learning to direct them into heroic pursuits to eradicate what is dark and primitive. She is civilising and organising, bringing culture and cultivation to mankind. Justice and law are part of her new order replacing retaliation and revenge.
Strategic, reflective and controlled her craft and skill is mirrored in the multiplicity of devices she offered man, the fertility of her ideas and the usefulness of her inventions and techniques. As Pronoai she is 'before knowing' embracing forethought and strategic thinking. As a warrior queen she was born from the forehead of her father Zeus, fully armoured and mature, suggesting that the wisdom of Goddess had been reborn into a new order. As father's special daughter Pallas Athena mirrored the rational intelligence and counsel of Zeus. Metis, the mother of Athena, was an ancient Goddess of wisdom known as Wise Counsel or Cunning Intelligence. She knew the feminine mysteries, the intelligence articulated by the heart and the inner world of instinct and intuition. From her Pallas Athena inherited another kind of wisdom: the wisdom of intuitive knowing often experienced in the belly as a 'gut instinct'. It is a knowing that may speak through symptoms or disease, through creativity or craft, or radiate through stillness and tranquillity or even erupt in anger or hostility. It is a wisdom born out of an intimate connection between mind and matter, a fluid way of being the ancient Greeks knew as sophia.
Athena is a proud daughter born from a power struggle between her powerfully dominant father and her intuitively wise mother. Consciously Athena only knows her father's way and the new order. Born of man, like Eve, this myth is often cited when tracing the emergence of 'father-right' from the long held tradition of 'mother-right'. The daughter is now aligned with the sky father who colludes in rejecting the earth mother. The tables have turned in the familial pattern and now it is father and daughter colluding against mother, no longer mother conspiring with her youngest son against the father. When Athena emerges she reflects the need for logic and rationality rather than feeling and instinct. Her path follows the reason of the head, aligned with her father, not the impulse of the heart, the vulnerable feminine side that she has not been nurtured by.
Like Eve, Athena's feminine legacy is not so easily erased. Both their myths contain the image of the snake, a sacred symbol of their legacy of feminine wisdom, healing and regeneration. By the classical period Athena's wisdom became subjugated to Zeus. Shaped by the masculine wisdom becomes linear, logical and rational. Metis is no longer acknowledged as her other parent. The internal wisdom of cycles, intuitive knowing and the complexity of intrapsychic understanding becomes concealed under Athena's armour.
Pallas Athene is also associated with the arts of healing, health and regeneration. As Athena Nike she was the Goddess of Victory, first victorious in war and later a victor on the sports field. Athena signalled victory and as a patron of heroes she was also known as the Goddess of the near, as she was always close to the hero and a staunch supporter of the heroic. As the Goddess of war and defender of her father's realm Athena became aligned with the hero as his guide and protector. In mythic portrayals of the hero, Athena stands behind or beside him as his staunch ally against the monstrous and dark forces. When Pallas Athena appears she encourages us to be heroic and battle the regressive forces of our instinctual nature. When we choose Pallas Athena it is necessary to reflect on the situation and not react emotionally, detaching enough to formulate a decisive plan of action. On an oracular level the card suggest the need to be the wise warrior and use strategy and cunning. On a divinatory level the card suggests the individual may be torn between the head and the heart but Pallas encourages us to be heroic and choose the course that will champion our cause. An enmeshed situation demands reflection, objectivity and disengagement.
Feminine Wisdom: Reflection and meditation develop out of the turmoil of chaos and uncertainty, helping us to become more strategic and deliberate in our actions. Metis is the valued intelligence that guides our instincts and plans strategically and arises into consciousness at exactly the right moment. Pallas Athena discerns and through reflecting on emotionally entangled situations allows consciousness to develop.
From Bob Marks: Pallas shows our ability to recognize patterns, to arrange and re-arrange things.
Pallas in the Signs shows your preferred style for doing these things. Pallas in the Houses shows where you have problem solving ability and pattern recognition ability.
Pallas in the Signs:
Pallas in Aries: Charges right in. If the problem needs a quick, dynamic solution, you're the person to ask. This is a good placement if there is some sort of competition (or better yet, a battle) involved. Aries is an innovator and loves to be on the cutting edge. Albert Einstein had Pallas in Aries in the 10th house.
Pallas in Taurus: If the problem is going to take a long time to solve, ask this person to handle it for you. With Pallas in Taurus, the problem solving and pattern recognizing abilities increase if you feed them.
Pallas in Gemini: This one can work on two or more problems at a time. In fact, if they don't, they might get bored. There tends to be an especially strong ability to deal with words, to arrange and rearrange them in different patterns.
Pallas in Cancer: The pattern recognition and problem solving abilities focus around domestic matters and emotional concerns. This is also a good placement for a therapist to have, or someone in a profession that requires nurturing in some way, such as a nanny. The sign of Cancer also governs hotels and restaurants. If you happen to work in those fields, Pallas in Cancer will be a great help in organizing, arranging, and problem solving.
Pallas in Leo: It's SHOWTIME! This tends to be a creative placement and is very good for anyone in the arts. But in any profession, things will be arranged and problems solved in dramatic, attention-getting ways.
Pallas in Virgo: Good ability to see tiny (even microscopic) patterns and solve problems to the 10th decimal place. Consequently, this would be a good placement for any profession that requires great attention to detail.
Pallas in Libra: Good ability to see patterns in social situations. There also tends to be increased skill in handling social problems, so this is a good placement for a mediator. Libra, in addition, rules beauty and art. If you have Pallas in Libra, you probably (unless there are afflicting aspects) have good artistic taste, as well as an ability to know what accessories match the outfit you're wearing.
Pallas in Scorpio: A really good placement for a therapist, detective, spy, or criminal! Scorpio loves to go deep into the underworld and come back with riches. If there is a subtle, secretive way of solving a problem, you will be the one to find it. Pallas in Scorpio can also make you obsessed with finding solutions to problems, or figuring out a secret and obscure pattern. Of course, it is also good at finding the best way to heal and rehabilitate, and is excellent for helping others manage their money and resources. If the rest of the chart agrees, there will also be the potential for changing the values of any group that you belong to, including the society in which you live.
Pallas in Sagittarius: Don't bother looking for small patterns. Leave that for the Pallas in Virgo people. You have to get the big picture, see the large-scale patterns, and then teach others about what you've found.
Pallas in Capricorn: This placement of Pallas is good for organizing things and making them more efficient. It definitely has a material bent and prefers to work on problems that have to do with practical matters.
Pallas in Aquarius: This placement can solve the most difficult problems in ways that are startling and unusual. The patterns that it makes are either insane or touched by genius. If everyone agrees that a particular arrangement is the "right one" or that a certain problem has a well-accepted solution, you can count on the Pallas in Aquarius person to come up with something completely different.
Pallas in Pisces: If other chart factors agree, this placement of Pallas can make for a good artist, designer, or any work that requires imagination. The main drawback is that there is a tendency to dream instead of do.
Pallas in the Houses:
Pallas in the 1st House: Pallas here gives superior ability to see patterns and solve problems, especially if it is within eight degrees of the Ascendant and in the same sign.
Pallas in the 2nd House: This placement is good for organizing money and possessions. It can also give the ability to recognize financial trends. Remember though, that the 2nd house also deals with what we value, and Pallas placed here simply helps to organize and arrange those values, whatever they may be. This includes those who reject money and preach a life of poverty. But I'll bet that the few possessions they have are well organized.
Pallas in the 3rd House: This is the house of communications and short journeys. Pallas here makes it easier to solve problems while you are walking around the neighborhood, taking short trips, or communicating. The problems you deal with are more likely to concern immediate, day-to-day matters.
Pallas in the 4th House: If you have a difficult problem to figure out, go home. Pallas in the 4th house means that your ability to see patterns and solve problems is greatest when you are in the house. Since the 4th house also shows the last third (or so) of our life, your problem solving abilities will probably become stronger with age.
Pallas in the 5th House: This is good for your creativity. Artists with this placement would tend to have a good sense of form. In sports and games, Pallas in the 5th house is good for working out strategy. In matters of gambling and speculation, there will be a tendency to find patterns rather than just blindly rolling the dice. When it comes to children, this placement can make it easier to think up all sorts of new games and activities for them.
Pallas in the 6th House: The daily work activity is where the pattern spotting ability comes into play. This can be a good placement for finding new ways to arrange and rearrange things on the job. It also favors jobs that demand the ability to deal with patterns.
Pallas in the 7th House: The tendency with Pallas in the 7th house is to attract marriage and business partners who are good at recognizing patterns, solving problems, and arranging things. But it frequently happens that the person with Pallas in the 7th house finds it easier to do these things when there is someone else around. The other person doesn't even have to say a word. Just having another person there will make it easier for a Pallas in the 7th house person to solve problems and see patterns.
Pallas in the 8th House: A good placement for those engaged in healing professions, including therapists (the 8th house rules rehabilitation). It is also favorable for those who manage other people's money. The 2nd house rules your values. The 8th house, which is opposite, rules the values of the groups to which you belong. Pallas in the 8th house increases the chance that the patterns you see may change those group values.
Pallas in the 9th House: This is the house of higher education and philosophy. You may tend to be more concerned with large-scale problems than day-to-day matters. An excellent placement for a college professor or a diplomat (the 9th house rules long journeys and foreign places).
Pallas in the 10th House: This is the house of career and the "public." If you are having trouble solving a problem while at home, get out of the house. Pallas in the 10th house will tend to increase pattern recognition and problem solving abilities in connection with the career. Albert Einstein, who made a career with his ability to see patterns, had Pallas placed here.
Pallas in the 11th House: Once again, it becomes easier to solve problems and see patterns if there are other people around. In this case, it's friends. But a group of people would do as well. There could also be a tendency to attract friends who are clever at solving problems.
Pallas in the 12th House: The 12th house shows what we may suppress. Someone with Pallas placed here may hold back their own problem solving and pattern recognition abilities. On the other hand, this could indicate increased ability to analyze and handle the restrictions of others. So it is also should be good for those whose work deals with "restrictions," such as therapists and social workers.
Pallas in Aspect:
Pallas Aspecting the Sun: This person will tend to be good at problem solving and pattern recognition. If the aspects are harmonious (conjunction, sextile, or trine), these abilities will tend to be easily accepted both by the person themselves and those around them. If the aspects are stressful, then the solutions and patterns they come up may cause a clash with authority figures.
Pallas Aspecting the Moon: These folks can be just as good as those with Sun/Pallas aspects at problem solving and pattern recognition. The difference is the process will be more instinctive and less conscious. Stressful aspects (square and opposition) can show a clash between the problem solving abilities and the emotional needs (similar to stressful Moon/Mercury aspects). The harmonious aspects (conjunction, sextile, or trine) tend to have an easier interchange between the intellectual abilities of Pallas and the instincts of the Moon. Albert Einstein, for example had the trine.
Pallas Aspecting Mercury: The harmonious aspects (conjunction, sextile, or trine) are excellent for solving problems and communicating the solutions so that they will be accepted. This is an excellent position for anyone who has to work with words for a living (I have the sextile myself). The stressful aspects could indicate difficulties in communicating the results of your problem solving and pattern recognition. The house and sign positions will indicate the areas where this would be the biggest problem.
Pallas Aspecting Venus: Another good placement for an artist. The harmonious aspects (conjunction, sextile, or trine) link the Venusian love of beauty with the pattern recognition ability of Pallas. The stressful aspects (square and opposition) could lead to blockages in this area. The pattern recognition ability has problems integrating with the artistic sense. There could also be a tendency to be excessively critical (Pallas) of those with whom we are romantically involved (Venus).
Pallas Aspecting Mars: Not bad for a military strategist or the coach of a sports team. If there is a conflict (Mars) this combination can help you figure out (Pallas) how to win. In fact, any task requiring lots of energy, physical activity, or will power can be rearranged and improved with this aspect. The harmonious aspects (conjunction, sextile, or trine) can smoothly integrate physical activity with the intellect. The stressful aspects (square and opposition) can indicate a tendency to rush to judgment when solving problems. These aspects also make it more likely for one to argue when the solutions they come up with are not immediately accepted.
Pallas Aspecting Jupiter: With the harmonious aspects (conjunction, sextile, or trine) there is no problem getting the big picture. This increases the ability to recognize big patterns and solve large-scale problems. The stressful aspects (square and opposition) can easily give someone an over-inflated opinion of their own intellect. Many people with a stressful aspect between these two are always right and never wrong. Just ask them!
Pallas Aspecting Saturn: The effect of Saturn, like Jupiter, is to focus on the big picture. Saturn though, tends towards pessimism rather than optimism, and caution rather than opportunity. When it comes to problem solving, those with Pallas/Saturn aspects will tend to take their time. Learning is also slowed down because the effect of Saturn is to fear mistakes. Once something is learned, however, it will likely be learned well. The harmonious aspects (sextile and trine) simply add a cautious and practical streak to problem solving and pattern recognition. The stressful aspects (conjunction, square, and opposition) put obstacles in the way. Someone with these may feel stupid (even if they are really brilliant). To develop their problem solving and pattern recognition abilities, they (more than anyone else) have to practice, practice, practice. It also wouldn't hurt if they worked to boost their self-esteem.
Pallas Aspecting Uranus: The patterns you see will tend to be unusual and highly original. The solutions to problems will be, well, different. The effect of Uranus is to make us believe that "If everybody does things this way, it must be wrong." If the aspect is a stressful one (conjunction, square, or opposition), the ideas they come up with may shock others. The harmonious aspects (sextile and trine) can be just as original when it comes to problem solving and pattern recognition, but are less likely to cause people to be upset.
Pallas Aspecting Neptune: Neptune rules dreams (and illusions). The harmonious aspects (sextile and trine) between Pallas and Neptune increase imagination and are very good for artists. But scientists can benefit from this as well because of the increased powers of visualization that it confers. The stressful aspects (conjunction, square, and opposition) can get lost in imagination. This combination can make it difficult to tell the difference between reality and delusion.
Pallas Aspecting Pluto: Those with this combination can notice things that seem hidden to most others. This is a good combination for a doctor, therapist, detective, or spy. The harmonious aspects (sextile and trine) are good for solving problems connected with healing or personal growth, "transformation" in general. They are also good those who deal with large sums of "other people's money" (venture capitalists, for instance). The stressful aspects (conjunction, square, and opposition) tend to cause intense concentration on problems to the point of obsession.
Pallas Aspecting the Ascendant: Any aspect will tend to increase the mental side of your nature, particularly the problem solving and pattern recognition abilities. This is especially true of the conjunction aspect. The harmonious aspects (sextile and trine) will, in addition, make it easier to solve problems together with others (there will also be an aspect to the Descendant). The opposition to the Ascendant is really a conjunction to the Descendant, so Pallas placed here could attract partners who are good at problem solving and pattern recognition. Conversely, your own abilities in these areas could come out more strongly when there is someone else around, especially a partner. The square aspect will tend to bring problems when it comes to solving problems with others.
Pallas Aspecting the Mid-Heaven: Problem solving and pattern recognition will tend to be an important part of the career. One or both parents were likely to have been strong in these areas. If the aspect is a square, then they might have tried to over-organize your life while raising you.
881 Athene (Greek):
Rules wisdom and artistic abilities. Pineal Gland Awareness. Wisdom, strategy, knowing what action to take and when. Being a warrior of principles and peace.
artistic, arts and crafts, biotechnology, confidence, conflict, creative, daughter, diplomacy, genetics, healing, horses, immune system, injustice, intelligence, intuition, justice, learning, legal battles, logic, politics, science, strategy, strength, wisdom
Wherever Athene falls in the birthchart shows the area of life where these talents are likely to be found and in what capacity.
Goddess of war and peace, wisdom and ethics, arts and crafts. Athene was the state Goddess of Athens. She is an inventor and artisan, the Goddess of order and bringer of civilization. Though a war Goddess, She participates only to defend right order and to bring justice. Her clear thinking and quick mind have brought many benefits to mankind, including the olive and its precious oil. According to legend, She contested with Poseidon for the control of Athens. Poseidon struck a rock on the Akropolis with His trident, and a spring of salty water flowed forth. Athene's gift was the olive tree, and in the temple of the Erechtheum on the Akropolis both the trident-mark and the tree are there to this day.
Athene was probably originally a Goddess of lightning and storms, hence the spear (representing the lightning) and Her famous brilliant eyes, which earned Her the epithet Oxyderkes, the Bright-Eyed. Birds as creatures of the air are Hers as well, especially the owl, with its bright eyes and reputation for wisdom.
Athene brings strength and wisdom, and aid in determining the best course--consult Her in a situation when you are not sure whether to use diplomacy or if the time has come to fight.
Some of Her epithets include: Polias ("of the City"), Parthenos ("Virgin"), Promachos ("Champion"), Ergane ("Worker"), and Nike ("Victory").
ATHENE (or Athena) was the great Olympian Goddess of wise counsel, war, the defence of towns, heroic endeavour, weaving, pottery and other crafts. She was depicted crowned with a crested helm, armed with shield and spear, and wearing the snake-trimmed aigis cloak wrapped around her breast and arm, adorned with the monstrous head of the Gorgon.
Athena was the ultimate career woman. As Goddess of war, Athena was a superb warrior; her presence on your side assured a bit win. The Goddess Minerva was her counterpart in Roman mythology.
The Goddess Athena was a superb strategist and many of the Greek myths recount tales of her help given to various Gods, Goddesses, and heroes as they went into battle or faced seemingly impossible tests. But the Goddess Athena liked using her wisdom in the role of judge, much preferring to negotiate and problem-solve to keep the peace.
She was also known as Athena Goddess of Crafts". The Goddess Athena was celebrated as the patron of weavers, potters, goldsmiths, sculptors, musicians, and horsemen. She was also credited with the inventing the first sailing ship, the yoke and the bridle, as well as the flute and trumpet.
Associated with the city and an urbane lifestyle, during peacetime the Greek Goddess Athena utilized her talents overseeing the progress of civilization, including being the patroness of literature and the arts.
The myths of Athena remind us that thoughtful planning and the marshalling of our resources can help us reach our goals.
The wisdom of reflection and strategy.
Extremely sexual and responsive and sexually caring to partners. Sexual negotiation skills. Sex is deeply transformative and regenerative and can go through certain cycles. Honour and respect is number one here. Sex and lust could take over in spontaneous busy days and nights. Profundity in sex. Sometimes sexual obsession. Both partners need to contribute, as control dampens the enthusiasm.
Athene is the warrior-Goddess, who is making a re-emergence in a number of forms in our culture. Astrologically, she represents political and negotiating skills, having been transformed into a kind of modern lawyer-like warrior.
Defenses and defensiveness can be involved with this asteroid. She is, after all, an armed defender. Righteous, just and true, but defensive about it. So we can look at the placement and aspects of Athene for some clues about this attribute of who we are and how we react.
Athene is the Daughter. As Goddess of Wisdom, she is active, creative intelligence that gives birth to thought forms. Here the reproductive energy of Venus is released not through the genitals, but rises like the kundalini serpent to the head where the creative generation of ideas (mental progeny) is born. hence, Athene Athene represents the principle of creative wisdom.
Her colour is yellow, symbolising the mastery of the intellectual domain, and her mental qualities link her to the element of air.
In the symbolism of the astrological wheel, Athene corresponds to the Midheaven, where visibly, socially useful accomplishments are realised. Astrologically, Athene Athene represents one's mental creativity and the capacity to create and control one's reality. When a person becomes clouded by ignorance, Athene Athene's cycle takes them through the transformative process of destruction and renewal of their life structures. She teaches the wisdom that the mind's eye contains the seed of manifested form.
Athene is associated with wisdom and intuition. Brought in with these attributes are those of logic and applied strategy. It is also creative of original thought, showing artistic ability. Pallas also rules the relationship between father and daughter. It is also representative of the Warrior Woman and the fight to escape from oppressive male domination. On the negative side, it also rules such things as incest and abuse. It is also concerned with science, the code of genetics and with biotechnology.
Athene is sympathetic to the air signs especially the justice and strategy of Libra and the intelligence and objectivity of Aquarius. She is aligned with the masculine archetypes of Mars and Uranus and close to Jupiter, her father's realm.
Reflection and Strategy
The architectural masterpiece, the Parthenon, was dedicated to the Goddess whom the classical Athenians cherished. Athene was their advocate for law and order, the teacher of household arts like spinning, weaving, and cooking, as well as their protector and defender. As their Goddess of war she helped the Greeks defeat Troy, the Athenians repel the Persians; as their Goddess of useful and decorative arts she inspired them to build exceptional monuments and temples. The Goddess of merciful justice transformed the law courts and at the dawn of the fifth century she inspired the democratic shift in Athenian politics. Athene was the revered Goddess of the Athenians who celebrated her birthday each year with a great festival and procession through the Agora up to the Acropolis.
As a multi-tasked Goddess many images are associated with Athene but it is the owl that reminds us of her wisdom. Her intelligence is 'bright-eyed' and sharp, focused on the immediate, located in the present, aligned with the head and not the instinct. Athene embodies the rational and encourages left-brain thinking. Her wisdom controls the instincts, learning to direct them into heroic pursuits to eradicate what is dark and primitive. She is civilising and organising, bringing culture and cultivation to mankind. Justice and law are part of her new order replacing retaliation and revenge.
Strategic, reflective and controlled her craft and skill is mirrored in the multiplicity of devices she offered man, the fertility of her ideas and the usefulness of her inventions and techniques. As Pronoai she is 'before knowing' embracing forethought and strategic thinking. As a warrior queen she was born from the forehead of her father Zeus, fully armoured and mature, suggesting that the wisdom of Goddess had been reborn into a new order. As father's special daughter Athene mirrored the rational intelligence and counsel of Zeus. Metis, the mother of Athene, was an ancient Goddess of wisdom known as Wise Counsel or Cunning Intelligence. She knew the feminine mysteries, the intelligence articulated by the heart and the inner world of instinct and intuition. From her Athene inherited another kind of wisdom: the wisdom of intuitive knowing often experienced in the belly as a 'gut instinct'. It is a knowing that may speak through symptoms or disease, through creativity or craft, or radiate through stillness and tranquillity or even erupt in anger or hostility. It is a wisdom born out of an intimate connection between mind and matter, a fluid way of being the ancient Greeks knew as sophia.
Athene is a proud daughter born from a power struggle between her powerfully dominant father and her intuitively wise mother. Consciously Athene only knows her father's way and the new order. Born of man, like Eve, this myth is often cited when tracing the emergence of 'father-right' from the long held tradition of 'mother-right'. The daughter is now aligned with the sky father who colludes in rejecting the earth mother. The tables have turned in the familial pattern and now it is father and daughter colluding against mother, no longer mother conspiring with her youngest son against the father. When Athene emerges she reflects the need for logic and rationality rather than feeling and instinct. Her path follows the reason of the head, aligned with her father, not the impulse of the heart, the vulnerable feminine side that she has not been nurtured by.
Like Eve, Athene's feminine legacy is not so easily erased. Both their myths contain the image of the snake, a sacred symbol of their legacy of feminine wisdom, healing and regeneration. By the classical period Athene's wisdom became subjugated to Zeus. Shaped by the masculine wisdom becomes linear, logical and rational. Metis is no longer acknowledged as her other parent. The internal wisdom of cycles, intuitive knowing and the complexity of intrapsychic understanding becomes concealed under Athene's armour.
Athene is also associated with the arts of healing, health and regeneration. As Athene Nike she was the Goddess of Victory, first victorious in war and later a victor on the sports field. Athene signalled victory and as a patron of heroes she was also known as the Goddess of the near, as she was always close to the hero and a staunch supporter of the heroic. As the Goddess of war and defender of her father's realm Athene became aligned with the hero as his guide and protector. In mythic portrayals of the hero, Athene stands behind or beside him as his staunch ally against the monstrous and dark forces. When Athene appears she encourages us to be heroic and battle the regressive forces of our instinctual nature. When we choose Athene it is necessary to reflect on the situation and not react emotionally, detaching enough to formulate a decisive plan of action. On an oracular level the card suggest the need to be the wise warrior and use strategy and cunning. On a divinatory level the card suggests the individual may be torn between the head and the heart but Athene encourages us to be heroic and choose the course that will champion our cause. An enmeshed situation demands reflection, objectivity and disengagement.
Feminine Wisdom: Reflection and meditation develop out of the turmoil of chaos and uncertainty, helping us to become more strategic and deliberate in our actions. Metis is the valued intelligence that guides our instincts and plans strategically and arises into consciousness at exactly the right moment. Athene discerns and through reflecting on emotionally entangled situations allows consciousness to develop.
Athene shows our ability to recognize patterns, to arrange and re-arrange things.
Athene in the Signs shows your preferred style for doing these things. Athene in the Houses shows where you have problem solving ability and pattern recognition ability.
Athene in the Signs:
Athene in Aries: Charges right in. If the problem needs a quick, dynamic solution, you're the person to ask. This is a good placement if there is some sort of competition (or better yet, a battle) involved. Aries is an innovator and loves to be on the cutting edge. Albert Einstein had Athene in Aries in the 10th house.
Athene in Taurus: If the problem is going to take a long time to solve, ask this person to handle it for you. With Athene in Taurus, the problem solving and pattern recognizing abilities increase if you feed them.
Athene in Gemini: This one can work on two or more problems at a time. In fact, if they don't, they might get bored. There tends to be an especially strong ability to deal with words, to arrange and rearrange them in different patterns.
Athene in Cancer: The pattern recognition and problem solving abilities focus around domestic matters and emotional concerns. This is also a good placement for a therapist to have, or someone in a profession that requires nurturing in some way, such as a nanny. The sign of Cancer also governs hotels and restaurants. If you happen to work in those fields, Athene in Cancer will be a great help in organizing, arranging, and problem solving.
Athene in Leo: It's SHOWTIME! This tends to be a creative placement and is very good for anyone in the arts. But in any profession, things will be arranged and problems solved in dramatic, attention-getting ways.
Athene in Virgo: Good ability to see tiny (even microscopic) patterns and solve problems to the 10th decimal place. Consequently, this would be a good placement for any profession that requires great attention to detail.
Athene in Libra: Good ability to see patterns in social situations. There also tends to be increased skill in handling social problems, so this is a good placement for a mediator. Libra, in addition, rules beauty and art. If you have Athene in Libra, you probably (unless there are afflicting aspects) have good artistic taste, as well as an ability to know what accessories match the outfit you're wearing.
Athene in Scorpio: A really good placement for a therapist, detective, spy, or criminal! Scorpio loves to go deep into the underworld and come back with riches. If there is a subtle, secretive way of solving a problem, you will be the one to find it. Athene in Scorpio can also make you obsessed with finding solutions to problems, or figuring out a secret and obscure pattern. Of course, it is also good at finding the best way to heal and rehabilitate, and is excellent for helping others manage their money and resources. If the rest of the chart agrees, there will also be the potential for changing the values of any group that you belong to, including the society in which you live.
Athene in Sagittarius: Don't bother looking for small patterns. Leave that for the Athene in Virgo people. You have to get the big picture, see the large-scale patterns, and then teach others about what you've found.
Athene in Capricorn: This placement of Athene is good for organizing things and making them more efficient. It definitely has a material bent and prefers to work on problems that have to do with practical matters.
Athene in Aquarius: This placement can solve the most difficult problems in ways that are startling and unusual. The patterns that it makes are either insane or touched by genius. If everyone agrees that a particular arrangement is the "right one" or that a certain problem has a well-accepted solution, you can count on the Athene in Aquarius person to come up with something completely different.
Athene in Pisces: If other chart factors agree, this placement of Athene can make for a good artist, designer, or any work that requires imagination. The main drawback is that there is a tendency to dream instead of do.
Athene in the Houses:
Athene in the 1st House: Athene here gives superior ability to see patterns and solve problems, especially if it is within eight degrees of the Ascendant and in the same sign.
Athene in the 2nd House: This placement is good for organizing money and possessions. It can also give the ability to recognize financial trends. Remember though, that the 2nd house also deals with what we value, and Athene placed here simply helps to organize and arrange those values, whatever they may be. This includes those who reject money and preach a life of poverty. But I'll bet that the few possessions they have are well organized.
Athene in the 3rd House: This is the house of communications and short journeys. Athene here makes it easier to solve problems while you are walking around the neighborhood, taking short trips, or communicating. The problems you deal with are more likely to concern immediate, day-to-day matters.
Athene in the 4th House: If you have a difficult problem to figure out, go home. Athene in the 4th house means that your ability to see patterns and solve problems is greatest when you are in the house. Since the 4th house also shows the last third (or so) of our life, your problem solving abilities will probably become stronger with age.
Athene in the 5th House: This is good for your creativity. Artists with this placement would tend to have a good sense of form. In sports and games, Athene in the 5th house is good for working out strategy. In matters of gambling and speculation, there will be a tendency to find patterns rather than just blindly rolling the dice. When it comes to children, this placement can make it easier to think up all sorts of new games and activities for them.
Athene in the 6th House: The daily work activity is where the pattern spotting ability comes into play. This can be a good placement for finding new ways to arrange and rearrange things on the job. It also favors jobs that demand the ability to deal with patterns.
Athene in the 7th House: The tendency with Athene in the 7th house is to attract marriage and business partners who are good at recognizing patterns, solving problems, and arranging things. But it frequently happens that the person with Athene in the 7th house finds it easier to do these things when there is someone else around. The other person doesn't even have to say a word. Just having another person there will make it easier for a Athene in the 7th house person to solve problems and see patterns.
Athene in the 8th House: A good placement for those engaged in healing professions, including therapists (the 8th house rules rehabilitation). It is also favorable for those who manage other people's money. The 2nd house rules your values. The 8th house, which is opposite, rules the values of the groups to which you belong. Athene in the 8th house increases the chance that the patterns you see may change those group values.
Athene in the 9th House: This is the house of higher education and philosophy. You may tend to be more concerned with large-scale problems than day-to-day matters. An excellent placement for a college professor or a diplomat (the 9th house rules long journeys and foreign places).
Athene in the 10th House: This is the house of career and the "public." If you are having trouble solving a problem while at home, get out of the house. Athene in the 10th house will tend to increase pattern recognition and problem solving abilities in connection with the career. Albert Einstein, who made a career with his ability to see patterns, had Athene placed here.
Athene in the 11th House: Once again, it becomes easier to solve problems and see patterns if there are other people around. In this case, it's friends. But a group of people would do as well. There could also be a tendency to attract friends who are clever at solving problems.
Athene in the 12th House: The 12th house shows what we may suppress. Someone with Athene placed here may hold back their own problem solving and pattern recognition abilities. On the other hand, this could indicate increased ability to analyze and handle the restrictions of others. So it is also should be good for those whose work deals with "restrictions," such as therapists and social workers.
Athene in Aspect:
Athene Aspecting the Sun: This person will tend to be good at problem solving and pattern recognition. If the aspects are harmonious (conjunction, sextile, or trine), these abilities will tend to be easily accepted both by the person themselves and those around them. If the aspects are stressful, then the solutions and patterns they come up may cause a clash with authority figures.
Athene Aspecting the Moon: These folks can be just as good as those with Sun/Athene aspects at problem solving and pattern recognition. The difference is the process will be more instinctive and less conscious. Stressful aspects (square and opposition) can show a clash between the problem solving abilities and the emotional needs (similar to stressful Moon/Mercury aspects). The harmonious aspects (conjunction, sextile, or trine) tend to have an easier interchange between the intellectual abilities of Athene and the instincts of the Moon. Albert Einstein, for example had the trine.
Athene Aspecting Mercury: The harmonious aspects (conjunction, sextile, or trine) are excellent for solving problems and communicating the solutions so that they will be accepted. This is an excellent position for anyone who has to work with words for a living (I have the sextile myself). The stressful aspects could indicate difficulties in communicating the results of your problem solving and pattern recognition. The house and sign positions will indicate the areas where this would be the biggest problem.
Athene Aspecting Venus: Another good placement for an artist. The harmonious aspects (conjunction, sextile, or trine) link the Venusian love of beauty with the pattern recognition ability of Athene. The stressful aspects (square and opposition) could lead to blockages in this area. The pattern recognition ability has problems integrating with the artistic sense. There could also be a tendency to be excessively critical (Athene) of those with whom we are romantically involved (Venus).
Athene Aspecting Mars: Not bad for a military strategist or the coach of a sports team. If there is a conflict (Mars) this combination can help you figure out (Athene) how to win. In fact, any task requiring lots of energy, physical activity, or will power can be rearranged and improved with this aspect. The harmonious aspects (conjunction, sextile, or trine) can smoothly integrate physical activity with the intellect. The stressful aspects (square and opposition) can indicate a tendency to rush to judgment when solving problems. These aspects also make it more likely for one to argue when the solutions they come up with are not immediately accepted.
Athene Aspecting Jupiter: With the harmonious aspects (conjunction, sextile, or trine) there is no problem getting the big picture. This increases the ability to recognize big patterns and solve large-scale problems. The stressful aspects (square and opposition) can easily give someone an over-inflated opinion of their own intellect. Many people with a stressful aspect between these two are always right and never wrong. Just ask them!
Athene Aspecting Saturn: The effect of Saturn, like Jupiter, is to focus on the big picture. Saturn though, tends towards pessimism rather than optimism, and caution rather than opportunity. When it comes to problem solving, those with Athene/Saturn aspects will tend to take their time. Learning is also slowed down because the effect of Saturn is to fear mistakes. Once something is learned, however, it will likely be learned well. The harmonious aspects (sextile and trine) simply add a cautious and practical streak to problem solving and pattern recognition. The stressful aspects (conjunction, square, and opposition) put obstacles in the way. Someone with these may feel stupid (even if they are really brilliant). To develop their problem solving and pattern recognition abilities, they (more than anyone else) have to practice, practice, practice. It also wouldn't hurt if they worked to boost their self-esteem.
Athene Aspecting Uranus: The patterns you see will tend to be unusual and highly original. The solutions to problems will be, well, different. The effect of Uranus is to make us believe that "If everybody does things this way, it must be wrong." If the aspect is a stressful one (conjunction, square, or opposition), the ideas they come up with may shock others. The harmonious aspects (sextile and trine) can be just as original when it comes to problem solving and pattern recognition, but are less likely to cause people to be upset.
Athene Aspecting Neptune: Neptune rules dreams (and illusions). The harmonious aspects (sextile and trine) between Athene and Neptune increase imagination and are very good for artists. But scientists can benefit from this as well because of the increased powers of visualization that it confers. The stressful aspects (conjunction, square, and opposition) can get lost in imagination. This combination can make it difficult to tell the difference between reality and delusion.
Athene Aspecting Pluto: Those with this combination can notice things that seem hidden to most others. This is a good combination for a doctor, therapist, detective, or spy. The harmonious aspects (sextile and trine) are good for solving problems connected with healing or personal growth, "transformation" in general. They are also good those who deal with large sums of "other people's money" (venture capitalists, for instance). The stressful aspects (conjunction, square, and opposition) tend to cause intense concentration on problems to the point of obsession.
Athene Aspecting the Ascendant: Any aspect will tend to increase the mental side of your nature, particularly the problem solving and pattern recognition abilities. This is especially true of the conjunction aspect. The harmonious aspects (sextile and trine) will, in addition, make it easier to solve problems together with others (there will also be an aspect to the Descendant). The opposition to the Ascendant is really a conjunction to the Descendant, so Athene placed here could attract partners who are good at problem solving and pattern recognition. Conversely, your own abilities in these areas could come out more strongly when there is someone else around, especially a partner. The square aspect will tend to bring problems when it comes to solving problems with others.
Athene Aspecting the Mid-Heaven: Problem solving and pattern recognition will tend to be an important part of the career. One or both parents were likely to have been strong in these areas. If the aspect is a square, then they might have tried to over-organize your life while raising you.
433 Eros (Greek):
The Greek God of Love. Passionate love of Divine Masculine
Erotic love. Represents what turns you on, sexual attraction. Intense sexual heat and vitality. Anything which stimulates desire or touches on fantasy is easily integrated, such as erotica or other sex aids. This is a regenerating asteroid, when playing the relating game. Overindulgence is possible though, as the drive of desire can put satisfaction before other priorities.
Eros – The God of Love
By Maria Shaw
Asteroid Number 433 Eros, is one of the near-earth asteroids. Eros orbits between Venus and Mars and takes 1.76 years to complete a full cycle. Orbiting between the planet of love and beauty and the sexual, passionate Mars, Eros is also called the God of love. But it's not the type of love that one would expect. Eros creates passion that isn't always comfortable. It's the type of love that doesnt make us feel safe and secure. Forget peace and harmony. Its all about erotic love, obsessive behavior that you can't let go of. It clings to the very depths of your being. Your heart aches when you cant get enough. In some cases, youre very aware this type of love is not a healthy thing. It's not in your best interest, but you cant help feeling the way you do.
The ancient Greek word for erotic love is Eros. To the Greeks, it means a merging of the souls. It creates a lasting transformation. Youll never be the same again! Eros will leave it's mark on you.
Do you recall that old relationship that was so intense? The one that put you on a wild emotional rollercoaster ride? It was unhealthy but you couldnt seem to let go? Perhaps now its physically over but your emotionally still intertwined....forever. That relationship changed you. Thank Eros for bringing you two together.
This type of passion doesnt have to occur between two people or in a relationship to be Eros created. It can be created in situations too. It can happen in any circumstance where you find highly charged emotional feelings, risk, taboo, passion, creativity and sex. For Eros can bring out passionate inspiration in a person. It can be a good thing if its channeled correctly. If not, Eros brings dangerous desires, obsessions and betrayal. Ah, the things soap operas are made of!
When I do compatibility astrology charts for people, I now look for Eros and see how it affects them. Or if the relationship itself is Eros induced. When transiting, Eros always unleashes a potent energy.
In a natal chart, whatever house Eros shows up in, you may find too much passion and obsession. That can be dangerous.
Like the planets, Eros is connected to the individual signs. For example, my sun sign is in Cancer but my Eros is in Capricorn. I was once involved in a heavy relationship that I hung onto for years with a guy that had venus, moon, mars and mercury in Capricorn. My Eros conjuncted all of his planets. He felt it too. It was hard to let go emotionally. That Eros based relationship was one of the most intense Ill never know and still affects me today.
A friend of mine had transiting Eros hit her chart in the area of home and real estate. She went on a vacation to New Orleans and fell in love with the city. Her heart hurt when she returned home to the East. She sold all of her belongings, uprooted herself, quit her job and moved to The Cresant City, knowing not a soul. She brought a business and successfully ran it for years. Her obsesssion eventually grew into a choked trapped feeling. The city she had felt so passionately about, was stifling her very existence. She moved out of the area twelve years later. Actually she moved right out of the country!
Eros brings us compulsion and intensity. These Eros relationships usually start out of the blue; a crazy chance meeting. Like fate brings people together. You feel immediate passion and desire. Eros will make your world come alive. You must watch when tranisitng Eros hits a certain area of your chart every 1.76 years to see what it may bring. Will it bring in a new person? An affair? A passion for something? A talent? An obsession? Its crazy love. It makes no sense. Theres no logic to it.
I know one couple that Eros drew together. The union was mind-boggling; always breaking up and coming back together. They couldnt live with each another but couldnt live without one another either. It took almost 30 years to break the spell and it was only after one lover died that it was completely over.
16 Psyche:
Greek mythology: Wife of Eros, the Greek God of Love. Divine Feminine aspect Giving herself fully to Eros.
Perseverance of love, connection of a psychic nature, awakening of intuition, soul seeking completion. The physical expression for desire is strong here, yet of a more spiritual nature, which often relates to sexual interplay. This desire instigates relationships, and once connected continues to drive insights and growth throughout the sexual relationship. Personal feelings are strongly felt and expressed physically and therefore important to have some kind of committment. Tantric sex, or sharing personal growth training or therapy could be stimulating and life transforming.
(Also, can represent recognition of childhood trauma; raw wounds psychologically; vulnerability; memories; insight; psychic impressionability; psychological recovery; the state of your "mental health;" head wounds; brain states.)
Psyche, Greek Goddess of the Soul:
The Greek Goddess Psyche started life as a beautiful mortal and became a Goddess when Zeus, the ruler of the Olympians, ordained her marriage to Eros, the God of love who was the son of Aphrodite.
In a legend that later became the basis for "Beauty and the Beast, the Goddess Psyche, unlike most of the other Greek Goddesses, acquired her status as a Goddess by "marrying up". Then the loving Psyche then proved herself worthy of the honor.
Psyche had to prove her worth to her mother-in-law, the Goddess Aphrodite, by accomplishing a series of dangerous feats that were seemingly impossible.
By successfully learning the lessons these tasks required, the Goddess Psyche embarked on a remarkable journey of self-discovery and personal growth that earned her the respect of all the Gods and Goddesses on Mount Olympus, not to mention the respect and undying love of her husband.
Having learned to confront all the dark and mysterious places of the soul, Psyche was well-prepared for her eventual union with her beloved.
The myths of the Greek Goddess Psyche remind us that the integration of our experiences, however sad or frightening they may be, mature and transform us, like her symbol, the butterfly, emerging into the light from the darkness of the cocoon.
Psyche in the signs:
PSYCHE IN ARIES: Like the thrill of someone falling madly in love with and pursuing them. They enjoy feeling valued by someone and they find security in hearing this from their lover.
PSYCHE IN TAURUS: Are the embodiment of sexuality. They like for people to find them attractive. They are also attracted to people who give gifts of love.
PSYCHE IN GEMINI: Are drawn to powerful personalities that are able to switch between staying home and painting the town. They also enjoy mates who challenge their intellect.
PSYCHE IN CANCER: Tend to take on nurturing roles, not necessarily with everyone, but definitely with their lover. They will go out of their way to make partner happy.
PSYCHE IN LEO: Able to discern the best in people and bring that out. They are attracted to charming, good-looking people. They also have a tendency to project onto their partner the way they themselves want to be.
PSYCHE IN VIRGO: Show their affection to someone who accepts them unconditionally. They are usually concerned about what the lover can bring to the table. Once smitten, they are very generous of their time and resources.
PSYCHE IN LIBRA: Fascinated by partners with striking looks, possibly to the detriment of other aspects, in order to indulge the fantasy of the relationship. Usually they get wise to this tendency in due time. They treat everyone around them lavishly.
PSYCHE IN SCORPIO: Tend to be secretive about their true feelings, including sexual feelings. They also tend to be reserved when expressing themselves until they feel absolutely comfortable. Once committed, they take the relationship very seriously and will do anything to keep it going.
PSYCHE IN SAGITTARIUS: Attracted to someone worldly, ethnically diverse, philosophically-oriented, and free-spirited. They are able to give others the freedom to be who they really are.
PSYCHE IN CAPRICORN: Attracted to emotionally mature and stable individuals who can also provide an outlet for their romantic fantasy. Sexual intimacy is a longing, and once fulfilled, they feel like they've won the prize.
PSYCHE IN AQUARIUS: Like to put a little bubble around themselves and their lover and bask in the fulfillment of their hopes, wishes, and dreams. They like to be acknowledged for their unique and special qualities and do not like to compete for affection.
PSYCHE IN PISCES: Seek partners who can express the utmost love and adoration and partners who can help them escape a routine life. They tend to attract attention through illnesses if their needs are not being met to their expectation.
1388 Aphrodite (Greek):
Greek counterpart of Venus.
Beauty. Attraction.
In Greek mythology, Aphrodite is the Goddess of love, beauty and sexual rapture. There are two accounts of her birth. One says she is the daughter of Zeus and Dione. According to Hesiod, she was born when Uranus (the father of the Gods) was castrated by his son Cronus. Cronus threw the severed genitals into the ocean which began to churn and foam about them. From the aphros ("sea foam") arose Aphrodite, and the sea carried her to either Cyprus or Cythera. Aphrodite loved and was loved by many Gods and mortals. She was married to Hephaestus, but there are rumors that she had many wild affairs, which is very appropriate. Hephaestus, Ares, Hermes and Dionysus are the Gods who loved Aphrodite. Among her mortal lovers,the most famous was perhaps Adonis. Some of her sons are Eros, Anteros, Hymenaios and Aeneas (with her Trojan lover Anchises). She is accompanied by the Graces. The Charites, or Graces, are the personifications of charm and beauty in nature and in human life. They love all things beautiful and bestow talent upon mortals. Together with the Muses they serve as sources of inspiration in poetry and the arts. Originally, they were Goddesses of fertility and nature, closely associated with the underworld and the Eleusinian mysteries. The myrtle is her tree. The dove, the swann, and the sparrow her birds. She posses a magical girdle that compels anyone she wishes to desire her. Aphrodite is involved in a lot of Greek mythology. For example, it was she who, indirectly, caused the Trojan War by persuading Paris to give her the golden apple, and promising the most beautiful woman in the world (Helen) as wife to him. Also, in another case of golden apples, she gave three of them to Melanion so he could use them to catch Atalanta. These are only two of many, but most are full of scandals. "There were actually two different Aphrodites, one was the daughter of Uranus, the other the daughter of Zeus and Dione. The first, called Aphrodite Urania, was the Goddess of spiritual love. The second, Aphrodite Pandemos, was the Goddess of physical attraction."
Impulsive love and attraction, love inspired by fated events, animosity turning to magnetism, charisma. Indicates attraction in synastry. A dynamic drive to mate, and to consummate sexual desire with a specific partner at certain times. If one has a magnetic or receptive partner, this can be intensely emotonal sex. There is a strong desire to connect with others even if the person is a loner.
Aphrodite, Goddess of romance and passion, of fashion, beauty and art, has captivated poets and painters for centuries. Known for her numerous affairs of the heart, as well as her willingness to help others find the love they sought, the myths of the Greek Goddess Aphrodite reveal the awesome extent of her power.
Aphrodite, ancient Mediterranean Mother Goddess, travelled to Greece when the Greeks colonized Canaan. The Greeks say Aphrodite was born of the union of the sky and the fertile sea womb, when the castrated penis of the former Sky God Uranus fell in the ocean. Although traditionally revered in all her multitudinous aspects, including battle, the Greeks, in their effort to assimilate her, relegated her to a love Goddess. When she arrived at Olympus, Zeus, the chief God, married her to Hephaestus, the lame God of smithcraft. He made her exquiste jewerly, but she preferred the passionate Ares, God of war, in her bed.
The Lessons of this Goddess:
Aphrodite is here with her dance of love, inviting you to luxuriate, bask, and revel in love for yourself. Do you spend the day without thinking or saying how much you love yourself? Do you do little loving things for yourself? Or are you miserly, keeping yourself on a diet of starvation rations? Do you listen to your needs in a loving, respectful way, or do you criticize yourself for balking at the schedule you keep, for complaining about the job you hate, for bemoaning the relationship you endure? Now is the time to love yourself! The Goddess says that to be able to love another, you must be able to love yourself. Loving others means being able to allow them to be exactly as they are. It means witnessing yourself and your loved ones with love, amusement, and delight. The amount of space we can allow another is dependent on the amount of space we can allow for ourselves. Wholeness is achieved when we can hold infinite space and patience for ourselves first and then extend it to others.
The Goddess of love, desire and beauty. In addition to her natural gifts she has a magical girdle that compels anyone she wishes to desire her. The myrtle is her tree. The dove, the swan, and the sparrow her birds.
Aphrodite ("Risen From Sea-foam") is the Greek Goddess of love and beauty, one of the twelve Olympian Gods. In the Iliad, She is the daughter of Zeus and the Titoness Dione, though the usual legend is that She was born from the blood and foam on the surface of the Sea after Ouranos was castrated by Kronos. She represents the creative powers of nature and the sea.
Graceful and gorgeously seductive, Aphrodite possessed a magic girdle that made Her irresistable to all who saw Her (and which She often lent out to other Goddesses such as Hera). She was officially married to Hephaestos, the crippled God of the forge, though Her numerous affairs resulted in numerous children. By Ares she bore Phobos ("Fear") and Deimos ("Terror"); by Hermes, Hermaphrodite; by Dionysos, Priapos; and by Anchises, a mortal, the hero Aeneas.
Born from the Sea, she is also Goddess of sea-voyages who protects sailors and seamen.
Offerings to Aphrodite include flowers and incense.
Some of Her myriad epithets include: Doritis ("Bountiful"), Pontia ("Of the Deep Sea"), Pasiphaë ("Shining on All", also the name of the mother of Ariadne), Ourania ("the Heavenly"), Aphrogeneia ("Foam-born"), Anadyomene ("Rising From the Sea"), and Pornos ("Whore").
1862 Apollo (Greek):
Greek God of Music. Also the God of Prophecy and oracle. God of healing, teacher to Chiron and Father of Asklepios.
The God of music, playing a golden lyre. The Archer, far shooting with a silver bow. The God of healing who taught man medicine. The God of light and truth, who can not speak a lie. One of Apollo's daily tasks is to harness his chariot with four horses an drive the Sun across the sky. His tree was the laurel. The crow his bird. The dolphin his animal.
In a relationship, if one person's Apollo is conjunct the Sun, Moon, Venus, Mars or Ascendant of the other person, the love the Apollo person receives is unbelievable. It is sometimes to the point of worship. This can be especially true in a parent-child relationship. A case in point: a woman does not really like children and barely tolerates her own. However when she has her third child, the baby has Apollo exactly on the woman's Virgo Moon. The mother adores the child, loves it, and cannot believe that she can feel so strongly toward the child.
On the negative side, in a long-term relationship the planet person may grow weary of worshipping the Apollo person, and begin to resent some of the very qualities he once idolized. As you might imagine, in the above example, the mother found herself regretting the way she had spoiled this child, once he reached adolescence!
By house it seems to denote a place where you feel that it is your right to expect your own way, and often where you take for granted some particular personal rights you have always respected. If these are transgressed you can be totally dumbfounded, unable to believe that such a thing has occurred. And you may not have any idea how to rectify the situation.
Keywords: fixation, intensity, crisis-mastery, exaltation, commitment, challenge. The liabilities - especially with conjunctions - are tunnel vision, blind spots, irrational awe, imbalance, obsession.
3361 Orpheus (Greek):
Orpheus was a legendary singer and musician in Greek mythology. Indeed, many stories about Orpheus focus on his ability to enchant audiences with a song. From his exploits with the Argonauts, to his most memorable myth - that of rescuing his wife Eurydice from the Underworld - Orpheus dazzled listeners with his mellifluous voice in tale after tale. To learn more about this master musician, read on.
According to some sources, Orpheus was the son of the God Apollo and the Muse Calliope. These parents - a God of music and the Muse of epic poetry - help to explain the origin of Orpheus's extraordinary musical gift. And the power of this God-like gift for song was undeniable. The ancient poets Aeschylus and Euripides both tell of how Orpheus used his talents to charm wild animals, trees, and rocks.
Even Hades, the stern and gloomy God of the Underworld, was not immune to the haunting magic of Orpheus's singing. For in one of the most compelling stories about Orpheus, the musician descends to the dark Underworld and begs Hades to release his wife Eurydice from the realm of the dead. After explaining how his young bride was accidentally killed, Orpheus uses his powers as a musician to persuade Hades to let him bring Eurydice back to the land of the living. In Ovid's version of the story, the God of the Underworld agrees to the request, with one condition - Orpheus must not look upon Eurydice until they both reach the surface of the earth. However, the enthusiastic bard forgets this warning and glances at his lovely wife just before they are free of the Underworld. At this moment, Orpheus once again loses his wife.
The story now takes an even more tragic turn. After losing Eurydice for a second time, Orpheus wanders the earth in despair. The musician loved his wife desperately, and wants nothing to do with women. A group of Thracian Maenads, however, take revenge on Orpheus and tear him to pieces. But there is a poetic note to this sad ending. It is said that even after his death, the head of Orpheus floated down the Hebrus river, singing a beautiful and enchanting song of lost love.
Orpheus, king of the Ciconians, is counted among the Argonauts. Orpheus practised minstrelsy and by his songs moved stones and trees, holding also a spell over the wild beasts. He descended to the Underworld in order to fetch his dead wife, but had to return without her.
Orpheus, whom Apollo taught to play the lyre, travelled to Egypt where he increased his knowledge about the Gods and their initiatory rites, bringing from that country most of his mystic ceremonies, orgiastic rites, and his extraordinary account of his descent to the Underworld.
Orpheus became famous because of his poems and his songs, excelling everyone in the beauty of his verse and music. He also reached a high degree of influence because he was believed to have discovered mysteries, purification from sins, cures of diseases, and means of averting divine wrath.
Some say that Orpheus introduced a cult of Dionysus that was very similar to the cult of Osiris, and that of Isis, which resembles the cult of Demeter. But others affirm that he praised all the Gods except Dionysus.
The Aeginetans worshiped Hecate, and in her honor celebrated every year mystic rites which, they said, had been taught to them by Orpheus. And the Lacedaemonians asserted that it was Orpheus who had taught them the cult of Demeter Chthonia (of the Lower World).
Orpheus married Eurydice, but she, while strolling through the grass with a group of naiads, was smitten in the ankle by a serpent, which shot its poison into her body and killed her.
Having mourned her to the full in the upper world, Orpheus decided to fetch her, and for that purpose he descended to Hades through the gate of Taenarus.
Having descended to the Underworld, Orpheus accompanied his words with the music of the lyre, and it is told that not only the spirits wept but that also the Erinyes were wet with tears. He also entranced Persephone by his songs, and persuaded her to help him in his desire to bring back to life his dead wife. And so even Hades himself was persuaded to let her go.
However, the God promised to do so only if on the way up Orpheus would not turn round until he came to his own house. But thoughtless Orpheus forgot, and when he turned round and looked at his wife, she instantly slipped into the depths again. In this manner Orpheus lost her a second time.
80 Sappho (Greek) Goddess of poetry and lyrics.
The Greek Poet Sappho:
Sappho was an ancient Greek poet who infused her works with intense emotions - especially love, desire, longing, and their companion, suffering. She crafted her poems primarily as a tribute to the private world of women, something from which we are generally excluded in Greek literature. Therefore the poems provide us with a valuable and remarkable glimpse into the lives and aspirations of Greek girls. In some respects, they could be termed "romantic", but Sappho transcends her subject with such a moving, insightful, and poignant power that the poems are still highly relevant even today. Simply stated, she created some of the most vibrant love poetry ever composed.
Naturally, someone as intimately concerned with love as Sappho would be drawn to the irresistible realm of the Goddess of love. And indeed, Aphrodite plays a significant role in many of Sappho's poems. It is to this Goddess that Sappho addresses several of her works. In some cases, it seems as if the poet were a supplicant, begging Aphrodite for mercy from the ravages of unrequited love; in others, Sappho sings joyfully of the beautiful deity, and the poems are like graceful gifts to this golden Goddess.
In synastry: Strong sexual libido, accompanied by poetry, music or dirty talk. Movement or transportation could be a turn on, with the back seats of cars not just for teenagers. Sexual expression of fantasies and ideals are important for each partner, as is a need for variety, with possible experimentation with same sex genders; this placing however does not suggest identity confusion, just versatility. Sexual attraction, deep appreciation of self and others, poetic, artistic, refined and cultured. Very passionate.
Friendship; bonding; feeling close to or the same as others; kindred spirits; having things in common; artistic interests; shops/galleries. Sappho as "pairs" assumes another importance in medical astrology.
201 Penelope (Greek):
The faithful wife of Odysseus, who keeps her suitors at bay in his long absence and so is eventually rejoined with him. Her name (which happens to be close to the Greek word for "duck") is usually understood to combine the Greek word for "web" or "woof", and the word for "eye" or "face", which is most appropriate for a weaver of cunning whose motivation is hard to decipher.
Represents devotion and fidelity.
1943 Anteros (Greek):
The God of reciprocal love.
The brother of Eros, love returned or love avenged. The answer to love's longing, a place to finally meet.
2101 Adonis (Greek):
Spell bound love, sexual magnetism, the desire to arouse, please and fulfill the beloved. Potent tie. An attractive male. The ideal male.
Adonis is a complex figure, for the outlines of his tale were fully as a part of the sub-Olympian Greek mythology by Greek and Roman authors, and yet he also retains many deep associations with his Semitic origins. The name "Adonis" is a variation of the Semitic word "Adonai", which means "lord", and which is also one of the names used to refer to YHWH in the Old Testament.
At the beginning of his appearance in Greek myth, there is some confusion as to his parentage and his birth. Hesiod considers this Greek hero to be the son of Phoenix and Aephesiboea, while Apollodorus calls him the son of Cinyras and Metharme. The generally accepted version is that Aphrodite compelled Myrrha (or Smyrna) to commit incest with Theias, her father, the king of Assyria. Her nurse helped her with this trickery to become pregnant, and when Theias discovered this he chased her with a knife. To avoid his wrath the gods turned her into a myrrh tree. The tree later burst open, allowing Adonis to emerge. Another version says that after she slept with her father she hid in a forest where Aphrodite changed her into a tree. Theias struck the tree with an arrow, causing the tree to open and Adonis to be born. Yet another version says a wild boar open the tree with its tusks and freed the child; this is considered to be a foreshadowing of his death.
Once the child was born Aphrodite was so moved by his beauty that she sheltered him and entrusted him to Persephone. She was also taken by his beauty and refused to give him back.
The dispute between the two goddesses, in one version, was settled by Zeus; in others it was settled by Calliope on Zeus' behalf. The decision was that Adonis was to spend one-third of every year with each goddess and the last third wherever he chose. He always chose to spend two-thirds of the year with Aphrodite.
This went on till his death, where he was fatally wounded by a wild boar, said to be caused by Artemis. In some versions his death was caused not by Artemis, but by Aphrodite's lover, Ares, who was jealous of Adonis. Apollo is also said to be responsible because his son, Erymanthus, had seen Aphrodite naked and she blinded him for it. The story of Adonis provides a basis for the origin of myrrh and the origin of the rose, which grew from each drop of blood that fell.
The story of Adonis, despite its variants, is certainly another example of the dying vegetation god. The close association with Aphrodite or Persephone also brings his myth into line with the many other mated couples, where the male partener dies and is reborn, that is spread across North Africa and the Near East.
108 Hecuba (Greek):
Hecuba (also Hekuba or Hekabe) was a Trojan queen in Greek mythology, daughter of Dymas. She was of Phrygian birth, and her mother (Eunoë) was said to be a daughter of the God of the River Sangarius, the Sangarius being the principal river of ancient Phrygia.
In Greek mythology, Hecuba was the second wife of Priam, king of the city of Troy. She bore Priam many children, including Hector, Paris, Polydorus, and Cassandra.
While pregnant with Paris, Hecuba had a dream in which she gave birth to a fiery torch that was covered with snakes. The prophets of Troy told her that this was a bad omen and predicted that if the child lived, he would be responsible for the fall of Troy. Therefore, upon Paris's birth, Hecuba ordered two servants to kill the child. Unable to perform such a terrible act, the servants left Paris on a mountain to die, and he was found and raised by a shepherd.
Years later, Paris returned to Troy, and as predicted, he caused the city's destruction. He began the Trojan Warf by taking away Helen, wife of King Menelaus of Sparta. All the rulers of Greece had sworn to defend Helen. To rescue her, they declared war on Troy, sacking and burning it after a long siege.
Hecuba became a slave to the Greek hero Odysseus*. On his way back to Greece, Odysseus journeyed through Thrace, which was ruled by King Polymestor. Before the war, Hecuba had asked Polymestor to protect her son Polydorus. However, upon reaching Thrace, she found that the king had killed the boy. The enraged Hecuba tore out Polymestor's eyes and murdered both of his sons. As Odysseus was trying to control her, she turned into a dog. Her tomb was placed on a rocky outcrop located on a narrow strip of water called the Hellespont between Greece and Turkey.
Hecuba is found in the Iliad* and the Aeneid*. She also appears in the plays Hecuba and The Trojan Women by Euripides* and is mentioned in Shakespeare's Hamlet.
Hecuba, a daughter of Dymas in Phrygia, and second wife of Priam, king of Troy. (Hom. Il. xvi. 716, xxii. 234; Apollod. iii. 12. § 5.) Some described her as a daughter of Cicceus, or the Phrygian riverGod Sangarius and metope. According to the tragedy of Euripides, which bears her name, she was made a slave by the Greeks on their taking Troy, and was carried by them to Chersonesus; and she there saw her daughter Polyxena sacrificed. On the same day the waves of the sea washed the body of her last son Polydorus on the coast where stood the tents in which the captive women were kept. Hecuba recognised the body, and sent for Polymestor, who had murdered him, pretending that she was going to inform him of a treasure which was concealed at Ilium. When Polymestor arrived with his two sons, Hecabe murdered the children, and tore out the eyes of Polymestor. Agamemnon pardoned her for the crime, and Polymestor prophesied to her that she should be metamorphosed into a she-dog, and should leap into the sea at a place called Cynosema. According to Ovid, this prophecy was fulfilled in Thrace, the inhabitants of which stoned her; but she was metamorphosed into a dog, and in this form she howled through the country for a long time. According to other accounts she was given as a slave to Odysseus, and in despair she leaped into the Hellespont, or being anxious to die, she uttered such invectives against the Greeks, that the warriors put her to death, and called the place where she was buried kunos sêma, with reference to her impudent invectives.
The most famous mortal loves of Apollo was Hecuba, she was the wife of Priam, the king of Troy. She bore him Troilius. Foretold by an oracle, as long as Troilius reached the age of twenty, Troy could not be defeated. But the hero Achilles ambushed and killed Troilius, when the young prince and his sister Polyxena secretly visited a spring. Apollo also fell in love with Cassandra, the sister of Troilius, and daughter of Hecuba and Priam. He seduced Cassandra on the promise that he would teach her the art of prophecy, but having learnt the prophetic art she rejected him. Apollo, being angry of her rejection punished her, by declaring her prophecies never to be accepted or believed.
4450 Pan (Greek):
Pan is the son of Hermes and the nymph Dryope. He is not completely human in form, but part man and part goat. He has the ears, horns and legs of a goat. His lovers included Echo, Selene, Cyparissus, Daphnis, and Olympus.
Pan is a God of creativity, music, poetry, sensuality and sexuality, or panic and nightmares, who haunts forests, caverns, mountains, brooks and streams. His favourite time is noon when he seduces young men while teaching them to play the syrinx, or pan-pipes. These are named after a nymph that pan desired.
Syrinx was devoted to Artemis and fled from Pan's advances. As she did, she transformed into a bed of marsh reeds. When the wind blew through these they made a sad but beautiful sound and pan was inspired to cut two of the reeds, fasten them together to make a pipe that he could play.
Pan represents unbridled male sexuality, and is the equivalent of of a Greek "green man". He is also (along with Herm the Hunter) an early model for the images of the Christian Devil. As a phallic figure it's easy to see why.
Pan is the son of Hermes. He is the God of goatherds and shepherds. He is mostly human in appearance but, with goat horns and goat feet. He is an excellent musician and plays the pipes. He is merry and playful frequently seen dancing with woodland nymphs. He is at home in any wild place but, is favorite is Arcady, where he was born. He is always in pursuit of one of the nymphs but, always rejected because he is ugly.
His name is the basis for the word "panic". There are two differing explanations for this. The first is that he was present when Zeus defeated the Titans and claimed that it has his yelling that caused the Titans to flee. However, this seems at odds with his being Hermes son. The second is that he created the noises in the woods at night the scared travelers. He fathered Crotus with Eupheme.
Seductive and earthy sensuality, creative, wily, and likely to instill "panic" to produce change or contact.
74 Galatea (Greek):
The object of one's affection.
Galatea is the statue that Pygmalion made. He fell in love with it - Aphrodite brought it to life and made his wish come true.
Galatea is an ancient Greek name meaning "she who is milk-white", most notably referring to Galatea mythology, one of three figures of classical myth:
Galatea, name given in the 18th century to the animated statue sculpted by Pygmalion (mythology)
Galatea, a woman who prayed for her daughter to be turned into a son, Leucippus (mythology)
Galatea, a sea-nymph in Ovid's story of Acis and Galatea (mythology)
88 Thisbe (Greek):
Lover of Pyramus.
Pyramus and Thisbe lived in houses next door to each other and fell madly in love. Their parents, however, forbid their romance and built a wall between the houses. The lovers found a chink in the wall through which they could speak and kiss one another. One night they decided to run away together, meeting at the Tomb of Ninus. Thisbe arrived first, and she saw a terrifying tiger with blood on its mouth. She ran away in fear, dropping her cloak. The tiger tore up the cloak and bloodied it. When Pyramus arrived, he saw the cloak, assumed his lover had died, and killed himself in sorrow. Thisbe returned, saw the body of Pyramus, and killed herself with the same knife. From then on, mulberries take on the dark red color of their blood, making the lovers' bond eternal.
Greek version of Romeo and Juliet (look for an aspect between these two in a composite or synastry).
In a chart and/or synastry, it can indicate a fatal attraction.
14871 Pyramus (Greek):
Lover of Thisbe.
Pyramus and Thisbe lived in houses next door to each other and fell madly in love. Their parents, however, forbid their romance and built a wall between the houses. The lovers found a chink in the wall through which they could speak and kiss one another. One night they decided to run away together, meeting at the Tomb of Ninus. Thisbe arrived first, and she saw a terrifying tiger with blood on its mouth. She ran away in fear, dropping her cloak. The tiger tore up the cloak and bloodied it. When Pyramus arrived, he saw the cloak, assumed his lover had died, and killed himself in sorrow. Thisbe returned, saw the body of Pyramus, and killed herself with the same knife. From then on, mulberries take on the dark red color of their blood, making the lovers' bond eternal.
Greek version of Romeo and Juliet (look for an aspect between these two in a composite or synastry).
In a chart and/or synastry, it can indicate a fatal attraction.
875 Nymphe (Greek):
In Greek mythology, a nymph is any member of a large class of mythological entities in human form. They were typically associated with a particular location or landform. Others were part of the retinue of a God, such as Dionysus, Hermes, or Pan, or a Goddess, generally Artemis. Nymphs were the frequent target of satyrs.
Nymphs live in mountains and groves, by springs and rivers, also in trees and in valleys and cool grottoes. They are frequently associated with the superior divinities: the huntress Artemis; the prophetic Apollo; the reveller and God of wine, Dionysus; and rustic Gods such as Pan and Hermes.
The symbolic marriage of a nymph and a patriarch, often the eponym of a people, is repeated endlessly in Greek origin myths; their union lent authority to the archaic king and his line.
In Greek mythology, a nymph is any member of a large class of female nature entities, sometimes bound to a particular location or landform. Nymphs often accompanied various Gods and Goddesses, and were the frequent target of lusty satyrs. Nymphs are frequently associated with the superior divinities, the huntress Artemis, the prophetic Apollo, the reveller and God of trees Dionysus, and with rustic Gods such as Pan and Hermes.
A Nymph is a mythological nature spirit that appear as a beautiful young woman. They are divided into types:
Dryads (forests)
Naiads (springs and rivers)
Nereid (the Mediterranean)
Oceanids (the sea)
Oreads (mountains)
Limoniads (meadows)
Limniads (lakes, marshes and swamps)
Napaea (valleys)
Although long-lived many nymphs can die. Nymphs can cause metamorphoses (Greek for changing shape, usually into plants or animals, as in the novel by Kafka and the book of mythology by Ovid). Women can also be changed into nymphs.
In a chart, a potently sexual individual. Can be an indicator of sexual addiction.
499 Venusia (Greek): Venusia was supposedly one of many cities said to be founded by the Greek hero Diomedes after the Trojan War. He dedicated Venusia to the goddess Aphrodite, also known as Venus, to appease her after the Trojans were defeated.
60 Echo (Greek):
Echo was an Oreade, who used to keep Hera at a distance by incessantly talking to her when Zeus was playing with the nymphs. In this manner Hera was not able to detect her faithless husband, and the nymphs had time to escape. Hera, however, found out the deception, and she punished Echo by changing her into an echo, that is, a being with no control over its tongue, which is neither able to speak before anybody else has spoken, nor to be silent when somebody else has spoken. Echo in this state fell desperately in love with Narcissus, but as her love was not returned, she pined away in grief, so that in the end there remained of her nothing but her voice.
Echo was an Oreiad nymph of Mount Kithairon in Boiotia. The goddess Hera cursed her with the voice of the echo, to only repeat the last words of what was said before, as punishment for distracting her with chatter. She was loved by the god Pan, and herself became enamoured of the boy Narcissus. When the youth spurned her advances she faded away, leaving only her echoing voice behind. In one ancient Greek vase painting Echo was depicted as a winged nymph with her face shrouded in a veil.
1036 Ganymede (Greek):
Ganymede is the young, beautiful boy that became one of Zeus' lovers. One source of the myth says that Zeus fell in love with Ganymede when he spotted him herding his flock on Mount Ida. Zeus then came down in the form of an eagle or sent an eagle to carry Ganymede to Mount Olympus where Ganymede became cupbearer to the Gods. According to other accounts, Eos kidnapped Ganymede, to be her lover, at the same time she kidnapped Tithonus. Zeus then robbed Eos of Ganymede, in return granting Eos the wish that Tithonus be immortal. Unthinkingly, Eos forgot to ask that Tithonus remain youthful. Everyday, the faithful Eos watched over Tithonus, until one day she locked him in a room and left him to get old by himself.
When Ganymede's father, King Tros of Troy or Laomedon, found out about Ganymede's disappearance, he grieved so hard that Zeus sent Hermes on his behalf to give Tros or Laomedon two storm footed horses. In other accounts, Zeus gave Tros a golden vine and two swift horses that could run over water. Hermes was also ordered to assure the bereaved father that Ganymede was and would be immortal. Later, Heracles asked for the two beautiful horses in exchange for destroying the sea monster sent by Poseidon to besiege the city of Troy. Tros agreed and Heracles became the owner of the bribe sent by Zeus to Tros.
Upon hearing that Ganymede was to be cup bearer as well as Zeus' lover, the infinitely jealous Hera was outraged. Therefor Zeus set Ganymede's image among the stars as the constellation Aquarius, the water carrier. Aquarius was originally the Egyptian God over the Nile. The Egyptian God poured water not wine from a flagon.
All of Zeus' scandalous liaisons have allegorical meanings. Some sources say that Zeus' affair with Ganymede was a (religious) justification for homosexuality within the Greek culture, yet others state that this is merely a reflection of Greek life at that time. Before the popularity of the Zeus and Ganymede myth spread, however, the only toleration for sodomy was an external form of Goddess worship. Cybele's male devotees tried to achieve unity with her by castrating themselves and dressing like women.
Apollodorus argued that this myth emphasized the victory of patriarchy over matriarchy. This showed that men did not need women to exist, therefor they did not need the attentions of women. The philosopher Plato used this myth to justify his sexual feelings towards male pupils.
In a chart or in synastry, Ganymede can be an indicator of same sex attraction between men.
3671 Dionysus (Greek):
Dionysus or Dionysos was the God of wine and inspired madness, and a major figure of Greek mythology. He represents not only the intoxicating power of wine, but also its social and beneficial influences. The geographical origins of his cult were unknown, but almost all myths depicted him as having "foreign" (i.e. non-Greek) origins.
He was also known as Bacchus and the frenzy he induces, bakcheia. He is the patron deity of agriculture and the theatre. He was also known as the Liberator (Eleutherios), freeing one from one's normal self, by madness, ecstasy, or wine. The divine mission of Dionysus was to mingle the music of the aulos and to bring an end to care and worry. Scholars have discussed Dionysus' relationship to the "cult of the souls" and his ability to preside over communication between the living and the dead.
In Greek mythology Dionysus is made to be a son of Zeus and Semele; other versions of the myth contend that he is a son of Zeus and Persephone. He is described as being womanly or "man-womanish". Dionysus had an unusual birth that evokes the difficulty in fitting him into the Olympian pantheon. His mother was Semele (daughter of Cadmus), a mortal woman, and his father Zeus, the king of the Gods. Zeus's wife, Hera, a jealous and vain Goddess, discovered the affair while Semele was pregnant. Appearing as an old crone, Hera befriended Semele, who confided in her that her husband was actually Zeus. Hera pretended not to believe her, and planted seeds of doubt in Semele's mind. Curious, Semele demanded of Zeus that he reveal himself in all his glory as proof of his Godhood. Though Zeus begged her not to ask this, she persisted and he agreed. Mortals, however, cannot look upon a God without dying, and she perished. Zeus rescued the fetal Dionysus, however, by sewing him into his thigh.
A few months later, Dionysus was born.In another version of the same story, Dionysus was the son of Zeus and Persephone, the queen of the underworld. A jealous Hera again attempted to kill the child, this time by sending Titans to rip Dionysus to pieces after luring the baby with toys. Zeus drove the Titans away with his thunderbolts, but only after the Titans ate everything but the heart, which was saved, variously, by Athena, Rhea, or Demeter. Zeus used the heart to recreate Dionysus and implant him in the womb of Semele, hence he was again "the twice-born". Sometimes people said that he gave Semele the heart to eat to impregnate her.
The rebirth in both versions of the story is the primary reason he was worshipped in mystery religions, as his death and rebirth were events of mystical reverence. This narrative was apparently used in certain Greek and Roman mystery religions.
The God of wine, mysteries, and the theater He invented wine and spread the art of tending grapes. He has a dual nature. On the one hand bringing joy and divine ecstasy. On the other brutal, unthinking, rage. Thus, reflecting both sides of wines nature. If he choses Dionysus can drive a man mad. No normal fetters can hold him or his followers. He was accompanied by the Maenads, wild women, carrying rods tipped with pine cones. While other Gods had temples the followers of Dionysus worshipped him in the woods. Here they might go into mad states where they would rip apart and eat raw any animal they came upon. Dionysus is also one of the very few that was able to bring a dead person(his mother) out of the underworld. The festival for Dionysus is in the spring when the leaves begin to riper on the vine. It became one of the most important events of the year. It's focus became the theater. Most of the great Greek plays were initially written to be performed at the feast of Dionysus. All who took part writers, actors, spectators were regarded as scared servants of Dionysus during the festival.
In a chart can indicate a highly sexual and unrestrained nature. Sexual orgies. Groupies.
1809 Prometheus (Greek):
In Greek mythology, Prometheus was one of the Titans, the supreme trickster, and a god of fire. His intellectual side was emphasized by the apparent meaning of his name, Forethinker. In common belief he developed into a master craftsman, and in this connection he was associated with fire and the creation of mortals.
The Gods upon Olympos more than once made a race of men. The first was the Golden Race. Very close to the Gods was the Golden Race; the men of that race lived justly, although there were no laws to compel them. In the time of the Golden Race the Earth knew only one season; that season was everlasting spring. The men and women of the Golden Race lived through a span of life that was far beyond that of the men and women of our day, and when they died it was though sleep had become everlasting with them. They had all good things, and they had them without labour, for the Earth without any forcing bestowed fruits and crops upon them. They had peace all through their lives, and after they had passed away their spirits remained above the Earth, inspiring the men of the race who came after them to do great and gracious things and to act justly and kindly to one another.
After the Golden Race had passed away, the Gods made for the Earth a second race--the Silver Race. Less noble in spirit and in body was the Silver Race, and the seasons that visited them were less gracious. In the time of the Silver Race the Gods made the seasons--summer and spring, autumn and winter. The men of the Silver Race knew parching heat; they knew the bitter winds of winter, and snow, and rain, and hail. It was the men of the Silver Race who first built houses for shelter. They lived through a span of life that was longer than our span, but it was not long enough to give them wisdom. Children were brought up at their mothers' sides for a hundred years, playing at childish things. And when they came to years beyond a hundred they quarrelled with one another, and wronged one another; moreover, they did not know enough to give reverence to the immortal Gods. Then, by the will of Zeus, the Silver Race passed away as the Golden Race had passed away. Their spirits stay in the Underworld, and they are called by men the blessed spirits of the Underworld.
And then there was made the Third Race--the Race of Bronze. They were a race great of stature, terrible and strong. Their armour was of bronze, their swords were of bronze, their implements were of bronze, and of bronze, too, they made their houses. No great span of life was theirs, for with the weapons that they took in their terrible hands they slew one another. And so they passed away; they went down under the Earth and they left no name that men might know them by.
Then the Gods created a fourth race our own--a Race of Iron. We have not the justice that was amongst the men of the Golden Race; we have not the simpleness that was amongst the men of the Silver Race; we have not the stature nor the great strength that the men of the Bronze Race possessed. We are of iron that we may endure. It is our doom that we must never cease from labour and that we must very quickly grow old.
But miserable as we are to-day, there was a time when the lot of men was more miserable. With poor implements they had to labour on hard ground. There was less justice and kindliness in those days than there is now.
Once it came into the mind of Zeus to destroy this fourth race and to leave the Earth to the nymphs and the satyrs. He would destroy it by a great flood. But Prometheus, the Titan who had given aid to Zeus--Prometheus who was named the Forethinker--would not consent to the race of men being destroyed utterly, and he considered a way of saving some of them. To a man and a woman, Deukalion and Pyrrha, just and gentle people, he brought word of the plan of Zeus, and he showed them how to make a ship that would bear them through what was about to be sent upon the Earth.
Then Zeus shut up in their caves all the winds except the wind that brings rain and clouds. He bade this wind, the South Wind, sweep over the Earth, flooding it with rain. He called upon Poseidon and bade him let the sea pour in on the land. And Poseidon commanded the rivers to put forth all their strength, and sweep dykes away, and overflow their banks.
The clouds and the sea and the rivers poured upon the Earth. The flood rose higher and higher, and in places where pretty lambs had gambolled the ugly sea-calves now played; men in their boats drew fishes out of the tops of elm-trees, and the water-nymphs were amazed to come on men's cities under the waves.
Soon even the men and women who had boats were overwhelmed by the rise of the water--all perished then except Deukalion and Pyrrha, his wife; them the waves had not overwhelmed--they were in a ship that Prometheus had shown them how to build. The flood went down at last, and Deukalion and Pyrrha climbed up to a high and a dry ground. Zeus saw that two of the race of men had been left alive. But he saw that these two were just and kindly and had a right reverence for the Gods. He spared them, and he saw their children again peopling the Earth.
Prometheus, who had saved them, looked upon the men and women of the Earth with compassion. Their labour was hard, and they wrought, much to gain little. They were chilled at night in their houses, and the winds that blew in the daytime made the old men and women bend double like a wheel. Prometheus thought to himself that if men and women had the element that only the Gods knew of--the element of fire--they could make for themselves implements for labour, and they could build houses that would keep out the chilling winds, and they could warm themselves at the blaze.
But the Gods had not willed that men should have fire, and to go against the will of the Gods would be impious. Prometheus went against the will of the Gods. He stole fire from the altar of Zeus, and he hid it in a hollow fennel stalk, and he brought it to men.
Men, possessing fire, were then able to hammer iron into tools; they were able to cut down forests with axes, and sow grain where the forests had been. They were able to make houses that the storms could not overthrow, and they were able to warm themselves at the hearth-fires. They had rest from their labour at times. They built cities; they became beings who no longer had their heads and backs bent, but were able to raise their faces even to the Gods.
Zeus spared the men who had now the sacred element of fire. But Prometheus he did not spare. He knew that Prometheus had stolen the fire even from his own altar. And he thought on how he might punish the great Titan for his impiety.
He brought up from the Underworld, from Tartaros, the Giants Kottos, Briareos, and Gyes. He commanded them to lay hands on Prometheus and to fasten him with fetters to the highest, blackest crag upon Caucasus. And Kottos, Briareos, and Gyes seized upon the Titan, and carried him to Caucasus, and fettered him with fetters of bronze to the highest, blackest crag--with fetters of bronze that may not be broken. They left the Titan stretched there, fettered, under the sky, with the cold winds blowing upon him and with the sun streaming down upon him. And, that his punishment might exceed all other punishments, Zeus sent a vulture to prey upon him--a vulture that tears at his liver each day.
And yet Prometheus does not cry out that he has repented of what he has done for man; although the winds blow upon him, and the sun streams upon him, and the vulture tears at his liver, Prometheus will not cry out his repentance to Heaven. And Zeus may not utterly destroy him. For Prometheus the Forethinker knows a secret that Zeus would fain have him disclose. He knows that, as Zeus overthrew his father and made himself the ruler in his stead, so, too, another will overthrow Zeus. One day Zeus will have to have the fetters broken from around the limbs of his victim, and will have to bring from the rock and the vulture, and even into the Council of the Olympians, the unyielding Titan, Prometheus.
258 Tyche (Greek): Greek Goddess of Fortune and Luck. Lucky chance. Sudden good fortune.
Tyche was the Goddess or spirit of fortune, chance, providence and fate. She was usually honoured in a more favourable light as Eutykhia, Goddess of good fortune, luck, success and prosperity.
Tyche was represented with different attributes. Holding a rudder, she was conceived as the divinity guiding and conducting the affairs of the world, and in this respect she was called one of the Moirai (Fates); with a ball she represented the varying unsteadiness of fortune--unsteady and capable of rolling in any direction; with Ploutos or the horn of Amalthea, she was the symbol of the plentiful gifts of fortune.
Nemesis (Fair Distribution) was cautiously regarded as the downside of Tyche, one who provided a check on extravagant favours conferred by fortune. The pair were often depicted as companions in Greek vase painting. In one vase Nemesis (Indignation) with her arm around Tyche (Fortune) points an accusing fingure at Helene, who Aphrodite has persuaded to elope with Paris.
The personification of chance or luck. Tyche was represented with different attributes: with a rudder, she was conceived as the divinity guiding and conducting the affairs of the world, and in this respect she is called one of the Moerae; with a ball she represents the varying unsteadiness of fortune; with Plutos or the horn of Amalthea, she was the symbol of the plentiful gifts of fortune. Tyche was worshipped at Pharae in Messenia; at Smyrna, where her statue, the work of Bupalus, held with one hand a globe on her head, and in the other carried the horn of Amalthea; in the arx of Sicyon; at Aegeira in Achaia, where she was represented with the horn of Amalthea and a winged Eros by her side; in Elis; at Thebes; at Lebadeia, together with agathos daimôn; at Olympia, and Athens.
A nymph, one of the playmates of Persephone.
Tyche is either one of the Oceanids (daughters of Oceanus and Tethys) or a Moira, one of the Moirae (Fates).
Tyche was the personification of luck or chance.
She was often depicted with a rudder, guiding the affairs of the world, or with a ball to represent the fact that she was unpredictable and could "roll" in any direction at her whim.
Her surname was Automatia, which indicated that she managed things according to her own will without any regard to what an individual deserved or desired.
128 Nemesis (Greek):
Greek Goddess of Divine Retribution.
Nemesis was the Goddess of indignation against, and retribution for, evil deeds and undeserved good fortune. She was a personification of the resentment aroused in men by those who commited crimes with apparent impunity, or who had inordinate good fortune.
Nemesis directed human affairs in such a way as to maintain equilibrium. Her name means "she who distributes or deals out". Happiness and unhappiness were measured out by her, care being taken that happiness was not too frequent or too excessive. If this happened, Nemesis could bring about losses and suffering. As one who checked extravagant favours by Tyche (Goddess of Fortune), Nemesis was regarded as an avenging or punishing divinity.
In myth Nemesis was particularly concerned with matters of love. She appears as an avenging agent in the stories of Narkissos and Nikaia, whose callous actions brought about the death of their wooers. In some versions of the Trojan War, she was the mother of Helene, and is shown in scenes of her seduction by Paris pointing an accusing finger at the girl.
Nemesis was often sometimes depicted as a winged Goddess. Her attributes were apple-branch, rein, lash, sword, or balance. Her name was derived from the Greek words nemêsis and nemô, meaning "dispenser of dues." The Romans usually used the Greek name of the Goddess, but sometimes also called her Invidia (Jealousy) and Rivalitas (Jealous Rivalry).
Nemesis is most commonly described as a daughter of Night, though some call her a daughter of Erebus or of Oceanus. Nemesis is a personification of the moral reverence for law, of the natural fear of committing a culpable action, and hence of conscience, and for this reason she is mentioned along with Aidôs, i. e. Shame. In later writers, as Herodotus and Pindar, Nemesis is a kind of fatal divinity, for she directs human affairs in such a manner as to restore the right proportions or equilibrium wherever it has been disturbed; she measures out happiness and unhappiness, and he who is blessed with too many or too frequent gifts of fortune, is visited by her with losses and sufferings, in order that he may become humble, and feel that there are bounds beyond which human happiness cannot proceed with safety. This notion arose from a belief that the Gods were envious of excessive human happiness. Nemesis was thus a check upon extravagant favours conferred upon man by Tyche or Fortune, and from this idea lastly arose that of her being an avenging and punishing power of fate, who, like Dike and the Erinyes, sooner or later overtakes the reckless sinner. The inhabitants of Smyrna worshipped two Nemeses, both of whom were daughters of Night. She is frequently mentioned under the surnames Adrasteia and Rhamnusia or Rhamnusis, the latter of which she derived from the town of Rhamnus in Attica, where she had a celebrated sanctuary. Besides the places already mentioned she was worshipped at Patrae and at Cyzicus. She was usually represented in works of art as a virgin divinity, and in the more ancient works she seems to have resembled Aphrodite, whereas in the later ones she was more grave and serious, and had numerous attributes. But there is an allegorical tradition that Zeus begot by Nemesis at Rhamnus an egg, which Leda found, and from which Helena and the Dioscuri sprang, whence Helena herself is called Rhamnusis. On the pedestal of the Rhamnusian Nemesis, Leda was represented leading Helena to Nemesis. The Rhamnusian statue bore in its left hand a branch of an apple tree, in its right hand a patera, and on its head a crown, adorned with stags and an image of victory. Sometimes she appears in a pensive standing attitude, holding in her left hand a bridle or a branch of an ash tree, and in her right a wheel, with a sword or a scourge.
5 Astraea (Greek):
Astraea is the Greek Goddess of innocence and purity.
From www.nationmaster.com/encyclo...hology):
In Greek mythology, Astraea ("star-maiden") was a daughter of Zeus and Themis or of Eos and Astraeus. She and her mother were both personifications of justice. Astraea was the last of the immortals to live with humans during the Golden Age. As mankind became wicked, she was the last to stay on earth, ascending to heaven to become the constellation Virgo; the scales of justice she carried became the nearby constellation Libra. She is also the symbol for the Tarot Card Justice.
Astraea was a daughter of Zeus and Themis, or according to others, of Astraeus by Eos. During the golden age, this star-bright maiden lived on earth and among men, whom she blessed; but when that age had passed away, Astraea, who tarried longest among men, withdrew, and was placed among the stars.
She was the virgin-Goddess of justice. During the Golden Age she dwelt upon the earth with mankind, but was driven away by the lawlessness of the later Bronze Age. Zeus then placed her amongst the stars and became the constellation Virgo the Virgin.
She was closely identified with Dike, the Goddess of justice, and with Nemesis, the Goddess of rightful indignation.
Sacred candle color: white. Astraea is associated with December.
Pemo Theodore: "Astraea: Balanced sexuality. A time and place for sex and part of life with a partner. Imagination brings variety and difference to sexual play. Make sure this creativity is used and routine is varied, as routine can be where one ends up."
David Campbell: "Astraea: Means "star." Astraea was the last Goddess to leave earth. As the Goddess of justice, innocence, and purity, she became the constellation Virgo. Theme: not letting go soon enough, problems with closure. She is associated with eyesight."
Martha Lang-Wescott: "Astraea: Blocked closure; staying to "the end" (the sometimes bitter end;) believing that "it ain't over 'til it's over"—even if it already is; an inability to read beginnings and endings or to "let go" of things, people or events; the witnessing of events."
19521 Chaos (Greek):
Chaos was the first of the Protogenoi (primeval Gods) to emerge at the creation of the universe. She was followed in quick succession by Gaia (Earth), Tartaros (the Underworld) and Eros (Love the life-bringer).
Chaos was the lower atmosphere which surrounded the earth - invisible air and gloomy mist. Her name khaos literally means the gap, the space between heaven and earth. Chaos was the mother or grandmother of the other substances of air: Nyx (Night), Erebos (Darkness), Aither (Light) and Hemera (Day), as well as the various emotion-affecting Daimones which drifted through it. She was also a Goddess of Fate like her daughter Nyx and grand-daughters the Moirai (The Fates).
638 Moira (Greek):
Greek Goddess of Fate. Moira is the name of a single goddess of fate in Greek mythology. Together the three goddesses were known as the Moirai. The Fates are Clotho who is depicted with a spindle Lachesis depicted with a scroll or globe, and Atropos depicted with a pair of scales or shears.
Experiencing universal consciousness of other people's destiny and fate.
273 Atropos (Greek):
In Greek mythology, Atropos was one of the three Moirae, the Fates, the female deities who supervised fate rather than determine it. Atropos was the fate who cut the thread or web of life. She was known as the "inflexible" or "inevitable" and cut this thread with the "abhorred shears." She worked along with Clotho, who spun the thread, and Lachesis, who measured the length. They were the daughters of Zeus and Themis (the Goddess of order.) It is not clear whether the fates were superior to Zeus or if he was subject to them as mortals were. The Roman name of the fates are Nona, Decuma, and Morta.
Facing death whether it be of a relationship, business or personal endeavor, or an actual physical death. Changing inflexibility to flexibility. Letting go and accepting the destiny of the soul.
97 Klotho (Greek):
Greek Goddess Clotho is the youngest of the three Fates, but one of the oldest Goddesses in Greek mythology. She is a daughter of Zeus and Themis. Each fate has a certain job, whether it be measuring thread, spinning it on a spindle, or cutting the thread at the right length. Clotho is the spinner, and she spins the thread of human life with her distaff. The length of the string will determine how long a certain person's life will be. She is also known to be the daughter of Night, to indicate the darkness and obscurity of human destiny. No one knows for sure how much power Clotho and her sisters have, however; they often disobey the ruler, Zeus, and other Gods. For some reason, the Gods seem to obey them, whether because the fates do possess greater power, or as some sources suggest, their existence is part of the order of the Universe, and this the Gods cannot disturb.
Insuring that your true destiny is fulfilled. Weaving together all the elements that make up the higher fabric of your life.
120 Lachesis (Greek):
The Disposer, one of the three Moirae, the Fates. She measures the length of the thread of human life spun by Clotho and determines its destiny.
Relates to those who like to play the lotteries or other games of chance. Increases one's luck by clarifying where one can expect to be lucky, focusing on those areas.
57 Mnemosyne (Greek):
Mother of the nine Muses. Zeus and Mnemosyne slept together for nine consecutive nights and thereby created the nine Muses. Golden-robed Mnemosyne is Memory.
This Titaness of beautiful hair discovered the uses of the power of reason, and gave a designation to every object, which is of the utmost importance, since without names very little could be expressed, and mortals would not be able to hold conversations with each other. But above all, she made available to them the power to remember, a great faculty upon which rest many others.
It is told that before Hera became Zeus' wife, the God, taking the form of a shepherd, consorted with Mnemosyne, whose domain is in the hills of Eleuther, lying with her nine nights. And when time passed, Mnemosyne gave birth to nine daughters, the Muses, who some affirm were born in this order: first Calliope, then Clio, Melpomene, Euterpe, Erato, Terpsichore, Urania, Thalia, and Polymnia.
"If someone is successful in his deeds, he casts a cause for sweet thoughts into the streams of the Muses. For those great acts of prowess dwell in deep darkness, if they lack songs, and we know of only one way to hold a mirror up to fine deeds: if, by the grace of Mnemosyne with her splendid headdress, one finds a recompense for toils in glorious song." (Pindar, Nemean Odes 7.11).
"... and in addition to the Gods you mentioned I must call upon all the rest and especially upon Mnemosyne. For practically all the most important part of our speech depends upon this Goddess ..." (Critias to Hermocrates. Plato, Critias 108d).
"Please assume ... that there is in our souls a block of wax, in one case larger, in another smaller, in one case the wax is purer, in another more impure and harder, in some cases softer, and in some of proper quality...Let us, then, say that this is the gift of Memory, the mother of the Muses, and that whenever we wish to remember anything we see or hear or think of in our own minds, we hold this wax under the perceptions and thoughts and imprint them upon it, just as we make impressions from seal rings; and whatever is imprinted we remember and know as long as its image lasts, but whatever is rubbed out or cannot be imprinted we forget and do not know."
(Socrates to Theaetetus. Plato, Theaetetus 191d).
Many musical people have this featured prominently.
Keywords: Memory, Creativity, Inspiration, Music, Poetry and the Arts, Story Telling, Imagining.
The Moon records, reflects and reveals every heartbeat, breath and nuance of primitive life therefore the progressed Moon evokes memory as it progresses through the chart. Aspects between the Moon and Mercury as well as other planets aspecting these planetary archetypes reveal the process of feeling and rational memory.
Re-membering and Enchantment
The faculty of memory was so important to the ancients that it was personified as a Goddess. In Greek cosmogony Mnemosyne was the daughter of Uranus and Gaia, a pre-Olympian Goddess who characterised Memory. Being one of the original deities Mnemosyne is the custodian of memory before the advent of writing, literacy, books, recordings and computers. She embodies the voice of an oral culture that communicates from the soul through stories, pictures, metaphors and body language. Mnemosyne finds her voice through the poetry of images revealing her memoirs through a dream, a feeling, a response, a longing or a sudden thought that darts into consciousness. Embedded in the fragments of a song, a myth, or a fairy tale linger ancient truths that awaken the Goddess. Dwelling in the soul Mnemosyne unexpectedly arouses memory through our senses and bodily reactions.
To the ancient Greeks memory was a Goddess residing in the heart. Memory was soulful, an aspect of psyche that was creative and evocative and the ancients also saw the Goddess as mother of the Muses. Goddess culture honoured her form through three phases and originally Mnemosyne was celebrated through the Muses of meditation, memory and song. In early myth the Muses were the triune aspect of memory who inspired poetry and song. As rational science and beliefs began to emerge the seat of memory began to shift to the brain, aligning memory with a more logical and calculating experience rendering Mnemosyne a passive Goddess who collected and stored life's impressions. Later myth suggested there were nine muses. Zeus visited Mnemosyne for nine nights and was the father of her nine daughters, the Muses, the inspiration and manifestation of the soul of memory. As mistress of healing and prophecy the Muses inspired and taught others to contact a deeper knowing through their imagination and creativity which guarded the wellspring of memory. As custodians of the arts each had a sphere of influence which they inspired and animated with ancient images and recollections. History, Music, Comedy, Tragedy, Choral Dance and Song, Lyric Poetry, Religious Dance, Astronomy and Epic Poetry were the personifications of the ancient Goddess of memory. Apollo, lord of the rational sphere, became their guardian and leader.
Memory's daughters are the muses, the ones who inspire and enchant the soul. Through her and her daughters we are able to engage in weaving the fragments of memory together to evoke meaning. Mnemosyne re-minds us to re-member the ancient ways. The Goddess of Memory is not just a passive recorder of experience and events but a poetic and heart-rending process that inspires the imagination. Mnemosyne re-collects the emotional experiences, feelings and impressions of our life. She is the archive of all that we have tasted, touched, wanted, smelt and felt. Her memories are stored in the psyche as images, symbols, feelings, impressions and instincts or become imprinted in the body, in the adrenal or olfactory glands, the tension in the muscles, allergies and illnesses. Mnemosyne is rhythmic and reflective, not linear, evoking dreams, images, songs that give continuity to our life's narrative. Memory and imagination are woven together when Mnemosyne and her daughters are aroused.
To the ancients the sacred sanctuary of Mnemosyne and the Muses was the museum. These ancient shrines dedicated to the Goddess ceded to the structures we know today as museums where we house the great works of the imagination. On an inner level the museum is the sphere of Mnemosyne where impressions and feelings from the past are evoked in the present situation. On a divinatory level the card suggests that the cycle of remembrance is important to consider now as feelings from the past are flooding into the current situation. Remembering and reliving earlier emotional experiences creates greater awareness about instinctual responses and feelings as memory helps to differentiate our feelings from our fantasies, our intuition from our hope. Memories are in high focus and the Goddess asks you to consider and honour them as part of your mythmaking. As an agent of healing Mnemosyne evokes feelings and images that are ready to be released. The card implies a state of musing and inspiration by gathering the fragmented threads of the past together to weave a new pattern.
On an oracular level the card suggests that it is important to remember the past cycle to imagine and create the next. When the card appears it is time to draw together the fragments of the past through memory gathering them together in a museum, whether that be a creative project, a photo album, a scrapbook, a painting, a story, or simply creating time to muse over the past. Memory is evoked through images, feelings, dreams, aches and pains in order to help us remember the fullness of life.
Feminine Wisdom: Through Mnemosyne the Goddess helps us remember images and impressions from previous phases of our life in order to give meaning, context and insight into these experiences. She acts as a loosening agent, allowing buried complexes, taboo feelings, repressed memories to breathe again to find some place in the sunlight of consciousness. She connects passages of time together. Links can be made back to times in the previous cycle allowing space for the process of reflection and musing.
600 Musa (Greek):
The term "music" derives from the Greek "Musa" (singular form for the 9 Muses of antiquity who embodied the arts). Originally, every artistic or spiritual activity was called music. In Plato's Politeia (The Republic) he mentions that "Music is for the soul what gymnastics is for the body."
Music. Artistic and spiritual inspiration. Creativity. Lyrical talent. Writing talent.
The 9 Muses (Greek):
The Muses, daughters of Zeus and the Goddess of Memory, Mnemosyne, were charged with the responsibility of inspiring poets and musicians and promoting the arts and sciences.
No banquet on Mount Olympus was complete without them. Seated near the throne of their father, the nine sisters entertained the guests, singing not only of the greatness of Zeus, but about the marvelous feats of the Greek heroes and the creation of the heavens and the earth with all its wondrous creatures.
Their influence was profound. By their praising valiant behavior, thereby etching the names in history, the Muses encouraged further heroism.
Although they usually sang only for the immortals, they occasionally performed at events honoring heroic mortals, such as the funeral of the Achilles, the fallen hero of the Trojan War.
They were described as "having one mind, their hearts set upon song and their spirit free from care". The Muses often acted in concert, all were friends and followers of the God Apollo. On many occasions their wise counsel, as well as their soothing diversions, kept him from making poor decisions.
Their gift, according to Hesiod, was that "though a man has sorrow and grief in his soul, when . . . the Muses sing, at once he forgets his dark thoughts and remembers not his troubles." A precious gift indeed.
The Muses remain among us today as the patrons of the fine arts and the inspiration for creative thought, Mnemosyne's daughters of wit and charm.
22 Kalliope: The "fair-voiced" first born of the Muses. Muse of philosophy, epic poetry, and rhetoric.
84 Klio: Muse of history and introduction of the alphabet into Greece.
18 Melpomene: The name means "the songstress" - Muse of tragedy (theater) and chanting.
27 Euterpe: Muse of lyric poetry and music, especially the flute.
62 Erato: Muse of poetry, particularly love poetry.
81 Terpsichore: Muse of dance and choral song.
30 Urania: The muse of astrology, astronomy and prophecy.
23 Thalia: Muse of comedy and idyllic poetry.
33 Polyhymnia: Muse of sacred music and poetry (eloquence in verse). The name means "many hymns."
14827 Hypnos (Greek):
Hypnos (or Hypnus) was the god or spirit (daimon) of sleep. He resided in Erebos, the land of eternal darkness, beyond the gates of the rising sun. From there he rose into the sky each night in the train of his mother Nyx (Night). Hypnos was often paired with his twin brother Thanatos (Peaceful Death), and the Oneiroi (Dreams) were his brothers or sons.
Hypnos was depicted as a young man with wings on his shoulders or brow. His attributes included either a horn of sleep-inducing opium, a poppy-stem, a branch dripping water from the river Lethe (Forgetfulness), or an inverted torch.
Hypnotic abilities, getting info from with the unconscious while sleeping.
God of sleep and dreams. Indicates where/how you are hypnotic and/or dreamy. Can indicate talent for hypnotism/trance inducing.
In another interpretation, Hypnos represents the mind of the white Buddha Vairocana (ether element) who has his equivalent in the Hindu god Brahma and his different Nirvana-levels. What a coincidence between three world religions. To break the magical circle of death and rebirth, it is a main goal of Buddhist psychology to merge one's mind completely with the Clear Light. In failing this the mind is in danger of following the reverse process back into the elements and senses, dualistic thinking, illusionary dream pictures, etc., looking for rebirth and coming under the influence of Morpheus and the 'World af the Young Gods'. So the highest goal af Buddhist yogis is to train their minds in reaching the meditative balance (Samadhi, Mahamudra, Tzogchen, Tao) learning certain techniques of dream yoga, working with the inner elements, trying to bring together the Kundalini energy into the heart chakra, using sexual visualizations or deity mandalas, losing the fear of death, trying to pre-experience the different Bardos.
Through the discovery of Hypnos we have found a very important, if not the most important, key which enables one just by simple calculation to find suitable times for coming into contact with states of enlightenment - in the truest sense of the word. The energies of Pluto, Neptune and Uranus transits invoke more certain levels of archetypes of the Sambhogakaya or dream states, enforce mind activities of special chakras or initiate ego transformations, but they don't lead to direct experiences of Emptiness. Following my own experiences with Hypnos, which in many cases didn't occur during meditative training, I found that it is possible, even for 'non-believers', to verify empirically different Bardo states which are the very fundaments of the Indo-Tibetan depth psychology. There is a surprisingly strong intercultural connection between the esoteric teachings of the East and the West, between Hesiod's 'Theogony' and 'The Tibetan Book of the Dead'.
Besides the most important esoteric value caused by the core of the comet Hypnos, he also effects very strongly the exoteric developments by his tail. Therefore the study of Hypnos is equally important for all kinds of astrologers, scientists, meditation practitioners, psychologists, etc.. Following Hypnos needs a lot of encouragement and bravery because he catapults you out of the usual orbit of your ego's thinking and feeling habits. In a philosophical sense he might even question the status of the ego itself. He is capable of bringing it to a standstill and of conquering time and space. In this way he can be seen equally as an enemy as well as a helpful friend to our Western culture which is based upon an exaggerated ego-cult and an extreme Nirvana-fear. This ego-cult can cause a lot of suffering and wrong views and needs a revision and careful investigation by our modern thinking. 'To be and not to be, that is the answer.'
10 Hygeia (Greek):
The Goddess of Health, the giver and preserver of well being whose function is to maintain a healthy relationship between body and soul.
Radiates a creative, loving and warm sexuality that makes you feel better in the long run. Physical touch is very important, and responding to partners needs. Driven in the pursuit to make one feel better, regular opportunites for sexual play, consistency and regularity is important. Imagination and fantasy is important too, telling one what one needs is important, as a hesitancy is noted about speaking or asserting one's need. One needs a significant other with whom one really cares.
Divine well-being
In the ancient Greek sanctuaries of healing statues of Hygeia, the Goddess of health, reminded the pilgrim of the archetypal quest for wholeness and well being. Adorned with a simple garment Hygeia was often represented as youthful, radiant and smiling, attributes that are companions of health. Either she is holding or feeding a snake. Carrying a bowl of food or water Hygeia is generally represented tending the sacred snakes that were housed in the temples on the sanctuaries of healing. Sometimes she is presented holding a wreath of laurel, combing victory with health, or other plants known for their medicinal properties, a motif that links her to an ancient tradition of woman healers, herbalists and midwives.
Hygeia's intimate relationship with the serpent recalls her link to the ancient Goddesses of healing and nature. Earth and Mother Goddesses were accompanied by serpents and the ancient belief was that they transmitted the power of healing and prophecy. As a symbol of both regeneration and divination serpents were sacred to the Goddess who gave them sanctuary in the bosom of the earth. Later the cult of sacred snake was adapted and serpents were included in the rituals at the sanctuaries that offered healing and spiritual guidance. The ancients also saw the sacred serpent dwelling in the body and when awakened it could offer illumination, vitality and the radiance of well being. As nature became less mysterious snakes became demonised, no longer transmitting the ancient wisdom of healing but transporting demonic and darker forces.
Hygeia nurtures and tends the snake revering its sacred power to rejuvenate and shed its old ways. She celebrates its dark chthonic force and recognises the divine mystery of illness and health. Like her ancient ancestors, Hygeia honoured the union between the natural and supernatural worlds knowing that health and well being depended on bringing them both into a cohesive whole. Goddess wisdom also knew that all of nature was animated by spirits which could be petitioned through magical and religious ritual in an attempt to restore equilibrium and well being. Hygeia is the modern surrogate of the ancient Goddesses who honour the great mystery of healing.
To the Greeks Hygeia personified health, that mysterious amalgam of well-being, wholeness and happiness. She emerged in the classical period when the cult of Asclepius became widespread and flourished throughout the Graeco-Roman world. Hygeia was mainly represented as the daughter of Asclepius, the Greek God of healing, although sometimes known as his wife. Her numerous statues equal those of Asclepius and in the cult of healing she was revered and equal to the God himself. Interestingly the popularity of temple medicine practiced at the sanctuaries of Asclepius paralleled the growth of rational medicine that had emerged through the teachings of Hippocrates. Hygeia stands at the crossroads of magico-religious healing rituals and contemporary medical practice, holding the tension between the two but allowing each to co-exist. She embraces wholistic healing in every manifestation as she is dedicated to the pursuit of health.
In the ancient community disease was portrayed as a possession by a demon, the intrusion of a spirit or the curse of a God. In the cult of Asclepius illness was seen to be more the call of the divine, the voice that echoed the split between body and spirit. It was the illness that called the pilgrim to the temple to restore equilibrium and well being. At the temple the patient would prepare for an encounter with the God often by fasting, bathing or meditating. Then the patient was escorted into the temple where they would lie down and fall into a deep sleep wherein the God would appear to them in a dream. Once contact with the God had been made through the inner process of the dream the patient would be restored to health. In the healing sanctuaries of Hygeia health was evoked through contact with the divine in the inner sanctuary of the soul. Yet synchronous with these practices were medical doctors who suggested that disease was a natural occurrence and not of the God's making. Hence Hygeia eventually became associated with mental health and well being as rational medical doctors gained a stronghold on the health of the physical body.
When Hygeia is chosen we are reminded that health is the alignment of body and soul, heart and mind, outer success and inner peace. One at the expense of the other constellates dis-ease in the temperament which may manifest as a physical symptom, mental anguish or emotional pain. Hygeia is the personification of Health who calls us into the inner sanctuary of the soul to restore health and regain equilibrium. On a divinatory level Hygeia will be chosen when the healing of a situation is imperative. Rational healing is not the only answer. It must be accompanied by attending to the root cause, which ultimately is the illness in the soul. In a psychological sense Hygeia is soul of health, the urge to attend to psyche and its needs by nurturing our deeper urges and impulses. Feeding the snakes is a metaphor for nurturing the dark and mysterious aspects of the soul and attending to the unconscious. On an oracular level Hygeia heralds a period of health after we have attended to the deeper yearnings of the soul.
Feminine Wisdom: Health is forged through the alliance of the natural with the supernatural, the right brain with the left, the inner world with the outer, the serpent with the soul. Hygeia reminds us that health is an archetypal image embedded in the psyche. When the soul is not nourished or attended it speaks through illness and disease.
2878 Panacea (Greek): Goddess of cures. The "cure-all," remedies. All types of cures, from conventional to alternative.
In Greek mythology, Panacea was the Goddess of healing. She was the daughter of Asclepius, God of medicine, and the granddaughter of Apollo, God of healing (among other things).
Panacea and her five sisters each performed a facet of Apollo's art: Panacea was the Goddess of cures, Iaso was the Goddess of recuperation, Hygieia was the Goddess of disease prevention, Aceso was the Goddess of recovery, Meditrina was the Goddess of longevity, and Aglaea was the Goddess of natural beauty.
Panacea also had four brothers - Podaleirus, one of the two kings of Tricca, who had a flair for diagnostics, and Machaon, the other king of Tricca, who was a master surgeon (these two took part in the Trojan War until Machaon was killed by Penthesilea, queen of the Amazons); Telesphoros, who devoted his life to serving Asclepius; and Aratus, her stepbrother, who was a Greek hero and the patron/liberator of Sicyon.
Panacea was said to have a poultice or potion with which she healed the sick. This brought about the concept of the panacea in medicine. "Panacea" is also the term for heal-all herbs.
1027 Aescualpia (Asklepios or Askalaphus) (Greek): God of healing.
Son of Apollon and Koronis (Coronis).
Asklepios was a great healer and the father of two Greek soldiers and healers, Makhaon and Podaleirios.
His mother, Koronis, evoked the wrath of Apollon and he killed her; Asklepios was placed in the care of the Chiron, where he learned the art of healing.
When Asklepios restored life to Hippolytus at the request of Artemis, Zeus was enraged and killed Asklepios with a thunderbolt.
As the son of Apollon, Asklepios became known as the ancient Greek God of medicine and healing; several shrines were established in honor of Asklepios including one in Athens and the city of Epidauros; patients would sleep in the temple and either they would be cured in the night or they would have dreams that would indicate the correct treatment for their ailments.
The name, Asklepios, may also rendered as Asklepius, Asclepius, Aeskulapius or Aesculapius.
Taught by Chiron; can indicate a healer as well as timing for medical attention.
Contact with physicians (including the internal healer) and belief-systems about the health, symptoms and medical conditions. Represents what is in need of healing and/or one's contributing to Healing.
3063 Makhaon (Greek): Son of Asklepius, he is associated with surgery; can indicate timing of surgery by transit or progression.
He and his brother, Podaleirios, were surgeons for the Greeks at the siege of the city of Troy; Makhaon and Podaleirios were the sons of the renowned healer, Asklepius.
4086 Podalerios (Greek): Son of Asklepius; associated with the healing of invisible wounds, the healing of the soul and of the mind/body.
He and his brother, Makhaon, were surgeons for the Greeks at the siege of the city of Troy; Podaleirios and Makhaon were the sons of the renowned healer, Asklepius.
5261 Eureka (Greek):
In Greek it means "I have found it." Eureka is an exclamation used as an interjection to celebrate a discovery.
It is most famously attributed to the ancient Greek scholar Archimedes; he reportedly proclaimed, "Eureka!" when he stepped into a bath and noticed that the water level rose – he suddenly understood that the volume of water displaced must be equal to the volume of the part of his body he had submerged. This meant that the volume of irregular objects could be calculated with precision, a previously intractable problem.
5450 Sokrates (Greek):
Greek philosopher.
Despite his foundational place in the history of ideas, Socrates actually wrote nothing. Most of our knowledge of him comes from the works of Plato (427-347), and since Plato had other concerns in mind than simple historical accuracy it is usually impossible to determine how much of his thinking actually derives from Socrates.
The most accurate of Plato's writings on Socrates is probably the The Apology. It is Plato's account of Socrates's defense at his trial in 399 BC (the word "apology" comes from the Greek word for "defense-speech" and does not mean what we would think of as an apology). It is clear, however, that Plato dressed up Socrates's speech to turn it into a justification for Socrates's life and his death. In it, Plato outlines some of Socrates's most famous philosophical ideas: the necessity of doing what one thinks is right even in the face of universal opposition, and the need to pursue knowledge even when opposed.
Socrates wrote nothing because he felt that knowledge was a living, interactive thing. Socrates' method of philosophical inquiry consisted in questioning people on the positions they asserted and working them through questions into a contradiction, thus proving to them that their original assertion was wrong. Socrates himself never takes a position; in The Apology he radically and skeptically claims to know nothing at all except that he knows nothing. Socrates and Plato refer to this method of questioning as elenchus , which means something like "cross-examination" The Socratic elenchus eventually gave rise to dialectic, the idea that truth needs to be pursued by modifying one's position through questioning and conflict with opposing ideas. It is this idea of the truth being pursued, rather than discovered, that characterizes Socratic thought and much of our world view today. The Western notion of dialectic is somewhat Socratic in nature in that it is conceived of as an ongoing process. Although Socrates in The Apology claims to have discovered no other truth than that he knows no truth, the Socrates of Plato's other earlier dialogues is of the opinion that truth is somehow attainable through this process of elenchus .
The Athenians, with the exception of Plato, thought of Socrates as a Sophist, a designation he seems to have bitterly resented. He was, however, very similar in thought to the Sophists. Like the Sophists, he was unconcerned with physical or metaphysical questions; the issue of primary importance was ethics, living a good life. He appeared to be a sophist because he seems to tear down every ethical position he's confronted with; he never offers alternatives after he's torn down other people's ideas.
He doesn't seem to be a radical skeptic, though. Scholars generally believe that the Socratic paradox is actually Socratic rather than an invention of Plato. The one positive statement that Socrates seems to have made is a definition of virtue (areté): "virtue is knowledge." If one knows the good, one will always do the good. It follows, then, that anyone who does anything wrong doesn't really know what the good is. This, for Socrates, justifies tearing down people's moral positions, for if they have the wrong ideas about virtue, morality, love, or any other ethical idea, they can't be trusted to do the right thing.
5451 Plato (Greek):
Greek philosopher; Along with his mentor, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the foundations of Western philosophy.
6123 Aristoteles (Greek):
Greek philosopher; student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great.
193 Ambrosia (Greek):
In ancient Greek mythology, ambrosia is sometimes the food, sometimes the drink, of the Gods, often depicted as conferring ageless immortality upon whoever consumes it. It was brought to the Gods in Olympus by doves (Odyssey xii.62), so may have been thought of in the Homeric tradition as a kind of divine exhalation of the Earth.
Ambrosia is very closely related to the Gods' other form of sustenance, nectar. The two terms may not have originally been distinguished; though in Homer's poems nectar is the drink and ambrosia the food of the Gods; it was with ambrosia Hera "cleansed all defilement from her lovely flesh", and with ambrosia Athena prepared Penelope in her sleep so that when she appeared for the final time before her suitors, the effect of the years had been stripped away and they were inflamed at the sight of her. On the other hand, in Alcman, nectar is the food, and in Sappho and Anaxandrides, ambrosia is the drink. When a character in Aristophanes' Knights says, "I dreamed the Goddess poured ambrosia over your head— out of a ladle", the homely and realistic ladle brings the ineffable moment to ground with a thump.
Both nectar and ambrosia are fragrant, and may be used as perfume: in Odyssey (iv.444-46) Menelaus and his men are disguised as seals in untanned seal skins, "and the deadly smell of the seal skins vexed us sore; but the Goddess saved us; she brought ambrosia and put it under our nostrils." Homer speaks of ambrosial raiment, ambrosial locks of hair, even the Gods' ambrosial sandals.
Among later writers, ambrosia has been so often used with generic meanings of "delightful liquid" that such late writers as Athenaeus, Paulus and Dioscurides employ it as a technical terms in contexts of cookery, medicine and botany.
7 Iris (Greek):
Iris was the Goddess of the rainbow, the messenger of the Olympian Gods. She was often represented as the handmaiden and personal messenger of Hera. Iris was a Goddess of sea and sky - her father Thaumas "the wondrous" was a marine-God, and her mother Elektra "the amber" a cloud-nymph. For the coastal-dwelling Greeks, the rainbow's arc was most often seen spanning the distance beteween cloud and sea, and so the Goddess was believed to replenish the rain-clouds with water from the sea. Iris had no distinctive mythology of her own. In myth she appears only as an errand-running messenger and was usually described as a virgin Goddess. Her name contains a double meaning, being connected both with iris, "the rainbow," and eiris, "messenger."
Iris appears in ancient Greek vase paintings as a beautiful young woman with golden wings, a herald's rod (kerykeion), and sometimes a water-pitcher (oinochoe) in her hand. She was usually depicted standing beside Zeus or Hera, sometimes serving nectar from her jug. As cup-bearer of the Gods Iris is often indistinguishable from Hebe in art.
The rainbow, a heavenly messenger. Relates to messages or omens.
251 Sophia (Greek): The Angel of Wisdom in the Kabala tradition.
Sophia in Greek, Hohkma in Hebrew, Sapientia in Latin, all mean wisdom. The Judeo-Christian God's female soul, source of his true power is Sophia. As Goddess of wisdom, her faces are many: Black Goddess, Divine Feminine, Mother of God. The Gnostic Christians, Sophia was the Mother of Creation; her consort and assistant was Jehovah. Her sacred shrine, Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, is one of the seven wonders of the world. Her symbol, the dove, represents spirit; she is crowned by stars, a Middle Eastern icon, to indicate her absolute divinity.
The Lessons of this Goddess:
Pregnant Sophia holds out her cup of wisdom to you. It is time to connect with your own deep, enriching wisdom, time for stillness and introspection, time to listen to what needs to be heard. Perhaps you are in a situation where you need guidance. Perhaps you find yourself in similar situations over and over again. When you take the time to listen to your own inner Sophia you can get what you need for your journey to wellness.
Sophia, Goddess of Wisdom:
Have you ever wondered about that gorgeous woman in Michelangelo's painting on the ceiling of the Sistine chapel—the one that God has his arm wrapped around while his other arm extends to touch the hand of Adam?
Some art historians believe the petite blonde was Jehovah's grandmother, the Goddess Sophia. In the Judeo-Christian tradition the Goddess Sophia is the beginning, the source of wisdom, and keeper of the knowledge of all that is righteous and just. With her sound wisdom and guidance, rulers lead their kingdoms to prosper. In the darkness and ignorance that thrive in her absence, the proverbial wasteland eats away at the soul and nations perish.
Known as the Mother of All or simply as Wisdom, Sophia was born of Silence according to Gnostic creation myths. She gave birth to both Male and Female who together created all the elements of our material world.
Female then gave birth to Jehovah in all his emanations. But she also gave birth to Ildabaoth who was known as the Son of Darkness. When humans were created, Sophia loved them all dearly. Unfortunately, her affection for humans sparked jealousy in both Ildabaoth and Jehovah. Hoping to keep humans weak and powerless, the brothers forbade humans to eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge. Female then sent her spirit in the form of the serpent to teach the humans to disobey the envious Gods.
Sophia so desperately loved humans that she decided she would live among them. To her dismay they mostly ignored her. She tried speaking to them. When they turned a deaf ear, she screamed from the tops of the highest walls. Still she was not heard. In her anguish at being so neglected, she left humans with one last thought: You have denied and ignored me, so will I do when calamity strikes and you call for my help. Only those who earnestly search for me and love me will merit my love and assistance.
There are those who believe that Sophia, so desperate in her desire to relate, later returned to humans in another attempt to bond with them. Sophia is often symbolized by the Dove of Aphrodite, which later became the dove representing the Holy Spirit. The dove appeared to the Virgin Mary in the form of the Virgin of Light, entered her and conceived Jesus. In this sense, Sophia attempted again, in to form of a man, to be united with the mortals she so loved.
Sophia's traits include: righteous, wise, loving, communicative, knowledgeable, creative, protective, giving, and truthful. A Sophia woman sees it and tells it as it is; she has no fear of the truth.
She brings meaning to human experience with her gift of understanding "the bigger picture". Only when you stand back, gaining some emotional distance, can you see that even the most traumatic experiences can be the birthplace of your most treasured strengths. It is only in times of great stress that heroic feats are truly appreciated.
Sophia was also the mother of Faith, Hope, and Charity. They are Sofia's gifts to us, gifts that can overcome the despair, confusion, and suffering that frame human life. Sophia reminds you that clear vision and understanding line the path that leads to the discovery of the meaning of your life.
307 Nike (Greek):
Nike was the winged Goddess or spirit (daimon) of victory, both in battle and peaceful competition. When Zeus was gathering allies at the start of the Titan War, Styx brought her four children, Nike (Victory), Zelos (Rivalry), Kratos (Strength) and Bia (Force) into the service of the God. Nike was appointed his charioteer, and all four were appointed as sentinels standing beside the throne of the God. Beyond this Nike never acquired any distinctive mythology of her own.
Nike was depicted in ancient Greek vase paintings with a variety of attributes including a wreath or sash to crown a victor, an oinochoe and phiale (bowl and cup) for libations, a thymiaterion (incense burner), an altar, and a lyre for the celebration of victory in song.
In scenes of the Gigantomachia (War of the Giants) she often appears driving the chariot of Zeus. In mosaic art and coins Nike isoften shown holding a palm branch as a symbol of victory.
Nike was closely identified with the Goddess Athena, sometimes appearing merely as an attribute of the Goddess. Sometimes the Goddess was pluralised into Nikai.
Relates to the speeding up of events; moving through difficult life passages with speed and grace.
40 Harmonia (Greek):
Harmonia was the Goddess of harmony and concord. As a daughter of Aphrodite, she presided over marital harmony, soothing strife and discord; as a daughter of Ares, she represented harmonious action in war. Late Greek and Roman writers sometimes portrayed her as harmony in the more abstract sense : a deity presiding over the cosmic harmony.
55 Pandora (Greek):
Pandora, "the all gifted one," was the Greek equivlent of Eve.
The eating of the apple was an event that led to a series of actions and events just like the effects of Pandora.
Where Uranus will have a sudden effect due to one event, Pandora will have a cascade effect.
Though thought of as bad not all aspects are, especially in synastry.
An exact aspect of the Sun and Moon in synastry to pandora can be very powerful.
(Eve was the mother of us all) and Pandora is her Greek equivelent.
Encountering unexpected consequences; getting "more than you bargained for;" being enticed by a curiosity, new idea, person or situation—and finding that it has set you on a whole new path; agitation.
Pandora - A Gift Of Hope
'Hope sole remain'd within, nor took her flight,
Beneath the vessel's verge conceal'd from light'
- Hesiod
Pandora's story was written eight centuries before Christ in the epoch when gender roles were rigidly defined. Yet the mythic plot echoes timeless motifs, even ones used in contemporary science fiction. In Greek myth Pandora is the first woman, mother of all mortal women, created by the Gods to assert their superiority over mankind. Cast as a femme fatale, a 'beautiful evil', she possesses a jar filled with toxins designed to pollute the race of mankind. Alluring, yet dangerous, Pandora represents a vestige of the ancient Goddess culture threatening the emergent patriarch. Yet she also transports an indelible gift from the Goddess embedded at the bottom of the urn.
Three centuries later her myth was carved on the marble base underpinning the spectacular cult statue of Athena. When designing the Parthenon and its decorations the Athenians chose the myth of Pandora to be the motif at Athena's feet. On the pedestal of the colossal statue suppliants to Athena were reminded of the creation of the first woman and the plagues she brought to bear on humanity, a striking contrast to Athena who brought victory and pride to the Greeks. Like Athena Pandora's birth was unusual. Fashioned out of the earth at the command of Zeus, Pandora was the instrument designed to punish mankind for the unsanctioned possession of fire stolen by Prometheus. Zeus was furious when Prometheus stole fire from heaven, smuggling it in a fennel stalk and distributing it to mankind. With the theft the distance between man and God narrowed, as fire was the alchemical agent that would refine raw materials and promote the development of mankind. As the human race developed there would be less need for the Gods. Zeus' revenge was to send a 'gift' to man that would counterbalance the profit mankind gained from using fire.
To date men had lived without evil in a golden age, which now would come to an end through the guile of a beautiful woman. Zeus instructed the smith-God Hephaestus to fashion a beautiful maiden resembling a Goddess out of clay and water. Athena was to teach the phantom how to weave a web, Aphrodite was instructed to make her seductive and Hermes, the trickster-God, was to teach her how to be deceitful. Adorned with beautiful garments from the Charities, Zeus breathed life into Pandora, who was given as a gift to Epimetheus, the brother of Prometheus. In her hands she carried an intricately designed urn, the dowry Zeus had given her. Shut inside it was all the evils, storms and plagues that bring misfortune to mankind. Instructed not to accept any gifts from Zeus, Epimetheus became enchanted by the beautiful Pandora and forgot his brother's warning. Pandora opened the jar and before she could close the lid disease, old age, pain, toil, death and all the other ills that plague humanity spilled out. When she was finally able to seal the jar nothing remained except Hope, trapped at the bottom. In their benevolence the Gods had insured an antidote for suffering. Pandora offers hope when all else has failed.
The myth of Pandora was included in Greek literature synchronous with the time that the myth of Eve appeared in Jewish writings. In both myths Pandora and Eve become the patriarchal scapegoat for all of humanity's troubles aligning feminine power with evil. This mythic misogyny defines the time when masculine values were dominant and feminine values were denigrated, even demonised. Pandora and Eve became the composite projection of evil, blamed for their lack of foresight, chaos and feelings. Underlying the mythic stratagem was a motif from an earlier period when Goddess culture was dominant.
In Greek Pandora translates into 'all gifts' and her entry into Greek myth suggested this name because the Gods of Olympus each gave her a gift. However, this mythic thread is probably an inversion from earlier Goddess culture when Pandora may have referred to the Goddess giving gifts. Gift giving became an essential component of Greek culture and this inverted fragment reminds us of the abundant side of the Goddess who offers us the cornucopia of plenty. Pandora is born of the earth like Gaia,
supplying the gifts of life. And the gift of life she brings that cannot be destroyed is Hope. On a psychological level hope is the mechanism that breathes life into the soul after it has been bruised and deflated.
Pandora emerges at a critical time historically and psychologically. She enters Greek myth when the Goddess culture has waned and been rejected and man is no longer in favor with the Gods. Psychologically Pandora appears to offer hope in devastating times. She brings a powerful gift that cannot be destroyed by life's ills. Hope is the life force that survives the disaster evoking images of healing and improvement. When Pandora is prominent in a birth chart she confronts us to delve into the deepest part of ourselves to tap the reservoir of faith. Having survived the projections and denigration of the other, Pandora resurrects life once again through the auspices of hope.
In astrology Pandora reminds us that embedded in every disaster is the gift of renewal through the auspices of faith and hope. Illness, destruction, old age and pain are part of feminine wisdom and this knowledge stands in direct contrast to masculine fantasies of a Golden Age and Garden of Eden. How she enters our life is reflected in the placement of the Goddess.
Keywords: Hope, Innovation, Curiousity, Unexpected Change agent, Rebellious
Pandora is a change agent and therefore may be sudden and unexpected like Uranus. Her curious nature and marking of threshold change is Mercurial linking Mercury and Uranus. As an agent of transformation she has a Plutonic essences as well. Planets in Gemini or Mercury aspects to Uranus or Pluto.
Pandora's story was written eight centuries before Christ in the epoch when gender roles were rigidly defined. Yet the mythic plot echoes timeless motifs, even ones used in contemporary science fiction. In Greek myth Pandora is the first woman, mother of all mortal women, created by the Gods to assert their superiority over mankind. Cast as a femme fatale, a 'beautiful evil', she possesses a jar filled with toxins designed to pollute the race of mankind. Alluring, yet dangerous, Pandora represents a vestige of the ancient Goddess culture threatening the emergent patriarch. Yet she also transports an indelible gift from the Goddess embedded at the bottom of the urn.
Three centuries later her myth was carved on the marble base underpinning the spectacular cult statue of Athena. When designing the Parthenon and its decorations the Athenians chose the myth of Pandora to be the motif at Athena's feet. On the pedestal of the colossal statue suppliants to Athena were reminded of the creation of the first woman and the plagues she brought to bear on humanity, a striking contrast to Athena who brought victory and pride to the Greeks. Like Athena Pandora's birth was unusual. Fashioned out of the earth at the command of Zeus, Pandora was the instrument designed to punish mankind for the unsanctioned possession of fire stolen by Prometheus.
Zeus was furious when Prometheus stole fire from heaven, smuggling it in a fennel stalk and distributing it to mankind. With the theft the distance between man and God narrowed, as fire was the alchemical agent that would refine raw materials and promote the development of mankind. As the human race developed there would be less need for the Gods. Zeus' revenge was to send a 'gift' to man that would counterbalance the profit mankind gained from using fire. To date men had lived without evil in a golden age, which now would come to an end through the guile of a beautiful woman.
Zeus instructed the smith-God Hephaestus to fashion a beautiful maiden resembling a Goddess out of clay and water. Athena was to teach the phantom how to weave a web, Aphrodite was instructed to make her seductive and Hermes, the trickster-God, was to teach her how to be deceitful. Adorned with beautiful garments from the Charities Zeus breathed life into Pandora, who was given as a gift to Epimetheus, the brother of Prometheus. In her hands she carried an intricately designed urn, the dowry Zeus had given her. Shut inside it was all the evils, storms and plagues that bring misfortune to mankind. Instructed not to accept any gifts from Zeus, Epimetheus became enchanted by the beautiful Pandora and forgot his brother's warning. Pandora opened the jar and before she could close the lid disease, old age, pain, toil, death and all the other ills that plague humanity spilled out. When she was finally able to seal the jar nothing remained except Hope, trapped at the bottom. In their benevolence the Gods had insured an antidote for suffering. Pandora offers hope when all else has failed.
The myth of Pandora was included in Greek literature synchronous with the time that the myth of Eve appeared in Jewish writings. In both myths Pandora and Eve become the patriarchal scapegoat for all of humanity's troubles aligning feminine power with evil. This mythic misogyny demarcates the epoch when masculine values were dominant and feminine values were denigrated, even demonised. Pandora and Eve became the composite projection of evil, blamed for their lack of foresight, chaos and feelings. Underlying the mythic stratagem was a motif from an earlier period when Goddess culture was dominant.
In Greek Pandora translates into 'all gifts' and her entry into Greek myth suggested this name because the Gods of Olympus each gave her a gift. However this mythic thread is probably an inversion from earlier Goddess culture when Pandora may have referred to the Goddess giving gifts. Gift giving became an essential component of Greek culture and this inverted fragment reminds us of the abundant side of the Goddess who offers us the cornucopia of plenty. Pandora is chthonic, born of the earth like Gaia, supplying the gifts of life. And the gift of life she brings that cannot be destroyed is Hope. On a psychological level hope is the mechanism that breathes life into the soul after it has been bruised and deflated.
Pandora emerges at a critical time historically and psychologically. She enters Greek myth when the Goddess culture has waned and been rejected and man is no longer in favour with the Gods. Psychologically Pandora appears to offer hope in devastating times. She brings a powerful gift that cannot be destroyed by life's ills. Hope is the life force that survives the disaster evoking images of healing and improvement. When Pandora is chosen she confronts us to delve into the deepest part of ourselves to tap the reservoir of faith. Having survived the projections and denigration of the other Pandora resurrects life once again through the auspices of hope. On an oracular level Pandora appears at a crucial juncture psychologically when it is important not to project our prejudices and biases onto others. Pandora also appears when regressive fantasies about the past may stand in the way of progress and integration.
Feminine Wisdom: No matter how devastating the Goddess is benevolent in nature through her gift of hope. Embedded in every disaster is the gift of renewal through the auspices of faith and hope. Illness, destruction, old age and pain are part of feminine wisdom and this knowledge stands in direct contorts to masculine fantasies of a Golden Age and Garden of Eden.
43 Ariadne (Greek):
Ariadne represents the marriage to the divine after the trials of betrayal and abandonment.
Ariadne's story plumbs the depths of the water houses. She leaves the familial terrain of the 4th house to be abandoned by her lover in the labyrinth of the 8th but awakens to her divine connection in the 12th. Neptune aspects to Venus or Mars may highlight these themes. Ariadne's process is revealed with transits to planets in the 8th house or Pluto transiting Venus or Mars.
Keywords: Patterns in Family and Relationship, Betrayal, Awakening, Transformation, Soul Mate, Labyrinth
Authentic Relationship
Daughter of the great dynasty of Knossos, Ariadne's fate was overshadowed by the curse that plagued her family. In the guise of a great white bull, Zeus had abducted her grandmother Europa from Phoenicia and brought her to Crete. Her mother Pasiphaë had also became enamoured by a great bull. Ariadne participated in the family fate: as Pasiphaë's daughter her lifeblood was impassioned and as Europa's granddaughter her destiny was to abandon her ancestral home.
Poseidon cursed Ariadne's family when her father Minos refused to sacrifice his most magnificent bull to the God. Spurned, the God aroused Pasiphaë's shameful lust for the impressive bull that became embodied in her bull-son, the Minotaur, human from the shoulders down. Banished into the labyrinthine blackness below the palace Ariadne's half-brother, the Minotaur, fed on sacrificial children sent from Athens every nine years. Heroic Theseus was one of fourteen youths sent to Crete to face death at the hands of the Minotaur.
When Theseus arrived to participate in the bull games Ariadne's passions were ignited when she saw him for the first time. Beguiled by the handsome hero, Ariadne devised a plan for Theseus to slay the Minotaur and return safely through the dark tunnels of the labyrinth. For her complicity Theseus promised he would marry her and take her away to Athens. Unconscious that her fate was enmeshed with the God Dionysus and not Theseus Ariadne set upon her course to help her lover and in turn betray her family.
Through the dark labyrinthine tunnels Theseus crawled, quietly, mindful not to make sounds that would waken the sleeping Minotaur. Wrapped around his wrist was a ball of yarn, tied to the pillar at the entrance of the maze, which unravelled as he made his way through the dangerous tunnels. Ariadne's thread was the umbilical cord that connected him to the outer world and guaranteed his return after he killed the Minotaur. That evening Ariadne escaped with Theseus. In the dark Mediterranean night they set sail for a victorious return to Athens. Leaving behind her father and sacrificing her brother she surrendered to the passion that burned inside, the rapture only Aphrodite could inspire, a similar fervour that had inflamed her mother and grandmother. The next night Ariadne and her lover reached the island Naxos. Exhausted by travelling and fatigued from the emotional turmoil that had preceded their escape they collapsed into a deep sleep. But as the rays of the morning sun lit her face Ariadne awoke to discover her lover had vanished. At the edge of the shore she saw the sails of his ship in the distance. Athena had carefully woken Theseus before dawn, setting him on his course home without Ariadne. Abandoned, betrayed and used, Ariadne descended into her own labyrinthine world on the shores of Naxos.
Blinded by her passions Ariadne had been complicit in her abandonment. In betraying her family to follow her hero she had set the cycle of betrayal in motion. Projecting her heroic self onto Theseus had left her separated from her own centre. Alone Ariadne was forced to connect with her internal world. At this threshold Ariadne experienced an epiphany of Aphrodite the Goddess who ignited the passionate fires that led to her suffering. Appearing to Ariadne the Goddess revealed her true fate: she would wed her real soul mate, the divine Dionysus. Dionysus celebrated their sacred marriage by offering Ariadne the crown as the symbol of their intimacy and eternal union.
Ariadne's myth portrays the heart's painful journey when connection to the inner self is severed and sacrificed to the lover. Ariadne followed her lover's course rather than her own internal labyrinthine journey losing her genuine direction. Using the thread, the symbolic connection to her inner core, to serve the hero Ariadne lost contact with her own inner wisdom. Abandoned she was no longer able to define herself exclusively through a partner; therefore a more authentic sense of self could emerge. The painful process of confronting her naïve trust and blind faith in Theseus enabled her renewal and redemption. In psychological terms a more divine sense of union is possible when projections onto the other are consciously relinquished. Dionysus embodies a woman's masculine spirit enabling her to define herself in terms of her own needs and not through someone else.
When this card is chosen it reveals the course of the heart encouraging the individual to acknowledge that the threads to their inner self are tenuous and must be honoured in relationship. On a divinatory level the card suggests an awakening after a period of loss or betrayal. A deeper connection in relationship is possible. Ariadne celebrates a more intimate connection with the heart, whether that is through a personal relationship, a new creative endeavour or a new course of life. On an oracular level Ariadne appears when it is imperative to reflect on the course of a relationship to discover its authenticity.
Feminine Wisdom: Abandonment is an archetypal process that strips away the mind's illusions in order to hear the calling of the true self. Confronted by the painful reality of being left the individual is forced to relinquish their hopes and fantasies in order to awaken to the authentic path of the heart. Ariadne embodies the soul in relationship that must first experience the painful course of the labyrinth before a divine connection can be realised.
Ariadne ("the Utterly Pure") is the Minoan (Cretan) Great Goddess and Mistress of the Labyrinth, who is Goddess of the shining moon and the dark underworld. In the center of the spiral Labyrinth a monster waits, who is yet kin to the Goddess (in the Attic myth, Ariadne's half-brother). She is the giver of souls, bound in sacred marriage to Dionysus, the God of boundless life.
Ariadne is associated with celestial spiral motion, both in the imagery of the Labyrinth, and in Her fame for dancing. Daedalos, the archetypal inventor (he is said to have invented the hammer!), who built the Labyrinth also built Her a dancing-floor decorated with labyrinthine meander patterns. The spiral dance evokes the whirling stars, and the Minotaur is called in some sources Asterios, "Star".
In the later Athenian legend, the Cretan princess Ariadne is the daughter of Queen Pasiphaë (herself a powerful sorceress and sister to Kirke) and King Minos, who fell in love with the hero Theseus of Athens. With her help he navigated the famous Labyrinth and killed the half-man, half-bull Minotaur. Ariadne then fled with Theseus, who promptly abandoned her on the island of Naxos while she slept. When she awoke and found herself alone, she demanded vengeance.
She was found pacing the beach by the God Dionysus, who fell in love with her, and made her His wife. The marriage crown was flung into the sky to become the constellation Corona Borealis, Ariadne's Crown. She was made immortal by Zeus.
She represents tangled issues and their untangling, deep, core issues, and the dark secret at the center of the maze, that to be healed, must be brought out to light.
Alternate names: Aridela ("the Utterly Clear")
79 Eurynome (Greek):
Eurynome was easily the most important Goddess of Pelasgian myth. She was the Great Goddess, Mother, Creatrix, Ruler, called the Goddess of All Things.
Eurynome was born from Chaos, and her first work was to separate the water from the sky. When she had accomplished this, she began to dance across the water. It was a beautiful, sensual dance of creation. As she danced, she danced South, and she danced faster and faster until a wind grew behind her. Eurynome caught the wind between her hands and rubbed it into a snake. The snake, called Ophion, watched as the Goddess danced and danced to keep herself warm. He saw Eurynome dancing across the waves and was filled with lust. He coiled his body around the Goddess seven times and made love to her as she danced.
Impregnated by Ophion, soon the Goddess lay the Universal Egg. Ophion wrapped his body around it seven times at Eurynome's bidding. As it opened, the earth spilled forth, born populated with animals and plants.
At this point the Mother ascended to Mt. Olympus and began to watch her children take shape. When she ascended, the serpent Ophion followed her as the Goddess's consort. Eurynome had no problem with this, but when Ophion began to swagger and boast that he alone was responsible for the creation of the world, Eurynome kicked all his teeth out as she threw his butt out of heaven.
Next, Eurynome created the Seven Planetary Powers, putting a Titaness and a Titan over each. Theia and Hyperion were given the Sun and the power of illumination; Phoebe and Atlas were given the Moon and the power of enchantment; Dione and Crius were given the planet Mars and the power of growth; Metis and Coeus were given the planet Mercury and the power of wisdom; Themis and Eurymedon were given the planet Jupiter and the power of law; Tethys and Oceanus were given the planet Venus and the power of love; and Rhea and Cronus took the planet Saturn with the power of peace.
The first person was a different story. In this tradition, the first human was the man Pelasgus who sprang from the soil of Arcadia (soon followed by others). They made little huts and ate acorns and wore pig-skin tunics.
These myths are ancient myths. According to the theory of a matriarchal prehistory, there were no Gods or priests, only one mother Goddess and her priestesses. Part of the reason for this was that fatherhood was not clearly understood. People believed that women could be impregnated by the wind or from eating something. Eurynome was only one of the Goddess's names. Eurynome, "wide wandering," refers to her as the moon traveling across the sky, by the Sumerians she was called the "exalted dove," or, Iahu. The Eurynome cult spread all over the Mediterranean and was really a base for most of the religions of the area.
In the Titan cults that preceeded the Olympic cults (Classical mythology), Eurynome was the daughter of Oceanus the Titan. She was a Titaness married to the Titan Ophion. But in this version, though Eurynome still ruled heaven, Ophion ruled as an equal. The two ruled together on Mt. Olympus until Cronos replaced Ophion and Rhea replaced Eurynome.
By the time Classical mythology came around, Eurynome had shrunk to being one of Zeus' many loves (mother of the Charites) and a gentle Oceanid, a far cry from the All-Powerful Creatrix.
Eurynome was the Titan Goddess of water-meadows and pasturelands, and one of the elder Okeanides. She was the third bride of Zeus who bore him the Kharites, three Goddesses of grace and beauty. Eurynome was also the Goddess of the river Neda in Arkadia, and the mother of Asopos, a nearby stream. Her name was derived from the Greek words eurys "wide," "broad," and nomia "pasturelands."
Eurynome, or "wide wandering", is the Pelasgian (pre-Hellenic people of Greece) Great Goddess of all things. She divided the sky from the sea and, while dancing on the waves, created the north wind. The north wind grew lustful, so she seized him in her hands and formed a serpent she called Ophion. Eurynome made love with Ophion and then assumed the form of a dove to lay the universal egg out of which all creation came. Ophion, not content with being a creation of Eurynome and then cocreating with her, boasted that he was the supreme creator. Eurynome knocked out his teeth and banished him.
The Lessons of this Goddess:
Eurynome dances into your life to tell you it is time for ecstasy. Ecstasy is here for you in all its fullness, exuberance, and rapture. How can you give yourself ecstasy, that deeply nourshing, intensely joyful place? One way is by healing the wounded parts of yourself. Your wounded parts take up emotional space within you. Once healed, the space they previously occupied becomes available for ecstasy. The more space within, the more room for ecstasy. Another road to scstasy is to open to it. To give yourself permission to call it in, feel it, and revel in it. For those of us who have experienced little joy in our livesm the conscious decision to court, seduce, and entice ecstasy ensures it will come. The Goddess says that when you make the decision to dance with ecstasy, all life challenges you with the opportunities to facilitate that dance.
105 Artemis (Greek): Greek Goddess of the Moon and of the Light and the Hunt.
Artemis, the Greek Goddess of Light and the Hunt, was known for her wildness, but also for her responsiveness to the needs of the suffering and those who were vulnerable. An early feminist, she was quick to defend the powerless from unjust treatment at the hands of the Olympian patriarchy.
Artemis was fiercely independent, choosing the wild and verdant beauty beauty of the forest and mountains over marriage, parenthood, and life in a city.
Of all the Greek Goddesses, Artemis was the most self-contained. Considered to be one of the "virgin Goddesses", i.e. unmarried and not susceptible to the pangs of love, She demanded to live her life on her own terms and was comfortable both in solitude but also in leading others.
Artemis, another multidimensional Goddess reduced by the Greeks to the domain of moon, virgin, huntress, and childbirth, really represented the Feminine in all her aspects. She was the huntress who protected animals and the virgin (whole and complete unto herself) who made love in the woods. When Artemis was a little girl, Zeus, her father, wanted to give her a gift and asked her what she wanted. The Goddess replied: I want to run forever wild and free with my hounds in the woods and never, ever marry.
The Lessons of this Goddess:
Artemis has shot her arrow of selfhood in your life to help you focus on yourself. Have you been too much at the sevice of others without making sure you get what you need for yourself? Has it been too long since you had time to yourself or a space of your own? Do the boundaries of your selfhood seen blurred and indistint? Do you feel you have no right to a self of your own, but must always be thinking of others, putting their needs first, until you don't know who you are or what you want? Now is the time to come into yourself. Now is the time to pay attention to the whispering voices of your own needs. Now is the time to take yourself back and celebrate and strenghten who you are. The Goddess says that wholeness is nurtured when you honor, respect, and give time to yourself. She also asks how can you expect to hit any targets if you don't have self from which to shoot?
The daughter of Zeus and Leto. Her twin brother is Apollo. She is the lady of the wild things and protector of the young. She became associated with the moon. She is a virgin Goddess, and the Goddess of chastity. She also presides over childbirth, which may seem odd for a virgin, but goes back to causing Leto no pain when she was born. The cypress is her tree. All wild animals are scared to her, especially the deer.
Artemis is the Greek Goddess of the wild things, the deep forests and the chase. She is sometimes, though not invariably, connected with the moon, as Her brother Apollo is sometimes associated with the sun. She is a solitary virgin Goddess, bearing bow and arrows to hunt animals, and like Her brother is also said to cause disease and sudden death with them. The sixth day of the lunar month is dedicated to Her, when the moon is a perfect little crescent, not quite half full.
Artemis is the guardian of wild spaces and new life, such as bear cubs and fawns. She is the special protectress of children, and was invoked by women in childbirth as a midwife, for it was said She helped to deliver Her twin Apollo, though She was only a day old Herself.
She is an energetic and athletic Goddess, personifying the wild feminine spirit, independent and active and able to defend Herself.
Artemis represents a connection to the wild places and nature, and Her presence in a reading indicates that you need to get out in Nature, and that at this time blessed solitude needs to be a priority in your life.
Some of Her many epithets include: Calliste ("Fairest"), Elaphebolos ("Shooter of Stags"), and Agrotera ("Huntress"). The Romans equated Her with their Diana.
Greek Nature and Moon Goddess. Daughter of Zeus and Leto, and twin sister of Apollo (though a day older). She probably absorbed a pre-Indo-European Sun Goddess, and her twinning in classical legend with the Sun God Apollo may stem from this. The Greeks assimilated her to a pre-Greek mistress of wild beasts. Bears were sacred to her, and she was associated with the constellation Ursa Major.
407 Arachne (Greek):
Arachene, the Goddess in Greek mythology who was the world's first spider, was originally a young mortal, daughter of a shepherd famous for the beautiful wools that he dyed purple.
Gifted in the art of weaving, Arachne became famous for her excellent tapestries, but was too proud to admit she had once been in the inferior position of being a student, insisting that she was a better weaver than the Greek Goddess Athena, the Goddess who had been her teacher. Proud of her skills, she issued a challenge to Athena to a contest to see who had the greater talent.
The two immediately set to weaving, Athena's design depicting the glory of the Gods and Goddesses and Arachne's illustrating stories of the Gods' less honorable moments, including depictions of the various seductions and infidelities of Athena's father, Zeus.
Athena was furious and tore Arachne's tapestry to shreds. Realizing that she had gone too far in insulting the deities, Arachne grew so depressed that she hung herself.
Athena took pity on poor Arachne and decided to let her live, but not as a human, and turned Arachne into a spider. "For being so vain", Athena swore, "you will hang and spin forever".
Arachne and her story teach us to be mindful of the risks women, even extraordinarily talented women, take when they speak out against the established order, the patriarchy in particular.
We are reminded to speak the truth, not out of pride or in an effort to "get ahead", but in the spirit of concern and love.
1106 Cydonia:
Cydonia (goddess), the Goddess of Heroic Endeavour in Greek mythology.
52 Europa (Greek):
Innocence and adventure. The creative and earthy process that supports and guides worldly success.
Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn and their rulers Venus, Mercury and Saturn represent the earth instinct. Of all three signs Taurus is the sign most closely aligned with Europa's passions and power. Planets in Taurus or the second house constellate the mythic pattern while transits through the second house or to Venus may evoke issues concerning values and resources.
Keywords: Success, Resourcefulness, Fertile, Productive, Pleasure, Abundance and Wealth
Harnessing the power of the Bull
Underneath the Cretan palace of Knossos hidden in a labyrinthine chamber lived a bull-man, the Minotaur, the shameful shadow of the Minoan clan. Two generations earlier the story began when Zeus shape-shifted into a beautiful white bull to seduce a young Phoenician princess named Europa. Like the Gods of the old religion Zeus took the shape of a virile and magnificent bull to mesmerise the innocent girl who was unaware that her destiny would instigate the founding of two great dynasties as well as the eponymous continent named for the virgin Zeus had abducted.
Europa had been playing in a field gathering spring flowers to make garlands when she became enthralled by a large charismatic bull that meandered into the meadow. Possessed with desire to know the bull, she moved closer. Zeus, the bull-God, knelt before her gently beckoning Europa onto his back. She dared to climb upon him, and then slowly he took her step-by-step across the meadow towards the sea. With the power of a great God, the bull strode the waves across the sea to Crete. Europa clung tightly to the powerful bull, as she rode farther and farther away from her homeland. Zeus had made his conquest. He took Europa as his lover, fathering three children by her; one was Minos the founder of the Cretan dynasty.
Europa's father summoned his sons and instructed them to search for their sister and not to return home until the task had been accomplished. Cadmus set out on the quest, eventually journeying to Delphi to ask the oracle where he could find his sister. The oracle advised Cadmus to relinquish the quest for his sister, as his fate was to found the city of Thebes. In order to find the location he must follow a cow until it came to a place where it would lay down due to exhaustion. Europa had been abducted by a God disguised as a bull; her brother Cadmus is led by a cow to his destiny. Both siblings' destiny is to found a great dynasty guided by the commanding and enterprising bovine instinct. Like the zodiacal sign of Taurus the bull symbolises inherent resource and power and the ability to either cultivate land or build structures that create wealth.
Europa's son Minos claimed the throne of Crete with the blessing of the God Poseidon, his great grandfather who offered him a gift from the sea. A sacred white bull majestically arose out of the ocean and Minos promised to return it to the God in sacrifice. However the bull was so regal and powerful, Minos decided not to sacrifice the majestic bull but substitute it for a prized white bull from his own herd. Outraged at the deceit, the earth-shaker Poseidon cursed the Minoan dynasty provoking Pasiphaë, Minos' wife, to be sexually obsessed with the beautiful God-like bull. Her craving led to her becoming pregnant with her monstrous son, the Minotaur. Minos' greed and failure to respect the laws of the Gods produced a monster that had to be buried beneath the surface of the family in the labyrinthine dungeons of the palace. Buried shame or repression lurking under the atmosphere of the family home eventually surfaces through the next generations. This became evident through the fate of Europa's granddaughters daughters Ariadne and Phaedra. The myth the Greeks retold was a variant of a much earlier motif when the bull was consort of the earth Goddess. Europa is the ancient Goddess whose earthy instinct is powerful and resourceful. Europa heralds contact with the ancient feminine instincts that generate the power to create abundance.
Throughout the myth of Europa the bull image reoccurs. It is a multi-dimensional symbol of earthy passions, desires, magnetism, wealth and potency whose shadow is greed and lust. The Great Bull of Heaven was an image of archaic power, fertility and enterprise. The appearance of the heavenly bull of Taurus heralded spring when the bountiful Earth became carpeted with wildflowers and the cycle of courtship began. The great bull is engaging and charismatic constellating the generative power of the feminine. Aphrodite who symbolises the beauty, sensuality and attractiveness of this archetype is the persuasive erotic power that draws Europa, Pasiphaë, Ariadne and Phaedra into her domain. Europa embodies the wealth and majesty of the bull, its earthy passions and its worldly triumphs. On an oracular level the card heralds a transforming period where the passions and ambitions are reined in to lay foundations for the future. The Goddess forecasts an intense period of growth in resources and wealth. On a divinatory level it augurs the seminal phase of a fertile period where future goals are conceived and put in motion. Europa, as the bull-Goddess, reclaims the power to construct and direct the course of her own life. When the card is chosen it suggests the individual's present course is to construct a solid foundation that will secure the rapid growth of resources. This present period is a touchstone for the future expansion of capital and possessions.
Feminine Wisdom: Europa embodies the ability to ride the bull, harness its power and give birth to its resourceful creativity. Innately she is the image of feminine power, guidance and direction. Embodying earthy instincts she knows how to cultivate the earth and create abundance through her passionate, attractive and commanding nature.
212 Medea (Greek):
Medea was a devotee of the Goddess Hecate, and one of the great sorceresses of the ancient world. She was the daughter of King Aeetes of Colchis, and the granddaughter of Helios, the sun God. Medea is known in most stories as an enchantress and is often depicted as being a priestess of the Goddess Hecate or a witch.
Medea Goddess of Ritual and Healing:
Medea, a princess of Colchis, was known as the 'wise one' for her skill of healing and proficiency at using drugs and herbs.
Medea's ancestors were linked to both the Sun and healing long before Apollo became the God associated with these realms. Helios, Medea's grandfather, was the Sun God of the old order, born a Titan's son.
Her aunt Circe was a sorceress, a magician, herbalist and healer who knew the ancient ways of plants and spices and how to cast spells.
Circe had trained Medea as a young woman in the arts of sorcery, magic and herbalism, teaching her how to mix potions, direct spells and rearrange matter. Medea was also a priestess in the temple of Hecate, honouring the Goddess of the dark night and magic. Hecate guided her instincts.
As a medical intuitive she knew the magical properties of herbs, the appropriate plants for healing, homeopathic tinctures and the process of preparing and administering these remedies in her caldron. As the surrogate of Hecate Medea knew the timing of the lunar cycle and how to draw down the moon when ritual and ceremony was needed.
However, Medea was unable to withstand the unholy alliance of the Goddesses Hera and Athena who petitioned Aphrodite to conspire with them and cause the princess to fall in love with Jason.
Medea became enchanted by Eros and fell in love with the Greek hero, who had come to Colchis to retrieve the Golden Fleece. Medea helped Jason achieve this impossible task with the help of special ointments, incantations and timing. Medea enabled Jason, her heroic/lover, to succeed at the trials set before him but in helping Jason be successful Medea had to betray her family and flee her homeland.
On their flight from Colchis Medea visited her aunt Circe who absolved her of her betrayal and eventually Medea arrived at Jason's birthplace, at the foot of Mount Pelion in Thessaly.
When she arrived in her new homeland Medea used her great skill at the arts of magic and herbs to rejuvenate Jason's father but also used her sorcery to trick the king's daughters into unintentionally killing their father. To prepare for this procedure Medea disappeared for nine days collecting the special drugs and herbs that she needed.
As the Moon swelled she gave sacrifices to her Goddess Hecate, then used drugs to help Aeson, Jason's father, fall into a deep sleep. She then cut his throat to let the old blood run out, dismembered him, putting the pieces in a caldron with the liquid herbs she had prepared.
Jason's father emerged from the caldron rejuvenated, forty years younger. Medea's spell captured the daughters of Pelias, the wicked uncle of Jason who had usurped his rightful claim to the throne. The daughters also wished to rejuvenate their father and Medea said she would perform the task again. The daughters prepared their father by dismembering him; however, this time Medea did not put the herbs in the caldron and their father never emerged.
Having been responsible for the murder of the king Medea and Jason once again were forced to escape. While fleeing Medea's herbal bag broke open, spilling her drugs seeding the plains of Thessaly with an abundance of healing and magical herbs. As the first sorceress to perform rituals in Thessaly Medea is the seminal figure behind the region being known as 'the land of the witches'. Her myth intimates that she introduced woman's herbal knowledge from Asia Minor into Greece.
When Medea is prominent in a birth chart she reveals the need to explore the ancient feminine traditions of herbalism, witchcraft and magic ritual. Intuitively we know the natural cycle of the body and what it needs to be well.
Medea reminds us to honour the ancient custom of relating to the plant world, the wisdom of nature and the powerful healing and transforming properties embedded in the natural world.
Instinctually the witch is the impulse that draws us to remedies and potions at the right time and is the urge to create ritual and ceremony to evoke the powers of the Goddess.
34 Circe (Greek):
Circe, daughter of the sun, was a sorceress best known for her ability to turn men into animals with her magic wand. The daughter of Perse and Helios, and whose daughter is Aega (Goddess of the sun) she is remembered for her encounter with Odysseus and his men, and renowned for her knowledge of magic and poisonous herbs.
When Odysseus and his men landed in Aeaea, his crew later met with Circe and were turned into pigs. Circe's spells however had no effect on Odysseus who earlier was given an herb by Hermes to resist her power. Circe realizing she was powerless over him lifted the spell from the crew and welcomed them in her home. After about a year when Odysseus leaves she warns them of the sirens they will encounter on their journey. Circe and Odysseus also bore a child together named Telegonus who later ruled over the Tyrsenians.
Circe also has the powers for spiritual purification as she purifies the Argonauts for the murder of Apsyrtus.
In Greek mythology, Circe, is a Queen nymph, witch, enchantress or sorceress) living on the island of Aeaea.
Circe's father was Helios (or Helius) , the God of the sun and the owner of the land where Odysseus' men ate cattle, and her mother was Hecate the Goddess of magic and the moon ; she was sister of two kings of Colchis, Aeetes and Perses, and of Pasiphaë, mother of the Minotaur. Circe transformed her enemies, or those who offended her, into animals through the use of magical potions. She was renowned for her knowledge of drugs and herbs.
Circe, The Goddess with Sorceress Powers
The name 'Circe' seems to be related to the English words 'circle' and 'circus'. They are derived from the Indo-European 'sker-3', 'To turn, bend'. One possibility is that her name relates to the gyre of a hawk and thus she is related to bird Goddesses. But it may also relate to the transformations that she performs and relates more to the fact that with her wand she turns men into pigs. The second part of her name may relate the the Indo-European 'ke-', 'To sharpen, whet'. This may reference the point of her wand. Thus her name may mean 'Turner (with the point of her wand)'
Circe is a Goddess, the daughter of the Sun and the sister of Aeetes, the king of Colchis, the land of the golden fleece. She lives on the island of Aeaea which is located to the west as far as Colchis in in the east. Homer indicates she is the daugher of Helios and Perse She was able to purify the Argonauts for the murder of Apsyrtus, the brother of Medea. When Odysseus landed on the island where she lived, she turned some of his men into beasts. Odysseus managed to escape her enchantment, and through a show of force managed to rescue his men and share her bed. He and his men then receive her hospitality for over a year. Later she bore Odysseus a son, Telegonius.
Circe is a temptress who proves that conquering sometimes just involves a show of force. To us she looks like a beautiful witch, but it is important to remember that she is not. She is, according to Homer, a Goddess. She is also an aunt of Medea. In the Odyssey Homer says, "And we came to the isle Aeaean, where dwelt Circe of the braided tresses, an awful Goddess of mortal speech, own sister to the wizard Aeetes. Both were begotten of Helios, who gives light to all men, and their mother was Perse, daughter of Oceanus."
Power over nature can be obtained in several ways. You can have knowledge of nature's ways. You can seek the power of a God or Goddess. Or, if you are a deity, you just do what you want, though often your power is limited to a realm. A witch uses the power of a deity, usually the devil. Ancient Greeks had no notion of the Devil but there was a whole pantheon of deities available. Homer seems to think Circe is a Goddess in her own right. Hermes says to Odysseus, "And I will tell thee all the magic sleight of Circe. She will mix thee a potion and cast drugs into the mess; but not even so shall she be able to enchant thee; so helpful is this charmed herb that I shall give thee, and I will tell thee all. When it shall be that Circe smites thee with her long wand, even then draw thou thy sharp sword from thy thigh, and spring on her, as one eager to slay her. And she will shrink away and be instant with thee to lie with her." Later Athena uses a similar wand to transform Odysseus. This clearly is the tool of a Goddess. But what Goddess has need of drugs and herbs? These have more relation to a knowledge of nature. Charms, of course, relate to a pact between a mortal and a deity. Thus, in this one scene we encounter all the ways of interacting with nature, and Circe seems both mortal and Goddess-like.
She could be well described as a beautiful witch as I have discussed earlier. But refering to her as a witch is confusing. It is interesting to note that the word 'witch' has Indo-European roots and is related to the word 'weik-2' which is related to concepts of magic. The word 'magic' is also Indo-European and comes from the word 'magh-1', 'To be able, to have power'. What was associated with this power was not originally in the hands of a hero but more likely a priestess of Indo-European religion. The power that a priestess invokes is not a material power but a spiritual one. Our word 'spell' refers to an incantation while the Indo-European word 'spel-3' means just 'To say aloud, recite'. Of course what the priestess says aloud are petitions to a deity whose action is desired. The model for Circe may be a priestess, but in fact she is a Goddess. She has no need to petition as she is a Goddess and should be able to act like one.
The concept of potion is more complex. The word 'potion' is also from Indo-European 'poi-1', 'To drink' and 'ag-', 'To drive'. The word 'ag-' became the word 'action' and strictly 'potion' comes from 'poi-1' and 'action' with the 'ac' of action dropped. So a potion is a drink that does something. There is reality here because there are plenty os substances that can act by bring drunk. Poisons, drugs, and alcohol are all examples. Whether a spell or a potion is involved there are realistically expected actions and ones that are unrealistic. It is in the realm of unrealistic expectation that magic is involved. These are hoped for actions that would require divine intervention.
The word 'wand' is also Indo-European from 'wendh-', 'To turn, wind, or weave'. Originally twigs were woven so a trig, as something that was woven, became a wand. But a wand is used in a transformation ceremony. When the men are touched by the wand they are transformed to pigs. So the turn can be interpreted as turn into.
Plainly Circe performs what is obviously magic and she seems to need spells, potions, and a wand. But because she is truely a Goddess none of these are truely necessary. Even so Circe has provided a model that is widely followed in art where a witch or a soceress is portrayed.
Circe (Greece): "She-Falcon"; Dark Moon Goddess; Fate-Spinner. Called the deathbird (kirkos or falcon). As the circle, or cirque, she was the fate-spinner, weaver of destinies. Ancient Greek writers spoke of her as Circe of the Braided Tresses because she could manipulate the forces of creation and destruction by knots and braids in her hair. The isle of Aeaea was a funerary shrine to her; its name is said to come from the grief wail. Associations: Physical love, sorcery, enchantments, procognitive dreams, evil spells, vengeance, dark magick, Witchcraft, and cauldrons.
Goddess Circe: (sometimes pronounced Kirkê --- properly prounced in traditional ancient Greek as Sur'-see)
Her origins and myths are plenty in Greek mythology. In one She is said to be the daughter of the Sea Nymph Perseis and the Sun God Helios, in another she is said to be the daughter of Goddess Hecate and Hermes. Her associations with Goddess Hecate are plentiful, from maiden servant, to student, to selling Her soul to Hecate in return for Hecate's magick.
In all myths of Goddess Circe, She is known as powerful Sorceress and Enchantress of magick. With flaming red hair She is portrayed brewing and offering potions with wand in hand, flying on a magick staff or holding a crystal ball. She lived on the enchanted island of Aeaea off the coast of Italy, where she lured sailors with Her song. It was said by many the island itself was magickal as it's name was the same backwards as it was forward and once upon Her shores the sailors would be lost forever. Goddess Ceres took many lovers and many a tale warned of their fate as swine after She had her fill of them.
In translation Circe means falcon and in many myths She is associated with the bird of prey. It is said She would circle her victims as She enchanted them and offered Her potions of hallucinations. Tales of trees dancing and the ground shaking to confuse and distort the path kept many a sailor from grounding on Her Island. How Goddess Circe must have laugh as she toyed with any who dare challenge the sanctuary of the Goddess. Other stories told about Goddess Circe marrying a Prince to gain ruler-ship over a kingdom near the Black Sea then poisoning him to rule alone. Once Her subjects discovered Her crime Goddess Circe fled in exile to an enchanted island where she lured and was scorned by many lovers.
One lover who scorned Her for another woman resulted in Her wrath turning him into a woodpecker and yet another tale resulted in the other woman being turned into a serpent.
The most famous tale of all is of Odysseus, hero of Homer's epic poem, who with his crew was sent into uncharted waters by the wrath of Poseidon while returning home from the Trojan War. Of course the tale is spun not in favor of the Goddess Ceres but Odysseus. It is said his men were turned into swine and only by winning the heart of the Goddess was he able to convince Her to undo Her evil magick and free his men. Of course the story goes on to tell of the many children Goddess Circe bore with Odysseus and the journey he was allowed into Hades under Her guide. Great wisdom was Odysseus granted on a journey that would have been impossible without Her magick. A little controversy there in opposition of the evil or good of Goddess Ceres.
In other myths not only did She turn men into beast but women who foolishly crossed her into serpents as well. We can only believe this must be the words of those who feared Her powers opposed to other myths where immorality came with the transformation and it was shape shifting and magick that was witnessed. The women not serpents at all but Priestesses under Her training.
Other tales of Goddess Circe tell of a compassionate Goddess whose beauty was intoxicating as She sat upon a throne in a purple robe and golden veil singing and weaving. Many describe Her Island as paradise and Her attendants as nymphs or priestesses who tended the plants and flowers of Her herbarium. That it was as Avalon, a sanctuary to all that sought the Mysteries.
Witches embrace the powerful Goddess and Sorceress that is Goddess Circe. She who could darken the heavens by hiding the moon or the sun behind summoned clouds, She who could give illusion to Her enemies and have men lust after Her as pigs and She who tended the Maidens in the mysteries of witchcraft.
Goddess Circe has withstood the twisted tales of time as Goddess has in Her many aspects, let us embrace Her power to choose and protect her fate. Let us mirror her choice to live in magick and enchantment for the mysteries are ours as daughters of Goddess Circe.
As Goddess Circe spins Her magick let us be reminded of the magick of potions and incantations we possess. As She would ride upon Her magick staff let us take to the astral planes on our broom and tend our own enchanted island.
The witch Circe, whose hair resembled flames, lived in Aeaea, an island which could be located off the western or eastern coast of Italy, where she was brought by her father Helius. The name of this elusive island is what some call a palindrome, for it is the same when read backwards or forwards.
Some of those who visited Aeaea have told that Circe, who lived in a house made of stone in the middle of a clearing in a forest dell, used to sit on a throne wearing a purple robe and a golden veil. They said that her attendants were Nereids and Nymphs, whose only task to sort out the plants and flowers of Circe's herbarium, and put them in separate baskets.
Besides supervising them Circe, while singing beautifully, wove delicate and dazzling fabrics, which is one of the Goddesses' favorite occupations. Others have said that Circe was attended by four maids, one who threw covers over the chairs, another who drew silver tables up to the chairs, placing golden baskets on them, another who mixed the wine, and a fourth who fetched water and lit up the fire to warm it.
100 Hekate (Greek):
An oracle prophetess who spoke to those on the other side, and relayed the messages (a medium). Indicator of psychic and mediumistic abilities.
The Goddess Hekate:
As a triple Goddess, Hecate represents Maiden, Mother and Crone; mind, body and spirit; and birth, life and death. As Mistress of the Night, She represents the three stages of the lunar cycle of New, Full and Dark. Hecate symbolizes the dark within us, the part of our psyche we refuse to acknowledge. Many ignore the wisdom, the strength and the truth of Hecate because our fear of the darkness is so strong. Hecate is associated with the dark side of the moon, but this is the true Moon. The Moon has no light of its own, only reflected light from the sun. Dark is the Moon's true color as is Hecate's. Although most see Hecate as the third phase of the moon, She is actually a Triple Goddess in her own right. She is Hecate the maiden, Hecate the Mother, and Hecate the Crone. Hecate can be called upon during any moon phase, as She is the One and the Three. In pronouncing her name, in the Greek language the "H" is silent. So, to properly pronounce her name is "E-CA-TA" or "e-CO-ta."
In Her maiden aspect, she stands for new beginnings. She can also be called upon when you need to look at something in a new, fresher way....a way that you have never looked at it before. You turn to Her when the moon begins to first wax. In Her Mother aspect is a time to turn to Her when you need nurturing and protection like any mother would give. Turn to Her when the Moon is Full. In Her Crone aspect, it is a time to turn to for protection, wisdom and magick. However, please bear in mind that Hecate is not a Goddess full of tenderness and compassion with white lace and linen. She is also more prone to be stern with you if you brought a situation upon yourself. However, Her wrath is swift and just to those who cause harm to a follower of Hers, because those who seek Her, honor Her and do not fear Her are in Her protection and She does not take lightly to those who cause them harm. She does not tolerate nor does She coddle. Turn to another Goddess if you seek this. Her actions are swift and without frills. So, when you do call upon Her, be prepared for Her swift actions and changes because it might not be what you expected.
Hecate teaches us an important lesson, which is that the feminine should be valued for itself, not because it brings sexuality or power, but because deep within it there is an eternal wisdom. Hecate is also the High Priestess, the keeper of the Mysteries. Hecate is not the priestess who seeks the inner knowledge, but High Priestess who has found it and imparts it to others.
Hecate, who sits enthroned before the Veil of the Temple as the High Priestess, the card in the Tarot which is ruled by the Moon. To reach daylight on the other side of the Veil, we must all become at one with the Dark Mother of the night. Whether it be Hecate guarding the home or of the temple, She will avert evil and provides protection.
The Goddess Hecate is also known as the liberator of women, as she sets women free from the bonds created by man. That is why the Christian Church put Hecate down and created her as the Goddess of evil and destruction. During Medieval times, pagans were being tortured based on their belief in the Goddess. Patriarchy reigned and the fear of feminine power caused the Church to demonize Hecate. She was made infamous as the crone; old, wrinkled, ugly, warts protruding from her nose and chin, mysterious, dark and loathsome. Many mistakenly call Her the destroyer, but She is not for if you destroy something, that something is forever gone. You cannot bring something back that has been destroyed. It has been said that the Goddess's service is perfect freedom. She is the liberator because She is manifest in our deepest drives and emotions, which always and inevitably threaten the systems designed to contain them. She is love and anger, which refuse to fit comfortably into the social order. To be "free from slavery" once meant that, within the ritual circle, all were equal, whether they were peasant, serf, or noble in the outside world. Slavery today could be mental and emotional as well as physical: the slavery of fixed perceptions, of conditioned ideas, of blind beliefs, of fear. Witchcraft demands intellectual freedom and the courage to confront our own assumptions. It is not a belief system: it is a constantly self-renewed attitude of joy and wonder to the world. Hecate enforces feminine independence from masculine influences and this deals in all things including the religion known as Wicca. Wicca is heavily influenced by the male God. The Sabbats are centered around the male God. The word Wicca is a male term....a term connected to the Goddess religion.
In today's society, we hide our elderly (or look right through them as if they do not exist) our sick, and our poor so e can pretend to be immune to such human conditions. But Hecate reminds us of the truth. She sees through the facade of societal amenities. She is not deceived by social standing, education or titles and wealth. Instead, She is impressed only by what is in the heart! She is patroness to those of the heart.
Hecate originally was a Thracian and pre-Olympian Goddess. Zeus bowed down to her antiquity by granting to Hecate alone a power shared by Zeus, that of withholding from humanity anything she wished. He also "granted" her the powers of the heavens, on Earth and the underworld......as if She did not have these powers already. He gave her nothing which She did not already have. Of all the Goddesses, she was the most markedly triple and the most complex. She was Goddess of the Wild Hunt. She was to Greeks and Romans, especially the Goddess of the crossroads. Statutes of Her stood there, and food offerings –"Hecate's Supper" – were taken there at dead of night, on the eve of the full Moon. Her annual festival on August 13 was a propitiatory one, to avert the harvest-destroying storms which the Moon is apt to send at around that time. She also haunted graveyards and the scenes of crimes–as a Goddess of expiration and purification.
Hecate is the Darksome Mother, in both the positive and in the negative sense. To those that dare to welcome Her, she brings creative inspiration. She is Hecate Antea, the Sender of Nocturnal Vision, and, typically of a Moon Goddess. She is Hecate Trivia, Goddess of the Crossroads.
One of her symbols is the torch, for the Dark Mother also holds the light which illuminates the Unconscious and reveals its treasures. With Her torches she guides those who are seeking the mysteries. The light from these torches will lead those wishing to understand the mysteries.
In the Tarot, She is the Threes and the High Priestess; Her gems are star sapphire, pearl, moonstone, and crystal; Plants are the yew tree, cypress, opium, poppy, almond, mugwort, hazel, moonwort, civet, menstrual blood, camphor, garlic, aloes, all sweet virginal odors; Tools are the cauldron, the besom, knives, the key; animals are the dogs and horses, black cats. The owl is Her messenger. Her chariot is pulled by dragons. Hecate's colors are silver and black.
Through Hecate's Cauldron, we must look at our true self, the nature of our motives and the results of our actions, because only through Her cauldron can we truly be reborn in becoming a better person than we were before. Only when we look into Her dark cauldron can we see the light.
Hecate, and none but She, is Queen of all living things. It is through Her that all things live or die. She is the laughing maiden, the living mother, and the black hag of death. She is the three and the one. She smiles and the radiance of the moon, whether it be full or dark, is everywhere for there is no power like Her power and no living thing can withstand Her power. For She is anticipation. She is the fulfillment. She is death. Hear her words, children, worship and be glad for if you seek Her, She is with you always. She was with you in the beginning and shall be with you at the end.
Often depicted as a "hag" or old witch stirring the cauldron. Hecate, the Greek Goddess of the crossroads has been denigrated in status from Goddess to witch in current times. The reasons are explained more fully in the full version of Hecate's story. (see the link at the bottom of this page.
The Greek Goddess Hecate was the only one of the Titans who Zeus allowed to retain authority once the Olympians had defeated them.
She was given the position within the new regime of being the guardian of the households and the protector of all that was newborn. This Goddess of witchcraft was once highly revered and had great influence in the pantheon. Only with Hecate was Zeus willing to share the tremendous power of giving mortals anything she wished (or, if she please, the power of withholding it).
The reclusive Hecate (who was called the 'Queen of the Night') often enjoyed nightly jaunts, accompanied by her hounds and sometimes by a following of "ghosts" and others who were social outcasts.
The Goddess Hecate was known (and also feared) as the protector of those who were oppressed and also those who tended to live a bit "on the edge". Her role in the Underworld, the land of the sleeping and the dead, undoubtedly made her feel more tolerant of those who most would shun out of fear or misunderstanding and more comfortable in their company.
Not surprisingly since Hecate had great influence in the "spirit world", appeals were often made to her for assistance in keeping one safe. She was known as a protector of young children, shepherds, and sailors. In addition, the Goddess could be counted upon to help those who were dying, easing their transition into the "Otherworld" and helping them prepare for a return in their next life.
The Greek Goddess Hecate is a Goddess who helps us make transitions and new beginnings, especially ones that were not planned. As a magical Goddess at home in the spirit world, she helps keep us in touch with our spiritual selves.
69230 Hermes (Greek):
Hermes, the herald of the Olympian Gods, is the son of Zeus and the Nymph Maia, daughter of Atlas and one of the Pleiades. Hermes is the God of shepherds, land travel, merchants, weights and measures, oratory, literature, athletics and thieves, and known for his cunning and shrewdness. Most importantly, he is the messenger of the Gods. Besides that he was also a minor patron of poetry. He was worshiped throughout Greece -- especially in Arcadia -- and festivals in his honor were called Hermoea.
Being the herald (messenger of the Gods), it was his duty to guide the souls of the dead down to the underworld, which is known as a psychopomp. He was also closely connected with bringing dreams to mortals. Hermes is usually depicted with a broad-brimmed hat or a winged cap, winged sandals and the heralds staff (kerykeion in Greek, or Caduceus in Latin). It was often shown as a shaft with two white ribbons, although later they were represented by serpents intertwined in a figure of eight shape, and the shaft often had wings attached. The clothes he donned were usually that of a traveler, or that of a workman or shepherd. Other symbols of Hermes are the cock, tortoise and purse or pouch.
Hermes is the son of Zeus and Maia (one of the Pleiades). Romans called Hermes Mercury.
He is sometimes shown as young and sometimes bearded. He wears a hat, winged sandals, and short cloak. Hermes has a tortoise-shell lyre and the staff of a shepherd. In his role as psychopompos, Hermes is the "herdsman" of the dead. Hermes is referred to as luck-bringing (messenger), giver of grace, and the Slayer of Argus.
Hermes is called Psychopompos (Herdsman of the dead or guider of souls), messenger, bringer of dreams, thief, trickster. Hermes is a God of commerce and music. Hermes is the messenger or Herald of the Gods and was known for his cunning and as a thief from the day of his birth. Hermes is the father of Pan and Autolycus.
Hermes was the cleverest of the Olympian Gods, and messenger to all the other Gods. He is the fastest of the Gods. He wears winged sandals, a winged hat, and carries a magic wand. He is the God of thieves and God of commerce. He is the guide for the dead to go to the underworld. He invented the lyre, the pipes, the musical scale, astronomy, weights and measures, boxing, gymnastics, and the care of olive trees.
114 Kassandra (Greek):
In Greek mythology Cassandra was the daughter of Hecuba and Priam, the king of Troy, and the sister of Hector and Paris. She was blessed with the gift of prophecy. After angering the love-struck Apollo, Cassandra was cursed so that no one would believe her or her prophecies. She foresaw that the Trojan horse was a trick but was ignored and her city was destroyed because of it. From then on she knew she would be taken by Agamemnon and would help to bring about the fall of his household. She also foresaw her death and some of the events that occurred afterwards.
Embracing the Vision
Cassandra stood on the walls of Troy and watched Paris' ship enter the harbour. Her brother had returned from Sparta having seduced Helen away from her homeland to bring her to live in Troy as his wife. With the blessings of Aphrodite Paris and his lover Helen had snuck away from her palace undetected and sailed across the Aegean to Asia Minor. A dark cloud shrouded the ship as it anchored. When Cassandra watched her brother and Helen disembark and approach the city gates she was flooded with images of Troy's destruction, filling her with an ominous and terrible feeling. Possessed by this eerie perception she uttered a warning to the crowd that was gathered at the gates to welcome the couple. From deep inside she divined the future: Helen's entrance into the city would lead to its destruction. Ignoring Cassandra and her prophecy the crowds turned away to welcome the new royal couple into their city. Time and time again her message was rejected and ridiculed. Ten years later a similar scenario would unfold. Cassandra would warn the Trojans not to accept the wooden horse into their city. Once again no one would heed her accurate predictions. The Greeks, angry at Helen's abduction, sacked Troy and left the city in ashes.
Cassandra was one of the daughters of the royal family of Troy, a sister to both Paris and Hector and twinned to her brother, Helenus. When the twins were infants they accompanied their parents to the temple of Apollo to celebrate a festival in honour of the oracular God. During the ritual the twins fell into a deep sleep. Two temple snakes slithered into their basket as they slept and bit them on their ears injecting the gift (or poison) of prophecy into them. From that day both Cassandra and Helenus were known for their prophetic nature.
Having the gift of sight Cassandra entered the temple to serve Apollo being called to her vocation as his Pythia, the voice of the oracular God. However Apollo fell in love with her and demanded she reciprocate his desire. But Cassandra refused to consummate the relationship preferring to worship the God in spirit, not body. Enraged Apollo found a way to avenge her rejection. Knowing he could not retract the gift of prophecy that he had given her when she was so young he cursed her so no one would ever believe her prophecies. The God begged her for one kiss and Cassandra consented. As she opened her mouth to kiss the God Apollo breathed his curse into her insuring others would no longer value her prophetic vision. He turned his back on her, condemning Cassandra to see the perilous future yet never able to be understood or believed. Cassandra, cursed by the narcissistic God for rejecting him, was later violently assaulted by Ajax upon the altar of Athena when the Greeks were ransacking Troy. After the sack of Troy the leader of the Greek fleet Agamemnon took her as his slave back to his palace of Mycenae. As she approached the mammoth walled city her images of destruction became more and more intense. Racked by the violent visions she screamed a warning for Agamemnon to not enter the palace foreseeing his brutal murder at the hands of his wife. In her heart she also knew that entering the city with him would result in her own death.
Cassandra personifies the medial woman whose intuitive faculties and understanding of the unconscious patterns are not welcomed in an ordered rational society. She sees what others are too fearful to see and exposes the inevitable patterns that underpin the situation. In an atmosphere of control and denial Cassandra is marginalised and demeaned becoming the projective reflection of the fear of chaos and uncertainty. Disbelief and ignorance render her wisdom impotent. When dark feelings, dread or grief are repressed in the atmosphere Cassandra is the medium of their expression. Her curse is that she is not identified with her feelings leaving her unable to connect or be understood. Her feelings are identified as autonomous ravings abandoning her to the sidelines of society. In a psychological context Cassandra's ego identity has collapsed through her symbiotic alliance with the unexpressed shadow lurking in the atmosphere. Cassandra is able to sense what is taboo and unlived but unable to remain separate from it.
Cassandra represents the archetype of medial knowledge. Unlike the ancient world there are no longer sanctuaries or sacred places to honour her way of knowing. When the card appears it suggests the need to be aware and respectful of collective messages that arise in us even though they may not be understood or valued by others. She reflects the need to be aware of our medial skills and intuitive knowledge and seek training to help strengthen the ability to use this skill and not be overwhelmed by it. When Cassandra appears she encourages the individual to find a voice for the medium through understanding the symbols, images, signs and omens of unconscious language. She embodies the ancient ways of knowing in a culture that no longer values prophecy and divination. Her knowledge is not objective but oracular. To embrace Cassandra we must abandon logic, separateness and rationality and enter into the irrational world where meaning is revealed through feeling and connectedness. However Cassandra reminds us that in a scientific and ordered society our knowing may be rejected. Cassandra encourages us to have the strength of our convictions and a strong and healthy identity about our beliefs. When the card is chosen we may be seeking a message of guidance but the answer is all around us: in the rustling of the leaves, the flight of the birds, the synchronous movement of the planets, slips of the tongue or in the dream world.
Feminine Wisdom: Oracular knowing springs out of the collective through an unconscious and unbound participation with everything in the environment. When boundaries are blurred and the veil between the worlds is lifted we enter into a participation mystique with the spirits of the world beyond us and may be called to act as a vessel for their message.
Apollo fell in love with Cassandra, the sister of Troilius, and daughter of Hecuba and Priam. He seduced Cassandra on the promise that he would teach her the art of prophecy, but having learnt the prophetic art she rejected him. Apollo, being angry of her rejection punished her, by declaring her prophecies never to be accepted or believed.
432 Pythia (Greek):
The Pythia was the priestess at Apollo's oracle in Delphi. The name comes from Python, the dragon that was slain by Apollo. The Pythia operated as a vehicle for Apollo's will to be known to those on earth. A believer would make a sacrifice and present a question to a male priest. The male priest would then present the question to the Pythia. The Pythia sat on a bronze tripod in the adytum, or inner chamber of Apollo's temple. In this sacred chamber the spirit of Apollo overcame the Pythia and inspired the prophecy. Some mythic traditions say the Pythia's trance was induced by vapors from a chasm below the temple or from chewing laurel leaves. Continuing his role of a middleman, the priest would interpret the Pythia's response for the questioner.
The Delphic Oracle By Eloise Hart
The Oracle of Apollo at Delphi was one of the world's most intriguing and unusual establishments. Within that ancient temple-sanctuary located beneath the "Shining Rocks" of Mount Parnassus, the god Apollo spoke through a Pythia, or human priestess, and offered inspiration and guidance to all who sought his aid. For over a thousand years, before and after the time of Christ, the great and less great came to consult him. Pythagoras went there, and stayed to train a Pythia to serve as voice of the god. Herodotus also went there to record what was said. Plutarch served as priest of Apollo for many years. The great lawgivers Lykurgos and Solon obtained suggestions for laws which made their city-states models of justice and freedom. Oedipus, King of Thebes, consulted the Pythia and so did Alexander the Great. Croesus, King of Lydia, sent envoys as did innumerable others of the Greek, Roman, and Christian world. Today tourists travel regularly to Delphi even though the god is silent and few believe, as the ancients did, that divinities communicate with mortals. Yet, in examining the procedures and responses of this most respected of oracles, one wonders if we are wise to close our minds to the possibility of there once having been this form of divine assistance.
Legends tell us that Delphi and its environs had long possessed a mystic power. Diodoros Siculus, Greek historian of the 1st century B.C., for example, wrote -- whether as fact or fiction we cannot be sure -- that a herdsman, following his goats into a rugged glen suddenly became wondrously inspired and saw the future before him. His goats also were affected, gamboling about and bleating oddly. Others even now mention feeling "something" uplifting; and Plutarch, when officiating at the temple at Delphi, explained that "not often nor regularly, but occasionally and fortuitously, the room in which they seat the god's consultants is filled with a fragrance and breeze (pneumatos) as if the adyton were sending forth the essences of the sweetest and most expensive perfumes" (Moralia, 437c).
The area of Delphi originally was called Pytho and belonged to Gaia, goddess of Earth. She and her daughter, Themis, are believed to have spoken oracles ages ago. In the Odyssey, Homer (c. 800 B.C.) has Agamemnon consult the deity there about his prospects in a war against Troy. Earlier, or later than this -- legends are vague about time sequences -- Apollo is said to have journeyed south from the Hyperborean "Land of Truth and Virtue," and arriving at Pytho (Delphi) he slew the great python-dragon that guarded the site and thereon established a sanctuary. This, in the language of myth, suggests that Apollo, a semidivine teacher using the name of the god, revitalized the old and declining serpent- or wisdom-mysteries at Delphi. As representative of Zeus, he offered advice on personal, civil, and sacred matters through Pythias or priestess-prophetesses -- advice that was highly esteemed by the many who visited the Apolline centers, whether at Delphi, at Klaros and Grynia, at Thebes in Boeotia, or elsewhere.
Archaeological findings indicate that the first sanctuary of Apollo at Delphi was erected in the 8th century B.C. This may have been the fabled "first three temples of baywood, beeswax and feathers, and bronze" which were destroyed by fire and rebuilt of stone. The crumbling columns and statues one sees there today are apparently the ruins of temples, treasuries, and theater built during the 4th century B.C. However, centuries earlier, Delphi had become a well-established oracular center whose dignity of procedure, and wisdom of pronouncement drew multitudes. Its prestige continued during the entire golden era of Hellenic culture. This was a time when there flourished a galaxy of enlightened men and women whose lives and achievements in the fields of the arts and sciences have become ideals of human endeavor. Solon and Thales lived then, as did Pindar, Aeschylus, Aristophanes, and Euripides, Pericles, Herodotus, Demosthenes, Phidias, Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. But these wonder-days declined and with them the flow of Apollo's inspiration. His oracles functioned less often and finally, by the 4th century A.D., when the Roman emperor Theodosius ordered all oracles closed and forbade divination, the god had already withdrawn. When the emperor Julian asked how he could help restore the Pythia to power, Apollo replied: "Tell the emperor that my hall has fallen to the ground. Phoibos [Apollo] no longer has his house . . . nor his prophetic spring; the water has dried up" (Fontenrose, p. 353). Earlier, when Emperor Augustus had asked: "Why is the Oracle silent?" he was told: "A Hebrew boy, a god who rules among the blessed bids me leave this house . . . So go in silence from my altars" (op. cit., p. 349).
What has been recorded of the procedure followed at these oracular centers is fragmentary, possibly because it was so well known no one felt the need to describe it. Centuries later reliable writers culled what they could, while others filled in details from imagination. All agree, however, that young girls were selected and carefully trained so that they could transmit the high inspiration of the god without in any way marring its purity and meaning. Later it was found prudent to use married women -- who were required to live apart from their husbands before and during their oracular duties. In fact, even those who consulted the Pythia were expected to practice chastity, and also to undergo purification, offer sacrifice, approach the holy precincts with reverence and trust and, when waiting in the vestibule, to remain silent, thinking pure thoughts.
The Pythias, keenly aware of the sanctity of their responsibility, endeavored to live accordingly. They purified themselves in various ways, such as drinking from the crystal waters of the Castalian spring, and wearing simple garments as shown in vase-paintings on Greek pottery. On the days of consultation the prophetess burned bay leaves and barley meal on the altar and mounted the "high seat," as the tall tripod was called. Once seated and attended by a priest, she waited for the divine afflatus or "breath" to infill her. When she was ready, inquirers were escorted into her presence one at a time. They either asked their questions orally or in writing. She answered them "directly and clearly." Accounts of these sessions mention that "the enquirer spoke directly to the Pythia (or to the god) and that then the Pythia (or the god) responded directly to him," unless the consultant had been sent by someone not present. In such case the response was copied by the priest who sealed it in an envelope, and gave it to the envoy to deliver to the consultant (op. cit., p. 217). When the sessions were finished the Pythia departed, feeling, as Plutarch says, "peaceful and composed."
It is well when examining the god's pronouncements to bear in mind that what has come down to us may or may not be authentic, or carry high inspiration. Some messages undoubtedly were so lofty and private they were treasured in silence, others have suffered through translation and interpretation, and a few may be pure fiction composed long after Delphi had ceased to function. Thus, like the original recipients, we would be wise to test each statement against our inner judgment.
A general procedure was followed: first, the Pythia announced that Apollo himself was the speaker and therefore the message should be heeded. Then she, as the god, expressed concern for the consultant, e.g., "Happy is this man who enters my house. . . ." Next, she answered the query proposed, and finally gave a message that challenged the recipient's judgment and intuition. As Herakleitos declared: "Nowhere or ever did the God of Delphi either reveal or conceal. He indicates only" (Fragment 93).
An example of this type of pronouncement is that received by a Scythian prince who had asked how he would die and was told that a mus (mouse) would cause his death. Forewarned, the prince not only had his houses cleared of mice but refused anyone named Mus to approach him. He died from an infected muscle in his arm, having overlooked the fact that the Greek word for muscle is also mus.
The majority of questions asked of Apollo concerned personal affairs, though some, from statesmen, sought guidance as to what laws or reforms would benefit their state, or sanction to build a temple, found a city, establish a colony, declare war, or make peace. On occasion the oracle found it necessary to deflate an ego as, for instance, when a wealthy magistrate, after sending Delphi a sizable offering, asked: "Pray tell me, who is the most pious man alive?" Apollo told him it was a peasant who had offered a handful of barley.
The earliest oracles are believed to have been given some time between the 9th and 7th centuries B.C. to the Spartan king Lykurgos who on two or three occasions sought advice on how best to govern his unruly subjects. The responses he received enabled him to establish a constitutional government whose benefits were unique in the history of the Greek city-states. We quote from Diodorus Siculus two examples of quasi-historical responses (Fontenrose, pp. 270, 272):
Q7 [Request for good order.]
R. You, Lykurgos, dear to Zeus and all the gods, enter my temple. I don't know whether to call you god or man, but I rather think god. [You have come in quest of good order. I shall give you an order such as no other city has (Diodoros)].
Q9 What shall the rulers do to rule well and the citizens to obey?
R. There are two ways opposite to each other, one leading to the house of freedom, the other to the house of slavery. Lead the people on the road that goes through courage and harmony; avoid that which leads through strife and ruin.
Thus encouraged, Lykurgos established a council of Elders or Senate, and an Assembly, and when the new constitutional order was functioning smoothly he instituted further reforms sanctioned by Delphi. He was, in fact, so successful in bringing divine law within human reach, that after his death his countrymen built a temple in which they and future generations could pay tribute to this man who in character and wisdom was equal to a god.
The best known Delphic injunction was carved into the lintel at the Temple of Apollo: GNOTHI SEAUTON, Know Thyself. These words may have originated in Apollo's response to a question Chilon of Sparta asked: "What is best for man?" The reply, "Know thyself," is similar to the one believed to have been given to the Lydian king, Croesus, when he was told that he must know himself if he would live most happily. Croesus, a man of action and not philosophical, took this to mean that he should know his own strength, know what he wanted, and should rely on his own judgment. Others have found deeper meaning in these words, taking the "self" to mean the higher self, the true Self; to imply that as man is the microcosm of the macrocosm, he who knows himself knows all.
Many who consulted the oracle missed the god's meaning. Still, Apollo gave help through inspiration and the gentle guidance of ideas, without coercion or any interference in an individual's free will. Nor was there ever any appeal to egoism.
Philosophical responses are recorded:
Q. -- Does the soul survive death or does it vanish?
R. -- While the soul is bound to the body, it yields to mortal ills.
But when it finds release at the body's death, it goes entirely to the sky, always ageless, and remains forever whole. For this is the ordinance of divine providence (Fontenrose, p. 428).
And when asked how men can become good, and godlike, Apollo said: "By acting rightly like the gods, and telling the truth" (Davis, p. 26).
These responses give an idea of the quality of guidance offered at Delphi, and they dispel the erroneous idea that has somehow arisen that the prophetess was in any way intoxicated or in a mediumistic trance. H. W. Parke denies such ideas unequivocally in his A History of The Delphic Oracle (pp. 21-2), saying: "Geologically it is quite impossible at Delphi where the limestone and schist could not have emitted a gas with any intoxicating properties." Nor did any ancient writer mention such fumes. The idea that the Pythia was intoxicated or that she entered a cavern evidently came from the Romans who, when they rose in power, applied to Delphi the features they were familiar with both in the cave-sanctuary of Klaros and the grotto at Cumae. Later writers, unfamiliar with the geological and procedural differences, picked up this explanation and in some cases romanticized it.
Another misconception is that the Pythia's messages were ambiguous and incoherent. Joseph Fontenrose (pp. 223-4) carefully examined the genuine responses and found them unusually clear and direct. What ambiguity he found may have been put there, he believes, by the poets who at one time attended the sessions and wrote the responses in hexameter verse. They, not the Pythia, added the metaphors, riddles, and pompous phrasing. When their services were discontinued, the responses came through again as clear and understandable as originally.
Plutarch, an initiate and careful biographer, explained how the Pythia transmitted the inspiration of Apollo:
the prophetic priestesses are moved [by the god] each in accordance with her natural faculties . . . As a matter of fact, the voice is not that of a god, nor the utterance of it, nor the diction, nor the metre, but all these are the woman's; he [Apollo] puts into her mind only the visions, and creates a light in her soul in regard to the future; for inspiration is precisely this. -- Moralia, "The Oracles at Delphi," V, 397d
Plutarch also rejected the idea that the god in any way possessed the body of the prophetess or that there was mediumship involved. For him the Pythia's inspiration was her reception of divine force, for she had been trained to receive "the inspiration without harm to herself " (op. cit., 438c), and could receive it safely only when she was rightly prepared. An example is often cited of an ill-prepared priestess who was forced against her will and better judgment to enter the adyton and respond to a questioner. She gave a response, but suffered acutely, collapsed, and died a few days later.
The idea that the Pythia was in a trance condition may have come from a misunderstanding of how the Greek words mania and pneuma were used in connection with oracles. While today the term mania refers to various forms of hysteria and insanity, to the ancient Greeks it meant ardor, rapture, enthusiasm, i.e., being infilled with a god. The word pneuma was used for "air," "vapor" and, philosophically, for "soul" and "spirit." When the Pythia mounted the tripod she received, according to Strabo, the pneuma, the divine "breath" or afflatus, a word defined as a divine imparting of knowledge and power and of inspiration, meaning in this case the divine wisdom or breath of Apollo.
Initiates of the Greek Mystery schools were familiar with the idea, having themselves undergone arduous moral, psychological, and mental training and purification in preparation for the sacred experience of transcendent Reality. In similar fashion, the Pythias, by subjugating a portion of their nature, were able to receive and pass on to others something of this import and wonder.
Has this oracular gift been withdrawn from mankind? Many are asking today if it is still possible to receive such inspired advice. Perhaps it is: if we take to heart Apollo's injunction, Know thyself, and turn inwards for counsel. What we make of that counsel, however, is our challenge. Lykurgos used what he received to raise the level of Greek thought and conduct. Croesus, blinded by ambition, misunderstood, and destroyed his kingdom. Others found in the words of the god whether they came through oracle-priestess, prophet, or their own inner source -- guidance of a very high order.
In a chart, represents psychic abilities.
4341 Poseidon (Greek):
God of the sea, also called the Earthshaker, since he was thought to cause earthquakes, Poseidon was the son of Cronus and Rhea and brother of Zeus and Hades. He was the husband of Amphitrite, with whom he had Triton. He also had children with his many mistresses, for example the Cyclops, Pegasus, Thesus and Orion.
Originally, Poseidon was the God of water, but later became a sea-God as well as the ultimate master of the wells and rivers. His temples were usually situated by the sea, the remains of one of them can still be seen at Cap Sounion, not far from Athens. He was the patron God of the Ionians.
In art Poseidon was pictured with a trident and the dolphin was his animal.
Poseidon was also the horse-God, and the ancient Greeks would sacrifice horses to him and sink them into the sea. He was also connected to bulls.
During the Trojan wars he sided with the Greeks since a king of Troy had refused to pay him for building the city walls, but he an enemy of Odysseus after he had killed his son Polyphemus the Cyclop.
Poseidon had wanted to be the protector of Athens, and in a competition with Athena about the city, he offered a spring to the Athenians.
When the people drank the water they had to spit it out since it was salt, Poseidon being a sea-God. He lost to Athena who had given Athens the olive tree.
The ancient Greeks celebrated the God through the Istmian Games which were held every two years.
In Roman mythology Poseidon is called Neptune. He also had the following epithats:
Aegaeus, Asphaleius, Cuerius, Damatites, Epactaeus, Epopsius, Gaeaochus, Genethlius, Heliconius, Hippius, Hippocurius, Isthmus, Lechaeus, Onchestius, Patros, Petraeus, Samicus, Samius, Taenarius.
Similar to Neptune, Poseidon represents psychic phenomena, abilities and awareness.
382 Dodona (Greek):
Dodona is situated in northwestern Greece, in the region of Epirus. This ancient sanctuary and oracle of Zeus dates back as far as the third millennium BCE when the "earth mother" was worshipped here.
Early in the second millennium BCE the worship of the "holy beech tree" sprang up (in other versions an oak tree) today the oak tree is preferred as the oak is sacred to Zeus. During the 13th and 14th centuries BCE the worship of the Pelasgian god Zeus was beginning to be established in Dodona, and the original earth goddess was renamed "Diona" and subsequently became the wife of Zeus (Dias). They both lived among the branches of the holy tree, where the seer-priests interpreted what the god spoke from the rustling of the leaves.
In the early period there were no buildings as such and according to Homer's epic poem the Iliad, (circa 750 BCE) the priests "slept on the ground, with unwashed feet". But Herodotus wrote (circa 435 BCE) that priestesses had replaced the male priests. " These priestesses called themselves doves" (peleiades), this probably comes from the legend of two priestesses from Thebes in Egypt, who were abducted by Phoenicians, to escape they turned themselves into two black doves and flew away. One landed in Libya (and established a similar sanctuary to that of Dodona). When the black dove alighted on a branch of a tree in Dodona it spoke in a human voice, demanding that an oracle be established there. (Another mythological story, this from "Jason and the Argonauts", says that Jason's ship "the Argo" had the gift of prophecy, as the prow had been carved by Athena from an oak tree which was taken from the wood beside the sanctuary of Zeus at Dodona.)
In the early fourth century BCE a small temple was built in honor and worship of Zeus, and in the third century the Epirote king Pyrrhus had put together a building program and also inaugurated a festival to be held every four years, with athletic and musical competitions, the building program included various auxiliary buildings, also a wall to protect the oracle and holy tree, around the same period the temples of Heracles and Diona were built, as well as the first theatre which had a stone floor and wooden proscenium. Although Dodona became the religious and political center of northwestern Greece it was never as influential as the oracle of Apollo at Delphi. An invasion by the Aetolians ( 219 BCE) destroyed the buildings of the Dodona oracle, but were rebuilt by the Epirotes with the help of king Philip V of Macedon. The temple of Zeus was made bigger and more splendid, as were those of Heracles and Diona, and in addition a stadium was built.
During the Roman conquest the sanctuary of Dodona was once again destroyed (167 BCE) later to be rebuilt in 31 BCE by the Emperor Augustus. The Dodona oracle was used by supplicants until early in the Christian era when the holy tree was cut down (CE 391) and the oracle ceased functioning.
342 Endymion (Greek):
In Greek mythology, Endymion was a beautiful youth who spent much of his life in perpetual sleep. Endymion's parentage varies among the different ancient references and stories, but several traditions say that he was originally the king of Elis. According to one tradition, Zeus offered him anything that he might desire, and Endymion chose an everlasting sleep in which he might remain youthful forever. According to another version of the myth, Endymion's eternal sleep was a punishment inflicted by Zeus because he had attempted to have a sexual relationship with Zeus's wife, Hera. In any case, Endymion was loved by Selene, the goddess of the moon, who visited him every night while he lay asleep in a cave on Mount Latmus in Caria; she bore him 50 daughters. A common form of the myth represents Endymion as having been put to sleep by Selene herself so that she might enjoy his beauty undisturbed.
Ability to feel oneness with the nature.
157 Dejanira (Greek):
Dejanira (Latinized in Greek, 'man-destroyer' or 'destroyer of her husband') is a figure in Greek mythology, best-known for being Heracles' third wife and, in the late Classical story, unwittingly killing him with the Shirt of Nessus.
Dejanira is the daughter of Althaea and Oeneus ('wine-man' and thus civilized), the king of Calydon, and the sister of Meleager. She also was said to have become the mother of Macaria (who saved the Athenians from defeat by Eurystheus).
One version of a late Classical tale relates that she was of such striking beauty that both Heracles and Achelous wanted to marry her and there was a contest to win her hand. Her father had already betrothed her to the fearsome river God Achelous, horned and bull-like. Dejanira was not passive, however. "This Dejanira drove a chariot and practiced the art of war", noted Apollodorus (Library and Epitome, book i, 8:1), but she wanted nothing to do with her suitor, who was able to take the form of a speckled serpent, a bull-headed man, or a bull. Robert Graves interpreted the association with war as a relationship with the pre-Olympian war Goddess, Athene, who was an orgiastic bride in many local sacred marriages to kings who may have been sacrificed. Heracles, the greatest hero of the dawning Classical Olympian world of deities and men, had to defeat the river God to win her as his bride.
In another version of her tale, Dejanira is instead the daughter of Dexamenus, king of Olenus. Heracles violates her and promises to come back and marry her. While he is away, the centaur Eurytion appears, demanding her as his wife. Her father, being afraid, agrees. Heracles appears in the nick of time and slays the centaur, claiming his bride.
The central story of Dejanira, however, concerns the Tunic of Nessus. The wild centaur Nessus attempted to kidnap Dejanira as he was ferrying her across the river Euenos, but she was rescued by Heracles, who shot the centaur with a poisoned arrow. As he lay dying, Nessus lied to Dejanira, telling her that a mixture of olive oil with the semen that he had dropped on the ground and his heart's blood would ensure that Heracles would never again be unfaithful.
Dejanira believed his words and kept a little of the potion by her. Heracles fathered illegitimate children all across Greece and then fell in love with Iole (also called Omphal). When Dejanira thus feared that her husband would leave her forever, she smeared some of the blood on Heracles' famous lionskin shirt. Heracles' servant, Lichas, brought him the shirt and he put it on. The centaur's toxic blood burned Heracles terribly, and eventually, he threw himself into a funeral pyre. In despair, Dejanira committed suicide by hanging herself or with a sword.
In a chart, Dejanira can indicate the misuse of magic spells and/or themes of abuse.
1009 Sirene (Greek):
The Sirenes (or Sirens) were three sea nymphes who lured sailors to their death with a bewitching song. They were formerly handmaidens of the Goddess Persephone. When the girl was secretly abducted by Hades, Demeter gave them the bodies of birds, and sent to assist in the search. They eventually gave up and settled on the flowery island of Anthemoessa.
The Seirenes were later encountered by the Argonauts who passed by unharmed with the help of Orpheus, the poet drowing out their music with his song. Odysseus also sailed by, bound tightly to the mast, his men blocking their ears with wax. The Seirenes were so distressed to see a man hear their song and yet escape, that they threw themselves into the sea and drowned.
The Seirenes were depicted as birds with either the heads, or the entire upper bodies, of women. In mosaic art they were depicted with just bird legs.
Sirenes are mythical beings who were believed to have the power of enchanting and charming, by their song, any one who heard them. When Odysseus, in his wanderings through the Mediterranean, came near the island on the lovely beach of which the Sirens were sitting, and endeavouring to allure him and his companions, he, on the advice of Circe, stuffed the ears of his companions with wax, and tied himself to the mast of his vessel, until he was so far off that he could no longer hear their song. According to Homer, the island of the Sirens was situated between Aeaea and the rock of Scylla, near the south-western coast of Italy. Homer says nothing of their number, but later writers mention both their names and number some state that they were two, Aglaopheme and Thelxiepeia; and others, that there were three, Peisinoë, Aglaope, and Thelxiepeia, or Parthenope, Ligeia, and Leucosia. They are called daughters of Phorcus, of Achelous and Sterope, of Terpsichore, of Melpomene, of Calliope, or of Gaea. Their place of abode is likewise different in the different traditions, for some place them on cape Pelorum others in the island of Anthemusa, and others again in the Sirenusian islands near Paestum, or in Capreae. The Sirens are also connected with the legends about the Argonauts and the rape of Persephone. When the Argonauts, it is said. passed by the Sirens, the latter began to sing, but in vain, for Orpheus rivalled and surpassed them ; and as it had been decreed that they should live only till some one hearing their song should pass by unmoved, they threw themselves into the sea, and were metamorphosed into rocks. Some writers connected the self-destruction of the Sirens with the story of Orpheus and the Argonauts, and others With that of Odysseus. Late poets represent them as provided with wings, which they are said to have received at their own request, in order to be able to search after Persephone, or as a punishment from Demeter for not having assisted Persephone, or from Aphrodite, because they wished to remain virgins. Once, however, they allowed themselves to be prevailed upon by Hera to enter into a contest with the Muses, and being defeated, they were deprived of their wings. There was a temple of the Sirens near Surrentum, and the tomb of Parthenope was believed to be near Neapolis.
In a chart, Sirene can indicate suggestibility or the ability to manipulate.
1309 Hyperborea (Greek/Norse):
According to esoterists, Hyperborea was the Golden Age polar center of civilization and spirituality.
Hyperborea: Home of the ancient Indo-Europeans. Atlas came from there as well as Apollo and then obviously Artemis and so Leto and the Buto cult. Following the Persians and Aryans back into pre-history we also come to areas around the Caspian Sea and references to lands like Hyperborea, the legendary place of a sunny, green land in a perfect climate at the North Pole. Legends have emerged about entering Inner Earth there.
In Greek mythology, Hyperborea was a fabulous realm of eternal spring located in the far north beyond the land of winter. Its people were a blessed, long-lived race free of war, hard toil, and the ravages of old age and disease.
Hyperborea was usually described as a continent-bound land, bordered by the great earth-encircling river Okeanos to the north, and the great peaks of the mythical Rhipaion mountains to the south. Its main river was the Eridanos, which flowed south, drawing its waters directly from the Okean-stream. The shores of this stream were lined by amber-bearing poplar trees and its waters inhabited by flocks of white swans. Blessed with eternal spring, the land producing two crops of grain per year. But most of the country was wild, covered with rich and beautiful forests, "the garden of Apollo."
To the south the realm was guarded by the bitterly cold peaks of the near-impassable Rhipaion mountains. This was the home of Boreas, god of the north wind, whose chill breath brought winter to all the lands to the south--Skythia, Thrake, Istria, Celtica, Italy and Greece. The peaks of the mountains were also the home of Griffins (eagle-lions), and its valleys were inhabited by the fierce, one-eyed Arimaspoi tribe. Directly to the south lay Pterophoros, a desolate, snow-covered land cursed by eternal winter.
Hyperborea was a theocracy ruled by three priests of the god ApolloBoreades, were sons or descendants of the north wind Boreas. Their capital contained a circular temple dedicated to the god where hecatombs of asses were sacrificed in his honour. The musical race also celebrated his divinity with a constant festival music, song and dance. The hymns were joined by the sweet song of circling, white Hyperborean swans.
The land appears in several myths. The first of these was the story of Phaethon, the boy who tried to fly the chariot of the sun, but lost control, and was struck down by Zeus with a thunderbolt, His flaming body fell into the Hyperborean river Eridanos, where his mourning sisters, the Heliades, gathered and were transformed into amber-shedding poplar trees. His friend Kyknos, in his grief, leapt into the bitumen lake of Phaethon's fall, and was transformed into a swan. Hyperboreans afterwards leapt in this same very lake as they were approaching death and were transformed into singing white swans. The bird migrated to the Lydian river Kaystros and other places in the south, but remained mute beyond its homeland.
Perseus travelled to Hyperborea and was entertained by its folk when he went in search of certain Nymphs who guarded treasures of the gods, or else the Graiai, swan-bodied hags who could reveal the location of Medousa.
Perseus' descendant Herakles made the same journey on two separate occassions. The first time was in his quest for the golden-horned deer of Artemis which fled north during the chase. The second time he was seeking Atlas to obtain the golden apples of Hesperides. The Titan stood holding the sky aloft in Hyperborea beneath the heavenly axis around which the constellations revolved. (Later? versions of this story place Atlas in North-West Africa).
Another body of stories connected the Hyperboreans with the founding of several important religious shrines in ancient Greece. In the distant past the god-blessed race was said to have sent many holy prophets and pilgrims into Greece.
On Delos, one story told how the pregnant goddess Leto travelled south to the island from Hyperborea, accompanied by wolves, where she gave birth to the god Artemis-Eileithyia was summoned from the northern realm to assist with the labour.
After the event, the Hyperboreans despatched pilgrims to the island, five men known as the and maiden-priestesses of the goddess. However, after several of the maidens were either raped or killed the Hyperboreans ended the pilgrimage, delivering their offerings instead through neighbouring tribes and peoples. Sometimes these are described as passing through Skythia on the Black Sea, at other times through Istria at the northern end of the Adriatic. Within Greece itself the offerings were carried from Dodona to Karystos in Euboia, then Tenos, before finally reaching Delos. The Athenians claimed they came to their town of Prasiai from Sinope on the Black Sea.
The next major shrine connected with the Hyperboreans was the oracle of apollo at Delphoi. The second of the temples built to the god was said to have been built by Hyperborean pilgrims of beeswax and (swan ?) feathers. When the army of the Gauls tried to seize the temple in historical times, phantoms of these prophets were said to have appeared on the battlefield, routing the invading army.
Finally they appear in the myths of the founding of the Olympic Games. It was said that when Herakles (either the Daktylos or the son of Zeus) established the festival in honour of Zeus he decided to adorn the grounds with holy trees. To this end he made a pilgrimage to Hyperborea to obtain sacred wild olives for the shrine.
Perhaps the most famous prophet of the Hyperboreans was a man named Abaris, who was given a magical arrow by the god Apollo on which he flew around the world performing miracles. Some say this arrow was the one which apollo had used to slay the Kyklopes, which he had hidden beneath a Hyperborean mountain.