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The Last Post

It seems like a long time since I started this blog five years ago. The first post was published on January 15, 2015, which seems like an awfully long time ago. Over time, people started reading and liking the posts, and I want to thank you all for your support and input over the years.

After five years of writing more or less weekly, I want to go back to long-form formats like books, that will allow me to explore topics more fully. I have several ideas for books, including an ebook on Aeracura, an updated version of The Sun Goddess, and maybe something on the Irish goddess Boand.

I will be leaving this site as it is for now, so don’t worry that it will disappear or that your links will be useless. Thank you all again for reading and commenting – I’ve learned so much from your comments and questions, and been led to investigate things I never thought of.

So stay safe everyone, and thank you for reading my blog!

Image by FelixMittermeier from Pixabay

Aphrodite: Sea goddess of the ancient Greeks (reblog)

Aphrodite is today best-known as the ‘goddess of love,’ but among the ancient Greeks she was also important in maritime religion, trade and travel.

Read more here.

Image by Pexels from Pixabay.

 

 

Chloris: Goddess of New Growth and Flowers (reblog)

Springtime: A time of renewal, warm breezes and the return of all things green! A time when the worries and drudgery of winter melt away and make room for the new, a promise of things to come. The ancient Greeks enjoyed the spring much as we do today, soaking up the warming sun and feeling their spirits rise as the world came back to life after a long, snow-capped sleep.

And naturally, they took the time to inhale the fresh scents of the blooming flowers that poked their way through the winter-weary soil, all courtesy of the little-known but oh-so-important goddess CHLORIS, the ancient Greek goddess of flowers!

To read more, click here.

Image at top from from Couleur from Pixabay.

The Ambiguous Status of the Tuatha De Danann

My post on the Irish goddess Airmid provoked a discussion on whether the Tuatha de Danann were really deities, or just heroic individuals. The answer, of course, depends on who you ask.

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How the new Wall gods came to be: the case of the Veteres (reblog)

There are some intriguing deities on Hadrian’s Wall. Some might have been ‘born’ or ‘re-born’ when incomers from foreign lands, trying to make sense of their new situation, created brand new ‘gods of place’. The enigmatic Veteres are possible candidates here. 61 altars to a god called Veteris (or to gods called the Veteres) have been found in Britain, with the great majority coming from the wall zone, including 13 from Carvoran and 11 from Vindolanda.

Read more here.

Image by David Mark from Pixabay

The Rex Nemorensis – King of the Wood: The Ghastly Priest who Slew the Slayer (reblog)

Under the influence!

Image by Gerson Martinez from Pixabay

“From the still glassy lake that sleeps

Beneath Aricia’s trees –

Those trees in whose dim shadow

The ghastly priest doth reign,

The priest who slew the slayer,

And shall himself be slain” (1)

Thomas Babbington Macaulay

These words by Thomas Babbington Macaulay succinctly sum up the deadly duel of life and death to decide the Rex Nemorensis, the legendary High Priest of Diana Nemorensis of the Sacred Grove of Lake Nemi. The Rex Nemorensis was a shadowy figure in ancient Greek and Roman myth and legend. Most versions of his story agree that he earned his title and role by winning a fight to the death to become the “ghastly priest” of the above verse. Here we shall briefly discuss the mythical goddess of the Sacred Grove, Diana Nemorensis, followed by a look at her high priest and his deadly duel…

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Airmid – Celtic Goddess of Healing and Herbal Lore (reblog)

Airmid, also known as Airmed or Airmeith, is the Celtic Goddess of the Healing Arts. She was  a member of the Tuatha De Danaan, the most ancient race of deities in Ireland and just as they did, she had great magickal powers…

Read more here.

Image by Couleur on Pixabay.

Hestia: Domestic Goddess

At a time when we’re all staying at home and trying to find ways to make it interesting (provided we’re not ill), it might be worth taking a look at the hearth-goddess Hestia. She tends to be overlooked, and doesn’t have a lot of myths, but now is a good time for a reappraisal of this quiet but essential goddess.

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Eir: Goddess, Valkyrie and Healer

Eir is a puzzling figure in Norse mythology. Snorri Sturluson, who set out to explain Norse mythology in his Prose Edda, explains Eir in two different ways in the two main books, Gylfaginning and Skaldskaparmal.

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Grottasöngr: giantesses vs. the king

You wouldn’t expect a Norse myth to be a parable on economic exploitation, and how bad deeds rebound on the doer. Grottasöngr, a story of how king Frodi forced two giantesses to work a mill without cease, and thus wrought his own destruction, is an unusual myth.

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