ARTEMIS (Roman name Diana) was the virgin goddess of the hunt. She helped women in childbirth but also brought sudden death with her arrows. Artemis and her brother Apollo were the children of Zeus and Leto. In some versions of their myth, Artemis was born first and helped her mother to deliver Apollo. She is sometimes referred to as Potnia Theron (Mistress of the Beasts) indicating her concern for and power over wild animals. She is also concerned with women's transition from girlhood to adulthood (via marriage) and with childbirth, a concern she shares with Hera and Eileithyia. Women who die are said to be struck down by her arrows.
Niobe, queen of Thebes, once boasted that she was better than Leto because she had many children while the goddess had but two. Artemis and Apollo avenged this insult to their mother by killing all or most of Niobe's children with their arrows. The weeping Niobe was transformed into stone, in which form she continued to weep.
When Apollo noticed that Artemis was spending a great deal of time hunting with the giant Orion, he decided to put an end to the relationship. He challenged Artemis to prove her skill at archery by shooting at an object floating far out at sea. Her shot was perfect. The target turned out to be the head of Orion.
Artemis is generally depicted as a young woman clad in buckskins, carrying a bow and a quiver of arrows. She is often accompanied by wild creatures such as a stag or she-bear.
Euripides' Hippolytus shows her in opposition to Aphrodite. Actaeon and Hippolytos are two young men who, in different ways, are destroyed by their association with Artemis.
Artemis demands the sacrifice of the virgin Iphigeneia at Aulis before she will allow the Greek fleet to sail against Troy. The reasons given for her anger vary: Agamemnon kills a deer in her sacred grove (mentioned in Sophocles, Electra); or he boasts that he is a better shot than Artemis herself (Apollodorus). For the motif of Artemis' concern to protect her animals against marauding heroes see the story of Heracles and the Kerynitian hind; for the motif of mortals boasting of their superiority to the gods see the stories of Arachne, Actaeon, Marsyas, Niobe, the Lesser Ajax.
Kallisto was one of Artemis' nymphs who offended the goddess by becoming pregnant by Zeus and was banished. The jealous Hera then further punished her by turning her into a bear. The stories of Actaeon and Kallisto were known in the Renaissance through Ovid's Metamorphoses and were popular subjects for artists.
Keywords: descent goddess jenny green teeth goddess youth goddess eris called particular deity world goddesses hebe goddess goddess tammuz witchcraft school sorcerer spells called deity wiccan supplies real witches death spells
WITH THE DARK MOON AROUND THE CORNER, I THOUGHT IT MIGHT BE APPROPRIATE TO FEATURE A LITTLE KNOWN VERY DARK GODDESS, TUONETAR. SHE IS THE DAUGHTER OF MANALA. SHE IS THE FINNISH GODDESS OF THE DEAD, THE QUEEN OF THE UNDERWORLD. NOW, PLEASE BEAR IN MIND THAT THE FINNISH UNDERWORLD WAS NOT A PLACE OF PUNISHMENT; IN FACT, IT IS MERELY A DARKER VERSION OF THE WORLD AS IT APPEARED EVERYWHERE ELSE. EVEN THOUGH IT IS THE KINGDOM OF THE DEAD, THE SOULS LIVE ON JUST AS THEY DID WHEN THEY WERE ALIVE. SHE IS THE WIFE OF TUONI, GOD OF THE UNDERWORLD, WHICH, BY THE WAY, IS CALLED TUONELA. HER APPEARANCE IS THAT OF AN INCREDIBLY, UGLY AND TERRIFYING CRONE.
IT IS SAID THAT TUONELA IS ENCIRCLED BY A DARK RIVER. THE WATERS ARE CRIMSON WITH BLACK SWELLS OF WAVE, AND THOSE WHO DRINK OR TOUCH IT ARE DRAINED OF ALL DESIRE. SHAMANS ARE SOMETIMES ABLE TO REACH THE SPIRITS OF THE DEAD ANCESTORS IN A STATE OF TRANCE, BUT HAD TO BE CAREFUL NOT TO GET CAUGHT FOR THE LIVING ARE NOT WELCOME.
HER COLOR IS BLACK; HER ELEMENT IS EARTH.
Keywords: olympus gods and goddesses roman gods goddess greek gods and goddesses with pictures all of the gods and goddesses list greek goddesses egyptian gods and goddesses for kids real voodoo online love spells candle magic spells pagan spells magick spells and rituals real love spells
"XOCHIQUETZAL" IS THE AZTEC GODDESS OF WOMEN; SHE RULES OVER LOVE, MARRIAGE, WOMEN, WEAVING, AND CHANGES. SHE IS THE PATRONESS OF SACRED PROSTITUTES, ARTISTS, AND DANCERS. SHE ENCOURAGED HER NAME MEANS "GODDESS OF THE FLOWERING EARTH". EVERYWHERE SHE GOES, SHE IS FOLLOWED BY BUTTERFLIES AND BIRDS. SHE IS DEPICTED AS A YOUNG, CHARMING, AND BEAUTIFUL WOMAN ADORNED IN TYPICAL AZTEC ATTIRE. SHE ALWAYS REMAINS YOUTHFUL, NEVER GROWING OLD. SHE WEARS A CROWN OF RED LEATHER IN THE FORM OF A BRAID WAS PLACED ATOP HER HEAD. HER ARMS ARE OPEN AS A WOMAN WHO IS DANCING. SHE IS AWARE OF HER SEXUALITY AND USES IT KNOWINGLY. MARIGOLDS AND DOVES ARE SACRED TO HER.
HER HOME WAS ALSO THE HOME OF MANY OTHER GODS IN THE AZTEC PANTHEON. SHE RESIDED IN A HEAVENLY PARADISE OF FLOWERS, GARDENS, AND FOUNTAINS. THERE SHE WAS ATTENDED TO BY A HOST OF DEITIES AND MUSICIANS WHO SOUGHT ONLY TO ENTERTAIN HER.
THE AZTECS WERE KNOWN TO SACRIFICE VIRGINS TO XOCHIQUETZAL, AT THEY HELD IN HER HONOR EVERY EIGHT YEARS. AT THIS TIME, A YOUNG WOMAN WOULD BE CHOSEN TO REPRESENT THE GODDESS; SHE WAS THEN RITUALLY SACRIFICED AND FLAYED, HER SKIN TO BE WORN BY A PRIEST WHO SAT AT A LOOM PRETENDING TO WEAVE. AND, WHILE THIS ALL WAS OCCURRING, THE OTHERS WOULD DANCE ABOUT IN ANIMAL COSTUMES. IN TODAY'S SOCIETY, THIS MAY SEEM HORRIFYING AND CRUEL, BUT WE MUST REMEMBER THE ANCIENTS THOUGH DIFFERENTLY, AND THIS SACRIFICE OF BLOOD AND LIFE WAS NECESSARY TO ENSURE THEIR SURVIVAL. IN FACT, TO BE SACRIFICED LIKE THIS WAS THOUGHT OF AS A GREAT HONOR.
SHE WAS ALSO THE GODDESS OF FERTILITY WHO REPRESENTED SEXUAL EXCESS AND CHILDBIRTH AS WELL AS BEING CREDITED AS THE CREATOR OF HUMANS AS WELL AS WELL AS AN INTERMEDIARY BETWEEN BETWEEN THEM AND THE GODS. SHE ENCOURAGED LOVE-MAKING AS A MEANS OF PLEASURE, YET SHE ALSO HAD THE POWER TO ABSOLVE HUMANS OF HER SINS. THE AZTECS OFTEN INVOKED HER TO MAKE A MARRIAGE FRUITFUL.
EVERY YEAR AT HARVEST, MEN AND WOMEN WOULD FLOCK TO HER TEMPLE FOR CONFESSION WITH AS MANY PIECES OF STRAW AS THE SINS THEY HAD TO CONFESS. AND, AFTER PIERCING THEIR TONGUE, THEY WOULD PASS THE STRAW THROUGH THE OPENING AND THEN TOSS THEM ONTO THE FLOOR. HER PRIESTS WOULD THEN GATHER UP ALL THE BLOODY STRAWS AND CAST THEM ONTO A FIRE BUILT TO DESTROY THESE SINS. ONCE ABSOLVED, THE PEOPLE WOULD THUS PURIFY THEMSELVES BY BATHING IN RIVERS OR IN SPRINGS.
Keywords: the roman gods and goddesses names all greek god and goddesses mythical gods and goddesses family tree of gods and goddesses egypt gods and goddesses names powerful voodoo spells aleister crowley evil love spells for free black magic spells uk masons secrets wiccan chants and spells magic spell chants
"Coyolxauhqui" is the Aztec goddess of the "Moon"; Her name means Golden Bells. She is the daughter of the earth goddess, "Coatlicue" and the sister to four hundred [male] gods of the South (the stars), and an older sister to Huitzilopochtli, the god of war and of the sun. She possesses magical powers with which She can do great harm.
"COYOLXAUHQUI "WISHED TO KILL HER OWN OWN MOTHER "COATLICUE" WHEN SHE BECAME PREGNANT IN WHAT HER CHILDREN DEEMED UNSEEMLY CIRCUMSTANCES, BUT IT WAS JUST AT THAT MOMENT THAT THE MOON AND THE STARS WERE AT THE POINT OF KILLING HER, THE SUN, "HUITZILOPOCHTLI", WAS BORN, FULLY ARMED WITH A SHIELD AND SPEAR. HE DECAPITATED HIS TREACHEROUS SISTER AND CAST HER AWAY. AND SO IT IS THAT THE MOON DIES EVERY MONTH, DEFEATED BY THE SUN AND CUT IN PIECES. "COYOLXAUHQUI" AND HER DISMEMBERMENT ARE THE EXPLANATION FOR A CELESTIAL PHENOMENON, IN WHICH THE MOON DIES AND IS BORN IN PHASES.
A LARGE SHIELD-SHAPED STONE RELIEF REFLECTING THIS STORY WAS FOUND AT THE BASE OF THE STAIRS OF THE "TEMPLO MAYOR". ON THIS DISK, "COYOLXAUHQUI" IS SHOWN SPREAD OUT ON HER SIDE, WITH HER HEAD, ARMS AND LEGS CHOPPED AWAY FROM HER BODY. THE ORBITING FULL MOON IN THE STONE CARVING REFLECTS HER POSITION AS THE MOON GODDESS. SHE IS DISTINGUISHED BY BELLS OF EAGLE DOWN IN HER HAIR, A BELL SYMBOL ON HER CHEEK, AND AN EAR TAB SHOWING THE MEXICA YEAR SIGN, AND JUST AS WITH IMAGES OF HER MOTHER, SHE IS SHOWN WITH A SKULL TIED TO HER BELT.
Keywords: greek goddess list of names ancient rome gods and goddesses hindu gods and goddesses pictures greek gods and goddesses facts romans gods and goddesses real tarot cards tarot reader astral travels free tarot card readings online reading tarot cards tarot horoscopes
