I'm often asked to explain the different between my two non-fiction books about inclusive Minoan spirituality: Ariadne's Thread and Labrys & Horns. So often, in fact, that I figured a blog post about the subject would be a good idea.

Ariadne's Thread: Awakening the Wonders of the Ancient Minoans in Our Modern Lives is now in its second edition. It's based on about 20 years of spiritual work I did back in the 1990s, when I was working on my second degree in the Wiccan coven I belonged to at the time. I was given an assignment: pick a pantheon and write a year's worth of seasonal rituals and a lifetime's worth of rites of passage using that pantheon. I'd like to say I picked the Minoan pantheon, but it's more like it picked me. I'm sure you know how that goes.

So I wrote the rituals, and the group performed many of them over the following years. Some time later, after I had published my first two books (Ancient Spellcraft and The Wiccan Wellness Book, both also now in second editions), I found myself looking through the set of Minoan rituals. A little voice in the back of my head suggested that other people might like those rituals as well, people beyond my little circle of local friends. But not everyone knows a whole lot about the Minoans, so I put together a bunch of information about Minoan life and spirituality as well as a "tiny little encyclopedia" listing the Minoan deities and the major symbols of Minoan religion. That information, along with the Minoan rituals, made up the first edition of Ariadne's Thread.

I found myself wishing for a group where I could discuss and share information about the ancient Minoans, their life and spirituality. Since there wasn't one, at least not that I could find, I started Ariadne's Tribe on Facebook. I was gratified to discover that there are lots of other people out there who feel a connection to the Minoan deities and to ancient Minoan culture.

The lovely people in Ariadne's Tribe asked me a lot of questions, most of which I didn't know the answers to, so I started doing research. Lots and lots of research! I also began meditative and journeywork, which I shared with others who were doing the same thing. Together, we began building a sacred calendar for modern inclusive Minoan spirituality.

We developed some spiritual practices based on what we know about Minoan religion from the archaeology, mythology, dance ethnology, and comparative religion. This included recognizing that while Wicca is a perfectly legitimate spiritual tradition (I'm a third degree Wiccan priestess), it's a modern tradition. So we looked back at what we know about Bronze Age religion and developed a set of practices that are in keeping with the way the Minoans probably experienced ritual and spirituality. We combined that information with shared gnosis to help us build a living spiritual tradition in the 21st century.

The modern world is very different from the ancient, and not just because we have cell phones and pumpkin spice latte. Paganism no longer pervades western culture, so we have to figure out how to practice Minoan spirituality at home. As it happens, the lovely folks in Ariadne's Tribe began asking for a how-to book for our spiritual practices, a guide specifically for solitary practitioners, since that's what many of the group members are. So I listened and I did rituals and I wrote, and eventually I published the first edition of Labrys & Horns.

In 2020 I revised and updated Labrys & Horns to include all the new information we developed as a tradition since the publication of the first edition: an expanded pantheon and sacred calendar, standard ritual formats for both solitaries and groups, and our main symbol, the Malia bee pendant. The new second edition is half again as long as the first and can be relied on as a basic resource for the practice of Tribe spirituality for the foreseeable future.

Once we had developed the Bronze Age style ritual structure, it seemed only natural to go back to Ariadne's Thread and rewrite those rituals in the new format. I also updated the information about the deities and the iconography, and added in all the fascinating new archaeological information that came to light in the decade since the first edition came out. 

Here are the two books in a nutshell (in two nutshells?):

Labrys & Horns is the introductory how-to manual for inclusive Minoan spirituality. It details the symbols and sacred calendar we use as well as the deities we honor. It includes our standard ritual format for both groups and solitaries as well as rites for dedicating an altar and connecting with the deities. It also includes a few Minoan-themed crafts; listings of the foods, stones, and herbs the Minoans used; and book and music resources.

Ariadne's Thread has extensive information about ancient Minoan civilization, daily life, and religious practice, including information about the temples, cave shrines, and peak sanctuaries the Minoans used. It includes a mini-encyclopedia of Minoan deities and spiritual symbols. It has a large collection of group rituals for the Wheel of the Year plus a lifetime's worth of rites of passage.

So there you have it! I like to think the two books are complementary, but when I look at them, I also see the path of my spiritual practice as it has grown and changed over the years. I hope you enjoy reading these books (and performing the rituals in them) as much as I enjoyed writing them.

Together we are joy!