Ariadne's Tribe: Minoan Spirituality for the Modern World

Walk the sacred labyrinth with Ariadne, the Minotaur, the Great Mothers, Dionysus, and the rest of the Minoan family of deities. Ariadne's Tribe is an independent spiritual tradition that brings the deities of the ancient Minoans alive in the modern world. We're a revivalist tradition, not a reconstructionist one. We rely heavily on shared gnosis and the practical realities of Paganism in the modern world. Ariadne's thread reaches across the millennia to connect us with the divine. Will you follow where it leads?

Find out all about Ariadne's Tribe at ariadnestribe.com. We're an inclusive, welcoming tradition, open to all who share our love for the Minoan deities and respect for our fellow human beings.

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The Wheel Turns, Minoan Style

Posted by on in Paths Blogs

It's autumn in the northern hemisphere. For many of us, this is the end of the growing season and the beginning of the turn toward winter. But in the Mediterranean, it's the end of the hot, dry, rainless (and lately, wildfire-laden) summer. In the Mediterranean climate, the summer, not the winter, is the "dead season" when nothing grows.

But when the rainy season begins in the autumn, it's like the world is born anew.

The parched soil softens. Farmers plow the fields and plant grain and vegetables - crops that will happily grow through the autumn and the mild winter, to be harvested in the spring.

In Ariadne's Tribe, we've just finished celebrating the Mysteries, a ten-day festival in our sacred calendar that connects us with the story of Ariadne's yearly travels between our world and the Underworld. The Mysteries end in the Underworld, but that's not really the end of the story. Because soon after, at the Autumn Equinox when the rains begin, Ariadne returns to the World Above with the first green sprouts in the fields.

Stone seal from Thisbe showing a man helping a woman rise from the ground in a field of flowers

For ancient farmers, the beginning of the agricultural season - the plowing and planting time - was the beginning of their year. And so in the Tribe, we celebrate the Autumn Equinox as our New Year. We rejoice at Ariadne's return to us; we rejoice in the life-giving rains; and we rejoice in the cycle that turns, like a wheel, from one year to the next.

Together we are joy!

 

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Laura Perry is a priestess and creator who works magic with words, paint, ink, music, textiles, and herbs. She's the founder and Temple Mom of Ariadne's Tribe, an inclusive Minoan spiritual tradition. When she's not busy drawing and writing, you can find her in the garden or giving living history demonstrations at local historic sites.

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