PaganSquare.com - WitchesAndPagans.com PaganSquare is a community blog space where Pagans can discuss topics relevant to the life and spiritual practice of all Pagans.
The photo above (image CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons) shows two full faience figurines and one partial one from Knossos as displayed at the Heraklion Archaeological Museum. You're probably already familiar with at least the two full ones in the middle and on the left.
What you might not know is that they weren't found in such a complete state, and at least one of them may have been reconstructed incorrectly.
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Snake tube. What an odd name for a Bronze Age artifact from Minoan sites. That's what Sir Arthur Evans called these cylindrical ceramic objects that were decorated with wavy serpentine shapes running up and down them. You can see a few on the bottom row of the image at the top of this post.
Evans called them "snake tubes" because he thought the Minoans kept pet snakes in their temples and homes, and these tubes were their little houses. I mean, they're decorated with snakes, so why not?
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What is a micropantheon, you ask? (Of course you do, because you're the inquisitive type!)
Sorry, but it has nothing to do with small gods, of the Terry Pratchett variety or otherwise.
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I've been working on a secret project for a while now. It's finally ready to unveil. But first, I need to give you a little background information.
Those of us who practice Modern Minoan Paganism like to collect up reproductions of Minoan art and artifacts for our altars and shrines. But one thing that's a bit harder to come by is Minoan-style clothing, for those of us who would like to add that aspect to our spiritual practice (or even just for fun).
Over the years, I've sewn a few different garments to use in my Minoan spiritual practice. One of the most fun was this outfit, inspired by one of the Minoan Snake Goddess figurines:
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Divination has many different forms and is a popular practice. You don't have to formally involve a deity to do divination; many of us throw down Tarot cards, runes, or bones in a somewhat casual way when we feel the need.
But there are times when you need to do something more formal, and when you need some help. The word "divination" includes the divine, after all. That's when you invite the appropriate deity and ask for their assistance. (Note that in MMP we never invoke deities, only invite them and then welcome them when they appear.)
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You probably already know that the names of the days of the week are associated with deities (Greco-Roman, Norse, and others). Many people use the deity-day connections to guide their spiritual practice, choosing a particular deity's day for activities that focus on them.
We thought it would be nice if we could do something similar for the Minoan pantheon.
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The Minoans were a seafaring people. They traveled, explored, and traded all over the Mediterranean Sea and possibly beyond it. But that sea travel wasn't a year-round thing. It had a season.
In the Mediterranean, even now, the winter is not the best time to be out on a boat. The winds can be harsh, the water choppy, the weather unpredictable. It was far more dangerous back in the Bronze Age, before the era of long-distance communication and meteorology. The Minoans had a positive relationship with Grandmother Ocean, but they were skilled enough sailors to know better than to push it. Nature is bigger than we are.
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