Just like a lot of people, toward the end of December I like to look back over the previous year and review all that has happened. Part of that process involves looking at my blog posts here to see what turned out to be popular and what didn't. That helps me know what people are interested in and where I should put my energy when I'm writing future blog posts. So here's my 2020 Top Ten List.

It's no surprise that my most popular blog post this year is the one that lists the full MMP pantheon. Popular culture leads a lot of people to think that Minoan spirituality is just about the Snake Goddess (those fabulous figurines!) or Ariadne and the Minotaur. But really, there's so much more, and I'm thrilled that folx are checking out all the deities in our pantheon.

I was a little surprised to discovered that 2020's number two blog post is the one about the significance of red and white in Minoan art. Over the years, people have put forth all kinds of theories to explain why Minoan artists always painted men with dark red skin and women with unnaturally white skin. Turns out, the answer traces right back to the ancient Minoan deities.

Coming in at a respectable third place is the post that lists all my entries in a series exploring where we can find the MMP deities in Minoan art. Interestingly, four of the posts in this series also fall in the top ten for this year. The posts about the Sun goddess Therasia and the Earth goddess Rhea came in at numbers four and five, respectively. Then the posts about their daughters, Ariadne and Arachne, came in at seven and eight.

What happened to sixth place? Oddly enough, my post about last spring's session of my online course Deeper Into the Labyrinth came in sixth. As soon as I can dig myself out from under all the holiday trimmings, I'll be gearing up for the 2021 course, with registration opening in early January.

We've already done numbers seven and eight. Ninth place goes to the blog I posted last February about writing about spirituality. I was grappling with some of the issues involved in writing my historical novel The Last Priestess of Malia, and I guess that struck a chord with some folx. After all, there's only so much we can get across with words. Some things have to be experienced firsthand.

Finally, in tenth place is my post about the pairs and triplets of deities in the MMP pantheon. These are called micropantheons, and they're fascinating little "mythos subsets" that can stand on their own but that also dovetail into the larger pantheon as a whole. Micropantheons were common in the Bronze Age but slowly disappeared as top-down hierarchical pantheons took over in the Iron Age. Micropantheons add depth and texture to Minoan spirituality.

And as usual, honorable mention once again goes to my post Topless Minoan Women: Not What You Think, which continues to be the most-viewed post I've ever written. Go figure.

As the year draws to a close, I hope you have the opportunity to reflect on the past twelve months and find some bright spots in them, despite everything 2020 has thrown at us. I wish you happy holidays and a safe and healthy new year.

In the name of the bee,
And of the butterfly,
And of the breeze, amen.

Blog Image: gold seal ring from Tholos Tomb B in the Minoan cemetery at Phourni, 2000 BCE or earlier. It depicts a griffin and a female figure in motion. The griffin is part of the iconography of our Sun goddess Therasia, who rebirths herself every year at Winter Solstice.