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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Symbols and Opinions in Minoan Spirituality

What does any given symbol mean? Is it all right if you don't see it the same way as someone else does? Do you have to view it in a specific way in order to "qualify" as following a certain spiritual path? If you don't view that figurine up top the same way I do, can you still follow a path of Ariadne's Tribe style Minoan spirituality?

The short answers: 1) Something different to each person 2) Yes 3) Not usually 4) Yes.  Now for the long answer.

Here's the thing: Every single symbol that any of us sees will be filtered through our individual psyche. So even if we memorize a set of meanings and beliefs (like I was required to do in Christian Sunday school as a child), each of us will have a slightly different internal take on those meanings. Those differences become even more pronounced when we're looking at ancient artifacts that don't have clear texts associated with them to tell us how the people back then saw them.

Take the Minoan figurine at the top of this post, for instance. She's usually called the Snake Goddess, but not everyone sees her that way. Just within Ariadne's Tribe, for instance, there are people who view her as Ariadne, as the Serpent Mother, as a Minoan priestess embodying one of those goddesses in ritual, or as an ecstatic snake handler from a Minoan cult that revered one of those deities. Or maybe even as two or more of those things, all at once.

Here's another interesting Minoan piece that people interpret in different ways:

 

Minoan rhyton from Myrtos

 

This is a rhyton - a pitcher - in the shape of a woman holding a pitcher (yes, it's self-referential and meta and all that). The figure is obviously a woman because she has breasts and a clearly defined pubic triangle. Some of us think of her as simply a mother goddess while some of us see the long arms and neck as pointing to the Serpent Mother I mentioned above. Other people see her as a turtle goddess.

If we're really honest, we can't know for certain how the ancient Minoans saw these beautiful works of art. Even if we can connect with the artifacts and find our way to visions and impressions from way back then, we don't have the mindset of Bronze Age people.

And again if we're really honest, we have to admit that even thousands of years ago, people probably had a wide variety of personal views about the religious symbols of their culture. Whether or not they felt free to express those differing views probably depended on the individual culture and region where they lived.

Obviously, there have to be some generally agreed upon outlines for any spiritual tradition. But in Pagan practice that often amounts to doing things the same way (orthopraxy) rather than believing the same things (orthodoxy).

For instance, I know Wiccans who are hard polytheists and believe the Lord and Lady are literal individual beings. I know Wiccans who view the Lord and Lady as something akin to Jungian archetypes. And I know Wiccans who think the Lord and Lady are pure metaphor, nothing more. But they all practice the same type of standardized ritual - that's the connection.

To me, connection is the important thing here. By sharing certain practices - our ritual format, for instance - those of us who follow the path of Tribe spirituality can connect with each other, knowing we're all doing the same things wherever we are in the world. And we can connect with the Minoans, with their culture and their art and their religion. They were human beings with hopes and dreams, love and impatience and ambition, belief and thought and questioning, just like us.

They had a connection with their deities and with each other through a shared culture and religion. We can make similar connections within our own time and with those in the past, both with the people and with the deities. To me, that's the most magical thing of all.

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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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