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I've been offering workshops and presentations about Minoan spirituality for several years now, and I'm delighted to be giving a workshop about just that topic next month at WitchCon. I hope you'll join me!
As I gear up for another year of public appearances, I'm wondering how deep I should dive into the topics that are my purview as The Minoan Lady.
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Learning to Think Pantheonically
Och, I still cringe to think of it.
Back when I still knew everything, I made the mistake of arguing theology with a Hellene elder.
I was talking gods.
He was talking pantheons.
“Oh, pantheons,” I opined, as if I had even the slightest idea of what I was talking about. “I just put together my own.”
(In defense of my callowness, I can only say that this was the prevailing attitude of the day.)
“If you take a head from one statue,” he said, “and a torso from another, and an arm from yet another, and a leg from somewhere else, and you put them all together: the result may be a sculpture, but it isn't a statue.”
For the ancestors, tribal people all, the concept of a “personal pantheon” would have been unthinkable, a contradiction in terms, even a betrayal.
Polytheism ≠ serial monotheism.
Individuation is problematic. That's the unofficial Ariadne's Tribe motto.
It's sort of a joke, a witty response to difficult questions about divinity. But it's also very serious.
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Some time ago I wrote about the possibility that Minos, who is a god and not a mythical king, is a moon god. It turns out, that's only one of his many fascinating aspects.
There's precious little about him in the garbled fragments of Minoan myth that survived into classical times. The stories mostly talk about him being a king, and a horrid one at that. But the tidbits of information that led us to view him as a Moon god also point to his connection with the Minoan sacred calendar. More on both of those aspects shortly.
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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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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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Lakshmi, also called Padma, is associated with all forms of wealth and abundance, both spiritual and material. It is said that Lakshmi can be found in gems and jewels, money, newborn babies, and in all cows. She is depicted floating on a lovely lotus blossom.
Naiads are freshwater nymphs that inhabit various bodies of water such as lakes, rivers and springs. Naiads have the power to seduce, inspire, heal and tell the future. You will do best by calling forth their gentle energy for healing rituals.
