Temple of Artemis: The Sacred Temple of the Proto-European Tradition - Part 3

Artemis: The Ancient Greek Goddess of Hunt

kinninigan

Artemis was the ancient Greek goddess of hunt, wilderness, wild animals, and fertility. Part one of the video describes the goddess in the Greek mythology. Part two of the video is a short prayer to Artemis.... 

Prayer to Artemis Before the Hunt:

Slim-ankled Artemis, free-footed, wild-haired girl,
with steps swift and silent you run through the wood,
your bow at the ready, your shafts sharp and deadly.
Far-shooting Artemis, keen of eye and strong of arm,
your aim ever true, you take your prey, goddess,
with a single strike. Artemis, I pray to you
as I begin my hunt–may my eyes be clear,
may my hand be steady, may the shots I fire
reach my target and no other, may any kill be quick.
I am grateful, goddess, for the meat on my table.
I am grateful, goddess, for the time I spend
in the cold, in the wood, hearing the silence;
I am grateful, goddess, for the time I spend
in your world. Grant that I take on this work
with honest intent, grant that I feel the weight
of what I do, grant that I honor the lives
that feed me. Mistress of the hunt, I pray to you.

*************************

TEMPLE OF ARTEMIS - www.anadolucografyasi.com

Today in History: Herostratus sets fire to Temple of Artemis to become famous (356 BC) 



The repeated destruction of the temple - The perfect metaphor for the destruction of the great Goddess


Not to merely focus on the negative---which is very difficult given the well over 1,500 years of attack upon the Proto-European spiritual tradition---but the temple is gone, the spirituality is gone, it's no longer even located in Greece, Christianity "happened," the Turkish invasion "happened," Islam "happened," and if we're really honest about it... even the ancient Olympian pantheon more-or-less pushed aside the very ancient tradition over a long period of time.... not to mention the forced transformation of Europe today.


Was the Temple of Artemis really the Queen of all Temples to the Almother?

We do not know what may have existed prior to the glacial movements. It seems like a good bet that this temple was the most impressive among those of which we know. It is after all, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The holy sanctuary of Mona, which was located on the island of Anglesey in modern day France, was of the Druidic tradition. However, it clearly was partly rooted in the tradition of the Almother ("Mona").

Although this lost temple ended with a similar fate as the Temple of Artemis, and could have been even older for all we know, the Temple of Artemis was spectacular and truly defined a time when the spirituality of the ancient race was the culture of the ancestors. That isn't to take away from the ancient Welsh, and the wonderful sanctuaries of the mysteries of nature amid the oak groves.

One of the good things that Americans have exemplified has been the concept of not taking a knee to kings, dictators, or theocratic despots. I only take a knee for my mother Janet, my departed Rachel, departed relatives and ancestors, and the Almother Mona. Since there are numerous given names for the Goddess, such as the three names of the ancient Greek Triformis, I often just say The Almother. The inspiration for that was the Alfather Odin in Asatru. Architecturally as close as it can be.... we need to literally construct a few new Temples of Artemis.... AGAIN!!!

Hail the Almother!

.

Temple of Artemis: The Sacred Temple of the Proto-European Tradition - Part 2

The forgotten Proto-European nations (Welsh, Basques, Euganeans, Maltese, etc.)

A map of European tribal nations from 9,000 years ago would have to take into account the inhabitable regions covered under permanent glaciers and somewhat less restrictive but permanent sheets of ice amid the mountain ranges separating northern and southern Europe. In other words a "small Europe," consisting of most of what is today southern Europe; as well as a much harsher but habitable "east-west trail" from the very southernmost England, down including most of France, over to Ukraine and perhaps beyond it a bit. The Alps would have been particularly harsh at that time, with the only route between southern and northern Europe likely having been by sea. All European would have been essentially the same sub-race, as they would have been prior to this glacial movement.

It should be noted that the Temple of Artemis is similar to Stonehenge, or to others such as the Ġgantija megalithic temple complex in Malta, in that it is both a symbol of the modern culture to which it belongs and to the wider very ancient Proto-European culture from which it is truly rooted. In other words, Stonehenge was not constructed specifically by the Druids; nor was the Temple of Artemis constructed specifically by the Olympian Greeks... but symbols of an earlier expression of their Proto-European ancestors. Margaret Murray was right! All one has to do is go back far enough! There was a widespread "Witch-Cult," and it easily predated the last glacial movement. There have been widespread artistic depictions of both a male Horned God (Cave of the Trois-Frères) and of a female Mother Goddess (Venus of Willendorf) going back tens of thousands of years.

The Proto-European Goddess as "The Triformis"

(durron597 - mythology.stackexchange.com - May 3, 2015)

I always thought that Artemis was the Goddess of the Moon (and Hunting, stags, etc.)... until I thought about how there's Helios/Apollo which caused me to learn about Selene. But further research revealed yet another Moon goddess - Hecate, who is associated with the moon, and is Selene's grandmother. Still further research revealed Phoebe, whose Wikipedia article is pretty sparse and is the grandmother of Selene.

Did the goddess who had domain of the moon change over time? Did they all sort of do it together?

************

Don't forget Achelois. . . – HDE 226868I'm still confused, i have to search up hecate for a social studies project, and my friend is searching up selene, I'm trying to say my goddess is better than hers, but now other gods are coming into this project! I understand that gaia is the mother or grandmother of hecate but are hecate and selene sisters or something since they both have the power of the moon?This all here is probrally pretty confusing, but the again, we are talking about greek goddesses! – user954

************ 

Actually the list of moon-goddesses goes on since, according to Selene's Theoi page:

Other Greek moon goddesses included Pasiphae, the Leukippides, Eileithyia, Hekate, Artemis, Bendis, and Hera (who sometimes doubled for Selene in the Endymion myth).

But let's focus first on the one you mentioned:Artemis. Her association with the moon seems relatively straight-forward: if Apollo is associated with the Sun, then his sister has to be associated with the moon.

Selene (= Mene or Luna). She is the proper Titan-goddess of the Moon, often even the personnification of the moon itself. See among many other sources, Apollonius Rhodius's Argonautica:

Rising from the distant east, the Lady Selene (Moon), Titanian goddess...

Phoibe/Phoebe. The Titan Phoibe doesn't actually seem to be associated with the moon, the confusion comes from Selene being often nicknamed Phoebe (i. e. 'bright'). Phoibe was apparently a prophetess Titan-goddess and as such is supposed to have held the Oracle of Delphi at some point. From the first line of Aeschylus's Eumenides:

THE PYTHIAN PRIESTESS
First, in this prayer, of all the gods I name
The prophet-mother Earth; and Themis next,
Second who sat-for so with truth is said-
On this her mother's shrine oracular.
Then by her grace, who unconstrained allowed,
There sat thereon another child of Earth-
Titanian Phoebe.

Hecate. Now Hecate is something else I think. The different sources we have tend to contradict each other on her parentage, descendance, attributions etc. leading some scholars to think that Hecate was in fact a goddess foreign to the Greek Pantheon that was only added later (and well integrated thanks to the place Hesiod gave her in the Theogony). See for instance what Sarah Johnston says about it in 'Restless Deads':

Let us go back further, to Hecate's place of origin. There is general agreement that this was Caria, in southwestern Asia Minor, which is supported by the fact that by the Hellenistic period her precinct in Lagina was the largest of all the precincts there (in constrast, in all of Greece, only Aegina seems to have had any significant sanctuary devoted wholly to Hecate).

Caria being in southwestern Anatolia. Similarly (from the list I mentioned earlier), Pasiphae seems to have been the cretan moon-goddess and Bendis the one from Thrace.

The specific reason why Hecate was associated with the moon seems a bit complex. Originally, in Caria, Hecate seems to have been a fairly generic mother Goddess. Even in Hesiod's Theogony she is presented as having dominion over basically everything:

For to this day, whenever any one of men on earth offers rich sacrifices and prays for favour according to custom, he calls upon Hecate. [...] For as many as were born of Earth and Ocean amongst all these she has her due portion. The son of Cronos did her no wrong nor took anything away of all that was her portion among the former Titan gods: but she holds, as the division was at the first from the beginning, privilege both in earth, and in heaven, and in sea.

According to Sarah Johnston in 'Hekate Soteira: A Study of Hekate's Role in the Chaldean Oracles and Related Literature' (which I haven't been able to find and thus read so I might be misrepresenting her idea here), the association came relatively late (1st Century AD) from the fact that at some point Hecate was seen as a "liminal" goddess, an intermediary between two worlds (hence also probably the association between Hecate and witchcraft), which is a quality that was supposedly shared by the Moon.

So to summarize, the difference between Selene and Artemis is that one is the moon while the other is just associated with it, and on top of that one is a Titan while the other is an Olympian; Phoebe has nothing to do with the moon; and the others are foreign/regional goddesses integrated a posteriori into the Greek Pantheon.

... but I'm afraid I didn't find anything interesting on Achelois – plannapus

************

Thanks! I've upvoted, but I'd like to see a little more discussion on what Hecate's relationship is with the moon in particular before I accept. – durron597

************Theia is the sister of Phoebe wich makes Phoebe Selene's aunt , Artemis's mother Leto is the daughter of Phoebe wich makes her Selene's cousin. Leto had a sister named Asteria who bore Hecate wich makes Hecate Artemis's cousin . Selene was believed to be the moon itself in ancient greeks , Artemis and Hecate juste came later to be associated with the moon, also Hecate's mother Asteria was also Selene's cousin . Hecate and Artemis where not associated with the moon for nothing cose they're mothers Leto and Asteria where closely related to Selene !.

pedro

************

Can you please add some references or links? – kenorb

************

Hecate, Artemis and Selene are one in the same. Artemis is known as the Goddess of the Triple Aspect because she has three identities. Artemis is the virgin goddess of the hunt (Earth form), Selene is goddess of the moon (sky form) and Hecate is the goddess of witchcraft and the underworld (cthonian/underworld form). We can see this in depictions of Artemis wearing the "horns of the moon" on her crown, or images of Hecate as a three-faced goddess. It is possible that at some point they were separate deities and their stories became confused by later Greeks and Romans but our current understanding is of the three as different aspects of one.

Source: Classics 430 class at University

Josie

************

"Our current understanding is of the three as different aspects of one." I'm going to need to see a source for that statement, because as far as I am aware that statement is incorrect. – Hamlet

************

According to Theoi.com (theoi.com/Olympios/ArtemisGoddess.html#Selene) the Artemis-Selene-Hecate triad comes from Roman-period poetry, not from Greek myth. – solsdottir

************

I was taught the same. – tox123

.

Temple of Artemis: The Sacred Temple of the Proto-European Tradition - Part 1

Just as Christians, Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, and other important religions have one place more holy than all others; the Proto-European religion, in historical hindsight, has its primary sacred place. However, true to our tragic tradition since its heyday, everything relating to it today is nothing short of a grand fustercluck.

As covered here before, the tradition of what I call the Almother predated the Olympian pantheon in Greece. This ancient spiritual tradition has roots, at the least, in the Europe of the last glacial movement of nine or ten thousand years ago when about one-third of the continent was covered in a mile high sheet of of ice. Southern Europe was the much more habitable region. The people were not distinctly "Mediterranean" then, but Proto-European.

It's highly likely that this religion existed long before this glacial period, but little is known about it. What is very clear is that there was a Great Mother and a Horned God going back forty thousand years. This spiritual tradition has both conflated and existed separately with all of the incoming traditions of ancient migrating Mediterranean and Teutonic peoples. It has existed in every corner of the continent!

If this tradition had a "Holy Land" from the perspective of the post-glacial period, then it would seem to be pre-Olympian Greece. Remarkably, all Europeans share in this history; because all Europeans have Proto-European ancestry. It has survived despite all the attempts, over centuries, to beat it out've us!




"Witchcraft has no origin, it has always been with us." -- Leo Ruickbie, 'Witchcraft Out of the Shadows'



'Things to Know about Temple of Artemis Wonder of Ancient World'

Posted by Spiritual Guru - SpiritTourism.com - Jul 9, 2013

The temple of Artemis was one of the first buildings to be constructed in marble.

Temple of Artemis was built and rebuilt several times in history. The temple was the centre of activity with priests, court members etc always present there in its good days. Following is the historical record of this one among the seven wonders of the ancient world birth and death.


History

800 BC

The first building of the temple of Artemis was built in and around 800 BC near the bank of the river Ephesus. The Ephesus Artemis was a goddess of fertility and was often pictured as draped with eggs or multiple breasts, symbols of fertility, from her waist to her shoulders.

650 BC

In around 650 BC, King Croesus of Lydia conquered Ephesus and the other Greek cities of Asia Minor and during the fighting; the temple of Artemis was destroyed. This king brought the architect Theodorus to build the temple.

This temple of Artemis was the centre of wonderful pieces of art and architecture. Wealthy citizens of those times donated gold, silver, jewelry from their side to beautify this temple. One unusual feature of the temple was that a number of columns had bases that were carved with figures in relief.


350 BC

This magnificent work of art was burnt down in 356 BC by a psychopath Herostratus who wanted to become famous in history. The citizens of Ephesus were so furious by this act that after torturing Herostratus to death, they issued a decree that anyone who even spoke of his name would be put to death.


Temple of Artemis

This was the same time in history when the Great Alexander was born too.

Twenty-two years later, during his sweep through Asia Minor, Alexander the Great offered to reconstruct the temple of Artemis. In the famous refusal recorded by Strabo, the Ephesians said it would not be right for one god to build a temple to another god.

Construction of Great temple

The Temple of Artemis was rebuilt in the same wet location as before and on a raised platform once again. By this point Ephesus was one of the greatest cities in Asia Minor and no expense was spared in the reconstruction. The wet locations were selected for the building of temple was due to the fact that it would help protect the structure from the earthquakes which plagued the region.


Modern excavation

The Temple of Artemis was discovered for the British Museum in 1869 by the English railroad engineer J. T. Wood after a seven year search, during which he suffered badly from malaria. His successor on behalf of the British Museum, the Englishman D. G. Hogarth recommenced excavations in 1904/05. Not only did he investigate the temple of Artemis, but also the older foundations within the court of the temple. New excavations, initiated by the Australian museum of Archeology are still in progress. Today a 13 feet lone structure stands at that place as a reminder to the magnificence of this temple.

Christianity Brings an End to Artemis Worship

St Paul came to the city of Ephesus to propagate the new religion of Christianity in and around 57 AD. He was successful in his endeavor. Demitrius who was die hard supporter of Artemis religion gave tough fight to St Paul in expanding his religion. In the later years it was Christianity only that won.

By 263 AD, the temple had been plundered by Nero and destroyed by the Goths. Both the city and the religion of Artemis were in decline. The temple was rebuilt again, but in 391 it was closed by the Roman Emperor Theodosius the Great after he made Christianity the state religion. The temple itself was destroyed by a Christian mob in 401 and the stoned was recycled into other buildings. 

When the Roman Emperor Constantine rebuilt much of Ephesus a century later, he declined to restore the temple. He too had become a Christian and had little interest in pagan religions.

The Temple of Artemis was surrounded by priests and priestesses, musicians, dancers, and acrobats. The temple had its own mounted police and the city became rich from the silver statues and ex-votes offered to Diana. Unfortunately, all that remains of the Wonder of the World is a single column and some rubble on the ground. Some of the stone is believed to have been used for the nearby mosque and most of the archaeological remains have been removed to the British Museum.

.

The Texaco symbol: An exercise in the collective unconscious - Part 2

I wanted to clarify that the reappropriation of, for example, a corporate logo.... could be esoteric from your own personal perspective. The occultic elite behind these symbols play games with us, so why not send the energy right back at'em? For example, the logo for the brand "Hurley" is a play on the triple moon. From my personal perspective, there is a double meaning: the triple moon/triple goddess, and the name Hurley is where my family first settled in America (Hurley, Wisconsin).

Another example is the iconic American symbol of "Route 66." Route 66 runs from Chicago to Los Angeles, but it could have strong meaning for any person or family which had migrated from the Midwest to California or anywhere along the way. Of course it could just represent America itself, or numerous elements of more personal esoterism at the same time. One time someone gave me a Seattle Mariners cap, as they had assumed a box of them. Well I'm not a Mariner's fan; I saw that it had an "S" on it, so I assigned it my own meaning.

With letters it should be very easy, such as with the Texaco "T." Of course, it could represent America or Texas, or whatever personal occultism you want to attach to it. The Alchemical occultists at the top may have the patent to the corporate logo, but they don't own these symbols. Freemasons or Hermeticists have their own symbols, but often they use Indo-European symbols which they don't have any more claim to than many other people. I just don't think that flags, symbols, or emblems absolutely must have one-meaning. The Canadian flag, the red mable leaf, or the old red ensign flag could also also represent "North America"; or the popular but fictional Vinland flag could represent Scandinavian pride, Asatru, Canada, North America, or Neo-Pagan pride since Leif Erikson was a pre-Christian era Viking.

Excerpt from 'Occult Symbols In Corporate Logos (Pt. 2): Rediscovering Their Ancient Magical Meaning' (Richard Cassaro - RichardCassaro.com - February 19, 2011):

It is very likely you’ve never noticed the large amount of pentagrams used in the logos of big corporations. To use a clichéd phrase, they are using its magic against you and your unconscious mind, tapping into and exploiting what 20th century psychologist Carl Jung called the “collective unconscious”:

“My thesis then, is as follows: in addition to our immediate consciousness, which is of a thoroughly personal nature and which we believe to be the only empirical psyche (even if we tack on the personal unconscious as an appendix), there exists a second psychic system of a collective, universal, and impersonal nature which is identical in all individuals. This collective unconscious does not develop individually but is inherited. It consists of pre-existent forms, the archetypes, which can only become conscious secondarily and which give definite form to certain psychic contents." —Wikipedia

The pentagram appeals to our “collective unconscious” because our ancestors, since ancient times all the way down through and into the 21st century, have all had experiences with this symbol. A deep and ancient part of your mind or brain knows this symbol, because your forefathers knew it, even though you personally have not had a personal experience with it.

[Right: The pentagram as the perfect symbol of man. The two “arms” of the pentagram match man’s arms. The two “legs” of the pentagram match man’s legs.]

************

Another term used for this collective unconscious is "genetic memory." This concept is much more prevalent with people who have shared a common culture and history for many centures. For example, Ireland or Sicily. Both are islands with distinct cultures and a history of collective resistance.to foreign tyranny. It's a bio-spiritual concept.

Within a pentagram is a pentagon; and when the 5 points of a pentagram are connected, a pentagon is formed. Therefore it's like holding up a mirror to a mirror... it's infinity. Just as with collective unconscious/genetic memory, it's not limited to time and space... it's the soul, it's the blood, it's the folk, it's DNA, it's reincarnation.

.

The Texaco symbol: An exercise in the collective unconscious

The Texaco symbol

The Texaco symbol in particular resonates something within me. Perhaps a genetic memory. When I was a child, someone passed down to me a large Texaco toy truck. Someone could argue that the memory of that truck stuck with me, and that I merely perceive some mystical "memory" of this symbol. That's possible, but I'm guessing probably not. I have heard that the "T" symbolizes an ancient altar of some type. It looks like a type of altar or monument on top of a hill against the brightness of the early or late day sun. Then there's either the outline of a pentagram, or perhaps the "welcome star" which has pagan roots. There's actually a "double-vehme" with five parts of the outer circle.

There's something about this symbol which looks like it ties into ancient sun cults. The star itself has in various instances represented the outline of a man, and the altar could represent an accompanying cross as with Jesus (Horus). English Hermeticist Robert Fludd designed a symbol illustrating "man the microcosm within the universal macrocosm" in the Middle Ages. The star could be "man" and the circle could be "the universe." Somehow I believe that this metaphysical-man concept ties in with the sun mythology. These Hermeticists, Freemasons (including B'nai B'rith), Rosicrucians, and Alchemists are some strange birds. Right now they're ravaging us with their "alchemical marriage" in the form of transgenderism.

I believe that as far as the Texaco symbol is concerned, there is a clear European tie-in with the welcome star outline and perhaps the circle (the symbol of nature); along with the altar which is I think Indo-European, and the Alchemical/metaphysical aspect to it. A whole lot of things conflate as the very early Christians actually used the pentagram, the Catholic Church and some occultic groups combine solar and saturnian symbolism, and some of these crosses and altars had made their way into ancient Europe before Christianity it appears.

I have to give it to the Alchemists; they got me on this one. This symbol calls out to me. I want to walk up that hill. I suppose that one could reappropriate some corporate logo for their own symbolic meaning: Texaco oil, Blue Moon beer, Hurley casual wear, Puma footwear, etc. Not only are there caps, t-shirts, etc; but very artistic ads and sometimes some very sightly neon signs. Professional sports teams or amateur sports programs are more regionally specific, but the same idea could apply.

Excerpt from 'Occult Symbols In Corporate Logos (Pt. 1): Rediscovering Their Ancient Magical Meaning' (Richard Cassaro - RichardCassaro.com - March 19, 2011):

All of these logos have an inherent power in them due to the ancient symbols they co-opt: they are so effective at influencing people, in fact, that it may seem that the use of them transcends effective marketing into the realm of mind-control.

The explanation of the symbols will come shortly, but first we must understand why these symbols are so effective. The effectiveness of these symbols depends on an understanding of Carl Jung’s theory of the “collective unconscious”. This idea, in brief, posits that humans have a genetic memory of ancient memories of humanity; a remembrance of the same rites of passages, ideas, images, etc. and so forth. These memories are shared and often take form as symbols; examples include suns symbolizing warmth, or skulls symbolizing death. He calls these embedded symbols “archetypes”, and they are a part of our makeup. According to Jung, we know them not from personal experience but from the thousands of years of experience from our ancestors.

These corporate logos, then, take advantage of these archetypes. They lie at the core of every one of us, and the big oil corporations obviously seem to know this. Let’s take the shell symbol for example, which is the logo of the Shell Oil Company.

'Texaco oil company logo meaning' (Terran Resistance - TruthControl.com - April 23, 2013)

.

Countdown to the Total Solar Eclipse of 2017

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.