Ancient Psychedelia: Alien Gods & Mushroom Goddesses
Online Book - Chapter 11, Page 195
Back to Online Book Mainpage / Next Page (Chapter 11, Page 196)
| Eileithyia or Ilithyia was a Greek goddess of childbirth and midwifery and daughter to Zeus and Hera. (112) and she was chief of the three most prominent child-birth goddesses of ancient Greece, the others being Hera and Artemis. (113) In Greek, the verb eleutho, means “to bring,” making her “The Bringer,” similar to the title of Ashi. (114) In the cave of Amnisos (Crete) she was connected to the annual birth of the divine child. (115) Pindar (522–443 BC), in the Seventh Nemean Ode writes: “hear me, creator of offspring, child of Hera great in strength.” (116) Artemis (Roman-Diana) is said to be a goddess of the moon, the hunt, fertility, childbirth and nature. She was often referred to as “arrow-pouring” or “deer-shooting” and evokes the “archer” imagery. In her role as the moon-goddess she shone bright as an illuminator or “torch-bearer.” (117) In Syria, originally, she was Atargatis. In many depictions she can be seen with wings above her, similar to the bird goddess. One can easily see the mushroom semblance of the roundness on top and the body being used as a base stem (13g, h). One of the things I found compelling in my research was a terracotta figurine of what appears to be Artemis from the Jama coaque culture in Ecuador, c. 500 BC-1000 AD, which has her donning a bull horn on her head and wearing the traditional pinecone style body coat (89c). Artemis is also depicted on a Roman coin c. 100 AD (55r). Artemis was very similar to Apollo, being his twin sister, both archer-healers. She represented health and strength and she helped avert evil and alleviated suffering, but she could also cause mental and nervous disorders, especially in women, and women who suffered from suspected Artemis inflicted ills were said to be “Artemis-struck” or “moon-struck.” (118) Artemis had several healing shrines and sanctuaries under her care such as the Artemiseion near Epidaurus. According to Pausanius: “By the road leading from Boeae to Epidaurus Limera is a sanctuary of Artemis Limnatis (Of the Lake) in the country of the Epidaurians. The city lies on high ground, not far from the sea. Here the sanctuary of Artemis is worth seeing, also that of Asclepius with a standing statue of stone, a temple of Athena on the acropolis, and of Zeus with the title Saviour in front of the harbor.” (119) (It is important to note the link of Asclepius to Saviour.) She also presided over shrines at Ephesos and one at Alpheios in Elis, where the ill and needy could bath in nearby lakes and streams. As Artemis Thermia, she presided over healing fountains at Mitylene (120), Kyzikos, (121) and Rhodes. (122) |
  R: (13h) Artemis L: (89c) Jama coaque, Ecuador c. 500 BC-1000 AD   R: (55r) Artemis of Ephesus (Diana) c. 100 AD (112) Hesiod, Theogony 921 (113) Healing Gods, p. 319; Preller, Griechusche Mythologie, i, 511 ff (114) Max Müller, Contributions to the Science of Mythology, Vol. 2, Kessinger Publishing, 2003 [1897], p. 697 (115) F. Schachermeyer (1967). Die Minoische Kultur des alten Kreta.W.Kohlhammer Stuttgart. pp. 141–142 (116) Healing Gods, p. 319; Pindar, Seventh Nemean Ode, 467 BC (117) Goddesses and Gods, p. 198 (118) Healing Gods, p. 311; Macrobius I, xvii, 11 (119) Pausanius, Description of Greece, 3.23.10 (120) Healing Gods; Corpus Inscriptionum Graecarum, 2172 (121) ibid; (Aristeides, I, 503D), (122) ibid, p. 311-13; Inscriptiones Graecae, XXIV, 4 |
Go Back to Page 194