#skythia

[honoringthor]

I tried to draw her, might try again later. I don’t have a scanner

HERACLES FUCKED A WHAT

[rayrex0fartemis]

Battlefield Artemis, Protector of Warriors

Artemis from DanMachi: Astraea Record volume 3. Written by Omori Fujino and illustrated by Kakage.

“Hunting and the chase are the recreation of Apollo and Artemis, but they are also connected with the goddess [Athena]. For one thing because they are a part of the art of war…”

-Aristides Or. 14:6 (Tr. C.A. Behr; excerpt from Mary Galvin’s BIOΣ APTEMIΣ, p.169)

Artemis’ role in times of war and how she’s favored by soldiers are overlooked in favor the typical “war gods”, like Ares, Athena, and Mithras. While she was not called a “Goddess of War”, Artemis had a prominent role in war.

According to Mary Galvin, Artemis role in war is due to her connection to the life of society. Artemis prepares society for war and from the quote above indicates that there’s an overlap with the hunt and war.

Appeals were made to Artemis prior to war, especially when an enemy threatened the populace.

Historically people greatly believed that Artemis will protect them in times of crisis. The Ephesians had great faith that Artemis protected them danger, such as the legendary conquest of Croesus, who later built the first Artemision.

During the time the Persians controlled Ionia, they left the city of Ephesus and the Artemision mostly intact, despite destroying other cities and their sanctuaries and temples. The Syracusans, after a civil conflict try to keep the peace and decided to took steps to avoid further conflicts and keep a harmonious relationship with Artemis.

Artemis kept women safe from war. The women of Amphipolis gathered in the temple of Artemis Tauropolos and plead to Artemis for her help when their city was under threat.

Artemis also kept soldiers safe when they rest under her watchful eyes near her sanctuaries. Afterall Artemis’ sacred spaces were usually sites of asylum at least from the Archaic age to the late Roman period.

There’s a pre-war sacrifice ritual of pre-battle sacrifices to Artemis, usually with an animal sacrifice. Artemis occasionally give pre-battle epiphanies, she gave them signs or directly appeared to them herself. After a successful battle, the army and/or the society will give thanksgiving to Artemis and sometimes Artemis alongside other gods, typically Athena and/or Apollo, if they’re involved.

Examples of appeals before war and battle:

Antigone called upon Artemis prior to Parthenopaeus’ attack.

Agamemnon dedicated a sanctuary to Artemis at Megara in hopes to have Kalchas to join him in the Trojan war.

The Delphians appealed for help against a barbarian attack.

Before the battle of Marathon, the Athenians appealed to Artemis by promising to sacrifice a goat for each Persian killed.

Post-battle thanksgivings include:

Athens sacrificed numerous goats for their victory at Marathon against the Persians (though not 1:1).

Ephesus frequently honored Artemis each time they’re saved when they're in a pinch.

Alexander the average I mean Great honored Artemis with a sacrificed at Ephesus.

Xerxes the Great honored Artemis Ephesia, on his way back home after unsuccessful campaign in Greece.

Tissaphernes honored Artemis with a sacrificed at Ephesus.

Agesilaos honored Artemis with a sacrificed at Aulis.

The Spartans regularly sacrificed a goat in her honor.

Various memorials were erected around and inside Artemis’ sanctuaries to memorialized and thanking Artemis for her help in their time of need.

Athenians victory over Medes at Salamis memorialized in the temple of Artemis Proseoa.

Theseus’s at Troizen for his victory against the minotaur and his safe passage out of the labyrinth.

Preservation of land of the Cirrhaeans and Cragalidae.

At Euboea is Agamemnon stone ship with his thanksgiving for the passage to Troy.

Themistocles dedicated a shrine as thanks for his victory at Salamis.

Numerous thanksgiving inscriptions from Ephesus, Caria, Skythia, and throughout the ancient word from both Greek and non-Greek people.

Festivals and celebrations were made in Artemis’ honor.

Phokians initiated the Festival of the Elaphabolia at Hyampolis for their success against the Thessalians.

Athens observed on Mounychion 16th a holiday to Artemis in thanks for their success at Salamis.

Delphians initiated a festival for the thanking Apollo, Artemis, and Athena for their epiphanies during the battle against the barbarians and for their aid.

Another way that people thanked Artemis is the dedication of gifts at her sanctuaries and temples.

Garlands by Agesilaos and his soldiers.

Artemis Ephesia was given a tithe from the spoils of war by the Greeks.

Images of war heroes were dedicated to Artemis, such as an image of Adrastus the Lydian was given to Artemis Anaitis, and Artemis Ephesia was given images of various war heroes, including Lysander and prominent Spartans.

Aetolians gave images of Artemis to Delphi after their war with people from Gaul.

Artemis also participated in peace treaties as well. One time in Rome, there was an agreement that was publicly posted in Artemis/Diana’s sanctuary. Governments and political bodies frequently ask for Artemis’ permission to ratify treaties and/or seek her recognition of the treaty.

Overall Artemis was appealed for her help during critical moments before and during battle and her protection from her sanctuaries to the battlefield. Armies called for her help via pre-battle sacrifices and after the conflict, they gave Artemis thanksgiving sacrifices and/or dedications. Before Mithras, Diana was the favorite god for Roman soldiers to pray to.

“May God protect our soldiers"

Sources:

“BIOΣ APTEMIΣ” by Mary Galvin, there's a lot of information about Artemis here.

“The Secrets of Ephesus” by Izabela Misczak

Title totally not inspired by the Battlefield TV series…

Reddit: https://old.reddit.com/r/Artemision/comments/zt2bia/battlefield_artemis_the_protector_of_warriors/

[tsotsiskindaswag]

Here at the official tumblr blog for the strength of the stars we believe in ✨skythia supremacy✨

[nehetisingsforhekate]

Amazon Names

With thanks to Adrienne Mayor, who wrote the list out for us in her book Amazons. I have excluded names outside of the Graeco-Roman world because of the focus on my blog.

It is questionable whether these names were ever really associated with actual Amazons, who were most likely part of the hordes of tribes from Skythia, near the Black Sea. Most of them are names the Greeks offered as names of Amazons. Skythia stretched out towards the area we know as Kyrgyzstan, and even as far as China. Adrienne Mayor’s book does a great job describing tales that cross the entire Asiatic range about women who are warriors and queens who led armies.  

Some of these are names for women with full stories, such as Penthisilea. Others we only have them depicted on a stray fragment of a vase. These names can be understood as representing just how little we know, just how little survived of the folklore of the Ancient Greeks.

A few of these names are familiar in other contexts. You’ll find mention of an Amazon named Hekate, and another named Asteria, for example. These are not the same as the Titanesses that bore those names, near as we can tell.

Ainia: “Swift” or “Praise” (from a Greek terra-cotta fragment) Ainippe: “Swift of Praiseworthy Horse” (Greek vase) Alexandre: “Protector” fem. form of Alexander (Greek vase) Alkaia: “Mighty” (Greek vase) Alke: “Mighty” (Latin Anthology) Alkibie: “Powerful” (Quintus of Smyrna) Alkinoe/Alkinoa: “Strong-Willed” (Greek vase) Amastris: Persian princess, founder of Amastris (Strabo) Amazo: “Amazon” (Strabo) Amynomene: “Defender” (Greek vase) Anaxilea: “Leader of the Host or Army” (Greek vase) Anchimache: “Close Fighter” (Tzetzes) Andro: “Manly” (Tzetzes) Androdaixa: “Man-Slayer” (Tzetzes) Androdameia: “Subdues or Tames Men” (Greek vase) Andromache: “Manly fighter” (Tzetzes, Greek vase) Andromeda: “Thinks like a Man” or “Measure of Man” (Greek vase) Antandre: “Resists Men” (Quintus of Smyrna) Antianeira: “Man’s Match” (Tzetzes, Mimnermus fragment 21a, Greek vase) Antibrote: “Equal of Man” (Quintus of Smyrna) Antimache/Anchimache: “Confronting Warrior” (Tzetzes) Antioche: “She who Moves Against” (Hyginus) Antiope: “Opposing Gaze” (Apollodorus, Diodorus, Plutarch, Hyginus, Pausanias, Greek vases) Areto: “Virtue” (Greek vase) Areximacha: “Defending Warrior” (Greek vase) Aristomache: “Best Warrior” (Greek vase) Artemisia: “of Artemis” (Persian? Herodotus) Aspidocharme: “Shield Warrior” (Tzetzes) Asteria: “Starry” (Diodorus) Atossa: “Well-granting” (Iranian, Hellanikos, Justin, Claudian) Aturmuca: “Spear Battle” (Etruscan name for Andromache or Dorymache; vase) Audata: “Lucky”, “Loud”, or in Latin “Daring” (Illyrian, Athenaeus) Bremusa: “Thunder” (Quintus of Smyrna) Caeria/Kaeria: “She of the War Band,” “Timely,” or “Hill/Peak” (Illyrian, warrior queen, Polyaenus) Camilla: fem. form of Camillus, “Noble Youth” (Etruscan, Volschi, Virgil) Calaeno/Kalaeno: “The Dark One” (Diodorus) Chalkaor: “Bronze Sword” (Tzetzes) Charope: “Fierce Gaze” (Greek vase) Chichak: “Flower” (Turkish, Book of Dede Korkut) Chrysis: “Golden” (Greek vase) Cleophis: “Famous Snake” (Diodorus, Curtius) Clete/Klete: “Helper” (Tzetzes on Lychophron 995) Cyme/Kyme: “Billowing Wave” (Diodorus, Stephanus of Byzantium, coins) Cynna, Cynnane, Kynna: “Little Bitch” (Illyrian-Doric, Alexander the Great’s half-sister, Polyaenus) Deianeira: “Man Destroyer” (Diodorus) Deinomache: “Terrible Warrior” (vase) Derimachea: “Battle Fighter” (Quintus of Smyrna) Derinoe: “Battle-Minded” (Quintus of Smyrna) Dioxippe: “Pursuing Mare” (Hyginus) Dolope: Thracian tribal name (vase) Doris: “Bountiful” or “Dorian” (vase) Echephyle: “Defending the tribe” (vase) Enchesimargos: “Spear mad” (Tzetzes) Epipole: “Outsider” (Photius) Eriboea: “Many Cows” (Diodorus) Eumache: “Excellent Fighter” (vase) Euope: “Fair Face” of “Fair Eyes” (vase) Euryale: “Far Roaming” (Valerius Flaccus) Eurybia: “Far Strength” (Diodorus) Eurylophe: “Broad Crest” as of a helmet, “Wide Hill” or “Broad Neck” (Tzetzes) Eurypyleia/Eurypyle: “Wide Gate or Mountain Pass” (Arrian cited by Eustathius, vase) Evandre: female form of Evandrus, “As Good as a Man” (Quintus of Smyrna) Glauke/Glaukia: “Blue-Grey Eyes” (Apollodorus, Hyginus, Scholia Iliad 3.189, Callimachus, vase) Gortyessa: from Gortyn, possibly meaning “enclosure”, town in Crete (Tzetzes) Gryne: an Anatolian town (Servius on Aeneid 4.345) Harmothoe: “Sharp Spike” (Quintus of Smyrna) Harpe: “Snatcher” or “Sickle-Dagger” (Silius Italicus) Hegeso: “Leader, Chief” (vase) Hekate: “Far-darting” (Tzetzes) Hiera: “Sacred” (Philostratus) Hippe: “Horse” (Athenaeus) Hippo: “Horse” (Callimachus, vase) Hippolyte: “Releases the Horses” (Euripides, Apollodorus, Diodorus, Pausanias, Quintus of Smyrna, Plutarch, Hyginus, Jordanes, vases) Hippomache: “Horse Warrior” (vase) Hipponike: “Victory Steed” (vase) Hippothoe: “ Mighty Mare” (Quintus of Smyrna, Hyginus, Tzetzes) Hypsicratea: “High or Mighty Power” (Valerius Maximus, Plutarch, Greek inscription) Iodoke: “Holding Arrows” (Tzetzes) Iole: “Violet” (vase) Ioxeia: “Delighting in Arrows” or “Onslaught” (Tzetzes) Iphinome: “Forceful Nature” (Hyginus) Iphito: “Snake” (vase) Isocrateia: “Equal Power” (Stephanus of Byzantium, Eustathius) Kallie: “Beautiful” (vase) Kleptomene: “Thief” (vase) Klonie: “Wild Rushing” (Quintus of Smyrna) Klymene: “Famous” (Hyginus, Pausanias, vase) Knemis: “Greaves” (Tzetzes) Koia: “Hollow” as in sky, “Inquisitive” female form of Koeus (Stephanus of Byzantium) Koinia: “of the People” (Stephanus of Byzantium) Kokkymo: “Howling/Battle Cry” (Callimachus fragment 693, a daughter of the queen of Amazons) Korone: “Crown” (vase) Kreousa: “Princess” (vase) Kydoime: “Din of Battle” (vase) Lampedo/Lampeto/Lampado: “Burning torch” (Callimachus, Justin, Orosius, Jordanes) Laodoke: “Receives the Host or Army” (vase) Laomache: “Warrior of the People or Host” (Hyginus) Larina: “Protector” (companion of Camilla, Virgil) Lyke: “She-Wolf” (Valerius Flaccus, Latin Anthology, vases) Lykopis: “Wolf Eyes” (vases) Lysippe: “Lets Loose the Horses” (Pseudo-Plutarch) Maia: “Mother” (Callimachus fragment 693, a daughter of an Amazon queen) Marpe: “She seizes” (Diodorus) Marpesia: “Snatcher or Seizer” (Justin, Orosius, Jordanes) Maximous: “Daughter of the Greatest” (Hellenized Latin) Melanippe: “Black Mare” (scholia on Pindar) Melo: “Song” (vase) Melousa: “Ruler” (vase) Menalippe: “Steadfast or Black Mare” (Jordanes) Menippe: “Steadfast Horse” (Valerius Flaccus) Mimnousa: “Standing in Battle” (vase) Molpadia: “Death or Divine Song” or “Songstress” (Plutarch) Myrine: “Myrrh” (Homer, Diodorus) Oistrophe: “Twisting Arrow” (Tzetzes) Okyale: “Swift” (Hyginus, vase) Okypous: “Swift-Footed” (vase) Orithyia: “Mountain Raging” (Justin, Orosius) Otrera: “Quick, Nimble” (Apollodorus, Hyginus) Palla: “Leaping, Bounding” (Stephanus of Byzantium, Eustathius) Pantariste: “Best of All” (vase) Parthenia: “Maiden, Virgin” (Callimachus, another daughter of an Amazon queen) Peisanassa: “She Who Persuades the Queen” Pentasila: Etruscan version of Penthesilea Pharetre: “Quiver Girl” (Tzetzes) Philippis: “Loves Horses” (Diodorus) Phoebe: “Bright, Shining” (Diodorus) Pisto: “Trustworthy” (vase) Polemusa: “War Woman” (Quintus of Smyrna) Polydora: “Many Gifts” (Hyginus) Prothoe: “First in Might, Swift” (Diodorus) Protis: “First” (Callimachus, daughter of an Amazon queen) Pyrgomache: “Fortress Fighter” (vase) Rhodogyne: “Woman in Red” (Aeschines, Philostratus, Persian queen) Sisyrbe: “Shaggy Goatskin” (Strabo, Stephanus of Byzantium) Skyleia: “Spoiler of Enemies” (non. Greek word on a Greek vase) Stonychia: “Sharp point, Spear” (Callimachus, daughter of an Amazon queen) Tarpeia: “Funeral urn” (Greek-Latin, Virgin) Teisipyle: “Gate or Mountain Pass” (vase) Tekmessa: “Reader of marks, signs, or tokens” (Diodorus, Homer) Telepyleia: “Distant gates or mountain pass” (vase) Teuta: “Queen” (Illyrian, Appian, Polybius) Thermodosa: “From Thermodon” (Quintus of Smyrna) Thero: “Wild Beast” or “Hunter” (vase) Theseis: “Establisher” female form of Theseus (Hyginus) Thoe: “Quick, Nimble, Mighty” (Valerius Flaccus) Thoreke: “Breastplate” (Tzetzes) Thraso: “Bold, Confident, Courageous” (vase) Toxaris: “Archer” (vase) Toxis: “Arrow” (vase) Toxoanassa: “Archer Queen” (Tzetzes) Toxophile: “Loves Arrows” (vase) Toxophone: “Whizzing Arrows” (Tzetzes) Tralla: “Thracian” (Stephanus of Byzantium, Eusthathius) Tulla: “Supporter” (Latin-Volscian, Virgil) Xanthe: “Blonde” (Hyginus) Xanthippe: “Palomino” (vase)

 Sources:

Mayor, Adrienne. Amazons: Lives and Legends of Warrior Women across the Ancient World, Princeton, 2016.

 Images:

Krater with Volutes in Terracotta, Red Figure vase, Magna Graecia, ca. 330-320 BCE, now in the Musee Royal de Mariemont. Photo by Ad Meskens. Via Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mariemont_Greek_krater_03.JPG

[paganimagevault]

A Successful Raid: Pontic Steppe, 1st–2nd Centuries CE by G. Embleton. Illustration from book, The Sarmatians 600 BC - AD 450, from Osprey Publishing.

"During the 4th and 3rd centuries BC, the centre of Sarmatian power remained north of the Caucasus and in the 3rd century BC the most important centres were around the lower Don, Kalmykia, the Kuban area, and the Central Caucasus.

During the end of the 4th century BC, the Scythians, the then dominant power in the Black Sea Steppe, were militarily defeated by the Makedonian kings Philippos II and Lysimakhos in 339 and 313 BC respectively. They experienced another military setback after participating in the Bosporan Civil War in 309 BC and came under pressure from the Thracian Getai and the Germanic Bastarnai. At the same time, in Central Asia, following the Makedonian conquest of the Achaemenid Empire, the new Seleucid Empire started attacking the Sakā and Dahā nomads who lived to the north of its borders, who in turn put westward pressure on the Sarmatians. Pressured by the Sakā and Dahā in the east and taking advantage of the decline of Scythian power, the Sarmatians began crossing the Don river and invaded Skythia (later in the mediaeval period, the military campaigns of Ismā'īl Sāmāni against the Oγuz Turks in Central Asia would similarly pressure the Hungarians into moving westwards into the Pannonian Basin), and also migrated south into the North Caucasus.

The first wave of westward Sarmatian migration happened during the 2nd century BC, and involved the Royal Sarmatians, or Saioi (from Scytho-Sarmatian *xšaya, meaning "kings"), who moved into the Pontic Stepp, and the Iazyges, also called the Iaxamatai or Iazamatai, who initially settled between the Don and Dnieper rivers. The Rhoxolanoi, who might have been a mixed Scytho-Sarmatian tribe, followed the Iazyges and occupied the Black Sea steppes up to the Dnipro and raided the Crimean region during that century, at the end of which they were involved in a conflict with the generals of the Pontic king Mithradatēs VI Eupatōr in the Bosporan Khersonēsos, while the Iazyges became his allies.

That the tribes formerly referred to by Herodotus as Scythians were now called Sarmatians by Hellenistic and Roman authors implies that the Sarmatian conquest did not involve a displacement of the Scythians from the Pontic Steppe, but rather that the Scythian tribes were absorbed by the Sarmatians. After their conquest of Skythia, the Sarmatians became the dominant political power in the northern Pontic Steppe, where Sarmatian graves first started appearing in the 2nd century BC. Meanwhile, the populations which still identified as Scythians proper became reduced to Crimea and the Dobruja region, and at one point the Crimean Scythians were the vassals of the Sarmatian queen Amagē. Sarmatian power in the Pontic Steppes was also directed against the Greek cities on its shores, with the city of Olbia Pontikē being forced to pay repeated tribute to the Royal Sarmatians and their king Saitapharnēs, who is mentioned in the Protogenēs inscription along with the tribes of the Thisamatai, Scythians, and Saudaratai. Another Sarmatian king, Gatalos, was named in a peace treaty concluded by the king Pharnakes of Pontos with his enemies.

Two other Sarmatian tribes, the Sirakoi, who had previously originated in the Transcaspian Plains immediately to the northeast of Kyrkania before migrating to the west, and the Aorsoi, moved to the west across the Volga and into the Caucasus mountains' foothills between the 2nd to 1st centuries BC. From there, the pressure from their growing power forcing the more western Sarmatian tribes to migrate further west, and the Aorsoi and Sirakoi destroyed the power of the Royal Sarmatians and the Iazyges, with the Aorsoi being able to extend their rule over a large region stretching from the Caucasus across the Terek–Kuma Lowland and Kalmykia in the west up to the Aral Sea region in the east. Yet another new Sarmatian group, the Alanoi, originated in Central Asia out of the merger of some old tribal groups with the Massagetai. Related to the Asioi who invaded Baktrianē in the 2nd century BC, the Alanoi were pushed west by the Kʰɑŋ-kɨɑ people (known to Graeco-Roman authors as the Ιαξαρται Iaxartai in Greek, and the Iaxartae in Latin) who were living in the Syr Darya basin, from where they expanded their rule from Fergana to the Aral Sea region.

The hegemony of the Sarmatians in the Pontic Steppe continued during the 1st century BC, when they were allied with the Scythians against Diophantos, a general of Mithradatēs VI Eupatōr, before allying with Mithradatēs against the Romans and fighting for him in both Europe and Asia, demonstrating the Sarmatians' complete involvement in the affairs of the Pontic and Danubian regions. During the early part of the century, the Alanoi had migrated to the area to the northeast of the Lake Maiōtis. Meanwhile, the Iazyges moved westwards until they reached the Danube and the Rhoxolanoi moved into the area between the Dnipro and the Danube and from there further west. These two peoples attacked the regions around Tomis and Moesia, respectively. During this period, the Iazyges and Rhoxolanoi also attacked the Roman province of Thracia, whose governor Tiberius Plautius Silvanus Aelianus had to defend the Roman border of the Danube. During the 1st century BC century, various Sarmatians reached the Pannonian Basin and the Iazyges passed through the territories corresponding to modern-day Moldavia and Wallachia before settling in the Tisza valley, by the middle of the century."

-taken from wikipedia

[mossdemoness]

ALL ABOUT HEKATE/HECATE ★

“heh-kah-tay/tee”

❁ Hecate is a feminine goddess who is also affiliated with :

Abnukta (She of The Night, also one of the names of Lilith)

Agriope (Savage Face)

Aidônaia (Lady of The Underworld)

Anassa eneroi (Queen of Those Below)

Antaia (The One in Front)

Antania (Enemy of Mankind)

Aphrattos (The Nameless One/The Unnameable One)

Aphrodite

Artemis

Arianhrod

Atalos (Tender/Delicate)

Brimo (Angry One/Chthonian Mistress of The Mighty Dead)

Bridgid

Ceridwen

Dadophoros (Torch bearer)

Despoina (Lady)

Diana

Durga

Enodia (Of The Roads)

Epiphanestate Thea (Most Manifest Goddess)

Ereshkigal

Fata

Gaia

Hekate (She Who Works Her Will/The From-a-far Powerful One/The One who Stands Aloof)

Heqit

Inanna

Lilith

Kali

Khthonia (Mistress of The Underworld)

Kleidophoros (Key Bearer)

Kleidouchos (Keeper of The Keys)

Koure mounogenes (Only Begotten Maiden)

Kourotrophe (Nurse of the Young)

Krataiis/Crataeis (Strong One)

Kurotrophos (Protector of Children)

Liparokrêdemnos (Bright-coiffed, with Bright Headband)

Lykania (She-Wolf/Mother of Werewolves)

Megiste (Greatest)

Morgan

Monogenes (Only Child)

Nocticula (Moon Mistress)

Nyktipolos (Night Wandering)

Nyx

Pandeina (The All Terrible/The One Feared by All)

Perseis (Daughter of Perses – Destroyer)

Persephone

Phosphoro (The Light-Bringer)

Propolos (Guide/She Who Shows The Path)

Propylaia (The Guardian)

Skylakagetis (Leader of the Dogs/Mistress of Hellhounds)

Soteira (Savior)

Trevia (Of Three Ways/Goddess of Crossroads)

Tiamat

Tricephalus/Tricephalos (Three- Headed)

Trimorphis (Three Formed, Three Bodied)

Trioditis (Of The Crossroads)

Zerynthia (Lady of Mt. Zerynthos)

Apollyon (male counterpart)

❁ ❁ ❁

⁂ Source:

https://tribe-hekate.com/hekates-pages/the-many-names-of-hekate/

“Hekate was identified with a number of other goddesses including Artemis, Selene (the Moon), Despoine, the sea-goddess Krataeis (Crataeis), the goddess of the Taurian Khersonese in Skythia, the Kolkhian (Colchian) nymph Perseis, the heroine Iphigeneia, the Thracian goddesses Bendis and Kotys (Cotys), the Euboian nymph Maira (the Dog-Star), the Eleusinian nymph Daeira and the Boiotian nymph Herkyna (Hercyna).” (https://www.theoi.com/Khthonios/Hekate.html)

♞ About Hekate/Hecate:

“Queen of heaven”

“Guardian of the Crossroads”

“Worker from afar”

“Goddess of Gates”

“MOTHER GODDESS”

“Reaper”

“Mother of creation”

Hecate is the goddess of the moon, magic, witchcraft, the night, spirits, necromancy, feminism, and feminine energy.

She has power over the heavens, the seas, and the earth.

She is a mother/sister figure.

She will “guide you through the dark”

She’s very maternal.

She is sympathetic.

She is the gateway between worlds and a guide

Originally the queen of heaven

Light-bringer

She is a karmic goddess that upholds the laws of the universe

She teaches you to find within yourself, that you don’t need anyone else

She is a savior

Animals:

Black-she-dog, polecat,

☽ Symbolism & Traits:

Torches, #3, huntress, work, virginity, fertility, wealth, wisdom, mystery, war, protector of youth, whining howling of dogs, hell hounds, lions, ruler of witches, life, death, herbalism, mother goddess, crone, cemeteries, inbetween spaces, childbirth, healing, polarity, black, red, pomegranates, lavender, key, cauldron, knives, eggs, honey, breads, sweets, garlic, date palms, crescent shape, dark moon phases, door frames, Sirius, protection from evil, horses, cows, boar, serpent, toads/frogs, wilderness, transformation, jack-o’-lanterns, wolves, bats, ravens, crows, dragons, bears, owls, sickles, ropes, labyrinths, mazes, mind altering herbs, yew, almonds, myrrh, mugwort, cardamom, mint, dandelion, edible flowers, honey cake, fish roe, mushrooms, magic mushrooms.

Helpful:

Preforming rituals with her at crossroads or inbetweens, like on an x or at midnight.

Spirit work.

Study: Medea, Circe, Cybele, Artemis, Diana, Persephone, Demeter, and Dionysus.

Do things in 13s

Meal known as “deipnon” for blessings and forgiveness from Hecate.

DO NOT invoke or work with Hecate until you are a skilled Wiccan or witch!

Howls are thought to invoke her

*whatever is given to Hecate can not be reclaimed!!*

*cleanse before celebrating Hecate or invoking her*

❧ ❧ ❧

❸ Sacred day: August 13th

❸ Sacred star: Sirius

❸ Sacred numbers: 3, 13, 30, 31

❸ Elements: water, fire

❸ Seasons: spring, fall, winter

❸ Special day: October 31st, spring solstice, Yule , November 16th (night of Hecate),

November 30th (day of Hecate at crossroads), Jan 31st (Hecate sheds light),

✿ ✿ ✿

“I sit in the blackness of the
dark moon night
with my hounds
at the crossroads
where three roads converge
at the crossroads
the place of choice
All paths lead to the crossroads
and all are desirable
but only one can you travel
only one can you choose
choice creates endings
and all beginnings come from endings
at the crossroads
Which one will you choose?
which way will you go?
which?
Though the choice is yours
here's a secret I'll share
The way to choose is to enter the void
the way to choose is to let die
the way to choose is to fly free”

❥ Source:

https://www.theoi.com/Khthonios/Hekate.html

https://otherworldlyoracle.com/hecate-goddess/

https://greekgodsandgoddesses.net/goddesses/hecate/

https://www.wicca-spirituality.com/hecate.html

[x-x-moon-maiden-x-x]

Hecate

HEKATE (Hecate) was the goddess of magic, witchcraft, the night, moon, ghosts and necromancy. She was the only child of the Titanes Perses and Asteria from whom she received her power over heaven, earth, and sea.

Hekate assisted Demeter in her search for Persephone, guiding her through the night with flaming torches. After the mother-daughter reunion became she Persephone's minister and companion in Haides.

Three metamorphosis myths describe the origins of her animal familiars: the black she-dog and the polecat (a mustelid house pet kept by the ancients to hunt vermin). The dog was the Trojan Queen Hekabe (Hecuba) who leapt into the sea after the fall of Troy and was transformed by the goddess. The polecat was either the witch Gale, turned as punishment for her incontinence, or Galinthias, midwife of Alkmene (Alcmena), who was transformed by the enraged goddess Eileithyia but adopted by the sympathetic Hekate.

Hekate was usually depicted in Greek vase painting as a woman holding twin torches. Sometimes she was dressed in a knee-length maiden's skirt and hunting boots, much like Artemis. In statuary Hekate was often depicted in triple form as a goddess of crossroads.

Her name means "worker from afar" from the Greek word hekatos. The masculine form of the name, Hekatos, was a common epithet of the god Apollon.

Hekate was identified with a number of other goddesses including Artemis, Selene (the Moon), Despoine, the sea-goddess Krataeis (Crataeis), the goddess of the Taurian Khersonese in Skythia, the Kolkhian (Colchian) nymph Perseis, the heroine Iphigeneia, the Thracian goddesses Bendis and Kotys (Cotys), the Euboian nymph Maira (the Dog-Star), the Eleusinian nymph Daeira and the Boiotian nymph Herkyna (Hercyna).

[upyrica]

"...the goddess of the Taurian Khersonese in Skythia..."

Oh shush.

[bebemoon]

“But when the Nymphai encircle thee [Artemis] in the dance, near the springs of Aigyptian Inopos or Pitane--for Pitane too is thine--or in Limnai or where, goddess, thou camest from Skythia to dwell, in Alai . . . for the god Helios never passes by that beauteous dance, but stays his car to gaze upon the sight, and lights of day are lengthened.”

—Callimachus, Hymn 3 to Artemis 170 ff

[plentyreviewsonline]

The Panotti (panacios, panotti, panotos, panotios - from the Greek words for "all ears") were a race of creatures, described as possessing large ears that covered their entire bodies. They are mentioned by classical writers such as Pliny the Elder, who writes that they live in the "All-Ears Islands" off Scythia (Greek Σκυθία Skythia, Engl. /'sɪθɪə/ or /'sɪðɪə/) was the area in Eurasia inhabited by people of Iranian language. Pomponius Mela, however, writes that they lived near the Orkneys. (at Texas) https://www.instagram.com/p/CL21PpwBy_R/?igshid=bt53wbecgqnk

[sarafangirlart]

Herakles turning out to be a monster fucker is a wild ass revelation but also Herakles x Skythia fanart when

Idk I’m getting ideas for it but I’m probably not drawing it any time soon but it’s definitely on the drawing ideas list.

[myhistoryblog]

An Excessively Rare Greek Silver Stater of Olbia (Skythia) by Ancient Art & Numismatics on Flickr.

[portalnumismaticos]

Protomoeda Golfinho Olbia – (500/400 aC) Bronze - fundida - Skythia Peça de bronze em formato de golfinho utilizada inicialmente como objetos sacrificiais para a adoração de Apolo, e subsequentemente utilizada como protótipo de moeda. Referências: SNG BM Black Sea-375. Dimensões: 1,44gr; 25mm - Somente: R$95,00+ FRETE Aceitamos todos os cartões (via PayPal)* - Conheça o nosso site e o nossa Loja Virtual: LINK NA BIO - #numismatica #numismáticacastro #numis #numismatic #numista #coin #empreender #sucesso #cultura #investment #financas #investimento #moeda #dinheiro #historia #religiao #vida #conhecimento #picoftheday #rarecoins #oldcoins #numismatist #coincollection #monnaie #history #tbt #art #ancient #ancientcoins #conatuscoins (em Copacabana) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bv0bfO7lXSH/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1b5yve75763v3

[kirstybynam]

Trying something more simplistic.

The myth of GRIFFEN

THE GRYPS (Griffin) was a beast with the head and wings of an eagle and the body of a lion.

A tribe of the creatures guarded rich deposits of gold in the mountains of Skythia (Scythia) in north-eastern Europe. Their one-eyed neighbours, the Arimaspians, battled them for these riches.

[moonjazz77]

Griffin Mythic Dangerous Beast, Rostock, Germany by Moonjazz World of Wonder Seen over 30 Million Times Via Flickr: GRYPS (Griffin) was a beast with the head and wings of an eagle and the body of a lion. A tribe of the creatures guarded rich deposits of gold in the mountains of Skythia (Scythia) in north-eastern Europe. This one is at near a 500 year old city tunnel in Rostock, Germany. A formerly eastern block area that is now full of arts, museums, and history after being almost bombed out of existence in WW2.