Honoring My Cretan Ancestors with a Minoan-Inspired Ritual

/ Rhei Arkangelakis / 18 Comments

For my 33rd birthday, I decided to honor my Cretan ancestors by conducting a Minoan-inspired ritual. I place emphasis on the word inspired because we don’t know the full scope of Minoan religion, but we are aware of quite a bit from frescoes, statues, and other archeological findings. Therefore, I integrated a mix of my research, Cretan traditions, and intuition. Speaking of ancestry, here’s a post about a mtDNA study that connects modern day Cretans to the Minoans, especially from the maternal line.

Offerings

Based off residue found in various storage vessels throughout Knossos and other palaces, we more or less know what the Minoans ate. So, with that in mind, I filled a bowl with kalamata olives from Crete (you’d be surprised how easy it is to find Greek olives, even if you don’t live in Greece – ask me for recommendations) and another container with Greek honey, which is a known offering to deities in both the Minoan and Hellenic religion.

“Minoan” Music

We can only more or less guess what their music was like, but there are plenty of artists who have created Minoan-inspired tracks with some Ancient Greek flair, so I had that playing in the background during the ritual. Here is one of the songs:

Altar Setup

I then set up an altar, mindfully placing a statuette of The Snake Goddess (or Priestess) I bought from Knossos at the center on a square block of quartz with a statuette of The Lily Prince (or Priest-King, or perhaps even deity) alongside her. I also included a candle infused with anise and extra virgin olive oil sourced from Greece as well as incense. Additionally, I carved The Snake Goddesses’ name into the candle: Atano Djuwaja. I ended up walking slowly towards the altar with a ceramic bowl of my offerings to place by her. I included a few photos below so you can see the whole thing:

Ritual Clothing

While I wouldn’t say my outfit is a replica of what is seen on frescoes, I tried my best to find clothing that captured the essence of Minoan fashion. I also used my minimal sewing skills to add some details to the jacket’s sleeves. My apron is a lot less elaborate, but I made do. The style of Minoan women was known for its decorative jewelry, so I wore gold and silver dangling earrings (including snake cuff earrings), gold bangle bracelets, gold rings, and a brass labrys Snake Goddess necklace. I also was generous on the eye-liner to mirror the Minoan (and Ancient Egyptian) cat-eye look.

Me in a Minoan-inspired outfit

Minoan Tarot Card Reading

From what we know, the Minoans didn’t use “tarot cards” or anything similar, but my Cretan grandmother passed down a similar card-reading tradition to me. Also, I came across a beautiful Minoan tarot deck by the talented and equally knowledgeable Ellen Lorenzi-Prince (here is my review of the deck) that I just had to buy as a birthday present for myself. The card I pulled was extremely fitting:

Dress provides an opportunity for a person to show on the outside a small part of who they are on the inside.
Demonstration of belonging is necessary for the connection of the individual to the group they depend upon.
Display is not superficial when meaningful.

-Ellen Lorenzi-Prince

I think this is a good spot to end my post. Thanks for reading! This ritual of mine was deeply meaningful and emotional, and I’m honored to share it with all of you.

*All the images that are not my own (i.e. olives, anise) are from Pixabay.

Minoan Civilization: Egalitarian or Matriarchal?

/ Rhei Arkangelakis / 1 Comment

The Land of Kings and Goddesses

The patriarchy has been rooted in our reality for what seems to be eons, but the Minoan’s way of experiencing the world was not through such a lens. Their royalty may have consisted of kings, but the religious side of things consisted predominately of goddesses and priestesses. Men ran multiple facets of their society, but so did women. And when men were typically off at sea, women more or less took over in several arenas, including politics. Women and men alike also partook in various sports, including bull-leaping.

Minoan Priestess with Snakes, Archaeological Museum in Herakleion. Photo by Wolfgang Sauber.

Gender Equality with Matriarchal Leanings

For a long time, archaeologists and historians have suspected a full-fledged Minoan matriarchy, especially due to the the prevalence of women in leadership roles. However, it seems more accurate to call this civilization egalitarian with matriarchal tendencies. It’s also important to note that their iconography contains no distinct depictions of kings. In fact, King Minos’ reign could very well be solely mythical….

Painting on limestone sarcophagus of religious rituals from Hagia Triada. Source: Wikimedia Commons User ArchaiOptix

Distinct Gender Roles with Some Gray Areas

Egalitarian but not perfectly so, Minoan society was still distinctly gendered as seen in illustrations, fashion, and certain societal duties. For instance, in family documentation written in Linear B, spouses and children weren’t listed altogether. In one section, it was solely fathers and their sons, whereas in another section, mothers were listed with only their daughters. That being said, there was an evident gender divide.

At the same time, on the Agia Triadha sarcophagus (shown above), there is a priest AND priestesses making offerings. Just like in Ancient Egypt, the Minoans color-coded their genders (lighter skin for women, darker skin for men). So, that person with darker skin playing the lyre (who has often been mistaken for a woman) is in fact a man. It is posited that priests wore women’s vestments during rituals to honor the goddess.

Conclusion

The verdict is there’s no set-in-stone answer and as with most things, it’s not so black and white. But one thing is for sure: Minoan society was not patriarchal. Also, while I did discuss usually clear gender roles and women in leadership, the matriarchal nature of the society doesn’t make it such via the domination by women alone; it has to do with its connection to nature and emphasis on creation (in a creative sense, not just a maternal one), among other things.

And I’ll wrap up this post with a quote by a Classics Professor at The University of Kansas:

“Basically, this culture on Crete around 1600-1500 BCE is the closest candidate for a matriarchy that we have.”

-John Younger

Sources

National Library of Medicine: The Woman in Minoic Crete
New World Encyclopedia: Aegean Civilizations
Kansas University: Religious Artifacts Support Idea of Minoan Matriarchy on Ancient Crete
*Featured Photo Credit: Agia Triada sarcophagus (long side) from Wikimedia Commons User Zde

Minoan Symbols: The Labrys (Butterfly Axe)

/ Rhei Arkangelakis / 6 Comments

A “Weapon” That’s Far From It

The double-bitted axe may look like a robust weapon to use in war (and it was in various areas of the world), but in ancient Crete, it mostly served as a sacred symbol. In fact, its main symbolism is the brink of creation, which is referred to as Mater-arche (“arche” means “beginning”). Interestingly, The Labrys (pelekus: πέλεκυς in Classical Greek) solely accompanied goddesses, never gods, and its spiritual significance can be confirmed by how often smaller versions were found alongside other religious objects. These little double axes were used as votive offerings. A less peaceful use for the so-called butterfly axe (often taller than an adult) was for bull sacrifice rituals conducted by priestesses.

Bronze votive double axe from the cave of Archalokori, Crete. Photo from Wikimedia Commons: Jebulon
Bronze votive double axe from the cave of Archalokori, Crete. Photo from Wikimedia Commons: Jebulon

A Timeless Symbol of Divine Feminine Power

Seeing as The Labrys was solely used by Minoan women and only depicted with mother goddesses, it encapsulated the sovereignty of the divine feminine and matriarchy. Although, it is posited that Minoan Crete was egalitarian and not a full-fledged matriarchal civilization. This powerful symbolism has carried on through the ages and wound up becoming one of Olympian god Zeus’ prime symbols in Greek mythology. In the present day, it’s a symbol of Hellenic polytheism.

Reconstructed fresco of a goddess holding a labrys in each hand and worshippers
Reconstructed fresco of a goddess holding a labrys in each hand and worshippers
Photo source

Conclusion

Much like the Horns of Consecration, the Labrys was an prevalent symbol throughout Minoan civilization. Not only were they created in numerous sizes with various materials like bronze, gold, or clay, but they were also carved in the outlines of the labyrinth at Knossos, as well as engraved on sealstones and painted on pottery.

Sources

Hellenica World: Labrys
Penn Museum: The Double Axe and Some Other Symbols
Symbol Sage: Labrys Symbol
*Featured photo credit: Votive double axes of gold sheet. Arkilochori Cave, 1700-1450 BC. Archaeological Museum of Heraklion. Found on Wikimedia Commons by Zde.