hello cute girls…. i am here…. alive…. ready to be flirted with…..

Gen Z is awesome and generational fighting is bad, but I do sometimes talk to Gen Z folks and I’m like... oh... you cannot comprehend before the internet.

Like activists have been screaming variations on “educate yourself!” for as long as I’ve been alive and probably longer, but like... actually doing so? Used to be harder?

And anger at previous generations for not being good enough is nothing new. I remember being a kid and being horrified to learn how recent desegregation had been and that my parents and grandparents had been alive for it. Asking if they protested or anything and my mom being like “I was a child” and my grandma being like “well, no, I wasn’t into politics” but I was a child when I asked so that didn’t feel like much of an excuse from my mother at the time and my grandmother’s excuse certainly didn’t hold water and I remember vowing not to be like that.

So kids today looking at adults and our constant past failures and being like “How could you not have known better? Why didn’t you DO better?” are part of a long tradition of kids being horrified by their history, nothing new, and also completely justified and correct. That moral outrage is good.

But I was talking to a kid recently about the military and he was talking about how he’d never be so stupid to join that imperialist oppressive terrorist organization and I was like, “Wait, do you think everyone who has ever joined the military was stupid or evil?” and he was like, well maybe not in World War 2, but otherwise? Yeah.

And I was like, what about a lack of education? A lack of money? The exploitation of the lower classes? And he was like, well, yeah, but that’s not an excuse, because you can always educate yourself before making those choices.

And I was like, how? Are you supposed to educate yourself?

And he was like, well, duh, research? Look it up!

And I was like, and how do you do that?

And he was like, start with google! It’s not that hard!

And I was like, my friend. My kid. Google wasn’t around when my father joined the military.

Then go to the library! The library in the small rural military town my father grew up in? Yeah, uh, it wasn’t exactly going to be overflowing with anti-military resources.

Well then he should have searched harder!

How? How was he supposed to know to do that? Even if he, entirely independently figured out he should do that, how was he supposed to find that information?

He was a kid. He was poor. He was the first person in his family to aspire to college. And then by the time he knew what he signed up for it was literally a criminal offense for him to try to leave. Because that’s the contract you sign.

(Now, listen, my father is also not my favorite person and we agree on very little, so this example may be a bit tarnished by those facts, but the material reality of the exploitative nature of military recruitment remains the same.)

And this is one of a few examples I’ve come across recently of members of Gen Z just not understanding how hard it was to learn new ideas before the internet. I’m not blaming anyone or even claiming it’s disproportionate or bad. But the same kids that ten years ago I was marveling at on vacation because they didn’t understand the TV in the hotel room couldn’t just play more Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on demand - because they’d never encountered linear prescheduled TV, are growing into kids who cannot comprehend the difficulty of forming a new worldview or making life choices when you cannot google it. When you have maybe one secondhand source or you have to guess based on lived experience and what you’ve heard. Information, media, they have always been instant.

Society should’ve been better, people should’ve known better, it shouldn’t have taken so long, and we should be better now. That’s all true.

But controlling information is vital to controlling people, and information used to be a lot more controlled. By physical law and necessity! No conspiracy required! There’s limited space on a newspaper page! There’s limited room in a library! If you tried to print Wikipedia it would take 2920 bound volumes. That’s just Wikipedia. You could not keep the internet’s equivalent of resources in any small town in any physical form. It wasn’t there. We did not have it. When we had a question? We could not just look it up.

Kids today are fortunate to have dozens of firsthand accounts of virtually everything important happening at all times. In their pockets.

(They are also cursed by this, as we all are, because it’s overwhelming and can be incredibly bleak.)

If anything, today the opposite problem occurs - too much information and not enough time or context to organize it in a way that makes sense. Learning to filter out the garbage without filtering so much you insulate yourself from diverse ideas, figuring out who’s reliable, that’s where the real problem is now.

But I do think it has created, through no fault of anyone, this incapacity among the young to truly understand a life when you cannot access the relevant information. At all. Where you just have to guess and hope and do your best. Where educating yourself was not an option.

Where the first time you heard the word lesbian, it was from another third grader, and she learned it from a church pastor, and it wasn’t in the school library’s dictionary so you just had to trust her on what it meant.

I am not joking, I did not know the actual definition of the word “fuck” until I was in high school. Not for lack of trying! I was a word nerd, and I loved research! It literally was not in our dictionaries, and I knew I’d get in trouble if I asked. All I knew was it was a “bad word”, but what it meant or why it was bad? No clue.

If history felt incomprehensibly cruel and stupid while I was a kid who knew full well the feeling of not being able to get the whole story, I cannot imagine how cartoonishly evil it must look from the perspective of someone who’s always been able to get a solid answer to any question in seconds for as long as they’ve been alive. To Gen Z, we must all look like monsters.

I’m glad they know the things we did not. I hope one day they are able to realize how it was possible for us not to know. How it would not have been possible for them to know either, if they had lived in those times. I do not need their forgiveness. But I hope they at least understand. Information is so powerful. Understanding that is so important to building the future. Underestimating that is dangerous.

We were peasants in a world before the printing press. We didn’t know. I’m so sorry. For so many of us we couldn’t have known. I cannot offer any other solace other than this - my sixty year old mother is reading books on anti-racism and posting about them to Facebook, where she’s sharing what’s she’s learning with her friends. Ignorance doesn’t have to last forever.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

leftist antisemites are really everywhere on this hellsite making & reblogging their posts like “the Jews have too much power and privilege and actually their very recent genocide was not that bad compared to what my group experiences and antisemitism doesn’t even exist in my country and especially not in liberal spaces”

Goyim should reblog posts like this one instead of always only acknowledging antisemitism when it is about jk rowling’s goblins or easy shit like that.

Challenge the antisemitism that is coming from inside the house. Be a little brave. Because you will lose followers for reblogging a post like this, because there are antisemites following you that think this way, and assume you do too.

A friend of mine posted this and tagged my old instagram account, asking me to share it. I figured sharing it here where I actually have a following, would be far better.

Please remember that just because the government is giving into pressure and greed, that doesn’t mean that any of this is getting any better, in a lot of ways it’s getting worse. And even if you yourself aren’t being as heavily affected anymore, there are people and communities that are.

Stay safe Darling ones, and help others remain safe too.

miracles in february. wealth in february. love in february. comfort in february. laughter in february. bliss in february. success in february. friendship in february. beauty in february. joy in february. harmony in february. blessings in february. balance in february. soul in february.

Zeus and Hekate

The connections between Zeus and Hekate are very present in ancient literature and practice, but are less explored in modern discussions of Hekate.

The first big thing is in the Theogony by Hesiod, Hekate’s first literary mention. In his hymn to Hekate, he says many things of importance. Firstly:

“And she conceived and bare Hecate whom Zeus the son of Cronos honoured above all. He gave her splendid gifts, to have a share of the earth and the unfruitful sea. She received honour also in starry heaven, and is honoured exceedingly by the deathless gods. 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.”

Here we see that She is the goddess Zeus “honoured above all”. This is a pretty big deal, considering Zeus is the King of the Gods and Hekate isn’t an Olympian. He honors Her so much that He gives Her a share of dominion in every realm. He continues, saying:

“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. Also, because she is an only child, the goddess receives not less honour, but much more still, for Zeus honours her.”

This dominion on Earth, in the Seas, and in the Heavens is given as a gift by Zeus in addition to Her duties as a Titan. It seems that this could be a gift in return for Her assistance in defeating Zeus’ father and the rest of the Titans, as She is the only Titan to retain Her powers. And he implies that Hekate receives excessive honor because Zeus honors Her. Indicating their relationship to be quite close together and that their worship might be linked.

Moving on from Hesiod, sometimes Zeus is even cited as Hekate’s father. Theoi.com’s encyclopedia entry states: “Others describe her as a daughter of Zeus and Demeter, and state that she was sent out by her father in search of Persephone (Schol. ad Theocrit. ii. 12); others again make her a daughter of Zeus either by Pheraea or by Hera (Tzetz. ad Lyc. 1175; Schol. ad Theocrit. ii. 36).” This parentage makes a significant break with earlier traditions and understandings of Hekate’s role, and Her role as a Titan, but it does indicate that Hekate and Zeus have clear connections in ancient understandings. What cannot be denied is that Zeus views Hekate as a goddess of great power and importance, and that He bestowed upon Her great power. Zeus and Hekate also both share the epithet meaning Savior, Hekate Soteira and Zeus Soter, indicating that their roles may have even had some overlap.

Hekate and Zeus also would have both been honored as protectors of the home. Hekate guarding its threshold and having a shrine there, and Zeus Ktesios within the home. Here we may have seen a lot of connection in the act of worship.

There’s also a lot more we do not know, or at least that I don’t know, especially because worship was localized and varied greatly from city to city in the ancient times. But what we can say for certain is that there are absolutely connections between Zeus and Hekate and that the ancients would have seen them as inherently entwined in some way. They were even placed together on coins (shown below). Their connection may indicate why Hekate can be prayed to for aid in so many different things, as Zeus can be prayed to for absolutely anything and it seems gave Her a share in His own power. Worshipping Hekate and Zeus together invokes Hekate’s aspects as an Ouranic goddess, as a protector and all-purpose goddess who grants favor in any endeavor within Her domains to those who honor Her. And with that I will leave you with a prayer to Zeus and Hekate for generalized favor:

“Zeus, Hekate, Heavenly Ones, hear my prayers!

Lord Zeus, King of the Gods, I offer up to you this prayer and ask for favor in all things. He who rules the world of man and the heavens, may no challenge stand in my way. May I have success in all endeavors and be gifted well-being and prosperity!

Queen Hekate, Savior of Mankind, I offer up this prayer to you and ask for favor in all things. She who has dominion in the starry heavens, the earth below it, and the vast seas as well, may I be given luck and triumph in all that I attempt to accomplish. May I recieve your gifts and be granted joy, abundance, and general welfare!”

Queen Persephone - Sakura, inspired by @angel-chu ‘s Quietus. hehe 👑💀🌸

Something that baffles me is when people compare Aphrodite to “bloody” goddesses (Anat, Inanna, Sekhmet, etc.) as a way to say Aphrodite is just a demure love goddess teehee, look how badass my warrior goddess is instead.

Aphrodite Ourania rose out of blood and the ocean and walked to land fully-formed. This Aphrodite is a Titaness, older even than the generation of Zeus. She has no mother. She is never an infant. She is the ultimate generative power, the fish, born from a male (upending societal norms) and wielding the power of creation and invention.

Aphrodite Areia is a war goddess - this is the title made famous by Athena and Ares, but Aphrodite does not get this title from her lover. She is a goddess of soldiers and fights on the battlefield of Troy. She is also Aphrodite Hoplismena, the armed, depicted in full armor with a shield and sword. This is the Aphrodite of Sparta.

Aphrodite Nikephoros is not only Aphrodite armored and armed, but Aphrodite commanding the power of Nike - Nike, the goddess usually found at Zeus’s side, ensuring victory. This Aphrodite is not one to be crossed on the battlefield, because you will not win.

Or maybe we just aren’t on the same page as the ancients when it comes to a “love goddess.” Aphrodite Pandemos is a goddess of frenzy, a goddess who incites war and madness, a goddess to whom it was said even the Fates would bend their will. To some Hellenes, Aphrodite was the goddess of creation because she is the spark of all love and desire - and to others, she was the creator of all.

There’s nothing wrong in calling Aphrodite a goddess of love - she is, truly. But this doesn’t make her timid. She is not clawless. She is a complex goddess, inextricably linked to the awesome war goddesses of the Ancient Near East. Do not dilute her just because you’re not familiar with her or with the domain of love goddesses. I know this may seem trivial to some people, but don’t reduce one goddess to make another look more powerful - they don’t need it.

‘Women Of Greek Mythology’, an Inktober 2018 project by Neith.

See them all on her website.

not to be native on main but like, it’s everyone’s responsibility to steward the land they’re on. like you’re required. if you’re in america the people who own the land aren’t around to steward it so pick up the slack. learn how people cultivated and cared for the land you’re on. if you’re an animist there’s really no excuse. man, i get disabilities and stuff (i’m disabled myself) but you gotta do something. get some native grasses and toss em into your yard. mow your grass a little higher. leave a little strip that’s completely untouched so native wildlife can take residence there. cultivate a relationship with the land you’re on, not only for magical reasons (and you WILL get magical benefits) but also because the earth is deserving of love and respect in itself. 

Lets be entirely clear. Biden and Kamala aren’t “imperfect candidates”. It isn’t like they simply disagree with decent people on minor issues. They are corporate goons who are every bit as bad as Trump. They will push nearly exactly the same policies and perpetuate the same systems.

The Democrats and Republicans are two wings of one party. The capitalist party. The lack of real difference between Trump and Biden has rendered your vote useless. That is precisely the point of the game here.

bernie is an imperfect candidate. biden and trump are fascists.

No, Biden is a neoliberal conservative capitalist. He’s not a reactionary ultranationalist. Not everything you don’t like is synonymous with fascism. That word has a distinct meaning, and everything to the right of universal single payer healthcare and defunding the police (both positions I’m with you on) is the same.

Is Biden a solution to any problem we’re facing?

Absolutely not.

Is he less aggressively dangerous than Trump thus giving us more of a chance to make the change we need through continued mobilization and direct action?

Yes

Not voting for the lesser evil because it’s still evil is fundamentally a selfish act of valuing your own moral purity over comparable harm reduction

Biden does not have Obama’s cult of personality, there is no reason the D next to his name should stemie activism anymore than the one next to LBJ’s did. MLK still accurately assessed that Goldwater was the more dangerous candidate and supported LBJ, and then protested his policies after. Voting is not a moral endorsement, it’s a chess move.

VOTING IS NOT A MORAL ENDORSEMENT, IT’S A CHESS MOVE.

As a black woman, I am furious. I have no words. I have no more patience. I am angry. I am tired. WE are tired. Oh and our president is a piece of shit racist and unfollow this account if it hurts your poor little feelings to hear me say that. I have spent my whole life watching and experiencing racism and white silence. No more being nice. No more staying silent. If this hurts your feelings and you feel personally attacked by the sentiment then you ain’t ready to hear the message yet. I don’t have any more time for white fragility. I’ve been tip-toeing around it my whole life and I am done. For those that are using their privilege to speak up and make a difference, thank you. You are on the right side of history. ✊🏽 Artwork By Me: @BrooklynnMusic on Instagram

UNDERCOVER COPS IN NYC ARE WEARING ORANGE BANDS, CHICAGO’S ARE WEARING NEON GREEN/YELLOW, AND THOSE IN RALEIGH ARE WEARING WHITE BANDS WITH PURPLE/PINK STARS!

LAPD TURNED OFF THEIR BODYCAMS AND ICE HAS BEEN CALLED. EVERYONE THAT IS UNDOCUMENTED LEAVE THE AREA AS QUICKLY AND SAFELY AS YOU CAN!

PLEASE BE AWARE OF THIS!

More:

This is great, it really is. But also: if you can, and especially if you’re up on charges that could result in prison time, please ask your local BLM or other activist group about pro bono lawyers that they have a experience with.

Handling activist cases takes experience. Like any aspect of legal cases, it’s something people specialize in and someone who isn’t specialized in it yet is going to have less results. If at all possible, find a lawyer that has done a case like yours many times before.

It’s great that so many people who do not usually take activist cases are stepping up now that a lot more lawyers will be needed. Some of them might stick around and pretty much every activist movement needs more committed pro bono activism lawyers. But, ya know.. still think about how complicated your case is as you decide who should represent you.

for those going out to demonstrations: i collected some common info and put it into a zine. it fits on an 8.5 x 11 in sheet of printer paper, and is b/w friendly. see the link below to print: 

ptzine.carrd.co

UPDATED JUNE 1, 2020! please see ptzine.carrd.co for latest version! please feel free to print & redistribute!

Elloo it’s been a while tumblr! I’ve created these designs and have uploaded them onto my shop(link here) and will be donating 100% of proceeds towards George Floyd’s GoFundMe, Black Visions Collective, Reclaim the Block and/or the NAACP Defense Fund. I’ve already contributed to the MFF, the Bail Project and George Floyd’s Memorial Fund so I would like to take this opportunity to support other orgs. The designs are available on a multitude of products so please if you’ve been wondering how else to take action, please join me in this fight. Redbubble only gives me a % margin on the profits so if you’d rather directly donate and haven’t found the resources to do so, I’ve listed some here as well as this link will direct you to petitions, links to donate and other resources. And if THAT is still too much,venmo me @maddieevo with which fund or org you’d like it to go towards and I’ll do it for you. Message me for more details if you’d like(or have any other ideas you’d want to buy for the cause!)

reminder that this blog, while not politically focused, supports BLM. bootlickers and racists aren’t welcome here, and never will be.

Evidence of a cult of a warrior and dark Aphrodite has been widely studied. Aphrodite had been depicted with armor and prayed to for martial assistance in many places from Syria, to Corinth, Sparta, Argos, the Attika, Kypris, Rome, Naxos, and many, many, other places (but mainly Sparta. Surprising, no?). The cult of a warrior Aphrodite has been suspected to have emerged from Aphrodite’s “ancestral” correspondents like Istar or Astarte, who were both goddesses of sex and war. However, the evidence of a dark face of Aphrodite is there, and it can be too called upon today, even if it wasn't as popular as her holy and hevenly aspects.

Enoplios — weapon bearing

This is an epithet of Aphrodite attested by Plutarch, and is also epigraphically present in the Roman period. In the third century AD a priestess, Ponponia Kallistoneiké, set up a dedication to Artemis Ortheia in Lakonia attesting one of her fellow deities was Aphrodite Enoplios.

Summakhia — ally in war

Pausanias finds a cult of Aphrodite “ally in war” in Arkadia. This is all the comment I could find about it.

Nikephoros — victory bearer

In Argos, according to Pausanias, Aphrodite wore the epithet “victory-bearer”. Icons of Nikephoros and Hoplismene (armed) Aphrodite have been also attested in Syria and Eretria.

Areia — of Ares / war-like

At Sparta mainly, there is a lot of evidence of icons portraying an armed Aphrodite with inscriptions of this epithet. Pausanias tells us of one in a temple behind the Bronze House of Athena. There is another female wearing a peplos, a helmet and a spear, but without the aegis that characterizes Athena, thus many suspect it belongs to an armed Aphrodite.

HOWEVER Leonidas of Tarentum writes in the third century: “Eurotas once said to Kypris (Aphrodite), ‘Either take up arms, or quit Sparta, the polis mad for arms.’ She, laughing, replied, ‘I shall be ever unarmed.’ She said ‘and I shall dwell in Lakedaimonia.’ Our Kypris is unarmed. Shameful are those tale-tellers who say that our goddess bears arms!”

BUT from Antipater of Sidon, in the first century, there is a contradiction: “Even Kypris is Spartan. She is not dressed as in other towns in soft garments; But in full-force she has a helmet instead of a veil, instead of golden branches a spear-shaft. For it is not proper for her to be without arms, the consort of Thracian Enyalios (Ares) and a Lakedaimonian.” And this is not the only record we have of an actual Aphrodite wearing armor in Sparta; Plutarch, Nonnos, Julianus of Egypt and perhaps others tell us about the Spartan tendency to portray Aphrodite wearing an armor; either bow and quiver, spear and helmet, a shield, and even a sword. So perhaps Leonidas was either being sarcastic or lying (or the cult of Aphrodite Areia came after him, of course). This Epithet is thus related to Hoplismene. Julianus tells us that in the sanctuaries of armed Aphrodite girls revere her war-like nature and women give birth to courageous children.

Above all, Pausanias also claims that this Aphrodite was specifically worshipped as a female Ares. This gives us a clue whether this Aphrodite had been syncretized with Ares’ actual femenine counterpart, Enyo (Ares has an epithet related to her: Enyalios)

Androphonos — killer of men

This epithet is representative of her chthonic aspect. There is evidence of a sanctuary of hers and Aphrodite Anosia in Thessaly.

Anosia — the unholy

Aphrodite Anossia apparently was celebrated by women in Thessaly, and she is associated with homosexuality (although this is doubtful). Atheneus tells us a tale of a hetaira (courtesan) named Lais, that flee to Thessaly and fell in love with a man. A band of jealous women beat her to death at Aphrodite’s temple and thus the goddess in this temple became known as Anosia, the Unholy.

Tumborukhos — gravedigger

The Pythagoreans said there are two Aphrodites: one in heaven and one in the Underworld. Therefore she was called Tumborukhos as well.

Epitumbidia — she upon the graves

Couldn't find much information on this epithet either but it must be related to the previous one and representative of her Underworld connections.

Skotia — dark one

This epithet is referent of Aphrodite’s origins as a terrible goddess, and her associations with the planet venus, which were suppressed later by the pop cult (not the association with the planet, tho). This epithet appears to link her to the Erynies and Hekate, and may be referent of a “witch-star” (kakkab kassaptu in ancient Babylonian) nature. The lack of evidence for these type of epithets points at an unpopularity of them. It is important to highlight that some of them could be use against the goddess to give her a bad or “demonic” reputation in the christian sense so I suspect their suppression might have a relation to that.

Melanis — black

Related to the previous epithet. It appears that these “dark” and “unholy” aspects of her are related to the planet venus, as points her Ouraneia (“heavenly”) epithet as well. Venus was known as a “star of lamentation”.

Persephaessa — Queen of the Underworld

This epithet appears to be a syncretism between Aphrodite and Persephone. This is obviously mainly an epithet of Persephone. I could not find evidence for it being used to Aphrodite in the ancient world, just commentaries about it; however, by searching it on google you find an archeological source of it but sadly its written in german, and I have no idea how to read german.

Hoplismene — armed

Pausanias tells us about the sanctuary of Aphrodite at Kythera, saying that there “the goddess herself is an armed xoanon”. The xoanon were archaic wooden icons, and this one, according to Pausanias, was wearing an armor. Quintilian once asked why the Lakedaimonians (Spartans) have an armed Aphrodite, and Plutarch said that they like to portray every god in armor to show that all of them have excellence in warfare. This Aphrodite is present in Corinth as well.

Hegemone — leader (of the troops)

This Epithet of Aphrodite is found in the Athenian Agora, and their border fortress at Rhamnous. The city council also offered dedications to this Aphrodite. There are figures of her engaged in combat with the giant Mimos, and other portrays Aphrodite in a chariot wearing Athena's aegis (although it lacks the gorgon face), along with Poseidon. Hesikhios confirmed this epithet in the sixth century AD saying it applies to Artemis as well. This Aphrodite was also offered sacrifices with Themis and Nemesis, in honor of Aeneas, her son.

Strateia — campaigner

In the Hellenistic period, Aphrodite was called Strateia in western Asia Minor. There is an inscription from Mylasa refers to a priest of Aphrodite Strateia, and a calendar of offerings specifies sacrificing to Aphrodite Strateia along with Arete and Herakles. In Paros and Epiros, strategoi (military generals) are known to have sacrificed to Aphrodite, along with other deities.

Enkheios — spear-bearer

Hesikhios, an author from the 6th century AD, tells us about a terracotta Aphrodite in Cyprus depicted holding a helmet in one hand, a spear, and a shield leaning against one of her legs.

Conclusions

Can we use these aspects of Aphrodite even if they have been exaggerated and weren't actually very much present in ancient cult? Of course. Because worship changes and evolves, if you find one of these epithets symbolic in your life and devotion, you can totally use them and even give them a different dimension. As a witch, for example, I could use the dark and unholy epithets of Aphrodite as a symbol of how witchcraft has been regarded as evil in superstition and a reminder of the persecution women have gone through, and it would be an act of devotion to the Goddess and an act of empowerment. The unpopularity of many of these epithets is also representative of stigma against women and thus using them today could be attested as an act of rebellion.

References

I’ve written a little about the Epitumbidia and Tumborukhos epithets here: 

https://thegrapeandthefig.tumblr.com/post/616715791397748736/okay-im-petitioning-help-from-the-community

Clíodhna (KLEE-nah) is a member of the Irish supernatural race, The Tuatha de Dannan and is considered the goddess of love, beauty, healing and the sea in Ireland. Her other titles include The Fairy Queen of Munster and the Queen of Banshees, who are fairy women who wail to warn of death. In this case she is a goddess of the afterlife and had lived in the Irish other world, Tír Tairngire. She has a palace in a pile of rocks in Cork County named Carrig-Cleena. Clíodhna is the daughter of Gabban, the Druid of Manannan Mac Lir (the Irish Sea God) and has a sister, Aoibheal, another fairy queen. Aoibheal and Clíodhna do not get along because they had both fallen in love with the same man; Clíodhna decided to change her sister into a white cat because Aoibheal did not renounce her love for him therefore I warn you against working with these two goddesses together. Clíodhna manifests as a young, fair-haired woman who is said to be the most beautiful maiden in the land and has three song birds flying around her who are said to heal the sick, wake the dead or put the living to sleep with their song. This goddess also has many siren-like qualities as well, she was said to use her beauty to lure men to their death by the sea shore or into the Otherworld. The wren is closely associated with the goddess because she transformed into one to escape a magician who planned to kill her.

The Blarney Stone

Clíodhna is mostly know for the back story of the famous Blarney Stone found Cork, Ireland. A man by the name of Cormac Laidr McCarthy became involved in a lawsuit and decided to seek help from the goddess. Clíodhna told him to kiss the first rock he came across while on his way to court so he would be blessed with the ability to deceive one with their words. With his newfound eloquence, Cormac won his case and decided to incorporate the lucky stone into the wall of  Blarney Castle. The stone is a major tourist attraction and many people bend over backwards to kiss the stone in order to gain the the “Gift of Gab” like Cormac had.

Clíodhna’s Wave 

Clíodhna had once fallen for a young mortal man by the name of Ciabhán and decided to renounce her immortality, leaving the Otherworld to be with her love. Many of the gods disapproved of her decision. One day when Ciabhán left on a hunting trip, Clíodhna headed down to the seashore where she was met with the beautiful music of Manannan Mac Lir which put her into a deep sleep. A giant wave came crashing onto shore, pulling Clíodhna into the ocean and back to the Otherworld where she was never allowed to return to the mortal world. Now in Glandore, Cork the tide or large, forceful waves are referred to as Tonn Chlíodhna or Clíodhna’s Wave. 

Correspondences

Elements- Water 

Animals- Songbirds (specifically the wren), Sea birds

Plants/Herbs- apples

Crystals-sea glass, pearls, rose quartz, Connemara marble.

Symbols-the number 9, Carrige Clíodhna her sacred hill, every ninth tidal wave, fairies, banshees.

Colours- white, light blue, pink and green.  

Devotional Acts