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Artemis is a Greek Goddess, she was worshiped just about everywhere in Greece, but the main places were Mounikhia and Brauron. She was a secondary deity here. She was the main deity by the Greeks in Asia Minor. They built a temple to honor her, and this became one of the"Seven Wonders of the Ancient World".

Artemis is associated with Italian goddess Diana, which was also called Cynthia. Cynthia got her name from her birthplace on Mount Cynthus in Delos, she is also associated with the Selene, the moon goddess, and identified with Hecate. The reason I was drawn to do my final project on Artemis is because of the fact she was know as Cynthia and associated with the moon, both things I am drawn too.

Artemis was the daughter of Leto and Zeus and had a twin brother Apollo. She was known as loving the fact not being tied down to a man and loving the ability to come and go in freedom with her nymphs. She was know as "Mistress of Animals", protector of children, a virgin huntress, fertility/childbirth goddess.

Artemis, Mistress of Animals

Artemis was an excellent huntress and could bring death with her arrows and bow made by the Hephaestus and the Cyclopes. While being an excellent huntress she was also protector of the animals making sure they were well cared for their safety and reproduction. She was also portrayed as wanting to remain a virgin. Legend has it that at an early age she asked her father, the Great God Zeus, to grant her eternal virginity. Her companions had to be virgins also. Any man that tried to dishonor her, would be punished by her. She didn’t hold anything back when it came to the punishment. She was also very possessive, and would be very angry to anyone that didn’t go along with what she wanted.

Artemis at one point in life was believed to be worshiped in a form of a tree. Her lower body was that of a tree trunk carving. Some shown her with a crescent moon above her forehead and others had her with bow and arrows. She was also shown as having many breasts displaying that she was mother of all, also having large wings and holding an animal in each hand that was normally a leopard and stag or leopard and lion.

Festivals that honored her were Elaphebolia, Kharisteria, Brauronia, Mounikhia, and the Artemis Orthia in Sparta.

One of the Rituals that was done in the time was of young girls reaching puberty were initiated into her cult. When they decided to marry they had to lay in front of the altar all the items of their virginity such as toys, dolls and a locks of their hair.

The Amazons-those women warriors-were said to worship Artemis by holding circle dances in Her honor, celebrated by shield-bearing women who clashed their weapons together like cymbals.

Such a ritual would most effectively be held out-of-doors, under a full moon if at all possible. Groves of trees that grow naturally in a rough circle are especially delightful spaces for such rituals.

Tambourines, bells, cymbals, and other sharp-tones hand-held percussion instruments are easier to handle than swords and shields, so prepare yourself or your group with such implements. Gather a circle, invoking the Goddess with on or both of the following prayers.

Let me sing of the maiden of contradictions, Goddess of the wild chase and the busy spindle. An archer, a hunter, she races through the mountain shadows and the windy hills, drawing her bow and loosing her arrows of sadness. The mountains tremble, and the forest resounds with the agony of animals. Earth and sea both shudder as the strong-hearted one delights in her hunt. And then, when she has had enough, she leaves the forest. Hanging up her bow and quiver, she robes herself in splendor and goes forth to lead her maidens in dance, smiling as they sing of her mother Leto, of how she bore such a wonderful daughter.

Maiden goddess, holy one,
protector of hills and forest,
protector of mothers in labor,
protector of the buds of infancy,
triple goddess, I invoke you:

bless the trees around my home,
the ones that shade me
the ones that screen the wind,
the ones that perfume the air.
May they protect me as you do.

How will I thank you?
When I eat flesh, I will thank you.
When I eat fruit, I will thank you.
When I drink clear water, I will thank you.
Your trees will never lack for offerings

as long as I live and breathe,
maiden goddess
triple one
my protector
as long as I live and breathe.

Then, clanging the instruments, dance around the circle. Call out the Goddesses name, drawing out the syllables so that it makes a sort of chant, ending in a long hiss. As you do so, imagine yourself with a shield.

If anyone in the circle has suffered an injury against her womanly spirit-especially rape or violence- the group can circle around her and, turning their backs to her, form a protective shield as she calls out for Artemis to give her the strength to fight back against her violator. Those invoking Artemis alone can similarly envision her wrapping her strong arms protectively around her daughter or warding off attackers with her sharp arrows.

After dancing into the energy of the Goddess, center again in silence and envision the world as a young woman being pursued by an attacker bent on violence. For that is, indeed, the situation of wild spaces today. No matter how vast and magnificent they may seem, ecological systems are fragile, easy to destroy. Imagine the Goddess reaching into her quiver, drawing an arrow, and placing it carefully in her bow. Imagine her drawing back on the taut bowstring and aiming.

Then stop to examine what part of your life Artemis might target in this way. For while it is easy to blame corporations for the degradation of the rainforest, there would be no profit in such exploration if we were not such willing customers. Notice what parts of your life most damage the wild spaces where Artemis lives, and make a solemn pledge to the Goddess that you will correct your deficiencies. Imagine her slowly releasing her grip on the bowstring, staring into your eyes as she does so, and letting you go to correct your deficiencies. Articulate that promise verbally to the group, calling on them to witness your intention to make the world a safer place for the goddess of wilderness. then when your ritual is over, keep your pledge-for Artemis is not a goddess you wish to find angry at you.

By P. Monaghan, The Goddess Path

Intellectual Property of MoonWater 2006

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