Post by Senbecc on May 5, 2006 4:17:46 GMT -5
Dianic Witchcraft is a woman oriented form of Witchcraft. It is the only form of Witchcraft that is exclusively female. While most Dianic Witches are lesbians, there are also straight and bi- Dianic Witches. Dianic Witchcraft is an earth-based, peaceful religion. Modern Dianic Witchcraft is feminist.
To an outside observer, Dianic Witchcraft may appear to be a single tradition, but actually it is an intertwined group of traditions that have influenced each other over the centuries and millenia.
Italic Dia Anna[/u]
In the pre-Roman Italic peninsula, one of the most important deities was Dia Anna, Goddess of the forest and childbirth, Lady of Beasts. Dia Anna was associated wtih women, particulary lesbians. Many pre-Roman Italic Witches considered Dia Anna to be their patron deity.
Roman Diana
The Romans worshipped Dia Anna as Diana (or Diane). The Roman religion was rather primative and very few native deities (Diana, Saturn, the Lars, and a few others). When the Romans conquered the Greeks, it became common for the Roman patricians (wealthy, ruling male citizens) to have Greek tutors. Greek culture oozed into almost every aspect of Roman, including religion. Roman deities took on the characteristics and myths of similar Greek deities (and Greek deities supplemented the original Roman, with new Latin names).
During the Roman Empire, Diana became identified with the Greek Artemis, taking on many of the characteristics and myths of the Greek Goddess. During this period, Diana became the Goddess of Light and the Moon, Queen of Heaven. Diana also became the Divine Huntress and Protector of Animals.
In classical Roman Dianic worship, the priesthood were single women (not necessarily lesbian, many left the priesthood to be married).
Greek Artemis[/b]
Artemis first originated as a Goddess of the Anatolian people (in modern Turkey). Artemis entered Hellenism (the Greek religion) when the Greek people conquered Anatolia (recounted in Homer’s Illiad — the story of Helen and the Trojan War).
The Greeks were a highly patriarchal culture, to the point of denying women any civil rights and considering women to be property (livestock). Hellenism started out with only male deities (initially, variations on the angry invisible sky father). Because of the dim view of women, Hellenism had no Goddesses (you see the same thing in other patriarchal religions such as Zoarastrianism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam).
As the Greeks became more civilized, they added female deities by adopting the various female deities of the cultures they had conquered. Among the deities added was the Anatolian Artemis.
Kore archetypes[/b]
There are three basic roles that Gods and Goddesses can fill: deity, archetype, and token. As deity, a God or Goddess fulfills the all encompassing divine role, usually as creator and sustainer of life and the universe (as in Christian hymns). as an archetype, a God or Goddess represents a fundamental truth (as in “what would Jesus do?”). As totem, a God or Goddess empowers a magick spell (as in Christian prayer magick).
Kore is the Greek word for “virgin”. In ancient Greek culture, virgin meant a woman who had not yet given birth, not the Christian meaning of a woman who had not yet had sex.
The Greeks believed there were three basic Kore archetypes: Kore Persephone, Kore Athena, and Kore Artemis.
Kore Persephone was the “young maiden”, a girl who was Kore because of youth.
Kore Athena was the career woman, who remained Kore because of dedication to some craft-based business.
Kore Artemis was the “wild woman”, who remained Kore because she was a lesbian.
It is through the Greek influences of Artemis that Dianic Witchcraft became associated with lesbianism. At this time many lesbian Dianic rituals came into being.
Bast and Isis[/b]
The Greeks already associated Artemis with the ancient Egyptian Goddess Bast before the Greeks were conquered by the Romans. Dianic Witchcraft, in turn, associated Bast with Diana.
In the Roman Empire, the two most popular deities among women were Isis and Bast. The city of Paris was named for a large temple to Isis (Per Isis means the Temple of Isis). On orders from the Christian Roman Emperor, Christian soldiers raided the Temple of Isis, killed all of the priestesses, stole all of the temple treasures, and used the building as a Christian Church. Later, the Roman Catholic Church built the Notre Dame Cathedral on the same spot. The Roman Catholic Church even kept the original carved wood altar from the Temple of Isis, until the 1700s when a woman stormed in, claimed to be a priestess of Isis, and demanded the return of the property. She pointed out the myth of Isis and Osiris was carved into the altar. The Roman Cahtolic priests immediately declared the altar “Satanic” and had it smashed into little bits and burned, as well as ordering that the woman be tortured and burned alive as a “Witch”.
www.thissideofsanity.com/dianic/dianic.html
To an outside observer, Dianic Witchcraft may appear to be a single tradition, but actually it is an intertwined group of traditions that have influenced each other over the centuries and millenia.
Italic Dia Anna[/u]
In the pre-Roman Italic peninsula, one of the most important deities was Dia Anna, Goddess of the forest and childbirth, Lady of Beasts. Dia Anna was associated wtih women, particulary lesbians. Many pre-Roman Italic Witches considered Dia Anna to be their patron deity.
Roman Diana
The Romans worshipped Dia Anna as Diana (or Diane). The Roman religion was rather primative and very few native deities (Diana, Saturn, the Lars, and a few others). When the Romans conquered the Greeks, it became common for the Roman patricians (wealthy, ruling male citizens) to have Greek tutors. Greek culture oozed into almost every aspect of Roman, including religion. Roman deities took on the characteristics and myths of similar Greek deities (and Greek deities supplemented the original Roman, with new Latin names).
During the Roman Empire, Diana became identified with the Greek Artemis, taking on many of the characteristics and myths of the Greek Goddess. During this period, Diana became the Goddess of Light and the Moon, Queen of Heaven. Diana also became the Divine Huntress and Protector of Animals.
In classical Roman Dianic worship, the priesthood were single women (not necessarily lesbian, many left the priesthood to be married).
Greek Artemis[/b]
Artemis first originated as a Goddess of the Anatolian people (in modern Turkey). Artemis entered Hellenism (the Greek religion) when the Greek people conquered Anatolia (recounted in Homer’s Illiad — the story of Helen and the Trojan War).
The Greeks were a highly patriarchal culture, to the point of denying women any civil rights and considering women to be property (livestock). Hellenism started out with only male deities (initially, variations on the angry invisible sky father). Because of the dim view of women, Hellenism had no Goddesses (you see the same thing in other patriarchal religions such as Zoarastrianism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam).
As the Greeks became more civilized, they added female deities by adopting the various female deities of the cultures they had conquered. Among the deities added was the Anatolian Artemis.
Kore archetypes[/b]
There are three basic roles that Gods and Goddesses can fill: deity, archetype, and token. As deity, a God or Goddess fulfills the all encompassing divine role, usually as creator and sustainer of life and the universe (as in Christian hymns). as an archetype, a God or Goddess represents a fundamental truth (as in “what would Jesus do?”). As totem, a God or Goddess empowers a magick spell (as in Christian prayer magick).
Kore is the Greek word for “virgin”. In ancient Greek culture, virgin meant a woman who had not yet given birth, not the Christian meaning of a woman who had not yet had sex.
The Greeks believed there were three basic Kore archetypes: Kore Persephone, Kore Athena, and Kore Artemis.
Kore Persephone was the “young maiden”, a girl who was Kore because of youth.
Kore Athena was the career woman, who remained Kore because of dedication to some craft-based business.
Kore Artemis was the “wild woman”, who remained Kore because she was a lesbian.
It is through the Greek influences of Artemis that Dianic Witchcraft became associated with lesbianism. At this time many lesbian Dianic rituals came into being.
Bast and Isis[/b]
The Greeks already associated Artemis with the ancient Egyptian Goddess Bast before the Greeks were conquered by the Romans. Dianic Witchcraft, in turn, associated Bast with Diana.
In the Roman Empire, the two most popular deities among women were Isis and Bast. The city of Paris was named for a large temple to Isis (Per Isis means the Temple of Isis). On orders from the Christian Roman Emperor, Christian soldiers raided the Temple of Isis, killed all of the priestesses, stole all of the temple treasures, and used the building as a Christian Church. Later, the Roman Catholic Church built the Notre Dame Cathedral on the same spot. The Roman Catholic Church even kept the original carved wood altar from the Temple of Isis, until the 1700s when a woman stormed in, claimed to be a priestess of Isis, and demanded the return of the property. She pointed out the myth of Isis and Osiris was carved into the altar. The Roman Cahtolic priests immediately declared the altar “Satanic” and had it smashed into little bits and burned, as well as ordering that the woman be tortured and burned alive as a “Witch”.
www.thissideofsanity.com/dianic/dianic.html