Minoan Great Goddess
My dreams recently have been leading. For a while now, I’ve
wanted to write something on the “Ariadne,” or more accurately, the Mistress of the Labyrinth from Minoan
lore. I’ve always been fascinated by Minoan religion for a number of reasons.
Foremost being their exclusively matriarchal pantheon that served for much
inspiration in regards to most of the Greek goddesses. I probably also love it
in no small part for the great mystery that still surrounds it – what with
Linear A and the Cretan hieroglyphs still yet indecipherable. I can’t help it –
I love a good mystery. And recently, I’ve sought to explore and explain it
through a most interesting source – one that existed a world away. As such, I’ll
preface this by saying this is very much theoretical – I can produce no
concrete evidence, but nonetheless, I find it interesting. And as they say, you
can’t apply evidence without first framing a hypothesis.
Given the obscuration still surrounding the Minoan mythos,
we must first begin with its successor – and most importantly with the myth of
Persephone, which I’m sure most of you are familiar with. Both of her “aspects”
– as an agricultural/fertility goddess and a chthonic one – are very important
for the correlations I will make in regards to the Aztec pantheon. While the
similarity is obvious, it’s not extraordinarily well noted in regards to the
Aztec goddess Xochiquetzal, who undergoes a nearly identical circumstance. She,
too, was an agricultural/fertility goddess before her abduction by Tezcatlipoca
– at which point she was irrevocably forced into chthonic divinity. And while
these similarities in and of themselves are interesting, the real weight comes
with their elder counterparts, as both are believed to be manifestations of
elder figures reworked into the framework of inclusive faiths. Looking at
Xochiquetzal, I believe, might grant insight into the history of Persephone –
given the obvious enough similarity.
It’s been postulated that Xochiquetzal may in fact be tied
to the unnamed Spider Goddess of Teotihuacan – who is an interesting figure in
her own right. She was thought to be a Great Goddess, an instrument in the
creation of man and was rightly also tied to agriculture and fertility (as well
as being tied to War) – though most intriguingly, she most often appears
bedecked in characteristic items and dress (as well as with animals) that were all
characteristic Mesoamerican symbols of the Underworld (including but not
limited to both the Spider and the Jaguar). While her worship seemed to be quite
local (reserved mostly to Teotihuacan, wherein she acted as patroness), I would
argue her archetype would most probably be left over from older beliefs. As
such, it would make sense for this duality to persist on into the Aztec
incarnation of Xochiquetzal – who existed dually in the same capacity. Of
course, given her abduction, this capacity would no longer be innate –
something that can be seen with the patriarchal overthrow of the matriarchy. I
would posit that undoubtedly, in both regards these “abductions” were but a way
to explain the already existing nature of these beings, but with a way to incorporate
male divinity as justification. Assuming the correlation between Xochiquetzal
and the Spider Goddess is rightly, I think we can assume that Persephone
undoubtedly existed similarly as a Great Goddess before her annexation.
I’m inclined to believe that Persephone and Ariadne are in
fact two heads of the same coin – both later aspects of who had been called The Mistress of the Labyrinth. While
Ariadne’s story is far more obviously related (as the daughter of King Minos of
Knossos, and her story featuring the Cretan Labyrinth and the Minotaur – which on
a side note was no doubt related to the bull worship that seemed to be a common
Minoan practice), the Chthonic aspect thusly suggest to me a correlation – which
is in no small part also due to the Aztec mythology, specifically that
surrounding Tezcatlipoca and divination. It has been noted that the Aztecs used
obsidian mirrors to scry, the act of which was likened to fire caught in a pool
of water (as the obsidian was often placed on the bottom of a vessel that was
then filled with water, the visions therein were the “fire.”) This concept
extends to the idea of a butterfly caught within a spider’s web. The Aztecs
held spiders to be related to water – given the fractal waves can be reminiscent
of a web, and the butterfly related to fire. Not surprisingly, one of the
animals associated with Xochiquetzal was the butterfly (and as previously
mentioned, the Spider in her previous incarnation – further cutting
Tezcatlipoca’s true relevance down). But it was not only the Aztecs who revered
butterflies, but the Minoans – as the labyrs. The double-headed ax and the
butterfly – both of which being symbols of their Great Goddess, The Huntress. Unsurprisingly, based on
her name, Artemis (and Rhea) were most probably born from her. She was known to
be the keeper of wilds, guardian of animals and made her home in/on the
mountain (it was in the mountains that the system of sacred, labyrinthine caves
existed – which will prove to be important later) – it’s also important to note
that the Great Goddess acted as creator immaculately, reminiscent of Artemis as
a Virgin Goddess and Rhea as Mother Goddess.
Fun Fact: Artemis and Xochiquetzal are both twins. Their
brothers. Apollo(n) and Xochipilli, both act as solar, entheogenically-inclined,
oracular deities – relating to arts, markets, music, enlightenment and homosexuality
– though Apollo wasn’t the only one.
With this, we have presented The Huntress, the butterfly, and the Mistress of the Labyrinth, the spider (which weaves labyrinthine
webs). Agricultural/fertility and chthonic, respectively. My theory is that,
while both of these Goddesses were unique, they were aspects of one another. The Huntress – as Artemis, Rhea, Kore/Demeter,
even Xochiquetzal – were the lighter aspects. The Mistress of the Labyrinth,
alternately, represents the darker and more mysterious, chthonic aspects of the
Great Goddess – such as with Persephone, the other half of the Spider Goddess
(perhaps as Tezcatlipoca), and Ariadne. The
Huntress is the Mountain, and The
Mistress is the Cave. As such, it would not surprise me if the entire
Minoan pantheon were merely aspects of a singular, Great Goddess – whose aspects
were adopted into polytheistic Gods by the so-inclined Greeks (such as Hera,
Demeter, Artemis, Athena, etc.). I think with time there will be discoveries
made to back this conclusion up, though I highly doubt they’ll compare them to
an “autonomous” pantheon such as the Aztecs. But rest assured, I will be eagerly
awaiting new evidence to surface and Linear A to finally be deciphered!
The Qedavian Apocrypha 
