Diana is the Roman Goddess of the moon, as well as of animals, nature, and the hunt. She is the equivalent of the Greek Goddess Artemis, who she was later merged with in Ephesus. She is often depicted accompanied by dogs or deer, and carrying a bow and arrow. Diana was the virgin Patroness of childbirth and is known for protecting women and girls. Daughter to Jupiter and Latona, and sister to Apollo, she was originally worshiped on mountains and in wild places.
Diana had a temple in the forest on the shores of Lake Nemi, where she was known as "Diana Nemorensis" or "Diana of the Grove". The Oak tree was sacred to her and she was often worshiped in Oak forests. It is said the her male priests would fight to the death to become one of hers. She also had a shrine on Aventine Hill where she was mainly worshiped by slaves and lower class people.
In the old practice of Stregheria, or Italian Witchcraft, she was known as "Queen of the Witches", and she had a daughter, Aradia. It is said that Aradia was sent to earth to teach witchcraft to the peasants, to fight against the new church. Some think that Aradia was a figure in Italian myth, others think she was a real person who actually led a group of Diana worshiping witches.
Diana was also associated with the Goddesses Luna and Hekate. It is interesting to note that one of Diana's sacred festivals was August 13th, which was also the day Hekate had a sacred festival. She was so closely related to the Goddess Artemis, that the two became interchangeable later in history. In Ephesus, her and Artemis were both worshiped at the great Temple of Artemis, where the famous many breasted statue of her stood.
Diana teaches us to connect with nature, to find our way back to our roots. As we are all children of Mother Earth. She helps us to honor our bodies and menstrual cycles as women, and she protects us during childbirth. She also teaches us to have strength and to fight for what we believe in. On your altar to Diana, have representations of the moon, picture or statue of deer, dogs or the Goddess herself, white candles, clear quartz crystal, selenite or moonstone, herbs of mugwort, jasmine or lavender and honey.
Enjoy working with this wild woman Goddess of the Moon!
Photo courtesy of Hrana Janto
There are so many Goddesses that I find so interesting to read about. Yet I feel I have no real connection to them. How do you form a connection to a Goddess if the connection is hard to find or isn't there to begin with? I've always had trouble with this. Anyway, thanks for sharing this. It was an interesting read. :)
ReplyDeleteKijjet: I would recommend finding a Goddess that matches your needs and desires at that time, and doing a ritual for her. Or just making a small shrine for her. Once you get into the practice of honoring a specific Goddess, you can feel the connection more naturally. For example: You can light a candle or a stick of incense everyday for a week for a particular Goddess. By the end of that week, you should be able to pick up on that Goddesses energy fairly easily :) Good luck to you!
ReplyDeleteMany blessings )O(
Wonderful and enlightening info as usual. I always learn so much from your posts! I know there are many other Goddesses who are associated with the moon (Isis is even one of them), but when I think of a "Moon Goddess", Diana is always the first one to come to mind.
ReplyDeleteI also appreciated your reply to Kijjet. I'm going to try something simple like that, perhaps light a candle each night in honor of my Goddess.
Thanks for all your wisdom. :)
Blessings...
Kijjet,
ReplyDeleteI wanted to add to the good advice. Think of developing a relationship with a deity like starting a friendship with a really popular person who is incredibly nice, and overwhelmingly talented. What do you love most in your life? It is very likely there are a few deities Who are connected with what you love. You might also think about your ancestry, and seek deities from wherever your people came. But of course, you need not limit yourself to ancestral deities. If you real a lot, look into mythologies. Eventually, you will meet deities you will not be able to help but like or love.
I know this might be a late reply to this insightful post. However, I thought of sharing my story of which how I was recognized and identified by Goddess ' DIANA'. To me it’s worth telling the story. I have always been fascinated by ancient Greek and Romanian mythology and for that yet, I studied ancient antiquities. After graduating, the harsh life took me away from my inner self and had turned me into a sceptical and cynical girl who doubted and disconnected from all that. I never realised I was losing myself (my whole) by all means of the word, losing my whole identity to a world the only language it speaks money and frustration. Out of a sudden and spontaneously, I was reading an article on a website and there her name and portrait to the right side of the page. On the spot, curiosity took me to Wikipedia to learn more about her, but that was it, then 5 years ago when the imprint happened. Some people don’t realise it until later stages in their lives and some others they just acknowledge and ignore. However, somehow for me and ever since this encounter I believed she didn’t leave me alone, although I ignored her existence for quite a while. She was stuck in the back of my head. Like her name pops up like a flash in my head every now and then, I had the strength and the ability to protect my friends and always helping the needs and animals, always independent and that’s why men like what they see but they don’t dare to approach closer, I guess she was protecting my freedom, most importantly, I was always misunderstood and so reckless with my anger and for what’s it’s worth to mention I have always appreciated and enjoyed my loneliness. She was there along the way waiting for the right moment to strike, and she did when I lost my job, home all together in one time. But this time magick brought me to her and ever since then I pray for her and always find what she likes and please her. There is one man I will hunt and whether I will get him or not, I will keep it in her hands. To me he is the (Orion= the giant only man who DIANIA loved, but her brother Apollo tricked her by a challenge she failed to accomplished when her arrow killed her loved one instead of the target Apollo assembled). Right now what I only care for is to never lose this contact with her again. She is with me and inside of me. I don’t need alters or candles to pray for her when she really exists in my ME and in my everyday life and through my spirit. She is there and i promise.
ReplyDeleteAll my life I have been fascinated with the study of mythology,especially Diana. I have always loved animals,protected and helped the weak and poor. I always seem to stand up and take the cause for the mistreated and abused. I stand fast and firm for what I believe. My mother is from Naples Italy,before she passed away,she finally told me why she named me. She told me of the witches and Diana,and how she knew that was to be my name. That is why she was never upset when I would bring home strays.(animals and people alike). Thank you for this site. I feel mothers energy with me and in me everyday,I wish I could better control the rage though. We are working on this. Once again,thank you. blessed be
ReplyDeleteWoah.. Im going through this myself Diana's spirit has been hunting me I have seen tress talk to me I even talk to animals and I know they undetstsnd. I cant ever keep a relationship guys want me al day but some how I scare them off I dont understand why she choosed me
ReplyDelete