Ciao from Sicily! I’ve always had mixed feelings about the design of this basilica for the Black Madonna of Tindari, a most sacred place for those of us who are devotees of the dark mother/goddess archetype. Today, though, was different. Maybe because of this moment in my life when I’ve been strongly devoted to my…
Tag: demeter
Signs Of Rituals For Rebirth In Ancient Sicily
Unless you are a plumber, this may not look so interesting at first. Earlier this month while in Sicily, I returned to the Sanctuary of Demeter Malophoros at Selinunte to understand its placement as related to the Modione River that it flanks and the Mediterranean Sea. I was curious about water placement near and on…
Tonight! Presentation about the Divine and Sacred Feminine Sites of Eastern Sicily
Tonight! Join me at 7:30PM Eastern online for Myths and Mysteries of Sicily: Part I, Eastern Sicily. I’ll discuss the divine feminine and sacred feminine sites in Eastern Sicily. Details and registration at Myths and Mysteries of Sicily: Part I, Eastern Sicily Update: Enjoy! RECORDINGMyths and Mysteries of Sicily: Eastern Sicily, Part Ihttps://youtu.be/R5Lsbsa1q0E
52 Reasons to Love Sicily | #24. The Mother Goddess’ Presence is Everywhere
Demeter, the goddess of the grain, female fertilization, and the harvest, who is the mother of Persephone, represents the great matriarch in ancient Greek mythology. Her power to cultivate the bounties on the Earth’s surface for us are illustrated significantly during the myth of Demeter and Kore/Persephone. Before the Christian era, the Eleusinian Mysteries (as…
Votive Offerings Through The Millennia
Archaeologists are very careful to identify to whom an ancient temple is dedicated until they have concrete evidence (and I don’t just mean concrete in the sense of stone!). In Siracusa, for example, we know that the temple to Apollo on Ortigia is for Apollo because there is an inscription on the east-facing stairs stating…
Piazza Della Vittoria Is A Victory For The Goddess
It’s not lost on me (or my friend, tour guide Rosa Rizza) that when they broke ground in 1973 at Piazza della Vittoria in Siracusa to build the Sanctuary for the Madonna of the Tears, that where they intended to place the church, they discovered the foundation of the late 5th/early 4th century BCE Sanctuary…
The Sanctuary of Demeter Malophoros, Selinunte (Part I)
The ancient Greek community of Selinunte was founded as a sub-colony of Megara Iblea in 651-650 BCE. One of the first sacred sites in the western Sicilian city, which is considered one of the world’s largest archaeological zones, is the Santuario della Malophoros or the Sanctuary of the Fruit Bearer. “Malophoros” implies pomegranates or apples,…
Persephone And Pomegranates
Pomegranates, when left on their trees, open like flowers to release hundreds of seeds. They are harvested in the fall. The maiden Kore, before she became known as Queen of the Underworld, Persephone, ate pomegranate seeds when Hades (AKA Pluto, God of the Underworld) offered them to her. The act of accepting them signified moving…
Sacred Sicily And Lago Di Pergusa
We’re halfway through autumn in the northern hemisphere. Persephone has made her way to the underworld to join her husband Pluto (AKA Hades) to continue her work as Queen of the Underworld. Meanwhile, Demeter, Persephone’s mother, is turning inward and the earth slowly begins its winter cycle. Pictured is Lago di Pergusa, or Pergusa Lake,…
The Most Sacred Panorama In The Center Of Sicily
Demeter’s view. Back in ancient times on this spot at the top of the mountain on which perches the city of Enna was a temple dedicated to the mother goddess Demeter. As a most significant deity to ancient Greeks and Romans (The Romans called her Ceres.), this protector of fertility, the harvest, and grains was…