Pagan Goddess Ariadne of the Labyrinth

Goddess Ariadne

The Pagan Goddess Ariadne represents the moon and the stars. She is a Goddess of healing and emotional development. She represents the spiral of life and the turning of the wheel.

Goddess Ariadne whose name means the Utterly Pure is the Minoan (Cretan) Great Goddess and Mistress of the Labyrinth, who is goddess of the shining moon and the dark underworld. In the center of the spiral Labyrinth a monster waits, the Minotaur, who is yet kin to the Goddess (in the Attic myth, Ariadne's half-brother). Ariadne helped her lover Theseus find his way into the Labyrinth to kill the Minotaur. She then eloped with him but he abandoned her on the island of Naxos. 

Goddess Ariadne then gave herself in marriage to Dionysos, the god of boundless life. 

Goddess Ariadne was also a celestial Goddess, having associations with the moon and stars. Her constellation, Corona Borealis, was actually a crown given to her as a wedding gift from her husband Dionysus. It was flung up to the night sky to become the well known constellation.

Goddess Ariadne is associated with celestial spiral motion, both in the imagery of the Labyrinth, and in Her fame for dancing. Daedalos, the archetypal inventor (he is said to have invented the hammer!), who built the Labyrinth also built her a dancing-floor decorated with labyrinthine meander patterns. Daughter to King Minos, Ariadne was said to also have been Crete's snake Goddess, again associating her with the spiral.Goddess Ariadne was also associated with the bee, which was a sacred animal in Crete as well.

Ariadne dances the spiral dance of the Labyrinth. She dances spiraling down to the center where the monster waits. She represents that inner self we all seek in our path to enlightenment. Coming to terms with our darker selves and facing our "monsters" within, help us to heal.

Pagan Goddess Ariadne's priestesses were said to have rituals to the Goddess with serpents and bare breasted clothing, indicating the acceptance of sexuality in Minoan Crete. In Naxos, Ariadne was seen as a lunar fertility Goddess, who represented the seasonal cycle. Again associating her with rebirth and the spiral of life. This Goddess was highly worshiped in Crete, and was seen as a powerful Goddess in her day. It is said that she was also honored in Celtic Gaul, symbolizing the same things.

Call on the Pagan Goddess Ariadne when you feel as though you are stuck in the maze of your own life, and you are not sure how to get out of the place you are in. She can help us heal our inner selves, and be symbolically reborn.  She is perfect to call upon in times of need, both physically and mentally and can encourage us to heal ourselves.

If you would like to have an altar to Goddess Ariadne, have symbols of the serpent, a small labyrinth, some honey, and the colours of blue and gold. Ariadne's feast day of celebration is the 26th December.

Enjoy working with this life giving Goddess of Ancient Crete!

This is a lovely poem about Ariadne and the Minotaur written by Edward Robson Taylor

Within the labyrinth's depths the Minotaur,


Slain by the sword she gave, lay stark and dead,


And with his finger following her thread


He issued forth to see the heavens once more.


Then Theseus swiftly from the hated shore


With Ariadne on his bosom fled,


Still hearing, as toward Naxos on they sped,
King Minos' cries above the ocean's roar.


Deep-nested in love's softest down they lay
When she to him: "Through me alone thy way
To century-sounding fame has now been won;
And yet I fear;--Oh, swear we shall not part!"--
"By Aphrodite do I swear, sweetheart!" ...


Then rose portentous cloud and hid the sun.

More such lovely poetry can be found here: http://www.blackcatpoems.com/t/theseus_and_ariadne.html

The wonderful artwork is by Nicole Cadet, more of her work can be seen here on her website www.nicolecadet.com and on DeviantArt here http://nicolecadet.deviantart.com/

If you would like to learn more about Goddess worship, this is an excellent book I would recommend. It goes through some Goddesses in detail and gives you lots of information about Pagan Goddess worship in general as well as a short summary of pretty much every Goddess you would come across.