minoan honey _ the bull, the mushroom and the mistress of the dance10

4/25/13 Minoan Honey : The Bull, The Mushroom And The Mistress Of The Dance

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:: Minoan Honey : The Bull, The Mushroom And The Mistress Of The Dance ::

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Chapter One - Introduction

1 – p.774, Robert Graves ‘The Greek Myths: Complete Edition’, Penguin Books, 19952 – p.780, Graves op.cit3 – I have adapted this idea of mythical personages as functions from p48-49, Giorgio de Santillana & Hertha von Dechend ‘Hamlet’sMill: An Essay Investigating the Origins of Human Knowledge and its Transmission Through Myth’, David R Godine Pub, 1969

Chapter Two - The Minoans : A Short Archaeological Overview

4 – p.287, Gareth Owens ‘Labyrinthos: Scripts and Languages of Minoan and Mycenaean Crete’, Centre for Cretan Literature, 2007,originally in paper ‘Evidence for the Minoan Language: Egypt and the Keftiu’, 1997, although the evidence for the identification ofKeftiu with Crete has been disputed.5 – Book of Amos ch.9 v.7 “Have not I brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt? and the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syriansfrom Kir?”6 – S Marinatos, "The Volcanic Destruction of Minoan Crete". Antiquity 13: 425–439, 1939

7 – J. Antonopoulos, "The great Minoan eruption of the Thera volcano and the ensuing tsunami in the Greek Archipelago". NaturalHazards 5: 153–168, 19928 – I follow Andonis Vasilakis in his ‘Minoan Crete: From Myth To History’, Adam Editions, 2001, in the following archaeological andhistorical survey, although it also draws on my general knowledge of Minoan history from various sources and follows the ‘Palatial’system of Minoan chronology proposed by Nikolaos Platon.9 – p.70 Vasilakis op.cit.

10 – p.71 Vasilakis op.cit.11 – p.77 Vasilakis op.cit, also Archaeological Museum of Iraklion plaque accompanying the original artefact.12 – p.75 Vasilakis op.cit.13 – p.198 Marija Gimbutas ‘The Language of the Goddess’, Thames & Hudson, 198914 – p.80 Vasilakis op.cit.15 – From text accompanying the Phornou Koryphi display at the Museum of Myrtos, Myrtos, Ierapetra, Crete.

16 – p.92 Vasilkais op.cit.17 – From text accompanying the Pyrgos display at the Museum of Myrtos, Myrtos, Ierapetra, Crete.18 – p.100 Vasilakis op.cit.19 – p.16 Jan Driessen, "The Archaeology of Aegean Warfare," pp. 11-20 in Laffineur, Robert, ed., Polemos: Le Contexte Guerrier enEgee a L'Age du Bronze. Actes de la 7e Rencontre egeenne internationale Universite de Liege, 1998. Universite de Liege, Histoire del'art d'archeologie de la Grece antique.

20 – p.111 Vasilakis op.cit.21 – p.317, Gareth Owens ‘Labyrinthos: Scripts and Languages of Minoan and Mycenaean Crete: Lexicon of the Minoan Language’,Centre for Cretan Literature., 200722 – Kn V 52, Text 208 in Michael Ventris & John Chadwick ‘Documents in Mycenaean Greek’, 1973 Cambridge University Press23 – See quote from Book of Amos in note 5

Chapter Three - On The Womanliness Of Minoan Culture

24 – passim, Nota Dimopoulou & Yorgos Rethemiotakis, ‘The Ring Of Minos and Gold Minoan Rings’, Greek Ministry of CultureArchaeological Receipts Fund, 200425 – The following discussion on the Ring of Minos follows the above referenced work, Dimopoulou & Rethemiotakis op.cit.a – p. 18, Dimopolou & Rethemiotakis, op.cit.26 – See chapter 2 above and note 19

27 – Keith Branigan, "The Nature of Warfare in the Southern Aegean During the Third Millennium B.C.," pp. 87-94 In Laffineur, Robert,ed., Polemos: Le Contexte Guerrier en Egee a L'Age du Bronze. Actes de la 7e Rencontre egeenne internationale Universite de Liege,1998. Universite de Liege, Histoire de l'art d'archeologie de la Grece antique, 199928 – Olga Krzszkowska, "So Where's the Loot? The Spoils of War and the Archaeological Record," pp. 489-498 In Laffineur, Robert, ed.,Polemos: Le Contexte Guerrier en Egee a L'Age du Bronze. Actes de la 7e Rencontre egeenne internationale Universite de Liege, 1998.Université de Liege, Histoire de l'art d'archeologie de la Grece antique, 1999

b – On this artefact and associated frescoes, see my Photo Essay 10 accompanying this essay.29 – see note 22 above30 – Peter Warren, “Minoan Religion as Ritual Action”, Paul Astroms Forlag, 1986 31 – Riane Esler, ‘The Chalice and the Blade’, Harper & Row, 198932 – See Marija Gimbutas ‘The Language of the Goddess’, Thames & Hudson, 1989 and Marija Gimbutas ‘The Goddesses and Gods ofOld Europe’, Thames & Hudson, 1982 for excellent visual and symbolic explorations of the Old European cultures of the Neolithic.

33 - As we shall see in chapter seven, there is another possible factor here, in the possible use of ego-dissolving psychedelics inreligious rituals, but the centrality of this driving force is much debated. I hold it to be central to a religious mandala in the palace lifeat Knossos and likely similar rituals took place elsewhere, but its wider cultural significance in the Bronze Age may be less than thepresent text implies. It may have been a stronger force in the smaller scale Neolithic cultures that preceded the Minoan civilisationunder discussion.34 - Karel R. van Kooij, ‘Religion in Nepal’, E J Brill, 1978

35 – Most notably, prominent Linear A epigrapher Gareth Owens, who seeks to demonstrate that the Minoans spoke an Indo-Iranian



language, levelled this accusation at Marija Gimbutas, that formulator and scholar of Old European cultural forms, whilst appearing tobe completely unfamiliar with her work. If the Minoan language was Indo-Iranian it begs numerous questions regarding the inability of asyllabary to effectively render Indo-Iranian languages, and of course, the lack of male authority in Minoan culture. He contextualiseshis theory by reference to Colin Renfrew’s argument that the Indo-European homeland was not Central European Russia as Gimbutassurmised, but Anatolia and the Aegean, but the presence of two definitely known non-Indo-European languages in that region(Lemnian and Hattic, which preceded the Indo-European Hittite culture) makes Renfrew’s Anatolian homeland look decidedly shaky. Bycontrast, Central European Russia is virtually the only place in the Indo-European-speaking world where only Indo-European toponymsare found, suggesting a deeper history there. A longer period of residence in Anatolia and the Aegean would surely have eradicated allnon-Indo European language traces, just as today, Turkic languages have eradicated all trace of Indo-European in modern-day

Anatolia. But this is a lengthy aside…

Chapter Four - The Spatial Structure Of Minoan Religion

c – pp137-157, J. & E. Sakellarakis, ‘Archanes’, Ekdotike Athenon SA, 1991, gives an excellent summary of the Anemospilia site andfindings from an archaeological point of view.36 - From text accompanying the Phornou Koryphi display at the Museum of Myrtos, Myrtos, Ierapetra, Crete.37 – From text accompanying the shrine remains visible at the site of Gournia itself. See also Costis Davaras ‘Gournia’, Greek Ministryof Culture Archaeological Receipts Fund, 1989

38 – Here I follow the page for the Yiouchtas Peak Sanctuary found on Ian Swindale’s excellent Minoan Crete website, available athttp://www.uk.digiserve.com/mentor/minoan/ (retrieved 15th September 2008) which contains detailed guides to numerous Minoansites and accounts of their archaeology. Swindale’s account for the Yiouchtas Peak Sanctuary in turn follows Alexandra Karetsou’sarticle in "Sanctuaries-Cults in the Aegean Bronze Age"

39 – p32-57, Erin Ruth McGowan, ‘Experiencing and experimenting with embodied archaeology: Re-embodying the sacred gestures ofNeopalatial Minoan Crete’, in Archaeological Review of Cambridge: Issue 21.6: Embodied Identities, November 2006.40 – McGowan op.cit.41 – p18, N. Dimopoulou & Y. Rethemiotakis, op.cit42 – p19, N. Dimopoulou & Y. Rethemiotakis, op.cit

43 – In the case of Mt.Ida, it is possible to consider ιδα from an archaic Fιδα, in turn from a Proto-Indo-European root, *wid- ‘to see’,assuming that Ida is a post-Minoan name. Similarly, under the same assumption, it is possible to link Mt.Dikte, δικτε, as a cognate of ‘-dic-‘ in ‘indicate’, from Latin dicare ‘declare, point out’.44 – See pp51-62, Gimbutas, ‘The Language of the Goddess’, op.cit.45 – Personal reflection based on observation of the site, supported by plan diagrams on the Knossos palace site of the knownNeolithic remains, suggest a north-south orientation which aligns well with Yiouchtas.

46 – see p83-4, Julian Cope, ‘The Modern Antiquarian’ for a description of this phenomenon as regards to the site of Silbury Hill inWiltshire, as viewed from various points along the Ridgeway. Here he terms it the ‘Silbury Game’. He also associates it with Mt Suilvenin Sutherland, Scotland, among other sites. Note in this regard Irish suil ‘eye’. See also my Photo Essay 4, accompanying this essay.47 – The Palace of Knossos, the site of Pyrgos near Myrtos and Vasiliki to name but three. Gournia, near Pacheia Ammos is a notableexception, with its main plaza on the north-east side, above the main body of the town.

48 – p329, Robert Graves, ‘The White Goddess’, Faber & Faber, 1961, originally from Homer, ‘Iliad’, ch18, 592.49 – See in particular numerous references in James G. Frazer, ‘The Golden Bough’ throughout Chapter 32: The Ritual of Adonis.50 – Genesis Ch.50 Verses 10-11, New International Version: “When they reached the threshing floor of Atad near the Jordan, theylamented loudly and bitterly; and there Joseph observed a seven day period of mounring for his father.” The dying god aspects ofJoseph’s father Jacob have been expounded upon at length by Graves, Kerényi and J.G. Frazer in their respective works, ‘The WhiteGoddess’, ‘Dionysos’ and ‘The Golden Bough’, particularly with regard to his similarity to such corn- (and hence threshing floor-associated) transcendental figures such as Dionysos and Achilles.

Chapter Five - Minos : From Myth To Memory

51 – On this point see pp61-64 ‘Athene: Image and Energy’, Ann Shearer, 1996, Penguin Arkana, and Robert Graves’ ‘The GreekMyths’, op.cit

52 – Graves has the name Aθηνη Athene as an inversion of Hittite goddess Anatha and ultimately related to the Sumerian syllable –an-(found in Inanna) and which relates to ‘heaven’ (Greek Myths pp96-100 & p753). Her name, as mentioned earlier in this essay, may beattested in Linear B inscriptions at Knossos as a-ta-na-po-ti-ni-ja ‘Mistress Athene’ and also a-ta-no-du-wa-ya ‘divine Athene’. GuntherNeumann has suggested a Lydian origin for Athene, or a Hurrian origin with a name ultimately derived from a Hittite word for‘grandmother’. Herodotus notes that the worshippers of an Egyptian goddess Neith (possibly the goddess of the night sky Nut,although Graves speaks of Neith as a Libyan deity) identified her with Athene. Thus, the matter of her origin is not remotely settled,and it remains to be seen if the Linear A inscriptions of Crete will yield any reference to her name in the future.

53 – The bones of the following narrative and later ones (in this and later chapters) are taken from Robert Graves ‘The Greek Myths’(op.cit), sections 88-92 passim and section 98 (pp292-318 & pp336-349).54 – p108, Karl Kerényi, ‘The Gods of the Greeks’, 1951 (Thames and Hudson)

55 – See my essay ‘The House of the Sky’ here: the appearance of this constellation in the myth appears to date the story toapproximately 2000BC, the early stages of the Minoan Old Palace Period. On the other hand, the mention of a Phoenician princess mayrefer to the Phoenicians replacing the Minoan thalassocracy in the Eastern Mediterranean and thus date the story the century around1250BC, ie well into the Mycenaean Age. Further, Homer records that Minos reigned some three generations before the Trojan War;this is consonant with a date of around 1370BC, at the onset of the Mycenaean Age. Thus the ambiguity as to whether Minos is aMycenaean interpolation or not is not really resolved…

56 – Costis Davaras, ‘The Cave of Psychro’, Greek Ministry of Culture Archaeological Receipts Fund, 1989.57 – p213, Ruck, Carl A.P., and Danny Staples, The World of Classical Myth 199458 – p298, Graves op.cit. Rhadamanthys had a hero shrine at Haliartus, and Graves suggests that Rhadamanthys was thus originally aBoeotian deity or hero. The oracle at this shrine was based on observations of the reed bed at Haliartus. Graves also records hisdoubts here, and recognises ancient authors thought this to be a Cretan word.

59 – p297, Graves op.cit. The ark as bearer of a child is a common motif throughout the Eastern Mediterranean, cf Perseus and Moses.Such a mythform may have originally obtained for Sarpedon too – numerous Sarpedons abound throughout the Aegean, againsuggestive of a non-Crete or at least wider Aegean origin.60 – Note the –ως ending with omega here is not the same as the –ος ending with omicron that would denote a standard masculinenoun in the nominative in Greek. Robert Graves has tentatively interpreted the name as meaning ‘of the moon’ or ‘the moon’s creature’but he expressed his doubts here.

61 – p109, Kerényi op.cit62 – Kerényi, op.cit. Graves, op.cit p.773 has ‘she who shines for all’. 63 – p753 Graves op.cit has ‘of the starry sky’ here, but αστερ refers to individual stars rather than the sky as a whole…64 – Both James G Frazer in ‘The Golden Bough and Robert Graves in ‘The White Goddess’ deal with this seasonal ritual year at greatlength and the reader is referred to these two sources for an in depth picture.



65 – It is worth nothing the brightest star in the constellation of Auriga is called Capella (‘the little goat’) and that Auriga wassometimes identified as a shepherd. Bearing in mind Athene’s goat-skin aegis, the idea that Auriga might represent a woman orgoddess needn’t be so far-fetched.66 – Again see my essay ‘The House of the Sky’ as well as de Santillana & von Dechend op.cit for the exposition of a structuralmythform which justifies the statements in this paragraph.67 – pp137-157, J. & E. Sakellarakis, op.cit.

68 – Again using imagery from ‘The House of the Sky’ and de Santillana & von Dechend op.cit. The ‘highest mountain of the world’ isarchaeoastronomical technical myth shorthand for ‘the vernal equinox’ or ‘the midwinter solstice’ dependent on context.69 – Here I follow the discussion on p21 of R.Rossi ‘Knossos’, David & Charles, 2007, which in turn follows Gustave Glotz ‘The Minoan-Mycenaean background of Greek Athletics’

d – p.30, Ian Hodder, “Çatalhöyük: The Leopard’s Tale – Revealing the Mysteries of Turkey’s ancient ‘town’”, Thames & Hudson, 2006e – Maurice Bloch, “Prey into Hunter: The Politics of Religious Experience”, Cambridge University Press ,1992f – p.31, Hodder, op.cit.

Chapter Six - The Mistress Of The Dance

70 – The non-Greek word labrys appears in Plutarch, ‘Greek Questions: 45’, in passing as an explanation for a certain statue of LydianZeus with the epithet Labrandeus, which is itself more likely to be derived from the name of the Carian and Mysia sacred siteLabraunda.71 – Giovanni Marini uses this word in his article, ‘Il palazzo di Cnosso’, retrieved August 2008,http://www.heraedizioni.com/j_hera/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=49&Itemid=43, and various other sources, includingR.Rossi, op.cit. and Hermann Kern, ‘Labyrinthe’, Prestel-Verlag 1982. At the time of writing, I cannot find the original Classical sourcefor this word.

72 – Kn V 2, Text 702 in Michael Ventris & John Chadwick ‘Documents in Mycenaean Greek’, Cambridge University Press, 197373 - since sounds ‘d’ and ‘r’ were relatively interchangeable in the Linear B system and sound ‘l’ was transliterated into one of thesesounds: hence we see me-ri for μελι and da-pu-ri-to-jo for λαβυρινθοιος.74 – Kn V 2, Text 702 in full, op.cit.75 – The text here follows p.89-90 Karl Kerényi, ‘Dionysos: Archetypal Image of Indestructible Life’, Princeton University Press, 1976

76 – p.90, Kerényi, op.cit.77 – Homer, ‘Iliad’, ch 18, 59278 – p.298, Robert Graves, ‘The Greek Myths: Combined Edition’, Penguin, 1960, ch.88, note 8, quoting from Lucian, ‘On The Dance’,ch.49.79 – p.94, Kerényi, op.cit.g – p.89, Kerényi, op.cit.

80 – p.99, Kerényi, op.cit. and p.791, Graves, op.cit.81 – p. 368, Barry Powell, ‘Classical Myth’. Second ed. With new translations of ancient texts by Herbert M. Howe. Upper Saddle River,New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1998.82 – p.94, Kerényi op.cit.83 – p.95, Kerényi op.cit.84 – p.48 Alwyn and Brinley Rees, ‘Celtic Heritage’, London, 1961.

85 – p.103, Robert Graves, ‘The White Goddess, Faber & Faber, 1960.86 – see note 81 above.87 – Plutarch, ‘Theseus, ch 29 – “by devious twists and turns, diminishing as it went, the ball would unwind”88 – p.99, Kerényi, op.cit.89 – p.758, Robert Graves, “The Greek Myths”, op.cit90 – Principally R. Gordon Wasson and Terence McKenna, among others.

Chapter Seven - The Vision In The Honey Pot

91 – pp.303-8, Robert Graves, ‘The Greek Myths’, op.cit.92 – p306, Graves, op.cit.93 – Graves has here ‘shape-shifter’ (p.776, op.cit.) a name which does not detract from the idea which McKenna presents – indeed itadds an extra dimension.94 – Graves has ‘grey-green’ (p.762, op.cit.), again this provides a slightly different shade of meaning but does not detract fromMcKenna’s point. Note that Beekes has this word to be a pre-Greek word.

95 – p.127, Terence McKenna, ‘Food of the Gods: A Radical History of Plants, Drugs and Human Evolution’, RandomHouse/Rider/Bantam, 1992.96 – p.127, McKenna, op.cit. quoting directly from R. Gordon Wasson, ‘Soma: Divine Mushroom of Immortality’, Harcourt BraceJovanovich, New York, 1978. Wasson identifies Soma as the amanita muscaria species of mushroom, rather than a psilocybin-bearingStropharia species. McKenna disputes this identification, but notes the similarity that both traditions – Minoan and Vedic – store whatappear to be mushrooms in honey.

97 – McKenna and Wasson have both done so in their respective works as have Gaston Guzman, John W. Allen and Jochen W. Gartz intheir co-authored work ‘A Worldwide Geographic Distribution of the Neurotropic Fungi: An Analysis and Discussion’, Annales MuseoCivica di Rovereto, vol 14, pp.189-280.

98 – This story is found in Apollonius Rhodius, ‘Argonautica’, among other places. Apollonius also informs us of the following detailregarding ambrosia. Later, when we discuss another function of Glaucos as a sea deity, this image of Achilles and sea goddess Thetismay have further resonance.99 – McKenna, op.cit. pp.98-120 and Danny Staples, Carl Ruck & Varl Heinrich ‘Apples of Apollo: Pagan and Christian Mysteries of theEucharist’, N.C. Durham, 2001100 – p.95, Kerényi, op.cit.101 – This idea is discussed along with the quote referenced in note 100 above on p.95, Kerényi, op.cit.

102 – Given that Minoan culture seems to have been driven more by ‘partnership’ rather than ‘dominator’ models (see Esler, op.cit.), Iam unsure of the relevance of the word ‘priestess’ in this and previous contexts within this essay. If the central idea of this mandalawas, as I am suggesting, to gain direct personal experience of the transcendent, then a religious functionary such as a priestesswould have been of little use, except perhaps to initiate an activity such as a dance or sport that would promote receptivity towardsa visionary state. A leader of a dance, however, or a woman acting as the personage of a goddess, would have been more useful instimulating the minds of the participants towards that direct experiential goal.

103 – Or was the beehive motif consciously incorporated into courtly dress as a remembrance of the honey/mushroom/goddess ritual?One calls to mind the old pagan belief that the Goddess is immanent, and present in all women: did the wearing of the dress conferMistress-like attributes or prestige to its wearer? These are likely to be speculations and increasingly out of scope of the essay…

Chapter Eight - Glaucos The God?



104 – p. 306, Graves, ‘The Greek Myths’, op.cit.105 – Henry George Liddell, ‘A Greek-English Lexicon’,Robert Scott, 1940106 – Pausanias, ‘Guide to Greece’ 9.39.2-5.107 – Servius on Virgil’s Aeneid, 7, 796.108 – Ovid, Metamorphoses 7. 232 ff109 – Carl A.P. Ruck, and Danny Staples, ‘The World of Classical Myth’, N.C Durham, 1994

110 – Ruck & Staples, op.cit, see also note 57 for this. Graves, (Greek Myths, p307) notes the tradition that ‘Poseidon was the patronof the Cretan confederacy’, which is presumably a reference to the Minoan thalassocracy.111 – I am mindful that in chapter 5 we removed the dissonant Poseidon/Zeus element to clarify the Minos-Asterion-Minotaur aspectof the mandala. However, here it appears we have found a possible Minoan equivalent to the later Greek Poseidon, and by substitutingthis new find back into the mandala, an interesting corroboration is found.112 – See again my essay ‘The House of the Sky’ and de Santillana & von Dechend, op.cit. for the justifications behind the statementsin this paragraph.

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'Minoan Honey: The Bull, The Mushroom & The Mistress of the Dance'Bruce Rimell, January 2009

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