Amazon

[Zephonith Serpent Woman]

Mention the name, Amazon, and the first thought that flits through the minds of most people is of a lush, steamy jungle, filled with all of the wondrous children of Nature – brightly-coloured flowers, birds of every hue and tone, and the luxuriant , glossy foliage of unusual and striking plants and trees growing so high , their branches form an arching overhead canopy of leaves which dapple out the aquamarine sky. The elusive flash of the brightly-coloured Quetzal bird, the chattering of monkeys, and a low sawing purr from the liminal dark shadow of a glossy black panther in the background.
To some, though, the name Amazon, strikes a unique and resonant chord in the collective conciousness.

“ The snake-haired head was a symbol of Athene long before the patriarchal myth was written. Herodotus wrote that the Matriarchal clans of the Libyan Amazons worshipped snakes as embodiments of female wisdom and that the female face surrounded by serpent-hair meant meant menstrual mysteries and Crone Wisdom.”
– D.J Conway

The reason why so many Goddessses are portrayed with serpent features, and, as Medusa , with serpent hair, is to show the awakening and activity of the Kundalini, the Serpent power and energy that courses through the shell of every living thing.
The Amazons were, according to D.J Conway, worshippers of Goddess Diana in Her aspect of the New crescent Moon.

"Beside the land of Chaldea is the land of Amazonia, that is the land of Feminye. And in that real is all woman and no man; not as some may say, that men may not live there, but for because that the women will not suffer no men amongst them to be their sovereigns." - John Mandeville

“Hecate of the Amazons was a Moon and underworld deity. Her chariot was often shown pulled by dragons.She was the oldest Greek form of the triform Goddess, who ruled heaven , the underworld, and the Earth.”

– Conway, DJ. Maiden, Mother, Crone – The three faces of the Goddess (1994). Woodbury, Mass. Llewellyn publications ISBN 13:978-0-87542-171-1

The legend of the Amazons is not a fantasy tale, as the Mythos of these powerful and fierce warrior queens is backed up with actual historical accounts of a lost Tribe, reputed to live in the jungles of West Africa – a free and independent society which was operated on Matriarchal principles and ruled exclusively by women.

It appears that the Amazons were not restricted to the forests of West Africa, though. Actually, the symbolism and legends appear in Classical Greek literature and antiquity, as well as in texts authored by the historian Herodotus. Alternative locations include Scythia, where there is a legacy of Goddess worship; Asia minor and modern-day Libya or North Africa, home of Neith, Athena and Medusa, the Triple Goddess.

The title Amazon does actually come from the Spanish , who also discovered a Matrifocal civilization living throughout the Amazon river basin. This mighty river now bears the honoured Name of the Amazons.
The Greeks used to say that Amazon women would cut off their right breasts in order to be able to draw a bowstring more effectively. In another odd synchronicity , this identical tale also comes from West Africa. The severing of the breast can be seen as the same in meaning and import as the ritual castartion of the Priests of Cybele, for example ~ a sacrifice to Goddess of the Life Force.

This can only mean that the Amazon way was widespread amongst many ancient peoples, and only confirms yet again that the world was run by women for all time before the forcible take-over by male-dominated religions.

All available evidence points to the fact that Matriarchal societies were peaceful and productive in nature. Before the waves of patriarchal aggression, where the ancient Matriarchal societies which far preceded any warlike male gods and cultures lived in peace and harmony with Nature, there was no need for war, as the Goddess ruled in Love and never with fear  .

The first time that women warriors were mentioned is in the early days of patriarchy, when Alexander the Great was defeated by the Nubian Amazons in battle and subsequently relinquished his plans for invasion and conquest – mainly due to the effective use of Elephants in battle against his forces and the ferocity and martial skills of the Amazon warriors in combat.

The real lesson is that the established Matriarchal societies resisted the waves of patriarchal aggressors until the bitter end, as they were forced to defend themselves and their established ways.

The Goddess Medusa is actually a beautiful, golden Sea Goddess, a Fertility Goddess manifesting with wings; and as a result of male-dominated religions and their new mythologies, anything to do with the Dark Crone Goddess, always venerated by the Medittearranean and Arabic peoples - was put in a very negative light.

The only reason that Medusa turned all of the men to stone, was simply that they were the ones who sought Her head and invaded the sacred groves – not the other way around. There can be nothing incorrect or shameful about defending oneself from unprovoked aggression, which the Amazon Pagan women and their men had to do and managed successfully until the Matrifocal societies wre eventually overpowered over a period of many years – what I refer to as the Transition period between Matriarchy and the new, male-dominated and controlling religions.

It was during this time, that the true hirstory of humankind was re-written, and the actual records of our Ancestors – their story; not his-story – was almost completely obliterated; as if it had never happened before. The Catholic church and Islamic fundamentalists deliberately destroyed sacred, ancient and really priceless Pagan texts, Temples and anything else related to the Old Ways – they robbed us of our heritage 

It was with a sense of embittered revenge that the patriarchy reversed the meanings of the legends of the First Gods, and adapted the Mysteries to suit their own purposes. Women were, and still are, discriminated against as a result.This is simply because women are seen as second-rate beings, created from the second-hand rib of Adam in the second, revised version of creation in the Bible - and are no longer venerated for being the creators of new life as was the case for many millennia before the appropriation of Goddess spirituality and symbolism by the new, male-dominated religions for their use and purposes.

"While some regard the Amazons as a purely mythical people, others assume an historical foundation for them. The deities worshipped by them were Ares (who is consistently assigned to them as a god of war, and as a god of Thracian and generally northern origin) and Artemis, not the usual Greek goddess of that name, but an Asiatic deity in some respects her equivalent. It is conjectured that the Amazons were originally the temple-servants and priestesses (hierodulae) of this goddess; and that the removal of the breast corresponded with the self-mutilation of the god Attis and the galli, Roman priests of Rhea Cybele. Another theory is that, as the knowledge of geography extended, travellers brought back reports of tribes ruled entirely by women, who carried out the duties which elsewhere were regarded as peculiar to man, in whom alone the rights of nobility and inheritance were vested, and who had the supreme control of affairs. Hence arose the belief in the Amazons as a nation of female warriors, organized and governed entirely by women."

Herodotus called the Amazons, man-killers, or Androktones. One of the very earliest Names of Aphrodite is also Androphonos, which has the same derivatory meaning.

Initially, Aphrodite was both Goddess of Death and of Love before patriarchy changed Her into a Goddess of sexual love only – this would have seemed sacriligeous by the ancient worshippers of the Goddess as this was the only view of regeneration celebrated. As Lilith was changed from Great Goddess of Death, to minor demoness; so Aphrodite’s title of Queen of Death was ignored and denied altogether, and Divine Love was changed to that which pleases men only.

Again it is evident that the patriarchal Greeks wanted to prevent people from their customary and traditional veneration of the Crone. All the characteristics – the very nature – of the Great Goddess of Death were written out of the new mythologies and both the essential meaning and translation of both hirstory and myth was changed radically to include only the subordinate female deity figures, performing warlike and sexual service tasks in service of the new, male dominated pantheons.
The Darker aspects of the Crone, or Dark Mother, worshipped by the ancient Greeks throughout the ages, were diabolised and/or thrown out altogether – excluded in their entirety from the new and revised mythology.

Another meaning of the word Androktones, or Androphonos; implies “destroyer of virility”, probably referring to both the essentially emasculated nature of those males who had committed themselves to the Priesthood of the Goddess in ancient times, and the fact that the Amazons were far more proficient in the skills of warfare than most seasoned male warriors of the time- the Greeks at the height of their civilization, admitted that the Amazons were fearsome opponents in battle and showed their respect accordingly.
From the earliest days of patriarchy onwards, it was seen as the ultimate humiliation for a man to be defeated by a woman in battle – as this shows “weakness” – after all, women are the weaker sex, fundamentally speaking , according to the male-dominated religions.

The symbol of the Amazons is the Labrys, or double-headed axe.

The Amazons are credited with the invention of the battle-axe – (co-incidentally, still a begrudgingly rude term used by chauvanists to describe an strong, independent female who knows how to stand up for her rights – as per “old battle-axe”).

The ceremonial Labrys, one of the earliest –known Goddess symbols, has a far deeper spiritual significance than a battle-ax, though. The priests of Delphi were called Labryades, or “men of the double axe” – the significance of the distinct double edge of the Labrys hints at a deeper mystery …and where did the term , or concept of the Labyrinth come from originally?
Archaeological finds of Labrys axes have been found in Greece, Africa and Turkey – all over the Meditterranean – ranging from tiny ornamental ones to very large ones such as the fabled 9-ft tall one that stood alongside a statue of Goddess Athena.

It is intriguing to note that the Sword replaced the Labrys over time. The Labrys is a magickal weapon which far preceded the sword, and all available evidence would lead us to recognise that Matrifocal societies were dominant long before the advent of any male-dominated religion and society.
This being noted, the two magickal weapons have the same powers and features – a double-edged blade , for example. The double edge of a blade represents the opposite and equal , or complementary forces of Life and Death, orYin and Yang; the Waning and Waxing phases of the Moon. The law of Karma can be summed up as literally, what goes around, comes around – so what we send out into the Aether, does return again. The weapon of the Goddess of Justice is, accordingly, the sword. The double edged blade signifies Life and Death , growth and decline respectively; balanced on the gleaming blade of Divine Justice.

The sword differs from the Labrys though, in a fundamental way – in that the Sword is Phallic in shape, whilst the Labrys, although also having a shaft, which can be seen as phallic, it represents the passageway to the womb - a passage of initiation into the Labyrinth spiral, and is predominantly a sceptre of Lunar Fertility .
A primal symbol of Goddess, and of Androgyny – another great example of the Diagram of the Supreme Ultimate .

The Flaming Sword of Truth that Lilith, the Great-Ancestress of Aphrodite wields at the entrance gate to the Garden, is actually a magnificent fiery Labrys.
The Butterfly shaped design of the ceremonial Labrys resemble outstetched wings, while the shaft, if twined over and around by spiralling serpents, is a spectacular Caudaceus.

The Labrys has various uses and symbolism. It was used as a wand – thus, the blade is used as both representing, or embodying, the Element of Air as well as the Element of Fire, this naturally depending on the particular tradition; as a holy instrument of sacrifice; and symbolises the womb and, the butterfly of rebirth.
The Labrys was used for a variety of purposes, although there is a distinct difference between those intended for physical tasks, and the ceremonial Labrys, which is finer and often decorated and engraved with magickal symbols.

The Minoan Goddess cult is well-known for the use of the Bull’s horns, a Lunar emblem; combined with the Labrys which is mounted between the crescent horns. This is one of the most sacred Goddess symbols, the Horns , symbol of the Horned God, are actually of Lunar origin, representing the crescent Moon. The Moon God, Nanna or Sin, later known as Enki, Quetzalcoatl , Lucifer, Prometheus or Jesus, is a Goddess, too! Actually, most of the male Gods started off as female Goddesses in the beginning, including Zeus. This again points to the Androgynous nature of the First Goddesses and Gods, which the ancients replicated in art and prose in honour of the Androgynous Creator.

Isis is portrayed with the Horns, which are a Diagram of the Supreme Ultimate, symbolising the union of female and male, or Yin and Yang energies. The Red disc, often also shown with an entwined Serpent, thus represents Life, which results from the interaction between Yin and Yang.
The red solar disc is one of the very first spiritual symbols – it signifies the place where the First Goddesses and Gods dwell – from whence they emanate. 

 The Red Disc is equivalent in meaning to the Labrys, as the Disc lies within the horns, as does the Labrys
The magickal colour of the Labrys, is also, Red, one of the colours of the three sacred threads of life and destiny which run through the lives of all beings, and the colour of the Mother Goddess.

Are you ready for the Labyrinth?

The Labrys was evidently the symbol that greeted one at the entrance to the Labyrinth, in the Place of Knossos, also known as Labyrinthos, or “Palace of the Double-Axes” which is probably best-known from the classic story of the Minotaur in Greek mythology. Legend has it that King Minos had commissioned an architect, Daedalus, to construct the Labyrinth to conceal his wife, the Moon Queen , Pasiphae, and her beastly progeny, the enormous bull-headed Minotaur.

The Labyrinth is a magickal maze, made from various materials traditionally, although nowadays, Labyrinth mazes can be easily constructed using compact evergreen plant hedges.

The labyrinth is symbolic of the uterus, and both the Labyrinth and the Labrys derive their name from the word “labrys” , or “lip”. This is the female labia, which protects the entrance to the womb.
A maze has no definite path – whereas the Labyrinth displays a certain pathway leading back to the very center, to the Great Mother of regeneration and winds back again, through the center and into new Life.
The whole life of an individual seeker, is a journey to the center of the Labyrinth, and the journey from the Abyss, the great silence of perfect Equilibrium , Infinite in depth and Potential.

And, it should be told, that the center of the Labyrinth, the end goal of the seeker, is not really the end at all, it is the beginning of an infinite and endless spiral of existence that radiates back again through past lives, right through into what we know as the future and beyond.

Amazon men

One account describes two settlements, separated by a deep, slow-flowing river and filled with crocodiles and Mamlambo Serpent Spirits (similar to Mermaids). The main settlement, or city, was inhabited by women only; and the males lived on the other bank. No male was allowed to cross the river unless he was summoned by the women for any particular reason, and ferried across.
Amazon men would serve, or complement the warrior queens, accompanying the women on  hunting and warring expeditions in support roles. This appears to have an uncanny similarity with tales of Pagan men in later and unhappier medieval times being called “cauldron-bearers” in a derogatory sense , later still being termed cuckolds for faithfully acting out their traditional role as Witches’ helpers and companions.As the Pagan women of old were sexually independent, and could choose any man they wished, the conservative patriarchs reacted against this and labelled Pagan women as loose, amoral and basically sluts and whores, while the men were viewed with contempt , as weak and eccentric for venerating women. (hmm…what’s changed?)

This follows the general trend, as Goddesses became Gods, and women were excluded to a large extent from participating in the rites of the new religions; whereas previously, the average male was excluded from Women’s Mysteries.
This medieval attitude still reflects in contemporary society, where a man is not seen as “normal” if he does not accept the twisted status quo of patriarchy and persists as in honouring the ways of his ancestors. To be chosen as a slave , or as a consort by an Amazon , was previously a great honour for men. 

In pre-patriarchal times, societies were organised on Matriarchal lines. This did not mean any overt domination, rather , ruling relationships between women and men that guaranteed a peaceful, stable and happy way of life for all in the community.
In these Matrifocal societies, there was no need for war. Amongst the ancient ruins of Catal Huyuk in Anatolia, modern-day Turkey, there are no signs of any fortifications nor is there any other evidence of warfare.
The society was characterised by certain key features , including the symbolism of the Bull’s horns, the Labrys, modern-looking, well-constructed buildings and the remains of what seemed a very prosperous and well-ordered society. Succession was a female perogative, and when a man joined the family, he would adopt the name of his wife.

Archaeologists know that wherever one finds ancient ruins, we can be sure that there is another one underneath!
It is a scientific fact that civilizations are built one on top of the other, as the foundations and rubble of the previous one is a conveniently suitable construction site. The deeper one digs, the more “layers” are uncovered, and the further back in time we travel.The uppermost layer at Catal Huyuk was dated at 6000 years old ~
This means that there were many, many ages of Goddess worship and Matriarchal societies before any notion of a male-dominated religion came up.
Another good example of a Matriarchal society is the Minoan Goddess civilization that flourished on the island of Crete. The Labrys, and particularly Serpent symbolism characterises the spirituality and culture of these ancient peoples.

How did the Amazons have children?

An African legend explains that no men were needed in sexual relations with Amazon women. Instead, women who wished to bear children would venture out from the shady jungle canopy and ride out over the sands of the desert to a sacred Oasis , surrounded by palm trees and enormous blue boulders which overhung a sparkling , iridescent blue pool , fed by a bubbling hot spring which emerged from deep underground.
It is said that a woman would stay at the Oasis overnight, and be magickally impregnated by a beautiful horned Spirit, or Djinn. The childern born from such a union were reputed to have innate magickal qualities.

The Amazons , being connected strongly to Nature and the Lunar cycles, never had any problem with ensuring fertility and abundance! The key word in relationships, is Equality and Balance.

A hirstory of worship

There are several accounts of dedicatory rites that were performed in honour of the Goddess Amazons throughout the ancient Meditterranean region, including statuary , the remnants of shrines and the legacy of the sword dances which are still performed in contemporary bellydancing circles.

Long Live the Amazons!