Fae Friday: Thracian Moon Goddess

Ancient Thrace has always fascinated me. It was a geographical region in and around the northern part of today’s Turkey and Bulgaria, with Romania to the north. The Aegean Sea bordered ancient Thrace to the south with the Greek civilization to the west, the Black Sea to the east, and the Balkan Mountains to the north. The peoples of the region, called Thracians by the Greeks, were actually composed of numerous tribes. When we refer to Thracians, we usually think of expert horsemen and warriors who fought with the Persians and, later, with the Greeks and against the Persians.

In the region of Thrace, however, before the Grecian period of history we are familiar with, the line of matriarchal civilization survived unbroken from the dawn of time until the end of the 3rd millennium BC. This is longer than in many other places of the Aegean, with the exception of the Minoans of Crete, whose matriarchal culture continued until the 2nd millennium BC. Archaeological treasures show a rich, graceful culture in Thrace, with beautiful, vibrantly painted pottery and decorative plaster walls between 6000 BC and 4000 BC.

Thrace was home to one of the original Amazon tribes of warrior women. Xena and Gabriel would fit right in. It also served as a cultural seed that provided a linkage between the original European Paleolithic goddess culture and the Neolithic matriarchal culture. Some scholars believe that Sumerian and Minoan civilizations owe homage to the ancient culture of the Thracian region.

The Great Cosmic Mother by Monica Sjoo and Barbara Mor describes how Thrace remained a center of ancient wisdom and knowledge even down to the classical Greek era. Thrace was considered the home of the great moon goddess, sometimes called Bendis. She was associated with the moon goddess Artemis the huntress, as well as Selene and Hecate, crone of the dark of the moon. Healing was one of her gifts to the world, and her worship included sacred orgiastic rites. Orpheus also roamed her mountain abode and played his music into the winds. Bendis and her Nine Muses or mountain goddesses were attended by her priestesses, the Maenads. The Maenads were the custodians of primal goddess wisdom and, according to legend, the teachers of the Celtic Druids. This ancient wisdom included belief in reincarnation and the immortality of the soul. Their ideas greatly influenced Pythagoras.

What do you think of Bendis and ancient Thrace?

Cheers & Happy Reading!
Flossie Benton Rogers, Conjuring the Magic with Romance