Themiskyran Heritage

This is how the Sisterhood of Themiskyra traces its heritage.

Ananke was the first, and She begat Hera.
Hera begat Artemis.
Artemis begat Otrere, Mother of the Amazons.
Otrere begat Lysippse, the first Amazon queen.

We consider the history of the Amazon nation as having seven ages.

Age of Origins
Age of Harmony
Age of Victory
Second Age of Victory
Age of Diplomacy
Golden Age
Age of Decline

Ode to Athena

Wise goddess, gentle Athena

Forever my companion

Though born of Columbia I am bred of you

My sister, my mother, my guardian

This world has not forgotten you

We need your council more than ever

Patroness of all humanity

In your cause, beloved guide

I go forward in pride and love

For wisdom, for justice, for the greater good

Call of Hekate

Daughters of the Great Creatrix

Hearken to Me

I am a creature of the night

An angel of the shadows

I have taken my sip of Eternity

From Her appointed chalice

You need have no fear

In numbers we shall find strength

Reach out to Me and I shall take your hands

Look to the west and raise your sword

Call Me away from my Saturn abode

From within the Womb of Time

My children, you are no less than I

You are the energy of the universe

Death, Fate, and Chaos shall favor you

In my name have naught to fear

Virgin Huntress

Melissae! Melissae!

Stand proud!

Beloved Artemis embrace me

To be a whole woman unto myself

Hail the chaste moon

The wild hare

Total complete satisfied and full

Virgin Huntress

Bless me in purity and light

Guide me well

By your unerring bow

I walk the path of me

Crescent aim crystal complete

Beloved Artemis embrace me

Song of Selene

Selene dances with arms aloft

Through the swaying boughs and blossoms

Sweet scents upon the air

Wild strawberries, new spring grass

Ticklish rosemary, subtle laurel bay

Cypress dressed in her gown of moss

Wherever there rests a large stone

Near to the tangle of roots

There too is Her sanctuary

Delightful, winsome maiden

Divine lady of the brilliant Mother Moon

Gaze into the celestial poor of light

Reflect what is clear and true

Lady of Olympus

Peacock plumed queen

Always watching, guiding, inspiring

Mother to all women

Mistress of the lightning

Wisdom over impulse

Crown jewels of knowledge

Power in mind and beauty told

She does not love equally

Yet we all are in her care

Never be less than confident

Keep her affection near

Embrace me, great Hera

I am your daughter

Ode to Queen Hera

Upon Olympus where the mountain touches the sky

Hera keeps court on her Peacock Throne

Queen of all the Olympians

She rises all powerful and alone

Sister, Mother, and Friend to all women

Hera does closely attend

The happenings among mankind

And the faithful She does defend

Beautiful and wise and yet capricious

Hera is all unto Her own being

Watching over the world and the planets

All knowing and all seeing

Honor the Mother unto us all

Respect Her, keep Her amity

Always foremost in deep devotions

For mind She has little pity

In triple aspect She guides

The female human race

Look to a rose, a garden, a sea

There too will you see Her face

Jewels of the Moon

Artemis!  Selene!  Hekate!

Triple gems

Emerald, ruby, amethyst

Each a treasure unto herself

Together a celestial magnificence

The Hunt, the Mother, the Craft

All phases of all women in time

Hail the ladies, hail the whole

Three time beat of life lived

All ages join hands in the circle

The dance of women

The turning of the moon

Ananke, The Imminent Divine

Fate, doom, necessity

Sends one becoming into the world

Often comes unbidden

Gifts beyond imagination

Truth and lie detector

Manifesting through intuition

That inner voice

Timeless and shamanic

Hera Unveiled

You've probably met Hera (known to the Romans as Juno) before, perhaps on your own or in a high school classical mythology unit. You probably know her as the nagging, shrewish wife of Zeus (Jupiter), the king of the gods and great lord of Olympus. But did you know that back in the mists of the ancient world, Hera was a Great Mother figure of the eastern Mediterranean region, a sky goddess beloved by millions in her own right as Queen of the Heavens? The jump from sovereign female to screeching grudge-holder takes some imagination to visualize, but over a few centuries Hera was so demoted. How, why, and what of the Hera that came before the arrival of Zeus?

Restoring Hera to her rightful place as a Great Mother Goddess is not a work of feminist revisionist history. Clues from the ancient world reveal the true Hera. The ruins of Hera's temple at Olympia remain beautiful and elegant, reflecting a love for a magnificent and inspirational goddess. The signs of Hera as she is portrayed in literature are lacking. Where is the ruthless and envious character that gives Zeus nothing but grief in Hellenic lore?

Maybe you have heard about Io, the beautiful woman in Hellenic lore that Zeus happened to notice as he was searching the world for a new romantic conquest. In return for the great honor of Zeus' lust, Io stood helpless as Zeus changed her into a heifer. This way, so Zeus believed, the king of the Olympians could deny the charge of infidelity leveled at him by his spiteful and jealous wife, Hera. As wise as she was angry, Hera demanded that Zeus give her the heifer as a token of his affections. Zeus could do nothing to protect the animal that had been the woman who had been his lover. At first Hera kept the heifer tied up in her own sanctuary. Later, Hera sent the notorious gadfly to continuously bite and irritate Io.

This tale isn't favorable for the innocent Io, but it is even more damaging to the character of Hera. She is best known as the wife of Zeus (or Juno to the Roman Jupiter), but when Hera is unveiled she becomes a great and ancient mother goddess, much beloved by her people.

The story of Io is a good example of how the tribes dedicated to the Sky Father grafted their own lore onto the pre-existing religious structures that existed wherever they invaded. On the Island of Argos the people worshipped Hera. "Hera" is not a name but a title, meaning "Our Lady." The Argives saw Hera as "cow-eyed," which culturally indicated her close association with the moon and making rain. Io was an Argive priestess-princess who led the people in public dances intended to ask for rain.

But this is not the version that has survived to modern times. Because the indigenous devotion to Hera remained strong, the tribes of Zeus joined the two deities in a marriage of convenience. The result was the jealous and wrathful Hera of the Hellenic age.

Hera never wanted anything to do with Zeus. She certainly never wanted to marry him. However, Zeus desired the majestic sky goddess with all that he was. He knew that Hera had a special fondness for a certain bird, the cuckoo, and he knew he could count on her compassionate nature. With this in mind, Zeus transformed himself into a disheveled cuckoo and flew into Hera's lap for sympathy. The kind Hera took pity on the bird. Her shock knew no boundaries when she suddenly found herself being raped by Zeus. Humiliated, Hera needed to restore her honor by marrying Zeus. This tale is likely a metaphor for the way in which Hera's people were conquered by the tribes of Zeus. Hera's later angry behavior towards her husband indicates the indignation of her people.

Let's look at Hera as she originally was, a beneficent sky mother holding her own among celestial powers. As mentioned before, "Hera" was a title and not a proper name. What Hera's original name was is lost to history. Hera reigned in beauty as queen of the earth and the heavens and human beings. She was kind to all, but favored women and female sexuality.

Hera began as a triple goddess. In her maiden form she was Pais, childless and free from responsibilities. She symbolized blossoming youth. Her middle form was called Teleia and presented her as a mother in the prime of life. In her third form she grew into Chera, the crone who has passed through motherhood to return to herself.

We might think the original Olympics were ancient. But the Heraea was an old festival that predated the Olympic games. These were athletics for women held in Hera's honor. Women of Argos would gather to compete in foot races. The competitors were divided into three age groups to mirror Hera's triple nature. Winners were given the great honor of leaving statuettes of themselves in Hera's main shrine.

This is almost the converse of the Olympic games. At Olympia, not only were women forbidden from competing, women could not even be spectators. In fact, any woman who tried to transgress these hard rules would be slaughtered. It can be deduced that the importance of the divine feminine had been greatly diminished by the time of the arrival of the ancient Olympics.

Another celebration observed Hera as the sovereign over death and rebirth. A statue of Hera would be carried down to the water to be cleansed in a symbolic renewal. Hera was both autumn and spring, death and life, and to worship her was to continue the eternal cycle.

Hera was by no means the only goddess so demoted. This trend can be found in Europe as well as on other continents. In many cases, such as the instances of Lilith and Tiamat, the goddess was simply demonized. She who was not demonized might have been turned into a monster like the Gorgon. In the Celtic world goddesses were assimilated into Christianity as new saints.

Celebrating The Moons

The Sisterhood of Themiskyra observes Full Moons and New Moons as times for celebration and ritual.  The liturgical year begins with the Full Moon immediately following the Spring Equinox.  Here is the list of goddesses and themes for each Moon.

Hera - beginnings, the female divive
Hekate - the final cycle of life
Athena - wisdom, logic, reason, and strength
Persephone - maiden goddess of death
Ananke - the Goddess in everything
Kybele - Great Mother with many faces
Diktynna - the bounty the Goddess gives to the earth
Baubo - taking pleasure in what is bawdy
Pasiphae - the primordial Mother
Eris - power of discord and chaos
Artemis - a woman complete unto herself
Nyx - power of darkness and night
Gaia - Mother Earth
Eileithyia - the force of birth and life
Lachesis - weaver of the threads of Fate
Nike - all manner or triumph and victory
Atropos - cutter of the threads of Fate
Demeter - all that lives upon the earth
Thetis - depths of the oceans
Hestia - home and sacred thought
Chera - Hera in the Crone aspect
Hebe - being young at any age
Kalligenia - beauty within
Hygeia - health and healing
Mnemosyne - memories

Names of the Queens

Salute the first Sisters of Themiskya

The Queens of Amazonia:

Otrere

Lysippe

Hippolyta

Marpesia

Lampado

Antiope

Melanippe

Thiba

Sinope

Omphale

Minythyia

Myrine

Antianara

Dejanira

Hiera

Orthia

Penthesilea

Thalestris

Tomyris

Call to Hera

For each day

And in each hour

Call upon

The Eternal Power

O great Hera

Of Olympus bright

I pray to you

To share your light

Values of the Ancestresses

Independence

Self-Reliance

Character

Strength

Skill

Agility

Sisterhood

Devotion

Tenacity

And the Amazons Symbolize:

The importance of Womanspirit

Taking pride in Womanspirit

Embracing the Female Divine

Invocation

Great Mother, make me an instrument of your peace.  Where there is hatred, let me sow love.  Where there is injury, let me be a healer.  Where there is doubt, let me have faith.  Where there is despair, let me bring hope.  Where there is darkness, let me be light.  Where there is sadness, let me give joy.

Great Mother, grant that I may not seek to be consoled as much as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love.  For it is in giving that we receive.  It is in pardoning that we are pardoned.  It is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

The Dawn of Themiskyra

Behold the fury come down from the mountains

So fast as to singe the very waters

Upon noble steeds of white and jet and golden

On the Thermodon waters they came to rest

“Who are these women upon the backs of horses?

With their shields of fire and spears of lightning?”

Step forth Lysippe, clad in metal and hides

Uncrowned but a divine queen in herself

“Get you all off of my lands,” she growled

“I shall not suffer the presence of the craven

On these plains that I declare for my nation”

“But who are you?” the people cried

Lysippe threw back her shoulders and began to grin

“We are the Daughters of the Moon

Most beloved of Her Majesty Hera

I have brought my sisters here to make for ourselves

A new nation, bold, just, courageous, proud

I am the Amazon Lysippe

Call me your queen or run from certain death.”

Angry the plains peoples dared to rise up

And Lysippe drew forth her sword

Around her the women warriors gathered

Shields at the ready and spears pointed to kill

Rather than soak the Thermedon Valley in blood

The plains people and the Amazons were blessed with an agreement

Up to the mountains to begin a new life

While the warriors would claim the Thermodon

When all was done in the spirit of concord

Lysippe spoke to all whom would hear

“This day begins our history from this spot

Let our efforts bring forth a new city

All Amazons will look to Themiskyra

Listen well, for this shall be our law

We are warriors true, unto our own hearts

But there is more to struggle than just conquest

Great Mother, make me an instrument of your peace

Where there is hatred, let me sow love

When there is injury, let me forgive

Where there is doubt let me have faith

Where there is despair, let me hope

Where there is darkness, let me be light

Where there is sadness, let me give joy

Mother, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console

To be understood, as to understand, to be loved as to love

For it is in giving that we receive

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned

It is in dying that we are born to eternal life

Now you know the fight.”

Ranks of Amazons took up the cheer

“Praise be to Hera, our goddess, and our mother

Who has given us this day Lysippe the Queen

She who will lead and listen, make war and make peace”

So began Themiskyra, great city of Amazonia

So began the reign of the first queen