Ananke and Welcome!

The Sisterhood of Themiskyra was founded as a place where Dianic Paganism intersects with legends of the Amazons, a nation of warrior women in Asia Minor. Though the Amazons are mentioned repeatedly in ancient sources, there is no absolute evidence that such a people existed. Of course, there is no proof that the Amazons are pure myth, either.


For the moment, let's accept the Amazons as having been real. This matriarchy is said to have spread along the southern shores of the Black Sea. The capital city of Themiskyra was founded and developed on the banks of the Thermedon river during the reign of Queen Lysippe around 2200 BCE. Last mention of the warrior nation dates from 1213 BCE, offering a lifespan of one thousand years.


Embracing the many positive values and attributes of the Amazons, the Sisterhood of Themiskyra proposes a path inspired by our sisters of the ages. It is open to all women seeking a spiritual connection. We are ever growing and ever changing--and ever accepting of new sisters and new ideas.

The Sisterhood of Themiskyra has no formal scripture per se, but the poem "The Dawn of Themiskyra" penned by Cassandra Evangelis in 1976 is widely adopted by groups within the Sisterhood as our path's beating heart. You might notice that the charge was largely adapted from a poem by Saint Francis of Assisi.

Western Civilization has been fascinated by the Amazons, a tribe of women warriors often thought to be crude and legendary. But there has been a faction that has contended the historical existence of the Amazons to one degree or another. It was in this spirit of potential discovery that the Sisterhood of Themiskyra was founded in 1977. The group is named for Themiskyra, the great capital city of the Amazons on the banks of the Thermodon river. Members of the Sisterhood today meet with the spirit of the Amazons and their attributes in Spiritual Themiskyra.


Greetings from Themiskyra!

Greetings from Themiskyra!
Rendition of an Amazon

A Quick Look At The Sisterhood

What could a renegade bunch of mountain women have to teach women of today?

The Values of the Ancestresses are independence, self-reliance, character, strength, skill, agility, sisterhood, devotion, and tenacity.

The Amazon women symbolize the need for women to reunite with Womanspirit, pride in Womanspirit, and embracing the female divine.

As a code for living, the Sisterhood holds to honoring the divine, honoring the sisters, honoring the self, and that all life is sacred.

Rites follow a lunar calendar of thirteen full moons and thirteen dark moons. Each moon is assigned to a particular pre-Hellenic goddess to serve as patroness of rituals. After the thirteenth dark moon, the cycle begins again. Individual groups within the Sisterhood can be called covens, circles, groves, or whatever suits the membership.

Every woman in the Sisterhood is a Melissa, or priestess. We've gotten the term Melissa from the ancient Greek for honey bee. The great temple complex of Artemis at Ephesus closely resembled a beehive, and as the Amazons were said to travel here for worship and reverence, "honey bee" seemed an appropriate homage.

Sisterhood clergy consists of women who have gone beyond their roles as Melissa, in whatever capacity. These sisters have earned the title Evangelis.

Themiskyrans trace their lineage back to the primordial mother goddess called Ananke. To be brief, Ananke is everything. She is the thought and inspiration in everything. She gave birth to the more tangible mother goddess of the Sisterhood, Hera.

This is not Hera as she is usually depicted, the scorned and jealous wife of Zeus. In the Sisterhood Hera exists just as She did on ancient Argos, a great mother to Her people. Hera also exists in triplicate—Pais, Teleia, and Chera—with each aspect corresponding to an age of womanhood.

According to Sisterhood lore, Hera gave birth to Artemis, the Virgin Huntress and goddess of the wild things. Otrere, the ancestral goddess of the Amazons, came from the virgin body of her mother Artemis, and it was Otrere who gave birth to Lysippe, the first Amazon queen. An Evangelis of the Sisterhood, then, is a descendant of the Amazon queens--at least in spirit.

We always have room for more sisters in the hive. Feel free to browse the posts offered here and get to know us better!

Become A Sister--Get Your Copy Of The Handbook!

Become A Sister--Get Your Copy Of The Handbook!
Joining the Sisterhood is as easy as purchasing the Handbook! Written and published by Emilie Conroy (Sappho Evangelis), the Handbook contains everything you need to know to be an active Sister--with lots of opportunities for your personal interpretations and experiences. Click on the cover to be taken to, appropriately enough, Amazon!

Hera Unveiled

Hera Unveiled

Thursday, January 27, 2011

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
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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
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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
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Friday, January 21, 2011

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.
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Thursday, January 20, 2011

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
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