In honor of the International Women’s Day, this article is devoted to Muses, the Greek Goddesses, the benefactors of the arts and the sciences. Today they are known as the nine sisters, daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne (the Titan, personifying Remembrance). They are usually portrayed as young beautiful women, dancing or playing different musical instruments.
Each muse has her own domain and emblem (X / Y below). Their names are:
Calliope (Epic poetry / Writing Tablet, Wind). Fair-voiced. She is the first-born of the Muses, and the most powerful one, associated with the Tarot card of the Hermit. Her Anathemas are the Discordant Sounds.
Clio (Cleio) (History / Scrolls, Pens, Memory, Bards). The Proclaimer associated with the Tarot card of Justice. Her Anathemas are lies, blemishes and injustice.
Erato (Love Poetry / Cithara (a musical instrument like a lyre), Bow and Arrow). Romantic Love, associated with the Tarot card of the Lovers. Anathemas: Magic used to destroy love.
Euterpe (Song and Elegiac Poetry / Aulos (a musical instrument like a flute). Giver of pleasure associated with the Tarot cards of the Magician and the Fool. Her Anathema is Refusal to Enjoy the Gifts of Life.
Melpomene (Tragedy / Sad Mask of the twin harlequins representing tragedy in theater). The Singer, associated with the Tarot cards of the Chariot, the Moon and the Temperance. Anathema: Frivolity – she prefers those in deep contemplation.
Polyhymnia (Hymns and Pantomime / Veil, halos, all sacred books, reborn deities, sacred music). She is of Many Hymns, associated with the Tarot card of the High Priestess. Anathemas: Those who use her gifts without honoring their sacred source.
Terpsichore (Dance / Lyre). She is the Whirler, associated with the Tarot cards of Tower, Death or Change. Anathemas: Those who do not help themselves but want others to do for them.
Thalia (Comedy / The Laughing Mask of the twin harlequins representing comedy in the theater). The Flourisher, associated with the Tarot cards of the Chariot, the Sun and the World. Anathemas: Sadness – she cannot abide by those who refuse to enjoy.
Urania (Astronomy / Celestial Globe and Compass of Heavens) The Heavenly One, associated with the Tarot card of the Wheel of Fortune ( Sorry, Vanna White ;-)). Anathemas: Those who do not seek the answers that lie before them.
Some sources reveal that there were only three original muses Melete (Experience), Mnene (Memory, Remembering) and Aoide (Song) who in the beginning were worshiped by twin giants, the Aloadai. They were the ones attributed with the founding of the cult of Muses on Mt. Helikon. A poet Mimnerm proclaimed that there were two sets of muses (the elder ones -- daughters of Uranius (sky) and Gaia (earth) and the younger ones – the daughters of Zeus). But multiple scholars of antiquity, including Hesiod and Homer, agree that the correct number of Muses is nine.
The Muses lived on the mountain Helikon singing and praising all the generations of Gods and Goddesses: Gaia, Chronos, Ocean, Night, Helios, Zeus and his family, thus, connecting past and present. They were believed to know the past and to see the future. But at the same time, they love meddling in the affairs of the humans. They are the benefactors of musicians, writers, artists, bestowing their gifts upon them, inspiring the creative minds, advancing the civilization.
Have you ever thought that the words “muse” and “museum” are related? Indeed, they are! Many Enlightenment figures sought to re-establish a "Cult of the Muses" in the 18th century. A famous Masonic lodge in pre-Revolutionary Paris was called Les Neuf Soeurs ("the nine sisters", that is, the nine Muses) - Voltaire, Benjamin Franklin, Danton, and other influential figures of the time attended it. As a side-effect of this movement the word "museum" (originally, "cult place of the Muses") came to refer to a place for the public display of knowledge. (from Wikipedia)
So, I’d better go and call upon my Muse for inspiration to write the next chapter of the second book about Tessa and her Guardian Angel and Demon. If you haven’t read 2.18 yet, here is the link: 2.18
That’s it for today. Come back soon and spread the word.
Love,
Aglaya
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