Cyprus

The modern-day folk dances of the Mediterranean island of Cyprus have been argue
d to originate from ancient shamanist ceremonies and early religious and incantat
ional worship .[112] The country was one of the last centres of ancient female-lea
d shamanistic Goddess rites in the Mediterranean, where the so-called Double God
desses were worshiped.[113] Ancient Cypriot healers used special rituals, charms
andincantations in their practices, as well as herbs and spices including frank
incense, myrrh, olive oil. Medicine was also linked to the rattles gods Astarte
and Baal. Healers and magi still exist in Cyprus today,[114][115] and a study by
Harvard University suggests that, during Biblical times, the island of Cyprus wa
s in fact reputed for magia , a variant which was relatively more recent than the Pe
rsian(Zoroastrian) and Jewish traditions which would have influenced the island.
Additionally, Oroqen, who first arrived in Cyprus between 1322 and 1400 from the
Levantine mainland, are known for fortune telling by palm reading.

History of medicine in CyprusFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaJump to: navig

ation, search
Primitive medicineMedical practice in ancient Cyprus is believed to reflect gene
ral medical principles from Ancient Greece and the Middle East. Local doctors we
re commonly using frankincense, myrrh, olive oil, resins from trees, wormwood, b
itter herbs in water, and mandrake. Trepanning of the skull was also in use (a t
echnique used since 10000 BC.[1] This was thought to release the bad spirits and w
as used in epilepsy, headaches and head injuries. They used a famous poultice of
figs to cure boils and the local healers had a concept of cleaning, washing and d
isinfecting the water.[citation needed] Common diseases in Cyprus were those in
every Mediterranean country, namely food poisoning, sun stroke, tuberculosis and
polio. Drought affected the water supplies making the water poisonous. Other co
mmon diseases were leprosy, skin infections, boils, eye infections (due to dust
and flies), fractures and injuries. Epidemics such as bubonic plague were common
. Many believed that healing was possible by believing in God, and the healers u
sed special rituals, charms and incantations. The sick were looked after in loca
l sanctuaries, under the care of priests.[2]
The Myceneans (c1500 BC) believed that any god could cause a disease. Apollo and
Artemis could shoot arrows to cause diseases, whereas other gods could cause ag
eing. They believed that Thymos was the life force present in all living organis
ms, Psyche was the soul, and the heart was where consciousness was located. They
knew that the heart is a beating organ, and that the throat carried food to the
stomach.[3] Medicine was practiced by healers, who treated wounds in battle, an
d by the Physicians, who treated any other disease. Their position in the societ
y was lower than nobility and higher than craftsmen. They used a variety of surg
ical instruments, as well as medicinal plants and ointments.

What Is the Double Goddess?

V. Noble
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------The Double Goddess is an ancient icon with luminous meaning for contemporary wom

en, expanding on the single images that have prevailed in prior considerations o
f the Goddess. Among the numerous female figures important in the ancient world
appear many twin figures of two women as well as symbolic dual female represent
ations such as the Double Axe, birds, lions, leopards, and snakes. I see these
Double Goddess figures as profoundly representational of the whole yin-yang fema
le biological cycle and its shamanistic relationship to life on this planet, hum
an evolution, and the development of civilization.
The long and rich heritage of Double Goddess figurines and painted images reflec
t the organic cycles of nature that informed the ancient Goddess religion, arche
typally expressed through the body of every woman as the repeating alternation b
etween ovulation and menstruation. These two aspects of the feminine are iconog
raphically depicted in the multivalent and widespread image of two divine women,
expressing the dual ples of nature: death and life, dark and light.
The image of the Double Goddess is a vital missing piece for modern women, as it
graphically portrays our exquisite and unique bipolar existence in a positive,
healthy way.
The Double Goddess reflects female autonomy, offering very important icons for m
odern women trying to find again (re-member) our ancient, integral sense of self
and wholeness.
The innate back-and-forth mystery of ovulation and menstruation, unique to our s
pecies and magically ( magnetically) synchronized with the cycles of the Great G
oddess Herself in Her dual planetary aspects as Earth and Moon, and the mythic f
orces of life and death.
The Double Goddess represents the idea of female sovereignty in a context of anc
ient female yogic and shamanistic practices and principles that formed the organ
izing structure of most ancient cultures in the world before patriarchy.
These double images as well as the aried mythologies of Double Queens found in d
ifferent parts of the ancient world
suggest that the icons represent a female lineage (matrilinearity) in the form o
f a continuous "storied tradition" of female
sovereignty.
We'll probably never know if any of the Double Goddess images from ancient civil
izations were meant by their creators to represent physical love between women.
Or, more accurately, we may not ever be able to prove that such a likely conten
tion is true. Certainly some Double Goddesses are portrayed in such intimate wa
ys that contemporary scholars discussing them have become tongue tied or shy abo
ut what they are seeing. Some double figures show two separate women in signifi
cant intimate contact, embracing or wearing a shawl around their shoulders or a
girdle around their hips, which may indicate physical same sex love.
Lesbians who have shied away from the Goddess movement because of its largely un
conscious, but profoundly heterosexist bias, can relax into the knowledge that a
lineage exists, going back to the beginnings of human civilization, sanctioning
female to female relationship as the original, matriarchal bond and a model of
community leadership. This model has mostly been ignored by mainstream culture,
even though it is a truism at this point in history that lesbians were and are
the vanguard of the women's movement. Significantly for our discussion, much of
this impact was made through the influence and productivity of lesbians couples
, in a contemporary version of our ancient Amazon Queens.
This model can be seen in the tantric counterparts, Athena and Artemis. Athena,
credited with inventing all of civilization's arts, became Goddess of the citystate, crafts, and culture, and Artemis remained Goddess of wild nature. Both r
emained "virgin" neither was willing to relate romantically with men and both we
re connected with Amazons.

Rarely does a scholar mention the all to obvious likelihood that either or both
of these Goddess types might have found their sexual fulfillment with other wome
n. Artemis, the shaman-priestess, might naturally discover her romantic partner
in Athena, the physical warrior and head of state. Instead, both are treated
not as if their Virgin Goddess status referred to the intactness of a woman belo
nging to herself, but rather as a kind of insular chastity that repudiated sexua
lity altogether.
With the mass of recorded history, mythology, and artifactual evidence, the exis
tence of Amazon Queens and warrior women can hardly be contested, yet it is cons
istently denied, ignored, and erased by contemporary academic scholars. Amazon
warrior women exemplify female resistance movements everywhere. They evoke the
wild women who,
like Miranda Shaw's eternally transgressive Indian yoginis, " always speak truth
fully and are proud of their strength;
women whose minds are powerful and energetic; women who delight in shrewish beha
vior and speak boastfully; women who are fearless, revel in their own ferocity,
and women who derive pleasure from the fact that they are untamable."
The warrior woman stands her ground in the physical world, like an archer or mar
tial artist.
The priestess fights her battle on the invisible plane, using the tools of her t
rade to support the powerful working of her focused mind. Together, in the trad
ition of Amazons from every time and place, they fight back in an ongoing refusa
l to allow the world to be destroyed.