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Artemis: Virgin Goddess of the Sun & Moon--A Comprehensive Guide to the Greek Goddess of the Hunt, Her Myths, Powers & Mysteries
The goddess Artemis is best known today as a goddess of the hunt and of the new moon, yet to those who worshipped at her ancient temples and sanctuaries she was far more than just that. To them she was a powerful and complex goddess whose influence spread far and wide throughout the ancient world. She was worshipped and celebrated as a goddess of childbirth, women, song, dance and of wild animals. As the daughter of the Titan goddess Leto by the Olympian father-god Zeus, Artemis would prove herself from the moment of her own birth, by assisting her mother with the birth of her own twin brother, Apollo. Zeus, who fathered children with many other goddesses and mortals, had a special affection for Artemis from the start and gave her all the gifts she asked for and more, making her one of the most powerful of the Olympian goddesses. Artemis, Virgin Goddess of the Sun & Moon by Sorita D'Este, explores the myths, powers and worship of this beautiful goddess. It is a throrough study with details of her temples and sanctuaries, the festivals which were held in honour of her, the roles she fulfilled in the myths, animals which were sacred to her, her relationship with her virgin attendants and other deities, as well as the many titles which were bestowed upon her. This groundbreaking book provides the most comprehensive study of this enduring goddess to date.
156 pages, Paperback
First published September 22, 2005
104 people are currently reading
649 people want to read
About the author
Sorita d'Este
26 books263 followersSorita d’Este is an author, researcher and priestess who has devoted her life to the Mysteries. She is the author of around 20 books exploring subjects related to the practice and history of magic, mythology, religion, folklore and witchcraft. Her previous books include titles such as Hekate Liminal Rites, Practical Elemental Magick, Visions of the Cailleach, Wicca: Magickal Beginnings and The Isles of the Many Gods. Her latest release is Circle For Hekate: Vol I. She lives on a hill in Glastonbury (Somerset, UK) from where she works as a publisher and writer. She is frequently distracted from her work by her love of gardening, exciting visitors and the promise of interesting esoteric knowledge.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
December 18, 2011
Sorita d' Este has a knack for writing informative books about her subject and making it both enjoyable, easy to understand and read. I breezed through it yesterday morning and after having learned a lot about Artmenis I was still wanting more. Damn good book if you ask me. Then again all of Sorita's books are damn good.
Artemis is the virgin huntress who roams the night time hills in search of animals to hunt like stags, boars and fish. She is the the daughter of Zeus and the Titaness Leto. Her twin brother is Apollo, the sun god and the poet. Zeus, her father, is rather lusty and tends to father lots of children with goddesses, Titans and humans. Hera gets rather jealous. In a fit of jealously she sends out a mighty python to pursue Leto. She gets know rest until she arrives on the island of Delos which was set us by Zeuss. Artemis has an easy birth but Apollo's birth is rather difficult. So Artemis helps. Hence she is the Goddess of unmarried virgins, midwife of the gods and the moon goddess.
Artemis has no need for love she never wants to get married or have relation. Those who choose to follow her must remain virgins as well. That goes for the priests at her temples too. Artemis is always surrounded by nymphs who are shorter then her. The maiden that choose to follow her make an enticing target for mortals and men I guess they want a taste of the forbidden fruit. Two thing happen when the maiden are pursued. If the man is successful and achieves his goal either through rape or seduction, Artemis kills or banishes the deflowered nymph or maiden. If a follower is running from a man they can count on being turned into a spring, river or reed instrument. Artemis can be rather vindictive and vengeful as is Nike.
Upon being born one of the first assignments given to Apollo and Artemis is to slay the python who pursued Leto. They kill the python and Apollo gets the Python's old temple and prophecies are issued forth from their. Anyone who insults Artemis or any of her colleague can be sure to experience her wrath. King Agamenon boasted he could kill more animals than she could. His fleet of ship was held up from an invasion until he made amends. He also had to sacrifice his daughter because a pregnant animal was killed in his kingdom he had to sacrifice his daughter. She would later become a priestess and then steal one of her wooden statues. Perhaps most famous is her incident with Orion who was unlucky enough to view her bathing naked in stream. He was turned into a dear and had his own hounds set upon him. Other versions of the story have Apollo tricking her into shooting an arrow at him when he swims in the Ocean. Adonis the one who loved Aphrodite was killed for boasting against her as well. This would make Artemis an enemy Aphrodite.
Artemis like all the Greek deities had her share of friends and enemies. Most notable would be Aphrodite and on this I could go into more detail but I will let you read the book. She has a love hate relationship with Zeus's wife where in one time she saves Hera and in another two times she is defeated by Hera. She has alliances with Ares, Dionysus, Pan and Hekate. Once again if you want to find out more read the book. There are two other virgin goddesses , Hestia and Athena.
Her favorite animals are the bear, boar, dog and dear among other. You can hunt them but do not kill her dancing bear or one of the females will have to take it's place. The story at Sparta is heavy. Two spartan one time had a fight at one of her abandoned shrines and for a certain time after that live sacrifices were required then the sentence was lowered to whipping a boy prior to the onset of adulthood and smearing the altar with blood. This carried on until Roman times.
There is more to tell for sure but dear reader you must take that journey yourself. I just wish the book was a bit longer. Perhaps if there is ever a reprint she could throw in a s sample ritual . Sorita is awesome. There is a great bibliography in the back and everything is well footnoted.
Artemis is the virgin huntress who roams the night time hills in search of animals to hunt like stags, boars and fish. She is the the daughter of Zeus and the Titaness Leto. Her twin brother is Apollo, the sun god and the poet. Zeus, her father, is rather lusty and tends to father lots of children with goddesses, Titans and humans. Hera gets rather jealous. In a fit of jealously she sends out a mighty python to pursue Leto. She gets know rest until she arrives on the island of Delos which was set us by Zeuss. Artemis has an easy birth but Apollo's birth is rather difficult. So Artemis helps. Hence she is the Goddess of unmarried virgins, midwife of the gods and the moon goddess.
Artemis has no need for love she never wants to get married or have relation. Those who choose to follow her must remain virgins as well. That goes for the priests at her temples too. Artemis is always surrounded by nymphs who are shorter then her. The maiden that choose to follow her make an enticing target for mortals and men I guess they want a taste of the forbidden fruit. Two thing happen when the maiden are pursued. If the man is successful and achieves his goal either through rape or seduction, Artemis kills or banishes the deflowered nymph or maiden. If a follower is running from a man they can count on being turned into a spring, river or reed instrument. Artemis can be rather vindictive and vengeful as is Nike.
Upon being born one of the first assignments given to Apollo and Artemis is to slay the python who pursued Leto. They kill the python and Apollo gets the Python's old temple and prophecies are issued forth from their. Anyone who insults Artemis or any of her colleague can be sure to experience her wrath. King Agamenon boasted he could kill more animals than she could. His fleet of ship was held up from an invasion until he made amends. He also had to sacrifice his daughter because a pregnant animal was killed in his kingdom he had to sacrifice his daughter. She would later become a priestess and then steal one of her wooden statues. Perhaps most famous is her incident with Orion who was unlucky enough to view her bathing naked in stream. He was turned into a dear and had his own hounds set upon him. Other versions of the story have Apollo tricking her into shooting an arrow at him when he swims in the Ocean. Adonis the one who loved Aphrodite was killed for boasting against her as well. This would make Artemis an enemy Aphrodite.
Artemis like all the Greek deities had her share of friends and enemies. Most notable would be Aphrodite and on this I could go into more detail but I will let you read the book. She has a love hate relationship with Zeus's wife where in one time she saves Hera and in another two times she is defeated by Hera. She has alliances with Ares, Dionysus, Pan and Hekate. Once again if you want to find out more read the book. There are two other virgin goddesses , Hestia and Athena.
Her favorite animals are the bear, boar, dog and dear among other. You can hunt them but do not kill her dancing bear or one of the females will have to take it's place. The story at Sparta is heavy. Two spartan one time had a fight at one of her abandoned shrines and for a certain time after that live sacrifices were required then the sentence was lowered to whipping a boy prior to the onset of adulthood and smearing the altar with blood. This carried on until Roman times.
There is more to tell for sure but dear reader you must take that journey yourself. I just wish the book was a bit longer. Perhaps if there is ever a reprint she could throw in a s sample ritual . Sorita is awesome. There is a great bibliography in the back and everything is well footnoted.
March 13, 2017
Very helpful and informative resource for researching the goddess Artemis.
Like Sorita's books about Hekate, (in particular Hekate: Liminal Rites) this book is well-annotated, cited, and has a treasure trove of a bibliography.
The focus of this book is not on Artemis within modern pagan religion. You will not find any ready-to-perform rituals or recipes anywhere in its pages. What this book will reveal is how Artemis was honored and worshiped in the ancient world by the Greeks and neighboring lands. This is a good starting point for anyone interested in forming a relationship with the goddess as a devotee. Ancient practices can (and should) be reviewed and adapted for modern-day use.
The essays, coupled with the references in the bibliography, provide a solid beginning for practitioners to research, explore, and understand Artemis through doing the work themselves. I recommend this book wholeheartedly, since it has been extremely helpful to me.
Like Sorita's books about Hekate, (in particular Hekate: Liminal Rites) this book is well-annotated, cited, and has a treasure trove of a bibliography.
The focus of this book is not on Artemis within modern pagan religion. You will not find any ready-to-perform rituals or recipes anywhere in its pages. What this book will reveal is how Artemis was honored and worshiped in the ancient world by the Greeks and neighboring lands. This is a good starting point for anyone interested in forming a relationship with the goddess as a devotee. Ancient practices can (and should) be reviewed and adapted for modern-day use.
The essays, coupled with the references in the bibliography, provide a solid beginning for practitioners to research, explore, and understand Artemis through doing the work themselves. I recommend this book wholeheartedly, since it has been extremely helpful to me.
April 25, 2018
Artemis Alive
The book itself is an interesting read and I would like to read more of Sorita's work. Definitely has stars from me but I can also see why some people would find it hard to read (as expected lots of ancient Greek names).
The book itself is an interesting read and I would like to read more of Sorita's work. Definitely has stars from me but I can also see why some people would find it hard to read (as expected lots of ancient Greek names).
January 20, 2021
As an overview of Artemis, this is a good place to start since it goes over her epithets, associations, festivals, mythology, temples, symbols, and relationships. However, I think the title is a tad bit misleading since the discussion of her as a Goddess of the Sun and Moon is a very small section and truthfully doesn't really prove that she was worshiped as such. I was also slightly disappointed because in that section especially there was a lot of telling the reader about certain evidence but not showing it or citing it. Ultimately though this is a good source on Artemis especially if you have no prior knowledge of her.
August 3, 2014
This book covers all aspects of Artemis, the virgin huntress and goddess of the sun and moon of Greek mythology. It discusses her attributes, her numerous names and titles, and stories connected to her.
Artemis is my patron goddess and this book helped me to connect more fully with Her. A fabulous book.
Artemis is my patron goddess and this book helped me to connect more fully with Her. A fabulous book.
May 1, 2023
Very much enjoyed this book.
It took me about 6 months to finish as I read it in little portions as it is quite information heavy in regards to dates etc.
It will serve as an amazing reference book in the future.
It took me about 6 months to finish as I read it in little portions as it is quite information heavy in regards to dates etc.
It will serve as an amazing reference book in the future.
April 9, 2023
Analytical and scholarly without sacrificing the heart and meaning, this is a good read on a multifaceted deity without being clinical about it. I learned a significant amount on a short time, with ample references to look up as well. Highly recommend for anyone studying the Greek Pantheon to any depth.
September 17, 2012
I found this to be a very good survey of Artemis. It is good for providing a glimpse into ancient Greek and Roman culture and religion through the filter of Artemis and elements associated with this goddess.
January 5, 2012
i realy liked this book easy to read and informative
February 16, 2022
This book has some great information but it’s incredibly repetitive and a lot of what’s offered is very surface level or offers no detail.
July 30, 2021
This book was alright. It has a lot of good information but it also repeats itself quite a bit. It wasn’t well written but still useful in terms of research. I appreciate especially that the author filled in a gap in the research. Artemis was a very popular goddess but there isn’t much written about her. The bibliography was one of my favorite parts, it was definitely well researched.
February 12, 2023
A useful and extensive guide to Artemis.
I enjoyed delving into the myths of Artemis. This is very well researched and the information is conveyed in a well organised manner, allowing the reader to skip between passages easily. I enjoyed the connections made between earlier deities of earlier religions.
I enjoyed delving into the myths of Artemis. This is very well researched and the information is conveyed in a well organised manner, allowing the reader to skip between passages easily. I enjoyed the connections made between earlier deities of earlier religions.
June 10, 2025
This is a short read. The book goes over the complicated story of Artemis’s birth and her relationship with other gods. This book was good at reminding me that at one point in time (or even today I don’t know) people actually worshiped her as their god. To me this is a cool story, and I forget to some this is their religion.
January 13, 2022
An interesting read for those interested in Greek mythology and in particular Artemis, goodness of the hunt, among other things. This is an insightful read offering well known information in addition to more obscure things.
February 17, 2019
Informative but a little dry. Worth a read but not one to keep.
June 29, 2021
Thorough & Informative
Sorita is one of my favourite modern Pagan authors. I was so pleased to find this book she'd written about Artemis.
Sorita is one of my favourite modern Pagan authors. I was so pleased to find this book she'd written about Artemis.
November 28, 2023
It is wonderfully systematic. It is written in the style of reference rather than story.
January 26, 2025
Exceptional text and dive into Artemis! 😄... Great authorship and source, highly recommend! 🙏
June 22, 2013
If you are a lover of myths, following a Greek Pagan Path or "just" a lover of history then I think that you will enjoy this book as it unravels the tale of Artemis and how she is more than just a Maiden Moon Goddess.
Sorita D'este has pulled together a number of sources to write her book, all of which are referenced so if you would like to study further, it is simple enough to do so.
The only negative that I can think of is that there are some paragraphs that are repeated over and again. Now if you are just using this as a reference book then I don't see the problem but if you are going to sit and read this in one session (as I did) then it gets a tad monotonous.
On the whole, this book is very informative, written in an easy, flowing style, with references galore should you want them.
Sorita D'este has pulled together a number of sources to write her book, all of which are referenced so if you would like to study further, it is simple enough to do so.
The only negative that I can think of is that there are some paragraphs that are repeated over and again. Now if you are just using this as a reference book then I don't see the problem but if you are going to sit and read this in one session (as I did) then it gets a tad monotonous.
On the whole, this book is very informative, written in an easy, flowing style, with references galore should you want them.
January 27, 2025
Lots of interesting details about Artemis here, but overall the writing style felt a bit too dry and lexical to me. I wish some of her aspects, relationships and stories were more elaborated on and not just being listed with a few sentences. Based on the information here Artemis is much more of a fearful and vengeful Goddess than I thought her would be. I wonder if she had a kinder side because the author doesn't really introduce that here I think.
July 2, 2008
so far it's interesting. i've noticed a few places where it almost seems like the author cut & paste a couple paragraphs over again, but it's a nice way to get me started on my study of artemis.
September 6, 2016
It is a very informative book. It brings no superficial thought to minds. However, Sorita D'este doesn't seem to be aware of the fact that Artemis is somewhat similar to the Indo-Iranian Anahita.
January 8, 2024
Lots of information and history but also a quick read. Points to other texts if you want to dive further
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews