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    Hera

    I've been trying to study about Hera, Her realms and Her sacred things, and I'm getting a lot of weird stuff into the mix.

    Some of it I knew already, such as Her being a Goddess of marriage and women, but some also add protection of pregnant women, royalty, and other things I'm forgetting. The well-known symbols of Her are the peacock, crown, and cuckoo, but I'm also finding cows, crows, lilies, lotuses, white roses, baths, pomegranates, and all kinds of weird stuff.

    Can someone please clarify this for me? I understand that stories have changes over time, but I'm looking for what things are actually associated with Her.
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    #2
    Re: Hera

    So, if you have access to a university library, this is the very best book you can get on the subject of Hera. There's no e-book, and since it was a university press printing, used copies are rare and expensive. I once had the pleasure of flipping through a friend-of-a-friend's private copy at handfasting, while I hid out in their library to feed the baby (Chickadee) and get her to sleep. There is a limited preview on Google.

    In general though, and specifically (at least with the cow association) with some of these associations, one place to look to source them is epithets. Another place is, of course, myths associated with the deity, also archaeological studies of worship sites, artwork from the ancient world, as well as the literary and folklore traditions and historical records of those locations. Specifically, with the cow association, you can find an old explanation here (I don't attest to its veracity, just as an example of how these associations are often made). Sometimes these assertions are (probably) right (later work disagrees on some of the details, but the connection between Hera and cows can be found elsewhere) and sometimes they are not (but they persist anyhow because someone read something somewhere), and either way, they often change organically in the great cultural game of telephone.

    The big question is this: do you need this to be historically accurate? Because, if you do, its going to take lots of research to dig into everything. If you don't, then whatever connects with you and with what you know and feel works just as well.
    Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of HistoryPagan Devotionals, because the wind and the rain is our Bible
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      #3
      Re: Hera

      I expect you know this site, but I'll mention it just in case
      Hera was the ancient Greek Queen of the Gods, and the goddess of marriage, women, the sky and the starry heavens. She was usually depicted as a beautiful woman wearing a crown and holding a royal, lotus-tipped sceptre. Her Roman name was Juno.


      This book is very old but still interesting

      Right-click on the black panel and choose "full screen", then click on the magnifying glass in the black area.

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        #4
        Re: Hera

        Originally posted by thalassa
        The big question is this: do you need this to be historically accurate? Because, if you do, its going to take lots of research to dig into everything. If you don't, then whatever connects with you and with what you know and feel works just as well.
        I'm not so much worried about going down the rabbit hole of being perfectly historically accurate as I am attributing things to Her that don't belonged. People tend to ascribe things to deities because that's what they want, and I see some odd interpretations. I'm still not over the story someone told me about asking Kali to help bring her boyfriend back to her (as in, relationship-wise. Not just his head). So, I ask to be clear.

        Originally posted by DavidMcCann View Post
        I expect you know this site, but I'll mention it just in case
        Hera was the ancient Greek Queen of the Gods, and the goddess of marriage, women, the sky and the starry heavens. She was usually depicted as a beautiful woman wearing a crown and holding a royal, lotus-tipped sceptre. Her Roman name was Juno.


        This book is very old but still interesting

        Right-click on the black panel and choose "full screen", then click on the magnifying glass in the black area.
        Thank you very much.
        Last edited by habbalah; 02 Dec 2015, 11:55. Reason: Stupid coding
        Army of Darkness: Guardians of the Chat

        Honorary Nord.

        Habbalah Vlogs

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          #5
          Re: Hera

          Originally posted by habbalah View Post
          I've been trying to study about Hera, Her realms and Her sacred things, and I'm getting a lot of weird stuff into the mix.

          Some of it I knew already, such as Her being a Goddess of marriage and women, but some also add protection of pregnant women, royalty, and other things I'm forgetting. The well-known symbols of Her are the peacock, crown, and cuckoo, but I'm also finding cows, crows, lilies, lotuses, white roses, baths, pomegranates, and all kinds of weird stuff.

          Can someone please clarify this for me? I understand that stories have changes over time, but I'm looking for what things are actually associated with Her.
          I rely on Hellenic and Roman primary sources, and scholarly secondary sources. Neoplatonists like Iamblichus and Proclus made much use of those things connected to each of the Deathless Ones, as they help bring us closer to what is divine.

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