Dr. Carla Ionescu, PhD is an ancient historian, author, traveling lecturer, Canadian university professor, founder of The Artemis Research Centre and host of The Goddess Project podcast. With hunting seasons upon us, we begin this odyssey into the Greek goddess of the hunt, Artemis, with the famous myth of the forlorn houndsman, Actaeon. Carla officially introduces Artemis/Diana & explains how Grecian hunters gave her offerings before the hunt, including sweets, animal sacrifices and large communal festivities. We hear of the goddess' symbols in art history & mythology: deer, dogs, bows & arrows, bee eggs, leopard pelts, bears, etc. What was life like 3,000-years-ago at her temples for the priestesses, pilgrims, and worshippers? From there we turn to the personal, as Carla describes some of the mountain & cave temples she's visited in Greece and tells a haunting, mystical story about visionary experiences she's had alone in an ancient cave temple on the island of Crete. We end on vocation, reincarnation, and slave boys saved by honey cakes. 

As discussed on the episode, taste some history with a recipe for Ancient Greek Honey Cookies.

Follow Carla on Instagram at @ArtemisExpert. Order her book, She Who Hunts: Artemis: The Goddess that Changed the World. And for everything else, visit her website, The Artemis Research Center.

Reading of the Actaeon myth from Metamorphoses by Ovid [Penguin Classics translation]

Music provided by SEIKILO Ancient World Music

"Mother"
Written & Performed by Thanasis Kleopas
Courtesy of SEIKILO Ancient World Music

"Initiation to Dionysus Cult, or Pendulum"
Written & Performed by Theodore Koumartzis & Evagoras Bekiaris
Courtesy of SEIKILO Ancient World Music

"Upon the High Mountain"
Written & Performed by Thanasis Kleopas
Courtesy of SEIKILO Ancient World Music

"Little Sea"
Written & Performed by Christiana Papakosta
Courtesy of SEIKILO Ancient World Music

"Odyssey"
Written & Performed by Thanasis Kleopas
Courtesy of SEIKILO Ancient World Music

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