The Temple of Aphaia at Aegina
The Temple of Aphaia is located at a site of breath-taking natural beauty on the island of Aegina in Greece. It stands on a mountain top surrounded by pine forests with views of the sea and sky in every direction. From here you can experience a profound feeling of joy and exhilaration, listening to the secrets of the wind and basking in the glorious sunlight. It is not hard to understand why a temple was built at this site. In fact the current temple was built on the remains of an older temple that dates to 500 BC and another temple that possibly dates back to 7th century BC. Ancient artifacts suggesting a female-worshipping cult have been found at the site dating back to 14th century BC. This was obviously a very significant sacred site for the ancient Greeks and the powerful energy that so attracted them to this site is still present today.
The legend of Aphaia tells of a young girl from Crete called Britomartis, daughter of Zeus and Karme. Britomartis loved to hunt and thus became favoured by the Goddess Artemis. When King Minos fell in love with her she flung herself into the sea to escape him. She became entangled in some fishing nets and was taken aboard a fishing boat. However, the fishermen also became enamoured with Britomartis and once more she was forced to dive into the sea to flee her pursuers. She swam to Aegina where the fishermen saw her disappear into the pine forests. It was believed that Artemis had made Britomartis a Goddess and helped her to escape. Thus Britomartis was renamed Aphaia, taken from the Greek word "to vanish".
The legend of Aphaia tells of a young girl from Crete called Britomartis, daughter of Zeus and Karme. Britomartis loved to hunt and thus became favoured by the Goddess Artemis. When King Minos fell in love with her she flung herself into the sea to escape him. She became entangled in some fishing nets and was taken aboard a fishing boat. However, the fishermen also became enamoured with Britomartis and once more she was forced to dive into the sea to flee her pursuers. She swam to Aegina where the fishermen saw her disappear into the pine forests. It was believed that Artemis had made Britomartis a Goddess and helped her to escape. Thus Britomartis was renamed Aphaia, taken from the Greek word "to vanish".
Pine wands
All of the wands from the Temple of Aphaia were collected from pine trees. Pine is an evergreen tree and therefore is associated with strength, life and immortality. It is also one of the few trees that are androgynous so there is a definite link to fertility. The scent of pine is refreshing and sweet. It promotes clear-thought and is often used in exorcism. Because of it's positive effect on the senses, pine is one of the most popular woods for house-hold furniture. It is a good wood for spells involving youth and the slowing of age and decay. The influence of Aphaia complements this perfectly and may add an extra dimension for magick involving appearance, such as 'glamour' spells.
What is glamour magick? Glamour magick is essentially the art of concealing or drawing the attention away from something by promoting the beauty of something else. Many of us do this everyday without being aware of it. As a friend once told me "a glamour could be used to conceal a facial blemish by drawing attention to the eyes". Of course, this simple principle can be taken much further and used for several purposes and a wand, as always, increases the ease and power of the magick. Please click on the wands to the right for more information... | Pine root wand more information
Pine wand more information
Pine wand with sodalite tip more information
|
