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Monday, December 28, 2015

Minoan Religion

Yet another polytheistic religion without a name, this was the religion of the Minoan inhabitants of Crete. It was very much in touch with nature, as bull masks and horns have been found during various excavations. There is even evidence that indicates the ancient Minoans may have had contests which resembled our modern-day rodeos, in which they tried to chase down a bull and ride it. Like many ancient religions, there was no centralized text and much of the information we have is derived from cave paintings and various archaeological discoveries on the island.
bronze knoss bljpThe main Minoan deity was actually a female nature goddess, making this one of the few matriarchal religions (there were some male deities but they were usually smaller than the female deities, and may have not been gods at all). In addition to the bull, snakes and double-headed axes played integral parts in rites. During recent excavations, evidence has been found which seems to imply they participated in human sacrifice—perhaps giving rise to the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur.

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