The priesthood played a special role in the history of the ancient world. Cults, priests, were the most important people - they were feared and respected, even monarchs listened to their opinion. Often the priests were very educated people and kept secret knowledge of medicine, astrology, magic, were engaged in healing and divination. Moreover, both men and women could receive an honorary position. Let's get acquainted with the meaning of the word "priestess".
Definition
The life of a man of ancient civilizations was strongly dependent on nature, so there is nothing surprising in the fact that many of its phenomena were deified. This is how paganism appeared. To serve the invisible, but omnipotent gods, people were needed - the owners of secret knowledge, and therefore a caste of priests and priestesses appeared. These were educated and powerful people who interpreted the will of the deities, organized sacrifices and performed rituals.
Ancient Egypt
The first priestesses appeared in ancient Egypt in the early stages of its development. It is interesting that earlier, following Herodotus, researchers believed that only a man could hold such a high position, but the findings of the last century refuted this theory. The priestess is a servant in the temples of the female deities of Ancient Egypt, she possessed power and enjoyed universal respect. It is known that in the era of the Old Kingdom, women could already serve at temples, participate in rituals, as evidenced by the monuments that have survived to this day. In the New Kingdom, the female priesthood reached its peak, "high priestesses" began to stand out, whose duties included watching the temple dancers and singers.
Most often, priestesses met in the temples of the goddesses, but stories are known and exceptions:
- Meresankh III, the wife of Pharaoh Khafre, is considered a noble priestess of Thoth, the god of wisdom.
- Many noble Egyptian women participated in rituals dedicated to the god Ptah.
Even in the Old Kingdom, there was the title "kheneretet". This was the name of the reclusive priestesses who were supposed to observe chastity.
Responsibilities
Things done by ancient cultists include:
- Reciting prayers.
- Ritual singing.
- Participation in burial rites.
- Playing musical instruments.
Priestesses were respected and looked appropriate: in rich robes, with a lot of jewelry, in a magnificent wig - an attribute of noble people. Separately, the so-called "concubines of the gods" stood out, beautiful girls who, during special ceremonies, locked themselves in a sanctuary, where they fell into a trance.
Babylon
A cult flourished in the ancient citygoddess of love Militta, whose priestesses were women. Herodotus described the custom in detail and condemned it. Every Babylonian woman had a duty - once in her life to give herself to a stranger for money. Therefore, women came to the temple and stayed with him until the choice of any foreigner fell on them. At the same time, the payment for such services could be any, even the most insignificant. The "father of history" pointed out several features of these "priestesses of love":
- Every woman in Babylon, regardless of origin or status, was required to have sex with a stranger.
- It was forbidden to leave the temple until she received payment.
- The priestess had no right to refuse the one who chose her.
- Attractive women didn't wait long to be chosen, but ugly women often had to live at the temple for years.
Later the cult became widespread.
Priestesses of the Mother Goddess
The cult of the Mother Goddess is directly connected with one of the most ancient goddesses of the ancient pantheon - Demeter. Initially, this deity had three faces, but was later rethought. So three goddesses appeared at once, each of which was assigned its own functions:
- Actually, Demeter became the goddess of fertility.
- Aphrodite was transferred to the functions of the deity of love and passion.
- Hecate is the deity of darkness.
The temples of the Mother Goddess had their own priestesses. They were the most beautiful girls with deep knowledge of the art of love. There were two types of servants of the Mother Goddess:
- Priestessesday, they were characterized by thin red robes. They wove strands of red horsehair into their luxurious ringlets.
- Lamias, or priestesses of the night, dressed in black clothes and could leave the sanctuary only at night. Black strands were woven into her hair.
An interesting fact: the priestesses of the Mother Goddess were not required to be chaste, any man could enter into a relationship with them, but he was required to demonstrate physical strength. These women wore a robe made of the strongest horse hair, and only those who could tear it apart with their own hands could receive the caresses of the beauty as a reward. The man who failed was punished:
- Day priestesses called their attendants, who castrated the unfortunate and sent him into slavery.
- The Lamia themselves stabbed into his back the sharpest ritual dagger they wore in their hair.
Such was the stern disposition of the servants of the Mother Goddess.
Greece
The development of the female priesthood also took place in ancient Greece, most often girls became priestesses of the goddess Aphrodite. This phenomenon is called "cult prostitution". Women living at the temples of the deity of love were given to men for money, which was used for the needs of the sanctuary. However, the inhabitants of ancient Hellas did not see anything shameful in this. The most noble families were ready to pay big money for their daughter to become a priestess of love at the temple of Aphrodite. What was their responsibility:
- Teaching the art of love, not only in theory, but also onpractice. These women "trained" on male slaves. Upon completion of the training, the priestess knew at least 50 sexual positions.
- Preparing a love potion.
- Studying magic.
Sometimes priestesses learned the art of dance.
Pythia
A special kind of priestess is Pythia, a soothsayer, which was widely used in ancient Greece. To hear the prophecy, people traveled to Delphi from all over the country.
This class of women was described in detail by Plutarch. He pointed out that an ordinary village girl without special abilities could have been chosen for the role of Pythia, more often against her will. Therefore, the prophecies could not be accurate. Most often, in order to enter into ecstasy and begin to predict fate, the Pythia used drugs.
Ariadne
The mythical priestess was Ariadne, it was she who helped the hero Theseus kill the Minotaur monster and leave the labyrinth. Theseus is the son of the god of the seas Poseidon and a mortal woman. Once in Athens, the young man saw that the city was plunged into mourning: every year the unfortunate Greeks were obliged to sacrifice 7 most beautiful girls and boys to the monstrous Minotaur. Theseus decided to take the place of one of the victims and defeat the monster.
If it were not for the priestess Ariadne, it is unlikely that the young man won the victory and got out of the intricate corridors of the labyrinth: the girl gave him a thread that indicated the way back, and a dagger.
After defeating the Minotaur, Theseus took Ariadne to his ship and headed home. But in a dream, Dionysus appeared to him and ordered him to give up the girl who fell onsoul to God himself. The young man was very upset, but could not resist the divine will.
Vestals
The priestess is also a servant of the cult of the goddess Vesta, the ancient Roman patroness of the hearth. Vestals were honored and respected, they could have property, but they were required to keep their virginity.
Their duties included maintaining the sacred fire in the sanctuaries, making sacrifices and serving Vesta. The loss of innocence by such a priestess was severely punished - the offender was walled up alive with a meager supply of food, dooming her to a painful death, and her seducer was beaten to death with a whip. Another crime that a Vestal Virgin could have committed was to allow the sacred fire to go out. In Rome, this was considered a very bad sign and predicted misfortune. The girl who made such a mistake was severely beaten by the high priest.
It is believed that the Roman virgin priestesses became the prototype of the Christian Virgin Mary.
Little Known Facts About Vestals
We looked at what the word "priestess" means. Now let's get acquainted with some interesting facts, indicating that the life of these clergymen was rather difficult:
- The vestals were obliged to maintain their innocence for the entire period of their service to the goddess, that is, for 30 years. After that, they could leave the temple and start a family. But given that the average human life expectancy rarely exceeded 25 years, these beauties had a chance for a normal life.minimal.
- The training of the Vestal Virgin lasted 10 years, only after that the girl was allowed to the sacred fire. Over the next decade, they maintained this fire, and for the last 10 years they have been training their "replacements".
- It was very honorable to marry a former Vestal Virgin in ancient Rome, despite the fact that these women were already in old age.
- Severe punishment for breaking the law applied to all the inhabitants of Rome: for example, an emperor who broke the law and married a Vestal was stabbed to death, despite his origin.
- It is known that the servants of Vesta were not spoiled, often they were malnourished and were forced to sleep on straw.
However, virgin priestesses also had privileges: by touching a slave, the Vestal Virgin made him a free man. Any prisoner going to execution dreamed of meeting the servant of Vesta on his way - in this case he was immediately released and forgiven.
In Slavic countries
The institute of priesthood also existed in the Slavic countries, for example, the servants of the goddess Lada are well known. They possessed secret knowledge of healing, predicted the future, interpreted the position of the stars, and performed rituals. To cleanse themselves of sedition, these women always met the first rays of the rising sun. Possessing considerable physical strength, if necessary, the priestesses could protect themselves and their sanctuary.
Popes
The image of a priestess is used in divination by Tarot cards. So, the meaning of the "high priestess", one of the cards, is as follows: inin the near future, serious changes will occur in the fortuneteller's life, the secret will become known to him. The card symbolizes the wisdom hidden in every person. The appearance of this priestess suggests that in the near future a person will find the answer to his tormenting question.
The card in an inverted position is a symbol of the fact that a person does not use his intuition, turns out to be deaf to what his own heart tells him. In this situation, it is necessary to concentrate on the inner world.
The word "priestess" is used in the modern world, despite the fact that the phenomenon itself has almost disappeared. Servants of the gods are present only in certain sects and do not have the honor of ancient eras.
