In the history of the ancient world, priesthood played a special role. Clergymen, priests, were the most important persons - they were afraid and respected, even monarchs listened to their opinion. Often the priests were very educated people and kept secret knowledge of medicine, astrology, magic, engaged in healing and fortune telling. Moreover, both men and women could receive an honorary position. Let's get acquainted with the meaning of the word “priestess”.
Definition
The human life of ancient civilizations was highly dependent on nature, so it is not surprising that many of its phenomena were deified. So 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 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 occupy such a high post, however, finds 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 was universally respected. It is known that in the era of the Ancient Kingdom women could already serve at churches, participate in rituals, as evidenced by the surviving monuments. In the New Kingdom, female priesthood reached its peak, and “high priestesses” began to stand out, whose duties included following the temple dancers and singers.
Most often, the priestesses met in the temples of the goddesses, however , exceptions are known to history:
- Meresanh III, the wife of Pharaoh Hafr , is considered the noble priestess of Thoth , the god of wisdom.
- Many noble Egyptians participated in rituals dedicated to the god Ptah.
Even in the Ancient Kingdom there was the title " Heneret ." So- called hermit priestesses, who were supposed to observe chastity.
Responsibilities
Among the cases that the ancient ministers of worship were engaged in include:
- Reading prayers.
- Ritual singing.
- Participation in burial rites.
- Playing the musical instruments.
The priestesses were held in high esteem and looked appropriately: in rich robes, with a large number of adornments, 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 the sanctuary, where they fell into a trance.
Babylon
In the ancient city, the cult of the goddess of love Militta , whose priestesses were women, flourished. Herodotus described the custom in detail and condemned it. Each Babylonian had a duty - once in her life to surrender to a stranger for money. Therefore, women came to the temple and stayed with it until the choice of any foreigner fell on them. Moreover, the fee 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 of Babylon, regardless of origin and status, was obliged to enter into a relationship with a stranger.
- Until she received payment, leaving the temple was forbidden.
- The priestess who had chosen her did not have the right to refuse.
- Attractive women did not wait long for their choice, but the ugly often had to live at the temple for years.
Later, the cult was widespread.
Priestesses of the Mother Goddess
The cult of the Mother Goddess is directly related to 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 had its own functions:
- Actually Demeter became the goddess of fertility.
- Aphrodite went over the functions of a deity of love and passion.
- Hecate is the deity of darkness.
In the temples of the Mother Goddess, their priestesses served. These were the most beautiful girls with deep knowledge in the art of love. There were two types of servants of the Mother Goddess:
- Priestesses of the day, they were inherent in red thin robes. They wove strands of red horsehair into their luxurious ringlets .
- The lamas, or priestesses of the night, were dressed in black robes and could leave the sanctuary exclusively at night. Black locks were woven into the hair.
An interesting fact: the priestesses of the Mother Goddess were not required to observe chastity, any man could enter into a relationship with them, but a demonstration of physical strength was required of him. These women wore a robe made of strong horsehair, and only one who could break it with his own hands could receive the beauty’s affection as a reward. The man who failed was waiting for the punishment:
- Day priestesses called their ministers, who castrated the unfortunate and sent into slavery.
- The lamas themselves pierced into his back the sharpest ritual dagger worn in their hair.
Such was the severe temper of the servants of the Mother Goddess.
Greece
The development of female priesthood took place in ancient Greece, most often the 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 that was used for the needs of the sanctuary. However, the inhabitants of ancient Hellas did not see anything shameful in this. The most notable families were ready to pay big money for their daughter to become a priestess of love at the temple of Aphrodite. What was included in their duties:
- Learning the art of love, not only in theory but also in practice. These women "trained" on male slaves. Upon completion of the training, the priestess knew at least 50 sexual positions.
- Cooking a love potion.
- Learning magic.
Sometimes priestesses learned the art of dance.
Pythia
A special type of priestesses is the Pythia, the diviner, who was widely used in ancient Greece. To listen to the prophecy, people traveled to Delphi from all over the country.
This class of women is described in detail by Plutarch. He pointed out that the ordinary village girl without special abilities, more often against her will, could choose the role of the Pythias. Therefore, the prophecies could not be accurate. More often than not, to get 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 maze. 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 mourned: annually the unfortunate Greeks were obliged to sacrifice 7 beautiful girls and young men as a sacrifice 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 would win and get out of the tangled corridors of the maze: the girl gave him a thread that indicated the return path, and a dagger.
After defeating the Minotaur, Theseus took Ariadne to his ship and headed home. But in a dream, Dionysos appeared to him and ordered him to abandon the girl, who liked 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 held in high esteem and respect, they could have property, but they were obliged to keep their virginity.
Their responsibilities 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, condemning to painful death, and her seducer was beaten to death with a whip. Another crime that the vestal could commit was to allow the extinction of the sacred fire. In Rome, this was considered a very bad sign and predicted misfortune. The girl who made such a mistake was brutally beaten by the high priest.
It is believed that the Roman virgin priestesses became the prototype of the Christian Virgin Mary.
Little-Known Vestal Facts
We examined what the word “priestess” means. Now we will get acquainted with several interesting facts that indicate that the life of these worshipers was rather difficult:
- The vestals were obliged to preserve the 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 when you consider that the average duration of human life rarely exceeded 25 years, the chances of a normal life for these beauties were minimal.
- Vestal training lasted 10 years, only after that the girl was allowed to the sacred fire. Further , over the next decade, they supported this fire, and for the past 10 years they have been training their “shift women”.
- Marrying a former vestal in ancient Rome was very honorable , despite the fact that these women were already in old age.
- The cruel punishment for breaking the law concerned all the inhabitants of Rome: for example, the 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, the virgin priestesses also had privileges: touching the slave, the vestal made him a free man. To meet the servant of Vesta on his way dreamed of any prisoner going to execution - in this case he was immediately released and forgiven.
In Slavic countries
The institute of priesthood existed in the Slavic countries, for example, the well-known servants of the goddess Lada. They possessed secret knowledge of healing, predicted the future, interpreted the position of stars , 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.
Popess
The image of the priestess is used in divination on tarot cards. So, the meaning of the “high priestess”, one of the cards, is as follows: in the near future, serious changes will occur in the fortune-teller’s life, he will know the secret. The card symbolizes the wisdom lurking in every person. The appearance of this priestess suggests that in the near future a person will find the answer to the tormenting question.
The card in an inverted position - a symbol of the fact that a person does not use his intuition, is deaf to what his own heart tells him about. 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 practically disappeared. Servants of the gods are present only in individual sects and do not possess the honor of ancient eras.