by Dr Alena Trckova-Flamee, Ph.D.
The Gods of the Winds appeared between the natural deities already in the Mycenaean Greece. A Priestess of the Winds was named on the Tablet from Mycenaean Knossos written in Linear Script B. Such function in the Knossos palace is giving us proof that the cult of the winds was an important one and that its deities existed there.
by Dr Alena Trckova-Flamee, Ph.D.
Glaukos, often named in Greek mythology and history, means shiny, bright and bluish-green. In the Cretan myths Glaukos was the son of Minos and Pasiphae. According to the story one day, when the small boy was playing with a ball or chasing a mouse in the Knossos palace, suddenly he disappeared. So his parents, not able to find him, asked the Delphic Oracle and they received an advise: “A marvelous creature has been born amongst you: whoever finds the true likeness for this creature will also find the child.”
by Dr Alena Trckova-Flamee, Ph.D.
Without doubt birds, and especially doves, played an important role in Minoan belief. According to a current interpretation, doves could be understood as embodiment (epiphany) of a divinity, a representation of a goddess in a bird form nearby her sacred place – a shrine or on a tree. This idea can be supported with literature: according to Homer the goddess was able to take on the shape of a bird. From the Early Minoan period the libation vases and amulets or models in a bird form existed in Crete and they were used for a ritual reason. We can observe a shape of bird even among the signs on the famous Phaistos Disc. The clay models of birds and their images on the ritual vessels are also amongst the regular furnishings of the shrines like those at Knossos, Gournia or at Karphi. The type of these birds has been a subject of long discussions between scholars, but usually they are considered as representing doves.
Witch's Well 