Overview: Often pictured running in the woods, Artemis is a goddess unto Herself. She is wild, and She is the Wild. Through Her, we can learn about tapping back into our wildness, learning to care for our hearts, and returning to the places that we have been told to fear.

Artemis’ aim is always true, some say, and building a relationship with Her can help set the best direction for our own arrows.

Verdict: Through the use of research, stories, personal experiences and a variety of hands-on tools, Irisanya Moon’s book brings forth a profound prose on one of the most powerful and complex deities there has ever been, Artemis.

But, first of all, who is Artemis? As many of you probably know, Artemis is a goddess of the pantheon of Ancient Greeks. More than just this, She is a complex and multi-faceted goddess, of course.

It is unknown when Her actual worship originated, though some sources suggest that it could have been as ancient as 1300 BCE with the Mycenaeans, who along with their predecessors the Minoans, actually worshipped archaic forms of the Greek gods we know today.

In fact, Artemis in particular is often associated with the Minoan Potnia Theron or Mistress of Animals – an association that later became an epithet of Artemis in Greek’s Classical Age.

Just before this Classical Age, in the first myths that were recorded – many of them from the oral traditions of Homer and Hesiod — we find Her emerging as the twin sister of the god Apollon and daughter to Leto and Zeus.

It was told that Artemis helped Leto with Apollon’s birth just after She herself was born and it was this action that associated Her with childbirth, specifically as a protector of infants. This is sometimes viewed with a bit of irony as She is a virgin goddess and never has or will give birth herself.

She is generally depicted as a maiden, mostly due to Her virginity and close association with young girls. It is told that Artemis asked Zeus when She was young if She could remain a virgin forever and He granted Her request.

This added to Her association with young maidens and Her role as protector of young girls from infancy to marriage. Upon marrying, girls would cut off locks of their hair as an offering to Artemis, along with their “virginal lingerie.”

Artemis is often also known as a goddess of hunting, often bearing a bow and arrows in artistic representations. She was given a bow and arrows from Her father Zeus as one of Her wishes, according to the poet Callimachus.

She is very skilled with hunting with a bow and it is one Her favorite pastimes. Titles such as Artemis Iokheaira, meaning “delighting in arrows”, and Theroskopos Iokheaira, meaning “the huntress who delights in arrows”, are very common descriptors of Her.

She was also very confident in Her abilities and considered herself the best at hunting. Several mortals lost their lives to Her due to foolishly bragging they were more skilled.

I could go on, but I digress, as what we have here in Pagan Portals: Artemis by author Irisanya Moon is moreover an image of Artemis as running free in the woods, a Goddess in and unto herself. She is Wild, and she IS the Wild, and through her we can learn about tapping into our wilderness, learning to care for our hearts, and returning to the places that we have been told to fear.

As the author herself freely reveals, is that as we move forward within the book, at our own pace, she trusts us to take what we can, will and want from said book. To take what makes sense and what calls to our wild hearts. For no matter where you are in your spiritual journey, and where you want to go, she encourages us to trust in what feels good.

About the Author - Irisanya Moon is a Moon Books author who has published six books on deities, Reclaiming, and activism. She is also a priestess, teacher, and initiate in the Reclaiming tradition. She has taught classes and camps worldwide, including in the US, Canada, the UK, and Australia. She lives in Santa Rosa, CA.

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