A Temple Wild Podcast
Hypnos and the Poppy: Ancient Greek Dream Incubation
In this episode, we’ll be meeting the Greek gods of Night, Sleep, and Dreams — Nyx, Hypnos, the Oneiroi, Mnemosyne, and more. We’ll explore dream rituals in ancient Greece, in particular dream incubation as a means for healing and divination as occurred at the temple of Asclepius in Epidaurus and at the Oracle of Trophonios. We’ll learn about how the Greeks understood their dreams and how they are connected to the Underworld. And we’ll meet one of my favorite flowers of the Greek landscape, the often controversial — and even illegal in some countries — Poppy.
Persephone and the Descent to Hades
Persephone is a youthful spring goddess wandering in fields of Narcissus and Asphodel when Hades, the god of the Underworld, comes to take her as his bride. And while her disappearance inspires her mother, the goddess of grains, to instigate a world-wide famine, it is Persephone who is changed forever by consuming the Pomegranate seed, later becoming an equal to Hades and ruling beside him as a Queen in her own right.
The Melissae, Oracular Bee Nymphs
In this episode, we turn our attention to the Melissae, the oracular Bee Nymphs of ancient Greece. The Melissae are considered divine messengers, conduits for prophecy, speakers of divine truths, and a source for inspired thought and song. Today, I share with you some of the ancient Greek folklore associated with the Bee, as well as some of my favorite ceremonies and techniques for connecting with Bee.