Did Goddess Dione Precede Hera As Lilith Preceded Eve As Adam's First Wife?

In what’s become a most interesting diversion, another devouring female has entered our discussion: the Venus fly trap, a carnivorous plant native to subtropical wetlands on the East Coast of America, is properly called Dionaea muscipula. (See Tears in Our Teacups: The Devouring Women of Ronit Barange)

Greek Goddess Dione

GlamTribale Lilith CollectionDione was a Greek goddess primarily known as the mother of Aphrodite in Book V of Homer’s Iliad. In a mystery novel akin to Lilith being Adam’s first wife, not Eve, Dione appears to be the equivalent of the earth goddess Gaia (also a GlamTribale goddess), whom Homer placed in Olympus.

Wiki writes that the Mother of the Gods Dione, aka Gaia, was “shunted aside” when the 12 Gods of Olympus came to predominate the public mythology. Dione (not to be confused with the Roman goddess Diana, another GlamTribale goddess).

Sailing to Ithaca

Dione was worshipped at Dodona, not Hera, as Zeus’ wife, according to many inscriptions now at the museum at Ioannina. Dodana was an oracle devoted to a Mother Goddess, similar to Rhea or Gaia. Wiki writes that the shrine of Dodona was regarded as the oldest Hellenic oracle, possibly dating to the second millennium BCE according to Herodotus.

Second only to the oracle of Delphi in prestige, Dordona remained an important religious sanctuary until the rise of Christianity. This Anne discovery is so relevant at 3:45 am, because Dodana is located near the Ionian Sea, in northwest Greece and away from Athens.

My first pursuit of women’s history and Jungian psychology was in Crete, where I wrote about evidence of goddess worship in my senior thesis at NYU. Rocking in the waves in a small sailboat moored in Ithaca a few years later, I awoke about 3am in what was one of the truly memorable nights of my life, detailed in one of my favorite Anne essays Sailing to Ithaca.

Momentary Shipwreck

Simply stated, dear readers, this Venus fly trap story about the carnivorous, man-eating plant named for Aphrodite and her sister sirens will have to go on hold for 24 hours. I intended to write a tongue in cheek update on scientific research confirming that Venus myths have incorrectly influenced scientific studies on the lives of carnivorous plants. And I will do that once I spend time today reading all my goddess books for more information on Dione — who dominates my thinking presently.

Venus Could Be A Life Saver

I’ve been stopped cold in my tracks and know when to go back to bed. Searching AOC just now, the article I wanted didn’t come up first. Instead, I came across this article that I wrote in January 2010: Dames Take On Bioterrorism and Nuclear Waste. The star of this research is a venus fly trap, and the first paragraph reads:

Today’s announcement in Science Daily that the Smart Sensuality dame of a Venus Fly Trap has taught the boys club a thing or two about dealing with nuclear waste shines yet another light on biomimicry in action.  This time the ruthless seductress of a Venus Fly Trap is lending inspiration in trying to clean up the god-awful proliferation of nuclear waste in the world.

The reason I must get back to dream sleep asap is yesterday I put one of my very favorite TED Talks of all times on the front page of AOC: Janine Benyus on 3.8 Billion Years of Nature-Inspired Design.

I sense that all the goddesses are dialing in right now, and I must be open to receive them. Back to bed. ~ Anne

PS: If you haven’t seen it elsewhere on AOC, this is my first collage portfolio ‘Gaia 1’ and it will be on sale at Giant Steps Gallery in Philadelphia’s Rittenhouse Square this week, along with several new journals and my Themis and Freja Collections jewelry.