Our Goddess
Original Greek Version
H Θεά μας έχει ένα φίδι σε κάθε χέρα.
Την προσκυνούμε με αφοσίωση κάθε μέρα.
Μια μικρή κουκουβάγια καθεί στο στεφάνι της.
Την ζωή και τον θάνατο, και τα δυό τα διοικεί.
Transliteration
I Theá mas éhei éna fídi se káthe héra.
Tin proskynoúme me afosíosi káthe méra.
Mia mikrí koukouvágia katheí sto stefáni tis.
Tin zoí kai ton thánato, kai ta dyó ta dioikeí.
English Version
Our Goddess holds a snake in every hand.
We worship her with devotion so grand.
A little owl* sits atop her crown.
Life, death, in between… She commands it all.
Literal Translation (sans proper syllable count & rhyme)
Our Goddess has one snake in each of her hands.
We worship her with devotion each day.
One little owl sits on her crown.
Life and death, she commands the two.
Note: In Sir Arthur Evans’ controversial rendition of the Minoan Snake Goddess, he placed a cat atop her crown that he found in one of his excavations. In a lot of Cretan renditions, there’s a little owl instead. Some scholars have posited that this Goddess is the precursor to the Greek goddess of wisdom & warfare (Athena); therefore, the owl addition makes more sense (they are a primary symbol of hers after all).
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Minoan Magissa 
Καλό δουλειά. Είναι δικό σού;
Συγγνώμη για ελληνική μου, είμαι ένας φοιτητής.
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Δεν πειράζει! Σε καταλαβαίνω μια χαρά. Ευχαριστώ. Ναι, εγώ γράφω αυτές της μαντινάδες.
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Καλό. Είμαι χαρούμενος. Η δουλειά σου είναι καλή. Θέλω να θα σπουδάσω πολυθεϊσμός & γνωστικισμός ελληνικός. Είναι θα βοηθήσεις μου καταλαβαίνω αγγλοσαξονικό <> δικό μου.
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I want to say it was in reading Markale’s “Great Goddess” that the extreme antiquity of the owl was made plain for me. Also, unrelated, I wish we understood more colloquially about the Minoan Axe. It seems like a it may be of a kind to the prehistoric precursor to both the Axe of Perun & the Thor’s Hammer which both had axe like qualities early on.
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The cat addition really didn’t make sense! Owls seem more in line, especially because the Cretan owl was endemic and the little owl (Athene noctua) was all around Greece. And I have written an article about the labrys’ symbolism here: https://minoanmagissa.com/2022/07/21/minoan-symbols-the-labrys/
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Oh indeed, splendid. I may have seen it before but I’ll hop on over and attempt to leave feedback. It will have to be in English. I can only do basic conversation in Greek, as well as pray specific elegies that are flawed which I composed. Mostly to Hermes, Adephagia & St George though I have also rendered unto Ayia Sophia & Zeus. I’m still learning, and will for some time.
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