𝔒𝔩𝔡 𝔊𝔬𝔡𝔰 𝔑𝔢𝔳𝔢𝔯 𝔇𝔦𝔢

Leto is the goddess of childbirth and motherhood and a goddess who is very gentle. She is even described as «εθελήμονα», always willing to help those who need her. She is very maternal and of assistance to whoever asks her for help.

Societies in Ancient Greece were deeply, Deeply misogynistic. Case in point, Cretan man Lamprus threatened his wife Galatea by saying that she will either birth for him a son or he will kill the child. Unfortunately, Galatea gave birth to a baby girl. As any mother would in order to protect the life of her child, Galatea concealed this from her husband and the world, naming the child Leucippus — meaning “white horse”, something that often symbolises beauty and also the triumph over negative forces in myth — and raising it as a male child. As luck would have it though, with each passing year Leucippus was said to be growing to be more and more beautiful and also resembling his birth sex more and more. Seeing this and fearing for both of their lives, his mother begged Leto to change his sex. As the goddess of motherhood and as a merciful, caring goddess, Leto changed the sex of Leucippus, saving his and his mother’s lives.

I presume this was supposed to be some kind of “gotcha” because some weirdo has been harrassing me in my asks, but I genuinely do not understand what exactly this is. As if I would not know my own mythology, my own culture and religion that generations of my family were raised in and that I have spent my hours reading about and practicing.

Hey! Welcome, and thank you for asking. I apologise for taking a while to get to your ask.

The reason why I took a while to respond is because I’ve realised that I would prefer to keep specific experiences with my Deities private. I am a very private person in general, and sharing specifics would feel like a betrayal of Their trust.

That being said, if I had to sum up my experiences with Artemis in a nutshell, it would be this quote from the book Stone Butch Blues;

Something I can share, for instance, is that when I can feel my trauma — I hate casually using this word because of what therapyspeak has done to discussions like this, but trust that I do not use it lightly — weighing me down too much, when I simply cannot find my way back to myself, Artemis brings me clarity of mind and helps me stick to who I am. I like to build a connection to her through sitting in nature, talking to her, praying, making offerings — simple things, nothing too complicated here. She guides me through proudly being a butch lesbian with a deeply homophobic, misogynistic family, facing all the shit that comes with this and all the other deeply rooted prejudices of my culture and the world as a whole.

As women, we are put through a lot of pain in our lifetimes. From opportunities we are not given, to being seen as inferior constantly, to experiencing things like sexual harassment or abuse, It’s easy to lose ourselves to what society expects us to be; Artemis protects our authenticity, our freedom, our sense of self. You mentioned not really being a nature girl, but I will still say that I cannot recommend spending time in nature enough; it doesn’t have to be something crazy, just let yourself be for a little while. This could literally just be visiting a park and having a sit-down on your own, even looking at natural patterns like leaves and branches brings clarity of mind — as well as closeness to Lady Artemis Herself — in a way nothing else will. Should you choose to appreciate from afar, however, Artemis still looks over you. Your experiences and communication with Her are your own just like your sense of self is your own; actually working with Artemis will help you understand and find your way through both.

So my final advice to you is to go for it - there is no need to be nervous. Don’t worry too much about big gestures and adventures; don’t worry about how others go about communicating with Her. Just reach out in the first way that sticks out as special to you, make offerings, seek out advice and stay true to your own freedom. Who knows, you may just find yourself learning to appreciate nature a little more along the way. Regardless, Lady Artemis will guide and protect you.