#artio

Artio - Artiō 

Ponyboy is Eternity by Alex Warren, Fake Plastic Trees by Radiohead, and St.Chroma by Tyler The Creator (honorable mention: Dedicated to Tar Feather)

Johnny is Headlock by Imogen Heap (as the singer not who the singer is singing to), Walk Quietly by Trevor Hall, and It Almost Worked by TV Girl

Here are my Outsiders playlists: The Outsiders, Ponyboy Curtis, Dallas Winston, Johnnyboy

𖥧. bear goddess of the wild 𖡼.⚘

origins— Gaulish, Germanic, and possibly Irish (artifacts have been found in other countries as well)

associated with— bears, wildlife, protection, the harvest, forests, mountains, abundance, transformation, and healing

epithets— She-Bear, Bear Mother/Mother Bear, The Great Bear

colors— green, brown

plants— pine, apple trees, fir

element— earth

possible offerings—

fruit (berries, foraged fruit, apples)

wildflowers

honey

acorns & pinecones

fish (especially salmon)

honey

bread & grains

donations to wildlife rehabilitation and conservation organizations

anything foraged or gathered

depictions of bears

I have worshipped Artio for a while now, and I find it a unique experience to honor a deity with so little information available. Artifacts have been found in various regions and cultures, and yet there are no myths or written legends recorded of her, likely a result of the oral traditions typical of the time. I find her to be a huge provider of comfort and I feel greatly protected by her. In my practice I mostly work with Irish mythology, cosmology, etc. and yet, I have found Artio’s pull to be increasingly magnetic. I have also felt pulled by the practices and beliefs of other countries under the Celtic umbrella—I’m still working that out! Unique artifacts of bears have been found in Ireland and there are those who theorize she was also worshipped by select Irish pagans long ago.

(three bears made of sandstone. Armagh, Ireland. pre-Christian period.)

My unsubstantiated hunch—backed up by nothing else than my personal interpretation—is that these three bears may represent a wild bear, Artio, and Artaois. Though, as I’ve said this is backed up by no other evidence, just my own UPG (unsubstantiated personal gnosis). Another UPG of mine, is that Artaois and Artio can represent the duality of the masculine and feminine in one. Not as two completely distinct deities, but more as two sides of the same coin. As a non-binary witch, that means a lot to me!