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  • From: starchild AT mutualaid.org (Agent Starchild)
  • To: ch-scene AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: CHTHONIC (PRONOUNCED KAH-TAH-NICK)
  • Date: 14 Jul 2004 08:04:21 -0700

Chthonic from what I understand is pronounced kah-tah-nick. I
discovered the word when writing a term paper about the Greek god
Dionysus. Dionysus is the heir of the chthonic lineage starting with
the Titans whose immediate ancestor is his mother Hecate. The
chthonic gods are contantly in clash with the Olympian gods which is
the source of the ambiguity with which Greeks view Dionysus, the
unpredictable and dangerous god of wine and revelry.

Even more interesting is the evolution of the myth of Hecate. In
pre-Olympian Greek texts, she is understood as the goddess of
fertility and the "mother-sister of the youth." She becomes demonized
to make way for the patriarchal system of order in Olympian mythology.
People went to the crossroads to wait for Hecate. She would manifest
herself carrying three torches or with three large wolves. It's
sometimes theorized that Cerberus, the guardian of Hades, is an
evolution of Hecate and her wolves.

So all this talk about "going down to the crossroads" to sell your
soul to the devil like Robert Johnson probably has its root in Hecate,
who wasn't a devil, just a besmirched goddess who had to be called a
witch to justify patriarchal dominance. The "witching" of the Goddess
has occured in a number of cultures that have gone through a
transformation from matriarchy to patriarchy. Morgan la Fey, for whom
I am named, is a benevolent mother goddess in Celtic myth and an evil
sorceress in the Christian Arthurian legends.

My record label and promotion company is devoted to the subversion of
the patriarchal order through music which comes from the deep place
within the Earth that is at the same time ancient and original.

Thanks for your interest,
Morgan Guyton
Chthonic Art Productions




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