As many of you will know much of modern day Christian celebration is rooted in far more ancient Heathen practice. Whilst this is well understood even by most Christians, few know that much of the bible also has its roots in European paganism, albeit often twisted and turned on its head. The new testament was written in Koine Greek and came out of a society heavily influenced by Greek society. It is little wonder then that we should find within its pages familiar symbols and imagery. This in my opinion was not an “accident” and is likely why Christianity spread through the European world. By hiding within the book similar motifs, it would be much more approachable to the “target” audience, the European.
I came upon such a possible connection whilst doing some research into the Ancient Greek Moirai. The Moirai for those that don’t know are akin to the Roman “Fates” and are similar to the Norse Norns and even related to the Celtic Matres. Like their counterparts they are three in number, “Clotho” (spinner), Lachesis (allotter) and Atropos (unturning). Again like other such figures these divine feminine forces are often said to hold sway of the nature of fate, of both mortal and deity. Given their power they were both revered and feared by men and Gods alike. Whilst few would argue that the Moirai, Norns and Roman fates shared a common origin, many may think it a little bit of a stretch to add to that list the “Three Marys” of the bible!
The “Three Marys” is some what of a reoccurring phenomenon both in the New testament and in Christian celebration and has been noted by scholars for some time. Before we delve into where they appear and how it connects though, first we should focus on what drew me to the connection.
As is quite common for myself it was first via the words, in this case the names that first caught my attention. As I am sure many reading would agree Moirai and Mary are not too dissimilar as words. So as is usual for me, I decided to take a closer look at what the words were showing me.
The modern name Mary comes to us via the Greek “Μαρία”. Whilst many etymologists put the words origin in Semitic languages for words meaning “bitter”, I believe there is an interesting crossover in the European world that shouldn’t be overlooked. The Greek name Μαρία is very similar to the Ancient Greek singular form of the Moirai, that is “Μοῖρα”. Despite this I can see why etymologists would try to link it to a Semitic origin given the bible was constructed by Semites, but we have to ask ourselves why a divine mother figure would have her name rooted in a word for “bitter”? I am sure many Christians will just brush this off as simply being her name, as many view biblical texts as historical fact. If we look at the bible as a mythological book and not one of historical truth, then this just doesn’t fit well. The Moirai as literal mothers of fate, would seem a much more apt. Even if the true origin of the name Mary is of Semitic origin, I am sure given the cultural crossovers, this near identical nature would not have been lost on the people of the time.
The two words could of easily become entwined in a heavily Greek influenced Semitic society, such as the biblical middle east. Indeed a similar confusion even exists today with the English name Moira. Some etymologists place its origin as you would expect in the Greek Moirai, whilst others believe it to be an Anglicized version of the Irish Maria, which itself is a version of the name Mary. The entwining of words though does have some interesting implications especially regarding the Greek myth of Adonis, but we will touch a little more on that in part two.
Whilst the name connection could be easily dismissed as a quirk, given it is little more than similar words, the biblical references to the “three Marys” help us flesh this idea out a little. The Three Marys phenomenon has been known to theologians for a long time and they first appear at the crucifixion of Jesus. Despite them being different Marys (there are a lot in the bible) depending on which of the Canonical Gospels (Original four Gospels, Mathew, Mark, Luke & John) you read, they are always three in number. This alone is interesting, even though they disagree on which Marys are present, all place three woman with the name Mary at this pivotal point in the Jesus narrative.
From a heathen perspective, the Moirai being the spinners of the threads of life, having them appear at the ultimate conclusion of such threads to “cut” them would seem quite fitting. The Moirai, much like the Norns are depicted in mythology as reciting the fates of men even at their births, although I will admit they are rarely depicted being present at the deathbed of mortals. There is a slight twist in this story though, at the death of Jesus the Marys are depicted mourning. This rather hints that the death of Jesus in this case is not necessarily wanted by them. The whole scene of the Marys at the crucifixion does set us up from a pagan perspective perfectly for what occurs next.
As you may have guessed the next place we see these three elusive Marys is at the tomb of Jesus and place of his resurrection. Whilst only the Gospel of Mark precisely mentions three separate Marys being present at the tomb, the other gospels do mention at least one Mary being present and allude to others. Indeed it is the “Marys” who find the tomb empty, and are the first the Reborn Jesus appears to. This imagery of the three Marys at the tomb has birthed legends and powerful Christian ceremonial iconography. The legend of the French town of Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer is said to be the place these three Marys from the tomb came to settle after the event. In many Latin Christian countries such as Spain they also figure heavily in the Good Friday processions. In the Spanish Ceremony one of the Marys is also depicted holding a Broom. The Broom is a common symbol of “witches”, which again ties us to Pagan female powers. The witch is often just a demonized depiction of ancient female deities or Disir. The Broom itself, in my opinion, has its roots in the magical staffs of such women, being as it is most likely just a misrepresentation of a fully loaded distaff. The “weaving” aspects of the Marys is again something I will explore more in part two.
As mentioned before, the Moirai, like the Norns of the North often appear at births and set out their fates and while this is no ordinary birth, we do have a comparison in the Myth of Pelops. In short, Pelops is sacrificed by his father to the Gods and turned into a soup! The Gods sense this though and refuse to eat the offering, all except Demeter because she is grieving her daughters death and not of sound mind. The Moirai put Pelops back together, and make for him a new a shoulder for the portion of him that was eaten. This all takes place around a cauldron linking us to both the sacred springs and the Celtic divine feminine imagery. It is then clear that the powers of rebirth are well within the capabilities of the Moirai.
To the keen minded, they will also spot another aspect of the Pelops Myth that relates to the Jesus narrative. Holy Communion has its participants symbolically ingesting the blood and flesh of “Christ”. In the Greek myth this is something the Gods themselves decide they do not wish to partake in, and make amends for the brutal sacrifice by asking the Moirai to reassemble the boy and banish his father. This whole practice could again be seen as an inversion of sorts, but it is something I would need to do a lot more research into before I could present something with more substance.
From a Heathen perspective the Tomb, being essentially a cave is also a very interesting aspect of the story. The Moirai are most often associated with caves, and this practice dates back to the Mycenaean era. Many believe because of archaeological finds that these caves associated with the Moirai were both places of birth and burial. One such cave is believed to the cave of the “Evil Sisters” in Athens. The name itself is almost certainly a reference to the Moirai, as much like in the north these female beings were seen as “evil” after Christianity held sway over the folk mind. We could also say much about these places connection to the Neolithic and Bronze age “tombs” of the North, but well save that tangent for another time.
In short we have three women by the name of Mary being the ones not only to find Jesus has gone, but also to be among the first to see him Resurrected. This all takes place around a tomb, or a cave, places that were held as sacred to the Moirai. Given that they are also shown to have the power of resurrection, having three “Marys” in this story from a pagan perspective, is all quite suspicious, don’t you think?
In part two we will take a closer look at the Marys themselves and also take a look at why the Marys were not present at the Birth of Christ (well except the obvious one!) given this is where we would most likely find them in Pagan mythology.
Edited by CJ