Shapeshifting Dancers of Crete

Various databases of Cretan seals, signets, lentoid stones are out there. I'll be sharing from this one from the University of Heidelberg, but there are others, one named Arachne as I recall. I happened on this page during a recent web search.

The seal impression above belongs to a large set of circular seals showing a dancing woman who has gone into ecstasy and shapeshifted into bird form. Below is the seal itself.

One of the Zakros seals, below, which often show dancing shapeshifters.

This woman's head has become crane, her arms wings, as she bends deeply in vigorous dance. Above her is the serpent that seems to indicate ecstatic states when floating in the sky.

This rather poor drawing is of a black marble seal, "Late Minoan III," showing another winged dancer with deeply bent knees and the usual flounced skirt.

You can see that the winged shapeshifting dancer is a constant theme at Zakros, though details vary. Several have tail-feather-shaped skirts, breasts are emphasized, but one has a bird's head (hoopoe?), another sprigs of bloom or grain, and one has her face veiled much like the Grandmother of Willendorf. These are from an article by Bruce Rimell I've gotten permission to share with you, richly illustrated, and will be doing so in future.

Below, two impressions from a seal in the Heidelberg collection, from Pylos in the transition between Late Helladic II and LH III. The central figure is an invoking woman or goddess wearing a multiple-horned crown seen in other seals, including from Rhodes off the coast of SW Turkey. Behind her, a fox or wolf holding what looks like a blade, and riding on a bull or other horned animal. On the opposite side, there appears to be a similar bull-rider holding a long object, though most of that part is broken off.



The same horned headdress on Goddess or dancing priestess, Rhodes.

One of the prime subjects of these seals is women making offering at altars and tree shrines. Here a woman blows on a huge conch before an altar with horns of consecration and treelets or fronds (and flanked by a star). Found in the ‘Idaean Cave,' an important mythic site associated with Goddess traditions (and also the hiding and rearing of Zeus from Cronos, by bee-nymphs who fed him milk and nectar). Dated Late Helladic I to LH IIIA1.

The seal is carved in semi-precious stone.

Braceleted forearm offering a lily, from Knossos Palace, "Queen's Megaron".

Finally, another bird-tailed figure, with a spiky animal-like mask-face, and legs widely parted Baubo-style, in the manner of a sheela-na-gig.

A very similar seal, this time winged, and with a horned goatl head.

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