79: Hubris: The Shadow of Excess

In this episode, we journey to the edges of the cosmos to meet Aether, the primordial god of the upper air and pure light, and Hemera, the goddess of day and the radiant unfolding of life. Born from the eternal darkness of Nyx and the boundless expanse of Chaos, these deities embody illumination, clarity, and the sacred rhythm of day and night. Through myth and meditation, we explore how Aether and Hemera illuminate the spaces within ourselves where insight, awakening, and divine vision reside. From the first light that banished primordial night to the cycles that sustain life on earth, these twin forces remind us of the perpetual renewal of spirit and consciousness.  References  Hesiod. (Theogony, lines 123–130, 217–223). Homeric Hymns. (Hymn to Helios and Hymn to the Sun). Liddell, H. G., & Scott, R. (1996). Greek-English Lexicon. Oxford University Press. Burkert, W. (1985). Greek Religion: Archaic and Classical. Harvard University Press. Stafford, E. (2000). Worshipping Virtues: Personification and the Divine in Ancient Greece. Duckworth. GreekGoddesses.fandom.com. (2025). Aether and Hemera. https://greekgoddesses.fandom.com/wiki/Aether PaleoThea. (2025). Aether & Hemera: Primordial Greek Deities of Light and Day. https://paleothea.com/gods-and-goddesses/aether-hemera/ Olympioi. (2025). Aether and Hemera: Cosmic Light and Day in Greek Mythology. https://olympioi.com/deities/aether-hemera

On this episode of the Goddess Divine Podcast we revisit the ancient primordial goddess Asherah. This episode is a previously unreleased session that I did with a friend of mine several months ago. I have uploaded it for those who are very interested in goddess Asherah and wish to connect with her more closely. I hope this episode is helpful during your journey. 

In this episode, we explore Hybris, the ancient Greek personification of arrogance, overreach, and hubris. Born from a cosmic desire to test the limits of mortals, Hybris serves as a mirror reflecting our pride, entitlement, and the consequences of forgetting balance. Through myth, meditation, and reflection, we uncover how Hybris teaches the soul the sacred lesson of restraint, humility, and cosmic proportion. From mortal kings who believed themselves equal to the gods, to the intricate dynamics of divine punishment in Greek literature, Hybris reveals the eternal tension between human ambition and divine order.  References  Hesiod. (Theogony, lines 223–232). Homer. (Iliad & Odyssey). Pausanias. (Description of Greece, 1.33.2–3). Stafford, E. (2000). Worshipping Virtues: Personification and the Divine in Ancient Greece. Duckworth. Liddell, H. G., & Scott, R. (1996). Greek-English Lexicon. Oxford University Press. Jung, C. G. (1951). Aion: Researches into the Phenomenology of the Self. Princeton University Press. GreekGoddesses.fandom.com. (2025). Nemesis & Hybris. https://greekgoddesses.fandom.com/wiki/Hybris PaleoThea. (2025). Hybris: Greek Goddess of Arrogance and Hubris. https://paleothea.com/gods-and-goddesses/hybris-greek-goddess-of-hubris/ Medium. (2025). Hybris and the Lessons of Excess in Greek Mythology. https://medium.com/@pussgara/hybris-greek-mythology

In this episode of The Goddess Divine Podcast, we journey into the enigmatic world of the Etruscans to rediscover Nortia, the powerful goddess of time, fate, cycles, and the delicate hinges upon which destiny turns. Often overshadowed by her Greek and Roman counterparts, Nortia emerges here not as a forgotten deity, but as a force of cosmic precision,  the one who fixes time itself. We begin with a mythic story that breathes life back into her ancient presence, inviting listeners to imagine a world where every year’s turning was marked by the driving of a sacred nail into her temple walls, a ritual that bound past to future and sealed the fate of an entire people. Through this symbolic act we witness how the Etruscans conceptualized time not as an endless river, but as a series of divine appointments, moments nailed into permanence. The episode explores who the Etruscans were and the unique spirituality that shaped their cosmology: their reverence for fate, their fascination with divination, and their belief that divine signs structured the rise and fall of cities and empires. Within this worldview, Nortia presided over what could be granted to mortals, what must be withheld, and when cycles were required to end so that new ones could begin. We delve into the ritual, political, and prophetic power of the “nail rite,” understanding how Nortia’s annual marking of time was not simply symbolic but cosmically consequential, fixing the boundaries of destiny, anchoring cycles, and granting divine sanction for renewal. The episode also includes a moving invocation from Nortia’s perspective, offering listeners an intimate encounter with the goddess who governs turning points, endings, patience, and the mysterious architecture of fate. Finally, we reflect on why a goddess like Nortia matters now. In a world obsessed with speed and productivity, she reminds us of the sacredness of timing, of waiting, pausing, beginning again. She teaches that fate is not a rigid decree but a collaboration between divine order and human choice, and that cycles conclude not only with loss but with the possibility of rebirth. References & Further Reading de Grummond, N. T. (2006). Etruscan Myth, Sacred History, and Legend. University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. George, A. R. (1999). The Piacenza Liver and Etruscan Divination. Journal of Near Eastern Studies, 58(2), 95–110. MacIntosh Turfa, J. M. (2013). Divining the Etruscan World: Religious Practices and Beliefs. Brill. Erika Simon, "Gods in Harmony: The Etruscan Pantheon," in The Religion of the Etruscans (University of Texas Press, 2006), p. 59.  Massimo Pallottino, "Religion in pre-Roman Italy," in Roman and European Mythologies (University of Chicago Press, 1992, from the French edition of 1981), p. 30; Nancy Thomson de Grummond, Etruscan Myth, Sacred History, and Legend (University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, 2006), p. 96 online. The Mysterious Etruscans. (n.d.). Religion of the Etruscans. https://www.mysteriousetruscans.com/religion.html World Mythos. (n.d.). Nortia. https://worldmythos.com/nortia/

In this hauntingly introspective episode, we descend into the veiled corridors of Greek mythology to meet two often-forgotten daughters of the divine feminine shadow — Apate, the spirit of deceit, and Ate, the goddess of ruin and reckless impulse. Together, they form a mirror of human folly and awakening, revealing the hidden architecture of our own self-deceptions. Born of Nyx, the night herself, and Eris, the goddess of strife, these goddesses weave through the human condition with quiet inevitability — whispering illusions, stirring chaos, and leading mortals to their own undoing. Yet, within their chaos lies a rare alchemy: the transmutation of ignorance into truth, delusion into clarity, and fall into illumination. Through myth, archetype, and mystic psychology, we explore how Apate and Ate work together within the inner mysteries — how deception is sometimes the initiator, and downfall the catalyst for soul awakening. From the Trojan War’s divine manipulation to the spiritual art of discernment, this episode reframes deception not as moral failure, but as a sacred mirror through which we must all one day gaze. We’ll also wander into the esoteric realms of alchemy, examining how Apate and Ate appear symbolically within the Great Work — as forces that burn away illusion, pride, and attachment, leading the initiate through the Nigredo, or blackening stage, toward rebirth in light. The episode closes with a two-part guided journey — an inner descent where listeners first meet Apate, the Weaver of Illusions, to see what false stories they’ve wrapped around their spirit; and then Ate, the Bringer of Ruin, who clears what must fall away. Through them, listeners learn that even in deception, there is divine intelligence; and even in ruin, there is resurrection. Enter the mirror. Witness what deceived you. Watch what falls — and then, what rises. 📚 References & Source Notes Hesiod, Theogony (lines 211–232) — Nyx as mother of Apate (“Deceit”) and Ate (“Ruin”). Homer, Iliad XIX.91–133 — Zeus recounts how Ate led him to harm Heracles; Ate personified as delusion and folly. Pausanias, Description of Greece IX.39 — References to altars and cultic remembrance of Ate in Thebes. Apollodorus, Library I.3.2 — Lineages of Nyx’s children, including Apate. Kerenyi, Karl. The Gods of the Greeks. Thames & Hudson, 1951. Jung, C.G. Aion: Researches into the Phenomenology of the Self. (for archetypal shadow & delusion parallels). Neumann, Erich. The Great Mother. Princeton University Press, 1955. Hillman, James. Re-Visioning Psychology. HarperPerennial, 1975 (for mythic archetypal framing). Eliade, Mircea. The Forge and the Crucible: The Origins and Structure of Alchemy. Harper Torchbooks, 1971. Fabricius, Johannes. Alchemy: The Medieval Alchemists and Their Royal Art. Diamond Books, 1989.

In this contemplative and expansive episode of The Goddess Divine Podcast, Deanna explores one of the great mysteries of ancient spirituality: What becomes of a goddess when her temples fall, her people vanish, and her name is no longer spoken? Moving through history, myth, cosmology, psychology, and metaphysics, the episode unravels how divine feminine energies are transformed, not destroyed, when belief fades. From the ruins of forgotten shrines to the depths of the collective unconscious, we journey into the subtle realms where goddesses endure as archetypes, intelligences, and living patterns of cosmic energy. Through narrative reflection, channeled monologue, and philosophical inquiry, this episode examines how deities shift when their cultures collapse, how divine energy redistributes according to the laws of consciousness, and why the resurgence of goddess spirituality today is both inevitable and necessary. Listeners will explore how goddesses migrate across cultures, reincarnate through new symbols and names, and continue to shape the human psyche long after formal worship ends. The episode concludes with a haunting, luminous message from the forgotten goddess herself, a reminder that the sacred feminine never disappears; she simply waits for new eyes to recognize her. A profound meditation on memory, myth, and the living pulse of the divine feminine, this episode invites listeners to reconsider what it truly means for a goddess to be “forgotten,” and why reclaiming goddess consciousness is essential for personal and collective wholeness today.

In this episode of The Goddess Divine Podcast, we explore one of the most electrifying themes in goddess traditions around the world: apotheosis, the transformation of a mortal woman into a goddess. Across cultures and centuries, this moment of becoming marks the threshold where human suffering, courage, devotion, or injustice ignites into divine presence. From Inanna’s descent and resurrection, to the deification of Egyptian queens, to the Hellenistic stories of mortal women who crossed into sacred memory, apotheosis reveals an ancient truth: the line between human and divine has always been porous, fluid, and deeply feminine. We trace how cultures honored women as embodiments of cosmic power, not only goddesses from birth but goddesses by ascent: women who became divine through ordeal, ecstatic revelation, sacrifice, or the sheer magnitude of their spiritual influence. We also reflect on the social and ritual conditions that allowed this transformation to be witnessed and sanctified, and why such stories later diminished or disappeared. Through myth, anthropology, and mystical insight, this episode considers what goddess apotheosis means for us today. How do modern women experience spiritual elevation, visionary awakening, or inner sovereignty? What does it look like to reclaim the idea that the divine feminine is not distant or unreachable,  but something that can rise from within the human story? This is an episode about remembering the pathways to divinity that women walked long before patriarchal systems closed the gates. It is an invocation, a reclamation, and an invitation to see the goddess not as a distant icon, but as the final form of our own highest, liberated self.

 In this episode of The Goddess Divine Podcast, we journey to the far western edge of the ancient world,  to the twilight garden of the Hesperides, daughters of the evening star and guardians of Hera’s golden apples. Here, the mythic landscape shimmers between paradise and mystery, where nymphs tend to sacred fruit that grants immortality, and a coiled dragon named Ladon keeps watch beneath the fading light of day.  We trace their story through ancient texts. from Hesiod’s Theogony to Apollonius’ Argonautica, and uncover their appearance in myths of Heracles, Perseus, and even the Argonauts. We explore the deeper symbolism of their golden orchard as an echo of lost paradises, the Greek counterpart to the Garden of Eden, where divine knowledge, beauty, and temptation intertwine.  Through mythic reflection and spiritual insight, we contemplate what it means to tend one’s own inner garden of light, to guard what is sacred and radiant within us from the forces that would consume it. The Hesperides remind us that the fruits of divine wisdom ripen only at the edges of the known world, in the liminal space where day surrenders to night and mystery begins.  Citations for this Episode: Apollonius of Rhodes, & Hunter, R. (2009). Jason and the golden fleece. Oxford University Press. Diodorus Siculus. (c. 60 B.C.). The library of history (C. H. Oldfather, Trans.). Harvard University Press. Euripides. (c. 430 B.C.). Hippolytus (E. P. Coleridge, Trans.). Harvard University Press. Graves, R. (2018). The Greek myths. Viking. Hesiod. (c. 700 B.C.). Theogony (M. L. West, Trans.). Oxford University Press. Hyginus. (c. 150 A.D.). Fabulae (M. Grant, Trans.). University of Kansas Press. Maup van de Kerkhof. (2022, December 22). The Hesperides: Greek nymphs of the golden apples. History Cooperative. https://historycooperative.org/the-hesperides/ Miate, L. (2023, February 28). Hesperides. World History Encyclopedia. Retrieved October 26, 2025, from https://www.worldhistory.org/Hesperides/ Nonnus. (c. 450 A.D.). Dionysiaca (W. H. D. Rouse, Trans.). Harvard University Press. Olympioi. (n.d.). Hesperides. Olympioi. Retrieved October 1, 2025, from https://olympioi.com/monsters/hesperides Pausanias. (c. 150 A.D.). Description of Greece (W. H. S. Jones, Trans.). Harvard University Press. Pausanias, & Newberry, J., & Levi, P. (1984). Guide to Greece (Vol. 2). Penguin Classics. Strabo. (c. 7 BCE/1932). Geography (H. L. Jones, Trans., Vol. 8). Harvard University Press. (Original work published ca. 7 BCE) Theoi Project. (n.d.). Hesperides. https://www.theoi.com/Titan/Hesperides.html Virgil. (c. 19 B.C.). Aeneid (R. Fagles, Trans.). Penguin Classics. Web sources (no author): Eclectic Light. (2020, May 11). Goddesses of the week: The Hesperides. https://eclecticlight.co/2020/05/11/goddesses-of-the-week-the-hesperides/ Garden History Blog. (2023, June 10). The garden of the Hesperides. https://thegardenhistory.blog/2023/06/10/the-garden-of-the-hesperides/ Greek Mythology Fandom. (n.d.). Garden of the Hesperides. https://greek-myth.fandom.com/wiki/Garden_of_the_Hesperides World History Encyclopedia. (n.d.). Hesperides. https://www.worldhistory.org/Hesperides/ 

This week we are doing a meditation called the Sacred Marketplace to help you explore where you are ready to receive more in life and to practice choosing abundance in different forms. You will interact with 3 different goddesses and receive 3 blessings from the market. 

In this episode, we journey into the celestial storytelling of the Ojibwe people to uncover the tale of the Star Maiden,  a sacred figure who bridges the sky world and the Earth. Through this traditional story, we explore themes of connection, transformation, and the deep relationship between the Ojibwe and the stars above. Join us as we reflect on the meaning behind the Star Maiden’s descent, her impact on the world below, and the legacy her story carries in Anishinaabe culture today. Citations for this episode: Benton-Banai, E. (1988). The Mishomis Book: The Voice of the Ojibway. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. Williamson, R. A. (2000). Living the Sky: Ojibwe cosmology and star stories. Winnipeg: Native Studies Press. Johnston, B. (1990). Ojibway ceremonies. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. Smith, D. (2015). Sky women and star maidens: Ojibwe celestial traditions. Journal of American Folklore, 128(509), 47–65. Kenny, A. (2018). Seven Grandfathers Teachings: Guiding principles of Ojibwe spirituality. Indigenous Knowledge Journal, 12(3), 34–50. Native Languages of the Americas. (n.d.). Ojibwe. Retrieved from https://www.native-languages.org/ojibwe.htm