Prayer to Ishtar

Unto the queen of the gods,
into whose hands are committed the behest of the great gods,
unto the lady of Nineveh, the queen of the gods,
the exalted one,unto the daughter of the moon-god,
the twin sister of the sun god, unto her who ruleth all kingdoms,
unto the goddess of the world who deetermineth decrees,
unto the Lady of heaven and earth who recieveth supplication,
unto the merciful goddess who hearkeneth unto entreaty,
who recieveth prayer, who loveth righteousness,

I make my prayer unto Ishtar
to whom all confusion is a cause of grief.
The sorrows which I see I lament before thee.
Incline thine ear unto my words of lamentation
and let thine heart be opened unto my sorrowful speech.

Turn thy face unto me,
O Lady, so that by reason thereof
the heart of thy servant may be made strong!

I, Ashur-nasir-pal, the sorrowful one, am thy humble servant;
I, who am beloved of thee, make offerings unto thee and adore thy divinity
. . . . I was born in the mountains which no man knoweth;
I was without understanding and I prayed not of thy majesty.
Moreover the people of Assyria did not recognise and did not accept thy divinity.

But thou, O Ishtar, thou mighty Queen of the gods,
by the lifting up of thine eyes did teach me,
for thou didst desire my rule.
Thou didst take me from the mountains,
and didst make me the Door of my peoples
. . . and thou, O Ishtar, didst make great my name!
As concerning that for which thou are wrath with me,
grant me forgiveness.
Let thine anger be appeased,
and let thine heart be mercifully inclined towards me.

Calliope

During Classical times, each of the nine Muses were assigned to specific artistic spheres. Calliope,  the eldest of the Muses, was the goddesseof music, song, epic poetry, and dance. Her name means 'She of the Beautiful Voice.'  It is said that She can play any musical instrument.  She was the wisest of the Muses, and as such, She is said to be  the inspiration for epic poetry such as Homer's Iliad and Odyssey. 

She was the beautiful daughter of Zeus, and Mnemosyne, a Titaness known as the goddess of memory. By Apollo, She was the mother of Orpheus and Linus. And, it  was She who, at Zeus's request, judged the dispute between the goddesses Aphrodite and Persephone over Adonis. She is often depicted as carrying a scroll and wearing a golden crown.  Her symbol is a writing tablet. 

 

Aphrodite

Aphrodite! inexorable Goddess, thou hast desired that happy youth with lovely curls should fade from me, too, in a few short days. Why did I not die altogether then?

I looked at myself in my mirror: I can no longer smile or even cry. Oh! lovely face that Mnasidika loved, I can't believe that you were really mine.

Can it be that all is ended now! I have not yet lived five times eight short years; I feel that I was born but yesterday, and now it must already be proclaimed: No one will ever love me any more.

I have shorn all my hair, and twined it in my girdle and I offer it to thee, eternal Kypris! I shall not cease from loving thee. This is the last verse of the pious Bilitis.

The Songs of Bilitis

Themis

The ancient Greek goddess, Themis, is the goddess of goddess of custom, social order, and law. She is the personification of the 'Law of Nature'. According to the signification of her name, her office is to instruct mankind to do things honest, just, and right. Themis was one of the eldest children of Gaia, the Earth, and Uranus, or Heaven; hence, She was from the very first dynasty of ancient Greek gods and was the first to instruct mortals in the laws of justice and morality. Considered the most powerful of the Olympians, Themis stood at the side of Zeus.

She was also the goddess of important assemblies and councils in which kings of nations would hear petitions and was invoked at every assembly in ancient Greece.  She had the gift of prophecy, and some say She was associated with the Oracles of Delphi over which She presided over with Apollo.

Themis is often represented on coins with a horn of plenty and a pair of scales

Feronia

Feronia was the Roman goddess of woodlands, fruits, groves, and orchards. An ancient deity, the meaning of Her name is 'goddess of springs and woods.'  She was believed, also, to be a harvest goddess, and the Romans honored Her with the 'first fruits' of the season in order to secure a bountiful harvest the following year. Slaves regarded Her as the goddess of freedom and it  was believed that those who sat on a holy stone in Her sanctuary would be set free. Feronia was also revered as a goddess of travellers, fire, and waters.

It is said this goddess had a sacred grove near the mountain Soracte. This once caught on fire, and the villagers, while attempting to remove the image of Feronia, were awestruct when suddenly the grove became green again. It is also that those who were inspired this goddess were able to  walk barefoot upon burning coals without hurt.

Pallas Athena

Minerva was the goddess fair of wisdom,

And o'er the arte did wise preside, and too.

She was the patroness of warfare bold,

With scientific skill to cope with foes

Among the hostile gods to bitter death,

The offspring great of Jupiter who once

Was bold concealed within the gray old cave

In Crete, of loved Mount Ida; mother none

She had, for ran the legend of old Zeus

In manner thus: "Now Jupiter of heaven

First, great among his brothers Neptune dread.

And Pluto dreaded more, the king of gods

And men, with Egis, by old Vulcan wrought,

As mighty shield with storm and tempest great.

When shaken by his mighty hand. And-Metis,

Sweet Prudence fair, did Zeus bold espouse,

As daughter of great Oceanus, but,

In godly wrath he bold devoured her, ere

The birth of comelier god or goddess fair;

For Heaven high and lower Earth had told

Of one, the infant yet unborn, who would

In power and wisdom equal Zeus great,

And worse, for in her next born child, would Metis

Rival for aye the proud old god, dethrone

Him then from highest kingdom, and her son,

Her latest born, make king of gods and men;

And thus his violence. But afterwards,

He felt his head afflicted sore, and Vulcan

Coming at bidding of hurt Jupiter,

Did cleave his brain with Mashing axe, and there

Before the fire-god grim, sprang forth Minerva

Completely armed. And like Diana fair,

And Vesta, pure as silver stars, her virtue

Was last respected by the gods of earth,

And queens of highest heaven; but fire-god Vulcan,.

A-like another Collatine Lucrece

Would make of purest Pallas. Dear he paid

For forceful act, and fell in disrespect

Among the shocked gods.

 Horace Eaton Walker

Frigga

The Norse earth goddess, Frigga, consort of Odin,  was considered the goddess of marriage, childbirth, motherhood, and the household  and was specially worshiped by married lovers and parents. She daughter of Fiorgyn and sister of Jord.  Generally depicted as a tall, beautiful woman crowned with heron plumes and adorned in pure white robes which are secured at the waist by a golden girdle from which hung a bunch of keys. 

Although She often appeared beside Odin, Frigga preferred to remain in her own palace, the hall of mists or of the sea, where She diligently twirled her wheel or distaff, spinning golden thread or weaving  the clouds. She was also responsible for the rain and for the thunderstorms.

"There in the glen, Fensalir stands, the house

Of Frea, honor'd mother of the gods,

And shows its lighted windows and the open doors." 

In order to perform this work, Frigga possessed a magnificently jeweled spinning wheel, which, at night,  shone brightly in the sky in the shape of a constellation, known in the North as Frigga's Spinning Wheel, while those in the  South know it as Orion's Girdle.