The Temple of the Free Spirit

"Goddess of the Moon and Hunt,
Virgin mistress of the deer and owl
Be though my guide, my inspiration,
Teach me thy mysteries and thy ways,
For I have seen thee beneath the cool dark night,
And I have answered to thee."
(by Jaspenelle Stewart)

Artemis is the daughter of Zeus and Leto and is the twin sister of Apollo - god of music, healing and prophecy. She is the goddess of the wilderness, the hunt and wild animals, and fertility (she became a goddess of fertility and childbirth mainly in cities.)

Yemaya is perhaps best known as one of the Orishas in modern day Santeria but she dates back much further to Western Africa, having been brought to the Americas during the Maafa (also called the Trans - Atlantic Slave Trade.) Her name Yemaya, is a contraction of her full name, Yet Omo Eja, which means “Mother Who's Children are the Fish”.

In Africa

Yemaya is one of the Yoruban goddesses and considered the mother of all. She is often considered to be the female counterpart to the Yoruban creator god, Olorun. She is primarily associated with the ocean, in the Western world, but to the Yoruban people she was the source of all water (particularly the River Ogun in present day Nigeria.)

Cerridwen is one of the megalithic pre-Christian goddesses of the Celtic world, she is call the “Old One” - though she can embody all facets of the triple goddess (maiden, mother, crone.) She primarily appears as the crone and her matron animal is the pink sow. Cerridwen was first a Welsh goddess and seems to have been a corn goddess.

She had two children, her light beautiful daughter Crearwy and her dark son Morfan (he was as black as a raven and many called him Afagddu, saying that his darkness was ugly.) They could be said to represent the two forces of creation, a yin and yang.