Chapter 7 The Forgotten Oracles and Sibyl Priestesses

One group of Oracles, not very well known, were the Gallizenae from the lle de Sein, a French islet in the Atlantic Ocean. It has been said that the Ile de Sein has been inhabited since prehistoric times, and it was reputed to have been the very last refuge of the Druids in Brittany. Nine in number, these ancient Priestesses were said to have the power to predict the future, to control the weather by calming the winds and to become shape shifters taking the forms of different animals. Not much more is known of these elusive Priestesses, even their temple if there was one, has vanished. All that remains are a few megalithic menhirs (standing stones) to mark what possibly once was a sacred site. The writer Robert Graves states:

…the island was once home to a conclave of nine virgin priestesses believed to hold magical powers, who might be approached by those who sailed to consult them.¹

According to many classical authors, the Gallizenae (or Gallisenae) were Oracles, Priestesses and/or Druidesses. The Greek geographer Artemidorus Ephesius first mentioned their existence. Later Greek historian Strabo wrote that their island was forbidden to men and that at times the women or Priestesses left the island and came to the mainland to meet their future husbands.

Ancient legends record that the Ile de Sein belonged to a Gallic divinity and was famous for its Oracle, whose Priestesses, sanctified by their perpetual virginity were nine in number.

The island women used to wear a black headdress, and in the past, they had a reputation for enticing sailors onto the rocks by witchcraft. In the past, it was also known for its wreckers.²

Wreckers are persons who look out for floundering ships that run aground close to shore and seize any valuables on board. Many believed that these Priestesses used their will to raise large storms at sea around the Island. So, it makes sense that legends tell of ship navigators who travelled to the Island specifically to consult the Gallizenae about the future of their voyages and perhaps to procure their protection.

These nine Priestesses, called the Gallizenae, lived in the holiness of perpetual virginity. The French Island of Ile de Sein in the Atlantic Ocean where they lived was desolate and treeless. Since so much of their story has been lost to history, we must rely on legends and tales passed down through the ages. They were Oracles and Sibyls, seers and healers who seemed to have supernatural powers to know what was to come and how to foretell it.

It is mentioned by the Roman geographer Pomponius Mela that “there are two megalithic menhirs on the island, which is flat and treeless.”³

Though the temple itself is gone there are a few megalithic ruins (standing stones called menhirs) of this sacred site still visible. These upright stones typically date from the European Bronze age. Though we have no clear evidence of the fact. One wonders if these menhirs are what remains of an ancient stone circle or sacred way. The island as I mentioned is treeless, resembling a large rock with the Chaussee de Sein, a vast zone of reefs that stretches for more than thirty miles from east to west that requires numerous lighthouses all in an effort to prevent shipwrecks. For in the past, there were many shipwrecks, which made the history of the island so mysterious.

Legends tell us that the Gallizenae used their magic charms to stir up the seas and winds and could cure illnesses that seemed incurable and they could predict the future.

Isolated as they were…these stories of their “Powers” were not revealed to just anyone… only to sea-voyagers and then only to those traveling to consult them.⁴

This ancient island is also reputed to be the last place of refuge for the Druids in Brittany. Today three hundred islanders, who still make their living from the sea, reside there among its narrow-labyrinth twisted streets that protect against the violent sea winds.

Many classical authors write of these mysterious nine Priestesses as Druidesses and that their island was forbidden to men. Today some refer to the island as the Isle des Druidesses.

One of the most interesting aspects of this fascinating myth is that these nine Priestesses are somewhat intertwined with the mythology of Morgan and the Arthurian legend because of Morgan’s nine sister Priestesses and the isolation and mystery of the Ile de Sein. So, can the Ile de Sein be in the mythological running as one of the possible fabled Islands of Avalon?

Pomponius Mela was a Roman chronicler during the first century CE. He mentioned the nine priestesses of the Isle of Sena in his literary works.⁵

Several nineteenth century folklorists noted that the motif of the Nine Maidens occurred in other places and one of these was the reference from the 2nd century Greek geographer Strabo who refers to the nine Druidesses of the Isle du Sein off Brittany who were called the Gallicenae.⁶

The nine sisters of Avalon are only one legend. We also have the nine Witches of Caer Lyow and the nine maidens of Pictish saint lore. Thus, the Gallizenae of the Ile de Sein seem to fit within these folklores very nicely. Ultimately the Christian church demonized these myths of nine magickal Priestesses and their story almost fades from history.

The nine damsels of the cauldron recall the nine virgins of the Ile of Sein in Western Brittany in the early 5^th century A.D. as described by Pomponius Mela”.⁷

In the Middle Ages, the Ile de Sein became caught up in the Arthurian legends and according to some storytellers, is the birthplace of two of the most accomplished magicians, the wizard Merlin, and Morgan La Fée.⁸

There was a druid Priestess by the name of Veleda who was thought to be a Divinity on Earth. Interestingly she is sometimes associated with the Ile de Sein. Myths describe her as a Prophetess and Oracle and that she had nine sisters. It was said that she lived in a tower and refused to receive mortal supplicants but only accepted questions from messengers who were related to her. Was Veleda and her Priestesses the forerunners to the Nine Priestesses on the Ile? We may never know for sure. And there are other myths of nine priestesses such as the daughters of Zeus, and my favorites, the Muses or Fates.

Clio - History

Erato - Lyric/Erotic Poetry

Euterpe - Music

Melpomene - Tragedy

Polyhymnia - Choral Poetry

Terpsichore - Dance

Thalia - Comedy

Urania – Astronomy

The Ile de Sein was very isolated and it would have been a contemplative and lonely existence for the Priestesses who lived there. Seekers asking for prophecies, advise or protection would have come by ship over turbulent waters. I am sure that the sailors of old either felt that the nine Priestesses protected them through their Magickal chants or perhaps the total opposite… that they lured them to shipwreck. Or perhaps they charmed the winds and the waves with their songs to ensure a safe sailing though the reefs. Beyond their roles as Oracles and healers, the pre-Christian myths and legends of the Island seem to connect the Gallizenae to the Druids and their rituals. Sadly, there is not much beyond myths that is known about their everyday life, except that they depended on the donations of pilgrims.

Though we equate the menhirs, still visible on the Island, as part of whatever temple existed during the time of the Gallizenae, there are ancient Christian sanctuaries still there. One is of the Church of St. Guenole and the other the chapel of St. Corentin, which was erected at a place called Goulénez, (which sounds familiar to the Priestesses name). One of the island’s oldest sacred places with a freshwater source. It seems that most ancient temple sites were constructed near a sacred spring or lake.

The (French) Insight Guide (1994), says of the island: “Bretons call Ile de Sein Enez Sun, and it is suggested that this helps to identify it as the Isle of the Dead, a burial place of the druids. It is also said to be the Romans’ Insula Sena, a mysterious island where sailors used to consult an oracle tended by nine priestesses.”⁹

Solitude, contemplation and psychic visions were their life. We can only imagine how they lived, since they are the some of the most elusive and mysterious Priestesses of antiquity.

Hypatia of Alexendria

Hypatia was born between 350–370 CE in Alexandria, Egypt. She was a Hellenistic Neoplatonist philosopher, astronomer and mathematician. As the librarian of the Library of Alexandria she lectured extensively to masses of loyal students and large audiences. Hypatia was not only a beautiful woman but a wise woman renowned in her lifetime as a great teacher and judicious counselor. It was a true loss to the ancient world when she was brutally murdered in 415 CE for her philosophical beliefs by a mob of Christian fanatics. Her views and principles were interpreted as pagan during a time of bitter religious conflict between Christians (both orthodox and heretical), Jews, and pagans.

Though not a clear Sibyl or Oracle, Hypatia was indeed a brilliant woman who honored the Goddess in a Priestess persona. She was a stunning woman adored by her students and a powerful feminist symbol of the time. As with our Vestal Virgins of Rome, Hypatia embraced a life of dedicated virginity. Did Hypatia hide her Priestess initiation? Many believe that she was a member of the Order of Hermes an organization that attempted to unite gifted individuals and offer a defense against hostile forces of energy.

Regretfully she was most remembered for her cruel death instead of her writings, commentaries and her true and unwavering belief in the power of the Divine Feminine.

Chrysis a High Priestess of the Goddess Hera

In ancient Greece the Priestesses (and Priests) played an important role in society. As with most ancient cultures Priestesses were virgins or at the very least beyond child bearing age. Oftentimes Priestesses and Priests were the same sex as the Deity they served. Temples and sacred sites honored the Olympian deities of Athena Apollo, Aphrodite, Ares, Artemis, Demeter, Dionysos, Hades, Hephaistos, Hermes, Poseidon and Zeus.

In order to become free of harm, ancient Greek priests and priestesses wore a sacred headband. Their main duties were to carry out religious ceremonies and prayers.¹⁰

These temples were places of Divine connection. Here resided the great Oracles such as those at the Temple to Gaia and then Apollo at Delphi. The centers where messages were received were vitally important, not only in Greece but all over the ancient world.

One such Greek Priestess was Chrysis a High Priestess of the Goddess Hera. She was a formidable and respected Priestess and a prominent member of the cult of Kosmos. Sadly, history only remembers her for one devasting error in judgement.

In the summer of 423 B.C., Chrysis, the priestess of Hera at Argos, fell asleep inside the goddess’s great temple, and a torch she had left ablaze set fire to the sacred garlands there, burning the building to the ground.¹¹

Chrysis survived the fire and fled from Argos and ultimately to the sanctuary Temple of Athena Alea where she found asylum.

Sibyl Prophetess of the Eleusinian Mysteries and the cult of Demeter

There are no clear records about the content of the secret Rites of Eleusis or the Eleusinian Mysteries. The ancient Greeks observed the mysteries regularly from circa 1600 BCE to 392 BCE, yet all we know about the rites came from the brave testimonials of the initiated. The initiates were required to swear to secrecy on pain of death that the details of the ritual will never be known.

Priestesses would not only supervise the ritual, but in all likelihood, they would have entered a trance state in order to channel the powerful spirit of Demeter or her daughter Persephone as they re-enacted the mystery. Initiates would have seen a vision of the afterlife that became a revelation that changed the way they saw the world and their place in it. In understanding the mystery, one would recognize that they are only temporarily in their mortal bodies and thus would have no fear of death.

Here lies the most famous story of Greek mythology. Persephone a beautiful young maiden is picking colorful flowers when she is spotted by Hades, the Lord of the Underworld, He is transfixed and immediately falls madly in love. He kidnaps her by pulling her down with him deep into the underground. Her mother the Goddess Demeter was so devasted at the loss of her daughter that she cries and cries and turns into a withered old woman. The plants of the earth stop growing and begin to die. Tired of hearing Demeter’s unrelenting sobs, Zeus the Sky God realizing that the human race will perish, convinces Hades to allow Persephone to return to her mother. Hades agrees but first he makes Persephone taste some pomegranate seeds. Supposedly, those who taste the food of the underworld (the pomegranate) are forever bound to return there. Therefore, Persephone returns to the Earth, but she is condemned to spend three winter months in the underworld with her husband Hades each year. Every Spring she is released to come back to the earth and the plants start blooming again. The cycle continues.

The Ank Priestesses of the Isle of Iona

The mysterious sacred Isle of Iona is one of several small islands (one of the Inner Hebrides) off the western coast of Scotland.

It’s Gaelic name, Inns-nam Druid beach means ‘Island of the Druids’. Forty-eight Scottish kings including Mac Beth and the Lords of the Isles are buried there.¹²

The ancient Priestesses on the Island of Iona called themselves the Priestesses of Ank which means ‘sacred well of life’. The name Ank is reminiscent of the Egyptian Ankh, which means ‘life’. It is said that these Priestesses used scrying, a means of prophecy and revelation, using a suitable medium such as a crystal ball or bowl of water. During this practice of divination, the Priestess would stare into the medium to receive messages or visions from the Divine.

I want to comment on the uniqueness of these Ank Priestesses. Scrying has been used throughout the ancient world up to the present day by Mediums, Psychics and Witches to foretell the future and to experience astral (out-of-body) projection. The purpose of such Divine channeling is to see oracular revelations that take the seer on a visual journey beyond the physical.

As with the Pythia Priestesses of Delphi these Priestesses of Iona would have gone into a deep trancelike state in order to open the layers of the etheric dimensions to receive their messages. These Priestesses were not exposed to underground vapors, but simply looked into their medium of scrying to receive their oracular communications.

These Priestesses of Ank welcomed certain spiritually attuned Druids and other individuals into their sacred sanctuary stronghold. Some for healing and others for learning for it was said that they understood the etheric layers of dimensions and could travel unhindered by the physical.

Mythology tells of astral initiations for these Iona Priestesses. Traveling though the astral plains within an out-of-body experience could only have been accomplished with advanced learning into the realms of deep meditation. Did some exceptional women come to the Isle, not in their physical bodies, but in an ethereal astrophysical state? Some say that there are still otherworldly presences there today.

As with the Gallisenae Priestesses from the Ile de Sein, “Arthurian legends and those of the Lady of the Lake have been linked to myths of this this small magical island.¹³

Iona shares her sacred space of ocean with several other islands, one of which is the tiny Staffa. Uninhabited today, it harbors two enormous caves, whose current names are Mackinnon’s and Fingal’s. In the time of the Ank priestesses of Iona, these caves were magical enclaves for their oracle use.¹⁴

Female Shamans

Though not considered Priestesses who once lived in ornate temple complexes, the “wise woman” female Shamans of the ancient world were at the forefront of many indigenous and tribal societies. It was believed that they had the power to heal the sick and communicate with spirits and gods. Like the Oracle Priestesses, these mysterious women entered into a state of trance through deep meditation, sacred dance and drumming, which allowed their enlightened visions and dreams to come forth. They practiced traditional folk healing and midwifery and like their sisters the Temple Priestesses were respected and served the spiritual needs of their community.

Researchers believe that Shamanism is one of the oldest divinatory practices, that possibly has existed since the beginning for over 20,000 years with accounts in almost every area of the world.

These early Female Shaman provide an unbroken lineage of Shamanic Priestesses that emerged in Crete and the Mediterranean area in the late Bronze Age but arose from the confluence of earlier streams of Woman Shamans from Africa, Europe, and Asia.¹⁵

Was there a golden age 10,000 years ago when the world was ruled by matriarchal societies and humanity lived in peace and harmony? Archeologists and historians believe this idea is simply a mythological vision for the feminist movement. Perhaps myths evolved from the truth of reality.

Priestesses initiates of the Goddess, were wise teachers and healers.

There is a Buddhist view that sees Priestesses as “Lightning conductors that divert human energy currents straight to the World Soul.¹⁶

Priestesses of the ancient Druids

There was a misconception among historians and researchers that the intellectual elite Druids were only male. Herstory attests to the fact that there were female Druids as Priestesses. The earliest records of the Druids can be traced back to the 3^rd century BCE. The Druids were not just religious leaders of the Celts but scientists, astrologers, magicians and poets. History records that to gain the necessary knowledge in alchemy it took more than 19 years. Let us remember the 30-year service of the Vestal Virgin Priestesses with their time as students, servants of the temple and finally teachers. Let us also remember Hypatia who was an intellectual, teacher mathematician, astrologer, scientist, author all-around brilliant women who honored the Goddess. So, I cannot imagine why history has such a hard time finding references to the Druid Priestess.

They worshipped the Goddess and celebrated with rituals and feasts during different months. The most important Goddess to the Celts was Brighid who was later morphed into Saint Brigid by the Christians and her Priestesses became her cloistered Nuns. Though historical texts mostly ignore the fact that the Celts had a Priestess class, archeologists have recently discovered the existence of female Druid burials in Germany dating back to the 4^th century BCE. Some of them were buried with symbols of great status such as jewels and precious objects including a distinctive torque.

According to researchers, only a Druidess could have a big enough status to receive a burial like this.¹⁷

The Roman Gaius Julius Caesar wrote that he was aware of female Druids and the author, Strabo, wrote about a group of religious women who lived on an island near the river Loir. Tacitus, the author of Histories, the Roman Historical chronicles (written circa 100–110 AD), mentions female Druids living on the Island of Mona in Wales and that there was no distinction between the male and female rulers. It seems that female Druid Priestesses did exist and were very powerful.

According to Plutarch, female Celts were nothing like Roman or Greek women. They were active in negotiating treaties and wars, and they participated in assemblies and mediated quarrels. According to the ‘Pomponius Mela’, virgin priestesses who could predict the future lived on the island of Sena, in Brittany.¹⁸ This was the very island where the Gallizenae Priestesses resided.

In medieval Irish legends they were called Banduri or Bandorai. Their existence was confirmed by ancient Greek and Roman writers.¹⁹

Hildegard of Bingen, Visionary

Hildegard of Bingen (1098 – 17 September 1179) was not literally a Priestess, but she did live in a cloister, took a vow of chastity and was a profound Oracle. She referred to her prophetic visions as both illuminations and reflections of the living light. She was a devoted and brilliant medieval abbess from her Christian monastery in Rupersburg high on a hill in rural Germany. She was an Oracle of great depth whose visions inspired her writings as a theologian, her botanical and medicinal texts as well as hymns and poetic liturgies. Many in Europe consider her to be the founder of scientific natural history in Germany.

There are more surviving chants by Hildegard than any other composer from the entire Middle Ages, and she is one of the few known composers to have written both the music and the words.²⁰

She fought the patriarchs from her cloister to be heard and she was.

Asenath wife of Joseph and the Disciple Mary Magdalene

The illusive Asenath was an aristocratic Egyptian woman. Though Asenath is a minor figure in the Book of Genesis she remains a powerful mystery. Was she an Egyptian Priestess who was willing to convert to Judaism?

Her importance is related to the birth of her two sons, who later become forefathers of two of the twelve tribes of Israel.²¹

Some mythologies tell of the famous disciple and wife of Jesus, Mary Magdalene as a Priestess of Isis and Ishtar. The Egyptian Isis along with the Sumerian Ishtar being both profound and sacred popular Goddesses would have inspired a woman such as Mary Magdalene. As a Priestess Mary would have learned the mystical secrets that gave her the illuminating light of knowledge. And her alabaster jar of pungent and mystical oil, called the Chrism would have been used to anoint.²²

Many researchers and herstorians feel that there is obvious and strong evidence that Mary Magdalene was a Temple Priestess. And that she was initiated into the matriarchal teachings of the Goddess. And as a Temple Priestess she would have practiced the divine rite of “sacred marriage” called “hieros gamos” bestowing the power of Divinity into those she initiated. Hieros gamos or Hierogamy is a holy or sacred marriage. Participants representing deities as Goddess and God enact the symbolic ritual. “Hieros gamos is described as the prototype of fertility rituals.”²³

Mary Magdalene was also an apostle and consort of Jesus. A Priestess/bride (Mary Magdalene) anoints the King her Bridegroom (Jesus) during the sacred marriage. Here again is her Chrism or mystical oil that we see Mary holding in her alabaster jar in many ancient paintings. In the Bible it is Mary who anoints Jesus’ body before burial.

Jesus was one to unite all people, regardless of social status or religion, so a marriage entered between him and a priestess would be a symbol of the union between the Mother Goddess of the pagan, Earth-fertility religions and the Father God of the Old Testament, creating a new religion that honors and embraces both masculine and feminine energies and harnesses the creative power inherent in all people.²⁴

As I have discovered in my research through the years, the title of “virgin” was often bestowed upon the Sacred Temple Priestesses in the ancient world. Was the Mother Mary part of a divine union also as a Temple Priestess whose virgin born or divine child was Jesus? There has been so very much written about both the mother Mary and Mary Magdalene that is controversial. I only want to touch on their lives in relation to their connection to the Temple Priestess.

Four pieces of Gospel evidence strongly point to Mary Magdalene as a temple priestess of the Goddess. The first is her title “Magdalene,” almost identical to “Magdala,” noted earlier to be the name of the triple-towered temple of the Goddess Mari-Anna-Ishtar. Literally, “Mary of the Magdala” signifies “Mary of the Goddess Temple.” Christian tradition has said that Mary is of the town “Magdala” or “Migdal,” which was known as “The Village of Doves,” a place where sacred doves were bred for the Goddess temple. In either case, two threads of strong symbolism link the name Magdalene to contemporary Goddess worship.²⁵

So, whether you believe that either of these Mary’s lived part of their lives as a Temple Priestess is not the argument. Herstory does make a plausible opinion that does have relevance.

Five Worthy Sibyls

The Erythraean Sibyl was the prophetess presiding over the Apollonian Oracle at Erythrae in the Greek town of Ionia. Depictions of the Erythraea Sibyl can be seen as a floor mosaic in the Cathedral of Siena, in Italy. Her prophecies were written in the acrostic style on carefully arranged leaves so that the initial letters of the leaves always formed a word. As a Sibyl her answers were given depending on the value of the question and then were given directly. She is credited with predicting the coming of Jesus Christ (the redeemer).

Apollodorus of Erythrae, however, says that one who was his own countrywoman predicted the Trojan War and prophesied to the Greeks both that Troy would be destroyed and that Homer would write falsehoods.²⁶

The Persian Sibyl, named Sambethe, was sometimes also called the Babylonian Sibyl and was one of four Sibyl’s in residence at Delphi during the 2^nd century CE. Another of the four was the Hebrew Sibyl who is credited in the medieval Byzantine encyclopedia, the Suda, as the author of the Sibylline oracles. The Libyan Sibyl presided as Oracle at the Siwa Oasis in the Western Desert of Egypt and as legend relates Alexander the Great consulted her after his conquest of Egypt. The Hellespontine Sibyl, or Trojan Sibyl, presided over the Apollonian Oracle at Dardania, Greece.

The Tiburtine Sibyl by the name of Albunea, was Roman and from the ancient town of Sabino-Latin, the town of Tibur (now modern Tivoli). She was worshiped as a Goddess. There is a mythology wrapped around this Sibyl whereby the Roman Emperor, Augustus, inquired of her whether he should be worshipped as a God? In 380 CE legend says that she prophesized the advent of a final emperor by the name of Constans who would vanquish the foes of Christianity. There are many ancient fresco murals depicting this and many other events attributed to her.

The Prophecies of Ancient Witches

Witches of Isle of Mull: The Isle of Mull is the second largest of the Inner Hebrides and lies off the west coast of Scotland. There are no stories of ancient Priestesses, Temples or Oracles associated with the Isle. But there are myths and legends that tell of a group of women Witches who lived on the Isle many centuries ago and had amazing, and some say Magickal, powers. Thus, although the information about them is scant, tales of these Witches hold my interest. They were not fortunetellers but Witches who held the power of curses. Images were made of the targeted person in wax or clay, that the Witches would prick or punch. Ultimately the person would experience great suffering. But not all curses can be negative.

Local folklore says a 1558 spell cast by Mull witch Doideag caused the explosion that sank a member of the Spanish Armada in Tobermory harbour.²⁷

Mother Shipton: Ursula Sontheil (c.1488-1561) popularly known as Mother Shipton, after she married Toby Shipton, was an English soothsayer and prophetess. In 1641, eighty years after her reported death an edition of her prophecies was printed. Though it contained various regional predictions and two prophetic verses it was not given much credence because it was thought to be simply a mythological account. She seemed a faerie tale personage with narratives of turning kings into stone. She was thought to be born in a cave to a 15-year named old Agatha and that Ursula was very ugly! Agatha ended up in a convent and Ursula was shuttled between foster homes.

Despite the varied fictional legends about her, she did exist and she did make predictions, told fortunes and was a popular and respected herbalist throughout her life.

The North Berwick Witches: In the 16^th century a group of men and women were named the Berwick Witches. Legend or reality states that they caused a deadly storm through witchcraft to drown King James I. So often predictions are misunderstood and I believe that is what happened here. But vengeance was declared upon them by the surviving James I. They were arrested, brought to trial, tortured and burnt. This some say started the first great witch hunt in Scotland. By the 17^th century Witchcraft was in full swing in Scotland. Perhaps these so-called Witches were simply prophesying the future to a misguided populace.

Joan Wyttle: Joan Wyttle was born in 1775 and was a Cornish woman. Legend called her the Fighting Fairy woman of Bodmin and that she was a clairvoyant and healer. Because of an illness she became feisty and was imprisoned as a result of a fight. Regretfully she died there in 1813 and it is said she haunts the Museum of Witchcraft in Cornwall, where her unburied bones were once displayed.