Medusa

Medusa The name Medusa congers up a particular image in the brain of the unenlightened person; a hideous, malevolent woman-beast with serpents replacing hair, boar-like tusks, and a gaze so intense that it turns even the strongest man into stone. In Greek mythology this may hold true, but the origins of Medusa can be tracked back to Africa. Medusa was actually imported into Greece from Libya where she was worshipped by the Libyan Amazons as their Serpent-Goddess. Originally Medusa was much more complex and symbolized many points of importance in the culture of the Libyans. She represented female wisdom, the female mysteries, and the cycles of nature as life, death and rebirth. She was the guardian of the thresholds between the realms of heaven, earth and the underworld. She was Mistress of the Beasts with a strong connection to the earth. Known as the unifying force of heaven and earth, she destroys in order to recreate balance. She reflects a culture in harmony with nature. When Medusa was adopted by the Greeks, her character was dissected, simplified, then demonized. Her female wisdom, natural forces, and unifying balance were made evil. She was somehow converted into a horrid, ugly monster. Her most medusa, athena, wisdom, mythology, female, body, blood, winged, stone, sisters, perseus, mythological, monster, life, libyan, greek, gorgon, earth, cap, back, although, upon, unifying, two, turned, turn, three, story, side, shield, serpents, sea, sandals, said, put, poseidon