Mars is primarily known as the Roman god of war. He’s also the god of rage, destruction and passion—and, surprisingly, agriculture (Hoerber 1958: 66). As Peter Carney puts it, Mars is the protector of both fighters and food (2019). In some traditions, he even has a healing aspect (Henig 1995: 51). So it’s fair to […]
mythology
Roman gods in Newcastle upon Tyne: Neptune and Oceanus
Newcastle upon Tyne sits on an ancient site of human occupation. So it’s hardly surprising that offerings to Roman gods can be found among its archaeology. In 2018, I spotted these altars in the Great North Museum at Hancock. I’m fascinated by the way Roman gods show up in Britain, so I decided to delve […]
The Origin Myths of the Zodiac’s Water Signs
As we’ve seen throughout this blog series, there’s more to astrology than newspaper horoscopes and star signs. In fact, we’ve been looking at the Greek origin myths of the signs in the zodiac. Who or what gave their name or image to each sign? What are the myths behind the famous names? We’ll look at their […]
The Origin Myths of the Zodiac’s Air Signs
As we saw last week, there’s more to astrology than newspaper horoscopes and star signs. In this blog series, we’re looking at the Greek origin myths of the signs in the zodiac. Who or what gave their name or image to each sign? What are the myths behind the famous names? We’ll look at their […]
The Origin Myths of the Zodiac’s Earth Signs
As we saw last week, there’s more to astrology than newspaper horoscopes and star signs. In this blog series, we’re looking at the Greek origin myths of the signs in the zodiac. Who or what gave their name or image to each sign? What are the myths behind the famous names? We’ll look at their […]
The Origin Myths of the Zodiac’s Fire Signs
Astrology has seen something of a resurgence in recent years. Star signs were once relegated to snippets of vague predictions at the back of the newspaper. Yet now, you can find highly skilled astrologers on Instagram and Tik Tok. It’s an ancient discipline, with its roots in several cultures. What we call the zodiac in […]
