My dear friend Jayne sent me this link to the British newspaper The Independent today, regarding the remains of a 2,000-year-old remains of a young Cybellean priestess was found in North Yorkshire. I'm not particularly crazy about the correspondent's gender terminology, but the information is fascinating. I had not realized that there were any Gallae this far north. I'm not surprised, though, since the worship of Cybelle was widespread, and wherever the Romans went, a wealth of faiths followed.
Now, in the midst of writing this, I decided to do a little more research and found a BBC article from 2002 documenting the finding of the remains. The the point to the article in the Independent, it seems, is that forensic studies were done on the remains, and apparently this priestess died as the result of ritually castrating herself.
There is much to be said for ecstatic frenzy. On the other hand, I hope my dear sisters opt for Dr. Bowers or some other qualified surgeon and not a flint knife or a pottery shard.
As regards more information on the Gallae, I must bow to the more knowledgeable. You can find scads of information here . We may not agree on all things, but Cathryn knows her stuff and is a fantastic historical resource.
Now, in the midst of writing this, I decided to do a little more research and found a BBC article from 2002 documenting the finding of the remains. The the point to the article in the Independent, it seems, is that forensic studies were done on the remains, and apparently this priestess died as the result of ritually castrating herself.
There is much to be said for ecstatic frenzy. On the other hand, I hope my dear sisters opt for Dr. Bowers or some other qualified surgeon and not a flint knife or a pottery shard.
As regards more information on the Gallae, I must bow to the more knowledgeable. You can find scads of information here . We may not agree on all things, but Cathryn knows her stuff and is a fantastic historical resource.
3 comments:
Well Jill, my intentions is Dr Bowers and my own doctor to be sure everything works precisely like it should and I decided to keep my girl parts and have them treat them so I no longer become ill.
I don't need to come up with a bad surgery too with my life happenings.
You are a great friend and another sweet sister to me. I love you and cherish your knowledge.
XXOO
XXOO Right back at you, Sweetie. I'm glad you're keeping your womanhood. I was very sad when it looked like you might have to lose it.
You are so special. If you had lived in the time of this young priestess, I have no doubt that you would have been immediately recognized as someone holy.
Yes, surgery is far preferable to self-castration, though I've known a number of sisters who've at least considered the butcher knife approach out of desperation. Some time back, I even saw photos that someone had posted online, of her own DIY orchie. She'd had some medical experience, but that was still a very dangerous thing to do.
It's ironic though, that as the Attis mythos goes, he himself bled to death as the result of self-castration.
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