Artemis and the Ritual Process

This is the second volume in the series 'Life, Death & Artemis'. In this volume the myriad practices of Artemis' worship are placed within the framework of religion as proposed by Roy Rapport, religious anthropologist. In so doing this enables parallels to be drawn with Artemis as the representation of life, a continuation of the theme found in the ancient art and artefacts (volume one). Ritual itself is the collective expression by worshipers of their ideas, sentiments and beliefs, which determine the character of the worship and re-enforces its unity. Artemisian ritual is societies’ expression of feelings and beliefs in relation to the deity Artemis and through a study of the ritual it is possible to identify those ideas, sentiments and beliefs which society held in relation to Artemis. The analysis of ritual Artemisian activity draws upon a large selection of material, mainly ancient texts and inscriptions, which have been supplemented with archaeological findings. Archaeological and textual evidence are mutually supportive and reinforce the representation of Artemis as presented in volume one, a deity intimately bound to life itself.