Diana, the Huntress

Throughout the Middle Ages, Diana, the goddess of the wilderness and the hunt, ruled all the dark forests of Europe. Some scholars have declared that the Inquisition was instituted to stamp out all worship of Diana in Europe. In the Bible, the book of Acts is filled with the struggles of the early apostles to counteract the influence of Diana, whose temple was one of the Seven Wonders of the World. "Great is Diana of the Ephesians," the tradespeople of Ephesus shouted at Paul and his company, setting in motion a riot (Acts 19). To the members of the Christian clergy, Diana was the Queen of the Witches. To the infamous witch hunter and grand inquisitor Torquemada, Diana was Satan.

From ancient times Diana was the Queen of Heaven, the Mother of Creatures, the Huntress, the Destroyer. To the Greeks, she was Artemis. While the early Christian fathers felt great satisfaction when the peasantry bent their knee to worship Mary as the Queen of Heaven, in truth, the majority believed that they were really worshiping Diana, the great and powerful goddess of old.

Diana, with her pack of hunting dogs, her stature as the Mother of Animals, the Lady of Wild Creatures, was the patron goddess of those who chose the life of the outlaw werewolf and all others who defied conventional society. She has remained the goddess of the wild woodlands and hunting thoughout most of the Western world.

Sources: Hazlin, W.E. Dictionary of Faiths & Folklore. London: Studio Editions, 1995.
Spence, Lewis. An Encyclopedia of Occultism. New Hyde Park, NY: University Books 1960.
Walker, Barbara G. The Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1983.