Mnemosyne, Goddess of Memory

Mnemosyne, Greek goddess of memory, was considered one of the most powerful goddesses of her time. After all, it is memory, some believe, that is a gift that distinguishes us from the other creatures in the animal world. It is the gift that allows us to reason, to predict and anticipate outcomes, and is the very foundation for civilization.

Sadly, the goddess Mnemosyne is largely forgotten, lost in the mists of time. When she is remembered it is usually only in the context of her being the mother of the Muses, though all acknowledge that without memory the lively arts of the Muses would never have been possible. Mnemosyne was a Titaness, a daughter of the first generation of deities in Greece. Her parents were the rulers Cronus and the goddess Gaia.

Mnemosyne is usually depicted with a full mane of luscious hair, often a rich auburn in color. There are few stories about her even though she is often mentioned by the ancient poets who recount her awesome gifts to mankind. The goddess Mnemosyne is sometimes credited with being the first philosopher, her gift the power of reason. She was given responsibility for the naming of all objects, and by doing so gave humans the means to dialog and to converse with each other. The powers to place things in memory an that of remembrance were also attributed to this goddess.

Make no mistake about this. Memory was of the utmost importance at the time of Mnemosyne. Long before the invention of the alphabet and the written word, it was critical to the well-being of an individual or a society who had to rely solely on the lessons passed on in an oral history. Besides, we're not talking about memorizing shopping lists or the times tables here. The memory of Mnemosyne was much more than that -- it was the memory of the rules and energies of the universe, the cycle of life, the memory of how to live in the world. (Source: goddessgift.com)