MYTHIC BEASTS & BEINGS: THE SIRENS

MYTHIC BEASTS & BEINGS: THE SIRENS

Kate Belew Kate Belew
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Have you met the Sirens? Do you know their alluring song, their bodies with wings and a fishtail, their call to the cliffs? These are all archetypal ways you might know this mythic being. The Siren comes from Greek mythology and can be found in many ancient tales, artworks, and stories whispered around the sacred bonfire. 

The depiction of the Siren has transformed through the corridors of history. They were first winged women, slowly changing and shapeshifting to women with fish-like tails, and have been shown as tailed and winged together, a creature of fearsome strangeness and power. 

The Siren is known for luring sailors to their watery deaths through their singing voices. In many depictions, Sirens carry with them their combs and mirrors, which some historians have interpreted as vain, and others have honored as a form of divination. 

The Sirens are famous for their role in Homer’s Odyssey. According to Homer, two Sirens could be found on an island of the western sea between Aeaea and the rocks of Scylla. A third siren was added, and that trio could be discovered on the western coast of Italy. Some stories say that the Sirens were the daughters of the sea god Phorcys or the muses and river god Achelous. 

Other reports yet say that they were formerly handmaidens of the goddess Persephone. When the underworld swallowed Persephone, her mother, Demeter, gave them their wings so that they could assist in the search for the young maiden. However, in other texts, it’s said that Demeter cursed the sirens for not intervening in her daughter’s abduction. 

In another tale, Hera, queen of the gods and Zeus’s wife persuaded the sirens to compete with the Muses in a singing contest. However, the Muses won the competition, and then, in turn, they plucked out all of the Sirens' feathers and made crowns out of them. In shame and turmoil from losing both the contest and their feathers, the Sirens turned wholly white and fell into the sea, where they turned into islands. 

In one myth, Jason, husband of sorceress Medea and leader of the Argonauts, had been warned by Chiron that Orpheus would be necessary for the success of his journey. When Orpheus heard the voices of the Sirens, he carefully removed his lyre and began to play a song more beautiful than the voices of the Sirens and was able to drown out their voices. One of the crew members, however, heard the song and jumped into the sea, but he was caught up and carried to safety by the goddess Aphrodite.

The term Siren song suggests the potency of the spell that they cast. The famous Witch and sorceress Circe described the Sirens as “lolling there in their meadow, round them heaps of corpses rotting away, rags of skin shriveling on their bones.” They are all-knowing, they help escort souls to the underworld as psychopomps, and in some stories, the Sirens are described as the muses of the lower world. The Sirens are captivating, a reminder of the magick of the sea, a subtle and divine nudge to use your voice, to sing your song with intention, an alluring spell. 

Messages from The Siren…

Embrace your depths: The Sirens are not afraid to swim to the Underworld, to fly after Hades, to sing their complex song. The Siren appears when it’s time to connect to your depths, embracing your wholeness for all that it is. 

Trust your intuition: Much like the Siren carrying her mirror, it’s time to peer into the unknown with your intuition. You might be surprised at what messages rise to the murky surface with just a little bit of Siren magick. 

Practice water magick: As one of the sacred elements in elemental magick, water is a potent tool and ally for connecting with emotion, memory, intuition, and more. The Siren archetype reminds you to connect with your watery nature to see what you might discover.


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