Mother of the Muses

Mnemosyne Ritual

Μνημοσύνη · Mother of the Nine Muses

Ritual written and designed by High Priest Zevios Metathronos

54 vibrations

Repetition level: Normal · ToZ Rituals

The intention of the rite
For the keeping of sacred learning, the recovery of a text and the union of memory with understanding.
Mnemosyne is the Titan Goddess of memory, daughter of Gaia and Ouranos in Hesiod’s genealogy. Through her union with Zeus she becomes mother of the nine Muses. She completes this collection as their mother, with a rite of her own beside the nine individual rites of her daughters. Hesiod, Theogony 1–115; 135; 915–917
The cup, tablet and flame of her Shenu honour the Divine word received, retained and brought again into living remembrance. Mother of the Muses, she guards the faithful name and the source from which the sacred song receives its life.
Download the full-resolution Shenu
Vibrate the full Greek name of each letter three times, from left to right. Sound the group wherever it appears before and after a prayer, allowing a brief silence between repetitions.
Reading the Greek aloud
The phonetic spelling follows the Temple’s Modern Greek liturgical reading. Hyphens separate syllables; capitals mark stress. The hymn’s ancient hexameter follows vowel quantity, which this reading does not reconstruct.
ah as in father · eh as in met · ee as in see · oh as in go without the final glide · oo as in moon. th as in thin; dh as in this. kh as in loch; gh is its voiced counterpart. hy is the breathy beginning of Hugh; y as in yes. Sound both consonants in ps and ks. Tap the r lightly.
Speak with an easy voice and let the punctuation guide the pauses. An apostrophe marks a vowel already omitted in the Greek. The sacred letters are sounded by their full Greek names, as named on the cards.

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Golden Book of Zeus Opening · Invocation to Zeus and Mnemosyne

The Golden Book of Zeus · Name · Opening Invocation

Ancient Greek

Κλῦθι, Ζεῦ, ὁ ὑπὲρ πάντα τίτλον γινώσκων ἕκαστον κατὰ τὴν ἀλήθειαν αὐτοῦ· καὶ σὺ Μνημοσύνη, μήτηρ Μουσάων, φύλασσε τὴν κλῆσιν πιστὴν καὶ τὴν ἱστορίαν ἀψευδῆ.
KLEE-thee, ZEHV, oh ee-PEHR PAHN-dah TEET-lohn yee-NOH-skohn EH-kah-stohn kah-TAH TEEN ah-LEE-thee-ahn ahf-TOO· KEH SEE mnee-moh-SEE-nee, MEE-teer moo-SAH-ohn, FEE-lah-seh TEEN KLEE-seen pee-STEEN KEH TEEN ee-stoh-REE-ahn ahp-sehv-DHEE.

English translation

Hearken, O Zeus, thou who beyond every title knowest each according to the truth proper to each; and thou, Mnemosyne, mother of the Muses, guard the appellation faithful and the history free of falsehood.

Δίδαξον ἡμᾶς προσαγορεύειν ἄνευ κατοχῆς, μνημονεύειν ἄνευ καταδίκης, καὶ ἀκούειν ὅταν ὁ καλούμενος ἀποκρίνηται.
DHEE-dhahk-sohn ee-MAHS proh-sah-ghoh-REH-veen AH-nehv kah-toh-HYEES, mnee-moh-NEH-veen AH-nehv kah-tah-DHEE-kees, KEH ah-KOO-een OH-tahn oh kah-LOO-meh-nohs ah-poh-KREE-nee-teh.

Teach us to address without possession, to remember without condemnation, and to listen when the one called answers.

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Sacred hymn · Hymn to Mnemosyne

Ten verses in dactylic hexameter · High Priest Zevios Metathronos

Ancient Greek

Μνημοσύνη, σὺ δὲ Μούσαις ἐννέα δῶρα φυλάσσεις.
mnee-moh-SEE-nee, SEE DHEH MOO-sehs eh-NEH-ah DHOH-rah fee-LAH-sees.

English translation

Mnemosyne, you guard nine gifts for the Muses.

Ζηνὸς σύλλεκτρος, σὺ θεῶν κλέος αἰὲν ἀέξεις.
zee-NOHS SEE-lehk-trohs, SEE theh-OHN KLEH-ohs eh-EHN ah-EHK-sees.

Consort of Zeus, you ever increase the glory of the Gods.

ἐννέα νύκτας ἔμεινας, ἔτικτες δ' ἄμβροτα τέκνα.
eh-NEH-ah NEEK-tahs EH-mee-nahs, EH-teek-tehs dh' AHM-vroh-tah TEHK-nah.

You abided through nine nights and bore immortal children.

κρήνη σὴ δὲ φέρει καθαρὸν πόμα, δῶρον ἀοιδῆς.
KREE-nee SEE DHEH FEH-ree kah-thah-ROHN POH-mah, DHOH-rohn ah-ee-DHEES.

Your spring bears a pure draught, the gift of song.

ἐν πινάκεσσιν ἔχεις γενεῶν κλέα, δῶρα θεάων.
ehn pee-NAH-keh-seen EH-hyees yeh-neh-OHN KLEH-ah, DHOH-rah theh-AH-ohn.

On tablets you keep the glories of generations, gifts of the Goddesses.

ἔργα παλαιὰ νόῳ σέθεν ἔμπεδα πάντα φυλάσσω.
EHR-ghah pah-leh-AH NOH-oh SEH-thehn EHM-beh-dhah PAHN-dah fee-LAH-soh.

Through your understanding I steadfastly preserve the deeds of old.

λήθη δ' ἐκ θυμοῦ μέγα φεύγει, Μοῦσα δ' ἀείδει.
LEE-thee dh' ehk thee-MOO MEH-ghah FEHV-yee, MOO-sah dh' ah-EE-dhee.

Forgetfulness retreats far from the heart, and the Muse sings.

σῇς ὑποθημοσύνῃσιν ἐγὼ κλέος ἄφθιτον εὗρον.
SEES ee-poh-thee-moh-SEE-nee-seen eh-GHOH KLEH-ohs AHF-thee-tohn EH-vrohn.

Through your counsels I found imperishable glory.

μήτηρ, δέξο δὲ δῶρα, μέλος καὶ χάρμα θεάων.
MEE-teer, DHEHK-soh DHEH DHOH-rah, MEH-lohs KEH KHAHR-mah theh-AH-ohn.

Mother, receive these gifts, song and the joy of the Goddesses.

χαῖρε, θεά, μνήμην δὲ δίδου φρεσὶν ἄμβροτον ἡμῖν.
HYEH-reh, theh-AH, MNEE-meen DHEH DHEE-dhoo freh-SEEN AHM-vroh-tohn ee-MEEN.

Hail, Goddess; grant our hearts immortal remembrance.

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Closing praise · Glory to Mnemosyne and Zeus

Hail, Mnemosyne, mother of the sacred chorus, whose living spring preserves the Divine word and the faithful name. Glory to Zeus, your immortal consort, from whose union with you the nine Muses receive their radiant birth. May their voices honour the source from which they flow. Receive our praise, august Mother; receive our praise, sovereign Zeus. May your gifts remain living and your glory unforgotten.

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FINAL STEP

After you are done with this, you can meditate on Mnemosyne's Sigil in the Temple of Zeus. Let yourself be immersed and to receive energy from Mnemosyne.

It's important to meditate on yourself after the Ritual calmly for a few minutes.

RITUAL NOTES

The nine nights and the nine daughters

Hesiod tells of Zeus’ nine nights with Mnemosyne and the birth of the nine daughters when the time of gestation was fulfilled. The third verse of the new hymn condenses that account. The ten rites in this collection honour the nine daughters and their mother; Mnemosyne is not presented as a tenth Olympian Muse. Hesiod, Theogony 1–115; 135; 915–917

Zeus, Mnemosyne and the faithful name

The Golden Book opens its chapter Name by invoking Zeus and Mnemosyne together. Zeus knows each being according to its truth; Mnemosyne, mother of the Muses, guards the faithful name and the truthful history. Their prayer joins remembrance to reverent address and attentive hearing, honouring the divine sources of the sacred chorus. The Golden Book of Zeus, Name, opening invocation · Zeus and Mnemosyne

The water of remembrance

Pausanias records water of Memory in the rites at the oracle of Trophonios, and a chair of Memory used after the consultation. This is an ancient setting for the imagery of the cup and its streams. The present Shenu honours remembrance as a gift of the Goddess, received and returned through the sacred word. Pausanias, Description of Greece 9.39.8, 13

Reading the Shenu

The tablet has nine divisions for the nine daughters. The cup and its streams signify the receiving and return of remembrance; the flame marks the meaning retained within it. The key, laurel and enclosing geometry gather the gifts of memory into one sacred image.

The sacred letters

Μ · Π · Α joins Μνημοσύνη, πηγή and ἀνάμνησις: Mnemosyne, the spring and recollection. The sequence honours the living source of remembrance, from which the voices of her nine daughters receive their enduring song. Temple of Zeus: sacred-letter recitation