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To cite this article: Caroline J. Tully & Sam Crooks (2015) Dropping Ecstasy? Minoan Cult and the
Tropes of Shamanism, Time and Mind: The Journal of Archaeology, Consciousness and Culture, 8:2,
129-158, DOI: 10.1080/1751696X.2015.1026029
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Time & Mind, 2015
Vol. 8, No. 2, 129–158, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1751696X.2015.1026029
denoting “one who is excited, moved, tends to focus on the interior state of the
raised” and as a verb “to know in an ecstatic shaman, and to use the term “shamanism”
manner” (Jolly 2005, 127; Znamenski 2007; as a synonym for altered states of conscious-
viii). First recorded in 1672, by the late eight- ness (Atkinson 1992, 310). Academic disci-
eenth century “shaman” was used to plines including religious studies, psychology
describe a Siberian religious specialist who and archaeology, as well as popular self-
undertook to heal or harm other humans actualization and New Age literature, typi-
through a dramatic public performance. In cally apply the term “shaman” in Eliade’s
contrast the term “shamanism”, a scholarly transcultural, “impressionistic” manner,
construct, describes religious phenomena while anthropological ethnographies focus
observed across the world which appear upon single cultural traditions. The latter
similar to the Siberian prototype. There is argue that the psychological component of
no consensus on the definition of the term shamanism is not its defining feature and
(Hutton 2001; vii; Vitebsky 2001, 161; Jones that it should not be defined in isolation
2006).1 Generally however, a “shaman” is from the individual cultural system within
said to be a specialist practitioner who inter- which it is situated (Znamenski 2009, 200;
cedes with the non-human “otherworld” Atkinson 1992, 308).
on behalf of a human community in order There are, however, certain tropes of
to moderate relationships between that shamanism that have been observed across
community and other-than-human beings widely dispersed cultures and through time,
(Harvey 2010, 30). The shaman achieves leading to the inference of so-called “uni-
this through a combination of public perfor- versal shamanism”, a term positing set
mance and the altering of their own state of tropes or behavioral correlates which may
consciousness. While performative aspects be interpreted as “shamanic” such as the
of shamanism appear cross-culturally, the public performance of ecstatic states, spirit
interior psychological states of shamans communication and shamanic ascent or
may vary. Said to interact with an attendant flight (Atkinson 1992, 308; Díaz-Andreu
group of spirits, shamans may be possessed 2001, 125; Walter and Fridman 2004;
by or in dialogue with these spirits, or travel Znamenski 2009, 190–191). These com-
out of their body to meet them (Hutton monalities are explained in terms of uni-
2001, 65).2 versal human proclivities; behaviors that
Time & Mind 131
cifically Bronze Age Aegean context, not as but what of the reality? Crete, the lar-
shamanism, but in light of “shamanistic” gest of the Greek islands, is located in
practices. the Mediterranean on the ancient sea
This study argues that the religion of routes between Europe, Asia and
Late Bronze Age Minoan Crete exhibits Africa, a position contributing to its
characteristics which may be termed shama- important role in the network of trade
nistic. Key shamanic behaviors – including and transmission of culture throughout
use of psychotropic drugs, body postures, the ancient world (Cline 1994). First
ecstatic trance, dialogue with spirits, spirit inhabited in the Neolithic period
possession, therianthropic metamorphosis, (ca.7000–3500 BC), small hamlets and
communication with ancestors, and other- villages remained the dominant feature
world journeying within a tripartite model of of Crete until the end of the Early
the cosmos – will be analyzed. Pieter Jolly Bronze Age (the Early Minoan III
(2005, 127) characterizes shamanic cultures ca.2200–2100/50 BC). From the
as possessing religious functionaries who Middle Bronze Age onwards a more
draw on the powers in the natural world, complex society emerged which culmi-
including the powers of animals, and who nated in the appearance of the first
mediate, usually in an altered state of con- palaces, termed the Protopalatial period
sciousness, between the world of the living (Middle Minoan IB–IIIA-B ca.1925–1750
and that of the spirits – including the spirits BC). Destruction of the palaces, prob-
of the dead. Evidence for such practices, ably by an earthquake, and their subse-
drawn from both artwork and the archae- quent rebuilding marked the beginning
ological remains of cult sites, suggests that of the Neopalatial period (Late Minoan
the cult practices of Late Bronze Age Crete IA) around 1700 BC. The Minoan
may be understood in this light.4 Rather than palaces formed the center of adminis-
claiming that practitioners of Minoan religion tration, storage, religion and trade until
were “shamans” however, the description their destruction by the Mycenaeans in
“shamanistic” will here serve to describe the Final Palatial period (Late Minoan
those aspects of Minoan religion that appear IB–II) ca.1470–1420 BC, with Knossos
to conform with practices classified under itself finally destroyed around 1350 BC
the rubric of universal shamanism. (Tomkins 2010; Manning 2010).
132 C.J. Tully and S. Crooks
villas and religious sites such as cave and from a necklace; however, they have also
peak sanctuaries. One of the most charac- been found in proximity to hands, sug-
teristic material signatures of the palatial gesting they may also have been worn
administrative system is the seal. Seals, upon fingers (Müller 2005, 171;
also known as glyptics, were used to secure Dimopoulou and Rethemiotakis 2000,
and identify property, to designate owner- 43; Krzyszkowska 2005, 21; Rehak and
ship, and as a symbol of office or authority Younger 2008, 159; Popham, Catling,
(Boardman 2001, 13; Krzyszkowska 2005, and Catling 1974, 223).5
21), their ubiquitous presence in Minoan While approximately 11,000 seals
Crete reflecting a sophisticated and orga- and sealings are known from the
nized bureaucracy concerned with trade Aegean Bronze Age,6 the number depict-
and the exchange of commodities, the ing human forms is comparatively small.
accumulation of property and the In the Neopalatial period human figures
hierarchical exercise of authority occur on about 10% of seal-types
(Weingarten 1986). (Krzyszkowska 2005, 137). The most
complex and spectacular figurative scenes
are engraved on the metal signet rings
Seals and Minoan Religion and are thought to depict human and
Glyptic art is the most extensive body of divine figures engaging in cultic activities
Aegean Bronze Age representational art (Younger 1988, x; Boardman 2001, 16;
and consists of carved seals in the form Krzyszkowska 2005, 127, 137). Clay seal-
of seal stones, engraved metal signet rings ings attest the existence of at least 334
and the clay impressions (sealings) that different signet rings; however, only 102
the seals are used to produce. Seal ico- of these have thus far been recovered
nography was carved directly onto stone archaeologically. As well as depicting cult
or the large, flat bezels of gold, silver, or activities the engraved bezels portray
bronze rings (Boardman 2001, 13; hunting, fighting, chariot driving, and bull
Krzyszkowska 2005, 12–15). Usually leaping scenes (Weingarten 2010, 322).
under 3 cm in size, the primary purpose In the absence of deciphered texts from
of seals was the identification of their Minoan Crete, glyptic iconography is the
Time & Mind 133
richest and most diverse category of evi- with these possessed trees and stones
dence relied upon in the interpretation of subsequently lead to the possession of
Minoan cult. human participants (Evans 1901; Tylor
1871; Frazer 1890).
Evans proposed that Minoan posses-
Previous Research sion involved the descent of a deity in the
Early scholarship claimed that Minoan form of a bird onto a tree or stone,
cult involved spirit possession achieved thereafter possessing a nearby human
through consumption of psychotropic cult practitioner. Because trees are living
substances. At the beginning of the twen- things they were thought to function as
tieth century Arthur Evans, excavator of the permanent abodes of spirits and
the palatial site of Knossos on Crete, could act as conduits between humans
described Minoan religion as “primitive”, and the supernatural. Stones, however,
distinguished by aniconic cult objects required human intervention through
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deriving directly from the landscape ritual to invoke their inhabitation by spir-
such as trees and stones which, according its (Crooks 2013). Evans (1901, 124) saw
to his evolutionary schema, preceded this theory illustrated in a gold ring from
more sophisticated anthropomorphic Knossos (Figures 1 and 2) which he
sculpture (Evans 1901; Mettinger 1995; described as depicting “an armed God
Gaifman 2012). Influenced by Tylorian … descending in front of his sacred obe-
animism, which posited that early reli- lisk, before which the votary stands in the
gions were characterized by belief in the attitude of sacred adoration”, this being
animate quality of natural phenomena, as “the artist’s attempt to express the spiri-
well as James G. Frazer who argued for tual being, duly brought down by ritual
the universality of spirit possession, Evans incantation, so as to temporarily possess
proposed that the trees and stones of its stony resting place”.
Minoan cult could be temporarily inhab- Evans later proposed that dancing,
ited, or possessed, by supernatural beings chanting and consumption of psychoac-
such as spirits or deities. Ritual interaction tive substances were additional methods
Figure 1. Gold ring from Knossos, Crete. (AM1938.1127. CMS VI.2 No. 281 [CMS])
134 C.J. Tully and S. Crooks
Figure 2. Gold ring from Knossos, Crete. (CMS VI.2 No. 281 [CMS])
through which Minoans achieved ritual that this fruit was the source of “the
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possession, suggesting that the Minoan juice … like the Soma of the Vedas,
practice was analogous to Saami shaman- that supplies the religious frenzy, and at
ism (Evans 1930, 315).7 The Sacred the same time implies a communion with
Grove and Dance fresco from Knossos the divinity inherent in the tree …” In
depicts female figures engaging in what Evans’ framework the female figure is
Evans described as an “orgiastic dance” “thrown into an ecstatic frenzy by the
accompanied by incantatory chanting, juice of the sacred fruit … [and] … falls
while the scene depicted on a gold ring entranced on the shield of her male con-
from Vapheio (Figure 3) illustrates a sort” (Evans 1930, 142; Ackerman 1991;
female dancing while a male figure pulls Wasson 1967).8 Evans identifies further
on a tree, thought by Evans to depict the evidence for the use of psychoactive sub-
ritual harvesting of psychoactive fruit stances in a scene depicted on the Tiryns
(Evans 1930, 68, 142). Influenced by Ring (Figure 4), which he interprets as a
comparative mythology stemming from group ritual in which a chalice containing
Indo-European studies, Evans suggested the juice of a sacred tree was shared by
Figure 3. Gold ring from Vapheio, Greece. (CMS I No. 219. [CMS])
Time & Mind 135
Figure 4. Gold ring from Tiryns, Greece. (CMS I No. 179 [CMS])
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Figure 5. Gold ring from Mycenae, Greece. (CMS I No. 126 [CMS])
all participants (Evans 1936, 392). A Minoan glyptic art, none of which has psy-
female figure depicted on a Mycenaean choactive properties, while grape vines
ring (Figure 5), in which a male figure never appear in cult scenes (Evans 1901,
pulls upon a tree, is described by Evans 101).9 As a result of Evans’ analysis how-
as “waiting for the fruit that shall inspire ever, terms such as “possession”, “ecstatic
her ecstatic trances” (Evans 1936, 177). trance”, and “orgiastic frenzy” became pre-
However, Evans is unclear regarding valent in the discussion of Minoan religion,
what this trance-inducing substance actu- and in combination with putative psy-
ally was. Evans was incorrect in identifying choactive drug use, suggested that Minoan
clusters of grapes on the Mycenae religion was characterized by complete loss
Acropolis Ring (Figure 6), from which he of control (Nilsson 1950, 275; Warren
inferred consumption of wine, as the plant 1981, 1990; Niemeier 1989; Cain 2001).
in question is in fact a tree laden More recently, Christine Morris and
with fruit (Evans 1936, 394–395; Tully, Alan Peatfield have refigured scenes said
forthcoming). Evans further identifies fig, to depict “possession” as “altered states
pine, cypress, and plane trees depicted in of consciousness” – non-ordinary bodily
136 C.J. Tully and S. Crooks
Figure 6. Gold ring from Mycenae Acropolis, Greece. (CMS I No. 17 [CMS])
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states in which sensations, perceptions, between body and mind (Morris and
cognition and emotions are modified, Peatfield 2004; Huskinson and Schmidt
not necessarily distinguished by a loss of 2010, 14).
control (Morris and Peatfield 2004, 39).10 Morris and Peatfield suggest that
Rather than being possessed by a being ecstatic states can be achieved through
originating in a location external to the fasting, sensory deprivation or concentra-
ritual participant, and aided in this venture tion, sound, rhythmic movement, and phy-
by the ingestion of psychotropic sub- sical gestures. They claim that rather than
stances, Morris and Peatfield (2004) pro- being possessed, shamans are in fact
pose that Minoan spirits or deities are entranced, theorizing that trance states
experienced whilst in a trance state facili- have a neurological basis and are accessi-
tated by particular bodily postures per- ble to all humans with normally function-
formed by the ritual participant. ing nervous systems (Morris and Peatfield
Approaching Minoan religion from the 2004, 36–37, 40). Minoan glyptic art and
perspective of embodiment, their analysis figurines from peak, rural and cave sanctu-
relies on the concept of mind-body aries evince a formalized, repeated reper-
synthesis, exemplified in shamanic prac- toire of physical gestures. Held for
tice. According to this model physical extended periods of time, these gestures
action can affect emotional and psycho- are thought to represent one method for
logical states and therefore be used to achieving the trance state (Morris and
access altered states of consciousness. In Peatfield 2002, 2004; Morris 2004;
this analysis of Minoan religion the mind- Peatfield and Morris 2012).11 This idea is
body connection functions as both the based on anthropologist Felicitas
method and the vehicle through which Goodman’s (1986, 1988, 1990) experi-
communication with the otherworld is ments with various restrictive body pos-
achieved, shamanic activity apparently tures derived from ethnographic examples
overcoming the modern distinction of shamanistic rituals which, in
Time & Mind 137
combination with “sonic driving” (the hallucinations (Yaniv 2006, 28; Collard
repetitive application of sound), produced 2008, 60–61). Evidence for alcohol con-
altered states of consciousness. sumption in conjunction with ritual has
been found in caves in Crete (Tyree
2001, 45) and may have functioned to
Psychoactive Drugs produce the “frenzied” effect proposed
Both Evans’ theory of drug-induced by Evans. Alcohol functions differently to
trance and Morris and Peatfield’s hypoth- opium, suppressing inhibition and facilitat-
esis of trance naturally induced through ing commensality rather than individual
the adoption of certain body postures reverie (Jay 2010, 81). It could also be
may be correct. While there is no evi- used as a “carrier” to which other sub-
dence that the classic hallucinogens asso- stances may be added, and may have
ciated with shamanic trance such as the been used in this way as a substitute for
fly agaric and psilocybin mushrooms, the opium, itself perhaps the singular pro-
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peyote cactus, ergot, henbane, or datura vince of a select category of cult practi-
grew in Bronze Age Crete (Helvenston tioner (Hoffman and Ruck 2004, 115).
and Bahn 2005),12 evidence suggests that
the Minoans did have access to both
opium and alcohol. A small limestone Body Postures
half capital from the Palace at Knossos, Altered states of consciousness can, on
dating to the Late Minoan I period the other hand, be achieved through
(1700–1580 BC) may be the earliest mental and physical activity without
representation of a poppy capsule in the recourse to drugs, as Morris and
Aegean world (Merrillees 1999).13 The Peatfield propose and as Yogic practi-
poppy goddess from the Late Minoan tioners over the centuries would attest
sanctuary at Gazi wears a headdress (Wilson 2004, 88). Morris and Peatfield’s
decorated with incised poppy capsules, (2004) theory that the Minoans used
and a clay cylinder found in its vicinity body postures to trigger visionary states
has been interpreted as a tool with relies on ethnographic comparanda and
which to smoke opium (Marinatos remains hypothetical as no formal
1937, 287). Globular rhyta with painted physical experiments testing their claims
scars from Mycenaean Mochlos evoke have been published. In 2005 Erin
the scored poppy pods from which McGowan applied a modified form of
opium could be harvested (Nicgorski Goodman’s experimental techniques to
1999). In addition, a Minoan-style gold test whether Minoan ritual gestures can
ring from Mycenae (Figure 6) depicts a induce altered states of consciousness
female figure holding a bunch of opium (McGowan 2006). The experiment was
poppies, gold and rock crystal dress pins conducted within a darkened room
in the shape of poppy pods were also approximating a cave-like environment
found at Mycenae, and there is archae- in conjunction with sonic driving through
obotanical evidence for opium at Tiryns shaking a sistrum. Each of the adopted
(Collard 2008, 59; Kroll 1982; Arnott gestures resulted in participants experien-
2005). Opium consumption may have cing altered states of consciousness of
triggered an altered state of conscious- varying visual and aural complexity.
ness characterized by euphoria and visual Morris and Peatfield, in conjunction with
138 C.J. Tully and S. Crooks
Figure 7. Gold ring from Isopata, Crete. (CMS II.3 No. 51 [CMS])
Time & Mind 139
Figure 8. Gold ring from Mochlos, Crete. (CMS II.3 No. 252 [CMS])
Envisioned epiphany, in which human fig- Williams and Dowson 1988; Kyriakidis
ures perceive hovering objects, may be 2005) (Figures 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 13, 14).
explained as entoptic phenomena.16
Entoptic phenomena are produced by
the human optic system, and include a Dialogue with Spirits
range of luminous images independently Entoptic phenomena can appear in
of any external light source, including diverse forms including animals, people,
incandescent, shimmering, moving, and and monsters (Lewis-Williams and
rotating forms such as grids, zigzags, Dowson 1988, 202–203). Minoan glyp-
lines, dots, spirals, and curves. Entoptic tic provides examples of hovering
phenomena can be induced by psychoac- insects, birds, and human figures. Birds
tive drugs, fatigue, sensory deprivation, and insects are naturally flying creatures;
intense concentration, sonic driving, however, the insects in question are
hyperventilation, and rhythmic move- often depicted in unnaturally oversize
ment, as well as migraine and schizophre- scale (Kyriakidis 2005, 147) (Figures 9,
nia. Entoptic phenomena can be divided 10, 13, 25, 27, 28, 29). While the hover-
into phosphenes which derive from ing human figures can be female or
within the eye, and form constants male, and wear the same flounced skirts
which originate beyond the eyeball but and kilts typical of the other figures in
within the optic system. They are distin- these scenes, they appear comparatively
guished from hallucinations, which derive small in size, and are always facing or in
from the brain, but the two can occur proximity to the full-size human figures
concurrently (Lewis-Williams and (Figures 1, 2, 6, 7, 11). Hovering anthro-
Dowson 1988, 202–203). Entoptic phe- pomorphs never appear alone in an epi-
nomena are interpreted according to cul- phanic scene. Minoan glyptic art is
tural expectations which may explain usually interpreted in two dimensions,
why some of the Minoan examples however it has been claimed that the
resemble recognizable objects from else- small-sized, hovering anthropomorphs
where in the Minoan cultural vocabulary should be interpreted from a three-
including Cretan script signs, cult stands, dimensional depth perspective, and that
140 C.J. Tully and S. Crooks
Figure 10. Clay sealing from Zakros, Crete. (HM 1154. CMS II.7 No. 6 [CMS])
they only appear to be small because that the anthropomorphic figures, crea-
they are in fact far distant in the back tures and objects of envisioned epiphany
of the field. However, many examples may have been both seen and heard. If
have downward-pointing feet suggesting depicting an act of communication
that they are not standing upon the between a human figure and a spirit
ground, while some have long hair being, it is likely that such images repre-
which curves upwards as though they sent the subjective state of the human
are descending through the air. The fig- practitioner rather than a performance
ures may represent ancestors, numina, for an audience.
spirits, or deities. These images then
may be interpreted as scenes of immi-
nent enstasy – the arrival of spirits for Possession
the purpose of interaction with a human While images of envisioned epiphany
being (Huskinson and Schmidt 2010, 7). can be interpreted as depicting the
An ear and an eye depicted on the ecstatic trance state and the enstatic
Ashmolean Ring (Figure 11) suggest dialogue with spirits, scenes of enacted
Time & Mind 141
Figure 11. Gold ring, unknown provenance. (AM 1919.59 CMS VI No. 278 [CMS])
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epiphany may represent states of pos- seen or sensed by one person, the
session in which the supernatural being enacted epiphanic figure is meant to be
has entered into the body of the human seen. Rather than depicting the subjec-
figure. Enacted epiphany is primarily, tive state of an envisioned epiphany dur-
though not exclusively, performed by ing which the practitioner sees and
female figures. Most examples depict a communicates with supernatural phe-
seated female figure, a position of nomena, in scenes of enacted epiphany
authority in Minoan figurative art the human figure communicates with
(Rehak 1995),17 but standing male and other humans as a representative of
female figures do also occur (Figures 3, the supernatural being. Possession
4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 11, 12, 13, 14, 24). The could thus function as a system of com-
seated figures appear calm and still, munication in which elite figures mediate
while the standing figures appear more between the numinous and mortal
kinetic; some may be dancing. While the worlds (Huskinson and Schmidt
envisioned epiphanic deity may only be 2010, 2–9).
Figure 12. Gold ring Thebes, Greece. (CMS V No. 199 [CMS])
142 C.J. Tully and S. Crooks
Figure 13. Gold ring from Archanes, Crete. (HM 989 [Marinatos])
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Figure 15. Clay sealing from Zakros, Crete. (CMS II.7 No. 126 [CMS])
Figure 16. Clay sealing from Zakros, Crete. (CMS II.7 No. 145 b [CMS])
these cases most commonly bird or ani- epiphany however, these hybrid images
mal in form. In contrast to the entoptic may portray the interior experience of an
phenomena characteristic of envisioned intense trance state that could have been
144 C.J. Tully and S. Crooks
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Figure 17. Clay sealing from Zakros, Crete. (CMS II.7 No. 177 [CMS])
Figure 18. Clay sealing from Zakros, Crete. (CMS II.7 No. 119 [CMS])
induced by any of the shamanistic meth- human-bull hybrid known from Greek
ods already discussed. myth as the Minotaur. Half bull, half
Another type of typically Cretan ther- man, glyptic images of Minotaurs date to
ianthropic metamorphosis involves the the Mycenaean period on Crete (1490–
Time & Mind 145
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Figure 19. Clay sealing from Zakros, Crete. (CMS II.7 No. 170 [CMS])
1300 BC) and may have been inspired by (crane) dance (Morford and Lenardon
the earlier Neopalatial images – and 1985, 413–425).
actual practice – of bull leaping (Figures The Labyrinth of Greek myth may
20, 21, 22, 23). Like scenes of bull leap- recall the multi-roomed Minoan palace at
ing, Minotaurs in glyptic art usually appear Knossos, the killing of the Minotaur by
in contorted poses signifying exaggerated Theseus symbolizing Mycenaean domina-
movement (Schlager 2008; Krzyszkowska tion of Crete during the Late Bronze Age.
2005, 207; Simandiraki-Grimshaw 2010, Theseus was the son of Poseidon, a deity
96). Minotaur imagery may be connected worshipped by the Mycenaeans
with the mastery of animals. Successful (Weilhartner 2012). In the myth Theseus
mastery over the bull, symbolized by triumphs over Zeus’ son, King Minos of
the perilous athleticism of bull leaping, Crete, by killing the “monster” within
may have brought with it a symbolic Minos’ palace.18 Both Poseidon and Zeus
merging of bull leaper and powerful were represented by bulls, the former
male animal, appropriating qualities of impregnating Minos’ wife Pasiphae by
strength and virility amalgamated in proxy, perhaps symbolizing a human and
representations of the bull-man hybrid. spirit-animal sexual alliance or a marriage
The later Greek myth of Theseus and alliance between a Mycenaean wanax
the Minotaur in the Labyrinth also incor- (ruler) and the Minoan queen of Knossos.
porates shamanistic tropes including the Ioan Lewis (2003) defines shamans as peo-
use of a rope or thread to symbolize a ple who welcome “possession” as an
spirit path, a symbolic katabasis or jour- aspect of sexual and/or marital relationship
ney to an “Underworld”, and a bird with otherworld persons.
146 C.J. Tully and S. Crooks
Figure 20. Gold ring, Knossos, Crete. (AM 2237. CMS VI.2 No. 336 [CMS])
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Figure 21. Stone seal from Phaistos, Crete. (CMS III No. 363. [CMS])
Figure 22. Stone seal from Chania, Crete. (CMS VS3 No.150 [CMS])
stepped altars, and openwork platforms In images featuring baetyls the human
may represent mountains in architectonic figure either leans their head upon the
form, the latter sometimes surmounted by baetyl as though asleep (this pose has
a female figure or a tree (Figures 12, 13, also been interpreted as mourning:
24), while Lustral Basins and Pillar Crypts Persson 1942, 88) or faces away from it
within palatial architecture may evoke toward other full-sized human figures or
sacred caves (Preziosi and Hitchcock miniature hovering figures, creatures, or
1999; Hitchcock 2007; Crooks, Tully, and objects. Images in which the human figure
Hitchcock Forthcoming). presses their head against the baetyl
(Figure 26) may indicate verbal or silent
communication with the numen of the
Communication with Ancestors stone, while those in which the human
Glyptic scenes in which human figures figures look away suggest that the baetyl
kneel before and clasp large baetylic itself is not the focus of the activity, but
stones (Figures 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 25, 26, rather that it is one part of a more ela-
27) may represent communication borate ritual sequence. Evidence of food
between mortals and their ancestors and liquid offerings in the vicinity of actual
(Crooks 2013). Possession by ancestors, baetyls however may indicate that cultic
deceased shamans, other dead humans attention was directed toward the stone
or animals is characteristic of shamanism itself (Crooks 2013). Enacted epiphanic
(Eliade 1989, 82–83, 339–344; Hutton figures may represent ancestors or
2001, 40, 59, 72–73, 116). Minoan bae- chthonic deities, while swooping birds,
tyls can have funerary associations and as Evans suggested, may signify a deity in
may have acted as abodes for the dead. ornithomorphic form. Ritual activity
148 C.J. Tully and S. Crooks
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Figure 23. Stone seal from Chania, Crete. (CMS VS3 No.154 [CMS])
Figure 24. Clay sealing from Chania, Crete. (CMS VSIA No. 176 [CMS])
Figure 25. Clay sealing from Ayia Triada, Crete. (CMS II.6 No. 4 [CMS])
(Figures 3, 5, 13, 27), and in two exam- 2009; Tully, forthcoming). Tree shaking
ples this occurs in proximity to a kneeling may have been a technique through
human figure hugging a baetyl (Crooks which ritual practitioners travelled out of
2013, 55). In each instance of tree-shak- their bodies in an ecstatic trance state in
ing the legs of the figure are bent at the order to interact with the other-than-
knee, sometimes with one leg kicked human beings located on other cosmic
backwards, a posture suggestive of ener- planes (Huskinson and Schmidt 2010, 7;
getic movement which has been inter- Walsh 2001, 33).
preted as a frenzied state characteristic Sacred trees feature in many images of
of some forms of possession (Marinatos Minoan ritual and were evidently an
150 C.J. Tully and S. Crooks
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Figure 26. Stone seal from Knossos, Crete. (Str. Ex. No. 80/1229. [Warren, BSA])
Figure 27. Gold ring from Kalyvia, Crete. (CMS II.3 No. 114 [CMS])
important component of Minoan cult sites positioned tree, its vertical trunk and hor-
(Tully 2012). The Ring of Nestor (Evans izontal branches dividing the scene into a
1925, 1930; Pini 1998; Krzyszkowska 2005, quadripartite composition. The presence
334–335; Marinatos and Jackson 2011) of supernatural and powerful animals –
(Figures 28, 29) perhaps provides the including the Minoan Dragon, griffin,
strongest evidence for the importance lion, and bird-headed women – and the
of the tree in Minoan cosmology. This positioning of human figures sitting and
ring depicts a very large, centrally standing on the branches of the tree,
Time & Mind 151
Figure 28. Gold ring, unknown provenance. (AM 1938.1130 CMS VI.2 No. 277 [CMS])
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Figure 29. Gold ring, unknown provenance. (AM 1938.1130 CMS VI.2 No. 277 [CMS])
suggest that this is not a realistic scene, mobility to otherworld locations through
but rather a mythical or metaphysical ritual.
space. Evans (1930, 151) suggests that
we are here observing a depiction of the
Underworld, on the basis of two butter- Conclusion
flies in the upper left of the scene which The evidence presented here has shown
he interprets as “souls”. Whether the that Late Bronze Age Minoan religion exhi-
image depicts a celestial or chthonic loca- bits characteristics that can be described as
tion, the presence of an enormous tree shamanistic. Examination of behaviors classi-
structuring the scene suggests that the fied under the rubric of universal shamanism,
Minoans may have conceptualized the including the consumption of psychoactive
sacred tree as axis mundi, facilitating drugs and the enactment of special physical
152 C.J. Tully and S. Crooks
postures as methods for achieving trance, of innate or ‘hard wired’ biological struc-
confirms the utility of reconsidering Minoan ture, including species-typical architecture
of perceptual information-processing
religion in light of shamanic tropes. The
mechanisms and other relevant aspects
further re-figuring of Minoan epiphany and of neuroanatomy”.
hybridity in light of shamanistic practices 4. Without recourse to historical sources,
such as ecstatic trance, dialogue with spirits, the iconographic evidence from Minoan
possession, therianthropic transformation, Crete remains ambiguous. While the pre-
communication with the dead, and traversal sent study seeks to expand our interpre-
tive range through analogy with
of other worlds, provides compelling evi- shamanism, the result remains but one
dence for the presence of shamanistic ele- interpretation among many.
ments within Minoan cult activity. Further 5. Popham (1974, 223) suggests that the rings
research, particularly the archaeobotanical may have been worn between the first and
analysis of psychoactive plants in Bronze second knuckles of the finger, making them
easier to stamp impressions with.
Age Crete, and the refinement of experi-
6. The seals and sealings are published with
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ments with Minoan postures, may shed bibliography in the Corpus der minoischen
more light on this fertile area of inquiry. und mykenischen Siegel (CMS) series.
7. The Saami, whose traditional territory is
northern Scandinavia spanning modern-
Acknowledgments day Norway, Sweden, Finland, and
The authors wish to thank Professor Robert Russia, practice a form of shamanism simi-
Arnott, Dr Paul Bahn, and Dr Sabine Beckman lar to the canonical Siberian type (Hutton
for useful advice and references regarding psy- 2001, 137).
choactive plants. Thanks also to Professor 8. It is generally agreed now that the object
Nanno Marinatos, Professor Peter Warren, and on this shield is a sacral knot rather than a
the British School at Athens, and to Professor mourning figure.
Ingo Pini and Dr Maria Anastasiadou from the 9. Evans did identify Crocus in the Knossos
Corpus der Minoischen und Mykenischen Siegel, Linear B tablets, a plant reputed to have
for permission to reproduce glyptic imagery. narcotic properties, see note 12; however,
Finally, our thanks to the anonymous reviewers did not suggest that it might be psychoac-
from Time & Mind. tive (Evans 1899).
10. “Altered State of Consciousness” is
usually abbreviated to the acronym
Notes “ASC” and, according to Atkinson (1992,
1. Piers Vitebsky (2001, 161) suggests that 310), has been the buzz-word in interdis-
the term “shamanry”, like wizardry, ciplinary studies on shamanism since the
could be used for the shaman’s activities, early 1980s.
“shamanship” could describe the sha- 11. Loeta Tyree (2001, 41–42) endorses
man’s professional quality, and the plural Morris and Peatfield’s interpretation of
“shamanisms”, be used because of the Minoan gesture and Altered States of
lack of a unifying ideology. Consciousness in regard to figurines, in
2. Graham Harvey (2010, 31) questions this case, from caves.
the focus upon the psychological state 12. An African variant of the sea daffodil
of the shaman and the utility of the term (Pancratium Trianthum), a plant depicted in
“spirits”, suggesting instead that shaman- Minoan fresco, glyptic and ceramic decora-
ism is characterized by relationality in tion, is used as a psychoactive substance by
which a shaman negotiates communal the Bushmen from Dobe, Botswana; how-
wellbeing between humans and other ever, the Aegean version (Pancratium
life forms within their environment. Maritimum) does not appear to have
3. Watson (2009, 12–13) defines universals such properties (El-Hadidy et al. 2012).
as “relatively stable human characteristic Saffron is another plant depicted in
Time & Mind 153
Aegean art; the Cretan variety is Crocus 15. Or is the human being “played” by the
cartwrightianus. Safrol, the predominant deity? Mary Keller (2002) suggests that
part in oil of saffron, deriving from Crocus possessed humans are played like an
sativa was used as a medical narcotic in the instrument by ancestors, deities, and
ancient Mediterranean (Emboden 1979, spirits.
49). Saffron may have been used medicin- 16. Kyriakidis (2005) has suggested such float-
ally on Crete (Day 2011, 371). Henbane ing objects are astronomical constellations.
(Hyoscyamus niger) is mentioned in the 17. The rocks and constructed openwork plat-
Ebers Papyrus ca. 1500 BC (Helvenston forms that female figures sit upon may be
and Bahn 2005, 41). Sabine Beckman symbolic of mountains, further enhancing
(personal communication 19 October the idea of authority (Crooks, Tully, and
2014) identifies two Cretan varieties of Hitchcock Forthcoming). The Knossos
henbane, Hyoscyamus albus and throne features a “baetylic” back that also
Hyoscyamus aureus, and has observed may evoke a mountain (Crooks 2013, 53).
datura growing in Crete although it is 18. The Minotaur was also, technically, a son
most probably a late import. However, of Poseidon. In the Skoteino cave near
we do not know what level of alkaloids Knossos rock protuberances are carved
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