Ariadne ("the Utterly Pure") is the Minoan (Cretan) Great Goddess and Mistress of the Labyrinth, who is goddess of the shining moon and the dark underworld. In the center of the spiral Labyrinth a monster waits, who is yet kin to the Goddess (in the Attic myth, Ariadne's half-brother). She is the giver of souls, bound in sacred marriage to Dionysos, the god of boundless life.

Ariadne is associated with celestial spiral motion, both in the imagery of the Labyrinth, and in Her fame for dancing. Daedalos, the archetypal inventor (he is said to have invented the hammer!), who built the Labyrinth also built Her a dancing-floor decorated with labyrinthine meander patterns. The spiral dance evokes the whirling stars, and the Minotaur is called in some sources Asterios, "Star".

In the later Athenian legend, the Cretan princess Ariadne is the daughter of Queen Pasiphaë (herself a powerful sorceress and sister to Kirke) and King Minos, who fell in love with the hero Theseus of Athens. With her help he navigated the famous Labyrinth and killed the half-man, half-bull Minotaur. Ariadne then fled with Theseus, who promptly abandoned her on the island of Naxos while she slept. When she awoke and found herself alone, she demanded vengeance.

She was found pacing the beach by the god Dionysos, who fell in love with her, and made her His wife. The marriage crown was flung into the sky to become the constellation Corona Borealis, Ariadne's Crown. She was made immortal by Zeus.

She represents tangled issues and their untangling, deep, core issues, and the dark secret at the center of the maze, that to be healed, must be brought out to light.

Alternate names: Aridela ("the Utterly Clear")

To read Her tale, go here.