Diana, is the Roman goddess of the hunt, woodlands, wild animals, fertility, childbirth and the moon. She is the reincarnated form of Artemis. Diana is also the mother of the English witch Nimue.
Overview[]
Diana was a goddess of chastity, and like her fellow goddesses Minerva and Vesta, she swore she would not have sex with men. Interestingly, while Diana was a symbol of purity, she was also prayed to by women who wanted to conceive and by mothers who wanted an easy childbirth.
Further, Diana was praised for her intelligence. Diana was said to have displaced Luna as a moon goddess, and Diana is represented as directing the movements of the moon from her chariot and was frequently thought of as the goddess of light.
Appearance[]
Like other Roman deities, Diana was born fully grown and was said to have been tall, beautiful, and youthful in appearance, often presenting herself as a young woman between the ages of twelve and nineteen. In artwork, she is frequently shown as wearing a quiver of arrows on her shoulder and holding a bow.
Typically clad in a short tunic, Diana is sometimes depicted as going barefoot, or wearing simple buckskin foot coverings, as was the style of Roman huntresses. Often, she is accompanied by maidens, deer, and hounds. In most sculptures, she wore her hair swept up and out of the way, as would be expected of a woman engaged in hunting and tracking. Her worshippers believed she had the power to talk to woodland animals and even control their movements and behavior.
History[]
Conflict with Jupiter[]
As she is the reincarnated form of her Greek counterpart the myths pertaining to Diana follow almost similarly. Much like her Greek counterpart, she was also a virgin goddess and was seen as the goddess of modesty for young girls.
Diana’s loyal follower Callisto was out hunting when she was spied by Diana’s father, Jupiter. Jupiter felt lustful toward the girl, and so disguised himself as his daughter Diana. He greeted the unsuspecting Callisto with a kiss, embraced her, and then revealed his true self and raped the girl, shaming Callisto in the process.
The next time she saw Diana, she feared it was Jupiter in disguise yet again. Said Ovid, “If Diana had not been a maiden, she could have known Callisto’s guilt by a thousand signs. They say that the nymphs realized it.” When Diana suggested they bathe in a river, Callisto’s pregnant belly was revealed. Diana sent her away, saying, “Be off from here! Do not defile these sacred waters!” Later, Jupiter’s wife Juno turned Callisto into a bear.
Mother of Nimue[]
Diana is revealed to be the mother of Nimue, an English witch who became Merlin's most powerful student in Arthurian times. Nimue herself would eventually become a key figure in the life of King Arthur. The father is unknown but some speculate it could either be a mortal man, a fae, or even a dragon in the guise of a mortal; John Constantine believes it to be the latter and goes so far as to say that said dragon is from Tiamat's lineage which may explain Nimue's connection to monsters.
According to Merlin, Diana fancied a male she spotted roaming the forests in order to locate some vegetation implying that he was a farmer. The man soon rested by a tree until he spotted Diana climbing down the tree from above and mounted him, immediately he was entranced by her beauty and did not resist her. Diana maintained her virginity by simply stimulating her target of fancy and when he ejaculated, she sliced the palm of her hand and allowed the ichor to drop on his semen. It took the formation of a young infant that was named Nimue.