These Pagan Portals are all current works in progress, serialised here on the Pagan Collective blog with each chapter being open for comment. In due course the entire script will be published as a Pagan Portal book.

Ataegina is the goddess who is reborn, resurrected, the one who emerges from the depths. Her chthonic character is so marked that the Romans attempted to assimilate her with Proserpine. However, their attempts failed to achieve a complete fusion, as indicated by the various altars dedicated to both throughout the territory. From this connection, we can deduce that the Romans were aware of Ataegina’s relationship with the afterlife, as a psychopomp, protector of the deceased, guide in the underworld, but also of her agricultural role, as the goddess of fertility, abundance, and harvests.

Perhaps due to this close relationship with Proserpine, many of her attributes were lost in the attempt at assimilation, as the Romans would have emphasised those attributes closest to their deity to the detriment of others, perhaps equally important. She is a mother who brings fertility to the cattle and the fields from her throne in the underworld, where the seeds that flourish on the surface germinate. She is also a mother who embraces you on your final journey. She is the Mother of the Alpha and Omega, the beginning of everything and the end. She is a promise of rebirth, and the fields return to life at her hand after the barren winter. She is what remains of the primitive cults of Iberia. She is the oldest Goddess in that sense, regent of life and death of everything in her territory, including vegetation, animals, and humans.

I think it’s important to emphasise that the ancient or classical underworld is not the Christian hell. Several people make the mistake of saying that Ataegina is an infernal deity. She is not. Let’s not demonise the most important goddess of Iberia because our knowledge of the underworld is influenced by a monotheistic religion that created its underworld, and which, by the way, it must be said, is much more terrifying than the classical one. Ataegina is not a demon, least of all in the Christian sense. She is a benevolent goddess of the earth, who gives us her abundance and blessings, offers us her waters, heals us, restores us to health, to life. Her relationship with goats, also an animal that Christians associate with their devil, might also be partly to blame for this infernal association. But as the goddess of agriculture, it couldn’t be otherwise, since the goat is one of the most important domestic animals on the Iberian Peninsula and a pillar of agricultural culture and economy.

Within her relationship with water, we must again emphasise her connection with the waters of the Guadiana River, springs, and underground waters. Like the Guadiana River, it makes sense that she is reborn, reappearing from the underworld. In Iberia, we find numerous springs documented as centres of devotion, not only in relation to Ataegina, but also to the nymphs and other deities, such as Coventina. It is interesting to note the discovery of several bronzes related to Ataegina in Galicia, not far from Coventina’s sanctuaries. As the goddess of water and subterranean waters, it is natural that healing springs were dedicated to Ataegina, such as the Sanctuary of Zafrilla, in the province of Cuenca.

Goddess of Livestock and  Beasts

We’ve already defined Ataecina’s relationship with agriculture and livestock, but beyond her relationship with livestock, Ataegina is also the lady of beasts. It’s curious how, following this thread, we can find connections with Astarte, such as in Ataecina’s relationship with the Goat, which accompanies the Phoenician deity and even flanks her in several representations. She is also connected to the goddess Diana, the goddess of beasts and wild animals, of the forests, and is also related to Feronia. Is it no coincidence that the Sanctuary of the Virgin of Cortes in Albacete was originally a shrine to Diana, or that the Virgin herself appeared to a goatherd? In some ways, there is a tangible connection between these goddesses of beasts and the wild and Ataegina. In some inland areas, Iberia remains a paradise for wildlife and is rich in forests. As lady of the beasts, Ataegina is the protector of the wild fauna of Iberia, she is the mother of all the animals that inhabit these lands.

Ataegina, Queen of the Iberian Underworld

Ataegina, as Proserpina-Persephone, is Queen of the Underworld, alongside her consort, the God Endovelico. We have no written sources about how Ataegina came to the Underworld. Still, in Spring, Ataegina and Endovelico leave the Underworld, reborn on the surface, as deities of the wild, the forests and fertility. When autumn comes, both return to the Underworld to reign there during the months of darkness. As we can see, it is a very different story from Persephone’s. Ataegina is sovereign in her own right, and her reign is not tarnished or diminished by entering or leaving the underworld. She simply transforms.

Goddess of Justice

“Goddess Ataegina Turibrigensis Proserpina, by your majesty, I ask, pray and beg that you avenge the theft which has been done to me. Whoever has changed, stolen, pilfered from me the objects which are noted below: 6 tunics, 2 linen cloaks, an undergarment (…)”

The text we just read was found in Merida. It is a defixio in which the author appeals to Ataegina in her role as avenger or restorer of justice to punish the thief who stole her possessions. While defixio are common in classical antiquity, I can’t help but see another connecting thread between Ataegina and, this time, the goddess Sulis in Bath. The two goddesses are nymphs, guardians of healing waters, of healing, and the afterlife. We can approach Ataecina in search of justice, as we would Sulis. Ataegina, as a goddess of health, also acts as an active intermediary through the curses, avenger and executioner, depriving those who act unjustly of their health and, ultimately, of their lives. Work with Ataecina to bring justice to your causes.

A Liminal Goddess

Ataegina’s liminality is found in the various clues about her cult, the landscape, and the realms where she reigns. She is a goddess between worlds; she reigns over not only the surface but also the subterranean world and even the heavens; she is also a lunar deity. She is also a goddess of water, underground waters, and the Guadiana River, representing a territorial boundary and a bridge in her cult. She overcomes territorial barriers, uniting the people of Iberia beyond what was previously thought. She is a goddess of life, in which she is the vital force that floods everything, and of death, as a psychopomp; everything surrounding Ataegina generally has a highly liminal character.

For more details: https://www.collectiveinkbooks.com/moon-books/authors/ness-bosch