The images you'll see as you scroll down to the current text are all part of the story telling in my novel, Realms of Gold:Ritual to Romance.


Bianca Caldwell, pen name, Bianca Fiore, is a writer for an art magazine. In each of her monthly stories she describes an object used in ancient ritual.

The Mixoparthenos - Siren

 
"Siren, Bronze, Italian (Rome), ca. 1570-90.  
The Metropolitan Museum of Art



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The Mixoparthenos (Greek: Μιξοπάρθενος) was a Greek mythological figure,  traditionally hailing from the Black Sea region where her image is seen frequentl. The name means "half-maiden" .


The form of the Mixoparthenos is distinctive - above the waist, a beautiful woman, but covered with scales from waist down, ending in a double snake-tail. Some versions have the Mixoparthenos ending in a double fish-tail. Herodotus's Histories (4.9.2), Heracles marvels at a Mixoparthenos when he meets one, and mates with her, producing three sons, the youngest of which eventually became the founder of the Scythian nation. 
 
The Starbucks logo depicts a Mixoparthenos, of the double fish-tailed variety.