The Mousai/The Muses

The Muses were nine (9) in number, which is interesting because nine (9) is the number of Born. It is to bring things into existence. It is manifesting it or birthing it from the womb of the mind.

The Muses presided over art, science, inspire all artists, especially poets, philosophers and musicians. They were goddesses of Knowledge and remembered all things that came to pass. The Muses gift to humanity was talent and inspiration. They would give inspiration to people. They would spark a thought or plant a seed in the person's mind, and the person would BORN it into physical reality.

Another interesting piece of information is that both museum and music derive from the word "muse". The Muses were said to be nine beautiful, intelligent, and careless goddesses. Their home was Mount Helicon in central Greece. This mountain was sacred to Apollo. He was the Greek God of music, light and the Sun. The nine (9) Muses were:

1. Calliope (Epic Poetry)
2. Clio (History)
3. Erato (Love & Erotic Poetry)
4. Euterpe (Music/lyric poetry)
5. Melpomene (Tragedy)
6. Polyhymnia (Sacred poetry)
7. Terpsichore (choral songs and dance)
8. Thaleia (Comedy)
9. Urania (Astronomy)

Nine (9) nights, Zeus, secretly, had sex with Mnemosyne. Mnemosyne was sometimes called the Mother of Creativity. Those nine nights between her and Zeus created the nine muses. Ironically enough, The they had Mnemosyne, the goddess of Memory (this is where the word mnemonic comes from), as their mother... Yet their mission was to make people actually forget their sorrows and not think about their cares. The Muses were brought to life to make the world disremember the evil and relieve the sorrows and to praise the gods, and especially the Olympian Gods' victory over their ancestors, the Titans. Apollo was the main teacher of the Muses. They were usually accompanying him and the Graces on their strolls and loved singing and dancing on soft feet on laurel leaves, while Apollo was playing the lyre.

They were originally regarded as the nymphs of inspiring wells, near which they were worshipped, and bore different names in different places, until the Thraco-Boeotian worship of the nine Muses spread from Boeotia over other parts of Greece, and ultimately became generally established. Furthermore, the genealogy of the Mousai is not the same with all writers. The number of the Muses varies, as well, but there are usually nine. Its said that, originally, three were worshipped on Mount Helicon in Boeotia, namely, Melete (meditation), Mneme (memory), and Aoede (song); and their worship and names are said to have been first introduced by Ephialtes and Otus....

Now that you know about the Mousai or the Muses...Which one whispers in your ear?