Attis- Greek GodDeity"Consort of Cybele"

Origins in Phrygian Myth

Attis's birth wound through strange and miraculous events. Zeus's seed fell upon Mount Agdos in Phrygia, and from the earth sprang Agdistis, a hermaphroditic being of terrible power. The gods, fearing Agdistis, castrated the creature, and from the blood an almond tree grew. When the nymph Nana, daughter of the river Sangarius, placed an almond from this tree in her lap, she conceived and bore Attis. The beautiful youth was exposed at birth but nurtured by a he-goat until shepherds found him.

Madness Beneath the Pine

Cybele, the Great Mother goddess of Phrygia, fell in love with the beautiful Attis and made him the guardian of her temple, sworn to chastity. But when Attis was betrothed to the daughter of King Midas of Pessinus, Cybele's jealousy destroyed him. She drove Attis mad at his own wedding feast. Seized by divine frenzy, he fled into the mountains and, beneath a pine tree, castrated himself and bled to death. Cybele had destroyed the very thing she loved. She begged Zeus to preserve Attis, and the king of gods granted that his body would never decay; even his little finger would remain alive and moving. Violets sprang from his blood where it fell upon the earth.

The Rites of Attis

Attis's death and return became the center of a mystery cult. Each March, worshippers cut down a pine tree representing Attis and carried it in procession, decorated with violets and wrapped in wool like a corpse. Three days of mourning followed. The Galli — castrated priests of Cybele who had mutilated themselves in imitation of the god — gashed their arms in ritual grief. Then came the Hilaria, a day of joy celebrating Attis's resurrection and the return of spring.