The fierce embodiment of the howling winds, and feminine rage, Harpies were generally depicted as birds with the heads of maidens and the bodies and claws of predatory or carrion birds.
Called the Hounds of Zeus, The Harpies have long compelled storytellers. Ancient writers detailed their ugliness, calling them human vultures, while artwork depicted the harpies as beautiful women with wings. Virgil wrote, "Bird-bodied, girl-faced things they are; abominable their droppings, their hands are talons, their faces haggard with hunger insatiable."
The Harpies’ parents varied depending on the source, they were popularly thought to be daughters of Thaumas and Electra, and others postulated that they were the daughters of Gaia and a mysterious sea god. Frequently described as three sisters in Greek Mythology, The Harpies were known as Aellopous, Celaeno, and Ocypete. And The Harpy Celaeno is known particularly for her prophetic talents.
In Lady of the Beasts, Buffie Johnson writes that Harpies are “Female death spirits from Mount Dicte, home of the Cretan Goddesses, embodied in Carrion birds, probably vultures. They had bird bodies with women’s heads and breasts, suggesting the Minoan style of funerary priestesses in feather costumes with bare necks and bosoms. Their name meant snatchers or pluckers, perhaps related to their use of the harp in funerary music since a harp is played with plucking motions."
Much like Carrion birds, Harpies may be the alchemists of death or funerary priestesses. Harpies are the psychopomps, who, with their harps, escort the dead to the blessed fields, heaven, and the Underworld, which would make Harpies the very roots of the symbols of angels.
Messages from the Harpies…
Embody Your Sacred Rage: Like the fierce winds that The Harpies embody, go screeching through the night connected to your inner rage and divine anger. What do these words represent to you? If The Harpies are appearing, it might be time to dive in.
Investigate Your Relationship to Death: Because of The Harpies' symbolic connection to Carrion birds, death, and funerary rites, when The Harpies appear, it might be time to practice death work, or to spend time in relationship to your grief. What in your relationship to grief might be ritualized? Is there alchemy to be performed? Listen to The Harpy’s message…
Connect with the Sacred Number of Three: Much like The Furies, The Fates, and the Triple-Goddess, mythology is full of triad characters. When The Harpy sisters appear, what might you discover from their triple nature? The Harpies encourage a little bit of magick, just like this sacred number.