I spent the first six years of my life living opposite the Archeological Museum of Corfu. Not as ‘alive’ an organism as some modern museologists would like to theorise but daunting to a young child knowing that what lives inside is indeed powerful and meaningful in a way not yet known to her.

The oldest and largest surviving temple imagery of its kind in Greece takes up an exhibition space larger than my childhood home. Taken from the temple of Artemis, virgin maiden Goddess of the Moon, the sculpted relief is that of the Gorgon Medusa. Not dead and decapitated by Perseus as the predominant myth and Renaissance artistry would have her but paradoxically, very much alive and kicking in magestic grandeur. Flanked by her two children Chrysaor and the winged horse Pegasus, she is present in such strength and magnanimity it really does make you want to not look her in the eyes just in case the legend is true and you are left there standing in stone amongst the other cold marble exhibits. Could it be that because her eyes are all knowing, they see through us, penetrating our illusions and looking into the abyss of truth that very few can stand before her in clear conscience?

According to the thesis of one Alicia Levan, Medusa means "sovereign female wisdom”. In Sanskrit it's Medha, Greek Metis, Egyptian Met or Maat. She symbolizes the female mysteries and all the potent forces of the primordial Great Goddess. She is also said to be the Guardian of the Thresholds and the Mediatrix between the Realms of heaven, earth and the underworld. Her image was used to guard and protect women and the secret knowledge of the Divine Feminine. Her tongue protrudes like a snake's and her face is surrounded by a halo of spiraling, serpentine hair, no wonder it literally warned men to "Keep Away! Female Mysteries." It was erected in stone on caves and gateways at sacred sites dedicated to the Goddess.

To the left and right of her are scenes from the Titan battles. The end of the old and the beginning of the new.

Could it be that this is a marker for the cosmological shift in consciousness that saw the end of the matriarchal spirit in Mother Gaia and the ascension of patriarchy by Zeus on Mt Olympus? Is this the end of the Mother Goddess to be taken over by the Warrior Sky Gods? A permanent split between heaven and earth, between the feminine and masculine essence? After all, this is a story of leaps and bounds not rights or wrongs.

The symbology is unmistakable. Circles, wings, sneaks, wild nature, strength, Woman. Medusa’s head becomes the breastplate of Goddess of Wisdom, (ΣοΦια), Athena. Protecting a maiden’s heart from the linear thought of patriarchy and its vices perhaps? Perceived as a chalice, womanly Wholeness is blessed by spirit. As Hera has shown it can be daunting, it has been manipulative. Fear of it turns men into stone and so Medusa represents all that patriarchy had to eliminate by subsequent myth in order to remain in power. As such,  “the mythological beheading of Medusa symbolizes the ultimate silencing of female wisdom and expression. It is the act which stops her growth, limits her potential, movement and cultural contributions.”

It is these archetypal conditionings that are at the core of our collective memories. If it is the myths of classical Greece that cast the serpent as an evil, deceitful, revolting character associated with "witchy," (wise), women, then is it any wonder Modern Greek drivers speed over any snake they see crossing the roads…Intentionally!

It seems that the woman’s breasts that form the two central mountain axis peaks of this island are that of the laying medusa siren that calls you back over and over again. Lawrence, Durrell that is, points out in Prospero’s Cell that research into the word Corcyra will also give you κέρκος, a tail or handle. As I immerse myself into the metaphysical symbology of this sacred island the clearer she becomes. I stare at the satellite image of her over and over again awaiting for my consciousness to expand enough to be able to grasp the image. Suddenly I see her, the Queen of Mermaids rises out of the waters. Embracing her duality She is ascending into a higher dimension of existence. The two archetypes of St Michael and Medusa have found peace at last merging into Oneness.