Orphic Hymn 36 To Artemis
Fumigation from Manna
Hear me, Daughter of Leto, Celebrated, Noble, Bacchian Queen, rejoicing in Your silver arrows,
Torch-bearing Goddess Dictunna, who presides over births and relieves the pain of labor,
Divine Maiden, who glories in the Sylvan hunt,
Swift and fierce, no one is Your equal with the bow.
Wandering by night, reveling in the flowering meadows,
Brave and beautiful Nurturer of mortals,
Eternal and Earthly, Bane of fell monsters,
Dweller in the hills whom the woods and dogs delight,
You hunt the stag and give the Earth a store of bounteous fruit to bear.
Oh Universal Queen, You flourish in endless youth,
Wield the Cydonian Power, Dread Guardian Goddess,
With benevolence come to these mystic rites,
Send us gentle Peace and Health, and drive disease and care far from us.
Translation by A. Athanassakis