MilkHoneyOlive oilWhite flowersA refuge given to someone
Invocation Approach
Tone
Quiet and steadfast
Address
LetoMother of the TwinsLady of Delos
Relationship
The refuge that was refused and then granted
Warning
Her myth is about being turned away do not repeat it
Resonance
Mothers those in need of shelter those who have been refused
Symbols
Palm treeThe floating islandThe double birthThe veilThe wolf
Mythology Summary
Leto is the Titaness who, pregnant by Zeus, is driven across the world by Hera's refusal to let her give birth on any land that receives the sun, and who finally delivers Apollo and Artemis on the floating island of Delos after it is anchored. In the Iliad her Lycian episode at the Xanthos is one of the few places she acts on her own account. She is a mother but not a passive one: the Niobe story ends with her children killing Niobe's, and the cruelty of that is hers as much as her twins'. Delos became one of the great sanctuaries of the Greek world because of her.
Modern Practice
Leto is called on by mothers, by anyone turned away while in need, and at a birth that has become a search for a safe place. The practice is to give refuge, and the offering is the one you would want given to you.