The word "labrys", a word of Minoan origin, is used for a double headed axe, known as well as "pelekys" or "sagaris".
Representations of double axes are found in Africa, in Old Europe, in Minoan Crete among other places, and they are mainly associated with the worship of Mother Earth or Great Goddess.
Minoan labrys has been used as a ritual axe, found in ancient Minoan depictions of the Mother Goddess. Its symbolism is related to the labyrinth and it is believed that the meaning of the word labyrinth is the "house of the double axe". Labrys was used by female priestesses only, for bull sacrifices.
The shape of the double axe (referring to the moon) and the belief that it was used in the battlefields by the Amazons makes it a symbol associated with female and the female empowerment till our days.
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