Cotis (Latin), Kotis (Greek), Ceotis, Ciotis (Romania) is a Thracian – Dacian goddess, venerated especially at the Thracian Edons, population that it is found between the Struma river and the Mesta river, in south Sofia.

In Antiquity they were stretched till Vardar river (Axios), but after the Macedonian expansion they were pushed to east, in Thracia.

Strabon describes Cotis goddess’ cult as almost the same as Bendis goddess. He said that the Edons were playing some instruments that were issuing certain strange sounds, as thunders, caused by some big drums, probably, sound combined with some frantically strings accords, musical ritual like the ritual dedicated to the Sabazius god (Dionysus). This cult was also adored in the classic Athenian period, where the priests that were participating at this ritual was called baptai because they “were baptizing” every time the participants, purifying their souls.

It is said that they were singing with loud voice, in choir, those words:

“I ran the bad, I found the good”

Her cult may be like Attis or Cybela goddess’. The Edonian festival dedicated to the Cotis goddess was called the Cotyttia that it is said it was an nocturnal orgiastic ritual, with powerfully obscene connotations.

If we believe in the moreover affirmations, it minds that we have powerfully osirical influences, by Hellenism, more exactly by Dionysus/Sabazius.

Sorin Paliga thinks that the Cotis goddess’ name is related with the name of cotiata planet “strong grass” (tritticum repens), word derived from the ciot root, with Thracian origin.

By Kogaion