The Minoans were “synthetic” in their thinking; that is, they focused on the interrelatedness of experience, in contrast to the later development of the Aristotelian or analytic approach of distinguishing differences and separating elements as a way of knowledge.
Aguilar, A. Marina. Alchemy of The Heart: The Sacred Marriage of Dionysos & Ariadne. Chiron Publications. Kindle Edition.
People seem to focus on the probability of the female Praying Mantis biting off the head of her mate while engaged in sex. This may or may not be true. Does anyone go beyond this?
The real focus is on the sacrifice of the male. One male (or maybe more) one female then impregnation…then comes the egg sack. Glory be because then comes the next generation of thousands of perfect little baby Praying Mantis.
Why is it that no one talks about the Big Mama Praying Mantis dying after laying her ootheca? Statistically males that do not mate continue to go on to have a much longer lifespan then the female.
The reproductive cycle of the Praying Mantis is what it is, but it is not just the male that sacrifices his life… so does the female!!
In fact, they both do!!
Symbolically it is a ridiculously impressive analogy and the archetype of family.
In general, we do what we must to continue the life cycle. Luckily for human beings it is not as dramatic as in the life cycle of the Praying Mantis. I find it is best described from a Jungian perspective.
The magic causality or serendipity of Praying Mantis.
The Praying Mantis is a wondrous creature of nature and like nature is primal in understanding… if we choose to!
The Seminary of Praying Mantis Publishing 