As a Priest of the Coven of the Catta I always wondered why one of the main Goddess we worship is Astarte. But now I see that since our coven is of the lineage of the Coven of the Horsa from Sybil Leek I see she may have gotten that from the Romani aka Gypsies she learned from in the New Forest in England. On a search i came across a reference to Saint Sarah whom the Romani worshiped and whom they called Astarte. So There.
To quote from that Wiki article on Saint Sarah –
One of our people who received the first Revelation was Sara the Kali. She was of noble birth and was chief of her tribe on the banks of the Rhône. She knew the secrets that had been transmitted to her… The Rom at that period practiced a polytheistic religion, and once a year they took out on their shoulders the statue of Ishtari (Astarte) and went into the sea to receive benediction there. One day Sara had visions which informed her that the Saints who had been present at the death of Jesus would come, and that she must help them. Sara saw them arrive in a boat. The sea was rough, and the boat threatened to founder. Mary Salome threw her cloak on the waves and, using it as a raft, Sarah floated towards the Saints and helped them reach land by praying.[3]
Its also interesting to note that Saint Sarah’s center of veneration is of her Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, a place of pilgrimage for the Roma. Even more interesting is that it is just down the Mediterranean coast of France from Gorges-du-Loup where Sybil Leek was initiated into our mother coven, the Coven de la Dragon Rouge.
Coven of the Catta 