Prominent Minoan sacred symbols include the bull and the horns of consecration, the labrys double-headed axe, and possibly the serpent. The old view was that, in stark contrast to contemporary cultures in Egypt, Mesopotamia and Syria, Minoan religious practice was not centred around massive formal public temples.

It is thought that the mother goddess was a nature goddess, the goddess of animals, the guardian of earth, sea and the harvest. That the bull should occupy a prominent place in such a society was quite natural; its power and potency constituted an important adjunct to the aura of the mother goddess.

Bulls were a central theme in the Minoan civilization, with bull heads and bull horns used as symbols in the Knossos palace. Minoan frescos and ceramics depict bull-leaping, in which participants of both sexes vaulted over bulls by grasping their horns.

Through looking at the myth of the Minotaur, ritual surrounding the bull, art featuring the bull, and analyzing similar iconography of other cultures, the Minoan deification of the bull is undeniable. The existence of King Minos and the myth of the Minotaur is debated but proves a long reaching connection to the bull in Minoan history.

Religion was an important part of Minoan life in Bronze Age Crete. From the evidence of figurines, carvings, reliefs, frescos, sacred objects, engraved seals and other ancient artefacts, it is possible to broadly identify the ancient Minoan gods worshipped in Crete and the places associated with their worship.