8-5-99 - DREAM - I spent many hours working on a web page about
John F. Kennedy, Sr. conspiracy links. Each person's ideas were in
rectangular boxes which were turned on edge so they were diamond shaped.
My job was to delete lines and spaces to make the information more
concise. There were many conspiracy ideas, so this took a long time.
I then went into an even stranger dream.
I was standing out in the yard by the garage door at my New Berlin
house. I was there with my young son Bill. I saw a rain shower coming out
of the southeast. (Rain always comes from the southwest there) I saw it
coming and hollered for Bill to come into the garage with me so as to not
get wet, but he ran up the hill behind the garage. I kept hollering for
him to get back into the garage and water was already cascading down the
hill like a waterfall when Bill came down the hill driving a large cart
like a chariot pulled by two white ponies in tandem.
I kept yelling at him to get into the garage and he pulled the
animals around and the ponies turned into a coarse haired white yak with
fur. I grabbed it by the bridle and held it and petted it until it was
calm. The other pony turned into a beautiful white horse and then into
another white yak with long coarse fur.
I grabbed that one too by the bridle and we stood in the garage
while it poured rain outside.
Meanwhile Bill went into the house to talk on the phone with a
woman. I could hear the voice outside but not understand nor remember the
words.
I followed Bill into the house because now something had to be done
with the yaks because I didn't know how to feed them and there was a
secret feeding spot somewhere under the fur near the ear.
I stood at the bottom of the stairs and called Bill down. when he
arrived, he was now Stephen King with a green face. He said, "Now you will
know who the true ME is when I appear like this."
I was quite astonished to know the truth. At the same time, I heard
another man coming down the stairs. This man stopped at the top of the
stairs to talk to us.
He was an older, dark-haired man and his job was to watch people and
to report back to another man whom I could hear coming down the stairs
from even higher up.
I felt I had to leave before that man appeared. I opened the door
and woke up.
From: gdaoust@icrdl.net (Gerald D'Aoust)
Dear Lady Dee,
I had fun reading your last Horsey dream and as you can see
dreams are divine messages which are staged like great theatre plays
in which we must try to figure out the message. Your initial thoughts
on it are very nice and quite in line with the topic... and rather
finely intuitive I must admit. :)
Anyway, in the land of the yak... the whole essence of the
Tibetan Scriptures is written on the Airy-Horse World Prayer Flags of
Tibet which are hung everywhere in great numbers. On these, which
tradition is said to come from the previous and very old Shamanistic
Bon-Po faith which blends into Vishnuism, Buddhism and Lamaism and all
other Faithisms,... on can read...
The familiar legend "The Buddhist Creed"...
"Of all objects which proceed from a cause...(a dream for
instance) The Tathagatha has explained the cause. And he has explain
their cessation also; This is the Doctrine of the Great Samasa." (
Vinaya Texts, i., 146 )
...followed by the letters of the alphabet to indicate that
language had been created for this purpose only...together with the
words...
"May the life, body, power and the "Airy Horse" of the holder of
this charm ...prosper his body, speech, and wishes, and cause them to
increase like the Growing New Moon; may He be possessed of all wealth
and riches, and be guarded against all kinds of injuries."...and this
is followed by some invocations...
"May, the body, power, wealth, and Airy-Horse of the
Charm-Holder be raised sublimely and all injuries be guarded against
and may He be given the undying gift of Soul Everlasting." (as the
adamantine cross herein pictured)..BLT, p.417
"May we be freed from all kinds of injuries and be favoured with
the gift which we earnestly seek!"..."May virtue increase!"..."Glory!"
****
Now, this is a Universal Prayer called the World Prayer which
just like the Khorshed Yast of the Magis to help recognise the Avatar
or Universal Monarch or Messiah when he shows up and to show the
people what to do when he shows up... which is to prosper his body,
speech and wishes... because he is the Verb, the Logos and the
incarnation of the Universal Monarch... the King and Judge in the
Other World... and that is most important for everyone to know and
realise because he doesn't come every other week.
Being unfortunately stuck in all kinds of earthly survival
duties, I will be forced shortly to do other things than devoting my
time to my favorite passion of living within the dreams and
interpreting them.
Regardless, I keep the hopes that one of these days several
people will finally awaken to the Dreamland Reality and will work
together to the Recognition of it.
With Best Regards,
Charm-Holder Grald
1-10-06 - DREAM -
(The house where the dream takes place is built on the side of an
'esker' and limestone outcropping at the edge of the last ice age where
the glacier dropped a pile of stones and sand as it melted.)
When I woke up in the morning, my husband was working out i the yard
o the lawn and flower beds.
He came running into the house and asked if I had felt the
earthquake.
I answered, "No!"
He went back outside to dig in the yard again and came running back
in yelling, "There it goes again!"
I hadn't felt anything, but I looked out the bedroom window from
upstairs and the dirt was rising from something pushing from beneath.
(That window faces west)
My husband went back outside to dig again.
As I sat in the bedroom watching, I could see the land rising up
outside the window and the house.
Where there was once a swale along the foundation of the house,
where the water could could run off, now there was a mound of dirt and
black tarry stuff all the way up to the second floor window.
My husband continued to dig holes out in the yard, trying to stop
this ominous mound from growing, but it was climbing higher and higher up
the side of the house, threatening to push it over.
I decided to run across the street to Allis-Chalmers where I worked
and ask my boss who was an engineer what we could do. (A-C was actually 15
miles from our house)
When I got there, it was late in the day and he had left already and
gone home.
There were 4 other tall engineers there and I explained what
happened right across the street.
Either they didn't believe me or didn't care, and just walked
away.
I walked down the hall where some women co-workers were still
sitting at their desks and told them what was happening. They agreed to
come over and take a look.
As we walked back across the street, I could see the big mound of
dirt with a layer of black tarry stuff behind the house. There were big
square holes where my husband had dug, attempting to stop it, but to no
avail, it was still growing.
I brought the women into the house, going from room to room. I could
smell something burning. All the other people who lived with us were doing
something different and each one was doing something with an electrical
appliance, but nothing seemed amiss.
But then, in the window was the evidence, this big black mass of
dirt, leaning against the house, threatening to topple it over.
One of the women ran outside and I followed her. She was dressed in
a light green dress, and I saw she had a matching light green face and she
had a skinny light yellow doll that she threw ahead of her as she ran.
"We have to pray over it. We have to pray over it!" she yelled back
at me.
I thought she had lost her mind.
3-27-09 - DREAM - THE MAN WITH THE DARK GREEN FACE
I was
living in New Berlin, WI. My Father said he was going to meet me in the
parking lot at a school, so I was early and waiting for him.
I had to leave the car to talk to someone who needed some advice and
walked across the parking lot. I was watching my car the whole time for
my Father to arrive but didn't see him. I took my eyes off my car for
just a moment, and when I looked back, I couldn't see my car, so I went
back across the parking lot, thinking it was perhaps behind a snow pile,
as it was winter and the snow plows went through some time ago, piling up
the snow here and there.
I looked and looked and looked but couldn't find my car. I then
started thinking that perhaps my Father had taken my car home because I
wasn't in it. So, I went home.
I didn't see my car at home either, but I got a phone call from my
friend Norbie who told me he was bringing a man who wanted to talk to me.
I didn't want to meet the man in my house because I was expecting my
Father any moment, to bring my car home.
So, I was out in the garage, which was very clean and there were no
cars in it. I was just messing with some things on the work bench.
I saw two women go past the door, and for some reason, that made me
very nervous as they were just wandering around the yard.
I started watching the sunlight on the ground because if someone
came to the garage from the direction of the sun, their shadow would
precede them and I'd be aware that someone was coming. But I carefully
locked the upper door of the garage so no one could surprise me from that
direction when I wasn't looking.
Finally, Norbie's car arrived and a little baby, dressed in a pink
pajama outfit with feet on came into the garage. He was really sweet and
began running around the work bench and under the workbench. I talked to
him in baby talk, and called him Sweetheart and finally went and picked
him up so he wouldn't hurt himself in the garage.
Then Norbie came into the garage, bringing this middle-aged man with
him.
The hair on my arms immediately stood up, and I used my
professional, more affective voice in greeting Norbie and the man, who
looked very familiar but I can't name him.
The man started telling me that I was two different people with
different personalities, and told
Norbie that I wasn't who I said I was, and Norbie got very nervous about
the confrontation and
decided it would be best if he left.
Norbie went out to his car and got in it to leave, and at that
moment, the man's face turned an ugly dark green and I started running for
the house, knowing my Father would be there waiting for me. As I ran
across the yard to the house, the man called me out, telling Norbie, "See
how she is now?!
I thought perhaps he meant that he could see fat on my legs as I ran
towards the house or something because my dress got above my knees when I
ran, but I wasn't going to stop and point out to him that I was a mother,
and wife, and a good person.
I ran into the house, and slammed the screen door behind me, locking
it, and then slammed the wooden door with the glass window also, and
locked it, hoping my Father was in the livingroom, waiting for me, and I
woke up.
The Wedjat Eye
by Wim van den Dungen
To understand the restorative symbolism of the Wedjat Eye, the myth
of Osiris is indispensable. Unfortunately, when all references are
compared, no canonical Osirian legend can be found. Early texts are
full of allusions to lost myths. What we have on record is a number
of motifs which conform to a mythological pattern. Although it is
likely that the fertility myths of the Dynastic Osirian cycle do
contain Predynastic components, we have no elaborated, written myths
about his existence until the Pyramid Texts. In the last
millennium, the popularity of Osiris grew. In the Late Period, under
the Ptolemies, he became Serapis, the "Lord of the Universe" in all
its aspects.
the fourth generation of gods : Osiris & Isis
Osiris, the beneficent king of Egypt who had been killed by his evil
brother Seth, was never represented in movement, but only as a mummy
and the "Ka of Life" of the Earth and its vegetation (with black or
green face). With the fourth generation of gods, the harmonious
development of precreation was disturbed. Indeed, with Seth, the
rule that each pair of gods only engendered one other pair was
broken :
First generation : Atum creating himself (He - She) ;
Second generation : Atum's first act of creation : Shu (male) -
Tefnut (female) ;
Third generation : Geb (male) - Nut (female) ;
Fourth generation : Osiris (male) - Isis (female) | Seth
(male) - Nephthys (female).
With Seth's birthday, the regular, dyadic flow of enneadic expansion
is disturbed. Seth's presence caused disorder in the "zep tepy".
Before there was no man to say his name, Seth was putting at risk
the divine fabric of creation, the Ennead :
THE HELIOPOLITAN
ENNEAD
0.
Nun
the primordial
waters are undifferentiated & extended everywhere - although
called "father of the gods", nothing happens in this vast
zero, no myths develop
1.
Atum
the act of
Self-creation happens in the primordial waters and is the
crucial event which initiates the "zep tepy" - the aloneness
of godhead endures before creation
2.
Shu
by raising his
arms (active thought), Shu created space & air -
differentiation, light & life were made possible - the
mediation between unity & multiplicity had begun
3.
Tefnut
the world created
by Shu's intelligence and command needs a good order, just and
true to its principles - a natural and moral organization are
indispensable
4.
Geb
the essential
event associated with Geb (Earth) and Nut (sky) is their
separation by Shu and his wind spirits, for originally, both
had been one - the sarcophagus of the dead king represented
the Earth and its lid the sky - in the body of Nut the
"millions" of stars came into being, as well as the abode of
Re and the spirits
5.
Nut
6.
Osiris
the reign of
Osiris on Earth is ideal, implying peace, unity and fertility
(good Nile floods) - Osiris is the prototype of the good
shepherd loved by his people
7.
Isis
Isis is the
perfect spouse and queen - her loyalty has no limits as
(through magic) she gives birth to Horus despite her murdered
husband - then Isis becomes the perfect mother, raising up
Horus in secret
8.
Seth
Murder, sexual
perversion, disease, storms, fiery heat, violence, turbulence,
chaos, disorder etc. belong to the trickster of Osiris, who,
although mastered, is not cast out, nor negated, but made
useful to Horus' new order
9. Nephthys
Lady of the
Mansion, she occurs alongside Isis as a protector of the king,
and weeps violently for her dead brother Osiris, who's mummy
wrappings are her work
The Ennead (or
company of nine deities) is rooted in physical reality (the
Two Lands) by Horus, the king of Egypt. He is the "tenth"
factor, closing the sequence of the natural numbers (after
"10", all numbers are but repetitions of the first 9 numbers).
Pharaoh is "1" and "0", for his principle (Atum = 1) was born
in the waters (= 0).
Let us summarize the essential myths of the Osiris cycle :
the kingdom of
plenty and peace : Pharaoh Osiris ruled over a mythical,
perfect kingdom = the fourth generation of gods ;
disruption of this
harmony : Osiris was murdered by Seth and his demons, who tore
his body into pieces = "Osiris slain" ;
period of mourning
and confusion : Isis & Nephthys seek & find the body, mummify
it, protect it (night-watches) and mourn = "Isis mourning" ;
Isis conceives a
son by Osiris : Isis partly revived Osiris thanks to Thoth.
She hid her son Horus in the swamps of the Delta and brought him
up in secret (a whole cycle of myths gather around Isis in the
Delta) ;
Osiris is the "Ka
at rest" ("kA Htp") : Osiris sojourns in the Netherworld in a
state of unconsciousness and powerlessness ("great sleep"). His
Ka-powers are depleted, although the pieces of his body have been
brought together in a ritualistic way (cf. mummification and the
release of the "Sah" - "zaH"), unlocking the portal of the
Netherworld and allowing the soul ("bA") and the spirit ("Ax") a
material substrate. Without Horus, the outlook for Osiris is
hopeless ;
Horus avenging his
father and loosing his left eye : to resuscitate his father,
Horus had to vanquish his father's enemies. He fought Seth in a
long and bitter battle.
Horus vindicated
before the great council of gods : the deities grew tired of
the disturbances caused by this ongoing battle in the universe.
Thoth persuaded the two fellows to submit their quarrel to divine
arbitration - the final verdict is in favour of Horus ;
restoration of the
Eye and Horus crowned king : only Pharaoh Horus wields the
might of the Restored Wedjat Eye (assimilating the great goddess)
;
Horus resuscitates
Osiris : Horus goes to the Netherworld and restores the life
force of his father (the Wedjat Eye plays the role of Ka-offering)
;
Osiris risen in
the Netherworld : awakened by the Eye of Horus, Osiris' soul
is set in motion and he becomes the spirit of life, growth,
fertility, resurrection & rebirth needed by his son Horus to
establish unity & peace in the Two Lands. Seth has been made sub
serve this new order. The unregulated forces are mastered and made
to help in sustaining the revived Osiris (Seth is his bark).
Only in two forms is Osiris presented to the observer and the reader
: either as what he became after his assassination (namely, a mummy)
or as the manifestation of the life-force or vitality of creation
(the "green" of life). Only in the texts of the IXth & Xth Dynasties
is Osiris allowed to speak for himself.
Osiris & the Wedjat Eye
The Osiris drama unfolded in mythical (enneadic) times, but on a
personalized level (as a family conflict unfolding in a mythical
"perfect" kingdom) and in the fourth generation of gods. While the
Atum-cycle refers to cosmogonical and royal themes (the Eye of Re),
Osirian beliefs are anthropological (the emotional, funerary family
drama) and vitalistic (the yearly revival of nature). Moreover, they
are common beliefs (the Wadjat Eye of Horus was a very popular
amulet).
Osiris was the victim, the helpless one, but also the dead land to
be revived. He suffered, like the little man, with all mortality,
had been murdered and sojourned unhappily in the Netherworld. His
unfortunate death had been followed by a deadly afterlife. He called
out to be revitalized by his son, Pharaoh Horus so as to resurrect
as a soul and become the spirit of life itself. In this way, he
would be the ultimate power of revival and fertility, the eternal
cycle of birth (in this world : the fertility of the land) and
rebirth (in the Netherworld : no "second death" but
spiritualization).
His son Horus was his heir and avenger. As avenger, he had to
confront Seth and subdue him. Then, as "beloved son" he could take
care of the "Ka" of Osiris (who was depleted). Revitalized, Osiris
achieved beatification and became the spirit of life. As heir,
Pharaoh Horus would rule. He had Seth beneath his sandals, serving
the new order.
The Wedjat Eye-cycle represents the process whereby Horus is injured
by Seth (the empty eye), fights the foe, is healed (the Eye of
Thoth), crowned (by the deities) & empowered by this "green" Eye of
Wellness, which he gives to Osiris. Her great magic is able to
resuscitate the dead god who is dying his "second death" in the
realm of the dead. For Osiris is sleeping his "great sleep" in
the "desert place" in which he came. By descending into the
Netherworld and giving his Wedjat Eye to Osiris, Horus revives his
father, i.e. pulled him out of this state of "second death". Reborn
as a soul in the realm of the dead, Osiris is now able to move and
transform himself into the spirit of eternal rejuvenation.
The rescue of Osiris by Horus the Redeemer, is the rising of the
flood waters and the advent of the New Year.
the patrilineal principle
Osiris is not reborn in this world, as in other fertility cults,
where the resurrected god returns to Earth (cf. Tammuz brought back
to life & Earth by Ishtar). Osiris stays in the Netherworld, to
become the king and the judge of the dead. Pharaoh Horus fulfils the
destiny of this world. Osiris resurrects in a special spiritual
"soul-body", released after "the opening of the mouth" by Horus.
Without Horus, the perfect son, Osiris would have continued to die
(being a god, total annihilation could not happen). Without Osiris,
no Pharaoh could guarantee the fertility of his land. This model was
the mythical background of Pharaonism : the living Pharaoh was
Horus, the son and heir of Osiris, the dead king, his father,
resurrected as a soul and spirit of eternal life.
This deceased father (returning to Re in the sky) was the source
(the link) of the son's Ka-power. Being a spirit, he was free to
move around and dwell wherever he liked, but especially around the
mummy in the tomb. The father needed a successor, for he wanted that
all offerings be made to his Ka, for this gratified his soul. The
sapiental instructions also underline this : the father is pleased
to receive a son who listens well and becomes better than himself.
This patrilineal principle was kept in place for three millennia. It
is fundamental to understand the Egyptian mentality.
The Wedjat Eye represented injury, healing and triumph through
filial spirituality. Horus was the perfect son who had heard and
had listened. With his story, the Osirian drama repeated itself
: "Osiris slain" is as "Horus injured", "Isis mourning" returns as
"Horus healed" (each time thanks to Thoth), whereas "Osiris risen"
and "Horus crowned Pharaoh" are also similar themes. And indeed,
Horus did better than his father. Osiris lost his earthly life for
good, was saved from a "second death" to be crowned king in the
Netherworld. As Pharaoh, Horus was the sole living god on Earth, the
only god who's spirit was not in the sky, but amongst mortal beings
"hiding" before his most beautiful face.
But there is more. While on Earth, Osiris had not realized the evil
intentions of his brother. When Horus was crowned, he had the power
of the Wedjat Eye and so could resuscitate his father in the
Netherworld. This gave Osiris the power of comprehending Seth's real
nature, mastering him and making good use of his chaotic powers (he
became the bark of Osiris). Horus gave Osiris the Wedjat Eye and
"opened his mouth" with an adze representing the Great Bear, a
constellation of Seth.
"Horus
had laid hold of Seth and has set him under You in your behalf so
that he may lift You up and quake beneath You as the Earth quakes,
You being holier than he in your name of 'Sacred Land'. Horus has
caused You to examine him {Seth} in his inmost parts, lest he escape
from You ; he has caused You to lay hold of him with your hand, lest
he get away from You."
Pyramid Texts, utterance 356, 581-582.
Because of Horus' descent into the Netherworld as a crowned Pharaoh,
Osiris could "send out his soul" (or "bA") and "set himself in
motion". The herald of the annual Nile inundation was the heliacal
rising of the Dog-star Sothis or Sirius, associated with Isis,
brightly appearing on the eastern horizon in the dawn sky of July.
But the motion of the waters in the vegetation itself, called for
the spirit of life, i.e. the return of Osiris to the sky. This was
associated with the rising of Orion or Osiris in the southern sky,
the beginning of a new season of growth & fertility. Both events
underlined the advent of the New Year.
Because of the care of his son (who vanquished the enemies of his
father), the latter could become one with the soul of the original
Osiris, and be "an Osiris" in the Netherworld. The living did not
worship their ancestors, but hoped that some of their Ka-power could
be transmitted for their own needs. By resuscitating Osiris in the
Netherworld, Horus had guaranteed the fertility & growth in the
re-established order on Earth for ever and ever.
Core dynamics of the Osirian cycle.
" ... and they say to Osiris :
'You went away, You have returned.
You woke, You fell asleep.
You are enduring in life.
Arise ! Behold this ! Arise !
Hear this, what your son has done for You !
What Horus has done for You !'"
Pyramid Texts, utterance 482, 1006 - 1007.
A. The Passion of Osiris
OSIRIS SLAIN :
The power of life is disrupted. The beginning of crisis ;
ISIS MOURNING :
The constituents of life are scattered. This is a period of great
danger, in which the inner causes of turbulence are to be confronted
and assimilated. Hence, a new concept of life may emerge (Horus),
although the old order is like an immobile dead (cf. Osiris' sojourn
in the Netherworld) ;
OSIRIS DYING :
The earthly Passion of Osiris ends with his mummification and return
to the Netherworld, the "Beautiful West", the place of the dead,
situated underground but also in the primordial waters. But his
Passion continues. In the Netherworld Osiris has no "bread and
beer", but satisfaction and quiet. Nevertheless, he wanders
helplessly herein (like Shu and Tefnut before the Single Eye brought
them back ?). This is his "second dead", a "great sleep" in the
realm of the dead. The "call" of Osiris : "Come down to me !" is
the great turning-point in this drama.
B. The coming of the Redeemer
ISIS MOTHER :
First enslaved by Seth, Isis escaped thanks to Thoth and fled to the
marshes of the Delta. She hid Horus from Seth, so that he could grow
up and eventually re-establish the good order of things. In the
Delta, Seth could not appear in his true form. As a snake or
scorpion, he tried to harm Horus the child (the Greek "Harpocrates").
In this phase, the love and anxiety of Isis are mingled with the
situation of the lonely and unprotected child.
THE EYE TORN OUT :
When the new concept has matured, it has to fight the causes which
destroyed its "father", i.e. counter the repetition of the crisis. A
direct confrontation with these causes is unavoidable. But in the
fight, the left eye of Horus was injured. The battle seemed endless
because both parties were very strong. Only honest arbitration may
help. But who of the deities can solve the eighty-year dispute ? The
verdict of Neith, the oldest of the gods ? The new principle (Horus)
is of today, the old (Osiris) is of yesterday. Seth is made to serve
(either Osiris or Re).
WEDJAT & CORONATION
The Eye was found, restored and made well (Wedjat) by Thoth. She
empowered Horus at his coronation and helped him to re-established
the original kingdom of peace & plenty. Being king implied that
Pharaoh Horus had to guarantee that the Nile flood was balanced and
on time. This could only happen thanks to the spirit of life
(Osiris). But this was slain and wandering in the Netherworld ;
C. The Redemption of the Soul of Life
OSIRIS RISEN :
The Crowned Horus plunged into darkness to vitalize Osiris with his
Eye and "open his mouth". The subsequent resurrection of Osiris as a
soul heading to the sky (as the spirit of life) was thanks to the
restorative power of the Wedjat Eye, which broke all Sethean
restraints, inertia & slumber. This made Osiris finally understand
Seth and become the ultimate judge in the Hall of Maat. Osiris
resurrection and ascension to the sky represented the
spiritualization of his soul of life and the ultimate guarantee that
the Ka-power of life would intercede for Pharaoh Horus. Thanks to
Horus, Osiris became the reviving powers of the New Year. Thanks to
Osiris, the reign of Pharaoh Horus was peaceful.
the Wedjat Eye in healing magic
The Wedjat Eye is a magical healing eye. Its restoration by Thoth,
Lord of Wisdom & Healing, makes this clear. As with all Egyptian
magic, it was used whenever the balanced order of nature has been
disrupted (disease) or in need to be defended against an assailing
foe (immunity-response). In particular, the Eye of Horus had
revitalizing abilities, and was offered to the deities (as it was to
Osiris). Despite the different mythological connotations, the
Egyptians used both eyes in various iconographical compositions,
stressing their complementarity's (as Sun & Moon) :
the Eye of Ra
offered to Thoth by his Ape
who stands on the Eye of Horus
THE FOREGOING survey of the myth and ritual of Osiris may
suffice to prove that in one of his aspects the god was a
personification of the corn, which may be said to die and come to
life again every year. Through all the pomp and glamour with which
in later times the priests had invested his worship, the conception
of him as the corn-god comes clearly out in the festival of his
death and resurrection, which was celebrated in the month of Khoiak
and at a later period in the month of Athyr. That festival appears
to have been essentially a festival of sowing, which properly fell
at the time when the husbandman actually committed the seed to the
earth. On that occasion an effigy of the corn-god, moulded of earth
and corn, was buried with funeral rites in the ground in order that,
dying there, he might come to life again with the new crops. The
ceremony was, in fact, a charm to ensure the growth of the corn by
sympathetic magic, and we may conjecture that as such it was
practised in a simple form by every Egyptian farmer on his fields
long before it was adopted and transfigured by the priests in the
stately ritual of the temple. In the modern, but doubtless ancient,
Arab custom of burying the Old Man, namely, a sheaf of wheat, in
the harvest-field and praying that he may return from the dead, we
see the germ out of which the worship of the corn-god Osiris was
probably developed.
The details of his myth fit in well with this interpretation
of the god. He was said to be the offspring of Sky and Earth. What
more appropriate parentage could be invented for the corn which
springs from the ground that has been fertilised by the water of
heaven? It is true that the land of Egypt owed its fertility
directly to the Nile and not to showers; but the inhabitants must
have known or guessed that the great river in its turn was fed by
the rains which fell in the far interior. Again, the legend that
Osiris was the first to teach men the use of corn would be most
naturally told of the corn-god himself. Further, the story that his
mangled remains were scattered up and down the land and buried in
different places may be a mythical way of expressing either the
sowing or the winnowing of the grain. The latter interpretation is
supported by the tale that Isis placed the severed limbs of Osiris
on a corn-sieve. Or more probably the legend may be a reminiscence
of a custom of slaying a human victim, perhaps a representative of
the corn-spirit, and distributing his flesh or scattering his ashes
over the fields to fertilise them. In modern Europe the figure of
Death is sometimes torn in pieces, and the fragments are then buried
in the ground to make the crops grow well, and in other parts of the
world human victims are treated in the same way. With regard to the
ancient Egyptians we have it on the authority of Manetho that they
used to burn red-haired men and scatter their ashes with winnowing
fans, and it is highly significant that this barbarous sacrifice was
offered by the kings at the grave of Osiris. We may conjecture that
the victims represented Osiris himself, who was annually slain,
dismembered, and buried in their persons that he might quicken the
seed in the earth.
Possibly in prehistoric times the kings themselves played the
part of the god and were slain and dismembered in that character.
Set as well as Osiris is said to have been torn in pieces after a
reign of eighteen days, which was commemorated by an annual festival
of the same length. According to one story Romulus, the first king
of Rome, was cut in pieces by the senators, who buried the fragments
of him in the ground; and the traditional day of his death, the
seventh of July, was celebrated with certain curious rites, which
were apparently connected with the artificial fertilisation of the
fig. Again, Greek legend told how Pentheus, king of Thebes, and
Lycurgus, king of the Thracian Edonians, opposed the vine-god
Dionysus, and how the impious monarchs were rent in pieces, the one
by the frenzied Bacchanals, the other by horses. The Greek
traditions may well be distorted reminiscences of a custom of
sacrificing human beings, and especially divine kings, in the
character of Dionysus, a god who resembled Osiris in many points and
was said like him to have been torn limb from limb. We are told that
in Chios men were rent in pieces as a sacrifice to Dionysus; and
since they died the same death as their god, it is reasonable to
suppose that they personated him. The story that the Thracian
Orpheus was similarly torn limb from limb by the Bacchanals seems to
indicate that he too perished in the character of the god whose
death he died. It is significant that the Thracian Lycurgus, king of
the Edonians, is said to have been put to death in order that the
ground, which had ceased to be fruitful, might regain its fertility.
Further, we read of a Norwegian king, Halfdan the Black, whose
body was cut up and buried in different parts of his kingdom for the
sake of ensuring the fruitfulness of the earth. He is said to have
been drowned at the age of forty through the breaking of the ice in
spring. What followed his death is thus related by the old Norse
historian Snorri Sturluson: He had been the most prosperous
(literally, blessed with abundance) of all kings. So greatly did men
value him that when the news came that he was dead and his body
removed to Hringariki and intended for burial there, the chief men
from Raumariki and Westfold and Heithmrk came and all requested
that they might take his body with them and bury it in their various
provinces; they thought that it would bring abundance to those who
obtained it. Eventually it was settled that the body was distributed
in four places. The head was laid in a barrow at Steinn in
Hringariki, and each party took away their own share and buried it.
All these barrows are called Halfdans barrows. It should be
remembered that this Halfdan belonged to the family of the Ynglings,
who traced their descent from Frey, the great Scandinavian god of
fertility.
The natives of Kiwai, an island lying off the mouth of the Fly
River in British New Guinea, tell of a certain magician named
Segera, who had sago for his totem. When Segera was old and ill, he
told the people that he would soon die, but that, nevertheless, he
would cause their gardens to thrive. Accordingly, he instructed them
that when he was dead they should cut him up and place pieces of his
flesh in their gardens, but his head was to be buried in his own
garden. Of him it is said that he outlived the ordinary age, and
that no man knew his father, but that he made the sago good and no
one was hungry any more. Old men who were alive some years ago
affirmed that they had known Segera in their youth, and the general
opinion of the Kiwai people seems to be that Segera died not more
than two generations ago.
Taken all together, these legends point to a widespread
practice of dismembering the body of a king or magician and burying
the pieces in different parts of the country in order to ensure the
fertility of the ground and probably also the fecundity of man and
beast.
To return to the human victims whose ashes the Egyptians
scattered with winnowing-fans, the red hair of these unfortunates
was probably significant. For in Egypt the oxen which were
sacrificed had also to be red; a single black or white hair found on
the beast would have disqualified it for the sacrifice. If, as I
conjecture, these human sacrifices were intended to promote the
growth of the cropsand the winnowing of their ashes seems to
support this viewredhaired victims were perhaps selected as best
fitted to personate the spirit of the ruddy grain. For when a god is
represented by a living person, it is natural that the human
representative should be chosen on the ground of his supposed
resemblance to the divine original. Hence the ancient Mexicans,
conceiving the maize as a personal being who went through the whole
course of life between seed-time and harvest, sacrificed new-born
babes when the maize was sown, older children when it had sprouted,
and so on till it was fully ripe, when they sacrificed old men. A
name for Osiris was the crop or harvest; and the ancients
sometimes explained him as a personification of the corn.
2. Osiris a Tree-spirit
BUT Osiris was more than a spirit of the corn; he was also a
tree-spirit, and this may perhaps have been his primitive character,
since the worship of trees is naturally older in the history of
religion than the worship of the cereals. The character of Osiris as
a tree-spirit was represented very graphically in a ceremony
described by Firmicus Maternus. A pine-tree having been cut down,
the centre was hollowed out, and with the wood thus excavated an
image of Osiris was made, which was then buried like a corpse in the
hollow of the tree. It is hard to imagine how the conception of a
tree as tenanted by a personal being could be more plainly
expressed. The image of Osiris thus made was kept for a year and
then burned, exactly as was done with the image of Attis which was
attached to the pine-tree. The ceremony of cutting the tree, as
described by Firmicus Maternus, appears to be alluded to by
Plutarch. It was probably the ritual counterpart of the mythical
discovery of the body of Osiris enclosed in the erica-tree.
In the hall of Osiris at Denderah the coffin containing the
hawk-headed mummy of the god is clearly depicted as enclosed within
a tree, apparently a conifer, the trunk and branches of which are
seen above and below the coffin. The scene thus corresponds closely
both to the myth and to the ceremony described by Firmicus Maternus.
It accords with the character of Osiris as a tree-spirit that
his worshippers were forbidden to injure fruit-trees, and with his
character as a god of vegetation in general that they were not
allowed to stop up wells of water, which are so important for the
irrigation of hot southern lands. According to one legend, he taught
men to train the vine to poles, to prune its superfluous foliage,
and to extract the juice of the grape. In the papyrus of Nebseni,
written about 1550 B.C., Osiris is depicted sitting in a shrine,
from the roof of which hang clusters of grapes; and in the papyrus
of the royal scribe Nekht we see the god enthroned in front of a
pool, from the banks of which a luxuriant vine, with many bunches of
grapes, grows towards the green face
of the seated deity. The ivy was sacred to him, and was called his
plant because it is always green.
3. Osiris a God of Fertility
AS A GOD of vegetation Osiris was naturally conceived as a god
of creative energy in general, since men at a certain stage of
evolution fail to distinguish between the reproductive powers of
animals and of plants. Hence a striking feature in his worship was
the coarse but expressive symbolism by which this aspect of his
nature was presented to the eye not merely of the initiated but of
the multitude. At his festival women used to go about the villages
singing songs in his praise and carrying obscene images of him which
they set in motion by means of strings. The custom was probably a
charm to ensure the growth of the crops. A similar image of him,
decked with all the fruits of the earth, is said to have stood in a
temple before a figure of Isis, and in the chambers dedicated to him
at Philae the dead god is portrayed lying on his bier in an attitude
which indicates in the plainest way that even in death his
generative virtue was not extinct but only suspended, ready to prove
a source of life and fertility to the world when the opportunity
should offer. Hymns addressed to Osiris contain allusions to this
important side of his nature. In one of them it is said that the
world waxes green in triumph through him; and another declares,
Thou art the father and mother of mankind, they live on thy breath,
they subsist on the flesh of thy body. We may conjecture that in
this paternal aspect he was supposed, like other gods of fertility,
to bless men and women with offspring, and that the processions at
his festival were intended to promote this object as well as to
quicken the seed in the ground. It would be to misjudge ancient
religion to denounce as lewd and profligate the emblems and the
ceremonies which the Egyptians employed for the purpose of giving
effect to this conception of the divine power. The ends which they
proposed to themselves in these rites were natural and laudable;
only the means they adopted to compass them were mistaken. A similar
fallacy induced the Greeks to adopt a like symbolism in their
Dionysiac festivals, and the superficial but striking resemblance
thus produced between the two religions has perhaps more than
anything else misled enquirers, both ancient and modern, into
identifying worships which, though certainly akin in nature, are
perfectly distinct and independent in origin.
4. Osiris a God of the Dead
WE have seen that in one of his aspects Osiris was the ruler
and judge of the dead. To a people like the Egyptians, who not only
believed in a life beyond the grave but actually spent much of their
time, labour, and money in preparing for it, this office of the god
must have appeared hardly, if at all, less important than his
function of making the earth to bring forth its fruits in due
season. We may assume that in the faith of his worshippers the two
provinces of the god were intimately connected. In laying their dead
in the grave they committed them to his keeping who could raise them
from the dust to life eternal, even as he caused the seed to spring
from the ground. Of that faith the corn-stuffed effigies of Osiris
found in Egyptian tombs furnish an eloquent and un-equivocal
testimony. They were at once an emblem and an instrument of
resurrection. Thus from the sprouting of the grain the ancient
Egyptians drew an augury of human immortality. They are not the only
people who have built the same lofty hopes on the same slender
foundation.
A god who thus fed his people with his own broken body in this
life, and who held out to them a promise of a blissful eternity in a
better world hereafter, naturally reigned supreme in their
affections. We need not wonder, therefore, that in Egypt the worship
of the other gods was overshadowed by that of Osiris, and that while
they were revered each in his own district, he and his divine
partner Isis were adored in all.
Regarding the Sisters of the Green and the Witches of
Erinsford
Being a Part of
The History of the Wyvernesse
by
Cirades Rymon
The Sisters of the Green
'The Witches', as they are sometimes, and mistakenly, called refer
to themselves as the Sisters of the Green or Daughters of the Green Lady.
They are Between, like each of the other mixed companies. The Sisters, one
and all, worship the Green Lady. Their power flows from her. Despite these
facts, they are not an priestly order.
Like the Gardeners, the Sisters once lived both in the cities and
the country. Also like some Gardeners, they have now fled to the wilds.
The Sisters, where they can survive in the cities, often work as midwives
and herbal healers. Gardener women also choose these same professions, but
whereas Gardeners use alchemy, herbal medicines, and the faintest touch of
magick to do their work, the Sisters eschew alchemy completely. They,
though they are all Human or Half-Elvish, have an Elvish view of alchemy -
it is to them both vulgar and inferior. The Sisters use magick at need and
herbal cures most of the time.
The Sisters are perhaps the least fortunate of the mixed companies.
The Yetins' wisdom, artistry, and physical prowess recommend them to the
four races. The Forestkeepers are revered, or at least respected, for the
work they do in defending the rural settlements. Where this work is kept
secret, they still have woodland lore, exciting stories, and fighting
skill to earn them a place. The Sisters, however, are an anomaly, for they
possess skill in magick, though there are no Elves among them. They take
no part in the gifts of men, living simply, close the earth, and having
nothing to do with alchemy. They are sometimes referred to as Hags or
Crones. These names are not used by anyone who respects them, though
sometimes "old crone" is used as a codeword for 'Witch'.
A sister typically practices what the Omae would call Earth and
Water magicks, though some practice Air magicks. Rare indeed are the Red
Witches, Sisters who have taken to practicing the magicks of fire, chaos,
and destruction. They are properly known as the Red Witches. To call a
devoted Sister of the Green a Hag or Red Witch is to insult her
egregiously, but a 'Green Witch' will not respond with violence. She
might, in a fit of pique, give one something to upset one's stomach, but
little more. To call a Red Witch a Hag or Crone is to risk one's life.
The Sisters are a persecuted group. In the face of witch hunts, they
have resorted to an unwanted secrecy. They have histories, but they keep
them hidden, just as they keep their spell-books hidden. In those
histories is a list of the many families and covens which have been
decimated by bands of witch hunters, and also the few which remain.
The Sisters' society, where it persists, is organized into both
families and covens. Family organization happens naturally as the Sisters
and their consorts breed and bear children. Significant magickal ability
passes from mother to daughter. If a Sister marries the son of a sister,
the magick will pass to the children through both parents, giving both
sons and daughter magickal ability.
Covens form when sisters of similar, or complimentary, magickal
interest, join together for mutual teaching and support. Covens do not
take names beyond the names of their leading members. Each coven keeps a
spellbook containing lore and spells in keeping with the interests of the
group. For covens which are just getting started, this covenbook is more
or less the spellbook of its leader. For older covens, the covenbook is a
compilation of the coven histories, geneologies, and more powerful spells,
since the common spells can be found in the spellbooks of the membership.
The sons of Sisters of the Green possess little if any magickal
talent. Given the Sisters' disdain for alchemy, those boys with magickal
talent turn often to Half-Elvish shamanism. A few rebel, choosing an
alchemical tradition separate from both the Brotherhood of the Fang and
the Gardeners. In a word, they embrace chaos, choosing Fire magick and the
unpredictability of alchemy. They are not inherently evil, but they are
dangerous. These rebel sons become Rods of Chaos.
Several other sects and groups relate to the Red Witches and the
Sisters of the Green. The Rangers, the Keepers of the Yeti Spirit, and the
Half-Elvish shamanic traditions are the most obvious of these. In addition
to the Rods of Chaos, there are the Knights of the Green and various
groups of witch-hunters.
The interaction between the Sisters and Knights of the Green, and
between the Red Witches and the Rods of Chaos, is fairly complex. All four
groups worship the Green Lady or some manifestation of her. All four
groups also believe in the existence of a male counterpart, usually
identified as the Axe-Bearer. (As an aside, even the Dwarvish folk
recognize a relationship between the Green Lady and the Axe-Bearer, though
they focus on the Axe-bearer rather than the Lady). The male groups,
corporately and as individuals, sometimes take the role of the Axe-Bearer
in relationship to their respective Sisterhoods. The Sisterhoods do the
reverse, taking the role of the Lady in relationship to their men.
There is a strong tendency for the members of the like Orders (that
is, the Sisters and Knights of the Green, and the Witches and Rods of
Chaos) to intermarry. A young Rod or Knight will spend his youth attaching
himself to various members of the appropriate sisterhood, until at last he
finds the right person. At that point, the Knight and the Sister will
marry. The Knight becomes the Sister's primary guardian and she becomes
his primary healer. Among the Sisters and Knights of the Green, such
marriages are for life. The same tradition exists among the Reds, though
the Reds' mutual devotion to chaos results in less permanent marriages.
The members of both male orders are known for their willingness to die and
to kill to save the lives of the Sisters to whom they are married.
All four orders are now quite rare. The Knights and Sisters of the
Green have fled to the wilds of the world, intermingling with the
Forestkeepers and the shamans. These groups do not share members, but they
do share goals. The Knights will give few open signs of being Knights, but
a wary eye can spot them. They tend to be very skilled with axes of
various kinds, since the axe is a primary symbol of their god and their
primary weapon in combat. They sometimes carry small hatchets on their
belts, even in cities, but most overlook this sign as the trappings of the
woodsman. Forestkeepers also carry hatchets with the same dual purpose.
The only way to know if the Forestkeeper you meet is guarding the Sisters
or merely a woodsman is to ask the hatchet's purpose. If the Forestkeeper
answers at all, it is a sign that he trusts you. If he says, "For fire,"
he is guarding a Sister. If he says, "For wood," the hatchet is just a
tool. If he says, "For firewood," one has run into a ranking Forestkeeper,
who knows that most weapons can be tools, and most tools weapons.
The Red Witches and the Rods of Chaos have chosen the cities and
various kinds of entertainment as their means of survival. Urban Red
Witches practice divination for a price. They are called on by both
entertainment seekers and human city leaders, and service all comers, so
long as the pay is right. Many of the Rods of Chaos make their livelihoods
as performers of magick and illusions. Among humans, they are popular,
since one neever knows what one will see when one goes to see a Red Wizard
perform. Their emphasis on chaos makes them unpredictable, especially in
combat and performance. The spectators, and the performers, enjoy the
excitement of wondering what will happen next.
When groups of superstitious Men began hunting the Witches, all four
groups began to develop styles of combat and survival in the face of angry
mobs. Even the Sisters and Knights of the Green developed such skills,
though their general abhorrence of bloodshed means that the Sisters focus
on means of defense and of indirect attack. If faced with a mob, the
Sisters and Knights will seek to slow an attack by choosing narrow routes
of escape, raising walls of earth or bramble, or (in the case of the
Knights) standing with axes brandished between the Sisters and the Mobs.
If a Sister feels the need to cut a way out, she will likely summon
wolves, bears, badgers, or birds of prey. She may also raise a golem. The
main type of golem called is usually an earth golem, which will attack
anything which threatens its summoner. A second type of golem used is the
axe golem, summoned from the axe of the Sister's Knight. If her knight
dies, the golem will take up the axe and wield it.
The Red Witches and the Rods of Chaos take a far more aggressive
approach to defense. Rarely do villagers survive the experience of
cornering Red Witches or their fellows Rods of Chaos. The Reds and their
men have been known to unleash elementals of all kinds, as well as
firestorms, cyclones, and lightnings at their enemies. Red Witches rarely
fight physically. Like the Sisters and Knights of the Green, the men do
the melee fighting, using their rods alternately as wands and clubs.
The Witches of Erinsford
The Green Sisters of Erinsford lived in the town and its surrounding
villages for many generations, practicing their herbal medicine,
midwifery, and subtle magicks. They were more or less an accepted part of
life in Erinsford for most of the town's history. Then, in the last
hundred years, other, more direct and less benevolent groups began to work
in the Erinsford region. Magehunters, as they called themselves, entered
the region, seeking out any human whose practices smacked of magick. The
Brotherhood of the Fang and the Blackwidow Sisters also came to Erinsford.
The alchemists and and spellcasters came into conflict with each other and
the Magehunters. The Gardeners and the Sisters of the Green paid little
heed to the conflict. They certainly did not help precipitate it. The
Blackwidows, however, responded to the threat by afflicting the leader of
the Magehunters with a lingering and unnatural death.
Their action only encouraged the Magehunters, who were more right
than they knew when the blamed their leader's death on evil magicks.
Another Magehunter died soon after, falling dead in the street after
passing a disguised member of the Brotherhood of the Fang. The two deaths
spread fear through the community and its leaders, some of whom supported
the Magehunters. No one knew who would die next. The Magehunters
recognized the fear of the people and capitalized on it. Soon, the
inhabitants of Erinsford feared anyone who used magick. A number of Red
and Green Witches escaped to safety, as did the evil alchemists. Fear soon
became hatred.
When the tensions were ripe for explosion, the Magehunters went
looking for a Witch or Alchemist to lynch. They found nearly a full coven
of Sisters of the Green, accompanied by their Knights. The Magehunters
attacked, inviting the ire of the Knights, who cut down two Magehunters
with nothing more magickal the blade of a sharp battle-axe. The Knights
had moved too soon, however. Their actions started a riot. The Witches
gathered together to defend themselves. The Green Sisters raised walls of
earth and bramble to keep the angry mob at bay. At the same time, the Red
Witches summoned fire and water to attack the mob. The walls of earth
turned to mud and the brambles burned to ash. Thus it continued, each
Sisterhood casting magick which hampered the best attempts of the others.
The mob continued to come, driven by fear and the Magehunters. The Red
Witches carved their way through the city, burning down man, wall, and
building as they sought to escape. The Sisters of the Green stood their
ground and summoned their golems of earth and axe. The Knights fought off
those who came too near.
The Knights and the Golems could hold the mob at bay, but they could
not shield their ladies from arrows. One by one, the members of the coven
fell where they were casting. Golem after golem crumbled to dust. The mob
pushed the Knights back toward the remaing Sisters. The men, too, began to
fall to the archers in the mob. At last, only two Knights and three
Sisters remained, plus their golems, which were wielding the axes of the
fallen. They fled the city, taking the path of fire which had been cut by
the Red Witches. When the sheriffs of Erinsford arrived on the scene, they
found only dead bodies and a mob which still wanted blood. The few
remaining alchemists in Erinsford became very circumspect after that day.
In Jewish
folklore, a golem (גולם, sometimes, as
in Yiddish,
pronounced goilem) is an animate being created entirely
from inanimate matter. In modern
Hebrew the word
golem literally means "cocoon", but can also mean "fool",
"silly", or even "stupid". The name appears to derive from the word
gelem (גלם), which means "raw material".[citation
needed] Alternatively some sources[which?]
indicate it is a corruption of the Hebrew go′al 'enu (גואלנו)
our redeemer or our avenger, this version is
supported by the 16th century
Prague ghetto stories.
CREATURES OF MYTHOLOGY AND FOLKLORE
Kouei (China):
A class of demons. They were repulsive creatures with black or green faces
covered with long hair, and with long, sharp teeth.
In the Chinese mythology there is a
prominent position for Yanluo King or the God of Death, who reigns
over the whole underworld. The god is described as merciless, with a green face and long
teeth, who punishes everyone according to the crimes and sins he
commits in his lifetime. He has a variety of cruel ways of punishment, including "Sleeping
on the Hot-burning Bed," "Sawing the Dead into Two Halves" and
"Boiling the Body in the Boiling Oil."
CELTIC
In
the Celtic tradition, it was believed that many ghosts were
friendly, coming back in the form of animals, including crows and cats. "
Ghosts in the form of people, such as those we see in movies, are a
contemporary phenomenon, " Broedel says. " All except the grumpiest,
scariest medieval ' ghosts' who were called ' revenants' and were the
animated corpses of the returning dead." Witches were a 15th-century
creation and at first took the form of their " familiars" -cats, bugs and
toads. The notion of a witch as a woman who flies through the night, with
the big hat, green face and evil agenda is relatively recent folklore.
EGYPTIAN
Mummy of Harwa. A Dynasty 25 man,
doorkeeper at the temple of Amun. Age at death approximately 60; amazing
state of preservation.
Coffin of Harwa with the unusual green face (symbolic of Osiride
fertility) seen on some coffins in Dyansty 25 and 26.
Archival photo of Harwa's mummy and an
archival photo showing how he is now displayed, with an array of
amulets before him;
this is a closeup I shot of some of the amulets.
ENGLAND
SPRINGHEEL JACK
The house at 114 Merrymeeting Rd. bears an unusual brass
plaque. It identifies the Rabbitown residence as the location of
the second sighting of a certain Springheel Jacka name straight
out of Victorian England folklore.
Jack made his first local appearance in 1929. A young woman
taking a nighttime stroll around Mayor and Merrymeeting was
stopped in her tracks by a piercing cat call. Turning around to
scold the whistler, her gaze was lifted skywards, where on the
rooftop above her loomed a black-caped apparition. The figure
stood, silent, grinning, his arms folded across his chest. His
hideous, yellow-green face glowed under a tall charcoal hat.When
the woman let out a shriek, the character cackled vilely and
bounded away with supernatural leaps.
It was as if he had springs in the heels of his shoes, she
later explained to a crowd that had gathered.
For the next five weeks, Springheel Jack ministered his
terror from the rooftops of Rabbittown.
Doors and windows were barred. Women, children and men
alike ceased to walk alone. Three quarters of the constabulary
were put on the case, only to be joined in the search by a band
of neighborhood vigilantes.
One night, after leaping the entire width of Mayor Avenue,
Jack was spotted by a Constable Don Porter. Porter was able to
follow the bounding menace down Howley Avenue Extension, and
then South on Newtown Road. When he came to Shamrock Field, the
winded policeman lost his footing. When he righted himself,
Springheel Jack was gone, and never seen again.
Rumours swirled about Jacks identity. Some even believed
that he was the decoy for a local smuggling ring that wanted to
draw police attention away from a harbourfront operation.
Whoever or whatever he was for those five weeks, for years
after, mothers warned their kids not to stray at night for fear
of Springheel Jack.
First published in
Around the Wolds magazine issue 123
Green Men in the Wolds
Lenore Greensides
Looking for a 60th
birthday present for a friend has led to an enjoyable hunt around the
wolds this autumn. It all started when I bought a Green Man plaque
with an uncanny resemblance to its recipient, face with beard peering
out through hawthorn leaves with an enigmatic smile. At the same time,
I bought The Green Man field guide by Clive Hicks, and as it
contained a list of Green Men (and Women) in Yorkshire, my curiosity
was stimulated. Many nestle amongst the carvings, stone and wood, in
Beverley Minster, just down the road. I had to find out more.
One thing that quickly
emerged was that the Green Man is indeed an enigmatic figure. He was
first named as such by Lady Raglan, in an article The Green Man in
church architecture, Folklore Vol.50 1939, and it was clear
that his ancestors come from prehistory, and not just in the West, for
he can be found in Indian, Indonesian and Borneo stone carvings, too.
He is pagan, Hindu, Druid, Viking, a mythic archetype given form as
Jack-in-the-Green, Robin Goodfellow, Robin Hood, Woodwose, the Wild
Man, and yet he is welcome and at home in our churches, from
Anglo-Saxon times up to the present. He expresses rebirth and renewal,
and has a place in the traditions and dances of New Year and Mayday,
in the Stag and Morris dances.
There are different
typical forms to be found. There are wild men, full length figures or
heads mixing the human and animal, (the ancient Woodwose,) and there
are cat and lion heads. There are a very few Green Women, echoes of
Freya and Flora, and there are the two distinct styles, of the
Celtic/Norman, and the Romanesque, all to be found with careful
looking.
There are also pub signs, for this was once a more common name for
pubs and inns. Here the Green Man is represented as Robin Hood. Only
two remain in our area, although there was a third at Welton, at what
is now the Green Dragon, and doubtless more.
The Green Man, in Malton & Hull
And there are
Christmas decorations, the last traces of the old Germanic woodwose,
or Scandinavian Woden, showing the face emerging from the pine tree,
produced by the glass-blowers of the Thuringian forest.
glass tree man
There have been
several attempts to categorise the figures, with Mike Harding
suggesting 1) Foliate (the head turning into leaves) 2)
Spewing or Uttering (branches and leaves coming from the mouth) 3)
Jack In The Green (the face appearing in a bower of leaves) or 4)
Sucker (branches coming from the eyes ears and nose). Hicks has
three types, 1) the foliage generates the face (the face is made of
the leaves); 2) The face generates the foliage (the leaves come out of
the face) and 3) The face inhabits the foliage (the face peers out of
the leaves) There is also the rude Man, with his tongue sticking out,
and the full figure neither of which fit those groupings.
The Green Man in
various guises has appeared as a character in childrens fiction, two
good examples being The Green Man by Gail E Haley,
Bodley Head 1979, and The Green Man by Bel Mooney &
Helen Cann, Barefoot Books 1997. In each case, the theme is of care,
for others and for the environment, expressed through the mysterious
figure. And no one more than Arthur Rackham saw the the sinister magic
of tree people in his illustrations.
If you are interested
to see some of our Wolds and North Yorkshire examples for yourself,
then heres our current list, a composite from various sources with
our own amendments. And bear in mind that Temple Moore was very busy
restoring our wolds churches in the 1880s, following Pearson in the
1850s, so we have a great many Victorian examples.
Beverley
Minster:
Many C14th Green Men in nave capitals, a corbel, a misericord, in the
choir carvings and the choir gates either side of the altar, in the
reredos, in the sedilia, in spandrels by the minstrel carvings, mostly
originals.
St. Mary: C15th onwards: Many gilded Green Men in
roof bosses, misericords and a poppy head, on capitals in the porch,
miniature carvings in the rood screen.
Bishop Burton, All Saints: A very battered Green Man
under the piscina in the sanctuary.
Bishop Wilton,
St. Edith: One Norman Green Man on the right-hand side of the south
door arch, and another on the right-hand side. Victorian Green Man on
carved wood screen
Bridlington Priory:
A Victorian Green Man roof boss in the nave (3rd boss from west
window) hard to spot in the gloom.
Bugthorpe,
St. Andrews: Two Green Men and a C12th cat on the capitals of the
first chancel arch.
Burton Agnes,
St. Martin: Three Green Men on Victorian misericord seats, and on
C17/18th choir stalls & wooden frieze
Coxwold
St Michael: C15th roof boss in the nave
Driffield
All Saints: ?C13th central roof boss in the South porch
Foston on the Wolds
St Andrew: South doorway; external hood mould frieze
Great Givendale, St. Ethelburga: Three Norman Green
Men on the left-hand capital of the chancel arch.
Hedon
St Augustine: C15th Man under east window outside
Helmsley, All Saints: A modern, stylised Green Man on
the corbel table on the south side of the chancel.
Helmsley,
Duncombe Park:
Baroque Green Men over the capitals of the 8 Corinthian columns in the
Stone Hall.
Hessle
All Saints: in the choir, a lion corbel
Howden
Minster: C14th Green Men on choir stall poppy heads.
Hull
Green Man
pub and bowling alley in Holderness Road. Now boarded up & for sale
Kilnwick Percy
St Helens: (not easily accessible) C12th, South door external; corbel.
North door; capitals.(apparently, if you can get in!)
Langtoft,
St. Peter: Four C15th Green Men on roof bosses in north and south
aisles of the nave.
Lund,
All Saints: A mid-C19th Green Man on the exterior of the vestry to the
north of the chancel.
Malton St Leonards:
Two Green Men supporting the tower arch
MaltonThe Green Man pub & hotel 15 Market Street
Millington
St Margaret: Norman Men outside to the right of the south door
North
Ferriby
All Saints: (an early Pearson church) mid-C19th Man last column on
left before chancel steps
North
Newbald
St Nicholas C12th, south doorway; external capital on the left.
Norton, St. Peter: (again, if you can get in)
Victorian Green Men on the pulpit.
Nunburnholme,
St. James: Two Norman Green Men on the right-hand capital of the tower
arch.
Old
Malton Priory:
C19th misericords
Ottringham
St Wilfred: 2 C15th roof bosses
Patrington
St Patrick: C14th(?) roof bosses
Pocklington,
All Saints: Three C14th Green Men on the low capitals under the tower,
against the west wall
Riccall
St Mary: several Norman Men around the arch of the south door
Rudston, All Saints: A ?C14th Green Man under the
piscina in the sanctuary.
Selby
Abbey:
some early C20th ones in the nave, transepts, memorial chapel 1906 and
in the South doorway on the capitals & archivolts
Stillingfleet
St Helen: C14th capital in the south aisle arcade of the nave
Swine
St Mary: a C16th Man on one of the eight misericords
Thwing
All Saints: C14th Man on the piscina
Wetwang,
St. Nicholas: Two (very) small Victorian Green Men on the external
mould of the window on the north wall of the chancel.
Wintringham
St Peter: in the choir a James Elwell Green Man misericord of 1889,
one of six
And of course, York;
the Minster & eight other churches have many examples which would need
a separate study.
There are said to be two fine poppyhead Green Men in Flamboroughs St
Oswalds, but I havent found them. Cottingham St Mary, Hornsea St
Nicholas, Hunmanby All Saints, Skirlaugh St Augustine, and Wilberfoss
St John the Baptist are all rumoured to carry them, but they havent
been recorded yet so far as I know, so if you find them, do let me
know!
Sources
Clive Hicks, The Green Man: a Field Guide Compass
books 2000
Bruce Skinner,
http://www.ryedale.co.uk/ryedale/misc/ryedalehistory/greenman.html
2003
Mike Harding website www.mikeharding.co.uk/greenman 2001
xxxvii:1
The Egyptians would have said "true lapis lazuli". The face of the Libyan
goddess Neith was green. Isis was "the green one whose greenness is like
the greenness of earth" (Brugsch).
HINDUISM
Ravana with general green face but when he is a ruler, his face
will return to the gold face. He has got 10 faces, 20 hands, 3
face rows and more 3 faces at an occiput. There are 4 small faces
at the 2nd rank, in front of the 3rd rank is Brahma face and giant
face is at the behind, every face composed broadly smile, wide
open eyes and wears Yod Chai Crown.
The son in Thao Lasatien and
Nang Ratchada or Ravana reincarnates to the 3rd King of Longka
City with his wife as Montho, Kala-Akkee and concubines. Ravana
has got 1,015 sons and 2 daughters. This Great Giant makes
troubles to all over a city and he doesnt do along the virtues of
the king.
The significant situationis an abduction of
Sida (Ravanas wife) until it becomes a war in Longka City. A war
gives effect to the death of relatives, friends and retinue. At
the end Ravana died by Ramas arrows while Hanuman stole his heart
and escaped away.
Ravana, or tosakanth in Thai, from the Indian epic Ramayana; its
main protagonists are King Rama and his wife Sita and the
antagonist, the dreaded evil personified, Ravana. Of course, the
main theme, as in any classic drama, is the victory of good over
evil. The saga began when besotted by Sita's beauty, Ravana, known
for his weakness foLIBYAr beautiful women and virility, abducts and
whisks her away to his kingdom.
There are two significant encounters that would shape the course
of Ramayana: Ravana molests Vedavati, the beautiful hermit and
forcibly takes her; and, Vedavati prophesied, before killing
herself in a pyre, that she would return to mortal world as the
cause of his death,. She is then reborn as Sita, wife of king
Rama, who defeated and killed Ravana.
His second encounter happened with the divine Rambha, upon whom he
forced himself. Her lover cursed Ravana, stating that his ten
heads would fall off his head if he forced himself upon any woman
again. Sita's chastity was protected while she was Ravana's
captive for nearly a year, thanks to this curse.
Ravana, to his credit, had many good points. He was benevolent and
effective king of Lanka and it is said the poorest of houses had
vessels of gold to eat and drink off. Amongst his many virtues,
the foremost was his knowledge of sacred books, medicines and
magic. He was considered as a reformer, revolutionary and just
ruler who opposed the caste system. A great devotee of Shiva (Phra
Isuan), his penances had borne many fruits.
Ravana is depicted in art with up to ten heads, signifying that he
had knowledge spanning all the ten directions.
In the Thai version of Ramayana, Ramakien, the essence is the same
but there is a 'Thainess' added to the story such as clothes,
weapons, and nature. Ramakien dates back to the 13th century and
in the past 200 years, nine kings of Thailand have been named
Rama, after the main protagonist King Rama. For 400 years the
capital of Thailand was Ayutthaya (ayodhya), Rama's kingdom in the
epic.
The Rama legend is remarkably depicted in the wonderful murals of
the Emerald Buddha temple on the grounds of the Grand Palace built
by King Rama I in Bangkok. In the gallery surrounding the temple
there are beautifully restored sections of paintings which depicts
the entire story of the Ramayana.
Ramakien has appealed to Thai people over centuries making it the
national epic. Many other Asian cultures have adapted the
Ramayana, resulting in other national epics.
Kakawin Rāmyana
is an old Javanese
rendering of the Sanskrit Ramayana from ninth century Indonesia.
It is a faithful rendering of the Hindu epic with very little
variation. Phra Lak Phra Lam
is a Lao language
version, whose title comes from Lakshmana, Rama's younger brother,
and Rama. The story of Lakshmana and Rama is told as the previous
life of the Buddha.
In Hikayat Seri Rama
of Malaysia,
Dasharatha,
Rama's father, is the great-grandson of the Prophet Adam.
Ravana receives boons from Allah
instead of Brahma.
In its different hues and colors, however, the universal themes
and ideals of righteous behavior, loyalty to family and
kingdom, the balancing of good and evil, self-sacrifice for the
betterment of society, and morality remains the same.
And coming back to Ravana, love him or hate him, without him this
epic would have been impossible.
One of the most bizarre accounts of UFO folklore involves
an incident that allegedly occurred in Voronezh, Russia.
This case was reported in the United States by the St.
Louis Dispatch. The story was originally published on
October 11, 1989, in America, but its origin was the
Russian newspaper TASS.
The report recounts the adventures of several young
children who claimed to have seen a three-eyed alien with
a robot escort. The alien was said to be about nine foot
tall. The craft, according to eye witness testimony,
landed on the outskirts of the city. Shortly thereafter,
the tall alien appeared, and upon seeing the young lad,
shot a type of weapon at him, causing him to vanish before
the eyes of the other people around him.
There are several important elements one must keep in mind
regarding this extremely strange case of a close
encounter. The original details of the case were brought
forward by Genrikh Silanov, head of the Voronezh
Geophysical Laboratory, who gave details to the TASS
agency. Silanov stated that the media took an enormous
amount of creative freedom with his report.
"Don't believe all you hear from Tass," he stated." We
never gave them part of what they published."
I take this statement to mean that only a part of the news
agency's report was based on the facts obtained from
Silanov.
The agency had informed the entire world that Russian
scientists had confirmed that an alien spaceship carrying
giants with tiny heads had landed in Voronezh, a city of
over 800,000 people located about 300 miles southeast of
Moscow. They stated that as many as three of these giant
creatures had emerged from the alien ship. The ship was
described as a large, shining ball. These strange
creatures were said to have walked in a nearby park,
accompanied by a menacing robot. Ironically, TASS was the
only media member to print the story in Russia. The
newspaper Pravda declined to print, or comment on the
strange tale.
In defense of the TASS account, Soviet reporter Skaya
Kultura said that the agency was following the ''the
golden rule of journalism." "The reader must know
everything.''
The TASS account stated that the UFO landed in Voronezh on
September 27, 1989, at 6:30 P.M. Young boys playing soccer
witnessed the event, stating that a pinkish glow preceded
the descent of the unusual flying craft. The pink glow
became a deep red as it touched down. Most witnesses
described the object as a flattened, disc shape. A crowd
quickly gathered, and peered through a hatch that opened.
They saw a ''three-eyed alien'' about 10 feet tall, clad
in silvery overalls and bronze-colored boots and wearing a
disk on his chest. "
The TASS account also stated: "A boy screamed with fear,
but when the alien gazed at him, with eyes shining, he
fell silent, unable to move. Onlookers screamed, and the
UFO and the creatures disappeared."
According to the report, about five minutes later, they
reappeared. The alien had an object similar to a pistol -
a tube about 20 inches long, which it pointed at an
unidentified 16-year-old boy, making him disappear. The
alien went inside the sphere, which then took off. At the
same time, the boy reappeared.
"Children and eyewitnesses of the abnormal phenomenon have
been questioned by police workers and journalists," wrote
E. Efremov, the Voronezh correspondent for Soviet Skaya
Kultura."
"There are no discrepancies in the description of the
sphere itself or the actions of the aliens. Moreover, all
the children who became witnesses to this event are still
afraid, even now."
Several drawings were made by some of the children who
supposedly witnessed the events of Voronezh. A couple of
these are included here. One of the drawings showed the
Cyrillic alphabet character "zhe" on the side of the UFO.
TASS listed three witnesses' names, all of whom were
youngsters. They also stated that a group of international
researchers would be investigating the claims of the
witnesses.
Voronezh residents interviewed later claimed they had
observed this UFO not just during the above incident but
also many times on September 21, 23, 29 and October 2,
between 6 and 9 PM. Some of these incidents involved a
different entity: small, with grayish-green face and blue
overcoat resembling a loose raincoat.
This phenomenal account is still in need of more eye
witness testimony and research. The Voronezh landing
remains an unsolved mystery.