FOLKLORE AND MYTHOLOGY's topics - tribe.net

Welcome

The Passenger — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 18:43:40 GMT

Welcome to all new arrivels.

The Passenger is away for now, and will return in October.

This is one of his Moderators, posting this, on his behalf.

Welcome

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The Celtic Zodiac

chilambalam2013 — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 21:03:22 GMT

Celtic Lunar Astrology is essentially a Druid Zodiac. The Druids were a sect of Celtic priests who inhabited the British Isles around 1000 B.C. The Druids used a lunar calendar consisting of 13 months, each being 28 days long, plus one intercalary day. The Druid religion was based mainly upon an awareness of natural and supernatural energies. These energies were identified with spirits or dryads who dwelt within the ancient trees. Druids believed that trees were given spirits and attributes from the Sun, which was perceived as a symbol of the Supreme Being. Thus, trees were considered living entities, possessed with Infinite Knowledge and Wisdom...symbolically representative of the Cyle of Life, Death and Renewal.

The Celts envisioned the entire Universe in the form of a tree, whose roots grew deep into the ground and whose branches reached high into the Heavens. In time, the Celtic people eventually designated a tree to each Moon Phase in their calendar in accordance with its magical properties. Therefore, the Celtic Zodiac is based upon the cycle of the Moon, with the year divided into the 13 lunar months established by the Druid religion.

The Druids believed that the human race originally descended from trees, each tree being endowed with its own particular mystical qualities. They encoded these mysteries in a secret shamanic alphabet known as the Ogham...the origin of which is ascribed to Ogma, the Celtic God of Poetry and Eloquence. It is said that Ogma (son of the Dagda) created the Ogham for the learned and wise to use for inscription. Originally intended to be read from the bottom upwards (or occasionally carved from right to left), Ogham (also often written as "ogam") is pronounced as "AHG-m" or simply as "OH-em." It served as an alphabet for one of the ancient Celtic languages and may have originally been adapted from a form of sign language. The current understanding is that the names of the twenty major letters are also the names of twenty trees which were sacred to the Druids. The Ogham may still be seen carved into stone monuments of the Druid Era and is thought to have been a means for the Druids to leave secret messages for one another. The Ogham is sometimes referred to as "Crane Knowledge," due to the fact that Cranes form letters with their legs as they fly. On the whole, the Celtic society was based upon equality and balance between the male and female...the female Druidesses being symbolized by the Dryads who lived in the sacred trees.

Each Celtic Tree/Zodiac Sign corresponds to a given tree, a letter of the Ogham alphabet, a Guardian Animal, a Celtic God and other items such as gemstones.

Celtic Tree Sign Dates

The Birch The Rowan
The Ash The Alder
The Willow The Hawthorn
The Oak The Holly
The Hazel The Vine
The Ivy The Reed
The Elder

http://www.novareinna.com/constellation/celtic.html

posted in FOLKLORE AND MYTHOLOGY - 3 replies

Folklore Flowers

The Passenger — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 09:19:56 GMT

bridal wreath bush blooming out of season is the sign of bad luck.

A tuberose is an unlucky flower.

Always transplant flowering plants in the light of the moon.

Always water your ferns from the bottom upwards and never from the top downwards.

Blow a dandelion seed-ball with one strong breath and the number of seeds left will tell you the time of day.

Blow three times against a dandelion seed-ball and the number of seeds remaining will be the time of day.

Blow tobacco smoke on your flowers and this will keep the bugs away from them.

Carrying May flowers into the house will cause bad luck.

Dig small holes near the places you have planted carnation seed and put in these holes the dye of any color that you want in your flowers.

Do not keep "depression flowers" in the room with a sick person, for they will sap the vitality of the patient.

Flowers are always removed from hospital rooms at night, because they throw off a poisonous odor.

Flowers planted in the sign of the "bowels" will not open up.

Flowers planted in the light of the moon will be filled with blossoms.

Flowers which grow under the ground (tuberous flowers) will do well, if planted during the sign of the "lady with the jug in her hand" (Aquarius).

Flowers will do well, if planted in the sign of the "bowels."

Having yellow flowers in your room will bring you bad luck.

Hold a dandelion below someone's chin, and if you can see a yellow reflection upon the skin, he is fond of butter.

If a buttercup held beneath your chin casts a reflection against the flesh, you are fond of butter.

If a woman plants flowers while she is menstruating, they will die.

If flowers are planted on "Green Thursday" (Maundy Thursday), you will get all kinds of colors.

If rows of sweet peas run north and south, the plants will blossom profusely.

If spring flowers bloom again in the fall, you may look for a sorrowful winter.

If sweet peas are planted on St.Patrick's Day (March 17th) they will grow well.

If vining flowers are planted in the sign of the "fingers" they will have long vines.

If you give a fern to anyone, you are giving sorrow.

If you close yourself up in a room with tuberoses, their perfume will kill you.

If you plant dahlias in early morning during the light of the moon, they will not bloom but grow to stalk.

If you plant flowers in the sign of the Twins, they will grow well.

If you want pansies to be beautiful and to grow tall, plant them in the morning at six o'clock and always water them them at six o'clock in the morning.

In planting a fern always put some oats in the bottom of the pot and the plant will thrive.

It is a sign of jealousy to wear a yellow flower.

It is said that flowers will bloom better, if planted in the sign of the "flower girl" (Virgo).

It is thought that tuberoses emit an odor of death.

Mash egg shells and let them stand in a jar of water, then pour this liquid over your flowers and the blossoms will be beautiful.

Never let myrtle grow around your house or you will have sickness and trouble in your house as long as it is growing in the yard.

Never water your flowers while the sun is shining, or they will die.

Pansies must be planted on the north side of the house or they will not flourish.

Peony plants must not be moved except during the months of October and November.

Plant dahlias on the last week of May in late afternoon during the dark of the moon and they will do well.

Plant flowers in the sign of the Twins and all of them will bloom and be more beautiful.

Plant flowers in the full moon and they will be beautiful.

Plant petunia seed in the early morning and always water them early in the morning and they will flower abundantly.

Plant sweet peas on St.Patrick's Day before sunup and you will have the best of luck.

Pour a teaspoonful of castor oil around the roots of a fern, if it is dying or drying up, this will revive the plant.

Pour water over egg shells in a jar and let them stand for three days, then sprinkle this liquid on and around your flowers and it will kill the insects.

Put wood ashes on the soil where you plant asters and the flowers will not have lice.

Rows of sweet peas must be planted pointing north and south or they will not bloom.

Rub a dandelion against the bottom of your chin, and if yellow adheres to the flesh, you like butter.

Soak sweet peas overnight in milk before planting them and the blossoms will be twice as large.

Some patients object to flowers in the sick room, because flowers remind them of a funeral.

Some think that a tuberose has the waxy appearance of death.

Sweet peas planted on St.Patrick's Day will have more fragrance.

Sweet peas should be planted on Good Friday, if you want to be successful with them.

Thank the person who has given flower plants to you and they will not grow.

The person who accepts the gift of a fern will never settle down in life.

The sign of the Waterman is a bad time to plant flowers.

Tickle a person's chin with a dandelion and if he laugh's, he likes butter; but if he does not laugh, he has no taste for butter.

To have plenty of flowers, plant them in the sign of the "flower girl."

To have sunflowers growing in your back yard will cause you good luck.

To raise beautiful ferns, sprinkle them with the water in which you have washed your clothes after your monthly sickness.

To secure fine roses, set them out on the 25th of May.

Touch the end (frond) of a fern and the plant will die.

Tuberoses bloom only once in seven years.

Unless pansies are planted exactly two inches below the surface of the ground they will not grow.

Unless you set out two tuberoses near together, they will not bloom because one plant is supposed to be male, the other female; but marks distinguishing the sexes seem to be unknown.

When watering your flowers, use the water in which you have washed your meat and they will grow well.

When you blow against a dandelion seed-ball, the direction in which the seeds fly will show you where to seek your fortune.

Write your troubles on a piece of paper and conceal it in a bouquet, attend a funeral and throw the bouquet containing the note into the open grave and your troubles will pass away.

You can have large and beautiful flowers by planting them in the light of the moon.

You must remove the little excrescences from a tuberose bulb before planting or it will not produce blossoms.

Your flowers will bloom all the time, if planted during the increase of the new moon

From The Secret World Of Flowers

posted in FOLKLORE AND MYTHOLOGY - 3 replies

Moses and Those 'Horns'

Phoenix Faust — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 00:31:11 GMT

Moses and Those 'Horns'

Had we, along with artists, scholars and townspeople, attended the unveiling of Michelangelo's magnificent statue of Moses, now in the Church of S. Pietro in Vincoli at Rome, we too might have shared the crowd's anticipation -- and their consternation. Already famous for his Pieta, Madonna and Child, David, and the Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo had worked for years in seclusion on this latest creation. The Pope had grown impatient. Fellow artists were understandably curious.

Now, it is revealed. The effect is cathartic. Here is a man, perfected, a veritable god in man's image. Is it 'Patience'? Seated yet alert, his head turned attentively for the slightest feel of need. He waits, watching, his arms holding protectively those precious tablets of the Law. Then, we sense the crowd's uneasiness. Our eyes join theirs raised upwards toward the head of Moses. What is it there? At the forefront of his brow, rising from the sweep of curls, two small, but definite horns!

The silence becomes a whisper -- confusion, distrust, despite the magnificence. Confusion lingers today. Had Michelangelo somehow been misled by the Latin Vulgate's 'erroneous' translation of the word qaran in Exodus 34:29 and 35: "And when Moses came down from the mount Sinai, he held the two tablets of the testimony, and he knew not that his face was horned from the conversation of the Lord." "And they saw that the face of Moses when he came out was horned, but he covered his face again, if at any time he spoke to them."

Later translators substituted an alternate meaning, beam or ray of light: "And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tablets of testimony in Moses' hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him." "And the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses' face shone: and Moses put the vail upon his face again, until he went in to speak with him."

Some authorities, and reliable ones, refuse to discount Michelangelo's classical erudition. Recalling how, as a youth in the garden of Lorenzo de' Medici, he had listened enrapt as scholars discussed the deeper aspects of Greek philosophy. How even then beauty of thought and of form had so fascinated him that throughout his life he endeavored in his art to reconcile and interpret the inner meaning of Neoplatonism, Christian faith, and mythology.

To these men it is apparent that Michelangelo purposefully and carefully carved those two ram horns in recognition of, and dramatically to call attention to, the mysterious and universal truths which the Moses story hints at repeatedly. Hints which stand out more clearly today with our emphasis on comparative religions. Practically all of the episodes in Moses' life -- especially the stories of the ark cast into the Nile, his training as Regent-Potential, the appearance of the angel of the Lord, his rod and feats of magic, the Laws, his death -- are appealing repetitions of allegories devised in the Mystery schools.

The simplicity of fable and myth has always been used to preserve meaning intact, while at the same time softening by veil its effect on those who otherwise might be confounded by the full truth. Thus, water, fire, mountain, tree, the behavioral characteristics of animals, suggested by horn, hoof, wing, etc., have been adapted to exemplify one or another doctrine or influence.

The birth of Moses of Levite (priestly) parents, Pharaoh's threat to his life, his concealment and rescue from the river, differs only in setting from the story of the infant Krishna who escaped King Kansa's order that all male babies be slain, by having been hidden and carried by stealth across the river Junma. Or, from the Greek myth in which Zeus evaded his father Cronus' attempt to swallow him as he had his other children lest one grow up to supplant him. Or, of Jesus' narrow escape from Herod's merciless slaughter of the children of Bethlehem.

These obvious similarities, while giving doubt to the veracity of any one particular incident, give increased importance to each as a symbolic type-story. Thus it makes little difference whether we accept them as the Word of God or as legend composed by the wise of their time. In the case of the slaughter of the Innocents, for instance, rather than regarding it merely as a tragic historical event, we recognize in it a warning that all innovation, all greatness even at its inception, must overcome opposition. Whether in our individual lives, in national affairs, or in the advent of new cycles, new presentations of truth, progress arouses resistance from the prejudiced, the dogmatic, the complacent -- as we who are living through just such an era have observed!

When the baby Moses was three months old, according to biblical story, he was placed in a basket of bulrushes upon the river's edge, rescued by an Egyptian princess, nursed by his natural mother, raised as a prince and trained in the temple mysteries.

How closely this parallels the stories of Romulus, Bacchus, Osiris, and that of Sargon who, preceding Moses by two thousand years, laid the foundations of civilization for the first Semitic empire. Inscribed on fragments of Babylonian tile:

Sargona, the king of Akkad am I.
My mother was a princess, my father I did not know.
My mother, the princess, conceived me, in difficulty she brought me forth.
She placed me in an ark of rushes, with bitumen my exit she sealed up.
She launched me in the river, which did not drown me.
The river carried me, to Akki the water-carrier it brought me. . . .

All these saviors were taken from the water. " . . . she called his name Moses: and she said, because I drew him out of the water." Water is one of our oldest symbols. The water-wave glyph [illustration] is found in every land, representing the Great Deep, Chaos, Wisdom, and also Universal Mother: Mary, mother of Jesus, Maya, mother of Buddha, etc. In baptism ceremonies, whether along the banks of the Nile, the Ganges, Euphrates, or Jordan rivers, at the seashore, or within church or temple, water signifies purification, dedication and the commencement of a new way of life.

The ark was another favorite symbol. Shaped variously in the Bible as ark of Noah and Moses, chest, tabernacle, and belly of whale, and in mythology as box of Pandora, basket of Red Ridinghood, boat, casket, coffin, and treasure chest, it graphically suggests both the womb of life and the potency of new beginnings. It is the seed-carrier, or container, floating down the River of Time with cargo concealed from all but him who can discover, and take by understanding, its wisdom and law.

This Moses certainly did. As adopted son of Thermuthis (daughter of Sesostris-Rameses, priestess of Hathor and Neith), and as Regent Potential, he had access to the most secret teachings of the temple. At that time Egyptian worship was directed to the celestial Amon 'who sheds Light on hidden things.' These 'hidden things' comprised much of our 'visible' science -- architecture, geology, biology, astronomy, psychology and medicine -- plus those occult disciplines which deal with the 'invisible' laws and forces which govern our universe.

Here possibly is where the idea of horns originates. For in the Mystery language horns are the sign of the successful neophyte, of one who has passed the dread tests of initiation and quite literally touched divinity.

But later, after the State had taken over the supervision of the Mystery schools, the spirit of their teachings became obscured so that the horn came to symbolize the conqueror of worlds rather than the conqueror of self. Thus Jamshid, builder of Persepolis, was called 'the two-horned.' And Alexander the Great, initiated by the oracle at the desert oasis Temple of Amon in 332 B.C., accepted as an inestimable honor the horned AKKADIAN CYLINDER SEAL headdress. He wore it with pride as did the 'initiated' of the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans. To them, as to the Vikings, horns meant power of the spirit. So with the Celts who inscribed the likeness of their teacher, Cernunnos, 'the horned,' on a silver plaque, sitting in a Krishna pose and holding this emblem in the form of a ram-headed serpent in his hand.

So with horns, Michelangelo acclaimed Moses a man of power and station far greater than lawgiver of a local tribe. With horns he saluted him not only as one who had stood in the presence of God, and had realized, had become at-one with, his own divinity, but nobler far, as a man fulfilled who had returned -- for some do not. Only the few come back, down the mountain, in order to teach and lead mankind.

The horns themselves are an interesting symbol, for sheep, especially those native to the wild mountain areas of Asia and North America, are surefooted climbers who courageously ascend the most stark perpendiculars; while their domesticated cousins are so gentle that primitive religions readily incorporated them into their art forms. Apollo, Mercury, and later Jesus were all pictured as Good Shepherds with lambs either carried on their shoulders or couching at their feet.

Moses was without doubt accustomed to seeing ram-headed figures painted on the walls of the royal tombs, where they represented the Sun-God, Amon (later Amon-Ra). During the 6th and 7th centuries B.C. this deity was depicted in the likeness of a man, standing or seated as the Moses of Michelangelo, and frequently wearing the headmask of a ram. Those who interpret Egyptian belief explain that he symbolizes first, the Pleroma, the Fullness of things, and then, that creative force in nature which initiates and maintains intelligent life in this and in the lower worlds. For Amon-Ra was also presented enthroned on a solar boat journeying through the twelve hours of the night to illumine the Underworld.

The Greeks used Pan to express this idea. Horned, hoofed, tailed and sometimes bearded, he with his band of exuberant fawns and satyrs perennially disrupt the status quo.

Moses' life in Egypt abruptly ended when he killed an Egyptian and fled into the desert. There we are told he came to a well, to which also came the seven daughters of the priest of Midian. They had come to water their flock, but shepherds drove them away. Moses confronted the shepherds, drew water for the daughters, and watered their flock, for which their grateful father later invited him to break bread and dwell with him, and eventually he gave him his daughter Zipporah as wife. Again the water symbol. This time, as 'well', it signifies spiritual knowledge as in the New Testament where Jesus on that last day said: "If any man thirsts, let him come unto me, and drink."

The number seven is found in all sacred literatures with various significances. The seven daughters doubtless refer to the occult powers a hierophant passes on to his disciple who has conquered the baser elements of his nature -- the seven selfish shepherds. It is unlikely that Moses, neophyte, priest, and initiate ever married. Instead, he 'broke bread,' partook of the wisdom of the 'father,' his teacher, and received Zipporah, enlightenment, for her name means shining, resplendent.

Not long after this, Moses' mission of service began when an 'angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush." Here a new and very mystical symbol is introduced: fire. Only by the water of life and the fire of spirit, according to Moses, can the soul be born. Purification by water and by fire having been dramatically symbolized in the rites of the initiatory cycle of the Mysteries. Fire has been used the world over both as symbol of the divine spirit and of the regeneration of the spiritual nature of man. Zoroastrians had their sacred fire, ancient Germans their St. Elmo's fire, Greeks their inextinguishable flames in the temple of the Acropolis. Prometheus stole fire from the gods to enlighten mankind, and Moses heard the voice of God in the burning bush, followed the pillar and the cloud of fire -- of spirit.

The Lord sent Moses back into Egypt to lead his people to the good land. And the Lord fortified him with wonders. But Pharaoh called his wise men to challenge this authority and expose the wonders of Jehovah.

In those days magic was a sacred science. "It unveils the operations of nature," said Philo Judaeus, "and leads to the contemplation of celestial powers." Only those prepared by discipline were permitted to undertake its study. Learning first to develop their higher sensitivities, and to purify their intermediate nature so it would serve as a channel for the flow of spiritual forces, they then were allowed to study the occult and inner operations of natural forces. They discovered how, for instance, to use and control the more intangible forces of magnetism and electricity, the higher frequencies of vibration, of sound and color, and those mysterious potencies stored within the psychological nature of man and animal.

Their 'wonders' and 'miraculous cures' were based on natural law and were no more difficult for them, once they understood these energies and functions, than it is for our scientists to send men to the moon, probes to the planets, and voice and picture onto television sets around the earth.

Moses' first wonder was changing his rod into a serpent. Thereupon the Egyptian priests cast down their rods which became serpents likewise, but Jehovah's power was superior, his "swallowed up their rods."

What exactly was this rod, this serpent, which later held back the Red Sea, and brought water from a rock? The caduceus of Mercury and of Aesculapius, father of medicine? The wand of every fairy godmother, of Prospero, and modern science-fiction? Alchemists probably would consider it, generally, as that direct stream of authority by which a magician commands and controls the elemental forces of nature. Or particularly, as that intelligently directed, conscious projection of willpower, that concentration of vital astral fluid, or electric ether, which flows unconsciously from the fingertips of the genuine magnetic healer and which now is being revealed in the Kirlian photographs.

Skipping along in the Exodus story, we find that after being with the Lord forty days and forty nights, after writing down God's commandments on tablets of stone, Moses descended Mount Sinai and he gave to his people the Laws that they were to follow.

This was his masterwork. This Covenant of the Lord was the glory and summation of his mission. Some critics, however, question the source of his inspiration. Pointing to startling similarities between his laws and those which Hammurabi six centuries earlier had had engraved on stelae and erected throughout Babylon, they contend that Moses, being familiar with the common law and legal codes of the Assyrian, Babylonian and Hittite peoples as well as with the rules and rites of the Egyptian priesthood, had incorporated these onto his tablets and into the instructions he gave the Seventy Elders. Whatever the source, we must acknowledge that it was Moses' Laws, not those of others, that it was his Decalogue, powerfully and concisely stated, which kept the Hebrews united under one god, even during centuries of the most relentless persecution, united while peoples of other faiths splintered into thousands of conflicting sects. It was his Commandments which laid the foundations of Christianity, of civil law, and of European morality.

Moses died at Mount Nebo, his burial place unknown. One last clue surely, echoing the Mystery tradition of Old Testament idiom. Why on a mountain sacred to Nebo, the oldest god of wisdom of the Babylonians? Were biblical writers announcing, though under veil, that at this point in his life Moses, like Gautama Buddha, passed the supreme initiation? 'Dying' to the world, he retired into seclusion and continued his work along inner, spiritual lines?

Thinking back to that day of the statue's unveiling, amid all its excitement and subsequent discussion, didn't we overlook Michelangelo, standing there in the shadow, proud, very tired, humble?

Perhaps in him we find the real meaning of the Moses story. For as he, such a simple man, could create this wonder before us, so in the end will it not be a man who shall lead us and 'save' us? Not some lofty god from heaven, or from outer space. Not even a Christ, great as his help shall be, but one of our own. Even -- the man within, alternately vulnerable, tortured with doubts and hope, with impatience and aspiration. A man like Moses who yet struggled to the end to serve his 'Lord.' Here is a story of dedication, purification, attainment. Exoterically it is Everyman. Esoterically it's the Few, 'horned' with divinity, who show us the Way. Technlogy and Spiritual Progress.

posted in FOLKLORE AND MYTHOLOGY - 3 replies

10 Favorite Monsters

Phoenix Faust — Wed, 07 May 2008 20:13:32 GMT

http://www.livescience.com/strangenews/top-10-monsters.html

posted in FOLKLORE AND MYTHOLOGY - 1 reply

Atlantis on Cyprus

Shadoan — Tue, 13 May 2008 19:04:57 GMT

http://www.aquatec-innerspace.com/aioatlantisteam.htm
JOIN THE ADVENTURE OF A LIFETIME!

What if one of humankind’s greatest mysteries could be solved by a single geographical and archaeological discovery – that of the actual location of the legendary Atlantis? What if for the first time in history, the possibility of the existence of the famed island could come alive both through 3D maps and models showing a stretch of sunken land one mile beneath the waters of the Eastern Mediterranean sea, and through images from the seafloor which reveal structures that are evidently man-made? And what if this underwater landmass and these man-made structures perfectly matched Plato’s detailed descriptions of the lost city of Atlantis?

The legend of Atlantis made its way to the West through the works of Plato about 2,400 years ago, but this story is actually much older. Roughly 2,600 years ago, the Greek statesman, Solon (known as the “father of democracy”), traveled to Egypt and met with the high priests of the land. This trip was widely documented by Greek historians as Solon was a legendary figure even in his own time; consequently we know for certain that the trip did take place and even where the meeting was held.

The Egyptian priests were known in those days as the best keepers of ancient history and they presented Solon with their most ancient historic records, or what may be considered as their version of the biblical “Genesis.” Here, Solon first learned about the lost island where civilization had begun. He was so taken by the story that he spent the rest of his life compiling and translating the records to the Greek tongue, changing all the Egyptian names to Greek, and naming this island “Atlantis”. At the time however, it was also known by various other names throughout the ancient world, and it is important to note that many people even today wrongly assume that Atlantis must have been in the Atlantic Ocean; in fact no one knows the original name before Solon’s translations – the “prehistoric” world would not have even known what an ocean is (names like the Atlantic Ocean and the Pillars of Hercules are actually relatively modern Greek names and the original names used have been long lost).

About two hundred years later, Plato got hold of this treasured text and relayed the legend in the form of dialogues in his “Timaeus” and “Critias.” The Egyptians had told Solon that this was the island was where the art of civilization truly began, and that the Greek and the Egyptian cultures were merely off-shoots of that original civilization. They also said that the island was submerged around 9,600 BC and had been in existence for many thousands of years before the great flood (click to see animation file).

While the modern world continues to wonder about whether Atlantis was real or not, one thing is for certain. To the Egyptian priests, Solon, and Plato, and in fact all of our distant ancestors, the story was based on real events that took place on a real island. What strikes one most when reading Plato’s Critias is the astounding number of physical clues, dimensions and detailed descriptions provided about the island, the great plain at its southern foothills, and the sacred Acropolis Hill located at the heart of the island’s capital, Atlantis City.

Today’s generation is the first in history that has the technological capability to search the ocean depths, and the world’s first detailed underwater map of the eastern Mediterranean seafloor was produced especially for the Cyprus-Atlantis Project.

After ten years of research and the creation of proprietary maps and 3D models, Robert Sarmast has discovered astounding evidence of the sunken isle of Atlantis (or some might call it Eden), a lost land mass that many believe to be the prehistoric cultural source of Western civilization. The theory put forth in Robert Sarmast's book: Discovery of Atlantis: the Startling Case for the Island of Cyprus was published by Origin Press in October of 2003 and caused a news sensation as it was the first time a real underwater landmass had been matched with Plato's detailed description of Atlantis. Over fifty physical matches were provided.

Shortly after the publication of the book, Robert traveled to Cyprus and spent the next year preparing for a scientific expedition, which occurred in November of 2004. (.wmv video link) The astonishing results of this expedition (sonar generated images of the seafloor) created headlines around the world as the images showed clear evidence of man-made structures fifty miles from the nearest shore, and one mile under water, exactly where Robert had been predicted they would be.

Cyprus in its current form appears to be the mountaintop of what used be a larger island, most of which is currently under water. An underwater valley stretching between Cyprus and Syria appears to be the "great plain" of Atlantis, and an underwater mountain in the middle of this valley appears to be the Acropolis Hill of Atlantis City, our main target area.

The first Atlantis expedition succeeded in gathering sonar-generated images of the seafloor where the purported man-made structures were found. Robert and his team are now working towards organizing a second expedition where an ROV (Remote Operated Vehicle) will be sent to the depths to actually film the great wall of Atlantis. A sub-bottom profiler will also be used to see what lies beneath the mud sitting on top of these massive structures. The team plans to execute the second expedition sometime in the summer of 2006.

"QUEST FOR ATLANTIS: STARTLING NEW SECRETS" (with Natalie Morales)

"Be sure to see the NBC produced, two-hour Atlantis documentary “Quest for Atlantis: Startling New Secrets” hosted by, Natalie Morales which will air on the Sci-Fi Channel Friday July 7th - at 9 and 11 p.m. Eastern and Pacific time (8 and 10 p.m. Central. -- 10 p.m. and 12 a.m. Mountain) The Cyprus evidence will be featured in this documentary and you will see video footage from the first expedition along with interviews with Robert Sarmast in Los Angeles and in Cyprus, where some of the island’s striking beauty can be also be seen.

We invite you to examine the book (the new “Expanded Edition” was just released), animation files, 3D models, and the Articles/Interviews on this site. Most of all, you are encouraged to check the project updates page regularly to stay informed of our activities as we head toward the second expedition and the most important phase of this project

posted in FOLKLORE AND MYTHOLOGY - 0 replies

Ark of the Covenant

chilambalam2013 — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 13:44:44 GMT

Laurence Gardner [1] has said that, “Prior to the time of Moses there was no Israelite priesthood and there were no Israelite temples. The early patriarchs, up to the days of Abraham, would have experienced priests and fine temples in Mesopotamia, but once in Canaan the rituals of Abraham, Jacob and others became very primitive... But with Moses came the concept of a newly defined Israelite priesthood based upon the Egyptian model and their first temple was the portable Tabernacle of the Congregation constructed at Sinai. Another Egyptian concept introduced at that time was the Ark of the Covenant -- a processional coffer to house the writings of the law.”

(5/31/05) There is also the sense that the Ark was a power source, This is based partly on the possibility of a Vesica Pisces being included as the connecting link between the Cherubim on the Ark's cover -- as shown and described by ka-gold's Vesica Pisces.

David Radius Hudson has made a persuasive argument that the Ark of the Covenant was a device for transporting the Manna and the ORME, aka the Philosopher’s Stone. He notes that because of the Superconductivity of the ORME, it had to be treated with kid gloves, and in fact anyone approaching it without being in “resonance with it” (i.e. having ingested some of the ORME itself, and thus acting as superconductors to some degree themselves), they were very likely to be destroyed by a magnetic Meissner Field flux collapse. This notable danger with respect to the Ark was communicated very strongly.

More than one Israelite was wiped out by the Ark of the Covenant, from those on the trek from Egypt who wanted to join Moses and Aaron in worshipping before the Ark, to a poor sole who attempted to stop the Ark from tipping before entering the city of David. In the interim, there were instances of the Ark being used to blast enemies of the Israelites, but also the Israelites being caught in a backlash and dying themselves. By the time of the building of the Temple of Solomon, it was clear the Ark needed to be housed in a secure location, and kept far from the common people -- those without a resonant quality.

In the time of King Solomon, however, another individual entered the picture. She was The Queen of Sheba (which roughly translated means “the Queen of the South”). Egypt is south of Israel, and according to the theories of Immanuel Velikovsky, the Queen of Sheba was Queen Hatshepsut. Her temple at Luxor in fact describes her visit to the “land of Punt”, and all the things she brought back from there. “Punt” can be taken to mean, Israel -- which Hatshepsut reached by sailing down the Nile to the Mediterranean and then to a port convenient to Jerusalem.

But the best thing Queen Hatshepsut of Egypt brought back was the “seed of Solomon”. It seems that Solomon got her pregnant. When she returned to Egypt, she gave birth to a son, whose name was Menelik. Solomon carried on blissfully unaware until Menelik returned to Jerusalem when he was twenty one to be acknowledged by Solomon as being his son. Solomon did the “right thing” and acknowledged Menelik as his son.

However, the Levites, the high priests, went bonkers. Menelik, in their eyes, was a half breed. [Duh!] The high priests had this racial purity thing, and here was a half breed and the eldest son of Solomon, next in line to be the king of Jerusalem. The Levites made their concerns known to Solomon by arguing that he must send his son away. Solomon, in his infinite wisdom, said, “Fine, but if I must send my son away, all of you Levites must send your eldest sons away also". Accordingly, all of the eldest sons of the Levites left with Menelik. However, when they left they took the Ark of the Covenant!

To Egypt! The intriguing part is that, other than Menelik, the men who took the Ark to Egypt were the same men who by blood right were the proper ones to care for the Ark. They were the eldest sons of the Levites and for Menelik, that of the king. According to David Hudson, “The Hebrew people haven’t really wanted to talk about this that much, because it really was their doings that they lost it. The Aaronic priesthood or rabbinical priesthood does not want to talk about the high priesthood leaving Jerusalem.”

Hudson goes on to say that the Ark of the Covenant “was kept in Egypt out on the island of Elephantine, where they built an exact duplicate of the Temple of Solomon.” Graham Hancock in his book, The Sign and the Seal, notes that excavators have found, “on the island of Elephantine, the exact dimensions of the Temple of Solomon, where the foundation was and where the Ark of the Covenant was kept.”

Hudson notes also that “In the temple of Luxor they recorded all of the loot and all of the plunder that was taken from the Temple of Solomon by Thutmose II, who then returned when he became pharaoh and looted the temple. But there’s no Ark of the Covenant listed because they already had it. In the plunder they list all of the items that they got, and they’re all identified as being golden, and then silver and then copper. But under the golden items, under the shewbread, there is an elongated pyramidal shape that is ‘The Bread of the presence of God’. It's the very same symbol that is always shown as depicted in the sacred ceremony, with the king offering the ‘bread’, the ‘white bread’, to the symbol of the Ark of the Covenant, with the black Anubis sitting on top of it. The Anubis represented the digestive system, and here’s the king offering, and it says ‘keeper of the secret’, but it’s the white powder of gold being offered to the digestive system.”

Graham Hancock claims in his book, The Sign and the Seal, that the Ark of the Covenant eventually went to Ethiopia, and ended up located in the city of Axum, Ethiopia. David Hudson, however believes that if you look at the chain of events, that it’s been moved. He believes that the Hebrew people that are in Israel right now, made an agreement to bring the Falasha Jews out of Ethiopia. They brought these black Jews out, with all their AIDS and all the problems they had, and they airlifted them into Israel. Hudson insists that the reason they did it was because they were offered the Ark of the Covenant in exchange.

The Sign and the Seal also adds another dimension to why the Knights Templar were arrested. According to Hudson, “They were caretakers for the Ark of the Covenant. They met the leader in Jerusalem and went back to Ethiopia with him and put him back on the throne, and they were the ones that cared for the Ark of the Covenant. When the Pope found out about it, he had them killed.”

A basic question, of course, is exactly where is the Ark of the Convenant now? Probably not in some military warehouse, lost in the shuffle of boxes, as in Raiders of the Lost Ark might suggest. It is possible that it is in Israel (having arrived there relatively recently via Ethiopia), or somewhere else. But the Knights Templar story seems the more plausible.

The key, of course, is that the Pope and the King of France failed in their attempt to erradicate the Knights Templar on that fateful day and its aftermath. Instead, many of the Knights sailed away in their navy, ostensibly with by far the bulk of their gold and wealth. Did the Ark go to sea as well?

That might have been a bit too risky.

Laurence Gardner [2] has suggested an alternative scenario. The Ark is likely to have been taken to the Chartres Cathederal in northern France, where it remains today. It is located at the center of the Labyrinth there, but in an extradimensional space-time state. For the details, read the book! Suffice it to say, that the evidence is very impressive, and likely eliminates the Ethiopian claim to have the Ark safely tucked away in a church with a single priest to ensure its safety. Hmmmm... Come to think of it, that’s not a real point in favor of the Ark being there. And considering the typical careful and thoughtful planning of the Knights Templar, it’s unlikely they would have relocated the Ark anywhere but in an extradimensional space-time. We really don’t want this baby available to just anyone!

posted in FOLKLORE AND MYTHOLOGY - 2 replies

Quetzalcoatl

Kenneth — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 22:41:42 GMT

Here is a portion of something I thought fascinating. I'll put the link for the entire site at the end.

Cosmological Information

What is the importance of the cosmological associations found in Maya prehistory, especially with regard to Quetzalcoatl? Some scholars believe the Maya focused primarily on the planet Venus, ignoring the majority of the other heavenly bodies, eventually developing such a detailed knowledge of its movements as to be fairly accurate about its position at all times. (Kelley, 1980:1) The importance of Maya astronomy and its cosmological associations are important because of Quetzalcoatl's association with Venus. We could infer that the signifigance of Venus and its association with Quetzalcoatl make the cosmology in the Mayan world, which at times is centered around Quetzalcoatl and Venus, worth studying.

In order to get at the roots of the cosmological questions, we must first lay out all the associations on the table. Quetzalcoatl is considered a paired deity, he is Xolotl's twin, and is the opposite or foil of the rain god Tlaloc (Chac in the Maya). According to Kelley, Tlaloc and Quetzalcoatl are treated together because of the existence of an intermediate form of the gods, called Tlaloc-Quetzalcoatl, and the iconographic and other associations (in temples, etc.). (Kelley, 1980:11) Fernandez tells us that Xolotl and Quetzalcoatl are twins because of one being the morning star version of Venus and the other is the evening star version of Venus. Thus the "morning and evening symbols of Venus revealed a concept of totality, unity and completion:...the ollin, the force which made the sun move; the quincunce, the sign of the four cardinal points and the axis joining the sky and the underworld." (Fernandez, 1984:73)

Both astronomical and symbolic/religious aspects of Quetzalcoatl's cosmology exist which raise questions and discussion for us. From here we will look first at the symbolic religious aspect and second at the astronomical data as it pertains to Quetzalcoatl and his heavenly associations.
Symbolic/Religious Aspects

Some of these symbolic/religious aspects take the form of a Celestial Bird, a serpintine feathered bird which is the central player in the creation myth that Freidel et al argue was the unifying figure for the Classic Maya civilization. The temples upon which the Celestial Bird rests at Copan is one of the first Mountain-of-Creation symbols that celebrate many other religious/ritual events. (Freidel et al., 1993:149, 155) According to Freidel et al., the connection of the Celestial Bird with skeletal Venus imagery and the central mountain monster (analgous to the monster in the above world view) would suggest a distinct relationship to Quetzalcoatl and his powers. Vision serpents can also be seen in this imagery at Chichen Itza, as mentioned elsewhere, and strengthens the links to Quetzalcoatl even more.

The Venus God, the cosmological identity of Quetzalcoatl, also makes ritual appearances at ballcourts. Unlike normal ballcourts, however, these are false ones. It would seem that the false ballcourt, with the Venus God emerging from a long, twisted snake was the place of many sacrifices committed for the nobility and the gods. (Freidel et al., 1993:154) Furthermore, Schele and others have shown that an enormous amount of Mayan events in general were organized around the stations of Venus, and at Copan specifically they were the most regular and predictable. Imagery on the stairs and stelae celebrate the Venus God, i.e. Quetzalcoatl, and suggests that the deity was the "way" for the kings and other rulers. (Schele and Fash, 1991; Schele and Larios, 1991)

At Teotihuacan, there is also evidence for similar Quetzalcoatl Cosmological imagery. This time, Freidel et al have identified an emblem which appears on both the Tikal and Teotihuacan banners. This emblem represents the god Tlaloc and as the authors state, he is part of the Waxaklahun-Ubah-Kan which is the Venus God. (Freidel et al., 1993:299-300) He is also a serpent creature (with wings, legs, and a tail) whose image is carried on feathered standards which are used by nobility going into battle or ritual. Quetzalcoatl becomes mixed up in Waxaklahun-Ubah-Kan as well as being the Venus God who is related to Tlaloc in their duality.
Astronomical Aspects

With regard to the astronomical technicalities, the Mayans were quite adept in suiting their religious ideology to the movements of the heavens. Specifically with Quetzalcoatl and Venus there is a strong association towards the powerful and cosmological. Venus has, in particular, a heliacal rising and a western elongation which no doubt figured prominently in their beliefs. According to Aveni, the heliacal rising is the first annual predawn appearance of Venus and was likely the most important single event in Maya astronomy. (Aveni, 1980: 85) At this point, Venus is also the brightest that it will be in the sky as it passes the closest it gets to Earth. It is only outshined by the Sun and Moon in this stage. At the greatest western elongation it is in the sky for the longest period of time before being lost in the suns glare.

There is also the superior conjunction and the greatest eastern conjunction which occur as Venus masquerades as the Evening Star. The brightness is at a minimum due to its distance away from Earth, but it is still several orders of magnitude brighter than other stars in the sky. At the greatest eastern conjuction Venus is in the sky for the longest period of time again as the Evening Star. Aveni states that the Mayans and later Central Mexicans divided the motion of Venus into four intervals with an eight day disappearance period such as the one we give it today. Of note is the bit of data in which the Maya assigned unequal values for the intervals between the appearance of the Morning Star versus Evening Star. Aveni asserts this to be due to ritualistic influences overriding their infallible timekeeping. (Aveni, 1980: 86)

Ritualisticly, these intervals and conjunctions represented certain events in the life of the deities, in this case Quetzalcoatl. For instance, they believed that the heliacal rising brought certain perils like pestilence, death, and destruction to the land. (Aveni, 1980: 186) The rays also acted with deference to the people they brought peril to, it would strike people of different classes in different ways while some escaped its harm by being in a better class. Also, when the eight day disappearance period existed was also the death of Quetzalcoatl. He would first lie in the underworld for four days, and then be bones for four days, and then reappear as the morning star on the heliacal rising. At this time Quetzalcoatl then "ascended the throne as god." (Aveni, 1980: 187)

http://weber.ucsd.edu/~anthclub/quetzalcoatl/quetzal.htm

Go through the whole thing. It's wonderful.

Kenneth

posted in FOLKLORE AND MYTHOLOGY - 32 replies

BEE Lore

The Passenger — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 08:28:08 GMT

HONEY IN MYTH AND LEGEND.. Myths and legends about honey bees are widespread throughout the world, and to some extent they still colour the way we view the golden liquid and the insects which produce it.

it was believed that bees would thrive only in harmonious families, and they were supposed to be included in family happenings. They were considered to be models of domestic peace and harmony and were also highly industrious workers, attributes to which most households aspired. "Telling the Bees" was vitally important, whether it was good or bad news or simply everyday happenings. bees had to be told of a death in the family or they would die too. The bad news had to be given before sunrise on the following day for all to be well.

Sometimes a piece of funeral cake and a drink of wine was left by the hive after a funeral. The bees might also be formally invited to the funeral, or the beehives turned round as the coffin was carried out of the house past them.

Marriage, birth or burying. News across the seas, All your sad or marrying

Why Bees Have Stingers - Long ago bees could not protect themselves or their precious honey. The bees ask Wesakechak for help. After four days of thinking, Wesakechak gives them a gift. He tells them by working together, using his gift, even Muskwa the bear will not be able to steal their honey.

The feast of the One-victors, far from a drunken orgy -- unless it be in the sense of the original Dionvsian Mysteries, when wine represented spiritual illumination -- is a partaking of universal elements. These are symbolized by the honeyed mead or nectar of the gods, as in the Greek myths (honey is gathered through the selfless efforts of bees for the common good. In the Greek Mysteries, the mystae, initiants, were called melissae bees

Lastly the bee, the one insect that is tamable and will live among men, and whose wise ways are such a lesson to them, may be expected to have old mythic associations. The bee is believed to have survived from the golden age, from the lost paradise nowhere is her worth and purity more prettily expressed than in the Servian lay of the rich Gavan, where God selects three holy angels to prove mankind, and bids them descend from heaven to earth, 'as the bee upon the flower, The clear sweet honey, which bees suck out of every blossom, is a chief ingredient of the drink divine it is the ndeia edwdh of the gods, Hymn. in Merc and holy honey the first food that touches the lips of a new-born child, . Then, as the gift of poesy is closely connected with Oðhrœris dreckr, it is bees that bring it to sleeping Pindar egeneto And therefore they are called Musarum volucres A kindermärchen ( speaks of the queen-bee settling on her favourite's mouth; if she flies to any one in his sleep, he is accounted a child of fortune.

It seems natural, in connexion with these bustling winged creatures, to think of the silent race of elves and dwarfs, which like them obey a queen. It was in the decaying flesh of the first giant that dwarfs bred as maggots; in exactly the same way bees are said to have sprung from the putrefaction of a bullock's body: To this circumstance some have ascribed the resemblance between apis bee and Apis bull, though the first has a short a, and the last a long. What seems more important for us is the celebrated discovery of a golden bullock's-head amongst many hundred golden bees in the tomb of the Frankish king Childeric at Doornik

Natural history informs us that clouds of bees fall upon the sweet juice of the ash-tree; and from the life-tree Yggdrasil the Edda makes a dew trickle, which is called a 'fall of honey,' and nourishes bees The Yngl. says of Yngvifrey's son, king Fiölnir that he fell into a barrel of mead and was drowned; so in Saxo, king Hunding falls into sweet mead, and the Greek myth lets Glaucus drown in a honey-jar, the bright in the sweet.

According to a legend of the Swiss Alps, in the golden age when the brooks and lakes were filled with milk, a shepherd was upset in his boat and drowned; his body, long sought for, turned up at last in the foaming cream, when they were churning, and was buried in a cavity which bees had constructed of honeycombs as large as town-gates ( de Bees weave a temple of wax and feathers . and in our Kinderm. a palace of wax and honey. (he lies in the minister he built, as the bee her web from many a blossom works, that we name honey-juice).

In the various languages the working bee is represented as female, OHG. pîa, Lat. apis, Gr. melissa, Lith. bitte, in contrast with the masc. fucus the drone, OHG. treno, Lith. tranas; but then the head of the bees is made a king, our weiser (pointer), MHG. wîsel, OHG. wîso, dux, Pliny's 'rex apium,' Lith. bittinis, M. Lat. chosdrus ( yet AS. beomôdor, Boh. matka. The Gr. esshn is said to have meant originally the king-bee, and to have acquired afterwards the sense of king or priest, as megissa also signified priestess, especially of Demeter and Artemis. Even gods and goddesses themselves are represented by the sacred animal, Zeus (Aristaeus) as a bee, Vishnu as a blue bee. A Roman Mellona or Mellonia ( was goddess of bees; the Lith. Austheia was the same, jointly with a bee-god Bybylus. Masculine too was the Lett. Uhsinsh, hosed one, in reference to bees' legs being covered with wax ('waxen thighs,'

posted in FOLKLORE AND MYTHOLOGY - 11 replies

Gods And Goddess Of Native Americans And Symbolism of Animals

The Passenger — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 09:21:51 GMT

ANGUTA (Inuit/Eskimo) Gatherer of the dead. Anguta carries the dead down to the underworld, where they must sleep with him for a year.

ANINGAN (Inuit/Eskimo) The moon, brother to the sun whom Moon chases across the sky. Aningan has a great igloo in the sky where he rests. Irdlirvirissong, his demon cousin, lives there as well. The moon is a great hunter, and his sledge is always piled high with seal skins and meat.

ASGAYA GIGAGEI (Cherokee) The Red Man or Woman evoked in spells to cure the ill. Asgaya Gigagei is either male or female, depending on the sex of the patient.

ATIRA (Pawnee) The Earth, Sacred Mother of every living creature. The Pawnee were hunters. When told to abandon hunting and settle down to farming, their priest replied: "You ask me to plow the ground! Shall I take a knife and tear my mother's bosom? Then when I die she will not take me to her bosom to rest. You ask me to dig for stone! Shall I dig under her skin for her bones? Then when I die I cannot enter her body to be born again. You ask me to cut grass and make hay and sell it, and be rich like white men! But how dare I cut off my mother's hair? It is a bad law and my people cannot obey it."

AWONAWILONA (Pueblo Indians) "The One Who Contains Everything." The Supreme God, the Creator of All. Before the creation there was only Awonawilona; all else was darkness and emptiness. Both male and female, Awonawilona created everything from himself and taking form became the maker of light, the Sun.

BIG HEADS (Iroquois) Demon gods. Giand heads without bodies which fly about in storms. They find men very tasty.

BREATHMAKER (Seminole) Breathmaker taught men to fish and dig wells, and made the Milky Way. When the virtuous die, they follow the Milky Way to a glorious city in the western sky.

COYOTE (Southwestern Indians, but known in other areas as well) A trickster, a clown. The creator and teacher of men. Like Loki, Coyote is always lurking about, causing trouble and playing pranks. To the Zunis, Coyote is a hero who set forth the laws by which men may live in peace. The Pomo Indians maintain that Coyote created the human race and stole the sun to keep them warm. The Montana Sioux say that Coyote created the horse. The Chinook tell how Coyote and Eagle went to the land of the dead to bring back their dead wives. On reaching the land of the dead, they found a meeting lodge lit only by the moon which lay on the floor. Every night an old woman would swallow the moon and the dead would appear in the meeting lodge. Recognizing their wives among the spirits of the dead, the two gods devised a plan. The next day, after the old woman had vomited up the moon and the dead had disappeared, Coyote built a huge wooden box and placed in it leaves of every kind of plant. Coyote and Eagle then killed the old woman, and Coyote donned her clothes. When the time came, Coyote swallowed the moon. The dead appeared, but Eagle had place the box outside the exit. When Coyote vomited up the moon, the dead filed out and were trapped in the box. Coyote pleaded to be allowed to carry the box, and Eagle gave it to him. But Coyote couldn't waitto see his wife and opened the box. The spirits of the dead rose up like a cloud and disappeared to the west. So it is that people must die forever, not like the plants which die in winter and are green again in a season.

DEOHAKO (Iroquois/Seneca) Spirits of maize, beans and gourds who live together in a single hill. Searching for dew, the maize spirit Onatha was captured by the evil spirit Hahgwehdaetgah who took her off to the underworld. Sun rescued her, and ever since she has remained in the cornfields until the corn is ripe.

ESTANATLEHI (Navajo) First Woman's adopted daughter. To punish mankind for pride, First Man and First Woman sent a plague of monsters to kill and devour them. The time came when First Woman repented of the evils she and First Man had visited upon men, and she sought a means for their deliverance. First Woman discovered the infant Estanatlehi lying on the ground near First Woman's mountain, and took her in. The infant Estanatlehi grew to adulthood in four days. Making love with the Sun, she gave birth to the Twin Brothers who after many adventures slew the monsters.

EVENING STAR (Pawnee) An evil star who drives the sun down out of the sky and send his daughter to hinder Morning Star from the sun back up again.

FIRST MAN AND FIRST WOMAN (Navajo) In the beginning, First Man and First Woman ascended from the underworld together with Coyote, leading the people through trials and tribulations into the surface world which became their home. Deciding that the sky was too empty with only Sun and Moon, First Man, First Woman and Coyote gathered up glittering stones and placed them in the sky to serve as stars.

GAHE, also GA'AN (Apache) Supernatural beings who dwell inside mountains. The can sometimes be heard dancing and beating drums. Because they can heal and drive away disease, they are worshipped. In the ritual dances of the Chiricahua Apache masked dancers painted a different color for each point of the compass represent all the Gahe except the Grey One. The Grey One, though he appears as a clown, is really the mightiest of all the Gahe.

GLUSKAP (Algonquin) The Creator, or more exactly, the creator force. Generally benevolent, but often whimsical. Gluskap created the plains, the food plants, the animals and the human race from the body of the Mother Earth. His rival was his wolf brother Malsum, who made rocks, thickets and poisonous animals. After a long struggle Gluskap killed Malsum and drove his evil magic under the earth. Gluskap drove away monsters, fought stone giants, taught hunting and farming to men, and gave names to the stars. His work done, Gluskap paddled towards the sunrise in a birch bark canoe. Some day he may return.

HINO (Iroquois) Thunder god, god of the sky. The Rainbow is his consort. With his fire arrows, Hino destroys evil beings.

IRDLIRVIRISISSONG (Inuit/Eskimo) The demon cousin of the moon. Sometimes Irdlirvirissong comes out into the sky to dance and clown and make the people laugh. But if anyone is nearby, the people must restrain themselves or the demon clown will dry them up and eat their intestines.

KACHINAS (Hopi) Nature spirits which inhabit and control everything -- animal spirits, spirits of departed ancestors, spirits of natural resources such as wind, rain and thunder. Their exact number is not known, but at least five hundred appear in the mythologies of the different villages.

KANATI (Cherokee) "The Lucky Hunter." Sometimes called First Man. He lives with his wife Selu ("Corn") in the east where the sun rises, and their sons, the Twin Thunder Boys, live in the west.

KITCKI MANITOU (Algonquin) The Great Spirit, the Supreme Being. The Uncreated, the Father of Life, God of the Winds. The Great Spirit is present in some way in nearly every North American Indian mythology.

MICHABO (Algonquin) The Great Hare. A trickster. A shape-shifter. Creator of men, the earth, deer, water and fish. Michabo drives away cannibal spirits. In the House of Dawn, Michabo is host to the souls of good men, feeding them succulent fruits and fish.

MORNING STAR (Pawnee) A protector who leads the sun upward into the sky. A soldier god.

NAGENATZANI (Navajo) Elder Twin Brother.

NESARU (Arikara) Sky spirit. In the beginning, Nesaru had charge over all creation. Displeased with a race of giants in the underworld who would not respect his authority, Nesaru sent a new race to the underworld to replace them and sent a flood which destroyed the giants without destroying the new men. When the new men cried out to be released from the underworld, Nesaru sent the Corn Mother for their deliverance.

NOKOMIS (Algonquin) "Grandmother." The Sacred Earth Mother. Nokomis nurtures all living things.

NORTH STAR (Pawnee) A creator god. Beneficiant and venerated.

OCASTA (Cherokee) "Stonecoat." The name comes from his coat which was made of pieces of flint. Equally good and evil, Ocasta was one of the Creator's helpers. Ocasta created witches and drifted from village to village stirring up turmoil. Some women trapped Ocasta, pinning him to the ground with a stick through his heart. The men cremated the dying Ocasta, who while burning on his funeral pyre taught them songs and dances for hunting, fighting wars and healing. Some of the men were granted great power and became the first medicine men.

OLELBIS (Wintun, Pacific Coast) The Creator who lived in Olelpanti (Heaven) with two old women. When the first people destroyed the world with fire, Olelbis sent wind and rain to quench the flames, and repaired the earth. Olelbis intended men to live forever. When they grew old, they were to climb to heaven and join Olelbis in paradise. Olelbis set two vultures to the task of building a ladder to Olelpanti for men to ascend, but Coyote persuaded them to stop work.

RABBIT (Southeastern tribes) Like Coyote and Michabo, a trickster god. Through a sly trick, Rabbit brought fire to man.

RAVEN (Northwestern tribes) Another trickster god. Very greedy, forever seeking food. Raven stole the moon from a miser and placed it in the sky.

SEDNA (Inuit/Eskimo) Goddess of the sea and the creatures of the sea. A one-eyed giant. A frightful old hag, but she was young and beautiful when her father threw her in the sea as a sacrifice. A sorcerer wishing to visit Sedna must pass through the realms of death and then cross an abyss where a wheel of ice spins eternally and a cauldron of seal meat stews endlessly. To return he must cross another abyss on a bridge as narrow as a knife edge.

SELU (Cherokee) "Corn." Sometimes known as First Woman. Kanati's wife. Selu created corn in secret by rubbing her belly or by defecating. Her sons, the Twin Thunder Boys, killed her when they spied upon her and decided she was a witch.

SHAKURA (Pawnee) Sun god. The Pawnee performed their famous Sun Dance for Shakura's sake. Young warriors attached themselves to tall poles with strips of hide which were tied to sharp stakes. The stakes were driven through the skin and flesh on the chest. The young brave would then support his entire weight with the hide ropes as he slowly circled the pole following the sun's movement in the sky. This lasted until the sun went down or the stakes ripped out of the brave's flesh.

SOUTH STAR (Pawnee) God of the underworld, the opposite of North Star. Magical and feared.

SUN (Cherokee) A goddess. When Sun's daughter was bitten by a snake and taken to the Ghost Country, Sun hid herself in grief. The world was ever dark, and Sun's tears became a flood. At last the Cherokee sent their young men and women to heal Sun's grief, which they did with singing and dancing.

SUN (Inuit/Eskimo) A beautiful young maiden carrying a torch who is chased through the sky by her brother Aningan, the moon. The planet Jupiter is the mother of the sun and very dangerous to magicians. If they are careless, she will devour their livers.

TEKKEITSERKTOCK (Inuit/Eskimo) The earth god, master of hunting to whom all deer belong.

TIRAWA-ATIUS (Pawnee) The Power Above, creator of the heavens and the earth. In the beginning Tirawa-Atius called the gods together to announce his plan to create the human race and promised the gods a share of power for their help. Shakura the Sun was assigned to provide light and heat, Pah the Moon was assigned the night, and Tirwara-Atius placed the Evening Star, the Mother of All Things in the west. The Morning Star he set to guard the east. After the gods had raised dry land from the watery chaos, Tirawa Atius told Sun and Moon to make love, and they gave birth to a son. He then told Evening and Morning Star to make love, and they gave birth to a daughter. So the human race was made. All would have been well if Coyote had not stolen a sack of storms from Lightening. Opening the sack, Coyote loosed the storms and so brought death into the world.

THOBADESTCHIN (Navajo) Youngest Twin Brother.

THOUME' (Chitimacha) Thoume' taught the people to make clothing and fire, and how to make love. After making the moon and the sun, Thoume' sent the trickster god Kutnahin to teach medicine and food preparation to men. Kutnahin traveled through the world disguised as a derelict covered with buzzard dung.

TORNGASAK (Inuit/Eskimo) The good spirit, representing everything in nature good and helpful to man.

TWIN THUNDER BOYS (Cherokee) The sons of Kanati and Selu. Kanati and Selu live in the east, the Twin Thunder Boys live in the west. When thunder sounds, the boys are playing ball.

WACHABE (Sioux/Osage) Black Bear. A guardian. Symbol of long life, strength and courage

Animal Symbol Of Native Americans

Alligator--Aggression, survival, adaptability

. Ant--The ant represents self discipline and a group effort or teamwork.

Bat--The bat is the guardian of the night, cleaner

. Bear--Power, mother cunning, healer, gentle strength, dreaming.

Bear Paw--Power, direction, connection to creator.

Beaver--The beaver is a builder or gatherer.

Buffalo--Sacredness, life builder The buffalo provides all good things for living, and bestows great curing powers Butterfly--Metamorphosis, carefree, transformer . Cougar--Leadership, courage, power, swiftness and balance.

Coyote--Prankster, insight, playful. The coyote symbolizes duality and the ability to present both sides of an issue. Clowning and humor, perhaps sarcastic.

Crane--Solitude, independence. Deer--Love, gentleness, kindness, gracefulness and sensitivity. Deer carries the message of purity of purpose, and of walking in the light. Dolphin--Kindness, play, bridge man to ocean. Dolphin brings us teachings from the water. Breath control and the awareness of tone is also Dolphin power.

Dragonfly--Flighty, carefree. Dragonflies symbolize whirlwind, swiftness and activity. The dragonfly is an important insect in Zuni legend, where they are shamanistic creatures with supernatural powers. In Hopi rock art, the dragonfly is symbolized by a vertical line with two or sometimes one, horizontal cross line.

Eagle--Divine spirit, chief of all the creatures in the air, the primary servant of the sun. Powerful in battle, the eagle protects the people from evil. Eagle medicine attributes include clear vision and soaring spirit. The eagle is associated with success, prosperity and wealth. In the Zuni Tradition, the Eagle symbolizes the direction Up

. Elk--Strength, agility, freedom, power and nobility

. Fox--Cunning, provider, intelligence. Fox represents twilight and feminine magic.

Frog--Connection with water element . Grizzly Bear--Mother, nature's pharmacist.

Hawk--Messenger of the sky, observer.

Horse--Stamina, mobility, strength and power. The horse was introduced to the plains tribes by the Spanish. Shamans are often pictured flying on mythical horses. Horses can symbolize coping under difficult circumstances. Horse is love and devotion, loyalty . Hummingbird--Messenger, stopper of time. Hummingbird represents optimism and sweetness. Being able to roll with the punches is an attribute of Hummingbird.

Lizard--Conservation, agility. Lizard promotes dreaming . Moose--Headstrong, unstoppable longevity. Moose represents value and integrity.

Otter--Laughter, curiosity, mischievous. Otter is a feminine power, and the symbol of grace and empathy

. Owl--Wisdom, truth, patience. The Mescalero believe that Owl carries the souls of the recently deceased, a death messenger. Owl is the totem of clairvoyants and mystics

. Panther--Denotes caution is necessary. A savage and cunning animal. has superior fighting courage of the female. In the positive, it has a beautiful voice, it symbolizes Christ. The Panther is said to keep the diabolical dragon awayA black panther is considered especially dangerous

Rabbit--Alertness, nurturing.

Raven--Trickster, teacher, hoarder. To Pacific Northwest Coast tribes, Raven represented the shaman's powers and a belief in transformation between human and animal spirits. Raven symbolizes change in conciousness and is the mark of a shape shifter. Salmon--Instinct, persistence, determination

. Seahorse--Confidence, grace. Shark--Hunter, survival, adaptability

. Snake--Shrewdness, transformation. Life, death and rebirth are represented by the shedding of skin. Among the Pueblo Indians snakes and lightning are equated with rain and fertility

. Spider--Creative, pattern of life. Spider connects the past with the future, creating possibilities. Spider-woman is a major Pueblo goddess.

Swan--Grace, balance, innocence.

Turtle--Self contained, creative source. Turtle represents Mother Earth. Informed decisions, planning and adaptability are attributes of Turtle

Wolf--Loyalty, success, perseverance, stability and thought. Wolves are also regarded as pathfinders and teachers. Wolf is represented by the constellation Sirius, the Dog. In the Zuni tradition the Wolf symbolizes the direction East.

Wolf Print--Tracking, movement.

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The Manitou

The Passenger — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 09:28:10 GMT

Manitou, The Great Spirit, is an Algonquin term, often erroneously applied as spirit monster. Manitou combines the meanings of Spirit, mystery, magic, and generally is applied to the manifestation of some form of power that is not readily understood or coming from elsewhere.

KITCKI MANITOU (Algonquin) The Great Spirit, the Supreme Being. The Uncreated, the Father of Life, God of the Winds. The Great Spirit is present in some way in nearly every North American Indian mythology

This was often distorted to refer to a spirit "man-beast" with supernatural powers and amazing strength that walked the earth in a hideous beast like form and was of gigantic proportion And some times these distortions were said to be controlled by shaman turned to evil seeking power riches or revenge

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Peacocks in myth and legend

The Passenger — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 09:18:28 GMT

Peafowl Through History

The Phoenicians are believed to be the first to have imported peafowl, and they transported them to Egypt.

The peacock is mentioned in Greek mythology. It was the bird of Hera, queen of the Gods. One myth told of Argus, Hera's hundred eyed giant whose job it was to spy on Zeus and discover his trysting places. When he discovered Zeus with the maiden Io, Zeus changed Io into a cow to escape Hera's wrath. Hera saw through the disguise and requested the cow as a gift, and Zeus could not refuse her. She entrusted Argus to watch Io day and night so she could not be changed back to her true form. Zeus then sent Hermes, messenger of the gods and god of thieves and trickery, to recover Io. Knowing that he could not escape detection from Argus' 100 eyes, Hermes began to play sleepy tunes on his flute and one by one Argus' eyes closed and he fell asleep. Hermes then cut off his head. When Hera found Argus, she removed his one-hundred eyes and placed them on the tail of her favorite bird, the peacock.

Peacocks are mentioned in the ancient Greek play "The Birds" by Aristophanes.

Back in Biblical times, peafowl were exported all over the known world as treasure, and King Solomon brought many of them to Israel.

In the ancient Roman civilization, peacocks were served with their own feathers as a delicacy and were prepared in many different ways.

The peacock is also mentioned in one of Aesop's fables. In the story, the peacock goes to Juno (the Roman name for the goddess Hera) and complains that the nightingale has a sweet song and he does not. Juno replied that he has beauty and size. The peacock then asked what good was his beauty without a great voice. Juno wisely replied that every creature has its gifts and faults, and they should be content with them and who they are.

By the 14th century, peafowl were spread throughout Europe, however they were not common and were only owned by the rich and powerful.

The early European church looked upon the peacock as a religious symbol.

The peacock has been and still is held sacred by certain Indian groups. It became the official national bird of India in 1963 and is protected by law in its native habitat.

Although held in high honor in many societies, in certain cultures peacocks have been associated with evil. Their "tail" feathers have been called evil eyes. In these cultures it is considered bad luck to keep these feathers in the home, however they can be safely kept outside.

In folk art, peacocks are often painted looking backwards at their tails. Because these feathers are renewed each year, this is considered a symbol for renewal. Cultures around the world often pair parrots, peacocks, and doves as focal points in Tree of Life designs.

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Argentinian Folk Tales

The Passenger — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 09:16:47 GMT

The Flamingo's Socks

The animals of the forest were arranging a ball and everybody was waiting for that moment, and all the animals had a new dress but the flamingos, which at that time were all white, didn't have anything to wear.

They felt ugly and ridiculous and they didn't like any suit. Desperate, they went to the owl's house who was the most prestigious dressmaker of the forest. She designed for them a pair of striped, white and black trousers. These were the most marvellous suits that a flamingo had ever worn. Now they could go to the party. When the day came everybody was very happy, but the coral snakes were very worried about the flamingo's trousers, because they saw that the trousers were made of snake skin.

The snakes were indignant and they bit the flamingos bodies and legs so they ran to the lake hot and itching.

Since that day they don't go out of the lake because only the water can calm the pain caused by the bites, which left their legs red and their feathers pink like summer dusk.

Copahue Thermal Springs

Copahue was a young Indian chief who lived in Los Andes. One day he decided to cross the mountains with his people.

One morning, Copahue left for a walk in the forest and he saw a beautiful girl with long black hair who was swimming in a blue lake. The girl was a witch and she had guided Copahue to this place with a charm. Copahue fell in love with her, and she fell in love with him too. Love transformed the witch into an ordinary woman. And they decided to get married. But the old people of the tribe were against the union of Copahue and the foreigner.

The two young people disobeyed them and they got married anyway. But Copahue was condemned to death. His wife started to cry and the tears fell into the lake where they had met. Immediately the water started to acquire a yellow coloration, it started to boil and in the place there was a horrible smell like sulphur.

This place is called Copahue now, its thermal springs are known nationwide. They are situated in Ñorquín department, to the north of Neuquen province, Argentina. ,

The Calafate's Story

A hundred years ago a Mapuche tribe was hunting far from their home. In the middle of the hunting, the snow surprised them, because the winter was beginning. They decided to go Home home. "Koonek", that means Calafate, was the name of an old and wise woman of the tribe. She couldn't walk fast, so they couldn't go Home fast either. Then, following the tradition, they built an awning and they gave her some animal skins, food and firewood. They left her in that lonely place.

The cold became more intense and the birds left the place. The old Koonek was now alone in the lonely white place.

When Koonek ate all the food, she started to eat roots and the barks of the trees. When the spring started, all the birds came Home and found the woman alive.

According to the story, Koonek was a "machi", a kind of witch. So she talked to the birds and promised them that if they stayed there when the winter came, she would teach them, the secret to survive in winter. When the winter started, the "machi" joined the birds and showed them a plant with blue berries, she took some, pressed them and offered them the seeds. When they ate all the seeds, they didn't want to leave the place anymore.

A lot of suns and a lot of moons passed and the "machi" died under bird's songs. The story says that the following day a beautiful calafate bush with a lot of flowers grew in that place.

The people of Patagonia say that if you ever try the calafate berries, you never leave the place, or if you do, you always come Home.

The Legend of The Alumine Lake

In the beginning, Neguenechen (God) made two young people in love to reign all the mapuche country: Antu, the sun, and Cuyen, the moon.

As time went by now Antu's love started to cool off. In that way they lost their love, and drifted apart. As result now one started going out at night and the other during the day. Cuyen was very sad, because she still loved him. One day she found Antu with Collipal, the evening star, and realised that they were in love; she cried and cried for a long time and her tears made the Alumine Lake.

Since that moment in the clear and calm nights the crystalline and deep waters reflect Cuyen with her eternal love.

The legend of the Seibo Flower.

The seibo (or ciebo) is an American tree, it gives red flowers with five petals, very brilliant and beautiful, which grow in bunches. According to the guarani legend, in the flower there lives the soul of a bold native, called Anahí.

Anahí was proud of her lineage, like all her people. She didn't want to surrender to the Spanish conqueror, so she fought to defend her tribe from them.

Unfortunately, one day she was made prisoner and was sentenced to die in bow fire. Sometime later, in the place where she had been burnt, grew up a tree with red flowers. Nowadays, this is the national flower.

The Yerba mate

Maté: from Quechua ¨mati¨ , calabash, in allusion to the gourd in which it is steeped. Maté is a beverage made from the dried leaves of a South American evergreen tree (yerba mate), of the holy family. This beverage is drunk in the river Plate region.

The moon wanted to come down to Earth, she wanted to taste the fruits and bathe in rivers.

Thanks to the clouds she come down. Since sunset until dawn the clouds covered the sky so that nobody realised the moon was missing.

The night the moon spent on Earth was marvelous. She walked in the Paraná jungle, she knew mysterious smells and flavours and spent a long time swimming in the river. An old farmer saved her twice from getting drowned.

When a jaguar was going to bite the moon's neck the man stabbed the animal, and when the moon was hungry he took her home." We offer you our humbleness" said the labrador's wife, and she gave her some maize cakes.

The following night, from up in the sky, she peeped into her friends' house. The man had built his hut in a clearing, away from the rest of the people. He lived there with his wife and his daughter. The moon realised that they had nothing left to eat, she had eaten the last cake. She lit the place and asked the clouds to let a special drizzle fall over the place. At dawn, in that place, unknown trees had grown. Among the green leaves, there were white flowers.

The old farmer's daughter never died. She is the owner of the yerba mate and she offers it to everyone. The yerba mate wakes you up when you are sleepy and makes those who don't known each other become brothers in spirit

From Folk Tales Around The World

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folklore fish

The Passenger — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 09:15:13 GMT

A certain bone in the head of a fish will bring good luck, if kept on your person.

A crawfish pinching one of your toes will not let loose until it thunders.

Carry on your person the precious stone from the head of a crawfish and you will have good luck.

If you blow your breath into a goldfish jar, the fish will die.

If you have goldfish in the house, you will be ailing all the time until you get them out.

It causes bad luck to keep goldfish in the house.

Keep a piece of oyster shell in your pocketbook for luck and money.

Minnows come by spontaneous generation.

Never let anyone give you a goldfish or you will have bad luck.

Sometimes fish fall during a rain.

The bone in the head of a white perch is especially lucky, if carried by a fisherman.

There is a precious stone in the head of a crawfish.

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Old Hag Syndrome

The Passenger — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 09:13:47 GMT

The name of the phenomenon comes from the superstitious belief that a witch - or an old hag - sits or "rides" the chest of the victims, rendering them immobile. Although that explanation isn't taken very seriously nowadays, the perplexing and often very frightening nature of the phenomenon leads many people to believe that there are supernatural forces at work - ghosts or demons.

The experience is so frightening because the victims, although paralyzed, seem to have full use of their senses. In fact, it is often accompanied by strange smells, the sound of approaching footsteps, apparitions of weird shadows or glowing eyes, and the oppressive weight on the chest, making breathing difficult if not impossible. All of the body's senses are telling the victims that something real and unusual is happening to them. The spell is broken and the victims recover often on the point of losing consciousness. Fully awake and well, they sit up, completely baffled by what just happened to them since now the room is entirely normal.

Confronted with such a bizarre and irrational experience, it's no wonder that many victims fear that they have been attacked in their beds by some malevolent spirit, demon or, perhaps, an alien visitor.

The phenomenon occurs to both men and women of various ages and seems to happen to about 15 percent of the population at least once in a lifetime. It can occur while the victim is sleeping during the day or night, and it is a worldwide phenomenon that has been documented since ancient times.

"In the 2nd century, the Greek physician Galen attributed it to indigestion," according to The Encyclopedia of Ghosts and Spirits by Rosemary Ellen Guiley. "Some individuals suffer repeated attacks over a limited period of time; others have repeated attacks for years."

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DanishTrolls

The Passenger — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 09:10:34 GMT

Scattered groups of troll still survive in less populated areas in Denmark, incl. Bornholm, West Jutland, and certain smaller islands and islets. Their diet seems to consist of mainly berries, fish, mussels, potatoes, and mushrooms, and they collect amber and beautiful seashells which they exchange with their northern relatives for gold, animal hides etc. through very intricate trade routes across (or perhaps below) Kattegat. They were heavily persecuted during the Middle Ages and are therefore very fearful and suspicious of man which is probably why they usually live in deep underground dwellings and only appear above ground for a longer period on equinox (Dan. jævndøgn) when they meet at old heathen sites, the so-called "jættehøje" (Engl. dolmens, literally 'giant hills'>, to perform their songs to the sun but they are always very careful not to leave any conspicuous traces as they are well-aware of humans' uninhibited and indiscrete curiosity in this part of Trolldom. As for physical characteristics they are likely to be smaller, more sturdy and have a darker complexion than the other Scandinavian trolls, probably due to their subterranean existence, and can therefore easily be mistaken for dwarfs (in case one should be as fortunate as to meet both during one's life time...).

These early ancestors of the trolls of Scandinavia settled in the Dark North shortly after the last ice age but disappeared with the spread of modern humans. Also called Jotuns (or 'jætter' in Danish), they were said to be creatures of a very fierce temper who spent most of their life in these cold and forbidding regions fighting over the few existent food resources, and local myths in all of the Scandinavian countries still tell about whole islands and mountains that were thrown many miles to chase other giants away. At least three giants are known to have existed between 12000 and 9000 BC:

The Frost Giant Known from the Edda as the inhabitant of Jotunheim, the Frost Giant was a very lonely creature of enormous size who, when he was particularly hungry (and unhappy) could eat several large Swedish mountains. Some of these he spit out and they landed in the Baltic Sea where they became the Aaland Islands. It is said that his lonely howl could even scare the cold arctic winds...

The Sea Giant Another lonely creature who inhabited undersea caves in Norwegian fjords and was a very good swimmer, although no match to whales which is why he soon disappeared. He is said to have survived on the misty Faroe Isles until historical times, but noone really knows.

The Earth Giant The most likely direct ancestor of modern trolls, the earth giant had the best food resources of all the troll giants, but his enormous size and hunger - his diet is said to have consisted of "everything within reach" - made him quite immobile and therefore very vulnerable to sudden climactic changes, and he was soon replaced by smaller and more flexible kinds of troll with a more environmental-friendly appetite.

Troll Seasons

Spring

When the snow melts and the first flowers appear on the ground, the trolls leave their caves to look for wood and begin repairing their dwellings after the long hard winter

Summer

When the wind from the mountains grows warmer and the landscape returns to greenness, the season of play begins and old friends meet again.

Autumn

When the leaves change colour it is time to prepare for the long winter, go fishing or hunting, gather mushrooms and berries and secure their storage before the first snowdrops fall.

Winter

As blizzards ravage the forest and mountains, the trolls gather around the fire in their caves, talking about the year that was and making plans for the next

From The Secret Denmark

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Superstitions Fishing AndHunting

The Passenger — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 09:08:51 GMT

Fishing Superstitions

A cloudy day is a good time for fishing.

A fisherman always throws the first fish he catches back in the water for luck.

A good time to go fishing is when you see a chicken oiling its feathers.

A rabbit crossing your path when you are going fishing is a sign of bad luck that day.

After you have put a worm on the hook, spit on it for good luck.

Always fish against the wind for luck.

Carry a fishing pole into the house before you start on a fishing trip and you will not catch any fish.

Catfish bite well when it thunders.

Chew anise and spit on your fishing hook for good luck.

Do not fish when the wind is in the west; the fish will not bite.

Fish become excited and bite well when it is raining.

Fish bite best (in daytime) during the dark of the moon because they cannot see in the dark of the moon and are hungrier.

Fish bite best (at night) on the increase of the moon.

Fish bite best at night during full moon.

Fish bite best at night, and if you play a fiddle or guitar, the fish just can't stay in the water but will come to the top because they love the music of a fiddle or guitar.

Fish bite best when there is a good soft wind from the south or southeast.

Fish bite well when it is thundering.

Fish can see upward, but cannot see downward.

Fish do not bite when the wind is in the south.

Fish for the first time in the season on Good Friday and you will be lucky at fishing all year.

Fish on the west side of the bank, if the wind is in the west.

Fish when the sign is in the "feet' for luck.

Fish will not bite if it thunders.

Fish will not bite if you use a bright cork on your line.

Fish with three or five lines, never with one line, to catch the most fish.

Fishing on Friday is unlucky.

Fishing with crossed lines is unlucky.

Go fishing just after a hard rain.

Good days to fish are the 17th and 18th of the month.

If a dragon fly lights on the cork quit fishing for you will catch nothing.

If a fisherman goes out to fish, he should always pray/ For perpetual sunshine that will not fade away/ And he will have good luck all day.

If a person goes fishing every Sunday, someday he will catch the devil on his hook and be snatched off the bank into the water and may drown.

If a rain comes slowly and falls gently, fish will continue to bite.

If fish flop out of the water, fishing is no good, because they are not hungry and will not bite.

If fish in a globe are still and inactive, fishing is no good; if fish in a globe are lively, fishing is good.

If fish in a tank are at the top, it is a good day for fishing; if your fish stay at the bottom, don't go fishing, for it is a poor fishing day.

If it rains, catfish will bite.

If on your way to fish, you see a pin, pick it up for luck; failing to pick it up will bring you bad luck.

If the end of your pole touches the water, you will not be successful at fishing.

If the wind is in the south and it is cloudy, you can pull out fish as fast as you put your line in the water.

If you drop your line when going to put it on the pole, throw the line away and attach a new line for you will not get fish on the line you dropped.

If you go fishing and see a big fish jump up, it will be bad luck for you all day.

If you go fishing and play a French harp (harmonicon), all the snakes around will come.

If you go on a fishing party, the first person to catch a fish will have good luck.

If you go to a pond and make the water real muddy, the fish will all come to the top.

If you talk while fishing, the fish will hear you and not bite.

If you want to catch a two or three pound fish, always use a grasshopper for bait.

If you want to fish for rough fish - cat, buffalo, sturgeon or carp - fish with your bait deep.

If you want to fish for game fish, fish with your bait shallow.

If your bait runs out, dip your hook in motor oil; which is very good for catfish.

It is unlucky to take a dog on a fishing trip.

It is unlucky to bait your hook with a worm by using your left hand.

Let your shadow fall on the water while you are fishing and you will scare the fish away.

Never fish with a seine on a clear night; you will have any luck until you fish on a cloudy night.

Never let anyone step over your line; it will cause you bad luck.

Never tell anyone how many fish you have, while you are fishing, or you will be unlucky.

Put a cigarette paper on your hook, put it in the water and keep walking back and forth with the line to catch bass.

Put safetida on the bait and fish will bite.

Saving the first fish caught brings better luck, but throwing it away is like throwing your luck away.

Spitting on your bait will give you luck.

The best time to gig fish is when they begin to roll following the first three warm days of spring; and they will roll for three days.

The person who swears while fishing will not catch a fish.

The sign of the "fish" is the good time for fishing.

Throwing a pebble into the water excites the fish and makes them bite.

To catch sunfish or perch, use salty pork for bait.

To change poles while fishing will bring you bad luck.

Turn your pocket inside out and you will catch catfish.

Use an even number of hooks on your line for luck, as fish will not bite if the number is odd.

Use cake for bait and you will catch a lot of fish.

Use dough balls to catch carp.

When a rain comes rapidly and falls heavily, fish will stop biting.

When a small minnow jumps out of the water,it will be a great and successful day for you, and you will have good luck all day and come home with lots of fish.

When owls hoot during the day is a good time for catching catfish.

When the wind is in the east, fish on the east side of the bank.

When the wind is in the southwest/ The fish bite the best.

When you go fishing, if you will take an old looking-glass and hold it so the sun can hit it, it will blind the fish so you can catch them with your hands.

When you go fishing, spit on the line and you will get fish by the peck.

When you lose your hook, tie bait on the line and continue fishing.

Wind from the south, hook in the mouth/ Wind from the east, bite the least/ Wind from the north, further off/ Wind from the west, bite the best.

You will not catch any fish, if you see fish humping on a rainy day.

You will not catch any more fish if you are struck by a fish's fin.

You will not have any luck, if you fish when the sign is in the "head."

Your will have bad luck, if you fish on Sunday.

HUNTING SUPERSTITIONS

Carry a rabbit foot for luck while hunting.

Game dies at once, if shot in the sign of the "heart."

If the first thing you see when entering the woods is an old sunken boat on land, you will catch a lot of opossums.

If you are hunting and your dog comes moaning back to you, howling; you had better go home for that day, because if you don't you will kill your dog trying to kill something else.

If you are hunting and see three ducks flying, don't shoot them, for they are messengers sent out by the other ducks to see if everything is all right.

If you are out hunting and you are walking along and see your shadow, it is a saying that you will not catch any game that day.

If you go hunting and your dog jumps up as high as your head and keeps that up while you are getting ready, that is the sign you will have bad luck.

If you go hunting and the first thing you see is a redbird, it is murderer waiting for you, if you go on hunting.

If you want to secure a full bag of game, always let your dog get your bag so you will have good luck.

If your dog lets out a yell like a wolf when you start to hunt, you had better be careful; if you don't, you will get hurt.

If, while hunting, you shoot three times and miss; it is time to go home and start over.

Just before you start on a hunting trip let someone hit you with an old shoe for luck, and the more in the family that hit you, the more game you will get.

Kill a cricket when you first reach camp and your hunting trip will be a failure.

Kill the first rabbit you see on your first hunt of the year and you will have a good hunting season.

Never load your gun until you reach the hunting grounds or you will not have any luck.

Never shoot your gun against the frozen bark of a tree or the bullet will be deflected and come back and kill you.

On leaving home to hunt, kick off your right shoe and put it on again for good luck.

To find a large hairpin while hunting is a sign of good luck.

To run back after you have entered the woods to hunt is a bad omen.

When a rabbit escapes you, remember that a rabbit always returns to the same place.

When hunting for squirrels; if you see the first squirrel on the ground, all squirrels will be on the ground, if the first squirrel is in a tree, other squirrels will found in trees.

Wrap a black horsehair around your wrist and you will shoot straight.

From The Book Of Old Wives Tales

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the Ladybug

The Passenger — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 09:06:21 GMT

Ladybug folklore According to some Ladybugs are dedicated to the Virgin Mary, hence their English name; others say they were originally dedicated to an earlier Goddess. The Dutch name of the Ladybug, "Lieveheersbeest" means "Dear Lord's Animal". Ladybugs are considered to be symbols of fire and the Sun. It is said that if one lands on your clothing you will soon get married. If it lands on your flesh or hair you will have good fortune. The Ladybug described here with its seven spots was thought to be a fairy's pet and one could make three wishes when it was seen.

Ladybugs in shamanism In shamanism, Ladybug is associated with spirituality and religious devotion. Its life is short and it teaches to let go of worries and fears, to trust the great spirit and enjoy life. It is thought to be connected with the powers of renewal and regeneration. The Ladybug's appearance brings joy and changes and is a message to have faith in the greater powers. The above holds for all kinds of Ladybug, not just for the one with seven spots.

**************************** The ladybug is associated with the "Virgin Mary" symbolizing the 7 joys & the 7 sorrows. "It is said that she will punish anyone for nine days who dares harm it.

An ancient Norse belief says that the ladybug first came to earth by lightning and was connected in some way to the goddess of love and beauty.

Another belief is that when a ladybug lands on you when you are sick, it will take the sickness away with it when it flies away

For mommy linda......8-) yes, they do mean something.

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Spring is coming

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