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Pankaration, Greece, Hellas, ancient, wrestling, boxing, martial arts, fighters, Hercules, Mythology, Olympic Games, legends, heroes, self defense, panmachia, combat, Alexander ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The influence of Greek culture on the entire human civilization is huge and hardly needs any introduction. Mathematics, physics, philosophy, biology, history, navigation, medicine, drama, are just some of the areas not imaginable in its current form without the contribution of the creative genius of the ancient Greeks.
Comes to us from the same mythical Hellas, however, one of the most powerful forms of struggle created by man. Experts say that would be the most effective fighting style ever created by man ... Welcome arena! This is Pankration ...
Edition Olympic Games held in the year 648 BCE arena currents would bring martial style so tough and powerful, that throughout history, martial were fewer current could compare with him. Pankration was born in ancient Hellas , between olive groves and sunny shores of the Mediterranean. This form of struggle was developed in close connection with nature to serve the Greeks as the most effective way of fighting and self defense.
 According to Greek mythology, Pankration was invented by two of the greatest heroes of Greek ethos heroes, Herakles and Theseus. They were followers of what is called Panmachia - Total Fight, Fight complement the direct translation of ancient Greek. Supporters of this view horses wore symbols Herculean, ghioga and leather cloak lion to reproduce on their own people Fighter image of Olympus legends. About Theseus is said to have used techniques for proper Pankration fight to kill the master labyrinth, dreaded Minotaur, the beast with the body of man and head of a bull. 
Herackes photo pantherfile.uwm.edu
Theseus photo : maicar.com
All legends remember two heroes were impressed dramas passing Hellas residents who are at that time under attack by various invaders. Consequently, they decided to teach their techniques battle mortals. Because it holds "all powers" as it translates its meaning Pankration.
Legend or not, it seems that there was some truth. At over 2,000 years in the future, specifically in the early 1990s, the international community would receive martial arts practitioners suddenly a real cold shower. On the eve of the third millennium, some revolutionaries fighting trends lay the foundations of what is called MMA, that Mixed Martial Arts - Martial arts combined.   This concept, modern at first glance, came with the idea of organizing fights to be allowed in designing opponent with ground fighting. Such are born UFC, Pride, Cross training, Shoot, Submission, Ground and pound, Slam!
Only served to reinvent the wheel ... Pankration already solved these dilemmas, and even had to go further in experimentation these concepts "we". Since last 2500 Year!
Exquisite fighting technique of the ancient Greeks
Photo : en.wikipedia.org
Pankration was a universe in itself. More than an Olympic discipline, this style of fighting was on how old so advanced in terms of technique and methodology of fighting. It was a complete and complex style while in Pankration there is even some special training the fighters did concentration exercises and meditation. Internal energy was then trained and developed through breathing exercises similar to those of Qi Gong in the Chinese martial arts, ancient Greeks called Pneuma.
Qi Gong Photo: en.wikipedia.org
 There were sets of movements including preset, so-called Pyrrhics, Taolu sites similar to the styles of Kung Fu and Karate Kata. Although at first glance seemed a combination of Greek pugilat and melee combat, Pankration was different in terms of conception and fighting techniques used. Even if a modern sports familiar with MMA, Pankration would seem a combination between ancient Muay Thai and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, the ancient fighting style characteristic of the Greeks have a plus in front of any martial arts today.
History of Sparta photo : en.wikipedia.org
Greeks and Spartans military training included basic elements of Pankration, because it can handle Greek soldiers during battle if they were put in the situation of running out of weapons.
Read: How hard it was to become a Spartan soldier. Five of the most demanding practices they faced new recruits
For driving the punch, elbow, knee and foot, practitioners used leather bags filled with sand. Herbs were used in treating post microleziunilor workouts.
The fighters were using any technique that led to the abandonment or more speedy removal of fight the opponent. There is only one position battle similar position intermediate form between a boxer and a modern judoka. Hands held up, fists at the temples to prevent possible head injury. The techniques were divided into four categories covering all aspects of fights without rules.
The World Judo Tour returns in Budapest - Eurosport 
Thus, Pygmis arms encapsulate all shots, including all kicks Laktisma, Rassein apaly handle sweeping techniques and designs, and ground fighting Apopnigmos deal with bottlenecks and limb sprain.
Huge variety of fighting techniques in the arsenal of a pankratiast (Pankration fighter), were chosen usually most effective combinations that were repeated endlessly. Between arms techniques are preferred direct blows punch, circular were usually ignored by a number of direct hits fighters arrived in clinics preferred elbow strikes or projections detriment clasps . Special attention is given to kicks. Favorite was - Laktisma gasteran is a very strong direct hit, made with the stomach or liver heel opponent. Once on the ground, fighter apply numerous keys arms and legs to dislocate limbs opponent. Commonly used techniques were repeatedly bottleneck that led to fainting or even death opponent.
Death or glory arena
During the Olympics, they met practitioners from all over Greece to face in the spirit of Tau Mu Tau, the Truth Martial, whom she remained faithful fighters entire life.
 Accompanied by Daskalos, titled teachers and masters in Pankration, young fighters were headed to the race venues at the foot of Mount Olympus. Spot sacred urn was brought a silver in small plates that were made, half emblazoned with the letter alpha, the other beta. Thus, held the draw.
Every athlete could face the ballot box, he prayed to Zeus and extract a plate. After that all practitioners would gather in a circle and shouted three times, all power, name of the hero Heracles. Any race of Pankration was given in honor of the patron of this art, the great Hercules, as the Romans called him
Zeus
Ceremonies are already met, they were to begin the most terrible evidence around the Olympics. Matches were extremely harsh and dangerous at the same time. There is no limit to stop the destruction or abandonment opponent. And dropping out was avoided completely by these warriors, who preferred to die or live crippled for life than to admit defeat. There were no age or weight categories, there were no rounds or time limits, the competition was open to anyone. The fighting was guarded by referees who were armed with bundles of twigs, used when opponents bite into them or drew their eyes, the only acts prohibited by Daskalos. Instead they were allowed any punches and leg opposite insert fingers in the ears, nose or mouth opponent ...
In these circumstances, the fight continues until one of the opponents faint, die or raise an arm in recognition of defeat. Memories Greeks notes that it was hard to find a champion Pankration with all the teeth in the mouth, to hear well or have their hands and feet full. Along with the series of blows applied to the arms and legs of an opponent fell to the ground, jamming the main techniques were responsible for most deaths occurring in the arena.
As an additional note, worth mentioning that both warriors were forced to fight completely naked and smeared all over his body with olive oil to make it as difficult ground fighting or limb luxation.
 The facts and record the most renowned fighters have reached legendary among athletes of ancient Greece. Ancient documents speak of superhuman exploits of fighters like Dioxippus, Polydamas of Skotoussa or Arrhichion of Phigalia.
The most famous of these was undoubtedly Dioxippus. Winner in several Olympics, became a close friend of Alexander, who said impressed by the strength and hardness of Pankration fighter. In his most famous fight Dioxippus defeated him without appeal on Coragus best fighter of Alexander. Coragus fought armed with spear, sword and shield, Dioxippus was simply a cloth covering her body and was armed with a baton.
The fight lasted less, Dioxippus I threw in front of Coragus stick or distract them, after which it was designed from the ground where he started it straguleze until Coragus failed. After defeating the best fighter of his, Alexander was filled with envy and decided to humiliate Dioxippus, putting them in his luggage a golden cup and then accusing him of theft. With rage and helplessness, Dioxippus Greek Macedonians give them one last lesson.
Proudly choose to commit suicide in front of the Macedonian royal court. In another unusual episode, a fighter Pancration, called Arrhichion Phigalia won the dispute after he died! During the fight, his opponent manages to inflict a strangulation technique, Arrhichion desperate at the thought of losing you, makes several fingers break its opponent, it gives up and raises his hand signaling it is defeated. When the referee and his friends came to congratulate him for the win, Arrhichion was already dead due to strangulation. Despite this, he was declared the winner and received the crown of olive leaves.
Pankration vs. Pancrace
Theodosius I photo: skepticism.org
Ancient ended Pankration in 393 C.E. it is prohibited by law from an edict of Theodosius I. Although Byzantine emperor as opposed to boxing and wrestling and was considered extinct, historical evidence exists confirming that around 1900, kleftii, Greek freedom fighters, used such fighting techniques during scuffles with Turkish soldiers.
Such klephts brothers were in the cities of Constantinople and Smyrna within which was kept, apparently, terrible fighters style of ancient Hellas. True revival of Pankration is due to the work and efforts undertaken by Demetrios "Jim" Arvanitis, a Greek who during the 60s made known to the world Pankration. Known as the father of modern Pankration, Kirios Arvanitis is a specialist in wrestling and Muay Thai, which was in art so passionate about his ancestors, that he dedicated his life to research and the rediscovery of forgotten all the techniques of Pankration.
Arvanitis Pankration reintroduced when the world was drawn to Oriental martial arts gender Karate, Aikido, Kung Fu. Conquered by their exoticism, the international community of martial arts enthusiasts Pankration not given deserved attention, until about the 90s, with the advent of current MMA when the old Greek style attracts more and more practitioners.
In the same period, the lands of Japan, Masakatsu Funaki and Minoru Suzuki, founded in 1993 Hibryd Pancrase Wrestling, an organization that wanted initially offered a tribute Pankration. Pancrase, as they called Japanese is but a modern conception of the fight, MMA tributary stream more than clenching terrible and wild once the Olympics rings. Pancrase promotes a kind of competition in which fighters use techniques of Muay Thai Jiu Jitsu combined with under a strict regulation that is designed to protect combatants. Among the fighters and famous practitioners of pancreata include some of the greatest legends of MMA, as Ruthenia Bass, Josh Barnett, Yuki Kondo, Semmy Schilt, Ken Shamrok, Ikuisa Minowa and Guy Metzger.
The threshold Olympics in 2004, the Greeks manage to reintroduce a form of Pankration sports, all of which were eliminated dangerous techniques. Subsequently, the International Olympic Forum deny official recognition of Pankration, citing lack of interest of athletes for discipline so tough. As the pinnacle of the bureaucracy and indolence, athletes participating in the 2004 edition asks for their medals back ...
Some of Daskalos, as Aris Makris Dimitrios Arvanitis and turned their attention to their championships organizing training with special forces intervention. Pankration is reborn from the ashes!
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Showing posts with label mythology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mythology. Show all posts
Friday, September 30, 2016
Pankration or fear the Greeks when they are angry ! ( Ancient Kung Fu Martial Arts )
Thursday, July 28, 2016
Babylonian Mythology Gods list and myths date from 700 B.C
Most records of Babylonian myths date from 700 B.C., when they were transcribed in cuneiform on clay tablets and stored in the library of the Assyrian King Ashurbanipal at Nineveh. However, the two major Babylonian epics probably originated around 2000 B.C. The Epic of Creation justifies Marduk's rule over gods and men; and it reflects the political supremacy of Babylon in Mesopotamia, since Marduk was the chief god of that city. The Gilgamesh Epic shows the failure of man's quest to overcome death.
Generally Babylonian mythology lacks the transcendental quality of the myth of Osiris. It is more earth-bound and more materialistic. Death puts an end to the sensual pleasures of life, and the underworld of the dead is the most dismal place imaginable. The Babylonian gods themselves indulge in eroticism, feasting, and fighting. But if the values are coarser and more masculine, the Babylonians produced a literary triumph in the Gilgamesh Epic.
Major Babylonian Gods
Anu, the head of the gods, reigned in the uppermost part of heaven and had an army of stars to destroy evildoers.
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| Anu-God of the sky - Mesopotamian Gods and Goddesses Google Sites |
Enlil, god of the hurricane and deluge, was also the source of royal power and dealt out good and evil to men.
Ea, a god of the waters, was a benefactor to nature and men by virtue of his all-encompassing wisdom.
Marduk was a fertility god and the principal deity of Babylon. He established lordship over all the other gods by killing the malevolent and chaotic Tiamat and by creating the world out of Tiamat's body.
Sin, the moon god, was an enemy to the wicked, shining his nightly light upon their deeds. His children were Shamash, the sun, and Ishtar, the planet Venus.
Shamash was the sun god, a dispenser of light and justice to the world, but also the god of prophecy.
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| Shamash Definition, Symbol, & Facts photo: Britannica |
Ishtar or Inanna, one of the most popular Babylonian deities, was the goddess of sexuality, a potent force among beasts and men. She sanctified temple prostitution. Lustful herself, Ishtar had numerous lovers, most of whom had dreadful fates.
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| Animation Color Drawing: Magical Winged Lioness. Ishtar, Astarta, Inanna. Stock Vector - Illustration of akkad photo: Dreamstime.com |
Isthar
One of Ishtar's lovers was the harvest god Tammuz. When he died of her love Ishtar wailed bitterly. Thinking to retrieve Tammuz from the kingdom of death, Ishtar entered the seven portals to the underworld. At each portal she left one of her garments or pieces of jewelry until at last she stood naked before Ereshkigal, the queen of the dead. Ereshkigal had Ishtar imprisoned and assaulted her with sixty illnesses. During this incarceration the earth withered and became desolate, and the gods of heaven mourned.
Marduk (Sumerian spelling in Akkadian AMAR.UTU "solar calf"; Biblical Merodach) was the name of a late generation god from ancient Mesopotamia
Finally Ea, the god of wisdom, took matters in hand and through his magical intervention Ishtar was released. Allowed to leave, she gathered up her garments and jewelry, accompanied by Tammuz, who was allowed to stand guard at the gates of heaven. Upon Ishtar's return the earth changed from winter to spring.
Other articles on the same theme:
Wednesday, July 27, 2016
5 Myths About Christianity and Modern Life
Christianity is the world's largest religion by a landslide. At over 2 billion adherents there is no religion or belief system even close. But the big guy is always an easy target. Write a book calling Jesus a zealot, point out an example of hypocrisy or just declare some biblical value as narrow-minded and you will have loads of mostly unchallenged media attention.
The half-truths, lies and myths about Christianity seem to increase at the rate of social media growth. There are falsehoods about science and Christianity, the divinity of Christ and the veracity of the Bible. There are so many half-truths it would take volumes to dispel them. And there are the myths. These are five that warrant examination.
Jesus Was Only A Teacher & Zealot
Jesus claimed to be God. He claimed to forgive people's sins, humanity would be accountable to him and he was the way, truth and life. He was much more than just a teacher. He was certainly not a revolutionary, in fact, large numbers of people stopped following him when he did not preach an overthrow of the Roman occupation.
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| All in One: the Gentle and Fierce Nature of God and Jesus - Bible |
Jesus has never been accused of being a liar nor did his followers lie about him since the gospels were not written in a mythic style. He did not have a messiah complex, which involves incredible egotism, inability to love and no compassion for others, none of which remotely resembles Jesus.
Maybe what really bothers some is Jesus' claim as the only way to God. The religion of secular culture is "equality" and Jesus message sounds scandalous. He preached equality amongst people but for himself he made it clear he was the savior of the world.
People Become Christians Through Social Conditioning
Myths can mix a little truth with a lot of error. It is true that many people become Christ followers when they are young influenced by their family and upbringing. But the greatest social conditioning of any person happens when they attend a college or university. No one can honestly deny the significant changes that take place while a person is in the college environment.
This social conditioning can change a person's morality, politics and faith. Lenin said, "Give me four years to teach the children and the seed I have sown will never be uprooted." Far from Christianity conditioning people to faith, the academy does everything it can to condition them away from faith.
Christianity Is A Crutch For The Weak
A crutch presupposes a need and some type of aid. Those who dismiss Christianity as a crutch are denying their own weaknesses. What mentally healthy person says they have no needs? It is emotionally weak to deny your innate neediness. What relationship has any hope of longevity when one person denies they have needs? A person who has fears of vulnerability or dependency might not acknowledge her needs. Someone who has pride and wants to be self-sufficient (as if anyone really can be) might not state his needs. But healthy people know they have needs and Christ meets those needs. Jesus is not a crutch he is a cure for the sin disease that plagues every one of us.
Christianity Stifles Personal Freedom
Researchers at Harvard, Duke and other universities have found that Christian faith and church attendance are associated with less social isolation, lower risk of substance abuse, lower rates of suicide, greater happiness and life satisfaction.
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| Redhawk500's Blog |
This does not sound like people who are not free. Jesus' truth sets us free from self-deception. False freedom can actually lead a person into behaviors that result in life controlling issues.
Those who say their freedom is stifled really mean they don't want standards that place absolute claim on them. They want freedom to do whatever they want without being accountable to God. Jesus gives us freedom not to do whatever we want but to become all we were meant to be.
Christianity Is Irrelevant to Modern Life
Bible provides principles which help with life issues any person may face. Beyond church services the ways to access this information is more abundant than ever including podcasts, blogs, videos, apps and more.
No group, institution or government does more for the social needs of people than the Church. Poverty alleviation, educating children, disaster relief are all being addressed by Christ followers in a stunning number of ways.
Of course universal spiritual issues like the meaning of life, what happens when we die and purpose for living are all questions for which Christianity uniquely provides answers. Millions of transformed lives prove all these myths to be untrue.
Other articles on the same theme:
Source; christianpost
Sunday, July 24, 2016
Five of the most fascinating Celtic Myths and Gods with the best books to read
Updated 04/05/2020
Tales of monsters, Gods, spells and love affairs: Celtic myths reflected the social thinking and traditions of pre-Roman Celts of Britain, Ireland and Europe. Spread by travelling poets and storytellers who plied their trade from village to village, the myths came into being partly to explain natural phenomena, and to try to address basic human concerns about life and death.
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| Irish Myths – A Guide to Celtic Mythology, Irish Mythology, and Irish Folklore irishmyths.com |
In her new book, Miranda Aldhouse-Green, an expert in archaeology and shamanism, uses myths to paint a complete picture of the Celtic world, and reveals how traditional Celtic characters and symbols can even be found in contemporary popular culture series such as Star Wars and Harry Potter.
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| Celtic gods poster Pinterest |
Here, writing for History Extra, Aldhouse-Green recalls five of the most fascinating Celtic myths…
In the Middle Ages, Christian monasteries in Ireland and Wales were the engines of literacy and education. Many monks took it upon themselves to record pagan myths and legends dating to pre-Christian times, leaving us a rich legacy of gods, goddesses, supernatural heroes, enchanted animals and magical objects.
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| The Book of Celtic Myths: From the Mystic Might of the Celtic Warriors to the Magic of the Fey Folk, the Storied History and Folklore of Ireland, Scotland, Brittany, and Wales: Adams |
But their Christian chroniclers seasoned these stories with a heavy sprinkling of early Christian ethics, so mythic warfare tended to end in disaster; amoral and over-powerful women inevitably came to grief, and good usually triumphed over evil in the end.
It is generally accepted that these myths were first written down between the 8th and 12th centuries AD. The two most important groups of Celtic myths are found in the Welsh Mabinogion and the Irish Táin Bó Cuailnge (more popularly known as the Cattle Raid of Cooley).
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| Celtic Art: Celtic Mythology; The Realistic Celtic Art work and illustrations of Celtic myth & legend by Howard David Johnson |
It is generally accepted that these myths were first written down between the 8th and 12th centuries AD. The two most important groups of Celtic myths are found in the Welsh Mabinogion and the Irish Táin Bó Cuailnge (more popularly known as the Cattle Raid of Cooley).
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| Celtic Myths Origins - Jake Jackson - Medium |
Pagan Celtic myths were originally transmitted orally, by storytellers who acted both as travelling entertainers and as peddlers of news. But the origins of the myths were probably very ancient indeed.
Like most mythic traditions, they came into being partly to explain natural phenomena, including disasters such as floods, famines and plagues, and to try to address basic human concerns such as ‘who are we? Why are we here? Who came before us? What happens to us when we die?’ But Celtic myths tap into another hugely rich vein of tradition: the pantheon of gods and goddesses worshipped by the pre-Roman Celts of Britain, Ireland and Europe, between about 500 BC and the Roman period.
Thus, for instance, we find the Celtic horse-goddess, Epona, who was venerated over huge areas of Roman Europe, transformed into the iconic figure of Rhiannon, the horse-heroine of Welsh mythology. Celtic myths are full of monsters, heroes, gods, shape-changers, spells, wars and love affairs. Apart from their interest as ancient pagan myths, they are richly entertaining stories. Here are five of the most fascinating…
The Goddess Rhiannon
Cú Chulainn: the Hound of Culann
Cú Chulainn was an Irish hero, son of a mortal and a god. He was a mighty warrior, champion of the Ulstermen in their war with the people of Connaught, who were led by their formidable queen Medbh (Maeve).
While he was still an infant, the Druid Cathbad prophesied that he would lead a short but glorious life. When he was five years old, Cú Chulainn routed the Ulster king Conchobar’s 50-strong youth brigade. While still a young boy, he demanded arms from the king, and shattered 15 sets of weapons before accepting those belonging to Conchobar himself. The young hero got his name, the ‘Hound of Culann’, when he accidentally killed the guard-dog of Culann the blacksmith. Ashamed of his deed, he pledged to redeem himself by acting in the dog’s place.
He grew up very fast, and quickly became Ulster’s war-leader. Like many ancient mythical heroes, he regularly communed with spirits, and he had a particular affinity with the Morrigan, a war-goddess who frequently appeared to him in the guise of a crow. A particular feature of Cú Chulainn was his habit of going into ‘warp-spasm’, or a berserk state, when roused. When like this, he was literally out of his mind, and his body did strange and monstrous things: one eye bulged out while the other sank into his cheek and his body rotated in his skin, while the ‘hero-light’ shone fiercely around his head.
Betrayed by his enemies, he met his death on the battlefield but when mortally wounded, he had himself bound to a stake so that he would die standing upright, facing his foes. In the end, the Morrigan betrayed him, perching on his shoulder to show his enemies that he was dead.
Blodeuwedd: the false flower-woman of Welsh myth
Blodeuwedd appears in the ‘Fourth Branch’ of the Welsh Mabinogion. She was not mortal, but was conjured from wild flowers (the oak, meadowsweet and broom) by two magicians, Math and Gwydion, for their kinsman Lleu Llaw Gyffes (the ‘Bright one of the Skilful Hand’).
Because he was illegitimate, Lleu’s mother Arianrhod cursed him at birth, denying him a name, weapons or a wife unless she herself gave them to him. The boy’s uncle Gwydion [although it is elswehere suggested that Gwydion is actually also Lleu Llaw Gyffes’ father] tricked his sister into endowing the child with both a name and weapons, but getting him a wife proved trickier, so he and Math got round the problem by creating Blodeuwedd.
But because she was not a mortal woman and was thus without morals (the Christian influence is perhaps showing here!), Lleu’s flower-wife betrayed him with another man, Gronw, and the lovers plotted his death. Lleu himself was clearly a hero or even a god, for he could only be killed in a peculiar, ‘impossible’ way; he had to be neither inside nor outside a house, naked or clothed or on water or land, and only a spear made during the hours that smithing was not permitted could kill him.
By huge cunning (together with a certain dimness on Lleu’s part), Blodeuwedd persuaded her husband to act out the only circumstances in which he was vulnerable: by making a bath for Lleu on a riverbank and erecting an arched roof above it, then thatching it so that it let in no water. She brought a billy goat and stood next to the bath, and then Lleu placed one foot on the back of the goat and the other on the edge of the bath. Whoever struck Lleu while he was in that position would be able to kill him.
Then, Gronw smote him with his spear. As he was struck, Lleu uttered a ghastly shriek, turned into an eagle and flew into an oak-tree. There Gwydion found him and restored him, but Blodeuwedd he cursed, turning her into an owl, and condemning her to hunt alone at night, shunned by all other birds, for eternity.
Capricious Cauldrons
There is a Welsh mythic story called The Spoils of Annwn, which narrates a raid on Annwn (the Otherworld) by Arthur, whose target was a magical cauldron, described as made of shimmering bronze and studded with gems. This cauldron knew its own mind: it needed the breath of nine virgins to heat the broth within it, and it would never provide food for a coward.
Arthur’s cauldron-rustling expedition ended in a Pyrrhic victory: he gained the vessel but lost most of his men to the forces of darkness in so doing. Arthur’s cauldron is only one of many that had magical properties. For the Celts, cauldrons were vessels of rebirth. The myth of Brân the Blessed, lord of Harlech, a Welsh hero (so large that he could wade across the Irish Sea and whose severed head remained alive and talking after his death), contains an account of Brân’s most treasured possession, a cauldron that could bring the dead to life.
But, again, this was a vessel that had its own agenda. When Matholwch, king of Ireland, was insulted by one of Brân’s relatives when he came to woo his sister Branwen, he could be appeased only by the gift of the cauldron. Later on, when war broke out between Ireland and Wales, Matholwch used Brân’s gift as a weapon: every night, the Irish war-dead were cooked in the cauldron and emerged good as new to fight another day.
But these resurrected soldiers were, in fact, ‘undead’ zombies, for they had lost the power of speech. Ireland had its own cauldron-myths. Gods, such as the Daghdha (a father-god) had Otherworld ‘hostels’ in which they served food in ever-replenishing cauldrons, and where pigs that had been cooked and eaten – rather chillingly – returned charred and squealing to be re-cooked every day.
Shape-shifting Lovers: Oenghus and Caer
Oenghus mac Oc was an Irish god of youth. He was the son of two deities: the Daghdha and Boann, goddess of the river Boyne. But Boann was married already when she became pregnant with Oenghus, and so they enchanted the sun so that it neither rose nor set for nine months, until the baby was born. Thus Oenghus was conceived and born on the same day, and the illicit lovers managed to conceal their union from Boann’s husband Nechtan.
Given the circumstances surrounding his birth, it is not surprising that Oenghus became the patron god of star-crossed lovers. Indeed, he had his own love story: one night, he had a dream in which he saw a wonderfully beautiful girl and fell in love with her. When he woke, his passion was undimmed and he set out to discover who she was and how to find her.
Eventually Oenghus tracked her down to a lake where the girl lived with a bevy of other young women. Her name was Caer Ibormeith (‘Yew-Berry’). But Caer and her companions were under an enchantment. Every alternate year, at the Festival of Samhain on 1 November (the Celtic New Year), the girls were transformed into swans. Oenghus asked Caer’s father for her hand in marriage, but he refused.
Realising that the only way to win her was to wait until she was in swan-form, he went to the lake at Samhain and called her. When she came, he turned himself into a swan and both birds flew away, circling the lake three times and singing a spell as they flew, so that everyone below fell asleep and they could not be pursued. The lovers took up residence at Oenghus’ palace at Brugh na Bóinne and, it is to be hoped, lived happily ever after.
Rhiannon the Horse-Maiden
The ‘First Branch’ of the Mabinogion tells the story of Pwyll, lord of Dyfed in south-west Wales. Near his court at Llys Arberth (modern Narberth), there was a gorsedd, a magical mound. Anyone who sat on the mound was assured either of a catastrophic shock or a wondrous event.
One day, Pwyll was sitting on the gorsedd when he saw a beautiful woman riding, clad in shimmering white upon a dazzling white horse. He commanded his swiftest horsemen to ride after her and stop her but, however fast they galloped, she outpaced them, even though her own mount appeared to be ambling. So Pwyll leapt on his own steed and pursued her, to no avail.
In desperation he called out to her and immediately she reined in her horse and sat waiting for him. When he caught up with her, she told him she had only been waiting for him to address her before she stopped. The horsewoman’s name was Rhiannon (‘Great Queen’). The pair fell in love and married, but at first their union appeared cursed, for no child was born to them.
After three years Rhiannon produced a son, but even then the couple’s troubles were not over: on the night of May-eve, just before the spring festival of Beltane, the baby was stolen. Rhiannon’s watch-women had fallen asleep at their post. When they woke, fearing blame, they framed the slumbering Rhiannon, killing a puppy and smearing her hands and face with its blood, so that the mother appeared to have killed – and eaten – her own son.
Pwyll neither banished not executed Rhiannon, but imposed a strange punishment: she had to crouch by the gate of the palace and carry every visitor up to the door on her back, like a beast of burden.
But there was a happy ending: the baby was found and returned to his parents. Rhiannon named him Pryderi, which means ‘care’. Rhiannon’s recurrent association with horses probably betrays her origins as a pagan horse-goddess.
Other articles on the same theme:
The Celtic Myths: A Guide to the Ancient Gods and Legends by Miranda Aldhouse-Green
The above post is reprinted from materials provided by History Extra . Note: Materials may be edited for content and length
Like most mythic traditions, they came into being partly to explain natural phenomena, including disasters such as floods, famines and plagues, and to try to address basic human concerns such as ‘who are we? Why are we here? Who came before us? What happens to us when we die?’ But Celtic myths tap into another hugely rich vein of tradition: the pantheon of gods and goddesses worshipped by the pre-Roman Celts of Britain, Ireland and Europe, between about 500 BC and the Roman period.
Thus, for instance, we find the Celtic horse-goddess, Epona, who was venerated over huge areas of Roman Europe, transformed into the iconic figure of Rhiannon, the horse-heroine of Welsh mythology. Celtic myths are full of monsters, heroes, gods, shape-changers, spells, wars and love affairs. Apart from their interest as ancient pagan myths, they are richly entertaining stories. Here are five of the most fascinating…
The Goddess Rhiannon
Cú Chulainn: the Hound of Culann
Cú Chulainn was an Irish hero, son of a mortal and a god. He was a mighty warrior, champion of the Ulstermen in their war with the people of Connaught, who were led by their formidable queen Medbh (Maeve).
He grew up very fast, and quickly became Ulster’s war-leader. Like many ancient mythical heroes, he regularly communed with spirits, and he had a particular affinity with the Morrigan, a war-goddess who frequently appeared to him in the guise of a crow. A particular feature of Cú Chulainn was his habit of going into ‘warp-spasm’, or a berserk state, when roused. When like this, he was literally out of his mind, and his body did strange and monstrous things: one eye bulged out while the other sank into his cheek and his body rotated in his skin, while the ‘hero-light’ shone fiercely around his head.
Betrayed by his enemies, he met his death on the battlefield but when mortally wounded, he had himself bound to a stake so that he would die standing upright, facing his foes. In the end, the Morrigan betrayed him, perching on his shoulder to show his enemies that he was dead.
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Blodeuwedd appears in the ‘Fourth Branch’ of the Welsh Mabinogion. She was not mortal, but was conjured from wild flowers (the oak, meadowsweet and broom) by two magicians, Math and Gwydion, for their kinsman Lleu Llaw Gyffes (the ‘Bright one of the Skilful Hand’).
Because he was illegitimate, Lleu’s mother Arianrhod cursed him at birth, denying him a name, weapons or a wife unless she herself gave them to him. The boy’s uncle Gwydion [although it is elswehere suggested that Gwydion is actually also Lleu Llaw Gyffes’ father] tricked his sister into endowing the child with both a name and weapons, but getting him a wife proved trickier, so he and Math got round the problem by creating Blodeuwedd.
But because she was not a mortal woman and was thus without morals (the Christian influence is perhaps showing here!), Lleu’s flower-wife betrayed him with another man, Gronw, and the lovers plotted his death. Lleu himself was clearly a hero or even a god, for he could only be killed in a peculiar, ‘impossible’ way; he had to be neither inside nor outside a house, naked or clothed or on water or land, and only a spear made during the hours that smithing was not permitted could kill him.
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By huge cunning (together with a certain dimness on Lleu’s part), Blodeuwedd persuaded her husband to act out the only circumstances in which he was vulnerable: by making a bath for Lleu on a riverbank and erecting an arched roof above it, then thatching it so that it let in no water. She brought a billy goat and stood next to the bath, and then Lleu placed one foot on the back of the goat and the other on the edge of the bath. Whoever struck Lleu while he was in that position would be able to kill him.
Then, Gronw smote him with his spear. As he was struck, Lleu uttered a ghastly shriek, turned into an eagle and flew into an oak-tree. There Gwydion found him and restored him, but Blodeuwedd he cursed, turning her into an owl, and condemning her to hunt alone at night, shunned by all other birds, for eternity.
Capricious Cauldrons
There is a Welsh mythic story called The Spoils of Annwn, which narrates a raid on Annwn (the Otherworld) by Arthur, whose target was a magical cauldron, described as made of shimmering bronze and studded with gems. This cauldron knew its own mind: it needed the breath of nine virgins to heat the broth within it, and it would never provide food for a coward.
Arthur’s cauldron-rustling expedition ended in a Pyrrhic victory: he gained the vessel but lost most of his men to the forces of darkness in so doing. Arthur’s cauldron is only one of many that had magical properties. For the Celts, cauldrons were vessels of rebirth. The myth of Brân the Blessed, lord of Harlech, a Welsh hero (so large that he could wade across the Irish Sea and whose severed head remained alive and talking after his death), contains an account of Brân’s most treasured possession, a cauldron that could bring the dead to life.
But, again, this was a vessel that had its own agenda. When Matholwch, king of Ireland, was insulted by one of Brân’s relatives when he came to woo his sister Branwen, he could be appeased only by the gift of the cauldron. Later on, when war broke out between Ireland and Wales, Matholwch used Brân’s gift as a weapon: every night, the Irish war-dead were cooked in the cauldron and emerged good as new to fight another day.
But these resurrected soldiers were, in fact, ‘undead’ zombies, for they had lost the power of speech. Ireland had its own cauldron-myths. Gods, such as the Daghdha (a father-god) had Otherworld ‘hostels’ in which they served food in ever-replenishing cauldrons, and where pigs that had been cooked and eaten – rather chillingly – returned charred and squealing to be re-cooked every day.
Shape-shifting Lovers: Oenghus and Caer
Oenghus mac Oc was an Irish god of youth. He was the son of two deities: the Daghdha and Boann, goddess of the river Boyne. But Boann was married already when she became pregnant with Oenghus, and so they enchanted the sun so that it neither rose nor set for nine months, until the baby was born. Thus Oenghus was conceived and born on the same day, and the illicit lovers managed to conceal their union from Boann’s husband Nechtan.
Given the circumstances surrounding his birth, it is not surprising that Oenghus became the patron god of star-crossed lovers. Indeed, he had his own love story: one night, he had a dream in which he saw a wonderfully beautiful girl and fell in love with her. When he woke, his passion was undimmed and he set out to discover who she was and how to find her.
Eventually Oenghus tracked her down to a lake where the girl lived with a bevy of other young women. Her name was Caer Ibormeith (‘Yew-Berry’). But Caer and her companions were under an enchantment. Every alternate year, at the Festival of Samhain on 1 November (the Celtic New Year), the girls were transformed into swans. Oenghus asked Caer’s father for her hand in marriage, but he refused.
Realising that the only way to win her was to wait until she was in swan-form, he went to the lake at Samhain and called her. When she came, he turned himself into a swan and both birds flew away, circling the lake three times and singing a spell as they flew, so that everyone below fell asleep and they could not be pursued. The lovers took up residence at Oenghus’ palace at Brugh na Bóinne and, it is to be hoped, lived happily ever after.
Rhiannon the Horse-Maiden
The ‘First Branch’ of the Mabinogion tells the story of Pwyll, lord of Dyfed in south-west Wales. Near his court at Llys Arberth (modern Narberth), there was a gorsedd, a magical mound. Anyone who sat on the mound was assured either of a catastrophic shock or a wondrous event.
One day, Pwyll was sitting on the gorsedd when he saw a beautiful woman riding, clad in shimmering white upon a dazzling white horse. He commanded his swiftest horsemen to ride after her and stop her but, however fast they galloped, she outpaced them, even though her own mount appeared to be ambling. So Pwyll leapt on his own steed and pursued her, to no avail.
In desperation he called out to her and immediately she reined in her horse and sat waiting for him. When he caught up with her, she told him she had only been waiting for him to address her before she stopped. The horsewoman’s name was Rhiannon (‘Great Queen’). The pair fell in love and married, but at first their union appeared cursed, for no child was born to them.
After three years Rhiannon produced a son, but even then the couple’s troubles were not over: on the night of May-eve, just before the spring festival of Beltane, the baby was stolen. Rhiannon’s watch-women had fallen asleep at their post. When they woke, fearing blame, they framed the slumbering Rhiannon, killing a puppy and smearing her hands and face with its blood, so that the mother appeared to have killed – and eaten – her own son.
Pwyll neither banished not executed Rhiannon, but imposed a strange punishment: she had to crouch by the gate of the palace and carry every visitor up to the door on her back, like a beast of burden.
But there was a happy ending: the baby was found and returned to his parents. Rhiannon named him Pryderi, which means ‘care’. Rhiannon’s recurrent association with horses probably betrays her origins as a pagan horse-goddess.
Other articles on the same theme:
The above post is reprinted from materials provided by History Extra . Note: Materials may be edited for content and length
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