Scaring off the dragon

The main worry of the Bulgarian farmers at the beginning of the summer (Apr/May) is drought. 

Traditionally people thought that drought was caused by a winged dragon (zmey), who "stole and locked up" the waters...

And so, to prevent the dragon from steeling the water, in northwest Bulgaria, on a certain date, all the strong and healthy village men would gather at midnight, strip naked and walk the village land in ritual silence brandishing axes or cudgels to scare off the dragon...

It is interesting that they carried axes, just like Perun, the Slavic thunder god, but also like may other Eurasian thunder gods...The dragon slayers...

Article "Kataibates" about the link between stone axes and thunder gods. An altar from Vindolanda dedicated to the late Roman god Jupiter Dolichenus, whose mystery cult was widespread in the Roman Empire in 2nd and 3rd c. AD, wielded an axe. And rode on a bull...

And it is interesting that they carried cudgels...Just like Orion, that father of (sky) gods...Check my posts "Jack and the magic beans" and "Grandmother's cudgels" you might find them interesting...

They are trying to answer the questions such as: Why was Orion seen by Ancient Greeks as a "the greatest hunter" armed with a cudgel (club)? And why do Bulgarians call Orion "cudgels (clubs)" and why do Serbs call Orion "Baba's (grandmother's) sticks" and all the stars "Baba's (grandmother's) cudgels (clubs)"? And why were thunderbolts believed to be made of stone?

Some people might say that maybe they just carried whatever "dangerous implements" they had. But they also had sickles, shovels, hoes, knives, swords, rifles...Why not carry them? I don't know, maybe I am reading too much into it...

Anyway, it is also interesting that the ritual was performed by "healthy naked men"...Considering that rain, and subsequently flowing water, which the "dragon scarers" were trying to protect from the dragon, was considered to be "the semen of the the sky father"...

Is this an example of sympathetic magic? Where men lend their reproductive power to the sky (father) to increase his ability to produce "heavenly semen", rain? Check this out:

In Serbia in the past people lived in extended families called "zadruga". When grain needed to be sown, the family would choose one man to do all the sowing. He had to abstain from sex from that moment until all the seeds were sown...

Sowing (spreading of seeds) is here directly linked with ejaculation (spreading of semen). Male reproductive energy which is usually used to impregnate a woman has to be during sowing period preserved and used to impregnate the Earth...

From my post "Sowing"...

Now while North Western Bulgarians were walking around naked scaring dragons, their North Western neighbours Serbs did this: In the past, during spring droughts, Serbs used to go to mountain lakes and pray for rain on their shores "to a dragon living in the lake who swallowed the rain"...

I talked about this in my post "Dragon who stole rain"...

The dragon that stole water is one of the oldest Indoeuropean myths. In Rig Veda we read:

"I WILL declare the manly deeds of Indra, the first that he achieved, the Thunder-wielder.

He slew the Dragon, then disclosed the waters, and cleft the channels of the mountain torrents."

But why are dragons steeling water is "a bit of a mystery"...Apparently...Well maybe a clue is in the fact that they are always fought by Thunder/Rain gods, who kill the dragon and release the waters...

Question: what causes droughts that the arrival of rains ends? The Sun...Sun's heat...

Now in Slavic folklore (remnants of old mythologies), an animal that is directly associated with the sun's heat is a snake. It eats sun's heat.

Snakes are the only true solar animals. They are in our world when sun is in our world (day and hot part of the year) and they are in the underworld when sun is in the underworld (night and cold part of the year)...Which is why we find them associated with the sun (gods)...I talked about this in my posts "Enemy of the sun", "The chthonic animal"...

Ok, amazing...But what is the link between snakes and dragons? 

Glad you asked...Have a look at this:

God most high...

Snake: Apr/May, beginning of the main snake mating season, beginning of summer.

Lion: Jul/Aug, beginning of the main lion mating season, end of summer. 

From my post "You will trample great lion and serpent"

Now have a look at this:

Possibly earliest depiction of a multi headed dragon...And dragon killer(s). 2200 BC, Akkad...Dragon is a symbol of a destructive sun's heat, and this one has lion body, cause Leo is the hottest time of the year, and 7 snake heads, cause of 7 summer months. I talked about this in my post "Seven headed dragon"...

The reason why Mesopotamian dragon has a lion's body, is the same reason why the Mesopotamian god of death has a lion's body...

I am the (sun) god of death...About Nergal, the destructive sun in Leo, Jul/Aug, the hottest and driest part of the year in Mesopotamia...I talked about this in my post "Winged superhuman hero"...

Slavs believed that "dragons are just old snakes"...So if snake marks the beginning of the hot dry part of the year, and if snake symbolises sun's heat, then old snake symbolises old sun, the destructive sun of the late summer which causes drought...The (lion) dragon...

It was this Slavic belief that snakes evolve into dragons which was a key that unlocked all these snake/dragon/lion symbolic links found all over the place...

Just search my twitter account or my blog for snake or dragon and you'l see what I mean...

Anyway, you can find more about Slavic snakes and dragons in this article "Letnitsa treasure"...Follow the links at the end of the article to (only some) related articles about snakes and dragons from other mythologies 🙂 

Sources for Bulgarian folklore: 

Ivanichka Georgieva's book "Bulgarska Narodna Mitologia" (1993) p 113, and Vihra Baeva's "Zmey, Zmeyitsa, Lamia, Hala" (2016) p316

I want to thank "A Spell In Time: British-Bulgarian storytelling company" for the info...

You can read more about snakes, dragons and lions in my posts "You will trample great lion and serpent", "Chimera", "Lion killing snake", "Jörmungandr", "Bactrian snakes and dragons", "Seven headed dragon", "Khafajeh vase", "Nude winged hero dominating snakes", "Winged superhuman hero", "Tiger and dragon", "Eagle snake struggle", "Wolf vs snake"...

To read more about ancient animal and plant calendar markers, start here…then check the rest of the blog posts related to animal calendar markers I still didn't add to this page, and finally check my twitter threads I still didn't convert to blog post...I am 9 months behind now...

The brightest star

Every year, in Dec/Jan, Sirius reaches its highest point in the night sky. Sirius is so bright in the northern skies that it might appear to twinkle and flash red and blue...

In the standard Mesopotamian calendar, each month has two names — Sumerian and Akkadian ones...

For each of the months, the deciphering of the names and the main rituals of each period are known from a document called "Astrolabe B". It was compiled in the city of Ashur, and the oldest part dates to the 15th-14th c. BC. Currently in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin...

For the 10th month, ab-ba-e3, Dec/Jan Astrolabe B says:

The great feast of Heaven (is held)". Means: Winter solstice, the sun is reborn...

And

"The month of great brilliance of Ishtar"???? Means: The month when Sirius is at its highest and brightest in the night sky...

I know what you are going to say...Ishtar is Venus!!! See, if Ishtar is Venus, like most people (including Mesopotamians) believe she is, this makes zero sense...But if Ishtar is Sirius...Like I have been saying for a while...

For those who will say "Ishtar was the morning star", yes she was, in Leo (Jul/Aug), when Sirius rose in the morning before the sun...Which is why Ishtar stands on a lion (with the sun above the lion) and is known as "The Lioness of heaven"...

Just in case you can't see Sirius in Leo...On this Achaemenid seal discovered, on the northeastern coast of the Black Sea, the goddess Ishtar is represented as mounted on a lion and surrounded by "divine radiance" 🙂, appearing before a Persian king...

Still not convinced? For the 5th month, Abu, Jul/Aug (The hottest time of the year in the northern Hemispher) Astrolabe B says:

"The month of fire. In the sky the Arrow of Ninurta (= Sirius)"...

Here is "Astrolabe B"...

Why the month of fire?

Nergal, the deified destructive "burning" sun, was depicted holding a double lion sceptre or as a lion man. 

This is because Jul/Aug, Leo, is the hottest and driest part of the year in Mesopotamia...Talked abut him in my post "Winged superhuman hero" and many other posts...

Anyway, Interesting, that in Jul/Aug, Astrolab B mentions Sirius but not Ishtar...But in "Babylonian Menologies and the Semitic Calendars" we can read this very interesting footnote:

Which makes no sense at all...

The Bow Star was identified with Ishtar as goddess of war...When the Bow Star rose in Abu (Jul/Aug) there was an lshtar festival...But there seems to be a lot of confusion with what the Bow Star was...

The Bow Star which is Canis Major "excluding Sirius". WHY? Why exclude the brightest star of the constellation and associate this and not Sirius with Ishtar?

Also

Since Spica was also identified with Ishtar, the Bow Star sometimes means Spica, and also Ishtar's planet Venus...

To me this seems like they were desperately trying not to identify Ishtar with Sirius...The most obvious candidate for the "Morning Star" of Ishtar which rises with the sun during the month of fires...

When did they forget the meaning of their own holy images and texts?

Anyway, you might find this article interesting. It analysis calendar markers contained in the epic "Inanna and Šukaletuda" which all point at this epic depicting Inanna as Sirius and not Venus...

Also, I talked about Mesopotamia-Egypt, Lioness-War Goddess-Sirius link in my article "Sphinx" which explains why sphinxes have lion bodies...

Anyway, that's it for today. Hope you enjoyed this. To read more about ancient animal and plant calendar markers, start here…then check the rest of the blog posts related to animal calendar markers I still didn't add to this page, and finally check my twitter threads I still didn't convert to blog post...I am 9 months behind now...

Theseus

This is one of the most amazing objects I have seen in a long while...Roman sarcophagus depicting the legend of Ariadne, Theseus and Minotaur. Found at Capranica, near Rome, dated 130-150AD. Currently in Met Museum...

Why is this object so amazing?

Well, because, through animal and plant calendar markers, it shows us what the legend of Ariadne, Theseus and Minotaur actually means...

But to see this, we first have to correct one error that the carvers of the sarcophagus have made...

Here is the beginning of the description from the Met page and the error:

"On the lid...winged erotes drive chariots drawn by animals associated with the four seasons: bears with spring, lions with summer, bulls with fall, and boars with winter" 

Hmmmmmmm...

Bull has always been associated with summer (May/Jun/Jul). Summer even starts in Taurus...

Taurus, an ancient animal calendar marker marking the beginning of the calving season of Eurasian wild cattle...I talked about this in many of my posts, like "Cow and calf ivory", "Lotus and papyrus", "Bull carrying grannary", "Foundation peg of the goddess nanshe", "Cypriot stamp seals with cow and calf"...

Lion has always been associated with autumn (Aug/Sep/Oct). Autumn even starts in Leo...Leo, an ancient animal calendar marker marking the beginning of the mating season of Eurasian lions...I talked about this in many of my posts, like "Sphinx", "Origin of griffins", "Two lions killing bull", "Lions of Delos", "Angra Mainyu"...

Well, saying this, if lion is depicted on its own, without a bull, it does represent old summer, the hot half of the year. Particularly if it's paired with an animal that represents old winter, the cold half of the year, like a boar. I talked about this in my post "Admetus"...

But if a lion is depicted with a bull, the bull is always the symbol for summer, and lion is always the symbol for autumn. And lion killing bull is the symbol for Jul/Aug, when autumn (lion) ends (kills) summer (bull). Like on this coin from Cilicia, dated to 361-334BC

I talked about this in many of my posts, like "Mystery seal", "Two lions killing bull", "Lion killing bull under date palm"...

As a matter of fact, once we swap the places taken by bulls and lions, every animal on the lid is an animal calendar marker, marking the mating or birthing season of the depicted animal, chronologically from left to right:

Leopard, mating Jan/Feb. A well known animal calendar marker for the end of winter, beginning of spring. I talked about this in many of my post, like "Oldest narrative scene", "Vessel from Tepe Hissar", "Harness ring from Luristan", "Elamite copper bowl", "Patera of Rennes", "Lod mosaic", "Leopard", "Furious maenad", "Maenads with hare", "Thyrsus", "Woman and pitcher"...

Bear, emerging from hibernation with cubs, Feb/Mar. A well known animal calendar marker for spring. I talked about it in these two articles "Overpowering" and "Khafajeh vase"

Then we have bull, Apr/May, which is, as I explained above, a well known symbol for summer. 

And lion, Jul/Aug, which is, as I explained above, a well known symbol of autumn.

I talked about symbols of the seasons in my post "Symbols of the seasons"...

Then we have wild boar, mating Nov/Dec/Jan. A well known symbol for winter. I talked about this in many of my posts, like "Wolf vs snake", "Sirens", "Vettersfelde treasure", "Summer and winter BMAC seals", "Roast pig for Christmas", "Calydonian boar", "Abduction of Persephone", "Double headed eagle"...

And finally Ibex goat, mating Nov/Dec/Jan. Also a well known symbol for winter. I talked about symbolism of ibex goats in many of my posts, like "Pitys", "Goat in European culture", "Patera of Rennes", "The tree of life/light", "Lachish animal calendar", "Feast plaque from Louvre", "Green pastures", "Problems with Abzu", "Relief from Dur Sharrukin", "Goatfish", "Flamingos from Susa", "Goat carrier", "Iranian goat of rain", "Strider", "A vessel from Tepe Hissar"...

Between bull and lion is a date palm tree. This is very important for determining where this iconography comes from...Because it is in Mesopotamia that date harvest season starts at the end of summer (bull) and beginning of autumn (lion)...I talked about this in many of my posts, like "Date beer", "Lion killing bull under palm tree", "Adda seal"

Here is the sarcophagus lid with the corrected order of animals:

Now that we know that this front, from left to right depicts a solar year (spring, summer, autumn, winter) let's have a look at the front of the sarcophagus:

"On the front, four erotes bear seasonal garlands composed of flowers, wheat, grapes, pomegranates, and laurel."

No link between the plants and seasons of course. So here it is:

Flowers - flowers bloom in spring (kind of obvious 🙂)

Wheat - wheat is harvested in summer

Grapes - grapes are harvested in autumn

Pomegranates - pomegranates are harvested in winter

But what about laurels?

Until today, I didn't know that laurel berries are also harvested during the winter, in November...They're high in lauric acid, a potent antiseptic, and berry oil has historically been used a such...But I would expect to see some berries depicted among the leaves here and there.

So I thought that maybe these could be olive leaves, considering that olives are harvested in winter, starting from November...But I would expect to see some olives depicted among the leaves here and there.

Eventually I thought that these could be pinecones, also harvested during the winter, starting from November...But again I would expect to see small cones depicted on an evergreen branch here and there...

So the jury is out on this one, but regardless, any of them is a good plant calendar marker for winter...

So here is the sarcophagus with all the animal calendar markers ordered correctly and linked to seasons and all the plant calendar markers linked to seasons:

Now question: Why are Erotes depicted riding all these animal calendar markers and holding garlands of all the plant calendar markers? 

Cause of sex...Eros is sex personified. Human, animal, plant...And sex produces babies and fruit...

And all these animal calendar markers mark either mating or birthing season of the depicted animals. And all the plant calendar markers mark either flowering or ripening and harvesting seasons of the depicted plants...

But all of this I talked about before. To read more about ancient animal and plant calendar markers, start here…then check the rest of the blog posts related to animal calendar markers I still didn't add to this page, and finally check my twitter threads I still didn't convert to blog post...I am way behind now...

Finally...The big moment...The story of Ariadne, Theseus and Minotaur, how it is laid on top of this depiction of a solar year. Here is the description from the Met:

"Between the swags are three episodes from the myth of the Greek hero Theseus: 

1. Ariadne giving a thread to Theseus at the entrance to the labyrinth. 

2. Theseus slaying the Minotaur.

3. Ariadne abandoned on the island of Naxos, where she will be awakened by Dionysos and become his bride".

Now, I don't know if this is a coincidence, but Theseus kills Minotaur, The Bull-Man, right under the palm tree, which marks Jul/Aug, the end of summer symbolised by a bull...Basically the death of the Bull of summer...

Usually depicted as Lion (autumn) killing Bull (summer)

Also known as Killing of the Bull of Heaven...I already talked about it in these posts: "Killing of the bull of heaven", "Is that you Gilgamesh", "Assyrian winged dragon", "Winged superhuman hero", "Mystery seal", "Under the blazing Sun Sirius"...

Let me answer my own question: I don't think that any of this is a coincidence...I mean the abandonment of Ariadne is depicted under the beginning of winter...At the time when Dionysus, the winter sun, arrives...Dionysus and Ariadne, Rhodes, 4th c BC, currently in the Louvre...

Few articles about the Dionysus, maenads and thyrsus and the significance of floral and faunal symbols associated with them and their link with winter: "Leopard", "Furious maenad", "Maenads with hare", "Thyrsus", "Woman and pitcher", "Patera of Rennes", "Lod mosaic"...

Knowing now how the Theseus legend is linked to the calendar, I would then venture to say that the 7 girls and 7 boys, sacrificed to Minotaur, are Pleiades...In Greek mythology they are known as 7 sisters. In Slavic mythology they are known as 7 brothers...So that fits...

The heliacal rising of pleiades, during the Greek Bronze and Early Iron Age, fell in Apr/May...In Taurus...So every year, 7 sisters/brothers, rose with the sun, and were swallowed by the summer sun at the beginning of the summer, symbolised by a bull...Swallowed by Taurus...

Theseus meets Ariadne, when he arrives to Crete as one of the sacrificial victims...The moment the sacrificial victims (7 brothers/sisters = Pleiades) enter the labyrinth, is the end of spring, beginning of summer (Apr/May)...In Taurus...

So Ariadne gives Theseus the sword with which he kills Minotaur during spring...Before he enters the labyrinth at the beginning of summer, Apr/May, in Taurus...Which is exactly where this scene is depicted on the sarcophagus...

So here is the story of Ariadne, Theseus and Minotaur with annotations...

I don't know how many times I asked this, but HOW AMAZING IS THIS??? There is no way in hell, that this is a coincidence...Whoever made this sarcophagus in the 2nd century AD was transmitting ancient knowledge, albeit a slightly garbled version of it...VERY OLD!!!

And this secret message remained hidden, in plain sight, until today...Well maybe someone else already figured all this out before me, and if so, please let me know...

That's it for tonight. My wife is nagging me to go to bed. Sweet dreams folks 🙂

PS: Just thought of something. In the story about Theseus, he: 

spring (seduces Ariadne)

summer (wonders around the labyrinth and kills Minotaur)

winter (abandons Ariadne to Dionysus)

What happened during autumn?

autumn (sailing away)...

Autumn starts in Jul/Aug...And according to Hesiod: 

"Fifty days after the solstice, 

when the season of wearisome heat is come to an end, 

is the right (best) time for men to go sailing"

I talked about this in my post "Trojan horse" and "Tetradrachm from Byblos"...

So that's that. I will finish this post with this coin from Cnossos (500—431 BC) with representation of Minotaur on the averse side and cross-shaped labyrinth on the reverse side with the sun in its centre. Remember summer, the sun dominated part of the year, starts in Taurus...I talked about the "solar bull" in many of my posts, like "Solar bull", "Menorah from Nippur", "Human bull hybrid", "Maran", "Theseus ring"...

Eagle killing hare

Silver Coin from Ancient Elis, Peloponnese. ca. 421-365 BC.

Obverse: An eagle killing a wild hare

Reverse: FA. Vertically standing stylized winged lightning bolt in an olive wreath.

Why eagle killing hare? Well here's something I learned today:

Apparently of all the eagles that live in Greece https://birdwatchinghq.com/eagles-of-greece/ the biggest hare killers are golden eagles, whose favourite food are hares...

Interestingly, the breeding season of both golden eagles and hares overlap, meaning they are identical animal calendar markers. 

Golden eagle mating season is Mar/Apr. It is marked by  mad mating ritual flights, known as the sky dance...After which, they do the...you know...

The female lays 1-3 eggs. The incubation period is 41-45 days. This means that the hungry golden eagle chicks are born in Apr/May. They stay in the nest and are fed by their parents (baby hares, their favourite) for about 65 days...

Wild hare mating season is Mar/Apr. It is marked by mad mating (not ritual, real 🙂) fights between an unwilling female and a very very very much willing male... After which, if the male is lucky (or good enough fighter), they do the...you know...

The female gets pregnant with 3 or more babies. The gestation period is 41 to 42 days. Baby hares leave their hole within a week...Which means that from Apr/May the fields are full of baby hares, the favourite food of baby golden eagles... 

So if you were from Ancient Elis, the best time to see golden eagle killing hare scene was during the summer, starting from Apr/May until Jul/Aug...Which is the peak thunderstorm season in Peloponnese... 

Here is another coin from Elis, Peloponnese,  ca. 450-440 BC. 

Obverse: Eagle flying, grasping snake with its talons and its beak. 

Reverse: F–A. Thunderbolt with volutes above and wings below

Interesting. Why eagle killing snake?

Believe or not 🙂 this is another animal calendar marker for the thunderstorm season, Apr/May -  Sep/Oct, which is the only time when migratory snake eagles can be seen in Greece hunting snakes... 

I explained it all in this article "Eagle snake struggle".

It is interesting that both of these coins were issued by the same Ancient Greek city state. Deliberate use of animal calendar markers for thunderstorm season?

BTW, I was just reminded of this: Hittite imperial eagle...

The meaning of which we have just discovered, I think...

Two headed eagle normally means eagle mating/nesting season. 

Two hares (two of any animal) means hare mating/birthing season.

Look at the Hittite land in Anatolia in Apr/May...

PS: I talked about the meaning of two headed birds in these articles:

Archaeologists, anthropologists, art historians...studying ancient artefacts depicting animals, are still not sure what these animal symbols mean. And non of them thought to look at the depicted animal's lifecycle for clues...Bactria, 2500-1500BC. I talked about this in my post "Double headed eagle"...

Once I realised that the double headed eagle (vulture) marks Old World Vultures mating season, I checked if the double headed eagles (vultures) symbols from Central America had the same meaning (Vulture mating season). They do...I talked about this in my post "Golden eagles from Costa Rica"...

If double headed eagle (vulture) had the same meaning in different, completely unrelated cultures on different continents and different ages, I wondered if any double headed bird symbol would have the same meaning. Like this one from Easter Island. It does...I talked about this in my post "Birdman from Easter Island"...

To read more about ancient animal and plant calendar markers, which were the key to deciphering all this, start here…then check the rest of the blog posts related to animal calendar markers I still didn't add to this page, and finally check my twitter threads I still didn't convert to blog post...I am 9 months behind now...