"When Adam and Eve had to leave Paradise God gave them a hoe and said they're only allowed to cultivate as much soil as they can reach with a hoe without moving from the spot they're standing on.
Tall wheat grew from hoed ground and it had grain from the bottom to the top. But first people got greedy, they wanted even more and dug further. God got angry, grabbed the wheat at the ground and drew his fingers up, removing the grain from the stem.
Almost at the top God paused, giving people a chance to ask forgiveness. But they didn't! Before God could tear all of the grain off the wheat stem a dog came. It asked the Creator to be merciful toward people and leave them enough grain to make bread.
God listened to the dog's plead and that's the reason wheat only has grain at the top and that's why dog has the right to a piece of bread too."
In this Slovenian legend, presented originally by @another_barbara, a great account well worth following, a dog saves Adam and Eve from god's wrath and stops god from removing all the seeds from grain stalks.
Traditional wheat harvest in Slovenia started in Jul, traditionally called in local dialects "mali srpan" (little sickle), and peaked in Aug, traditionally called in local dialects "veliki srpan" (big sickle). Which means that threshing (removing seeds from stalks) takes place in Jul/Aug...
The days at end of Jul beginning of Aug, the hottest time of the year, the time of fire breathing dragons which represent destructive sun's heat, are known locally as "kresovi" (fires, torches, bonfires).
They are also known as dog days. This is because when our mythologies were made out of animal calendar markers, Sirius, the Dog Star rose with the sun in Jul/Aug, when mating season of the old dog breeds began...
This is symbolically depicted here: Medieval standing stone from Ubusko, Hercegovina. Dog fighting horned snake, dragon. Dog days (end of summer beginning of autumn), is the hottest period of the year in the Northern hemisphere, the time of fire breathing dragons. After the dog days, the Northern hemisphere starts to cool...
I think that it is this overlap between the dog days and the harvest/threshing days explains the role dog plays in this Slovenia legend. What do you think?
BTW
Here is a very interesting depiction of the garden of eden story. The tree is oak. And next to Adam and Eve we see grain and a lamb.
Is the expulsion from the garden of eden faint memory of what happened during Neolithic agricultural revolution?
Since then I learned that this area of Upper Mesopotamia was indeed the original Garden of Eden where the transformation from hunter-gatherers to farmers took place...
To read more about ancient animal and plant calendar markers, which are at the root of all our mythologies, start here…Then check my twitter threads I still didn't convert to blog post...I am way way behind...
This map shows surnames in different languages which mean "smith".
Look at Ireland (Mac Gabhain) and Scotland (Mc Gowan)...
Both the Irish and Scotish surnames mean son of a smith (Gaelic gobha, gabha, pronounced gova which comes from Old Irish gobae, gobann meaning smith, cognate with Middle Welsh gof, Middle Breton goff, Old Cornish gof, Gaulish gobedbi, "Of disputed PIE origin possibly only found in Celtic languages and coming from Proto-Celtic stem *goben-, meaning smith"...
Hmmm...
Now look at all the Slavic countries...
Slavic languages have a whole cluster of words based on the root "kov" meaning metal:
kov(ina) - metal/iron
kovati - to forge, to strike hot metal to perform metal work
nakovanj - anvil, that on which forging is done
kovačnica, kovnica - forge
kovanica - something forcefully stack together like being forged
kovač - smith
From Proto-Slavic "kovati", from Proto-Balto-Slavic "*kauˀ-", from Proto-Indo-European "*kowh₂-", from the root "*kewh₂-" meaning to strike, to hit...
But for some weird reason, Celtic words for smith can in no way be cognates with Slavic words for metal and smith...God forbid...
Now, in Celtic lands we find several gods, Irish deity Goibniu, Welsh deity Govannon, Gaulish deity Gobannos, whose names have a hypothetical Proto-Celtic root "*goben-", smith...
I will here like to talk about the Irish smithy, Goibniu (pronounced gov-nu), cause he will also help you understand what I am going to say about Lugh...
In Irish mythology Goibniu was the smith of the Tuatha Dé Danann. He is believed to have been a smithing god and was also associated with feasting.
According to Lebor Gabála Érenn, his father was Tuirenn...Who is basically, Taranis, The Celtic Sky/Thunder god in disguise.
At the same time, in Irish mythology and folklore, his father was also named "Esarg" and "Tuirbe Trágmar".
"Esarg", meaning "striker", is derived Old Irish root esorcon, meaning "smiting," "striking," "beating," or "a blow dealt to a foe in battle".
So far so normal and expected. Sky/Thunder gods were after all "Mighty Smiters"...
"Tuirbe Trágmar" which means "the axe-thrower" is a character which appears in Irish mythological texts as a warrior ancestor or father of Goibniu.
In the Metrical Dindshenchas (Lore of Places) he is described as a "man of skill" and the father of Gobbán Saor "a highly skilled smith or architect". The text describes his feat of hurling his magical battle-axe from Tulach Bela (the Hill of the Axe) into the face of the incoming flood-tide to order the sea to stop rising.
In the Lebor Gabála Érenn (The Book of the Taking of Ireland) Tuirbe Trágmar appears as an alternate name or epithet for Esarg (Striker, The thrower of axes), listing him directly as the father of Goibniu the smith-god.
In the Oidheadh Chloinne Tuireann (The Tragedy of the Sons of Tuireann) he is mentioned as Tuirenn Tuirbe Trágmar, (Taranis, The thrower of axes) and is identified as the father of the divine smiths.
Tuirenn, Striker, Thrower of Axes, the father of the Smith God...
Remember the PIE root "*kewh₂-" means to strike, to hit. Striking, hitting is an integral part of axe making process since the Palaeolithic.
Stone axes are made by striking a large flint nodule in such a way that small chips of stone are gradually removed until a sharp axe shaped blade is produced.
Bronze axes are first cast, then the edge is cold hammered to harden it and then it is wet sand polished to sharpen it.
Iron axes are first wrought (hot melted bloom, mix of ore and charcoal, folded, hammered, folded, hammered...) and then forged (reheated wrought iron hammered) to desired shape, then the edge is wet stone polished to sharpen it.
So striking = making axes...
That's "Maker of Axes"...This doesn't explain why Goibniu's father was called "Thrower of Axes"???
Striking, hitting is also what sky gods did a lot. With thunderbolts. Which were imagined by people all over the place as stones...
A 15th-century engraving depicts the town of Ensisheim in present-day France being struck by a thunderbolt (stone)...I talked about this in my post "Jack and magic beans", about giants who lived on a stone sky and who hurled giants rocks down on earth...The original sky (stone) thunder gods...
What is also interesting is that people thought that these thunder stones were actually (shaped like) stone axes...This belief existed in Europe until well into the Middle Ages...Which is why ancient stone axes were believed to be petrified lightnings and were kept as talismans as a protection against lightning strikes...
Which is why a lot of thunder gods wielded axes...Like Hadad...Whose name has no known etymology, possibly from Northwest Semitic root hdd meaning "to thunder," "to crash," "to make a loud noise"...
Now look at the smith surname map again. In Semitic languages we have word for smith "haddad", which apparently comes from the Proto-Semitic root *ḥdd = "to be sharp, pointed"
So we have:
Hadad → the divine striker (lightnings, thunderbolts which were imagined as being made of stone)
ḥaddād → the one who makes sharp edges by striking metal
But apparently, linguists currently keep ḥdd ("sharp") and the proposed root of Hadad separate because they begin with different Proto-Semitic consonants (ḥ vs. h).
As I already said, in Stone, Bronze and Iron Age, striking was the universal method by which cutting tools were produced or improved, whether in stone, bronze, or iron. That makes "striker" and "maker of sharp edges" naturally adjacent concepts in many ancient cultures, even if they are not always etymologically identical.
As I said already, stone axes are made by striking a large flint nodule in such a way that small chips of stone are gradually removed until a sharp axe shaped blade is produced.
Now if, while making a stone axe, you strike, hit a flint nodule with a pyrite nodule, cause you just happened to have picked this particular shiny stone to use as knapping stone, you will generate a spark, a mini lightning, strong enough to light combustable dry material and start fire...
Here is a video showing how this is done
In several of my posts I asked the question: How old is the connection between stone axes and thunder gods?
In my 2019 post "Sun stones", about ceremonies with exploding flint axes performed in Late Neolithic Vasagård site located on the southern side of the island of Bornholm, Denmark, I suggested that this link between a stone, more specifically flint axes, and thunder gods, already existed in the 4th millennium BC Europe...
In my post "Oldest symbolic monument" which I wrote last year, I suggested that the link between flint axes and lightning could be 40,000 to 160,000 old. At least based on "the oldest symbolic monument, that is to say, one with no obvious practical use and probably responding to a belief", which, according to this article is this pile of stones piled up next to a spring at El Guettar (Southern Tunisia) which has flint nodules placed on top of a pile of other round stones...
Round stones (like sling stones), falling (being thrown) from the sky...Where did I hear about this before? All over the place actually. I talked about this in my post "Cetus", "Mithras", "Rudra"...
In Ireland, that was the speciality of Lugh...
But the latest archaeological discovery indicates that it is possible that this link already existed 400,000 years ago. According to this paper Neandertals struck chunks of iron pyrite against flint to light campfires - the oldest evidence of humans intentionally making fire. And the flint pieces found were actually flint axes...
Did Neanderthals link stone axes with lightning? Anyway...
Remember this:
A blacksmith has to strike his anvil with his hammer on every Christmas morning before sunrise. If he doesn't do it, his hammer and anvil should be broken and he and his family should be expelled from the tribe (medieval Vasojevići tribe law cannon, Montenegro)...
Striking anvil with hammer produces sparks and sparks create fire. And Christmas Day is the day when the fire of the sun gets rekindled (the old winter solstice, the rebirth of the sun and solar year)...
This is what Yule log rituals are all about...
A toast to yule log, Dalmatia, 1893. South Slavs believed that yule log was the earthly seat of god, addressed it with utmost respect and made sacrifices to it, during cutting, bringing in, burning...
Everything indicates that the Yule log ceremonies are solar ceremonies. But why was Oak, the holy tree of Perun, The Thunder God, used as Badnyak (Yule Log)?
To understand the link between the heart fire, yule log, thunder god and the sun, you need to check this out:
"It is a great secret how Svarog (heavenly and earthly fire) is at the same time Perun (thunder) and Svetovid (Sun)"...
Mathis (Matthias) Gerung, The Mighty Angel with the Little Book (Revelation 10), illuminated miniature on parchment in the Ottheinrich Bible, vol. 8, fol. 293r, c. 1530–1532 AD. Collection: Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Munich...
Apparently, no one knows what this image really represents. I think it represents this:
Modern science has confirmed that it is indeed (heavenly) fire of the Sun which through Lightning descends to earth and becomes (earthly) Fire. I talked about this in my post "Sun Thunder Fire"...
So this is why the Yule Log is an Oak Log.
An Oak Yule Log (The Holy Tree of the Thunder Gods) is placed in the house hearth, the seat of the Earthly Fire on Christmas (Winter Solstice) eve to (symbolically) link it to the Sun's Fire...As long the Yule Log is burning, these two fires are (symbolically) connected and on Christmas (Winter Solstice) morning, the earth fire will (symbolically) ascend from the hearth to the sun and will restart the sun's fire...
BTW, this is how Ancient Greeks symbolically depicted the same thing:
"Hestia, you who tend the holy house of the lord Apollo...come now into this house...having one mind with Zeus the all-wise..." (Homeric Hymn To Hestia)...
What does this mean? Sun (Apollo, Helios) creates Fire (Hestia) through lightning (Zeus)...
In Serbia, one of the most important part of the Yule log ceremony was the sparks divination performed by the first footer, the luck bringer...I talked about this in my post "First Footer"...
The First Footer repeatedly "strikes" the fire to produce sparks. After each strike, he exclaims:
As many sparks, as much luck!
As many sparks, as much love!
As many sparks, as much health!
As many sparks, as much money!
This "creation of sparks by striking burning Oak (the sacred tree of the thunder gods) Yule log" seems to me to be symbolic enactment of the creation of lightning by the thunder god...
Smith "creating sparks by striking hot iron with a hammer" seems to me to have the same symbolic meaning and directly links smiths with thunder gods...
Which is why, I suppose, Thor wields a hammer...Like here on the 11th century Altuna Runestone...
But is Thor holding a hammer or a double axe?
You might find my post "Axe or hammer" interesting. It explors the origin of Thor's hammer (axe?) Mjǫllnir and its relation with Perun's axe:
Anyway, this is all important to know if you want to understand the following:
So the father of the Irish smith god Goibniu was the sky god, Tuirenn, the Thrower of Axes (thunderbolts)...
Guess whose father was Goibniu? Lugh's...
According to an Irish legend, Balor hears a prophecy that he would be killed by his grandson.
To avoid his fate, he locks his only daughter, Ethnea (Eithne), in a tower to keep her from becoming pregnant.
Balor goes to the mainland and steals the magical cow of abundance Glas Gaibhnenn belonging to Cian.
Cian learns he can only get the cow back when Balor is dead, so he manages to secretly enter the tower, finds Ethnea and impregnates her.
When she gives birth to three sons, Balor orders the three to be drowned, but one survives without Balor's knowledge.
The kid, Lugh, is fostered by a smith who is also Lugh's uncle.
Balor eventually encounters his grandson by chance and is killed by him.
That magical cow of abundance Glas Gaibhnenn, was in other Irish legends said to have belonged to one of several figures variously named Gavida, Gavigan, Gaibhlen, identified as smiths, and believed to be Goibniu in disguise and who were in some way involved in the conception of Lugh.
BTW, the name of the magic cow Glas Gaibhnenn means "grey cow of the smith (god)", basically a rain cloud of the sky god...
Heavenly cows (rain clouds) are a common mythological image found all over Eurasia.
In Indian mythology we find story about Indra's cows (rain clouds) being stolen by Panis demons who also steal sunlight (it is the sun that creates the wet summer monsoon) and hidden "inside the mountain" (Himalayas create up-drift which pulls the moist air from the sea).
The cows are found by Indra's hound (the wet summer monsoon peaks during the Dog Days, Jul/Aug)...
Why are dog days in Jul/Aug?
When our mythologies were made out of animal calendar markers, Sirius, the Dog Star rose with the sun in Jul/Aug, when mating season of the old dog breeds began...
In Slavic mythology we find Perun (thunder) who every year fights Veles (dragon, burning sun) who steals heavenly cows (rain clouds) from Perun...And every year Perun triumphs over Veles and rescues his heavenly cows...
In Ireland we find Balor (dragon, burning sun) who steals "grey cow of the smith (god)", from a smith or someone related to a smith (god) so the smith (god) impregnates Balor's daughter, whose son, Balor's grandson, eventually kills Balor by striking his burning eye with a shiny (sling) stone, after which the cow of abundance is returned to the smith (god)...And this also happens in...Jul/Aug...Which is the peak thunderstorm season in Ireland...
Soo....
What do you think, cool?
If you are interested in reading more about ancient animal and plant calendar markers, which are at the root of all our mythologies, start here…Then check my twitter threads I still didn't convert to blog post...I am way way behind...
Copper plaque showing date palm full of dates, growing out of a lion standing on a pedestal. Dedication to the south Arabian moon god Almaqah, Sabaean, 1st c. BC - 2nd c. AD. British Museum. Date palm harvest starts in Leo...Jul/Aug 🙂 More in: https://oldeuropeanculture.blogspot.com/2021/10/lion-killin-bull-under-date-palm.html
I posted this a while ago and came across it yesterday while looking for something and while rereading it I noticed that the plaque was dedicated to the Moon God...
Veneration of the Moon God came to Arabia from Mesopotamia/Iran where Moon God Sin was the most important god of the pantheon. I explained why in my article "Mon good Nana Sin" about this amazing 2294-2270 BC Old Akkadian Cylinder Seal. This is an amazing seal, because it confirms something I suspected for a while, but wasn't 100% sure until now: why was the moon god so important to the people from Ancient Mesopotamia...
In short, for the lazy ones, I postulated that the god Sin was the god of the "Wet moon", upward pointing crescent moon, the moon of the wet, cool, half of the year (rain season) in Mesopotamia, Oct/Nov-Apr/May...
This is symbolically depicted using animal calendar markers on this Neo Babylonian, 625-539BC, blue chalcedony pyramidal stamp seal with a goat-fish with a rhomb before it and a crescent moon above it. I presented the fool symbolic analysis of this seal in my post "Chalcedony seal"...
For the lazy ones, Goatfish, the sacred animal of Enki, is a complex animal calendar marker for the wet season in Mesopotamia...Between the mating season of wild goats and the mating season of giant Mesopotamian carps...I talked about this in my post "Goatfish"...
Rhomb symbolises the womb of the Mother of Grain (Inanna/Ishtar) which produces food when "the seed of the Sky Father" (rain) fertilises her. I talked about this in my post "Rhomb"...
Rhomb is also a symbol for a date fruit. Date harvest season starts in Jul/Aug, in Leo, when Lion (autumn) kills (ends) Bull (summer) and lasts until Oct/Nov. I first encountered this symbol when I talked about date harvest in my post "Lion killing bull under date palm", but at that time I didn't know what rhomb means...
And Inanna/Ishtar was directly linked to the date palm precisely because the date harvest started in Jul/Aug, Leo...I will explain why later...
Here is something interesting: Almaqah is commonly considered a moon god, but apparently that is not cool any more, at least according to Britanica:
"Garbini and Pirenne have shown that the bull's head and the vine motif associated with him [Almaqah] may have solar and Dionysiac attributes..."
"...He [Almaqah] was therefore a male counterpart of the sun goddess Shams / Ishtar / Isis, who was also venerated in Saba, but as a tutelary goddess of the royal Egyptian dynasty".
Eeeee???
Istanbul, Museum of the ancient Orient. Relief showing the standard bucrania with stylised greenery between the horns, two dragons and the desired result of the myth and its ritual, that is, the transformation of the sacrificed bull into sprouting vegetation/fertility...
Eeeee???
In ancient South Arabia, Almaqah, the moon god, was associated with bulls, which were considered sacred animals. Bulls were offered in sacrifice, and their heads "were linked to Almaqah's worship".
No one of course has any idea why and how...
Now look at this: As I said already, palm tree is a plant calendar marker for Jul/Aug, when Lion (autumn) kills (ends) Bull (summer).
What is the best way to depict a dead bull? I guess like this: A Roman mosaic featuring a lion with the head of a bull, found on the floor of one of the Terrace Houses at Ephesus, Turkey...
I already talked about the meaning of the bull head in combination with a palm tree in my article "Date beer" about this 3rd millennium BC seal found in the Hurian city of Urkesh located in northeastern Syria..
Now remember Sabaeans made sacrifices to Almaqah in Jul/Aug, in Leo...When rains arrive to Yemen. Rains that make plants grow out of the cut off bull's head...
Oh, and grapes harvest in Yemen starts in Aug...After the bull's head is cut off...
BTW, those dragons depicted on both sides of bull heads. They are not there randomly. Jul/Aug, Leo, is the time of fire breathing dragons...Since (at least) Sumerian times. I talked about this in my post "Seven headed dragon", in which I explained why the dragon depicted on this Tell Asmar seal, dated to 2200 BC, has lion body and 7 snake heads.
For the lazy ones, cause snake is the symbol of sun's heat, there were 7 summer months in Mesopotamian calendar, and the hottest part of summer was Jul/Aug, Leo...
As for Ishtar (and her twins from Arabia and other parts of Eurasia), she is also associated with lions...I talked about it in my post "Silver seal from Gonur Tepe" in which I talk about this cool Silver seal from Gonur Tepe, Turkmenistan, dated to late 3rd-early 2nd mill BC. Depicting a winged goddess riding on a lioness...
For the lazy ones, Ishtar was the deified Sirius, which rises with the sun (morning star) in Leo, Jul/Aug, the hottest time of the year. Which is why she is depicted standing on a lion with the sun above lion's head and is known as "The Lioness of heaven"...
I wrote many articles where I explained why "The morning star" is Sirius and "morning star" is Venus and how they are related and how they differ and why Inanna/Ishtar was originally definitely Sirius. You can start with "Sirius the mother of Venus".
For the lazy ones, you know how everyone thinks that Inanna/Ishtar (Morning Star) is Venus and how I think that it was originally Sirius, and only later became Venus?
Well, it seems that Ancient Egyptians preserved the proof of this switch in their myths about Sopdet:
Sopdet, the personification of Sirius, was the consort of Sah, the personification of Orion. And their child was Sopdu, the personification of Venus, "Lord of the East" (Venus as morning star)....
For the Ancient Egyptians, the most important annual event, annual flood, which irrigated the land made it fertile, was linked to lions and lionesses...And Sirius...
I talked about this in my articles "Sphinx" and "Giza lioness" in which I give full symbolic analysis of the Sphinx mythology and its origin as Leo, animal calendar marker for Jul/Aug, the start of the peak of the Nile flood...
All in all, very interesting...And suddenly few things I looked at before now make a lot more sense. Like this fresco from the house of M. Gavius Rufus in Pompei. The ruling Dionysus with the thyrsus, with Apollo/Helios in corona radiata, Aphrodite and other deities...
With dead bull's head, bucrania, at his feet...When does the grape harvest start in Greece/Italy? In Aug...After the bull's head is cut off...
And this 2nd c. AD Roman mirror of the goddess Diana from Art Institute, Chicago, depicting Diana sitting on a rock before a garlanded altar with a small herm, her quiver nearby...And chained bucrania which everyone seems to ignore cause they have no idea what to make of it...
Diana is Roman version of Artemis, the TWIN sister of Apollo. They are both linked with lions and Leo, Jul/Aug...When Lion of autumn kills the bull of summer. Hence the dead bull's head...
Apollo is directly linked with lions and sun in Leo, Jul/Aug. As a matter of fact Jul/Aug was the month dedicated to Apollo.
IONIA. Miletos. Circa 340-325 BC. Drachm.
Front: Laureate head of Apollo.
Back: Lion with eight-pointed star above
This coin confirms my hypothesis that Apollo was Sun in Leo...Basically, Greek version of Mesopotamian Nergal...
I explain why this is the case in these articles:
1. "Palil". About "Palil" a nickname of Nergal, the terrible, burning, destructive sun of Jul/Aug, Leo...And about the origin of the name Apollo and its meaning...
2. "Lord of the flies". About Nergal and Apollo as "The lords of the flies"...And about Jul/Aug, Leo, being the peak of the fly and fly born diseases season in Northern Hemisphere...
3. "Lions of Delos". About the Lions of Delos, the burning destructive sun in Jul/Aug, Leo, and the fact that both Nergal and Apollo are linked to lions.
4. "Apollo and dolphins". About Jul/Aug, Leo being the "best time to sail in Eastern Mediterranean", and the link between dolphins and Lions...and Apollo...
5. "Marble throne of Apollo". About snakes (symbols of sun's heat), dragons (symbols of burning sun's heat) and terrible sun gods, Nergal and Apollo who are dragons themselves...
6. "Apollo and Python". About why Python followed Apollo after his birth? Cause snakes are solar animals...According to the Delphian tradition, Apollo was born on the 7th day of the month of Bysios (Jan/Feb)
7. "White raven". About the black and white raven legend which is found in both Nergal and Apollo mythology, Egyptian vultures and the twins that guard the gates of hell. And some other weird stuff...
8. "Threshing floor of Apollo". About the threshing floors as solar observatories/temples, about the threshing floor of Apollo from Delphi, about Jul/Aug, Leo, being the holy month of Apollo, and about solar bonfires...
9. "Apollo the great archer". About why Apollo was the terrible "far shooting" archer...About arrow and bow constellation from Mesopotamia, Ishtar, Sirius, and Jul/Aug, the season of Perseid meteor shower...
10. "Apollo Sminthius". About Apollo his arrows that cause plague and peak infectious diseases season, Jul/Aug
11. "Apollo - Resheph". About how the transformation of Nergal into Apollo went through an an intermediary, Syrian god Resheph...
Artemis, the Greek Ishtar, was also linked with lions and was even called "lioness among women" by Hera.
Boeotian stele, 7th c. BC, representing a "Potnia Theron", (Sketch) Athens, National Museum. Pic by Julianna Lees.
Anyway, that's it for today. I hope the above Sabaean artefacts now make a bit more sense...
If you are interested in reading more about ancient animal and plant calendar markers, which are at the root of all our mythologies, start here…Then check my twitter threads I still didn't convert to blog post...I am way way behind...
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