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Welcome my dear friends. Enjoy your visit and share your thoughts. Thank you, much love

Saturday 17 May 2014

Hi dear friends and followers I thought this next entry would go well following my Nature poem from yesterday. Thank you for reading and please feel free to share your thoughts.

GREEK MYTHOLOGY

A Gift from the Gods

Medicine is and always has been the Divine Art. To primitive man, the ability to heal and cure disease seemed to be magical, even miraculous. The gospels of the New Testament are filled with the miraculous healings of Jesus. Every traditional culture has its gods, demigods, and heroes who are associated with the art of healing.
To the ancient Greeks, medicine was a gift from the gods. 

Greek mythology is full of symbolic legends and allegories explaining the nature and origins of the art of healing. In these myths and the gods and goddesses associated with them, we can find the basic, fundamental archetypes that have guided and shaped the art of healing in Western civilization from its very inception. 

These archetypes still guide the physician today, and all those who come to him for healing, whether they realize it or not.
Greek mythology is a wonderful source of wisdom and inspiration for the physician. By studying the Greek myths, we can gain valuable insights into the nature of health and disease, and the way of the healer.


GAIA
Mother Earth, Mother Nature

The first Greek god was actually a goddess. She is Gaia, or Mother Earth, who created herself out of primordial chaos. From her fertile womb all life sprang, and unto Mother Earth all living things must return after their allotted span of life is over.

Gaia, as Mother Nature, personifies the entire ecosystem of Planet Earth. Mother Nature is always working to achieve and maintain harmony, wholeness and balance within the environment. Mother Nature heals, nurtures and supports all life on this planet, and ultimately all life and health depend on Her. In time, Nature heals all ills.

The way of Mother Gaia is the passive, feminine, Yin way of healing. All we need to do to regain our health is to return to the bosom of Mother Nature and live in accordance with Her laws. The Gaia archetype underlies all notions of the Nature Cure. Mother Nature is a healing goddess.

In the 1960s, James Lovelock formulated the Gaia hypothesis. It states that all life, and all living things on this planet, are part of a single, all-encompassing global entity or consciousness which he named Gaia. It is this global consciousness, Mother Gaia, that makes our planet capable of supporting life, while our near neighbors in the solar system are barren and lifeless.

Through the global consciousness of Mother Gaia, all living things on this planet, from their most primordial instincts, are constantly interacting with their environment to ensure the harmony, balance and continuity of Life. Live in abalance with Mother Nature and health and healing are yours; violate Her laws and get out of balance, and you pay the price in suffering and disease. In this sense, all medicine and healing can be seen as a system of ecology.


http://www.greekmedicine.net/mythology/mythology.html
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Friday 16 May 2014

Gaea Forest Spirit



Gaea Forest Spirit


You may get a glimpse of me,

everywhere you venture in the forest

Among the leaves that rustle in the breeze.

You may hear me among the whispering pines,

Or perhaps among the windblown trees.

I am deep within all that is green.

I am also the air that you breathe,

and the water you drink.

Those shadows you see at the edge of you vision,

The ones that dance 'tween the sun in the trees

and inspire the birds to sing their sweet melodies,

That is me.

I am the spirit of all that is green,

be it forest or lake I am their life within.

My voice is heard through the rustling leaves,

and in the whispering pines and the grass of the fields.

I hear your whispers, too.

You hear me and I long to be in your embrace,

Safe and protected in the arms of Gaea.

I'll feel you blowing gently in my ears, 

whispering your name.

Yes, you'll feel my touch in the gentle breeze,

soothing your troubled brow.

My woody scent will draw your thoughts beyond the mundane world,

to where awareness expands,

and you feel the pain of every trampled flower.

And when you're tired and fall asleep beneath the spreading Oak,

you'll dream my dreams then remembrance will come


that you and I have always been one.

Composed by Cynthia ©
In loving light to you all my dear friends
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Asturian Dragons



Asturian Dragons 

According to the Asturian mythology, “cuélebre” is a dragon or winged serpent that watches fantastic treasures. It has a poisonous breath, whistles strongly, and lives in underground caves.

It is a dangerous dragon: it feds on people and animals, it has hard fins and never stops growing in size. When it ages, the cuélebre grows so much that it exceeds the capacity the land can hold. For this reason, it must fly to the Cuajada Sea, which is filled with treasures and cuélebres that take care of each other.

SIMILARITIES WITH GREEK MYTHOLOGY

The legendary cuélebresresembles the dragons from Greek mythology. Those dragons used to watch golden apples at the garden of the Hesperides.

Also these dragons display bloodline relation with the ones found at the stories of Jason and the Argonauts.The Golden Fleece was protected by a frightful dragon that never slept.


GEOGRAPHY AND THE CUÉLEBRE

Cuélebres left their “signs” in theAsturian geography. The tales ofcuélebres served to baptize different geographic regions from this Spanish community: the Cave of the Cuélebre, the Well of the Cuélebre, the Ramada of the Cuélebre, and the Braña de Valdecuélebre.

One of the most popular legends carried out by the Asturian dragons is the one about the “big cuélebre that terrorized the monastery of Santo Domingo”. The convent, located atOviedo, was knocked down by a serpent-dragon that fed on monks.

But one of the friars devised an effective strategy for their salvation: it left a bread filled with pins near the dragon’s lair and the cuélebre died immediately after eating it.

Other myths about cuélebres speak of flying dragons that, while migrating to the sea, their wings got stuck on tree branches. After many days being immobilized, they died of hunger.

The Asturian art has represented this mythological animal at the Oviedo Cathedral, the church of Santa Maria de Celón, San Emeterio de Sietes, among other buildings from the sixteenth century.


by Marisa E. Martínez Pérsico


Another story version
The Cuelebre


In a hut in an Asturian village lived a very beautiful maiden, who was vain and forever daydreaming. She spent hours and hours combing her long flowing hair by a spring, and there was nothing she loved more than to admire her beautiful reflection in the limpid water of the pool. In vain her mother and grandmother warned her:

'It is dangerous to comb your hair by the spring. Be careful, because if a hair falls and ruffles the surface of the water, the spirit of the spring will bewitch you.'

'Old wives tales,' cried the girl, 'there are no spirit in the fountain.' But the girl was very wrong. In the pool lived a very powerful spirit, one of those nymphs of the streams and mountains which abound in the Asturian mythology. The spirit watched angrily as the girl spent the whole day combing her hair, never helping to spin the wool or knead the dough. She had not been able to do a thing about it, as the girl did not ruffle the water of the pool, but patiently the nymph waited for her chance.

Then one day, one of the girl's golden hairs fell into the water and the nymph, dressed in a cloak of green water, rose angrily out of the pool.

'Didn't your mother warn you not to ruffle the water?' she asked, in a very quiet voice.

'A hair as beautiful as this does not ruffle the water', replied the proud maiden.

'I am going to bewitch you to punish you for your pride', the spirit said icily. Barefoot, her long golden hair adorned with pearls and a crown made from the reflection of the moon, she alighted on the grass next to the pool. Frowning, she declared:'I am turning you into a cuelebre. You will only turn back into a maiden if you meet a knight who is so brave that he is not afraid of you and has a heart so pure that he finds you beautiful.

At once the girl's body grew to an enormous size and became covered with coloured scales. her golden hair turned into crests and two wings sprouted from her shoulders. With a howl of despair, the cuelebre slunk off weeping, and hid in a cave by the sea.

As all the youths who set eyes on the cuelebre are afraid, the proud girl who was bewitched by the spirit still lives in her little cave on the sea shore, waiting for the knight who will find her beautiful, so that she can become a maiden once more.
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Thursday 15 May 2014

Land Spirits are Mountain Fairies

Mountain Fairies, Rock Fairies, and Fairies of the Land

When Cnoc Aine, a goddess of Celtic lore, showed a group of girls a hill through a hole in a stone, they were able to see that it was teaming with invisible beings. In some cases such beings are simply fairies which make their homes in hills and mountains; however, many of them are their own class of beings. Unlike most of the fairy relationships examined so far, mountain fairies and rock spirits seem to have no solid connection with humans, for unlike tree or ancestral fairies, they are not related to humans. Yet despite this they often are some of the most caring and helpful of the fairies. The Bjergfolk, for example, actively involved themselves in human affairs, helping with farming and fortune telling. Because they are not related to humans the way trees or deceased humans are, the reasons why such fairies take an interest in humans are often hard to ascertain.

It is true of course that occasionally some earth spirits are related to the human dead, this is not always the case. When people first landed in Iceland, there had never been humans their before yet there were rock fairies that began to help the human settlers almost immediately. One man named Bjorn made an agreement with one such rock fairy called a bergbui which appeared to him in a dream. The rock fairy provided him with a goat which helped to grow his herd rapidly and who also sent the land spirits to assist his brothers in their fishing and hunting endeavors. (Davidson and Davidson, 1989)

In another tale, a woman was searching for her husband which had been taken by a nix. She too had a dream that led her to a mountain where an old woman told her how to get her husband back and gave her the magical gifts which she needed free him. (Grimm and Grimm, 1912) This tale is similar to those of Japan in which someone has a dream on or near a mountain in which the Kami (which is similar to the mountain fairies of Europe) gives them advice or magical support. In another tale, the Spirit of the Steppes caused that a queen and her handmaidens should all become pregnant. Ultimately, the queen’s daughter was banished by her jealous husband to a distant land where she was raised by the trees and the breezes. (Ralston, 2004)

Fairies of the stones were so active in mortal affairs, in fact, that their name in Iceland means both “harvest” and “seer” as they would provide council to humans in their dreams and even actively guard peoples’ cattle. While this explains why humans worshiped these beings, it gives us little understanding of why the fairies would provide aid to the humans. Looking at our positive relationship with stone and earth fairies only seems to tell us that they are interested in a positive relationship with humans. In order to understand why they want to build a positive relationship, we perhaps are best served by examining human’s negative relationships with these fairies. There is ample evidence which shows that stone fairies are extremely sensitive.

In the 19th century, an Icelandic clergyman wrote that certain rocks and stones were called the stones of Landdisir (land goddesses). It was said to be unwise to make loud noises near them, and children were forbidden to play around them as bad luck would come to those who did not treat them with respect. (Davidson and Davidson, 1989) We see these beliefs mirrored in the world of that time as well where it was thought to be bad luck to disturb certain stones as they were the homes to the fairies. (Wentz, 1911) In other words, humans can impact rock spirits which are sensitive both to noise and being built upon. It may be that part of the rock spirits’ relationships with humans existed in order to avoid these things. Such sensitivity is problematic when humans are able to be so destructive. The vaetter of Iceland grew angry when they saw one human murder another, and for a long time ships with dragon’s heads were banned in the country for fear that they would disturb the stone spirits or give them the wrong impression of the human’s intentions. (Davidson and Davidson, 1911)

Because of their sensitivity, rock fairies do more than offer rewards to humans who keep the peace with them; they punish those who fail to do so. When humans do damage rocks or otherwise disturb them, the spirits of the land would haunt the humans acting much as we’d expect a poltergeist to act sometimes for thousands of years at a time. (Wentz, 1911) Rock and earth spirits then grow angry when they are disturbed or when they witness a human murder and begin to damage crops, haunt houses making it extremely difficult to find a safe place to build or farm. Children playing near a group of rocks could, for example, be cursed. A farmer who moves a boulder could have his farm and house become haunted, etc. And when someone dies violently, the rock spirits feel intense sympathy for the person. So tales of poltergeist activity from the human dead may, in fact, have originally been tales of poltergeist activity from stone spirits.

Beyond simply being sensitive to noises, stone and earth spirits appear to be very emotionally sensitive. These spirits are most often referred to in the plural because they live in family groups. (Davidson and Davidson, 1989) So it would appear that the typical stone or earth fairy prefers to live a sedentary lifestyle with strong family ties. Further, their hatred of violence shows a love of living creatures or at least those of human intelligence (they didn’t appear to mind humans butchering goats or cattle or hunting for animals and even helped humans in these tasks). From this we can presume that they cared about humans in much the same way that a motherly or fatherly figure might care about children in their neighborhood or the way a human might care about a stray kitten. 

Humans then threaten the fairies’ lifestyle so it is perhaps for this reason which they come to humans in order to make a deal with them such that the humans will leave them alone. Unlike trees or other types of fairies which simply came to people when they needed something, stone and earth fairies often appeared to people in their dreams rather than approaching them directly. This shows a certain amount of anxiety about having direct contact with humans just as it shows a desire to help them.
Celtic

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Tuesday 13 May 2014

Creatures in Spanish Mythology

What mythical creatures did the Spanish believe in?

One of the more famous is the Chupacabra
There many more mythical creatures and beings mentioned on which I will be doing more research on and share with you as I go.
Chupacabra 

Chupacabra: The Chupacabra or chupacabras is a creature resembling a living gargoyle that is said to exist in parts of Latin America (mainly Mexico). The chupacabra is also reported to have been seen by multiple eye-witnesses in Calaveras County, California. According to these reports, the creature was sighted for the first time in the early to middle 1990s, harming animals of different species – although it is now thought that people did this themselves.

Translated literally from Spanish as “goat-sucker”, the chupacabra is said to attack small livestock and drink their blood. Some witnesses reported seeing a small, dark green figure around the areas of the killings, giving police and news reporters the feeling that the chupacabra could, in fact, be an extra-terrestrial figure. Soon after the animal deaths in Puerto Rico, other animal deaths began being reported in other countries, such as the Dominican Republic, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Brazil, the United StatesMexico.



Both in Puerto Rico and Mexico, El Chupacabras gained urban legend status. In July of 2004, a rancher near San Antonio, Texas, killed a hairless, dog-like creature (the Elmendorf Creature) that was attacking his livestock. As of yet, no one has been able to determine just what the creature is. In October of 2004, two animals which closely resemble the Elmendorf creature were observed in the same area. The first was dead, and the second was noticed by a local zoologist who was called to identify the animal while she was traveling to the location where the first was found.

The Chupacabra has been spotted as far north as the Carolinas. Chupacabras are said to prominently appear in two specific forms. The first and most common: a lizard-like being, appearing to have leathery/scaly greenish-gray skin and sharp spines or quills running down its back. It stands approximately 3-4 feet high, and stands/hops in a similar fashion as a kangaroo (in at least one sighting, the creature hopped 20 feet). This variety is said to have a dog or panther-like nose and face, a forked tongue protruding from it, large fangs, and is said to hiss and screech when alarmed, as well as to leave a sulfuric stench behind.

The second variety also stands/hops as a kangaroo, and it has coarse fur with grayish facial hair. The head is similar to a dog’s, and its mouth has large teeth. Witnesses claim some chupacabras are covered with black hair, have red eyes, a bulbous head, and bat-like wings. Sometimes they crawl on all fours and other times they stand erect (like prairie dogs do). They are very quick, can climb well, and usually run away when seen.

Some say their eyes have the ability to hypnotize and paralyze their prey-the prey animal is mentally stunned. This allows the chupacabra to suck the animal’s blood at its leisure. The effect is similar to a snake or spider that stuns its prey with venom. The chupacabra sucks all the animal’s blood (and sometimes organs) through a single hole or two holes, unlike other predators that tear the corpse apart.



I have also found this reference to Chupacabr


Chupacabra means "goat Sucker". This Creature was reported to have been seen throughout the Caribbean, several countries of South America and even in Florida. It has been reported that this creature kills animals by sucking all the blood from them. There have been found many dead goats and farm animals throughout these countries. These animals where found with puncture wounds around there neck. Some have reported that the creature is alien in origin and that UFO¹s have brought them to us. Other say that they are creatures created by the government.

Chupacabras have reportedly killed thousands of animals in Puerto Rican and the United States. Dozens of people have claimed to have seen this animal.

Chupacabras are described as about four feet tall when standing errect, have huge red elongated eyes, grey skin that is part fur and part feathers, short arms with claws, legs like a kangaroo, and a line of sharp spikes down the middle of it's back. They are supposedly very powerful animals. Some report that the chupakabras have wings and can fly.

Chupacabras seeks out farm animals including goats, chickens, and horses. It punctures their flesh and literally sucks the blood from their bodies. Internal organs have sometimes been removed.

Chupacabras have also been seen in other countries, some with different description, sometimes with the head of a grey alien. The Chupacabra has been spotted in the southern part of the United States included the desert of southern California.

Often orange balls of lights show up at the same time as the reports of Chupacabras. Many create a link with UFOs' and Chupacabra's based on this.
Not very pretty beings are they? But they are living beings just the same just from a different species that any we have classified and proven to date. It does not mean they are not real for one thing that is certain, that is the  Chupacabras has been and still remains to be quite real for many folks. I remember a few years back, the Hollywood stars gossip gazette The National Enquiere sensationalizing these phenomena quite well. 

But on the other hand according to them we all had aliens hiding in out closet and the men in black and the Area 51 people were looking for them. Maybe The National Enquierer knows more than the rest of the media does, that wouldn't be hard to believe with the way these fixed news people report the news.



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Monday 12 May 2014

THE FAIRY MYTHOLOGY ORIENTAL ROMANCE1



THE FAIRY MYTHOLOGY

ORIENTAL ROMANCE1



All human beings must in beauty yield
To you; a Peri I have ne'er beheld.

SADER.

PERSIAN ROMANCE

The pure and simple religion of ancient Persia, originating, it is said, with a pastoral and hunting race among the lofty hills of Aderbijân, or, as others think, in the elevated plains of Bactria, in a region where light appears in all its splendour, took as its fundamental principle the opposition between light and darkness, and viewed that opposition as a conflict. Light was happiness; and the people of Iran, the land of light, were the favourites of Heaven; while those of Turân, the gloomy region beyond the mountains to the north, were its enemies. In the realms of supernal light sits enthroned Ormuzd, the first-born of beings; around him are the six Amshaspands, the twenty-eight Izeds, and the countless myriads of Ferohers.2 In the opposite kingdom of darkness Aherman is supreme, and his throne is encompassed by the six Arch-Deevs, and the numerous hosts of inferior Deevs. Between these rival powers ceaseless warfare prevails; but at the end the prince of darkness will be subdued, and peace and happiness prevail beneath the righteous sway of Ormuzd.

From this sublime system of religion probably arose the Peri-3 or Fairy-system of modern Persia; and thus what was once taught by sages, and believed by monarchs, has shared the fate of everything human, and has sunk from its pristine rank to become the material and the machinery of poets and romancers. 

The wars waged by the fanatical successors of the Prophet, in which literature was confounded with idolatry, have deprived us of the means of judging of this system in its perfect form; and in what has been written respecting the Peries and their country since Persia has received the law of Mohammed, the admixture of the tenets and ideas of Islam is evidently perceptible. If, however, Orientalists be right in their interpretation of the name of Artaxerxes' queen, Parisatis, as Pari-zadeh4 (Peri-born), the Peri must be coeval with the religion of Zoroaster.

The Peries and Deevs of the modern Persians answer to the good and evil Jinn of the Arabs, of whose origin and nature we shall presently give an account. The same Suleymans ruled over them as over the Jinn, and both alike were punished for disobedience. It is difficult to say which is the original; but when we recollect in how much higher a state of culture the Persians were than the Arabs, and how well this view accords with their ancient system of religion, we shall feel inclined to believe that the Arabs were the borrowers, and that by mingling with the Persian system ideas derived from the Jews, that one was formed by them which is now the common property of all Moslems.

In like manner we regard the mountains of Kâf, the abode alike of Jinn and of Peries and Deevs, as having belonged originally to Persian geography. The fullest account of it appears in the Persian romance of Hatim Taï5, the hero of which often visited its regions. From this it would seem that this mountain-range was regarded as, like that of the ancient Greek cosmology, surrounding the flat circular earth like a ring, or rather like the bulwarks of a ship, outside of which flowed the ocean; while some Arab authorities make it to lie beyond, and to enclose the ocean as well as the earth.6 It is said to be composed of green chrysolite, the reflection of which gives its greenish tint to the sky. According to some, its height is two thousand English miles.

Jinnestan is the common appellation of the whole of this ideal region. Its respective empires were divided into many kingdoms, containing numerous provinces and cities. Thus in the Peri-realms we meet with the luxuriant province of Shad-u-kâm (Pleasure and Delight), with its magnificent capital Juherabid (Jewel-city), whose two kings solicited the aid of Cahermân against the Deevs7, and also the statelyAmberabâd (Amber-city), and others equally splendid. The metropolis of the Deev-empire is named Ahermanabâd (Aherman's city); and imagination has lavished its stores in the description of the enchanted castle, palace, and gallery of the Deev monarch, Arzshenk.

The Deevs and Peries wage incessant war with each other. Like mankind, they are subject to death, but after a much longer period of existence; and, though far superior to man in power, they partake of his sentiments and passions.

We, are told that when the Deevs in their wars make prisoners of the Peries, they shut them up in iron cages, and hang them from the tops of the highest trees, exposed to every gaze and to every chilling blast. Here their companions visit them, and bring them the choicest odours to feed on; for the ethereal Peri lives on perfume, which has moreover the property of repelling the cruel Deevs, whose malignant nature is impatient of fragrance.8

When the Peries are unable to withstand their foes, they solicit the aid of some mortal hero. Enchanted arms and talismans enable him to cope with the gigantic Deevs, and he is conveyed to Jinnestân on the back of some strange and wonderful animal. His adventures in that country usually furnish a wide field for poetry and romance to expatiate in.

The most celebrated adventurer in Jinnestân was Tahmuras, surnamed Deev-bend (Deev-binder)9, one of the ancient kings of Persia. The Peries sent him a splendid embassy, and the Deevs, who dreaded him, despatched another. Tahmuras, in doubt how to act, consults the wonderful bird Seemurgh10, who speaks all languages, and whose knowledge embraces futurity. She advises him to aid the Peries, warns him of the dangers he has to encounter, and discloses his proper line of action. She further offers to convey him to Jinnestân, and plucks some feathers from her breast, with which the Persian monarch adorns his helmet.

Mounted on the Seemurgh, and bracing on his arm the potent buckler of Jân-ibn-Jân11, Tahmuras crosses the abyss impassable to unaided mortality. The vizier Imlân, who had headed the Deev embassy, deserting his original friends, had gone over to Tahmuras, and through the magic arts of the Deev, and his own daring valour, the Persian hero defeats the Deev-king Arzshenk. He next vanquishes a Deev still more fierce, named Demrush, who dwelt in a gloomy cavern, surrounded by piles of wealth plundered from the neighbouring realms of Persia and India. Here Tahmuras finds a fair captive, the Peri Merjan12, whom Demrush had carried off, and whom her brothers, Dâl Peri and Milân Shâh Peri, had long sought in vain. He chains the Deev in the centre of the mountain, and at the suit of Merjan hastens to attack another powerful Deev named Houndkonz; but here, alas! fortune deserts him, and, maugre his talismans and enchanted arms, the gallant Tahmuras falls beneath his foe.

The great Deev-bend, or conqueror of Deevs, of the Shâh-Nâmeh13 is the illustrious Roostem. In the third of his Seven Tables or adventures, on his way to relieve the Shâh Ky-Caoos, whom the artifice of a Deev had led to Mazenderan, where he was in danger of perishing, he encounters in the dark of the night a Deev named Asdeev, who stole on him in a dragon's form as he slept. Twice the hero's steed, Reksh, awoke him, but each time the Deev vanished, and Roostem was near slaying his good steed for giving him false alarm. The third time he saw the Deev and slew him after a fearful combat. He then pursued his way to the cleft in the mountain in which abode the great Deev Sefeed, or White Deev. The seventh Table brought him to where lay an army of the Deev Sefeed's Deevs, commanded by Arzshenk, whose head he struck off, and put his troops to flight. 

At length he reached the gloomy cavern of the Deev Sefeed himself, whom he found asleep, and scorning the advantage he awoke him, and after a terrific combat deprived him also of life.
Many years after, when Ky-Khosroo sat on the throne, a wild ass of huge size, his skin like the sun, and a black stripe along his back, appeared among the royal herds and destroyed the horses. It was supposed to be the Deev Akvân, who was known to haunt an adjacent spring. Roostem went in quest of him; on the fourth day he found him and cast his noose at him, but the Deev vanished. He re-appeared; the hero shot at him, but he became again invisible. Roostem then let Reksh graze, and laid him to sleep by the fount. As he slept, Akvân came and flew up into the air with him; and when he awoke, he gave him his choice of being let fall on the mountains or the sea. Roostem secretly chose the latter, and to obtain it he pretended to have heard that he who was drowned never entered paradise. Akvân thereupon let him fall into the sea, from which he escaped, and returning to the fount, he there met and slew the Deev. 

Roostem's last encounter with Deevs was with Akvân's son, Berkhyas, and his army, when he went to deliver Peshen from the dry well in which he was confined by Afrasiâb. He slew him and two-thirds of his troops. Berkhyas is described as being a mountain in size, his black, his body covered with hair, his neck like that of a dragon, two boar's tusks from his mouth, his eyes wells of blood, his hair bristling like needles, his height 140 ells,his breadth 17, pigeons nestling in his snaky locks. Akvân had a head like an elephant.

In the Hindoo-Persian Bahar Danush (Garden of Knowledge) of Ynâyet-ûllah, written in India A.D. 1650,14 we find the following tale of the Peries, which has a surprising resemblance to European legends hereafter to be noticed.15

The Peri-Wife

The son of a merchant in a city of Hindostan, having been driven from his father's house on account of his undutiful conduct, assumed the garb of a Kalenderee or wandering Derweesh, and left his native town. On the first day of his travels, being overcome with fatigue before he reached any place of rest, he went off the high road and sat down at the foot of a tree by a piece of water: while he sat there, he saw at sunset four doves alight from a tree on the edge of the pond, and resuming their natural form (for they, were Peries) take off their clothes and amuse themselves by bathing in the water. He immediately advanced softly, took up their garments, without being seen, and concealed them in the hollow of a tree, behind which he placed himself. The Peries when they came out of the water and missed their clothes were distressed beyond measure. 

They ran about on all sides looking for them, but in vain. At length, finding the young man and judging that he had possessed himself of them, they implored him to restore them. He would only consent on one condition, which was that one of them should become his wife. The Peries asserted that such a union was impossible between them whose bodies were formed of fire and a mortal who was composed of clay and water; but he persisted, and selected the one which was the youngest and handsomest. They were at last obliged to consent, and having endeavoured to console their sister, who shed copious floods of tears at the idea of parting with them and spending her days with one of the sons of Adam; and having received their garments, they took leave of her and flew away.

The young merchant then led home his fair bride and clad her magnificently; but he took care to bury her Peri-raiment in a secret place, that she might not be able to leave him. He made every effort to gain her affections, and at length succeeded in his object, "she placed her foot in the path of regard, and her head on the carpet of affection." She bore him children, and gradually began to take pleasure in the society of his female relatives and neighbours. All doubts of her affection now vanished from his mind, and be became assured of her love and attachment.

At the end of ten years the merchant became embarrassed in his circumstances, and he found it necessary to undertake a long voyage. He committed the Peri to the care of an aged matron in whom he had the greatest confidence, and to whom he revealed the secret of her real nature, and showed the spot where he had concealed her raiment. He then "placed the foot of departure in the stirrup of travel," and set out on his journey. The Peri was now overwhelmed with sorrow for his absence, or for some more secret cause, and continually uttered expressions of regret. 

The old woman sought to console her, assuring her that "the dark night of absence would soon come to an end, and the bright dawn of interview gleam from the horizon of divine bounty." One day when the Peri had bathed, and was drying her amber-scented tresses with a corner of her veil, the woman burst out into expressions of admiration at her dazzling beauty. "Ah, nurse," replied she, "though you think my present charms great, yet had you seen me in my native raiment, you would have witnessed what beauty and grace the Divine Creator has bestowed upon Peries; for that we are among the most finished portraits on the tablets of existence. If then thou desirest to behold the skill of the divine artist, and admire the wonders of creation bring the robes which my husband has kept concealed, that I may wear them for an instant, and show thee my native beauty, the like of which no human eye, but my lord's, hath gazed upon."

The simple woman assented, and fetched the robes and presented them to the Peri. She put them on, and then, like a bird escaped from the cage, spread her wings, and, crying Farewell, soared to the sky and was seen no more. When the merchant returned from his voyage "and found no signs of the rose of enjoyment on the tree of hope, but the lamp of bliss extinguished in the chamber of felicity, he became as one Peri-stricken16, a recluse in the cell of madness. Banished from the path of understanding, he remained lost to all the bounties of fortune and the useful purposes of life."

The Peri has been styled "the fairest creation of poetical imagination." No description can equal the beauty of the female Peri,17 and the highest compliment a Persian poet can pay a lady is to liken her to one of these lovely aerial beings18. Thus Sâdee, in the lines prefixed to this section, declares that only the beauty of a Peri can be compared with that of the fair one he addresses; and more lately, 
Aboo Taleeb Khân says to Lady 
Elgin, as he is translated by M. von Hammer,19
The sun, the moon, the Peries, and mankind,
Compared with you, do far remain behind;
For sun and moon have never form so mild,
The Peries have, but roam in deserts wild.

Sir W. Ouseley is at a loss what to compare them to. They do not, he thinks, resemble the Angels, the Cherubim and Seraphim of the Hebrews, the Daemons of the Platonists, or the Genii of the Romans; neither do they accord with the Houri of the Arabs. Still less do they agree with the Fairies of Shakspeare; for though fond of fragrance, and living on that sweet essential food, we never find them employed in
Killing cankers in the musk-rose buds, or obliged
To serve the fairy queen
To dew her orbs upon the green.

Neither is their stature ever represented so diminutive as to make key-holes pervious to their flight, or the bells of flowers their habitations. But Milton's sublime idea of a 'faery vision,' he thinks, corresponds more nearly with what the Persian poets have conceived of the Peries.

Their port was more than human, as they stood;
I took it for a faery vision
Of some gay creatures of the element
That in the colours of the rainbow live
And play i' the plighted clouds. I was awestruck,
And as I pass'd I worshipp'd. - Comus
"I can venture to affirm," concludes Sir William gallantly, "that he will entertain a pretty just idea of a Persian Peri, who shall fig his eyes on the charms of a beloved and beautiful mistress."

If poetic imagination exhausted itself in pourtraying the beauty of the Peries, it was no less strenuous in heaping attributes of deformity on the Deevs. They may well vie in ugliness with the devils of our forefathers. "At Lahore, in the Mogul's palace," says William Finch, "are pictures of Dews, or Dives, intermixed in most ugly shapes, with long horns, staring eyes, shaggy hair, great fangs, ugly paws, long tails, with such horrible difformity and deformity, that I wonder the poor women are not frightened therewith."20

Such then is the Peri-system of the Mohammedan Persians, in which the influence of Islam is clearly perceptible, the very names of their fabled country and its kings being Arabic. Had we it as it was before the Arabs forced their law on Persia, we should doubtless find it more consistent in all its parts, more light, fanciful, and etherial.

ARABIAN ROMANCE



The Prophet is the centre round which every thing connected with Arabia revolves. The period preceding his birth is regarded and designated as the times of ignorance, and our knowledge of the ancient Arabian mythology comprises little more than he has been pleased to transmit to us. The Arabs, however, appear at no period of their history to have been a people addicted to fanciful invention. Their minds are acute and logical, and their poetry is that of the heart rather than of the fancy. They dwell with fondness on the joys and pairs of love, and with enthusiasm describe the courage and daring deeds of warriors, or in moving strains pour forth the plaintive elegy; but for the description of gorgeous palaces and fragrant gardens, or for the wonders of magic, they are indebted chiefly to their Persian neighbours.21

What classes of beings the popular creed may have recognised before the establishment of Islâm we have no means of ascertaining.22 The Suspended Poems, and Antar, give us little or no information; we only know that the tales of Persia were current among them, and were listened to with such avidity as to rouse the indignation of the Prophet. We must, therefore, quit the tents of the Bedoween, and the valleys of 'Araby the Blest,' and accompany the khaleefehs to their magnificent capital on the Tigris, whence emanated all that has thrown such a halo of splendour around the genius and language of Arabia. It is in this seat of empire that we must look to meet with the origin of the marvels of Arabian literature.

Transplanted to a rich and fertile soil, the sons of the desert speedily abandoned their former simple mode of life; and the court of Bagdad equalled or surpassed in magnificence any thing that the East has ever witnessed. Genius, whatever its direction, was encouraged and rewarded, and the musician and the story-teller shared with the astronomer and historian the favour of the munificent khaleefehs. The tales which had amused the leisure of the Shahpoors and Yezdejirds were not disdained by the Haroons and Almansoors. The expert narrators altered them so as to accord with the new faith. And it was thus, probably, that the delightful Thousand and One Nights23 were gradually produced and modified.
As the Genii or Jinn24 are prominent actors in these tales, where they take the place of the Persian Peries and Deevs, we will here give some account of them.

According to Arabian writers, there is a species of beings named Jinn or Jân (Jinnee m., Jinniyeh f. sing.), which were created and occupied the earth several thousand years before Adam. A tradition from the Prophet says that they were formed of "smokeless fire," i.e. the fire of the wind Simoom. They were governed by a succession of forty, or, as others say, seventy-two monarchs; named Suleyman, the last of whom, called Jân-ibn-Jân, built the Pyramids of Egypt. Prophets were sent from time to time to instruct and admonish them; but on their continued disobedience, an army of angels appeared, who drove them from the earth to the regions of the islands, making many prisoners, and slaughtering many more. Among the prisoners, was a young Jinnee, named 'Azâzeel, or El-Hârith (afterwards called Iblees, from his despair), who grew up among the angels, and became at last their chief. 

When Adam was created, God commanded the angels to worship him; and they all obeyed except Iblees, who, for his disobedience, was turned into a Sheytân or Devil, and he became the father of the Sheytâns.25

The Jinn are not immortal; they are to survive mankind, but to die before the general resurrection. Even at present many of them are slain by other Jinn, or by men; but chiefly by shooting-stars hurled at them from Heaven. The fire of which they were created, circulates in their veins instead of blood, and when they receive a mortal wound, it bursts forth and consumes them to ashes. They eat and drink, and propagate their species. Sometimes they unite with human beings, and the offspring partakes of the nature of both parents. 

Some of the Jinn are obedient to the will of God, and believers in the Prophet, answering to the Peries of the Persians; others are like the Deevs, disobedient and malignant. Both kinds are divided into communities, and ruled over by princes. They have the power to make themselves visible and invisible at pleasure. They can assume the form of various animals, especially those of serpents, cats, and dogs. When they appear in the human form, that of the good Jinnee is usually of great beauty; that of the evil one, of hideous deformity, and sometimes of gigantic size.

When the Zôba'ah, a whirlwind that raises the sand in the form of a pillar of tremendous height, is seen sweeping over the desert, the Arabs, who believe it to be caused by the flight of an evil Jinnee, cry, Iron! Iron! (Hadeed! Hadeed!) or Iron! thou unlucky one! (Hadeed! yá meshoom!) of which metal the Jinn are believed to have a great dread. Or else they cry, God is most great! (Allâhu akbar!) They do the same when they see a water-spout at sea; for they assign the same cause to its origin.26

The chief abode of the Jinn of both kinds is the Mountains of Kâf, already described. But they also are dispersed through the earth, and they occasionally take up their residence in baths, wells, latrines, ovens, and. ruined houses.27

They also frequent the sea and rivers, cross-roads, and market-places. They ascend at times to the confines of the lowest heaven, and by listening there to the conversation of the angels, they obtain some knowledge of futurity, which they impart to those men who, by means of talismans or magic arts, have been able to reduce them to obedience.28
The following are anecdotes of the Jinn, given by historians of eminence.29

It is related, says El-Kasweenee, by a certain narrator of traditions, that he descended into a valley with his sheep, and a wolf carried off a ewe from among them; and he arose and raised his voice, and cried, "O inhabitant of the valley!" whereupon he heard a voice saying, "O wolf, restore him his sheep!" and the wolf came with the ewe and left her, and departed.

Ben Shohnah relates, that in the year 456 of the Hejra, in the reign of Kaiem, the twenty-sixth khaleefeh of the house of Abbas, a report was raised in Bagdad, which immediately spread throughout the whole province of Irak, that some Turks being out hunting saw in the desert a black tent, beneath which there was a number of people of both sexes, who were beating their cheeks, and uttering loud cries, as is the custom in the East when any one is dead. Amidst their cries they heard these words - The great king of the Jinn is dead, woe to this country! and then there came out a great troop of women, followed by a number of other rabble, who proceeded to a neighbouring cemetery, still beating themselves in token of grief and mourning.

The celebrated historian Ebn Athir relates, that when he was at Mosul on the Tigris, in the year 600 of the Hejra, there was in that country an epidemic disease of the throat and it was said that a woman, of the race of the Jinn, having lost her son, all those who did not condole with her on account of his death were attacked with that disease; so that to be cured of it men and women assembled, and with all their strength cried out, O mother of Ankood, excuse us Ankood is dead, and we did not mind it!
Another great piece of mythology on Peri Deevs and Fairies. Take a few minutes and learn more about these beings of both malevolent and benevolent nature. Have a great read and plese feel free to share your thoughts with us, they are valuable to me. Thank you  

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Sunday 11 May 2014

Devas, gods and goddesses


Devas, gods and goddesses


WIKIEPEDIA

Daeva (daēuua, daāua, daēva) is the Avestan language term for a particular sort of supernatural entity with disagreeable characteristics.

In the Gathas, the oldest texts of the Zoroastrian canon, the daevas are 'wrong gods' or 'false gods' or 'gods that are (to be) rejected'. This meaning is – subject to interpretation – perhaps also evident in the Old Persian 'daiva inscription' of the 5th century BCE. In the Younger Avesta, the daevas are noxious creatures that promote chaos and disorder. In later tradition and folklore, the dēws (Zoroastrian Middle Persian; New Persian divs) are personifications of every imaginable evil.

Aditi, one of the hundred daughters of Daksha, is the wife of the sage Kashyapa and the mother of the Devas. Hence, the Devas are also called Adithyas. Her name means 'un-binding' or 'liberation'. She is said to possess ear-rings of unsurpassed splendor. She is always jealous of her sister (and co-wife) Diti, the mother of the Asuras.

Once she incited her son Indra to cause the fetus of Diti to be split into seven pieces[Devi:4.3.18]. Diticursed her, saying, "May seven sons be born to you. May you also suffer the grief of loss of your seven sons." Diti was born as Devaki, the sister of Kamsa as a result of this curse. Her first seven children were killed by her brother, for it had been foretold that her eighth child would be the his slayer.

Aditi also is the mother of the Vamana Avatar (incarnation) of Vishnu.

Devas - The Lesser Gods


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ANOTHER VERSION OF DEVAS

The Devas are immortal beings, the inhabitants of Swargaloka or the heavens. They are the sons of the sage Kashyapa and his wife Diti. They are in a state of eternal warfare with their step-brothers, the Asuras, who are the sons of their father and Aditi, the sister of their mother.



Originally, the Devas were mortal and where dying in large numbers in their perennial war with theAsuras. The Asuras were suffering no casualities as their preceptor Shukra knew the secret of the MrithaSanjivini Mantra(spell), which was capable of bringing the dead back to life. They sent Kacha, son of their guru (preceptor) Brihaspati to learn the secret of this spell from Shukra. He succeeded after many trials, the story of which is told here.

Later, both the Asuras and Devas formed an alliance to obtain nectar from the sea of milk. They obtained the nectar, but with the help of Vishnu they succeeded in cheating the Asuras of their share of the nectar. That story is told here. After this point, they could be defeated only when theAsuras managed to obtain a strong boon from the trinity.



The king of the Devas is Indra. Their commander-in-chief is Skanda. They are 330 million in number, but the principal ones are Surya, Chandra, Agni, Vayu, Varuna and Kama.

According to mythology, the Devas of yore, sought the Lord’s help by performing a sacrifice at this place, with a view to destroy the wicked demon Durgamasura, who was constantly troubling the people around this region. As per the directions of the Lord, goddess Shakambari appeared through the fire of the ‘Yagna Kunda’, and fought a grim battle with the demon. Finally she destroyed him and brought peace and prosperity to the people. According to the story mentioned in ‘Banashankari Mahatmye’, Shakambari is described asthe ‘Deity of nature and vegetation’, and that she manifests as Mahalakshmi, Mahakali and Maha-Saraswati.

Historically, it is believed that the original shrine of Banashankari was in existence here, even before the reign of the Chalukyas of Badami. They gave importance to the customs of the Vaishnavas, Jains, Shaivas and Shaktas.But, they were mainly worshippers of goddess Banashankari, the deity of Shakti.



An inscription at the temple premises mentions that the Chalukyan king Jagadeka Malla renovated the old shrine of Banashankari and made considerable improvements. A pillar situated to the north of the temple, bears an inscription in Kannada, duringback to 1019 A.D. It describes the bravery of the Rashtrakuta king, Bhimadeva. Another inscription states that the great warrior Ketimayya erected a huge Deepa Stambha (lamp pillar) in front of the temple

DEVAS AND ASURAS



Devas and Asuras, in Vedic tradition (that is, based on the most ancient Hindu holy literature, the Veda), two classes of gods, that in later traditions diverged into two groups of deities and demons, respectively. The 33 Devas (Sanskrit for deity) govern the three regions of heaven, air, and earth, assisting humankind with their beneficent powers. In the cosmic struggle between the forces of order and chaos, the Devas are opposed by the demonic Asuras (Sanskrit for air of life), a class of titans that are also enemies of humans. 

The conflict between Devas and Asuras is dramatized in the myth of the churning of the ocean, in which the high gods uproot Mount Mandara, wrap the serpent Vasuli about it, and set it in the ocean. The Devas pull on one end of the serpent and the Asuras on the other, churning the ocean into butter. Finally, after more churning, the sun and moon rise from the ocean, followed by Dhanvantari, the physician of the gods, bearing the elixir of immortality. This is given to the Devas, sparking off a battle in which the Asuras are defeated.
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IN ANOTHER MYTH OF CONFLICT

In another myth of conflict, a battle rages between the Devas and Asuras for hundreds of years. The Devas are put to flight by the buffalo demon Mahisha, but are saved by the anger of Vishnu and Shiva, which is so intense that its energy materializes in the form of the goddess Durga, who vanquishes the buffalo. The Devas are led by Indra, the warrior god of storms and rain, who is often shown riding on an elephant. Indra`s rival is Varuna, supreme god of cosmic order, whom he appears to have supplanted, and many myths record Indra`s battles with the destructive powers represented by the Asuras. In numerous myths the Asuras receive aid from the creator deity, Brahma. For example, Brahma permits the Asuras to construct three great cities from which to dominate the regions of heaven, air, and earth. At the height of their glory, however, the Asura cities are incinerated by Shiva and the Asuras themselves are hurled into the sea.


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IN THE ZOROASTRIAN RELIGION ( "SEE "ZOROASTRIANISM)

In the Zoroastrian religion ( "see "Zoroastrianism) of Iran, the Asuras became Ahuras, the forces of good under the great deity Ahura Mazda, while the Devas, or Daevas, fulfilled the opposite role, being associated with the evil spirit Angra Mainyu.



Asuras

This is what I was able to piece together from different information sources on web searches. Thank you for reading and please feel free to share your thoughts, they are valuable to me. Thank you 
http://www.mediahex.com/Devas_and_Asuras

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