Summer 2008 ‹TÇw |Ç áàÜxÇzà{? âÇwxÜáàtÇw|Çz‹ Recommended Reading for Fanciers of Fine Fantasy Julie Mabie The appeal of the fantasy genre is deeply of the outer world. One is chosen to venture rooted. It comes from the place in the back out, and use his magic to save what is left of of our subconscious that remembers the the future. Beautiful descriptions of tribal primal forces of nature, when all things were rites and songs. attributed to the supernatural and not scientific facts. It is from these elements of The Mists of Avalon , by Marion Zimmer wonder that fantasy first emerged. Bradley (Del Rey/Ballantine Books, pub. Storytellers traveled the continents, weaving 1982): This is a tale of the Arthurian cycle tales of magic for rapt audiences. These told from the point of view of the powerful stories honed the imagination and women of that legend. It has an intriguing visualization skills. They made sense of the view of what being a priestess entailed in natural world so that people need not live in that time period. Vivid detail of life in fear of the unknown. Avalon and the choices these women made transitioning into a time of a new religion. The storytellers of today rely on the printed word to share the visions of the worlds that Incarnations of Immortality , (On A Pale they create. Through these words, powerful Horse, Bearing An Hourglass, With A images are given life -- images of unending Tangled Skein, Wielding a Red Sword, battles between good and evil; messages of Being A Green Mother, For Love of Evil, hope; warnings to save the world that we And Eternity) by Piers Anthony (First five actually live in. Drawing from the rich books published by Del Rey/Ballantine heritage of storytellers of old, here are Books, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987; last stories from their present day counterparts. two books published by William Morrow Enjoy! and Company Inc, 1988, 1990): Using the magic number seven, Mr. Anthony’s series The Dragon Quartet , ( The Book of Earth , of stories follows the various Gods in their The Book of Water , The Book of Fire , and quest to help mankind achieve the ultimate The Book of Air ) by Marjorie B. Kellogg good. The way the author interweaves the (Daw Books Inc., pub. 1995, 1997, 2000, lives and relationships of the various deities 2003): The appeal of this series of books is is just amazing. the message they send about ecology. Ms. Kellogg paints a bleak future of a world Sing the Four Quarters , ( Fifth Quarter , No ravaged by the carelessness of mankind, and Quarter , The Quartered Sea ) by Tanya Huff the hope given by the few who are trying to (Daw Books Inc., pub. 1994, 1995, 1996, save it. 1999): This is the first of four books depicting people with the gift of dealing Svaha , by Charles de Lint (Tom Doherty with elementals. These books were chosen Associates, pub. 1989): In a futuristic time, for the list for the wonderful visualizations Native Americans have Enclaves of their of the elements themselves, and the idea of own and are sealed off from the destruction 13 Recommended Reading Bond of Druids: A Druid Journal ‹TÇw |Ç áàÜxÇzà{? âÇwxÜáàtÇw|Çz‹ music and song as a language between pub. 1996): Tinted with humor, this is a element and humankind. story of what could happen when a mythological figure is dispatched. The tie-in Druids , by Morgan Llewellyn (Ivy Books, with ancient lore and the impact it has on the pub. 1991): A precursor to the age of Arthur, present is especially poignant. this story is appealing because of the descriptions of the rituals that the druids The Wood Wife , by Terri Windling (Tom might have preformed in ancient times. Doherty Associates, pub. 1996): The beauty of the desert and the different spirits that Od Magic , by Patricia A. McKillip (Berkley inhabit it are themes in the tale of a woman Publishing Group/Penguin Group, pub. finding her own path in life. 2005): This is a tale of what comes about as a result of authority trying to put restrictions The Green Man , edited by Ellen Datlow on magic. It is a warning of sorts about the and Terri Windling (Viking/Penguin Group, preciousness of freedom and the right to pub. 2002): For those people who enjoy follow an individual path. short stories, the editors have done a fine job of selecting tales of the magic of the natural Hogfather , by Terry Pratchett world. (HarperPrism/Harper Collins Publishers, A Triad for Summer Three things to fill the belly: Sun in the sky, sun in the earth, and ready hands to receive the fruit of their union. Bob Patrick Squash Blossom Recommended Reading 14 Summer 2008 ‹TÇw |Ç âÇwxÜáàtÇw|Çz? ~ÇÉãÄxwzx‹ Encounters with the Horned God Ellen Evert Hopman I have been blessed to meet the Horned God creator and destroyer of worlds. Shiva is in person a number of times. Many people also known as “ Ardhanarishwara ” (half- seem to associate Him with rampant sexual male and half-female, hermaphrodite), energy but I have rarely experienced Him as Shiva/Shakti, and the Divine Androgyne. In the randy little Goat-footed God of the His role as the Cosmic Dancer he wears a Greeks, nor has he seemed especially serpent around His neck and is often shown “horny” to me in a sexual sense. He has in union with His female consort, Parvati, or primarily shown Himself to me in his Mother Nature. dignified, cosmic persona. In a recent encounter Cernunnos, a Western European Hinduism, which grew out of Vedic culture, Horned God, appeared right in front of me, sometimes describes Ultimate Reality as the staring directly into my eyes. He had ruddy union of Shiva (Divine Masculine Energy) skin, long, dark brown hair, and beautiful and Shakti (Divine Female Energy) 3. It is stag’s antlers sprouting from His head. He said that Shiva, the Mahadeva (Great God) seemed to feel great affection for me and as and Pure Consciousness, has power only I looked at Him I said: “Oh, you have brown because of His devotion to Shakti. eyes, just like me!” and He smiled. Shiva/Shakti is in essence the force that breaks down matter so that new energies and Ancient Depictions objects can come into existence, and also One of the oldest images we have of the continually re-creates all things anew. Horned God comes from the Indus Valley (of what is now Pakistan) in about the third This melding of the divine male energy and millennium BCE, from the Harappan female energy has relevance when we culture. He is depicted seated on the earth or examine the Horned God as He appears on on a small stool with His legs in “yogic” the later (second or first century BCE) posture, both heels touching. He is nude and European Gundestup Cauldron, a metal festooned with necklaces and bracelets. cauldron of Celtic provenance that was There are plant-like growths between His found in a Danish peat bog. The most horns and He is accompanied by beasts; fascinating aspect of the Cernunnos depicted elephant, buffalo, tiger and rhinoceros. Two on it is the strong resemblance to the 1 Prashupati seals from Harappan culture deer pose at His feet . The Harappan culture 4 also left us images of Horned Goddesses, discussed above . On the Cauldron S/he is one of whom is shown in a tree, being shown with stag horns, wearing a neck-ring worshipped by women and by a man with (called a torc) that indicates noble status. the body of a goat 2. S/he holds another torc in one hand and grasps a ram-headed serpent in the other. Of The Harappan Lord of the Animals evolved interest is the fact that this figure seems into the later Vedic “Shiva” who is called androgynous (other figures on the cauldron “Pashupati ” (Lord of Beasts) and are either obviously female or wear beards). worshipped as a fertility God as well as a S/he is clean shaven and sitting in the half 15 Encounters with the Horned God Bond of Druids: A Druid Journal ‹TÇw |Ç âÇwxÜáàtÇw|Çz? ~ÇÉãÄxwzx‹ lotus yogic pose. S/he is surrounded by features a snake topped by a human head many types of animals including a lion, a with bull horns, the classic horns and snake dog or wolf, and a dolphin. One theory is conjunction that we also have from the that the Cauldron was made by itinerant Gundestrup Cauldron and early Harrapan metal workers from the East. Could this be a images and images of Shiva as discussed European variant of Shiva/Shakti? above. Early European Images By the fourth century BCE we begin to find Images of the Horned God survive from horned Gods in a Celtic context. In Northern many European places and cultures. The Italy at Val Camonica there is a rock carving church took special pains to erase His that shows a huge antlered figure next to a worship; even going so far as to turn him smaller (human?) figure with a tail. Horned into “the Devil” (the Biblical Lucifer is a figures have also been found in German areas and ancient antlered deities occur in shining bright angel who has nothing to do 5 with horns). Images of horned Goddesses Spain . are rarer, possibly due to the deliberate destruction of these and other Goddess The Horned God has been found in greatest images by the church. concentration near Hadrian’s Wall, in Scotland. He is also depicted all over Great Britain, Ireland, and Gaul (present-day The Horned God has been found on 6 prehistoric Danish rock carvings.