the lessons of the animals
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 The Lessons of the Animalskindly submitted by Anna Franklin Anna Franklin has been kind enough to supply TACRA with the following piece of work. We hope you find it interesting. Anna lives in a village in the Midlands with her partner John and six cats. Between them, they grow most of their own fruit, vegetables and herbs and try to live 'The Good Life'; while simultaneously conducting a love affair with Egypt and dreaming of owning a winter home in Luxor! Anna has contributed hundreds of articles to both small press and professional magazines, and has written twenty-three books including Herb Craft, Familiars- the Animal Powers of Britain, Pagan Feasts, Personal Power, The Wellspring [with Pamela Harvey and Helen Field], Fairy Lore, Magical Incenses and Oils, The Sacred Circle Tarot, Lammas [with Paul Mason], Midsummer, The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Fairies, The Celtic Animal Oracle and The Oracle of the Goddess among others. Many of these books have been illustrated by Paul Mason, a friend since art college days. Here is a link direct to Anna's website : www.annafranklin.com THE LESSONS OF THE ANIMALS
By Anna Franklin www.annafranklin.co.uk Every animal has its own lessons. You may choose to explore these by studying the real animal, by imitating its movements in dance, perhaps while wearing an animal mask. You could explore its lessons in a pathworking or a meditation on its qualities. You could call upon its power in a spell or ritual. Below are some animals that were well known to Celtic warriors who painted them on their shields, tattooed them on their bodies or invoked them in battle.
The Bear Regeneration and Strength  The
bear cult is probably the oldest one in existence and has survived
through many changes. The bear is one of the most revered animals in
the world, and was thought to have enormous powers. There were two Celtic bear Goddesses, Andarta ('Powerful Bear') and Artio. The Celtic word for bear was arth or arthe, Latinzed as Artos, which can be found in place names and gives rise to the name of 'Arthur'. Bears are associated with hunter gods and goddesses and are often depicted with the stag and the boar. They were sacred to Artemis/Diana, and during the rites of Artemis- Callisto, (the moon/bear goddess) at her temple at Brauron, near Athens. Amongst Finns, Lapps, Estonians and Lithuanians the priest/shaman identified with the bear god, and took on his spirit when he wore his bear robes. The north European warriors would invoke tribal and personal totems before going into battle, and might dress in bearskins and go 'berserk', summoning the spirit and courage of the animal to aid them and possess them. In Native American teachings the bear is associated with the Dream Lodge. The bear is a symbol of the sun. He hiberna  tes
in the winter, as the sun seems to decline and 'hibernate', the hours
of daylight getting shorter each day. Just as the bear emerges 'reborn'
from his hibernation, the sun is reborn at the winter solstice, renewed
and getting stronger each day. The bear hibernates, entering the womb
of the Earth Mother, the place where questions are answered and
solutions found. The lesson of Bear is that strength comes from within- not from what you own, or what you say, or what other people say about you. Bear does not waste energy, he moves slowly and deliberately, with purpose. Call on his strength and enter the silence within to find your answers. back to the top Boar Courage In Scandinavian myth the boar was sacred to Frey, Freya, and Odin. At Yule, the god Frey rode the golden bristled boar Gulliburstin, whose bristles formed the sun's rays. Scandinavian warriors wore boar masks and boar tusks on t  heir
helmets or placed representations of boars on shields and war equipment
to put them under the protection of Frey and oaths were sworn 'by the
golden boar' as a symbol of honor and truthfulness. The boar was also a symbol of the fertility of the earth. In Germany when the corn waved it was said 'the boar is rushing through the corn'. The last sheaf of the harvest was often called the 'sow' and was saved and baked into a loaf in the shape of a boar at midwinter, which was placed on the festive table until the end of the Yuletide season. It was then put away and kept until the spring sowing when part was eaten, and part mixed with the corn. The boar is instrumental is the death of vegetation and corn gods, who are killed and often dismembered only to be resurrected later on; in Egyptian  myth the god Set as a boar killed the vegetation god Osiris, lover of the goddess Isis; in Greek myth Apollo as
a boar killed the vegetation god Adonis/Tammuz, lover of the goddess
Aphrodite; in Irish myth Finn Mac Cool as a boar killed Diarmuid, lover
of Grainne; an unknown god as a boar killed King Ancaeus, devotee of
the goddess Artemis in his vineyard; Attis was slain by a boar; the
ancient Cretans said that Zeus was ripped apart by a boar and buried in
their midst. Boar hunting was very dangerous and a favorite sport of warriors to prove their skill and courage. Boars were accounted the fiercest of all prey. Boars often feature in the heraldry of warriors. The Norse Boar-Warriors fought together in a tight formation called the svinfylking, which resembled a boar’s head. The Celts venerated the boar as a sacred animal connected with prophecy, magical powers and with the protection of warriors. back to the top Cat Independence  Cats
love curling up by the hearth fire and they protect the house by
destroying the mice and rats that eat out the pantry and spread
disease. Cats were thought therefore to be protective animals. To the ancients the cat seemed to be an animal of the moon, its changing eyes reflecting its waxing and waning. Because of this, and their nocturnal hunting habits, the cat is associated with moon goddesses. Pliny said that a she cat would bear a total of twenty-eight kittens during her lifetime- the same number as the days of a lunar cycle. They are associated with fertility as they can produce several litters a year, and secondly they prey on the rodents and even snakes that can devastate grain stores, and therefore protect the harvest. In some places the cat was a representative of the corn spirit. If children trampled cornfields they were warned the phantom cat would get them. In France it was traditional to deck out a cat with ribbons, flowers and ears of corn at the start of the harvest. A harvester cut by a scythe should get a cat to lick the wound or the harvest would be in danger. In other parts of France the unfortunate animal was placed under the last bundle of corn and flailed to death. In France the last sheaf of corn to be harvested was called 'the cat's tail’, in Germany the reaper was called 'catcher of the cat'.  The
cat is connected with Osiris, one statuette showing his missing
genitalia replaced by a cat. He was the father of Bast who played a
large part in the rite of passage through death and the afterlife.
Vegetation gods are slain and sometimes dismembered and conveyed to the
Underworld, an analogy for the seed being sown in the underground womb
of the earth goddess. Goddesses associated with cats such as Isis,
Freya etc. have to seek and rescue their partners from the Underworld.
A representation of Tutankhamum shows him travelling to the Underworld
on the back of a cat. The Teutonic goddess of the Underworld and death,
Hel, had a cat totem.Cat is an independent being, aloof and self contained. Cat knows what she wants and quietly waits for the opportunity to get it, then moves like lightening. back to the top Rooster Healing  The
cry of the rooster at sunrise indicates the end of the darkness and the
start of the day. The Greeks believed that the rooster was sacred to
Apollo, the sun god, and was associated with his son Asclepius, the
healer god, through its association with the sun and its life giving
powers. A corn dolly was often made into the shape of a rooster and
placed on top of the hayricks to protect them. Because of their power
of driving out evil, the rooster was credited with powers of healing.
In many areas medicine taken at rooster crow was believed to be more
effective.Austrian children are warned that the Corn-rooster will peck their eyes out if they stray in the fields. In parts of Germany it was traditional for the farmer to release a live rooster or hide it under the last sheaf. The bird belonged to whoever caught it. This ‘Rooster-catching’ was a highlight of the harvest festival and specially brewed ‘Rooster-beer’ was served to the reapers. Rooster is an animal of the newly risen sun, a guide that leads the way from the dark realms out into the light. back to the top Crane Knowledge  The
Irish sea god Manannan owned a magical bag made from crane skin. It
contained six treasures- the shears of the King of Scotland, the helmet
of the King of Lochlainn, the bones from Assails's swine, the hook of
the smith god Goibne, a shirt and a strip from the back of the great
whale. These were the vowels of the Irish ogham alphabet and the strip
of the whale represented the horizon (the sea was called 'the whale
road'), the stave on which ogham was written. Cranes are associated with writing because during flight their long legs resemble the letters of ancient alphabets. Many early alphabets were angular in appearance since they had to be carved into stone, or scratched onto bark. It was said that Greek god Hermes invented the alphabet after watching the cranes in flight, while the Egyptian god Thoth invented hieroglyphs after watching the flight of the Ibis. The Celtic god Ogma is said to have invented ogham after seeing the flight of cranes. The Druids kept their ogham lots in a crane bag.  In
ancient Greece the mating dance of cranes was once thought to be a
magical ritual and the movements were imitated by human dancers to mark
the start of the New Year and the death of the old around Lammas. The
climax of an ancient Chinese crane dance was the burying of the dancers
alive.Crane keeps the secrets of magical writing. In ancient times to write a character was to connect with the thing that character represented, and to call it into being. back to the top Stag Power and Sacrifice  The
stag was one of the most sacred animals of the Celts and has played an
important part in folklore in many areas of the world. The earliest
representations of the stag god, or of the shaman dressed in stag
horns, date from round 12000 BCE. Horned beasts were generally
considered sacred, the horns a symbol of fertility. Antlers were
amongst the earliest tools used to till the soil, and powdered stag
antlers are among the best fertilizers known to man.The stag is most closely associated with the Gaulish god Cernunnos, who wears stag horns. He is usually portrayed as a seated figure with antlers growing from his head. He holds a snake in one hand and a torc in the other, showing that he is a god of winter and summer, sky and underworld, death and resurrection. He is surrounded by the animals of the forest as Lord of the Animals. Stags clean their new antlers around Lammas, rubbing off the velvety coating on the branches of trees, and the rutting season begins from then on. This may be another reason why battles are associated with Lughnasa. In Arthurian legend, the knights would take part in a yearly hunt of the white stag, and its head would be presented to the fairest lady in the land. It was once thought that the 'King Stag', the leader of the herd, should be ritually hunted and killed every year to ensure the return of summer. The stag was identified with the sacred king, w  hose
sacrifice was necessary. It is the fate of the antlered king to be
hunted and betrayed, it is this that gives the cuckold his horns.
Llew saw a stag baited to death and was soon afterwards murdered by his
wife Blodeuwedd's lover, Gronw.In Welsh and Irish poetry a wave of the sea is a 'sea stag' and in myth both of the solar heroes Cuchulain and Fionn fought the waves with spears and swords, perhaps a symbolic slaying of the King Stag to ensure the turning of the year. back to the top Eagle Authority  The
power and strength of the eagle associate it with authority and
royalty. It was the ensign of the kings of Babylon and Persia, the
Ptolemies and Seleucides. It was a symbol of the Empire in France,
Austria, Prussia and Russia. Scottish chieftains wore three eagle
feathers in their bonnets while the Romans used the eagle as a standard
of imperial power. For the Egyptians the eagle was a chief
representative of the sun, Ra, and was said to descend in a shaft of
light over the head of a pharaoh during his coronation. The Sacred King's soul was said to leave the king's body in the form of an eagle while the souls of lesser men might leave in the form of butterflies. A Roman knight claimed to have seen the emperor Augustus's soul rise from his body in the form of an eagle, proclaiming his deity, and was rewarded by his widow, Livia. Ganymede rose to heaven in the form of an eagle, or in another version was carried off by an eagle to become Zeus's cup bearer. Llew's soul escapes in the form of an eagle and perched on an oak tree. The eagle is often a representative of the sky powers at war with the powers of the underworld in the form of a serpent. The Aztecs saw the rising sun as an eagle, devouring the powers of darkness. In Norse myth an eagle si  ts at the top of Yggdrasil, the World Tree, warring with the serpent at the trees roots.
The Hindu god Vishnu rides an eagle when he is at war with the Nagas or
serpent spirits. In Hittite myth the eagle with the serpent in its
talons symbolized the strife between the weather god and the serpent
Illuyankas. The warring of the eagle and serpent symbolizes the tension
between the sky and the Underworld, between summer and winter, or
between light and darkness.back to the top Fox Cunning The fox is regarded as the archetypal trickster, having great slyness, craftiness, humor and charm. It is meant to hunt well away from its own lair to lay the blame on other foxes. It 
is famous for its 'kunning' or hound wisdom. With its wily speech it is
known to enrapture an audience of geese, later to carry one off.
The fox is sometimes known as Reynard and this derives from a
fourteenth century Gothic epic in which the fox is called raginohart
meaning 'cunning in counsel'. The fox was a sacred beast in many ancient cultures, associated with knowledge and power from the underworld, since it lives in burrows. Because of this the Christians associated it with the devil. Its reputation was so evil that its bite was thought to be fatal- any person bitten would die seven years later. It was a favorite shape changing form of witches. back to the top Hare Fecundity  The
hare is associated with lusty sexuality and fertility. The hare is
quick, a prolific breeder even, as observed by Herodotus, conceiving
while already pregnant. It was sacred to the Greek goddess of love,
Aphrodite, and her son Eros (and the Roman equivalents Venus and
Cupid). Philostratus said the most suitable sacrifice to Aphrodite was
the hare, as it possesses her gift of fertility in a superlative
degree. Celtic hunt and moon deities were associated with the hare and were often depicted holding them in their hands. Killing and eating the hare was taboo for the kills and the penalty was to be struck with cowardice by the gods. The Celts lifted the restriction on hunting the hare at Beltane, and made a ritual hunt and consumption. The Anglo-Saxons also venerated the hare and a ritual hare hunt was a feature of the spring festival of the goddess Eostre who is often depicted as hare-headed. Her hare laid the egg of new life to herald the rebirth of the year. Even now the Easter bunny is said to distribute eggs in springtime. The hare is associated with the rising sun, the east, and resurrection. In Native American lore the Great Hare is the Savior and Hero of the Dawn. In Egypt the hare is depicted as greeting the dawn. The risen Osiris is linked to the hare, as is the risen Christ, Hermes, Mercury and Thoth.  In
Europe the hare is also associated with the corn spirit. In Anglo Saxon
poetry the hare is addressed as 'the stag of the stubble, long-eared',
'the stag with leathery horns', 'the cat of the wood', 'the cat that
lurks in the broom', the furze cat'. Hares hide in cornfields till the
last reaping and the last sheaf is often called 'the hare' and its
cutting called 'killing the hare', 'cutting the hare' or 'cutting the
hare's tail off’. In Galloway (Scotland) the last sheaf standing
was called the Hare. It was divided into three and plaited with the
ears tied into a knot, the reapers then threw their sickles at it until
one them cut it down. In Norway the man who ‘kills the
Hare’ must give ‘hare’s blood’, in the form of
brandy, to his fellow workers.The hare is touched by a divine madness, the anarchy that overturns dogmatic tradition and restrictions and brings new ideas and inspirations. back to the top Horse Virility, strength and swiftness 
Horse cults existed in Britain and Ireland long before the coming of
the Celts and horses were favorite tribal totems of the Iron and Bronze
Ages. They represent virility, fertility, strength and swiftness. The horse is the chosen animal form of the sovereign goddess in Celtic lore, the ancient mare who rides between the worlds, sacred since the earliest times. In Greece she was the Mare Headed Demeter, and in Crete Leucippe the White Mare. Certainly by the Roman era the cult of the Gaulish horse goddess Epona ('Divine Horse') was widespread, and became merged with that of the Welsh Rhiannon and the Irish Macha. Epona is always depicted with a horse, sitting on a horse or with two foals. Her name gives us the word 'pony'. The Irish horse goddess was Macha who, heavily pregnant, entered a foot face against a horse at Midwinter. She won but died giving birth on the finish line, cursing the king of Ulster who had forced her into the race. The curse said that in times of battle the warriors of Ulster would become as weak as women in childbirth. 
There used to be a custom in Hertfordhire (England) known as
‘Crying the Mare’, which reflects the connection of the
horse goddess with the land. The last corn standing was tied
together and the reapers would throw their sickles at it. After one of
their number had succeeded in cutting it the reapers would cry,
‘I have her! I have her! I have her!’ Others would reply,
‘A mare! A mare! A mare!’ ‘Whose is she?’ and
‘Whither will you send her?’ was asked next. The sheaf
would then be given to a neighboring farmer whose corn was remained
standing. In this way the corn-spirit was passed on to take refuge in
the neighbor’s fields.The Celts believed that souls traveled to the land of the dead on horseback. Shamans may visualize travelling to the Otherworld on the back of a spirit horse and the drum that provides the trance inducing beat may be called the shaman’s steed. Gods and shaman tether their horses to the World Tree, via which journeys to all the realms are possible. The Norse world tree is Askr Yggr-drasill, which means 'the ash tree that is the horse of Yggr' (Yggr is one of the titles of Odin). back to the top Cow Nurture  The cow is the symbol of plenty, nourishment and nurture.
Nomadic and pastoral peoples regarded the cow as a symbol of life and
fertility; they depended on it for food, milk and prosperity. The cow
is associated with the Great Mother in her many forms. In Hinduism the
humped zebu cow is the symbol of Prithive, the earth, the
all-embracing. The Egyptians regarded the cow and the earth as the
image of Isis and Hathor. The Greek sun and sky god Zeus is said to
have been nursed by a cow. His wife Hera is described as cow-eyed
(boopis) by Homer. In Celtic lore Madron, the Great Mother, was also
associated with the cow and is often depicted as a matronly woman
holding a cornucopia (horn) filled with fruit and grains. In
Ireland the cow was associated with the goddess Boanne and was also one
of the sacred animals of Brighid. In Norse myth the primal cow Audumla
sprang from the ice at the beginning of time with Ymir, the frost
Giant. He fed on the four rivers of milk that flowed from her teats.
The horns of the cow place it under the dominion of the Moon
Goddess. In Greek myth when Io was turned into a cow her color
changed from white to red to black and back again, the colors of the
three phases of the moon waxing, full and waning, and the three faces
of the moon goddess; white for the virgin, red for the mother and black
for the crone.In parts of Germany the man who gave the last stroke at threshing was called the ‘Barley-cow’, Oats-cow’ etc, depending on the crop. He was covered in straw with two sticks tied to his head to represent horns. He was lead by ropes and had to ‘moo’ like a cow. back to the top Bull Power 
The bull symbolizes the masculine, solar, generative forces of the sky
gods and the human king as representative as divine power. Solar heroes
rode it and gods, storm and sky gods who brought the fertilizing power
of the sun, rain and thunder. Several thunder gods were associated with
the bull, such as Zeus/Jupiter. The bull's bellow sounds like the roar
of thunder. Many old oak trees are known as bull oaks, lightening
strikes the oak more than any other tree, and were particularly
associated with the thunder god.For the Druids the bull represented the fertilizing power of the heavens while the cow represented the productive abundance of the earth. The Egyptian goddess Amaunet took a cow form to couple with Amun, the sun god, after he hatched from the cosmic egg. The Canaanite goddess Anat took the form of a cow to mate with her brother Baal who was in the form of a bull. In Celtic countries a druid would choose the High King by undertaking the ceremony of Tarbhfhess or Bull Feast. A white bull was sacrificed and the druid would eat his full of the flesh the flesh of a bull, drink its blood and broth and sleep on its flayed hide while a spell of truth was chanted over him, a vision quest to dream o  f the rightful
king. He would dream of the man and also what that man was engaged in
doing at that moment.In Egyptian myth Osiris was associated with the bull. His cult absorbed that of the Apis bull, sacred to Ra, the sun god. The worship of Apis was spread by Narmer-Menes, the King who united Upper and Lower Egypt sometime before 3000 BCE. Apis became Serapis in Graeco-Egyptian myth, a Lord of the Underworld, like Osiris. The sacrifice of a bull played a part in the ancient Lughnasa rites and several harvest customs are associated with bulls. If a farmer in Rosenheim (Germany) was late getting in his harvest, then his neighbors set up a ‘straw-bull’ on his land. This was large figure of a bull made of stubble on a framework of wood, decorated with flowers and leaves. Comic verses ridiculing the farmer would be attached to the ‘bull’. back to the top Dog Loyalty and Guidance 
The dog became a companion to humankind early on in pre-history. Dogs
are loyal friends and brave guardians of property and people. As well as being mundane guardians, dogs are mythological guardians of the underworld realm of the dead. In Greek myth Cerberus, the three-headed dog, guards the entrance to the underworld. In Egyptian myth Anubis, the jackal or dog headed god, is the guide to the underworld and oversees the mummification process. In Norse myth the dog Garm guarded the road to the Underworld. In Celtic myth the underworld pack of dogs are called the Cwn Annwn (‘hounds of the underworld’) and ride out on stormy nights to hunt the souls of humans. The supernatural dog is a psychopomp who conveys the soul of the dead to the Underworld. The Dog Star Sirius rises at Lammas to convey the soul of the sacrificed Sacred King to the Otherworld. The dog is connected with Lugh’s son, the Ulster hero Cuchul  He was originally called Setanta and with his uncle, Conchobar, was
invited to a feast by the smith Chulainn, who owned a fearsome dog.
Arriving late Setanta was attacked by the dog, but succeeded in killing
it. The smith was devastated by the death of his faithful hound
and in recompense Setanta offered to raise the hound's pup until it was
old enough to take the place of its parent, and in the meantime perform
its guard duties himself. After this he was known as Cuchulain
('hound of Chulainn'). He was thence under a geas that he should never
eat dog flesh, but also under a geas that he should never refuse
hospitality. Three crones offered him a meal of roasted dog flesh, and
he had to agree. His strength and skills deserted him, and he was
overcome in battle.back to the top Wolf Teaching and Warriorship Wolves were thought to be very wise and able to share their knowledge with humans. The druid Bobaran met the white wolf Emhain Abhlac and threw three rowan berries into the air, three at the wolf, and three into his own mouth to receive the insight of the wolf. In Native American teaching the wolf totem is represented by the Dog Star, Sirius, s  aid to be the home of teachers in ancient times. The Wolf
People are the clan of teachers. Wolves are sometimes described as being well disposed to mankind, suckling and caring for legendary heroes and kings. The Romans instituted the festival of the Lupercalia (15th March) in honor of the she-wolf, Lupa, who cared for Romulus and Remus, the legendary founders of Rome. Wolves suckled King Cormac of Ireland and wolves accompanied him all his life. There are other stories of humans, saints, magicians, goddesses and gods having wolves as close companions. Merlin retired into the woodlands for several years and took as his companion a very old wolf. St Francis of Assisi was said to have tamed the ferocious wolf of Gubbio. Cernunnos is depicted with a wolf on the Gundestrup cauldron. In Scandinavian lore Odin is accompanied by the two wolves Freki and Geri. A wolf was said to faithfully guard the head of King Edmund the Martyr. On the other hand, wolves were known to be savage hunters and killers. Many Saxon and Danish Kings used wolf as part of their name and title to denote ferocity. Some Scottish clans are associated with the wolf- for example Mac Lennan (son of the wolf) and Mac Millan (son of the wolf servant). The Romans connected the wolf with the god of war; Mars, as it was said that whoever lost the war the wolf always won, feeding on the b  odies of the dead. In Norse myth the Valkyries rode
wolves to collect the souls of dead warriors from the battlefield and
take them to eternal feasting in the halls of Valhalla.The wolf is associated with the corn spirit. When the wind waves the corn in a wave-like motion European peasants would say ‘the wolf is going through the corn’ or ‘the mad dog is in the corn’. Children are told not to play in the crops or, ‘The Rye-wolf will come and eat you up’. The Roggenwolf (‘rye-wolf’) of German folklore haunts the grainfields and ambushes peasants, strangling them. Its mother is Kornmutter (‘corn mother’). According to Alby Stone the fungus ergot is associated with the rye and is sometimes called Wolf or Wolfszahn (‘wolf tooth’). Poisoning by ergot was once fairly common causing tremors, writhing, convulsions, rolling eyes, dizziness, hallucinations, extreme thirst, heat, cold, itching, and blistering. Stone points out that these symptoms are similar to rabies and an observation of these signs could convey that lycanthropy is conveyed by the bite of a werewolf. Beowulf means ‘Barley Wolf’ and hints at the same theme- the warrior who can turn into a berserker or beast. In Rügen the woman who binds the last sheaf was called Wolf. She had to bite the lady of the house, and was given a large piece of meat. back to the top Goat Fertility 
Because the goat Capricorn nourished the new born winter sun, goat's
milk had powerful mythological significance. In Norse myth the she-goat
Heidrun ('Sky') yielded enough milk to sustain Valhalla. It used to be
the custom to bathe young goat kids in goat milk to make them survive.
In the Orphic mysteries the password into Hades (the Underworld), when
challenged by the guardians of the dead, was 'Like a kid I have fallen
into milk’ in other words they had become one with the
goat-Dionysus by partaking of his flesh. His mother was a goat goddess
in whose cauldron and milk he had been seethed.In the fifth century BCE Herodotus reported that the people of Mendes in the Nile Delta venerated all goats, particularly male ones. For the Greeks and Romans the goat represented virility. Goats are fertile and reputedly lusty, so have a prominent significance in nature based religions. The Greek god of the wild Pan was the son of Amalthea ('Goat'). Pan and his Satyrs had the legs, horns and beards of goats. In Ireland 'goat-heads' were evil spirits associated with leprechauns and the Formorians, suggesting there may have been a pre-Danann goat cult in Ireland. Goats were sacred to various Celtic deities and fairies like Bucca and Puck. In Ireland the Puck Fair is held July/August when a goat decked in royal purple is hoisted into the air in an enclosure with foliage to eat. 
In Jewish tradition the scapegoat was imbued with the sins of the tribe
and cast out into the wilderness. Christ as the scapegoat took on the
sins of the world. In parts of Europe and America goats are lured into
grounds to eat grass near the house, and when driven away will take
sickness from the house with it.A good harvest was foretold when the wind tossed the corn in Germany, as the ‘Goats were browsing there’. In another part of Germany two horns were set up on the last sheaf, which was then referred to as the ‘horned Goat’. In Switzerland a live goat was decorated with flowers and ribbons and let loose in the fields. It was caught, beheaded and eaten at the harvest-supper. The skin was made into a cloak, which the farmer had to wear if rain or bad weather threatened the harvest. In parts of Bavaria it was thought that the Oats-goat was in the last sheaf. He was represented by a rake with an old pot for a head. The local children were then encouraged to ‘kill the Oats-goat’. back to the top Sow Luck The sow, with its large litters, has long been a fertility symbol, hence lucky pigs and piggy banks. In Ireland pigs are considered lucky, and small carvings of pigs are used as good luck charms, but only if some part is broken, like a l  eg or ear. In Egypt pigs were slain at
grand weddings because of their reputation for fecundity. Pigs were
sacrificed to deities of agriculture as they 'taught men to turn up the
earth' or plough; the foraging pig turns up the earth with its snout.Their colors very from white and red to black- the colors of the three phases of the moon. Menstruation means 'moon-change' and women's cycles are related to the moon, the white waxing phase is the virgin, the red full moon phase is the menstruating fertile woman, the black waning phase is woman past the age of childbirth; Maiden, Mother and Crone, the three phases of the Goddess. Pigs feed on corpse flesh, are prolific breeders and sometimes eat their own young, symbolizing the waning goddess of dissolution and destruction. Their tusks are crescent shaped. back to the top Lion Leadership 
Though the lion is not a native beast, it has become important in
British and Irish symbolism and lore. It represents courage and
sovereignty and is a heraldic beast of England and Scotland. The
lion’s size, shape, strength and magnificence associate it with
divinity and royalty. It is still described as the King of the Beasts.
At the Congo and Zambesi rivers the souls of dead chiefs were believed
to pass into lions.Big cats were significant to the Celts, associated with Lugh (Lugos/ Llew) whose totem was lug, the mountain lion. In heraldry the ordinary lion is substituted and remains an emblem of Albion. The golden lion was an early symbol of English kingship, the red lion representing Scotland, and silver lions representing Wales. Some think that the Celtic words for a mountain lion Llew/ Lleu/Leo/ Lug may be derived directly from an Indo-European root, not Latin as is usually supposed. The lion is associated with several goddesses. Sekhmet was the lion headed goddess of ancient Egypt, described as Time or 'the Devourer of Time', consort of Ptah, the Bull of Memphis. At Syracuse in Sicily a lion led the procession in honor of the huntress Goddess, Artemis. It is a solar symbol, sometimes seen in combat with the lunar unicorn, or represents summer while the unicorn represents spring. When the Scottish king James took over the English throne as James I he included them both in the coa  t of arms the unicorn to symbolize his kingship of
Scotland, and the lion to symbolize his kingship of England.Women in African tribes give a piece of lion's heart to their baby sons to make them grow strong and brave. Lions often become the companions of warriors in myth. Androcles in Aesop's fables removed a thorn from a lion's paw, and was later rescued by the lion. In Arthurian legend Owain rescues a lion beset by serpents. Sir Bevis of Hamtun was befriended by two lions in the Holy Land. The lions rescued him from danger. back to the top Otter Fluidity In Irish tradition the otter was sacred to the sea god Manannan, Lord of deep magic. It was much prized for its skin. Fishermen used to hunt otters with a three-pronged spear (symbol of the water god) for its waterproof pelt. The skin  made the traditional bag for the Celtic harp
and was used as a lucky lining for shields. Powerful North American
Indian medicine women have otter skin medicine bags, as the otter is
considered an animal of strong feminine healing magic.The otter was a popular beast for shape shifters and was one of the forms taken by Ceridwen in her battle with Taliesin. In Scotland the kelpies transformed into horses or otters to lure mortals into the sea. In Norse myth Odin, Loki and Honir came across an otter sleeping by a pool with a freshly killed salmon. Loki killed the otter with a stone, but the otter turned out to be the son of the magician Hreidmar who demanded compensation. Loki had to fill a bag made from the otter skin with red gold. Otter catches the salmon of wisdom by being fluid and swift, not serious and ponderous. back to the top Owl Magic 
The wise old owl is often the familiar of the witch in European lore.
Witches shapeshifted into owls in many tales. In ancient Greece the owl
was one of the familiar companions of the witch goddess Hecate. The owl
is associated with the witching time of dusk; the death of the day
whose eerie light is called 'owl light'. Witches use the dusk as a time
between times to slip through into the Otherworld.Owl totems are called upon to learn the secrets of magic, and such magic is that of the Crone Goddess, it is knowledge of the night, darkness, winter, the Underworld, decline and death. An old kenning reminds us that all life germinates in the dark, whether it be seed, animal or human. Light emerges from the darkness and order from chaos. In Athens the little owl was associated with Athene, goddess of wisdom. It was the emblem of the city and appeared on its coins. It is also the companion of other goddesses of wisdom such as Minerva and Sulis. In the Celtic story of Olwen the owl is named as one of the five oldest beasts on earth (with the blackbird, stag, eagle and salmo  n). As such it has old knowledge.Owls are associated with the death time of the year- they are very vocal in November and then fall silent until February. Their cries accompany the Hag Goddess in her death and winter aspect. In Scotland the owl is known as Cailleach which means 'Hag' and Cailleach Oidhche Gheal ('Hag of the Night Moon'). In the Mabinogion story of Llew he marries a bride made from flowers, Blodeuwedd ('flower-face'). She is unfaithful to him and plots to kill him. She is unsuccessful, and is turned into an owl, Blodeuwedd is a Welsh name for the owl. After her transformation she was called 'Twyll Huan’ or 'deceiver of Huan' one of the titles of Llew, the Welsh for owl is tylluan. The meaning is plain- the flowering goddess of summer becomes the hag of winter. back to the top Raven Hidden Knowledge 
Raven is the teacher and protector of seers and clairvoyants. It was
thought to be the most prophetic of birds, having knowledge of public
and private events. People are still spoken of as having 'the foresight
of a raven.’ The raven was the messenger of the gods,
and warned the Irish god Lugh of the invasion of the Formorians. The raven is associated with the Celtic god Bran ( from the Slavic Branu -'raven'). Bran's head was taken to the White Mount in London, where it continued to prophesy and protect Britain from invasion. King Arthur removed the head as a sign that he was now responsible for protecting Britain. The Tower of London now stands on the site, and Bran's ravens still live there. The ravens in the tower of London protect Britain from invasion. According to legend if they ever leave the tower Britain will fall to invaders. The Gaulish city of Lyon had the white raven Lugos as its totem bird. Ravens feed on carrion and were once a common sight feeding on gibbet corpses. They were regarded as omens of death and war associated with the battle goddesses Morrigan, Badbh and Nemain who could all take raven form. The Morrigan was invited to battles by war horns, which imitated the croaking of ravens. back to the top Robin Sacrifice Robin presid  es over rituals connected with fire and with initiations
through fire. He speaks of the persistence of spirit and of light in
darkness. Robin speaks of the necessity of sacrificing one thing to
gain another. The sparrow in the rhyme is said to kill the robin with
his bow and arrow, this may relate to its symbolic death or
sacrifice at the end of its six-month rule over half of the year.
The robin is also said to be husband to the wren, another six monthly
ruler of the year.The robin is said to have burned its breast, making it red, by throwing itself onto the wren to stifle the flames, which were burning it when it was bringing fire to mankind. The Welsh for robin 'bronrhuddyn' means 'scorched breast'. Others say that the robin was part of a relay of birds that brought fire from the sun for mankind. The robin held the brand too close to the flames and burned its breast. In Scotland and Cornwall a game called 'robin's alight' was played. It involved passing a burning brand from hand to hand, the person holding it when the flames went out had to pay a forfeit. This may once have been a method to select a human sacrifice. back to the top Salmon Wisdom 
In Irish myth Conla's Well was the source of poetic and literary style.
In it lived several large salmon, which fed on the hazelnuts that
dropped into it. Each nut increased its wisdom and caused a red spot to
appear on the salmon's back. If a person were to catch and eat one of
these salmon the wisdom would be transferred to them. Fish are still
referred to as 'brain food'. The salmon was regarded as a store of
ancient knowledge and wisdom by the Celts and was one of the five
oldest animals. Particular salmon were considered to be the guardians
of the wells or pools where they lived. The early Christian fathers were called pisciuli and fish were equated with the converted. Christ was depicted as a fish, ICHTHUS - Iesous CHristos THeou HUios Soter (Jesus Christ, son of god savior). Three intertwined fishes were borrowed from earlier religions to denote the Trinity and bishops wore fish-head headdresses: miters. This lore was borrowed from the Sumero-Semitic Ea-Oannes, Lord of the Deeps, who was served by a priesthood in fish-head headdresses. Fish was the eucharistic meal of Atargatis; her son Ichthys was the sacred fish. Fish was eaten at the feasts of the Mother Goddess on her day, Friday. It was a sacramental meal of the mystery religions associated with the ritual worship of moon goddesses of the waters and gods of the Underworld. As a fertility symbol the fish was also phallic. The salmon can live in salt and fresh water and has perseverance and stamina in returning to its spawning grounds. Its pure willpower enables it to overcome many obstacles. However, salmon is very wise and instead of battling against the prevailing current uses a reverse current to swim upstream. The Irish hero Cuchulainn was said to be capable of the 'salmon leap’, which enabled him to jump large obstacles and walls. Sometimes it is necessary to take an almighty leap into the unknown to gain knowledge. back to the top Ram and Sheep Inner Strength and Purity 
The god as shepherd is a very ancient image and occurs in Sumerian,
Iranian, Orphic, Hermetic, Pythagorean and Tibetan traditions. Ra was
'the Shepherd of All Men', Tammuz, was a shepherd and protector of
flocks, the Iranian Yima was titled 'the Good Shepherd', the Hindu gods
Shiva and Krishna were both herdsmen while the Tibetan Chenerzig, 'the
All-merciful Good Shepherd', is incarnated in the Dalai Lama. In Greek
myth Orpheus Boukolos is a herdsman who carries a lamb on his shoulder.
Pan is also a herdsman and Hermes (Mercury) is a shepherd of souls.
Christ was also said to be 'the Good Shepherd’.The sheep is sometimes seen as a savior and transporter of souls and has associations with the god of the dead. Both the shepherd and the Underworld god carry a crook and a staff as their emblems. Some shepherds were buried with a tuft of wool in th  eir coffins so that they
might be excused attendance at the last judgement, as no shepherd would
leave his flocks.The lamb represents innocence and purity and Christ was called 'the lamb without blemish', the suitable sacrifice. As sacrificial lamb Christ was crucified for the sins of the world. The fleece of a lamb has special associations, since it is equated with the fat of the animal, regarded as its life force and sustenance. In the well-known Greek myth of the Argonauts Jason ('Healer') and his crew journey to recover a sacred ram's fleece, described as 'golden', a metaphor for the sun rescued from the dragon of darkness. The horned god Cernunnos is depicted as holding a ram-headed serpent. The serpent is the waning year and the Underworld powers, while the ram is the waxing year. At the vernal equinox the sun enters the constellation of Aries the Ram making the ram a symbol of the regeneration of the year. In Egypt, at the inundation of the Nile during the Dog Days, the Pharaoh traveled from Memphis to the temple of Amun the ram-headed god at Karnak to renew his right to rule as the divine son of the god on earth. back to the top Snake Transformation 
In ancient times, far from being the symbol of evil that it became
amongst Christian cultures, the snake was a creature that represented
both the Goddess and the God, the fertility of both bringing life to
the earth. It was a beast of prophecy and divination, protection and
guardianship and a link between the Three Realms.The snake usually lives within the earth, within the body of the Mother. Originally the snake was the symbol of the virgin goddess, who gave birth to the cosmos unaided by any male principle. The coiled serpent represented her vagina. The snake was a goddess symbol of water. Its movements are sinuous and wave-like, like the course of a river or stream. Snakes were linked with water cults and were often seen as the resident guardians of a well, particularly in the Celtic culture where they are depicted with gods and goddesses of sacred wells and healing such as Brighid. 
Because of its phallic shape and its reputed fertility the snake is a
symbol of the male principle. Lightening is known as the sky-serpent or
lightening-snake. The thunderstorm was believed to be the mating of the
Sky Father and the Earth Mother, bringing the fertilizing rain. Worship of the serpent goddess was widespread in pre-dynastic northern Egypt. The uraeus headdress, worn by the pharaohs, symbolically gave the wearer the power of the third eye. All Egyptians queens were given the title of 'Serpent of the Nile'. Because the snake sheds its skin each year and appears renewed it was seen to be immortal. The ancient Chinese saw the process of rejuvenation as a person splitting their old skin and emerging once more as a youth. The Melanesians said that to slough one's skin meant eternal life. Snakes were identified with the patron god of healers, Asclepios, who was said to have appeared as a snake to heal Romans during a plague. The Caduceus, still a symbol of medicine and healing, shows two intertwining snakes. back to the top Swan Poetry 
It was believed that the mute swan sings only once, just before it
dies, hence the phrase ‘swan song’, referring to a person's
final work. The song of the swan is associated and with Apollo, god of
music. His lyre had a swan's neck, head, feet and feathers carved upon
it. His soul once became a swan. The bard Orpheus is also said to have
become a swan after his death. Swan skin and feathers were used to make
the cloak of a Celtic poet. In some stories the song of a swan held
magical properties which could make mortals sleep. Thus the swan became
the bird of poets, thus Shakespeare is sometimes titled 'the swan of
Avon'. In this respect the swan also stands for the necessity of
solitude and retreat in order to create.Swans are associated with prophecy (knowing its own death) and knowledge of the Otherworld. In story heroes and maidens, fairies and princes are often transformed into swans, recognizable by the golden chains around their necks. The Norse valkyries, who took the s  ouls of
slain warriors to Valhalla, were swan maidens. Swans also pull the bark
of the sun across the Underworld sea at night. Swans pulled
Apollo’s chariot when he journeyed to the land of the
Hyperboreans, the people who lived behind the North Wind, the country
of his birth. |
