Lesson Thirteen ~ Animals in Society and Religion
The old tribes lived alongside their animals in a way that few people in modern industrialised societies do. People would often sleep in sectioned-off areas whilst their farm animals slept in the main body of the house. Not just dogs, but sheep, cows, goats etc. Animals were not only a source of food, but also of wool, leather, fertiliser, bone, hides, glue and so forth. Some animals were status symbols. Cattle were a mobile form of wealth, and the larger ones herd the higher ones social standing. Horses and hunting hounds were popular gifts to be given by chieftains to their loyal warriors.
In addition to farm animals, there are references to the insular tribes having kept pets. Caesar talked about chickens and hares being popular, and there are assorted accounts of both people and Gods having lap dogs and cats. Lugh has a pet dog called Failinis, who radiates enough light to blind an enemy. Queen Medb of the Connacht had a pet squirrel, which sat on her shoulder.
The sorts of wild animals that appear most prominently in myths are those that were hunted for meat, pelts etc. Most of these species are now extinct in Britain and Ireland, save for a few creatures in zoos. Wild bears and wolves are all now extinct in Britain. Wild pigs (reintroduced from the continent) are being farmed, and some have escaped from farms and bred in small sounders in the woods, along with the reintroduced beavers. One millionaire land-owner in Scotland wants to reintroduce wolves on his estate.
Those few statues of Gods and Goddesses that have survived from the Iron Age almost always show them either accompanied by animals, or having certain animal features ~ such as antlers, tails etc. Quite a few of the Pictish standing stones have beautiful carvings of animals on them, including some creatures that are mythical (such as axe-wielding centaurs and bird-headed men) and some that are so stylised as to be hard to identify. The so-called cetus creatures may possibly be dolphins, but no-one is really sure.
We know that a certain amount of animal sacrifice went on, though it must be born in mind that animals killed for ritual would invariably be eaten in the great feast that concluded the ceremony. They weren’t just left on altars to rot. Meat was often put into graves, so the dead could feast in the Otherworld.
The ritual of tarbh-feis, when a bull was killed and the meat cooked up whilst a Druid went into trance, involved the idea of consuming a sacred animal in order to partake of its magical powers. The imbas forosnai spell also involved eating a sacred animal as part of entering a trance and gaining advice from its spirit. The idea of eating something to become part of it is ancient and almost global in spread. One can even see this idea in Catholicism, with the consumption of Jesus via the wine and wafer.
Shape-shifting is a recurrent theme in Cetic myth. Sometimes this happens willingly, as when Cian turned himself into a pig to escape his enemies. Sometimes it is unwantedly visited upon a person, as when the wizard Gwydion was turned into a wolf by his uncle’s spell. Wether our distant ancestors believed people could physically change shape (as the myths suggest), or wether they saw it as a more spiritual, trance-induced psychological transformation (as most modern people regard it), we do not know.
Animals appear not only in terms of marking change within a person, but also within time. Historians the world over use metaphors to describe periods of time. Modern historians talk about the Stone Age, Bronze Age etc. Greek myth speaks of the Golden Age, Silver Age and so forth. In China people have the Year of the Ox, Year of the Dragon etc. We have a hint of this sort of thing from native sources. The Book of Lismore contains the following verse:
Three life-times of the Stag for the Blackbird,
Three life-times of the Blackbird for the Eagle,
Three life-times of the Eagle for the Salmon,
Three life-times of the Salmon for the Yew.
This isn’t meant to be taken as a literal comment that people back then thought blackbirds lived much longer than deer. Rather, these are legendary periods of time. The quote brings to mind the stories of Tuan mac Cairill and Fintan, both of whom spent long periods of time in the shape of different animals, watching and recording momentous events. We no longer know for sure, but it’s possible that the old tribes measured time using animal metaphors. They might have spoken of the Age of the Wolf, the Century of the Bear etc.
In the Welsh myth where the hero Culhwch was hunting for a lost child, he was passed from one ancient animal to another ~ each one saying that they had not seen the child but the next older creature might have. There is a traditional Scottish verse that is very similar tot he Irish one, which runs:
Three ages of a horse, the age of a man,
Three ages of a man, the age of a deer,
Three ages of a deer, the age of an eagle,
Three ages of an eagle, the age of an oak tree.
Again this does not seem meant to be taken as zoological fact. Any tribe that hunted deer regularly would have realised that they do not outlive humans. The “age of a deer” could just have been a metaphor for a bloody long time, or it may have referred to a specific number of years. The idea of animals (at least the magical ones) having inordinately long life-spans is a common one. In the Welsh Triads, the oldest things in the world are three birds:
Three Elders of the World:
The Owl of Cwm Cowlwyd,
the Eagle of Gwernabwy,
and the Blackbird of Celli Gadarn.
The ancient tribes had laws not just to protect human life, but animals as well. Most of these laws related to domesticated animals. For example, “It is illegal to over-ride a horse, force a weakened ox to do excessive work, or threaten an animal with angry vehemence which breaks bones (ie beat it senseless.)”
Many birds, insects, mammals, reptiles, fish etc cropped up quite prominently in myths, too many to cover in any depth at this stage. Let us take a brief look at a few creatures that appear:
The wild pig was considered an emblem of ferocity and strength, suitable to warriors. A number of helmets have been dug up featuring pig motifs, and many of the trumpets blown in battle (called carnyxes) were shaped to look like wild pigs or wolves. The Gaulish god Moccus takes his name from the word for pig, whilst the Orkney Islands were named after the pig tribe. Fionn was killed by stepping on a boar’s bristle after breaking a geas against hunting boars. King Arthur fought boars that had bristles of gold or silver. When Menw tried to steal treasures from Twrch Trwyth (King of the Boars), he was only able to take a bristle.
In the ‘Tàin Bo Cuailgne’, the two great magical bulls were the last incarnation of rival Druids. They started life as Fruich and Rucht, two swineherds. Friuch, whose name means “bristle”, became the Brown Bull that finally triumphed at the end of the Tàin over Rucht, whose name means “grunt”. Swineherds often have magical powers, and it is widely thought that the term is used as a metaphor for druidic keepers of the sacred animals. The Celtic religion was unusual in the high status it accorded to pigs. For the Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs and even some Pagan religions (such as the Egyptians) pigs were regarded as unclean. This probably had much to do with pork going off very quickly in hot countries where those religions originated.
Gwydion and Gilfaethwy were transformed into swine for a year and a day, and gave birth to a piglet whom the wizard Math turned into a boy called Hychdwn Hir. Culhwch was born in a pig run and raised in humble circumstances. A great white sow called Hen Wen crops up in Welsh myth, and in one incident lead Gwydion to find Lleu, when he was hiding in an oak tree in the shape of a wounded eagle.
The deer is a popular feature of many stories, Fionn Mac Cumhal was called Demne as a boy, meaning “Little Fawn”. His son Oisin has a similar meaning to his name. The mother of Oisin, and great love of Fionn, was the deer-woman Sadb. A common motif in myth was the deer hunt, where the hunter would often become so engrossed that he would not notice that the deer had lead him through the gates of the Otherworld.
The popular Gaulish deity Cernunnos was depicted with stag antlers. There are quite a number of statues of antlered gods from all over the Celtic realms, though many do not have names so we cannot always be sure if they are representations of Cernunnos or some similar-looking deity.
One of the Gaelic words for a stag, damh, has given its name to the month of November, Damhair, when the red deer rutting season takes place. It is also a slang word for fucking!! The Irish goddess Flidhais is depicted as riding in a chariot drawn by deer. She too has a vast sexual appetite.
The Cailleach is described as a guardian of the deer herds over winter, and they are referred to as her cattle. Gwydion and his brother were turned into deer and, after a year being hunted in the wilds, gave birth to a fawn. Math turned the little creature into a boy called Hyddwn, whose adventures are sadly forgotten. Even St Patrick turned himself into a stag, by reciting a poetic spell that has become known as the Deer’s Cry.
The horse was hugely popular, and formed the central focus in the cult that expanded around the goddess Epona ~ she became so popular that even the Roman army adopted her and spread her worship across the Empire. There was one Scottish tribe named after the horse, the Epidii, who lived around what is now Argyll.
A number of deities have horse-imagery in their names. According to one myth, the stallion-god Ferghus needed 30 women a day to satisfy his sexual lusts! The Uffington White Horse hill figure has been dated to about 3000 years old, and may well have been carved in honour of a deity such as Epona. A number of magical horses appear in myth, such as Aonbharr who belonged to Manannan and could ride as easily over water as land. The Dagda also has a horse called ocean, reinforcing the link between horses and water. The link is to both the sea and fresh water. There are a number of horse-spirits, such as the Each-Uisce, that lure foolish people into climbing on their backs, whereupon they gallop to the nearest river, jump in and drown the rider (whom they then eat.)
Rhiannon was made to carry people on her back like a horse as a punishment for the presumed murder of her baby. In fact the child was stolen by a creature who was caught by a farmer whilst in the act of stealing a foal. Another goddess for whom childbirth and horses are closely linked is Macha. To complete a stupid bet made by here husband, she was obliged to outrun the king’s fastest horse whilst pregnant. She wont he race, but collapsed and died giving birth to twins at the finishing line. Lugh was believed to have invented horse racing, and it became a major feature of Lughnasadh festivals, though horses themselves were first brought to Ireland by the joint efforts of Fionn and Manannan. Interestingly, the word jockey derives from the Gaelic word for a horse rider ~ eochaid. Eochaid is also one of the titles born both by the Dagda and by the king who first organised the Brehon laws.
The swan features mainly in a romantic context. Swans are, indeed, one of the few genuinely monogamous creatures, and are the primary symbol of Aonghus and Caer in their story where love conquers all. In one of the Irish tragedies the four children of Lir were turned into swans for 900 years by their jealous stepmother (who was childless.) The swans retained the power of human speech, and the ability to make wonderful music. They generated such an aura of peace that people flocked from miles around to see them.
The salmon is commonly associated with wisdom. In Irish myth the salmon swims in a magical pool where nine hazel trees drop their nuts. It eats the nuts and so gains the wisdom of the trees. When Fionn mac Cumhail unintentionally tasted the salmon, he absorbed all the knowledge and magical insights. In some Welsh myths the salmon is listed as the oldest of all creatures. The child that grew to be called Taliesin, the wise magician, was found in a salmon weir by Prince Elphin. Gwyrhr (who could talk to animals) accompanied Culhwch as they met a series of magical animals. The oldest and wisest of all was the salmon of Llyn Llyw (the River Severn, where once stood a temple to Nodens bearing carvings of salmon.) Cuchulainn used the hero’s salmon leap to cross the dangerously narrow Pupil’s Bridge at Scathach’s stronghold on the Isle of Skye.
As you can see, a number of animals were often seen as having a close association with certain tribes. This phenomena is widespread, and can be seen in the tribal societies of Australia, America etc. Certain Scottish clans claim descent from selkies (seal-people), and it may once have been the case that many tribes felt themselves to have an animal ancestor. Similar stories can be found elsewhere, such as the Pawnee tribe in North America who regard themselves as descended from wolves. Such tribes often tend to view the animal as a close relative, and treat it with especial respect.
Food-restrictions are not uncommon, reminiscent of the geas against Cuchuliann eating dog flesh. Many such tribes feel that the spirits of the animal in question guide and help them. This is the origin of modern ideas about totemism. Modern books tend to treat totems almost like astrological signs, and are very much geared tot he individual finding themselves (most modern Paganism is very self-obsessed.) In older times one of the central powers of the totem spirit was to unite the individual with others who were guarded by the same beast.
A number of myths account for certain species having kings. Torc Triath is the Irish name for the “King of the Boars”. Dobharchu is the bloodthirsty King of the Otters. In Scotland the myth of Cluas Mor, the King of the Cats, remained until recent times, but with a Christian slant in that the King was seen as a demon. It may have been the case that there were once legends about the kings or queens of every native species going. Wether these monarchs were viewed as gods, fairies, or some kind of totemic spirit we no longer know for sure. Though you could, of course, try asking them and coming to your own conclusions.
Some questions for you to think about:
Are there any particular animals to which you feel an especial kinship ~ maybe ones that often crop up in dreams, or that keep appearing either in real life and/or artistic representations?
What do you feel about the way animals are treated in the 21st century ~ as pets, on farms, in circuses, zoos, the wild etc?
Have you attempted to work with animals in a magical/ritualistic context? This could be a pet or familiar in ritual, it could be divination by watching bird flight, invocation of an animal spirit etc.
Practical exercise:
Research a native animal that you are NOT familiar with. Find enough information to spend 10 minutes telling a friend or relative about its life cycle, diet, breeding habits etc, plus any native myths or legends about it…