(Pictured: Herthasee (Rügen) lake)
Only her consecrated priest was allowed to accompany her. Slaves were also brought along to lead the draft animals, but they were drowned in the lake immediately upon completing their task, because any unconsecrated person who caught sight of the goddess would have to die. For this reason nothing more is known about the worship of this goddess.
There are all kinds of stories about uncanny happenings near this lake. Some believe that these happenings are caused by an ancient queen or princess who had been banished to this place.
Especially when the moon is shining brightly, a beautiful woman is often seen emerging from the woods adjacent to Hertha Castle. She proceeds to the lake, where she bathes herself.
Only her consecrated priest was allowed to accompany her. Slaves were also brought along to lead the draft animals, but they were drowned in the lake immediately upon completing their task, because any unconsecrated person who caught sight of the goddess would have to die. For this reason nothing more is known about the worship of this goddess.
There are all kinds of stories about uncanny happenings near this lake. Some believe that these happenings are caused by an ancient queen or princess who had been banished to this place.
Especially when the moon is shining brightly, a beautiful woman is often seen emerging from the woods adjacent to Hertha Castle. She proceeds to the lake, where she bathes herself.
She is surrounded by many female servants, who accompany her into the water. Then they all disappear, but they can be heard splashing about. After a while they all appear again, and they can be seen returning to the woods dressed in long white veils.
It is very dangerous for a wanderer to observe this, for he will be drawn by force into the lake where the white woman is bathing, and as soon as he touches the water, he will be powerless; the water will swallow him up. They say that the woman has to lure one human into the water every year.
No one is allowed to use boats or nets on this lake. Some time ago some people dared to bring a boat to the lake. They left it afloat overnight, and when they returned the next morning, it had disappeared. After a long search, they found it atop a beech tree on the bank. It was spirits of the lake that had put it up there during the night, for when the people were getting it back down, they heard a spiteful voice calling to them from beneath the lake, saying: "My brother Nickel and I did it!"
It is very dangerous for a wanderer to observe this, for he will be drawn by force into the lake where the white woman is bathing, and as soon as he touches the water, he will be powerless; the water will swallow him up. They say that the woman has to lure one human into the water every year.
No one is allowed to use boats or nets on this lake. Some time ago some people dared to bring a boat to the lake. They left it afloat overnight, and when they returned the next morning, it had disappeared. After a long search, they found it atop a beech tree on the bank. It was spirits of the lake that had put it up there during the night, for when the people were getting it back down, they heard a spiteful voice calling to them from beneath the lake, saying: "My brother Nickel and I did it!"
Let us clasp our hands together
That we thus may best remember.
Join we now in merry singing,
Chant we now the oldest folk-lore,
That the dear ones all may hear them,
That the well-inclined may hear them.
Of this rising generation.
These are words in childhood taught me,
Songs preserved from distant ages,
Legends they that once were taken
From the belt of Wainamoinen,
From the forge of Umafinen,
From the sword of Kaukomieli,
From the bow of Youkahainen,
From the pastures of the Northland,
From the meads of Kalevala.
-The Kalevala, Finland’s national epic myth
That we thus may best remember.
Join we now in merry singing,
Chant we now the oldest folk-lore,
That the dear ones all may hear them,
That the well-inclined may hear them.
Of this rising generation.
These are words in childhood taught me,
Songs preserved from distant ages,
Legends they that once were taken
From the belt of Wainamoinen,
From the forge of Umafinen,
From the sword of Kaukomieli,
From the bow of Youkahainen,
From the pastures of the Northland,
From the meads of Kalevala.
-The Kalevala, Finland’s national epic myth
Forwarded from Celtic Folk and Culture
The Goddess Brigid in her role as Goddess of the Forge. She was the patron Goddess of craftsmen and artisans and seen as a Goddess of creativity.
Forwarded from Hyperborean Radio (Uncensored)
"The May Queen is especially important and at times considered the summer maiden who is tied even further to being a figure such as the Goddess Flora. Though it seems unlikely that a Roman goddess is a part of a Northern European tradition and much more likely a figure like Eostre, Eostar, or Ostara takes such a role. This is especially blatant in one such version of a variety of Sleeping Beauty “Sun, Moon, and Talia” where it is the daughter specifically that suckles the flax stalk from Talia’s finger. Sleeping Beauty and its variations are often held to hide the goddess of Easter" - Excerpt from "Easter the Goddesses of New Life" by The Antlered One
The Hymn of HÉLOÏSE
O Abélard, my Abélard,
Twelve summers have passed since first we kissed.
There is no love like that of a bard:
Who loves him lives in a golden mist!
Nor word of French nor Roman tongue,
But only Brezonek could I speak,
When round my lover’s neck I hung
And heard the harmony of the Greek,
The march of Latin, the joy of French,
The valiance of the Hebrew speech,
The while its thirst my soul did quench
In the love-lore that he did teach.
The bossed and bound Evangel’s tome
Is open to me as mine own soul,
But all the watered wine of Rome
Is weak beside the magic bowl.
O Abélard, my Abélard,
Twelve summers have passed since first we kissed.
There is no love like that of a bard:
Who loves him lives in a golden mist!
Nor word of French nor Roman tongue,
But only Brezonek could I speak,
When round my lover’s neck I hung
And heard the harmony of the Greek,
The march of Latin, the joy of French,
The valiance of the Hebrew speech,
The while its thirst my soul did quench
In the love-lore that he did teach.
The bossed and bound Evangel’s tome
Is open to me as mine own soul,
But all the watered wine of Rome
Is weak beside the magic bowl.
The Mass I chant like any priest,
Can shrive the dying or bury the dead,
But dearer to me to raise the Beast
Or watch the gold in the furnace red.
The wolf, the serpent, the crow, the owl,
The demons of sea, of field, of flood,
I can run or fly in their forms so foul,
They come at my call from wave or wood.
I know a song that can raise the sea,
Can rouse the winds or shudder the earth,
Can darken the heavens terribly,
Can wake portents at a prince’s birth.
The first dark drug that ever we sipped
Was brewed from toad and the eye of crow,
Slain in a mead when the moon had slipped
From heav’n to the fetid fogs below.
I know a well as deep as death,
A gloom where I cull the frondent fern,
Whose seed with that of the golden heath
I mingle when mystic lore I’d learn.
I gathered in dusk nine measures of rye,
Nine measures again, and brewed the twain
In a silver pot, while fitfully
The starlight struggled through the rain.
Can shrive the dying or bury the dead,
But dearer to me to raise the Beast
Or watch the gold in the furnace red.
The wolf, the serpent, the crow, the owl,
The demons of sea, of field, of flood,
I can run or fly in their forms so foul,
They come at my call from wave or wood.
I know a song that can raise the sea,
Can rouse the winds or shudder the earth,
Can darken the heavens terribly,
Can wake portents at a prince’s birth.
The first dark drug that ever we sipped
Was brewed from toad and the eye of crow,
Slain in a mead when the moon had slipped
From heav’n to the fetid fogs below.
I know a well as deep as death,
A gloom where I cull the frondent fern,
Whose seed with that of the golden heath
I mingle when mystic lore I’d learn.
I gathered in dusk nine measures of rye,
Nine measures again, and brewed the twain
In a silver pot, while fitfully
The starlight struggled through the rain.
I sought the serpent’s egg of power
In a dell hid low from the night and day:
It was shown to me in an awful hour
When the children of hell came out to play.
I have three spirits—seeming snakes;
The youngest is six score years young,
The second rose from the nether lakes,
And the third was once Duke Satan’s tongue.
The wild bird’s flesh is not their food,
No common umbles are their dole;
I nourish them well with infants’ blood,
Those precious vipers of my soul.
O Satan! Grant me three years still,
But three short years, my love and I,
To work thy fierce, mysterious will,
Then gladly shall we yield and die.
Héloïse, wicked heart, beware!
Think on the dreadful day of wrath,
Think on thy soul; forbear, forbear!
The way thou tak’st is that of death!
Thou craven priest, go, get thee hence!
No fear have I of fate so fell.
Go, suck the milk of innocence,
Leave me to quaff the wine of hell!
In a dell hid low from the night and day:
It was shown to me in an awful hour
When the children of hell came out to play.
I have three spirits—seeming snakes;
The youngest is six score years young,
The second rose from the nether lakes,
And the third was once Duke Satan’s tongue.
The wild bird’s flesh is not their food,
No common umbles are their dole;
I nourish them well with infants’ blood,
Those precious vipers of my soul.
O Satan! Grant me three years still,
But three short years, my love and I,
To work thy fierce, mysterious will,
Then gladly shall we yield and die.
Héloïse, wicked heart, beware!
Think on the dreadful day of wrath,
Think on thy soul; forbear, forbear!
The way thou tak’st is that of death!
Thou craven priest, go, get thee hence!
No fear have I of fate so fell.
Go, suck the milk of innocence,
Leave me to quaff the wine of hell!
The Moon-lit Huntress of the grove, Diana
Although most commonly associated with the hunt, and the moon, the goddess Diana also makes herself known through the untouched wilderness and the wildlife that inhabit it.
A master bowman, she held off the many advances of persistent suitors as she preferred the solitude of the wild, with forest creatures as her preferred company.
Thought she often prefers sweet solitude, Diana would seek the companionship of woodland and water nymphs every now and then, such as her partner Egeris.
One of the most beloved myths involving Diana is told by Roman poet Ovid in his first century masterpiece the Metamorphoses:
Although most commonly associated with the hunt, and the moon, the goddess Diana also makes herself known through the untouched wilderness and the wildlife that inhabit it.
A master bowman, she held off the many advances of persistent suitors as she preferred the solitude of the wild, with forest creatures as her preferred company.
Thought she often prefers sweet solitude, Diana would seek the companionship of woodland and water nymphs every now and then, such as her partner Egeris.
One of the most beloved myths involving Diana is told by Roman poet Ovid in his first century masterpiece the Metamorphoses:
The story is told of young Actaeon, a hunter who led his hounds into the woods pursuing a group of stags. The hunt was a success and the day hot, so Actaeon made his way to a cool spring in a clearing of the dense forest.
Diana was bathing in the cool spring waters, unaware that intruders were about to disrupt her wash.
Actaeon unwittingly spied Diana’s nude form in the waters. Clearly angered, startled, and embarrassed all at once, Diana turned toward her bow before thinking better of it and splashing Actaeon with water from the spring.
The splash was not in in jest or playful. The water was enchanted to transform Actaeon into a stag. The change was immediate, and Actaeon became less human and sprouted hair and horns, although he still retained his identity.
Actaeon’s hounds, still in high spirits from the previous hunt, set upon him as he fled as quickly as he could, but the pack was too quick for him and it was not long before they brought their master down.
Diana was bathing in the cool spring waters, unaware that intruders were about to disrupt her wash.
Actaeon unwittingly spied Diana’s nude form in the waters. Clearly angered, startled, and embarrassed all at once, Diana turned toward her bow before thinking better of it and splashing Actaeon with water from the spring.
The splash was not in in jest or playful. The water was enchanted to transform Actaeon into a stag. The change was immediate, and Actaeon became less human and sprouted hair and horns, although he still retained his identity.
Actaeon’s hounds, still in high spirits from the previous hunt, set upon him as he fled as quickly as he could, but the pack was too quick for him and it was not long before they brought their master down.
In ancient times, Diana was worshipped at a festival called Nemoralia, or “the Festival of Torches”, celebrated annually on August 13.
After washing their hair and dressing it with flowers, Diana’s followers would proceed around Lake Nemi, also referred to as “Diana’s Mirror” with torches. The reflection from their torchlight joining the moon’s.
Still today, many Pagans celebrate Diana on August 13, where she is asked to protect the harvest from autumn storms.
After washing their hair and dressing it with flowers, Diana’s followers would proceed around Lake Nemi, also referred to as “Diana’s Mirror” with torches. The reflection from their torchlight joining the moon’s.
Still today, many Pagans celebrate Diana on August 13, where she is asked to protect the harvest from autumn storms.
Ivan Popyalof
Once upon a time there was an old couple,
and they had three sons.
Two of these had their wits about them,
but the third was a simpleton,
Ivan by name, surnamed Popyalof.
For twelve whole years Ivan lay
among the ashes from the stove;
but then he arose, and shook himself,
so that six pounds of ashes fell off from him.
Now in the land in which Ivan lived
there was never any day, but always night.
That was a Snake’s doing.
Well, Even undertook to kill that Snake,
so he said to his father,
“Father, make me a mace five pounds in weight.”
And when he had got the mace,
he went out into the fields and flung
it straight up in the air,
and then he went home.
The next day he went out into
the fields to the spot from which
he had flung the mace on high,
and stood there with his
head thrown back.
So when the mace fell down again
it hit him on the forehead.
And the mace broke in two.
Once upon a time there was an old couple,
and they had three sons.
Two of these had their wits about them,
but the third was a simpleton,
Ivan by name, surnamed Popyalof.
For twelve whole years Ivan lay
among the ashes from the stove;
but then he arose, and shook himself,
so that six pounds of ashes fell off from him.
Now in the land in which Ivan lived
there was never any day, but always night.
That was a Snake’s doing.
Well, Even undertook to kill that Snake,
so he said to his father,
“Father, make me a mace five pounds in weight.”
And when he had got the mace,
he went out into the fields and flung
it straight up in the air,
and then he went home.
The next day he went out into
the fields to the spot from which
he had flung the mace on high,
and stood there with his
head thrown back.
So when the mace fell down again
it hit him on the forehead.
And the mace broke in two.
Ivan went home and said to his father,
“Father, make me another mace,
a ten pound one.”
And when he had got it
he went out into the fields,
and flung it aloft.
And the mace went flying through
the air for three days and three nights.
On the fourth day Ivan went
out to the same spot,
and when the mace came
tumbling down, he put his knee
in the way, and the mace broke
over it into three pieces.
Ivan went home and told his father
to make him a third mace, one of
fifteen pounds weight.
And when he had got it, he went
out into the fields and flung it aloft.
And the mace was up in the air six days.
On the seventh Ivan went to the
same spot as before.
Down fell the mace,
and when it struck Ivan’s forehead,
the forehead bowed under it.
Thereupon he said,
“This mace will do for the snake!”
So when he had got everything ready,
he went forth with his brothers to
fight the Snake.
He rode and rode, and presently there
stood before him a hut on fowl’s legs,
and in that hut lived the Snake.
“Father, make me another mace,
a ten pound one.”
And when he had got it
he went out into the fields,
and flung it aloft.
And the mace went flying through
the air for three days and three nights.
On the fourth day Ivan went
out to the same spot,
and when the mace came
tumbling down, he put his knee
in the way, and the mace broke
over it into three pieces.
Ivan went home and told his father
to make him a third mace, one of
fifteen pounds weight.
And when he had got it, he went
out into the fields and flung it aloft.
And the mace was up in the air six days.
On the seventh Ivan went to the
same spot as before.
Down fell the mace,
and when it struck Ivan’s forehead,
the forehead bowed under it.
Thereupon he said,
“This mace will do for the snake!”
So when he had got everything ready,
he went forth with his brothers to
fight the Snake.
He rode and rode, and presently there
stood before him a hut on fowl’s legs,
and in that hut lived the Snake.