Tag: prehistory

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Sumerian Mythology: Ereshkigal

Ereshkigal in Near Eastern mythology (Babylonian – Assyrian) was the goddess of the underworld, married to the war god Nergal.

Ereshkigal ruled over the Mesopotamian realm of death. She is Inanna’s sister, rival, or alter-ego as descriptions of her and her realm are found in the Sumerian hymn, The Descent of Inanna (available in English translation). This is the descent Inanna makes into Irkalla-Ereshkigal’s realm of death.

Ereshkigal is great and powerful and possesses power over life: has access to the Water of Life and is capable of resurrecting the dead.

She is a tempestuous, volatile and aggressive. She commands and compels the dead with her powers are invoked in necromantic spells from the magical papyri of Alexandria, Egypt.

An Akkadian hymn recounts the union of Ereshkigal and Nergal. Nergal was delegated to deliver food offerings to Ereshkigal and they unexpectedly fell passionately in love and she conceived. When Nergal returned to his home in the court of the spirits, Ereshkigal threatened the supreme authorities with an army of the raised dead to devour the living unless Nergal was sent back to her. Unless her “request” was granted, the dead would outnumber the living. No attempts were made to call her challenge and Nergal was allowed to return.

Inanna’s Descent to the Underworld

Ereshkigal plays a prominent role in the myth known as ‘Inanna’s Descent to the Underworld’ . Inanna is the Queen of Heaven and Ereshkigal’s younger sister. In the myth, Inanna journeyed to the Underworld to observe the funeral rites of Gugalanna, Ereshkigal’s husband. Although Inanna was allowed to pass through the seven gates of the Underworld, Ereshkigal instructed her gatekeeper, Neti, to remove a piece of clothing or jewelry from her sister as each gate was opened. This may be interpreted as the gradual removal of Inanna’s power as she progressed deeper into the realm belonging to her sister. Finally, when Inanna reached Ereshkigal’s throne room, she was completely naked and powerless. After the Annuna of the Dead passed judgment on her, Inanna was killed by Ereshkigal and her corpse hung from a hook on the wall. The gods succeeded in rescuing Inanna and removed her from the Underworld alive.

Origin: Sumerian

Manifestations: Ereshkigal may manifest as a woman but she may also appear with a lioness’ head on a woman’s body.

Attributes: Her scepter is a snake.

Consort: Nergal

Allies: Gestinana and Belit-Seri, Lady of the Desert, serve as Ereshkigal’s personal secretaries, writing down her decrees.

Animals: Snakes, scorpions, lions

Realm: Irkalla, realm of no return; realm of the dead.

Offerings: Made to the dead find their way to Ereshkigal.

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Hell Hounds

Hellhounds are demons or evil spirits that take the form of a dog.

Throughout history and in numerous cultures there are creatures known as hellhounds which appear in mythology, legend and folklore – sometimes as guardians of forbidden areas or as sinister loners that spread death and misery wherever they tread.

A Hellhound is not a demon that takes the form of a wolf – this is more accurately known as a Warg or Worg – as the two terms are likely interchangeable.

Hellhounds date back at least as far as Ancient Greece with the legend of Cerberus, the three-headed guardian of the Underworld. The fearsome beast appeared in one of Hercules’ twelve tasks and remains a popular figure in fantasy fiction.

In the British Isles, the ghostly black dogs – often of inhuman size – is an ancient and almost always warning of death. The creatures are embodied in legendary monsters like the Black Shuck which served as the inspiration for the Hounds of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle.

Japan has stories of the shapeshifting Kitsune, which were technically foxes. Koreans had an even more evil fox-spirit known as the Kumiho, which was almost always destructive, chaotic, and evil.

The Hellhound is a supernatural dog found in folklore. There is a wide variety of ominous and supernatural dogs occurring in mythologies around the world. The hellhound commonly has black fur, glowing red, or, sometimes, yellow eyes, with super strength or speed and ghostly or phantom characteristics, a foul odour, and sometimes even the ability to talk.

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Blathnat: Irish Mythology

Goddess of the Tuatha de Danann

Blathnat is an Irish goddess of abundance and tales of her appear in the Ulster Cycle describing her as the beautiful, scheming and unfaithful queen of the sorcerer Cu Roi.

The intense love affair between Blathnat and Cuchulainn led to the death of her husband, Cu Roi. A common theme, Blathnat was one of the many women of the Otherworld who caused great harm to the mortal men who fell in love with them.

Blathnat belonged to the god-like tribe of the Tuatha de Danann who were considered benign deities by the druids and Celtic tribes. She owned a huge cauldron of plenty which was pulled by three cows. The cauldron brought abundance wherever it went.

In the Ulster Cycle of mythology, the tragic love triangle between Blathnat, Cu Roi and Cuchulainn is told.

Blathnat lived happily with her father, Mend, in the Otherworld kingdom of Inis Fer Falga (known today as the Isle of Man) she was abducted during a raid by Cuchulainn and Cu Roi. The pair also stole the cauldron of plenty and the three cows belonging to Blathnat Inis.

Cuchulainn and Cu Roi fell in love with the beautiful Blathnat and quarrelled over her. Cu Roi claimed Blathnat as part of the booty of the raid and Cuchulainn refused to let Blathnat leave with Cu Roi.

Cu Roi was a powerful sorcerer and skilled warrior. He humiliated Cuchulainn by cutting off all his hair after burying him up to his shoulders in the ground. Cuchulainn watched with sadness as Cu Roi left with Blathnat and all the booty. Blathnat was taken to Cathair Chonroi which was Cur Roi’s fortress in Dingle Peninsula in modern County Kerry.

Although Blathnat became the queen of Cathair Chonroi and was treated well by her husband, Cu Roi, the Otherworld kingdom of Cathair Chonroi was a forbidding and lonely place with its castle on top of a high peak in the Slieve Mis mountains.The castle was impenetrable because Cu Roi used spells and magic to confound his enemies. The castle would whirl around at night and the entrance couldn’t be found by those seeking to do Cu Roi harm.

A year later, Blathnat met Cuchulainn when he paid a visit to the castle. Cu Roi was away but had instructed Blathnat to be hospitable to their guest. Very soon, Cuchulainn and Blathnat became lovers and plotted the murder of Cu Roi so they might live together.

Cu Roi was not an easy man to kill because his soul rested in the stomach of a salmon which lived in a stream in the Slieve mountains. Blathnat had learned the secret of Cu Roi’s mortality by constantly flattering him. Once she knew, she told Cuchulainn to kill the salmon first before trying to slay Cu Roi.

Cuchulainn waited at nightfall for a signal from Blathnat so he may enter the castle while Cu Roi lay asleep. When Blathnat poured milk into a stream following out of the castle, the two lovers escaped by running across the battlements of the castle. But Cu Roi’s poet, Ferchertne, saw Cuchulainn and Blathnat fleeing the castle and guessed what had occurred.

Blathnat led Cuchulainn to her husband’s bedroom door and Cuchulainn murdered Cu Roi with a sword while he slept.

Cu Roi’s poet grabbed Blathnat’s hand and hurled himself from the castle’s walls, taking Blathnat with him to the ground below. Cuchulainn could only watch in horror as Blathnat and Ferchertne died instantly.

Some years later, Cuchulainn met his death at the hand of Cu Roi’s son, Lugai, after conspiring with the warrior goddess Medb. Lugaid ensured Cuchulainn suffered an agonising death in revenge for the murder of his father.

The druids and Celts in Ireland regarded Blathnat as an evil woman of the Otherworld who willingly plotted to kill her husband, Cu Roi, with her lover, Cuchulainn.

The modern interpretation of Blathnat’s actions is a young woman forced to marry a ma she didn’t love and was rescued by her true love, Cuchulainn.

The truth of the matter likely lies somewhere between the two.

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Mirror Folklore

In folklore, a mirror is a doorway or portal through which spirits, including ghosts and demons can gain access to the physical world where demonic infestations and hauntings occur.

In prehistory, any shiny surface was regarded as a spirit doorway and used to summon spirits into the world. They also are used for seeing visions of the future.

Much of the folklore about mirrors is negative. They are viewed by some as “soul stealers” with the power to suck souls out from bodies. In the Greek myth of Narcissus, he sees his own reflection in water and falls in love with it, staring hopelessly until he dies.

In some Christian beliefs, the Devil and Demons can enter through mirrors to attack people.

There are also numerous beliefs about mirrors and the dead. In many folklores, when a person dies, all the mirrors in a house should be turned over because if the soul sees itself in a mirror, it will not rest or can become a vampire. Corpses seeing themselves in mirrors will also draw bad luck upon the household. In some cultural beliefs, where corpses are laid out in homes, people still believe that souls linger about the body until burial.

Another folk belief is if a person sees his or her own reflection in a room where someone has died, it is an omen of their own death. Mirrors also should be covered in sick rooms in the belief that when the soul is weakened it is more vulnerable to possession during illness.

In other folklore, mirrors are believed to reflect the soul and must be guarded lest the soul be lost. These fears carry over into superstitious customs, such as covering the mirrors in a house after death to prevent the souls of the living from being carried off by the ghost of the newly departed through a mirror.

In some Russian folklore, mirrors are considered the invention of the Devil because they have the power to draw souls from bodies. Similarly, mirrors and in some places of the world all shiny surfaces, must be covered in a house after a death to prevent the soul of the living from being carried off by the ghost of the newly dead. Mirrors are covered in case one sees the corpse looking over one’s shoulder.

In an old Persian spell, ghosts may be seen in a mirror by standing in front of it and combing the hair without thinking, speaking or moving.

In then folklore of the American Ozark, the appearance of a distant friend in a mirror means he or she will soon die.

The famous folklore that breaking a mirror means seven years of bad luck but also heralds a death in the family or household. For example, if a child breaks a mirror, one of the children in the house will die within the year.

If a home is plagued with unpleasant spirit activity, the mirror in the bedrooms should never be placed at the foot or head of a bed. To do is is considered a negative influence for a person to be able to see himself or herself from any angle in a mirror while in bed. Mirrors should also never reflect into each other as this creates an unstable psychic space. A folk remedy says a mirror should be placed so that it faces outward toward a door or window. The reasoning being when the unquiet spirit looks in a window or attempts to cross a door threshold, it will see its own reflection and be scared away. Mirrors can also be closed as portals by rubbing the edges of them or washing the surfaces in holy water.

Mirrors are also tools used in Divination and Magic. In divination, mirrors train the inner eye to perceive the unseen. Throughout history, mirror gazing has been used for prophecy, aid with healing, find lost objects and people and even to identify or find thieves and criminals.

The power of mirrors—or any reflective surface—to reveal what is hidden has been used since ancient times. Gazing upon any shining surface is one of the oldest forms of Scrying (a method of divination practiced by the early Egyptians, Arabs, the Magi of Persia, Greeks, and Romans). Magic mirrors are mentioned by numerous ancient authors, among them Apuleius, Saint Augustine, Pausanias, and Spartianus. According to Pausanias, divination for healing was best done with a mirror attached to a string . The string was dangled into water and the diviner ascertained whether or not a sick person would heal.

In ancient Greece, the witches of Thessaly reputedly wrote their oracles in human blood upon mirrors. Pythagoras was said to have a magic mirror that he held up to the Moon to see the future in it. Romans skilled in mirror reading were called specularii.

In the late Middle Ages, Catherine de Medicis reputedly had a magic mirror that enabled her to see the future for herself and for France. Pére Cotton, the confessor to King Henri IV of France, had a magic mirror that revealed to him any plots against the king.

In Christian folklore, mirrors enable demons to make themselves known. St. Patrick declared that Christians who said they could see Demons in mirrors would be expelled from the church until they repented.

In Vodoun, a magical mirror is called a minore. A minore is made of highly polished metal and is consecrated for the purpose of seeing visions in divination. Only a priest or priestess may use a minore.

For Magic, both flat mirrors and concave mirrors are used in magic. Other shiny and reflective surfaces work as well like crystal balls, good size crystals and bowls of water or ink. Franz Bardon taught precise instructions for making magical mirrors that would be “loaded” or empowered with the help of the elements, the Akasha, light and fluid condensers. The result of such a charged magic mirror should be stored wrapped in silk to protect its energies from contamination.

Mirrors are also used in Scrying which is accomplished by the astral and mental powers developed by the magician and not specifically the mirror. The mirror serves only as an aid for focusing such powers.

Visualising a person in a magical mirror enables contact. The scryer can then go to the astral plane to communicate with the dead. The living can be contacted through a mirror as well with the scryer visualizes the person intensely until they seem drawn out of the mirror.

The magic mirror can be used as a tool for investigating the past, present, and future. A mirror helps the magician transcend time to see events which is one of the most difficult aspects of mirror work.

The medieval magician Albertus Magnus recorded a formula for making a magic mirror: Buy a looking glass and inscribe upon it “S. Solam S. Tattler S. Echogordner Gematur.” Next, bury it at a Crossroads during an uneven hour and on the third day, go to the spot at the same hour and dig it up—but do not be the first person to gaze into the mirror. In fact, said magnus, it is best to let a dog or a cat take the first look.

The Aztecs used a mirror like surfaces to keep witches away. A bowl of water with a knife in it was placed in the entrances of homes. A witch looking into it would see her soul pierced by the knife and flee.

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Scottish Kelpie

In Scotland, a kelpie is a shape-shifting water spirit living in lakes and pools. They’re defined as demons appearing specifically in the shape of horses. However, some legends say they can also assume human form.

In human form, the kelpie still retains its hooves. Thus, the kelpie is seen as a malevolent entity. Almost every lake in Scotland has a story about a kelpie. The most well-known of these legends is the one about the kelpie of Loch Ness.

In the past, human sacrifices were made to appease the gods and spirits of the waters. In time, these practices led to belief in evil water horses. There are some legends, however, in which kelpies are seen in a more positive light – they’re said to protect small children from drowning in lakes. Kelpies are also known the warn young women to be wary of handsome strangers.

Kelpies are the most common water spirits in Scottish folklore and they live in both water and as well as on the land. In legends, they’re often depicted as strong and beautiful black horses which live in the deep pools of rivers in Scotland. Kelpies are also known for preying on the humans they encounter. In addition, the hooves of the kelpie are thought to be reversed – so they point backwards. In Aberdeenshire, the kelpie allegedly has a mane of serpents, while the kelpie of River Spey was known to be white and capable of singing.

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Revolutions Release

I am excited to announce that Revolutions, a speculative fiction anthology was released on 25th September, 2021. This anthology is inspired by the theme of revolution and showcases authors from Australian and New Zealand and is published by Deadset Press.

Revolutions includes my dark fantasy “Talismans”, a short story of sacrificial magic and retribution set against the backdrop of rising civilisations and empires. You can read more about my research behind my own story here.

If you are interested in purchasing an ebook or paperback copy of Revolutions, more details are here.

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The Crossing Places

From the Blurb:

“Dr Ruth Galloway is called in when a child’s bones are discovered near the site of a prehistoric henge on the north Norfolk salt marshes. Are they the remains of a local girl who disappeared ten years earlier – or are the bones much older?

DCI Harry Nelson refuses to give up the hunt for the missing girl. Since she vanished, someone has been sending him bizarre anonymous notes about ritual sacrifice, quoting Shakespeare and the Bible. He knows that Ruth’s expertise and experience could help him finally to put this case to rest. But when a second child goes missing, Ruth finds herself in danger from a killer who knows she’s getting ever closer to the truth…”

My Review:

The Crossing Places (Dr Ruth Galloway Mysteries, #1) by UK author Elly Griffiths is a crime thriller with a considerable difference. The protagonist is slightly awkward, overweight, nearing middle-aged female forensic archaeologist, Dr Ruth Galloway who’s primary role is teaching and researching in Archaeology in the new university of North Norfolk, United Kingdom. The discovery of a body ritually displayed on the remote salt marshes near where Ruth lives soon brings local police detective Harry Nelson into Ruth’s sphere of work and life and his desperate search for the body of a child missing ten years, the case he cannot forget nor forgive himself for not solving.

The following events involve a series of archaeological investigations into the ritualised burial and likely sacrifice of the young girl whose remains Ruth discovers are not recent but from an Iron Age civilisation that built hedge sites and other ritual structures in the North Norfolk area during the Iron Age. For detective Harry Nelson, Ruth’s academic excitement in the Iron Age burial only saddens and frustrates him in the callousness of human nature, that centuries before, young girls were being ritually killed on the salt marshes. It seems Ruth and Harry have little in common except an interest to discover the fate of the respective young girls, one more recent, another from the Iron Age. But events quickly escalate with the new discovery of the Iron Age burial linking to a series of antagonistic letters detective Nelson has received over the ten years from the suspected killer, which now begin again in earnest along with another child abduction. When another child burial is found, Harry Nelson recruits Ruth to excavate and to provide her expertise on ritual sacrifices and Iron Age culture near the salt marshes. It is the beginning of a partnership and a case that focuses on the importance of the ‘crossing places’ to Iron Age belief systems, the role of landscapes which are neither shore nor sea, sky nor land.

Final Thoughts:

The Crossing Places was an enjoyable crime mystery, the combination of unlikely but personable characters, the depth of research into archaeological techniques and academic institutions gave the plot a sense of reality. The detailed research into Iron Age belief systems of ‘crossing places’, the importance of these liminal landscapes within our natural landscapes of land and sea contributed to a fascinating read.

My Conclusion?

A highly-recommended read for anyone who enjoys ancient history, crime or mystery, quirky and complex characters and archaeology.

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Tick Tock Anthology Release

I am thrilled to announce the release on December 15th, 2020 of Time Travel anthology Tick Tock (Five Hundred Fiction, #1) published by Black Hare Press.

Tick Tock features 500 word flash fiction including my story “Second Chances” a desperate escape from World War II ravaged Europe into the Neolithic through a standing stone circle. You can read about writing “Second Chances” here.

Interested in purchasing an ebook or paperback of Tick Tock? More details here.

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Discovery in Mexican Cave May Drastically Change the Known Timeline of Humans’ Arrival to the Americas

In a controversial new study, scientists cite artifacts dating the event to more than 26,000 years ago

Source: Discovery in Mexican Cave May Drastically Change the Known Timeline of Humans’ Arrival to the Americas

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Prehistory, Battle and Sacrifices

I have just finished writing a new story concept I have been exploring. The story is inspired from my museum research in Europe in 2019. I was very interested by the prehistoric sections of museums. Before societies became larger civilisations, the bonds between communities were used to forge alliances. As these societies expanded under Chieftains and more land was claimed in the name of a Chieftain’s lineages, battle became more frequent as these dynasties were established. I was interested in exploring this lesser known part of history where archaeology is the only source to use and written records do not yet exist. Some of the oldest legends and mythologies have their early foundations in these prehistoric period when oral storytelling was common.
The rise in conflict between clans and increasing size of communities seems to also coincide with appearances and increased frequencies of human sacrifices (among many other things). I was interested to explore this single connection between conflict and human sacrifice in a story combining magic, ritual, history and battle together in a historical fantasy.