Glossary: Horse in Southern Asia

In anthropological and historical literature, the horse is most often viewed as a Central Asian domesticate diffused by "Aryans."

However, research now shows that the horse was likely domesticated independently in different areas of the world. Extensive matrilines older than those of most domesticated animals can be found in today's horses.

For the purpose of this work, the horse of southern Asia is most important.

During the Pleistocene, two types of horses inhabited the tropical Asian region. From the Siwalik range in India came Equus sivalensis, and across the Himalayas to the East Equus yunnanensis was found in Yunnan, Burma and Guangxi.

A study in 1994 showed that even in a small region of Yunnan province there was exceptional diversity of mtDNA lineages (Wang W, Liu AH, Lin SY, Lan H, Su B, Xie DW, Shi LM. "Multiple genotypes of mitochondrial DNA within a horse population from a small region in Yunnan Province of China." Biochem Genet., 1994 Oct;32(9-10):371-8.)

Local adaptation

Such data can be interpreted to suggest that modern domestic horses in the region have some ancestry from ancient Equus yunnanensis that survived until displaced by domesticated breeds. Another factor that would point in the same direction is the existence of Southeast Asian horses with extensive resistance to tropical disease and
parasites.

Feral horses have been present in regions like southeastern Indonesia as far back as history records, once offering profits for traders who supplied them to the Dutch army during colonial times. These horses thrive in conditions in which most well-known breeds would not survive.

Such immunity can take extended periods of time to develop with gradual adaptation to tropical environments by expanding populations. This can best be explained by horses like Equus sivalensis and Equus yunnanensis.

For example, during Muslim times the kings of southern India spent enormous sums attempting to maintain stocks of Arabian horses. The latter types were accustomed to the arid environment of the Arabian desert, and most did not last long in South India's wet humid climate. Merchants from Aden and Oman made huge sums off this trade, and by Marco Polo's time it appeared as one of the main sources of income in these regions.

Likewise attempts at breeding purebred horses and other livestock for tropical environments over the last few centuries have failed. The only effective technique has been to crossbreed with animals that are already tropically-adapted.

E. sivalensis

In the Neolithic strata of Lemery, Batangas in the Philippines dating back to 8000-4000 BCE, horse remains were found that may be related to the present-day Sulu Horse. The latter breed retains traits characteristic of Equus sivalensis including concave facial profile, 17 rib pairs, pre-orbital depression, fine limbs, short-pillared teeth and large first pre-molars of the upper jaw.

The Sulu Horse represents the type found in the southern Philippines, the Moluccas and Borneo and is similar to other Southeast Asian horses in size and build with all more or less of the pony type.

The physical diversity of horses in the Malay Archipelago was commented upon by Charles Darwin in his book The Variation of Animals and Plants Under Domestication (v.1, p.33):

Looking only to the native ponies of Great Britain, those of the Shetland Isles, Wales, the New Forest, and Devonshire are distinguishable; and so it is, amongst other instances, with each separate island in the great Malay archipelago. (2/3. Crawfurd 'Descript. Dict. of Indian Islands' 1856 page 153. "There are many different breeds, every island having at least one peculiar to it." Thus in Sumatra there are at least two breeds; in Achin and Batubara one; in Java several breeds; one in Bali, Lomboc, Sumbawa (one of the best breeds), Tambora, Bima, Gunung-api, Celebes, Sumba, and Philippines. Other breeds are specified by Zollinger in the 'Journal of the Indian Archipelago' volume 5 page 343 etc.) Some of the breeds present great differences in size, shape of ears, length of mane, proportions of the body, form of the withers and hind quarters, and especially in the head.

Pleistocene fauna in the Upper Irrawady of Burma largely represents an expansion from the Siwalik fauna, so there may be a direct relationship between E. sivalensis and E. yunnanensis. The latter however might have been derived instead or additionaly from Equus sanmenensis of North China. The Yuanmou fauna of Yunnan and Upper Irrawady fauna of Burma eventually expanded throughout Southeast Asia.

Asvamedha Horse

Vedic literature, including the Rgveda and Yajurveda, mention that the horse used in the royal Asvamedha sacrifice had 34 ribs (17 rib pairs) and six lumbar vertebrae. This matches the fossils of Equus sivalensis. Portrayal of horses in early Indian art also display the concave profile and pre-orbital depression of E. sivalensis. These horses are of the classic pony-like build of southern Asian types.

Bronze drums of Sangeang in Indonesia dating from the Dongson period show horses with a very similar phenotype.

Vedic literature describes the horse as sea-born or as coming from beyond the sea.

The divine horse of Indra arises from the Ocean of Milk during the churning episode. An oceanic origin for the horse also occurs in Greek myth where the sea god Poseidon is said to create the equine race.

A great fiery mare's head is said to be located in the Ramayana in the farthest East underneath the sea, or in latter literature near the South Pole, again beneath the sea.

An Arabic tale in the One Thousand and One Nights tells of the Isle of Mares in the kingdom of the Mihraj, in the very Ocean of Milk. Sindibad hears of the mysterious stallions that come from the sea to mate with mares on that island:

Know that I am one of the several who are, stationed in different parts of this island, and we are of the grooms of King Mihrjan, and under our hand are all his horses. Every month about new-moon tide we bring hither our best mares which have never been covered, and picket them on the seashore and hide ourselves in this place under the ground, so that none may espy us. Presently the stallions of the sea scent the mares and come up out of the water and, seeing no one, leap the mares and do their will of them. When they have covered them, they try to drag them away with them, but cannot, by reason of the leg ropes. So they cry out at them and butt at them and kick them, which we hearing, know that the stallions have dismounted, so we run out and shout at them, whereupon they are startled and return in fear to the sea. Then the mares conceive by them and bear colts and fillies worth a mint of money, nor is their like to be found on earth's face.

--Alf Layla wa-Layla (v. 6, translated by Richard F. Burton)

Possibly the story refers to a practice of attracting stallions from nearby small islands to swim across the water for breeding purposes.

Horses of Yunnan

The emperor Wu Ti of the Han dynasty sent expeditions to Yunnan about a century before the common era. At this time, the region was already known for its high quality horses.

Chinese texts like the Hua Yang Guo Zhi and Hou Han Shu from the Western Han period describe the horses of Yunnan as shenma "divine horses."

During the T'ang dynasty, some southern Yunnan horses were priced at dozens of taels of gold.

By the Sung dynasty, the Dian-Zang Cha-Ma Gudao (Ancient Tea Horse Caravan Road) was opened between Yunnan and Tibet. Here the Chinese traded tea for the valuable Yunnan, Tibetan and Burmese horses.

When Marco Polo visited the region he commented repeatedly on the "excellent horses" of the Lolo and Shan peoples from Yunnan and from a kingdom called Anin, somewhere between Annam in northern Vietnam and far southeastern Yunnan. Horses from these regions were said to be exported to India.

In this province [Shan kingdom of Yunnan] also are bred large and excellent horses which are taken to India for sale. And you must know that the people dock two or three joints of the tail from their horses, to prevent them from flipping their riders, a thing which they consider very unseemly. They ride long like Frenchmen, and wear armour of boiled leather, and carry spears and shields and arblasts, and all their quarrels are poisoned.

-- The Travels of Marco Polo, Volume 2, by Marco Polo and Rustichello of Pisa, et al, Edited by Henry Yule and Henri Cordier

Short horses from Yunnan. Chinese sources tell of the dazzling variety of horses from the region. (Source: Yunnan Photos)


The word "large" (Old French grant) above is better translated as "great" probably referring to the quality rather than size of the horse. Throughout the ages the horses in this region were described as small in size.

Horses from the Sea

Starting in the 14th century, Mongol and Manchu armies in the north continually threatened the Ming dynasty of China prompting them to seek horses from yet newer sources.

Across the sea, the kingdoms of Lusung (Central Luzon), Liukiu (Okinawa/Ryukyu), P'ing-ka-shi-lan (Pangasinan, Luzon) and Sulu became these new sources in the horse trade.

The "excellent" and "small but sturdy" horses from this region were imported repeatedly and also brought as "tribute." Lusung officially brought horses as tribute twice in 1372 and 1408.

These nimble hardy horses were well-suited for patroling treacherous terrain or atop of the Great Wall.


Horses and riders from Taal volcano, Philippines (Source: http://home.gci.net/~cwm/philippine_photos.htm)


Earlier Muslim works tell of the warrior princesses of Wakwak and Tawalisi who were expert "horsemen." The Chinese sources stated that the people of Toupo (Wakwak) were fond of horse meat, while Buzurg ibn Shahriyar said the horse bits in Wakwak were made of gold. However, it was not until Ming times that horses began coming across the sea to China.

When the Portuguese and Dutch landed in this region during the 16th century they relied largely on the feral and domestic horses of eastern Indonesia for their stables. Horses from the island of Timor were important in producing Australian horse breeds with special toughness and endurance.

Not generally known is the importance of the horse in the symbolic and ritual culture of insular Southeast Asia. The horse motif both with and without rider appears frequently on sacred textiles throughout this region.

"Horse blankets" are signs of nobility and royalty in many areas. Sulu and Badjao grave markers are known as "horses" (kurakura). The horse sacrifice is found both here and in mainland Southeast Asia as both a chiefly/royal and mortuary ritual.

Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento

References

Chakravarti, Ranabir. “Horse Trade and Piracy at Tana (Thana, Maharashtra, India): Gleanings from Marco Polo”, Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient (Leiden) 34, pt.2 (Jun 1991): 159-182.

Fang Qian and Guoxing Zhou (editors). Quaternary Geology and Paleoanthropology of Yuanmou, Yunnan, China, translated by Will Downs, Northern Arizona University, March, 1993.

Maxwell, Robyn. Textiles of Southeast Asia: Tradition, Trade and Transformation, Tuttle Publishing, 2003.

Yang, Bin. "Horses, Silver, and Cowries: Yunnan in Global Perspective," Journal of World History, vol. 15, 3, Sept. 2004.

News: More evidence of Neolithic exchange in S. China

A new study focused on the composition of stone tools in Neolithic Southeast China suggests trade between islands off the coast of Fujian with the mainland and also possibly Taiwan.

As mentioned previously in the blog, evidence of early trade in this region including coastal Vietnam and the Philippines comes first in the apparent trade of shell and stone tools. This trade usually involved coastal people trading shells for the stones of those living further inland. Obsidian was also a part of this trade.

Later, jade and nephrite become important tool and jewelry materials in Neolithic exchange systems.

Tracking Neolithic Interactions in Southeast China: Evidence from
Stone Adze Geochemistry
http://apu.addr.com/a2/neolithic_trade_sechina.pdf

Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento

Glossary: Plantagenet

The word "Plantagenet" arises as a surname for a medieval dynasty originating from the county of Anjou (Angevins) in the 12th century.

The first mention of the surname comes from Archdeacon Ralph de Diceto of Middlesex. In 1150, he refers to Geoffrey, Count of Anjou, in Latin as "Gaufridus Plantegenest."

Plantagenet was also used by Geoffrey Plantagenet's son, Henry II, whose titles included, King of England, Duke of Normandy and Count of Anjou. The surname then apparently falls out of public use for about 350 years until the time of Richard III. It is, however, likely that it continued to be used within the royal house itself until resurrected publicly at that later period.

Different traditions and theories exist as to the meaning of the surname. It is a compound of the words "planta" and "genet" or "genest."

Planta in Latin means "shoot of a plant," or "scion."

The modern word clan is derived from Gaelic cland, which in turn is believed to originate from Latin planta. As Gaelic had no p-, a k- or c- was substituted in its place.

Genet and its variants genest and ginet refer to a small Spanish horse derived from the Barb breed of North Africa, and related to the Spanish Barb and Andalusian. In modern English, this horse is usually known as jennet.

Traditionally, genet or its variant genest has been interpreted as genista "the broom plant."

Surnames in this region were practically non-existent until the coming of the Normans. The Norman conquest saw the rise of both surname usage and heraldry not only in this region but throughout most of Christian Europe. In addition, genealogy becomes a much more serious practice during this period.

A number of surnames arise at this time compounded with "planta" or its derivatives. These names could have a meaning similar to "clan" or "clan of."

So, Plantagenet could mean "clan of the genet (horse)" or "clan of the broom plant."

Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento

References

Godefroy, Frédéric, Dictionnaire de l'ancienne française et de tous ses dialectes du IXe au Xve siècle, 1881-1902

Richardson, Douglas and Kimball G. Everingham. Plantagenet Ancestry: A Study In Colonial And Medieval Families (Royal Ancestry), Genealogical Publishing Company, 2004.

Stubbs, William. Hist. Works of Master Ralph de Diceto, Dean of London, 1 (Rolls Ser. 68) (1876): 293.

Glossary: Gymnosophists

The Greek word gymnosophist means literally "naked sage" or "naked sophist." It was used to describe classes of "priests" or ascetics particularly from "India" and "Ethiopia."

Among the two most mentioned classes of Gymnosophists were the Samaneans and Brachmanes. The latter are often interpreted as the Brahmin caste of India. Porphyry states that they subsisted on fruits, milk and herbs. The Samaneans appear to be Buddhists and/or Jains and are said by Porphyry to live on rice, bread, fruit and herbs that grew on the banks of the Ganges. Samanean may be derived from Sanskrit shraman, a term for those who followed philosophies in vogue in East India during the development of Buddhism and Jainism.

Both the Samaneans and Brachmanes were described as vegetarian. Indeed, the Gymnosophists were noted if not for their pure vegetarianism at least for their moderation in eating flesh, and in diet in general.

Indeed in all ways, the Gymnosophists were described as living an austere mode of life. The description of their nakedness reminds us of the Nagasadhu and Jain monks who do in fact renounce bodily clothing.

Among the Samaneans, a renouncer leaves his family who are then provided for by the king, who also supports their dormitories. This may refer to the monastic system of the Buddhists and Jains.

One particular class of Gymnosophists of interest for this work are those known as Kalani. A fragment of the writings of Clearchus, a student of Aristotle, gives the latter's account, told to him by an unnamed Jew, of the origin of the Jews. The narrative is given according to Josephus as preserved by Eusebius.

In his first book on Sleep he relates of Aristotle, his master, that he had a discourse with a Jew; and his own account was that what this Jew said merited admiration and showed philosophical erudition.

To speak of the race first, the man was a Jew by birth and came from Cœlesyria [Palestine]. These Jews are derived from the philosophers of India. In India the philosophers call themselves Kalani, and in Syria Jews, taking their name from the country they inhabit, which is Judea; the name of their capital is rather difficult to pronounce: they call it Jerusalem.

Now this man, who had been the guest of many people, had come down from the highland to the seashore [Pergamus]. He was a Greek not only in language, but in soul; so much so that, when we happened to be in Asia in about the same places whither he came, he conversed with us and with other persons of learning in order to test our wisdom. And as he had had intercourse with a large number of sages, he imparted to us more knowledge of his own. This is Aristotle's own account as recorded by Clearchus, and he adds more specific observations regarding his great and wonderful fortitude in diet and continent mode of living.

Contra Apionem of Josephus

Not much information is given regarding the Kalani. Possibly they could be related to the Kolano of the Periplus of the Erythraen Sea who are said to sail their ships between the mouth of the Ganges and Chryse in the Far East. Kolano has been linked with the Kunlun of the Chinese texts which can be used either as the name of a people or a title of a king.

In this connection, a modern survival may be found in kolano, kulano, kuyano and related words meaning king, chief, clan leader, etc. found in the southern Philippines and eastern Indonesia.

Abraham the Chaldean

The curious statement about the Jews origin from the Kalani may be related to current popular tales of Oannes in Greco-Roman circles.

The ancient Sumerian accounts of their own (partial) origin from Dilmun in the Far East were preserved in the Greek translations of Berossus. He told of the Annedoti, known to the Akkadians as Apkallu and to Sumerians as Abgal, who came from across the Erythraen Sea to Chaldea (Sumer).

The Old Testament may even subtly suggest an Apkallu descent for Abraham, the father of the Hebrews. Abraham is the descendent of the Enoch, the seventh of the ante-diluvian patriarchs.

Enoch has some startling linkages with the seventh Apkallu named Utu-abzu, the sage of the seventh king Enmenduranki. It is said of Utu-abzu that he "ascended to heaven" as suggested also for Enoch: "And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him" (Genesis 5:24).

The name Utu-abzu means "Heavenly Sun" and Enmenduranki promoted Sun worship. Enoch is said to have lived 365 years (Genesis 5:23), a number suggested to be connected with the solar year.

Solar aspects are strengthened by accounts in 1 Enoch where the patriarch defends the solar calendar against a rival 360 year (12 months of 30 days) calendar. In the Book of Jubilees, Enoch is also strongly linked with the calendric sciences.

The was the first among men that are born on earth who learnt writing and knowledge and wisdom and who wrote down the signs of heaven according to the order of their months in a book, that men might know the seasons of the years according to the order of their separate months. And he was the first to write a testimony and he testified to the sons of men among the generations of the earth, and recounted the weeks of the jubilees, and made known to them the days of the years, and set in order the months and recounted the Sabbaths of the years as we made known to him.

-- Jubilees 4:17-18

By equating Enoch with Utu-abzu, we have an Apkallu connection that may in the end explain the story, attributed to Aristotle, of the eastern Kalani origin of the Jews. Of course at that time from the purely Hebrew perspective Enoch would also be an ancestor of all humanity.

Essenes

The perceived similarity between the philosophy of the Gymnosophists with that of the Jews may stem from the more ascetic sects of Jews such as the Essenes.

Among the Essene community of Qumran, the books of Enoch and Jubilees were of outstanding importance judging from the frequency of manuscripts found. They also may have been defenders of the solar year calendar against the lunar calendar of the temple priesthood.

Communities like the Essenes and the Mandaeans may have give risen to personalities like John the Baptist. The model for the John the Baptist type though seems to arise earlier with the Beni Nabi'im "Sons of the Prophets" a prophetic fraternity in the time of Samuel.

In many ways John the Baptist was like Elijah, one of the Sons of the Prophets; both living in the wilderness; Elijah fed by the ravens while John subsisted on locusts and honey. Both had rough garments and may have appeared relatively naked like a Gymnosophist.

Geographical information found in 1 Enoch and Jubilees indicate that the Qumran communities viewed the Garden of Eden as located in the furthest East, beyond their own conception of "India" and the Erythraean Sea.

Enoch is said to be led by the "Watchers" to both the place of the throne of God and the prison of the fallen angels who 'cohabited with women,' both alike in their fiery environment.

And I beheld a vision, And lo! there was a second house, greater than the former, and the entire portal stood open before me, and it was built of flames of fire. And in every respect it so excelled in splendour and magnificence and extent that I cannot describe to you its splendour and its extent. And its floor was of fire, and above it were lightnings and the path of the stars, and its ceiling also was flaming fire. And I looked and saw therein a lofty throne: its appearance was as crystal, and the wheels thereof as the shining sun, and there was the vision of cherubim. And from underneath the throne came streams of flaming fire so that I could not look thereon.

-- 1 Enoch 14:15-20

And I saw a deep abyss, with columns of heavenly fire, and among them I saw columns of fire fall, which were beyond measure alike towards the height and towards the depth. And beyond that abyss I saw a place which had no firmament of the heaven above, and no firmly founded earth beneath it: there was no water upon it, and no birds, but it was a waste and horrible place. I saw there seven stars like great burning mountains...And Uriel said to me: 'Here shall stand the angels who have connected themselves with women, and their spirits assuming many different forms are defiling mankind and shall lead them astray into sacrificing to demons as gods, (here shall they stand,) till the day of the great judgement in which they shall be judged till they are made an end of.

-- 1 Enoch 18-19

Far beyond the Erythraean Sea to the East, Enoch is led to the "Garden of Righteousness."

And after these fragrant odours, as I looked towards the north over the mountains I saw seven mountains full of choice nard and fragrant trees and cinnamon and pepper. And thence I went over the summits of all these mountains, far towards the east of the earth, and passed above the Erythraean sea and went far from it, and passed over the angel Zotiel. And I came to the Garden of Righteousness, I and from afar off trees more numerous than I these trees and great-two trees there, very great, beautiful, and glorious, and magnificent, and the tree of knowledge, whose holy fruit they eat and know great wisdom. That tree is in height like the fir, and its leaves are like (those of) the Carob tree: and its fruit is like the clusters of the vine, very beautiful: and the fragrance of the tree penetrates afar. Then I said: 'How beautiful is the tree, and how attractive is its look!' Then Raphael the holy angel, who was with me, answered me and said: 'This is the tree of wisdom, of which thy father old (in years) and thy aged mother, who were before thee, have eaten, and they learnt wisdom and their eyes were opened, and they knew that they were naked and they were driven out of the garden.'

-- 1 Enoch 32

Of course, Enoch's "father" and "mother" here appear to be Adam and Eve and hence the parents of all humanity, but the connection may still be telling.

Jubilees goes further in proclaiming that the Garden of Eden as the "holy of holies."

And he knew that the Garden of Eden is the holy of holies, and the dwelling of the Lord...

-- Jubilees 8:19

And when she had completed these eighty days we brought her into the garden of Eden, for it is holier than all the earth besides and every tree that is planted in it is holy.

-- Jubilees 3:12-13

Describing the region alloted to Shem, the son of Noah, Jubilees starts in the furthest East at Eden and then moves westward through the Erythraean Sea (Red Sea) and India, along the southern Persian Gulf and the northward through the Mediterranean coast countries to Anatolia. From there it winds back southeastward to Mesopotamia.

And he knew that a blessed portion and a blessing had come to Shem and his sons unto the generations for ever -the whole land of Eden and the whole land of the Red Sea, and the whole land of the east and India, and on the Red Sea and the mountains thereof, and all the land of Bashan, and all the land of Lebanon and the islands of Kaftur, and all the mountains of Sanir and 'Amana, and the mountains of Asshur in the north, and all the land of Elam, Asshur, and Babel, and Susan and Ma'edai, and all the mountains of Ararat, and all the region beyond the sea, which is beyond the mountains of Asshur towards the north, a blessed and spacious land, and all that is in it is very good.

-- Jubilees 8:21-22

One is tempted to link the centrality of Eden in the two texts to the Kalani origin story.

Alfred von Gutschmid suggested that the Jew who told Aristotle about the Kalani origin was the same magician Jew mentioned by Josephus in chapter eight of Antiquities. He was said to have used a rod to draw the soul of a sleeping child out of the body and then to have brought it back again -- an event purportedly witnessed by Aristotle.

The episode is reminiscent of the doctrine of kaladua, karkarma and similar notions as found in the Philippines. According to these beliefs, one's soul or soul-double leaves the body while sleeping and travels about returning before one awakes.

A spiritual adept can allow the kaladau or karkarma soul to leave the body while awake summoning it back by means of some ritual action like thumping the fist on one's chest.

We should also note here that Enoch's journeys around the world with the angels takes place while he sleeps near the "waters of Dan" west of Hermon.

Both Jubilees and 1 Enoch also place much importance in calendric time and in the celestial vault -- the stars, the portals at the horizon, etc. -- that has noteworthy underlying similarity to the philosophy of recursive dualism mentioned in this work.

Exchange of Ideas

During the period corresponding to the rise of Christianity, an environment existed favorable to the flow of religious philosophies from various regions into the Near East.

In the first century, Marinus of Tyre tells about the journey of a mariner named Alexander who sailed from the Golden Chersonese (Malay Peninsula) eastward to Cattigara. He mentions the port of Zaba (Champa?) along the way.

From the same period, the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea speaks of the trade of the "Kolano-diphonta" or Kolano ships between the mouth of the Ganges and Chryse the "Golden Isle" to the East in India extra-Gangem (India beyond the Ganges).

Samanean, Brachmane, Kalani and other Gymnosophist presence in the Near East most strongly left its mark, according to the Greeks and Romans, on the Egyptian and Ethiopian gymnosophists. Much of the influence looks like that of esoteric teachers like fakirs, shamans or sadhus, willing to syncretize their beliefs with local ones. Or concepts of orthodox Buddhists and Brahmins were completely reshaped by locals to fit their needs. Most likely both types of phenomenon occured.

Among Gymnosophist-influenced groups were the Therapeuts who were concentrated around Lake Mareotis near Alexandria, in a manner matched by the Essene settlements at Qumran near the Dead Sea. Both the Essenes, according to Josephus, and Therapeuts revered the Sun, praying towards it at sunrise.

Solar aspects are also apparent in the term "Sons of Light" used by the Essenes to describe themselves. From a 4Q298 there is also the more specific phrase "Sons of Dawn." In the Apocalypse of Abraham XVIII we have: "Thou, O Light, shinest before the light of the morning upon they creatures."

Psalm 110:3 states: "In holy splendor before the daystar, like the dew I begot you" (NAB) for the Hebrew mrhm mshr lk tl yldtk rendered in the Septuagint as "from the womb before the morning star I have begotten thee." This psalm has been interpreted most commonly as having messianic meaning with reference to the priest-king Melchizedek, the "King of Righteousness."

Such symbolism remins us of the tradition around Pinatubo and Arayat of a solar lineage through the Sun's grandson Tala, the Morning Star.

Qumran texts give a very high position to Melchizedek in the heavenly order. The priest-king of Jerusalem in the time of Abraham is also seen as an Essene model for the coming Messiah, or even as a reincarnated Messiah.

Cosmic dualism

From their original works we can also surmise that the Essenses held a strong belief in the concept of good and fallen angels something also markedly present in 1 Enoch and Jubilees.

In Southeast Asia and the Pacific, the theme of dualistic battle can perhaps be best illustrated by such themes as the dueling volcanoes, the warring brothers and the battle between Moon and Sun/Sky. However, an underlying and very ancient dualism can be found in almost every mythological conflict which pits one side against the other in familiar terms such as upstream-downstream, highland-lowland, left bank-right bank, etc. Specifically the theme most relevant to the "war in Heaven" is that of the dueling volcanoes or the battle between Sun and Moon.

Baptism

Baptism rituals among the Essenes may relate to the purification of angels in a river of fire prior to joining the heavenly choir as mentioned in late Enochian literature (3 Enoch 36). The Rabbis speak of the Neher Dinor "River of Fire" from which "ministering angels" are born daily only to vanish and be reborn the next dawn.

The baptism of fire, like that of water or Holy Spirit, or the baptism of nous in the Hermetic Krater relate well to the Kumbhamela and bathing rituals further east. The lake or river of fire is that of the cataclysmic volcano, the Mount of God, that cleanses away the old impurities. From the ashes of the cleansing fire arises the Phoenix, the new soul or world blessed by the elixir of immortality.

Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento

References

Charles, R.H. The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1913.

Haase, Wolfgang. Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt[teil] II. Principat-- Religion, Walter de Gruyter, 1984.

Josephus, Flavius. Against Apion, Kessinger Publishing, 2004.

Lopez, Donald S. Jr. The Christ and the Bodhisattva, SUNY Press, 1987.

Maier, Paul L. Eusebius, the Church History: The Church History, Kregel Publications, 1999.

Glossary: Mihraj

Medieval Islamic texts used the word Mihraj or similar forms like Mihrjan to describe the king of the Zabag empire in the East Indies. Mihraj may be a corruption of the Indian Maharaja "Great King."

Writers of the time described the Mihraj's influence as extending over vast territories from the Indies to East Africa. Some of these claims are substantiated by physical evidence such as the written records of the kingdoms of Champa and Cambodia, and land grants in South and East India. According to the texts, Zabag and its southern neighbor Wakwak competed for the highly lucrative East African trade.

Income from the mercantile trade made the Mihraj very wealthy at that time. In the One Thousand and One Nights and other Arabic literature the Mihraj along with the legendary Solomon are held as ideals of royal wealth. Sindbad visits the Mihraj on the "Isle of Mares" in one of most well-known of his voyages.

In the sea of Champa is the empire of Mihraj, the king of the islands, who rules over an empire without limit and has innumerable troops. Even the most rapid vessels could not complete in two years a tour round the isles which are under his possesssion. The territories of this king produce all sorts of spices and aromatics, and no other sovereign of the world gets as much wealth from the soil.

-- Mas'udi, AD 943

Despite the wealth of the Mihraj, his capital is described as a 'town' in Muslim literature. His palace is located on the water's edge in an estuary, and from his patio he daily threw gold bars into the water to propitiate the sea. At low tide, the pile of gold was exposed for all to see, and when the king died the gold was distributed to all the people of the land. The greatness of the king was judged by the amount of gold so accumulated. In the capital, fisher folk living in their boats or homes over the water were exempted from taxes. The Mihraj was the model of the Fisher King, the "Lord of the Net."

The rural setting of his kingdom is detailed by Abu Zaid who states that "patches of settlement succeed each other without interruption" and further mention an "uninterrupted and regular succession of villages."

A very trustworthy man affirms that when the cocks crow at daybreak, as in our country, they call out to each other throughout the whole extent of a hundred parasangs [~500 kilometers]...In effect, there are no uninhabited places in this country and no ruins. He who comes into the country when he is on a journey, if he is mounted he may go wherever he pleases; if he is tired or if his mount has difficulty in carrying on, then he may stop wherever he wishes.

-- Abu Zaid, 10th century

Policy of Attraction

During the heyday of Zabag between about 800 CE to 1300 CE, the Mihraj maintained an "open door" policy, as mentioned above by Abu Zaid. Merchants were encouraged to enter and stay in the country. Idrisi states that in particular the merchants of China favored trading in the islands of Zabag:

It is said that when the states of affairs of China became troubled by rebellions and when tyranny and confusion became excessive in India, the inhabitants of China transferred their trade to Zabag and the other islands dependent on it, entered into relations with it, and familiarized themselves with its inhabitants bcause of their justice, the goodness of their conduct, the pleasantness fo their customs, and their facility in business. It is because of this that this island is so heavily populated and so often frequented by strangers.

-- Idrisi, 12th century

Later during the Ming dynasty, the kingdom of Lusung, Zabag's successor, continued this policy and when the Spanish arrived in Luzon there existed merchant communities from China and Japan on land granted by the Lusung king. The large Chinese trading community of the Manila Bay was known as the Parian.

Lusung is situated in the southern seas not far from Chang-chou (in Fukien)...In the past, thousands of Fukienese merchants lived there for a long period without returning home, because the land was near and rich. They even had children and grandchildren.

-- Ming-shi (Dynastic annals of the Ming Dynasty)

Not long after reaching the pinnacle of its power, Zabag was threatened by its powerful neighbor to the South. In the late 10th century, an attack by Wakwak prompted the Mihraj to send an embassy to the Sung dynasty requesting assistance. Such a policy of attraction appears to have been a necessary strategy for the Mihraj, whose trading empire was also under attack in the far West.

Indeed both Wakwak and Zabag faced problems with their ancient East African spice routes due to the expansion of Islam. Wakwak for its part decided on massive military action. An expedition in the 10th century of fleet of one thousand ships was sent to the African Zanj coast and to Qanbalu, which by this time was nearly completely in Muslim hands. Arab merchants from Oman were taking over the trade.

Ibn Lakis has imparted to me some extraordinary pieces of information concerning them. It is thus that in 334 AH (945-6 CE) they came upon Qanbalu in a thousand ships and fought them with the utmost vigor, without however achieving their end, as Qanbalu is surrounded by a strong defensive wall around which stretches the water-filled estuary of the sea, so that Qanbalu is at the center of this estuary, like a fortified citadel."

-- Kitab aja'ib al-Hind of Buzurg ibn Shahriyar (955 CE)

The vast Wakwak fleet traveled for one year to attack Qanbalu, Sofala and other Zanj settlements that were then dominated by Muslim traders. Such a costly expedition demonstrates the gravity of the situation to the Wakwak rulers. Certainly the Mihraj must have felt the same way.

However, our thesis is that the Mihraj practiced a policy of attraction. His military might at the time was spent in protecting his home kingdom from Wakwak. He sent ambassadors to India and Tibet, made grants for temples there and some Zabag (Suvarnadvipa) kings are even said to have personally traveled to South Asia.

Further west in Europe, the overtures of the Mihraj may be seen in the letters and ambassadors of "Prester John." There was nothing unusual in the Mihraj patronizing at the same time Buddhism, Christianity (Nestorianism), Hinduism, Jainism, animism, etc. This was not an uncommon practice among the medieval kings of the Indies.

Later, Lusung continued this policy of attraction when the Portuguese arrived on the scene. By this time the ancient eastern routes in Africa had been lost, but Lusung still managed to monopolize the restricted trade with China. And it was still an important source of gold.

King of the Mountain

Chinese texts describing the king of Zabag (Sanfotsi) state that each ruler had images of themselves made in gold (anitos?). These images were consecrated to a "Buddha" called the "Hill of Gold and Silver" after the death of the ruler.

The Southeast Asian concept of the "King of the Mountain" likely derives originally from the mountain custodians of indigenous customary law. The custodian/guardian/king was also often placed as priest of a sacred plot, terrace or temple on the mountain.

The territory divided by the rivers flowing from the mountain were formed into districts under the ultimate influence of the king who ruled the entire banua. In the cosmic version of this kingship, the mountain becomes the axis mundi and the king a type of universal ruler. The territories under the king now include all those 'beneath the sky.'

In the Pinatubo model, the districts around the mountain are eight in number divided by eight major rivers, which including Pinatubo itself gives a total of nine districts. Using the "Mt. Meru" concept, the cosmic mountain also consists of levels, which we can equate with mountain terraces, often given as seven in number -- the 'seven heavens.'

Both the districts and levels can be viewed as if looking down from the sky in the symbolic form known as the mandala.


'Tantric' gold belt from pre-Hispanic gold collection of Philippine Central Bank. The triangles of the buckle represent the tiered mountain with six rows of dots/bindus decreasing by one as they ascend from the base of six dots. (Source: Laszlo Legeza's "Tantric elements in pre-Hispanic Philippine Gold Art," Arts of Asia, Jul-Aug 1988, p. 131)


Triangular gold pendant of the 'Sri Yantra' type also from the Central Bank, with dot-triangles arranged in three rows starting from a base of three triangles and decreasing by one with each ascending row. (Source: Laszlo Legeza's "Tantric elements in pre-Hispanic Philippine Gold Art," Arts of Asia, Jul-Aug 1988, p. 131)


The mandala was one of a series of animistic objects that symbolized or represented the cosmic mountain. These could be amulets, talimans, symbols, relics made of sacred materials from the mountain, even fire from the mountain itself. The objects were seen to have a life and even a mind and voice of their own. They are linked with the spiritual concept of the quest, both an inner and outer journey.



Medieval Philippine gold sash finial with mandala design, from Butuan on the island of Mindanao. (Source: pupuplatter.blogspot.com)



Gold waistcloth finial in "Mt. Meru" pattern from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. When viewed from above the ornament appears as a series of concentric circles. Finials of this type were illustrated in the 16th century Boxer Codex.(Source: pupuplatter.blogspot.com)



The world divided into eight "climes" from Yamakoti/Kangdez.



World divided into "trines" from Yamakoti/Kangdez.

Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento

Glossary: Fairy kingdoms of Europe

In Parzival, the genealogy of the Angevin dynasty and King Arthur traces their lineage back to the land of Feimurgan, aka Morgan le Fay.

Such a peculiar assertion resonates also with some earlier literature. Morgan is called the sister of Arthur in Chretien's Erec et Enide written in the 12th century. Earlier, Geoffrey of Monmouth, the creator of the modern Arthurian legend, calls Arthur's sister Anna, which may be a veiled hint at Morgan (Morgen).

In Vita Merlini, also claimed by Geoffrey of Monmouth he describes Morgan as a ruler of Avalon who comes to take the injured Arthur back to that island. Here she will use her healing powers to mend his wounds, and here he will stay to return to Britain one day.

In Parzival there is more than enough reason to suspect that the land of Feimurgan is the same as that of Prester John. Cundrie, for example, is a sorceress like Morgan le Fay and Alcina, Morgan's sister in the latter Italian romances.

By the mid-14th century, Avalon was often located in the Indies or the far East. Roman d'Ogier le Danois has the hero Ogier the Dane marrying Morgan le Fay in Avalon which is in the extreme Orient near Paradise. The Danish version locates it explicitely in the Indies. In Le Batard de Bouillon (1350 AD), Avalon is said to be beyond the Erythraen Sea (Indian Ocean) where Arthur and Morgan dwell.

Robert de Boron, of the late 12th and early 13th centuries, states that the Holy Grail was taken to Avalon. In latter Arthurian romances, the Holy Grail is often said to reside with Prester John or the Swan Knight on a mountain in the far Indies.


Mysterious genealogies

The fairy descent of the Angevins and Arthur seems strange enough especially when one considers the efforts of the royal dynasties at this time to tidy up their official genealogies.

Benoit de Sainte-Maure and John de Marmoutier's history and genealogy of the Angevins along with literary works like Roman de Brut appear designed to convey a sense of respectability to the newly-installed Angevins of England (Plantagenets).

There is nothing that would lead us to conclude that early Europeans disregarded the histories of Arthur as fiction. Indeed, latter kings like Henry VII even openly claimed descent from the ancient British king.

The discrepancy of the "official" genealogies with those of the romances has suggested to some that suppression of history had taken place.

Also peculiar is how the farthest Indies and the historical incidences regarding Prester John's communications at this time get caught up in the literature in this part of northern Europe.

Legitimization of Norman invasion

One could look at Geoffrey of Monmouth's work as possibly an attempt to use old Celtic legends and apply them to the Norman overlords of England at that time, and specifically to William the Conqueror.

Like Geoffrey's Arthur who crosses the channel from Brittany to free England from Roman domination, William crosses the same channel to free the Celtic peoples from Anglo-Saxon oppression. William himself was a descendant of Judith, Princess of Britanny and could seemingly claim to be a Celtic hero, despite his Viking background.

However, this does not explain the fairy descent which is never imputed on the Normans.

When they invade England, William of Poitiers states that the people of Brittany, Anjou, Le Mans and Poitiers formed the left flank of the Norman force. They were under the command of Count Brian of Brittany.

Among this group were knights with the appellation l'estrange "the foreigner" attached to their names. This is during a period when surnames were practically unknown. Eventually, the appellation did become a surname for people brought across the channel from Brittany and Anjou to settle in England.

Henry I, in order to counter-balance the power of Norman elites in England brought more of these people from the same locations of Brittany and Anjou. Orderic-Vitalis states that the newcomers were 'de infimo genere,' or of shady descent.

That the fairy connection could lie with these "foreigners" makes sense as Brittany and Anjou are the locations connected with Arthur and the Angevins respectively.

Interestingly, Arthur's fabled victories are in some sources said to have led to an empire that encompassed parts of Scandinavia, Britain and France, seemingly an allusion to the real conquests of the Normans.


What is a fairy?

Aside from the fairy as a mythical forest creature, early researchers like David MacRitchie and W.Y. Evans Wentz have suggested that the fairy also indicated an ethnic type at one time.

Fairies were seen as shorter than Celtic people, but at times very short or very tall, or having the magical ability to become very short or tall.

Despite being known as "fair folk," the fairies are mostly described as brown or dark-skinned. The Brownies and Duine Sith are examples of brown fairies. The Corrigan were described as black-skinned fairies. In the Vulgate Merlin, Morgan le Fay is described as 'very brown of face.'

The words duine "brown" and dubh "black" are used commonly in the most ancient Celtic myths to describe the fairies. Cundrie and Malcreatiure of Parzival are also described as having dark skin.

Evans-Wentz with regard to some vitrified forts and ancient houses assigned to the Piskies and Picts states:

In the district in which they are, the fringe of coast from St. Ives round by Zennor, Morvah, Pendeen, and St. Just nearly to Sennen, are found to this day a strange and separate people of Mongol type, like the Bigaudens of Pont l'Abbe and Penmarc'h in the Breton Cornouailles, one of those 'fragments of forgotten peoples' of the 'sunset bound of Lyonesse' of whom Tennyson tells. They are a little 'stuggy' dark folk, and until comparatively modern times were recognized as different from their Celtic neighbours, and were commonly believed to be largely wizards and witches.

From the European perspective, the fairy physical appearance varied from the otherworldly beauty of the fairy nobles to the repulsive appearance ascribed to the Nains. Malcreatiure's appearance in Parzival appears to stupefy the locals and it is explained that in the Indies there was "a great many of these people with distorted faces, and they bore strange, wild marks."


Arthur as Fairy King

Evans-Wentz, following Sir John Rhys, makes Arthur a king of the Fay, without necessarily giving Arthur any historical reality.

Many good reasons are given for Arthur as fairy king but none so explicit as the Parzival genealogy were he descends from Mazadan and the fairy Terdelaschoye in the land of Feimurgân.

No information is given on the paternal ancestor Mazadan other than he was lured to Feimurgân and stayed on there. However, Arthur's father Uther Pendragon is said also to rule at Annwn, the Celtic Underworld, and often synonomous with Avalon.

Of course, Arthur's sister, a full sister according to Chretien and half-sister in latter tradition, is Morgan le Fay, the fairy Morgan. Many of the knights in Arthur's service have powers that are usually associated with fairies in other literature.

Also impressively the near-dead Arthur returns to Avalon, land of the fairies, guided by his fairy sister until his eventual return.

The idea of supernatural descent is not unusual, but really comes as a surprise in this period and location of history, especially in that it involves the "other." In previous centuries, the Merovingian dynasty was said to be fathered by one Quinotaur a 'beast of Neptune' that encountered the Salian queen as she bathed in the sea.

This tale might be related to a series of "swan knight" stories that held sway in the northern Germanic countries in succeeding centuries. In Beowulf, Scild "the son of the skiff" comes over the sea sleeping in a boat without rudder or sail. He is raised by the locals and eventually becomes king. When near death, Scild asks to be placed in a boat that is guided into the sea by swans.

In other forms of this myth, and in particular the Lohengrin cycle, the swan knight appears as a hero who comes by boat guided by a swan to rescue and marry a princess or duchess. However, he makes her promise that she never ask about his origin and descent, which in all versions his wife is unable to do. The swan knight, on the breaking of the oath, then returns to the sea on the same swan-driven boat never to be seen again. However, he leaves descendants who adopt the swan on their standards.

The fairy descent of the house of Anjou and Arthur is of a more serious type not encountered since the Quinotaur incident some seven centuries earlier. Later this reputation stuck mostly to the Plantagenets, although the house of Bouillon also gets attached to the swan knight tale.

The "Melusine" tradition of fairy descent was so instilled in European thought that Richard the Lion-Hearted was stated to have said his family came from the "sons of demons."


A Melusine of fairy descent with bat-like wings and fish/dragon lower body. The husband of the Melusine must not view here when she bathes her children or she flies away, a restriction similar to that in the Swan Knight relationship. (Holzschnitt aus dem frühesten Druck des Romans; Basel, undatiert, ca. 1474, http://pr-server.unibe.ch/unipress/heft100/beitrag12.html)


Prester John, the Indias and northern Europe

What do Prester John and the Indies have to do with royal families in northern France and Britain?

Von Eschenbach is the first to explicitely mention Ind with regard to the Grail cycle. However, it must be said that Arthurian romances start with the introduction of the completely foreign and distant Avalon, not found in previous literature.

And the development of the Grail and Arthurian cycles takes place in the same two centuries that Prester John historically is said to have been making initial contacts with the Pope and the European kings.

Not only do we hear of historical visits of patriarchs and ambassadors from the Indies to Rome and Byzantinum, but in Parzival and other works there is mention of journeys by Europeans to the East. For example, Feirefiz's migration to the kingdom of Tribalibot near the Ganges.

Such new contacts could easily be understood in context of the conquest of Jerusalem by Godefrey of Bouillon, supposed descendant of the Swan Knight and leader of the First Crusade.

Hypothetically, we might assume that contacts with the Indies and back would travel through the Shi'a corridors in connection with the Sayabiga either to Sind or to the Crusader forts of the Holy Land. From Sind, the journey would proceed to South India and from thence to points East. From the Holy Land, one could venture to points throughout Europe and Byzantinum. The pact between the Templars and the Assassins might also explain how both east and west cooperated in allowing such travel to take place, albeit on a limited basis.

Latter Italian romances such as Ariosto's Orlando Furioso locate the fairy isles quite clearly in the East Indies. In this tale about the love of Orlando, a knight of the Holy Roman Empire, for Angelica, the daughter of the Great Khan of Cathay, a side story involves the island of Alcina, Morgan le Fay's sister.

Somewhere beyond Cathay (North China) and Mangiana (Manzi, South China) lay the islands ruled by three sisters -- the irresistably beautiful and wicked Alcina and Morgan, and their equally beautiful but virtuous and heroic sister Logistilla. A more specific setting for a tradition that had lasted for centuries.

In analyzing fairy descent, we can say that it was definitely related to the "other" but in both positive and negative ways. The fairies could have either very appealing good looks like the still handsome and youthful-looking thousand-year-old King Mider. Or they could appear with the shocking visage of Malcreatiure.

While the Plantagenets always drew suspicion of conspiracy with the Devil, Godefrey and Baldwin claimed descent from the Swan Knight, while the Tudor kings claimed Arthur as their progenitor.

Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento

References

Ariosto, Ludovico. Orlando Furioso, Oxford University Press, 1999.

Evans-Wentz, W. Y. The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries, Courier Dover Publications, 2003.

Le Strange Records 1100-1310, s.v. "Roland le Strange," http://www.asiawrite.co.nz/lestrange/library/records/chap01.html, s.v. "Observations on the Le Stranges," http://www.asiawrite.co.nz/lestrange/library/observations.html

Maddox, Donald and Sara Sturm-Maddox. Melusine of Lusignan: Founding Fiction in Late Medieval France, University of Georgia Press, 1996.

MacRitchie, David. Ancient and Modern Britons: A Retrospect, 2 Vols. 1884; rpt. Introduction by William Preston. Los Angeles: Preston, 1985, 1986.

___. The Testimony of Tradition, Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co., Limited, 1890.

Glossary: Conjunctions and Astrology

In Moorish Spain universities arose in cities like Toledo, dominated by Moor and Jewish scholars, with great emphasis on the fields of astronomy and astrology.

By the 12th century, European Christians also attended these centers of learning and began translating Arabic works, including some of the lost Greek works preserved only in Arabic. Gerard of Cremona translated Ptolemy's Almagest in Toledo, which was the world's foremost translation center of Arabic works into Latin.

So it should come as no surprise that Wolfram von Eschenbach claimed that the bard Kyot had translated Arabic texts that he obtained from the "heathen" known as Flegatanis.

The heathen Flegetanis could tell us how all stars set and rise again...With his own eyes, the heathen Flegetanis saw and told of hidden secrets, that he was shy to speak of, in the constellations. He declared the Grail, whose name he read in the stars..."

-- Parzival

In Parzival itself, Cundrie the prophetess from near the Ganges recites the names of the stars in Latino-Arabic revealing that such knowledge as found in Toledo was possessed by von Eschenbach himself.

Conjunctions of stars and planets signaled the advent of new cycles and holy messengers according to the Muslim astrologer Albumasar. First translated by Joannis Hispalensis (John of Seville) in the mid-12th century, his works al-Madkhal al-kabir (Introductorium maius) and Dalalat al-ashkhas al-ulwiyya (De magnis coniunctionibus et annorunt revolutionibus) had great influence on Western thinking.

In particular, Albumasar introduced the idea that the great religions or philosophies were all revealed after special conjunctions of Jupiter with one of the six planets. He also created an Islamicized version of the 'three Hermes' legend found in the Greco-Egyptian Hermetic tradition.

According to Albumasar, various incarnations of Hermes visit the earth to introduce new religions or philosophies. In the west, the first Hermes was Idris known in the Old Testament as Enoch. The second was Budhasaf of Babylon and the third Aris (Horus) of Egypt. Interestingly all these prophets were said, by either Albumasar or his followers, to have originated in, or to have learned their arts in the Indies (al-Hind) or China.

An eastern connection is not surprising when you consider that Albumasar hailed from Balkh in Afghanistan and was probably familiar with medieval Zoroastrian millennarianism.

Roger Bacon and Pierre d'Ailly, following Albumasar, propounded that five prophets corresponding to five of the six planets had already appeared on earth during conjunctions with Jupiter. Each had introduced a major world religious or philosophical system.

The last (false) prophet in their view, the Antichrist, would come with the grand conjunction of Jupiter and the Moon.

Indian tradition also links the last age with a conjunct Jupiter-Moon but in reference to the savior king Kalki rather than the Antichrist.

At this time the Lord will incarnate in a brahmin family in the village known as Sambhala, and will be known as Kalki. With unrivalled majesty he will soar across the sky, destroying millions of brigands in ruler's disguise. Then will the Satyayuga [Age of Truth] commence -- an age of righteousness and holiness. Satyayuga will begin when the Sun, Moon and Jupiter rise together in the same house with Pushya asterism in the ascendant.

-- Bhagavata Purana 12:2

Albumasar popularized as well the concept that regular conjunctions of the two slowest-moving planets -- Saturn and Jupiter -- heralded grand world events, both good and bad. Beginning in about the 14th century, these Saturn-Jupiter conjunctions were of great interest to Europeans particularly in light of the frequent plagues that ravaged the continent. People from royalty to the peasantry payed close attention to publications of conjunction-linked prophecies by astrologers like Cristoforo Landino, Marsilio Ficino and Roger Bacon.

By far the most famous of these prophets was Michel de Nostradamus of Provence, France. In his writings, he may have referred to the last prophetic conjunction of Jupiter with the Moon when he mentions "the sixth bright celestial splendor" (C1:Q80).

Frequently Nostradamus tells of a king or other significant person of the East quite reminiscent of the Zoroastrian prophecies of the savior king from Kangdez. And he mentions a king linked with line of Hermes:

Long awaited he will never return
In Europe, he will appear in Asia:
One of the league issued from the great Hermes,
And he will grow over all the Kings of the East.

-- Les centuries C10:Q75

Given the state of affairs in European astrology at the time, this could certainly be a reference to the Hermes of the sixth Jupiter conjunction described by Bacon and d'Ailly.

Astrological conjunctions throughout the world

Astrological conjunctions also appear at the beginning of new epochs in India, China, Mesopotamia and Mesoamerica.

In India, China and Mesopotamia, all planets are said to have been aligned in the same location at the start of the great age. The sexagenary cycles of China and India appear to originate from the Saturn-Jupiter conjunction cycle. As discussed earlier in the blog, such cycles may also have influenced the Mayan calendar.

The conjunction of the Sun with the Moon, Venus, the Pleiades, Orion and Sirius is widely observed in many cultures. The ancient Polynesians saw conjunctions as signs and omens, and the navigator Hawai`iloa was advised to sail toward an auspicious conjunction involving Jupiter during his discovery voyage to Hawai`i.

Many Austronesian peoples looked for auspicious times for battles and other events in the conjunction of the Moon with certain fixed stars or planets.

According to Chinese accounts like the P'ing-chou k'o-t'an, the inhabitants of Sanfotsi were expert astronomers, and especially skilled in the prediction of eclipses.

Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento

References

McCluskey, Stephen C. Astronomies and Cultures in Early Medieval Europe, Cambridge University Press, 2000.

Needham, Joseph. Science and Civilisation in China: Volume 5, Chemistry and Chemical Technology, Part 4, Spagyric..., Cambridge University Press, 2003, p. 412.

Selin, Helaine and Sun Xiaochun. Astronomy Across Cultures: The History of Non-Western Astronomy, Springer, 2000.

Glossary: Elixir

The elixir that promotes health, rejuvenates, prolongs life or even grants immortality is included among the forms of what Stephen Oppenheimer calls "edible immortality."

On Penglai, the Chinese isle of immortals, everything from the water to the plants and fruits promote longevity and well-being. In the Churning of the Milky Ocean myth as related in the Mahabharata the ashes and runoff created by the fiery holocaust on Mt. Mandara produces, among other things, a jar of the elixir of immortality.

Apparently the light-colored ash flowing into the sea turns the ocean into a milky or white color. In the Milky Ocean, therefore, there is a Svetadvipa or "White Island" where everything is white. Also on Penglai it is sometimes said that all the plants and animals are white. This may refer symbolically to the milk-colored volcanic substances that are said to have the "power of the Elixir" and which blanket the entire region after an eruption.

In the Zoroastrian literature, the White Haoma of the Varkash (Vourukasha) Sea is also said to be prepared as the ambrosia of the immortals.

Both the Indian and Persian literature link the Soma and Haoma respectively with the ocean. The Khorda Avesta (5:8) calls the Vourukasha, the "deep sea of salt waters." Tides and ocean currents are also apparently mentioned as having action upon this ocean:

Ahura Mazda answered It is even so as thou hast said, O righteous Zarathustra! I, Ahura Mazda, send the waters from the sea Vouru-kasha down with the wind and with the clouds.

I, Ahura Mazda, make them stream down to the corpses; I, Ahura Mazda, make them stream down to the Dakhmas; I, Ahura Mazda, make them stream down to the unclean remains; I, Ahura Mazda, make them stream down to the bones; then I, Ahura Mazda, make them flow back unseen; I, Ahura Mazda, make them flow back to the sea Pûitika.

'The waters stand there boiling, boiling up in the heart of, the sea Pûitika, and, when cleansed there, they run back again from the sea Pûitika to the sea Vouru-kasha, towards the well-watered tree, whereon grow the seeds of my plants of every kind [by hundreds, by thousands, by hundreds of thousands].

-- Vendidad 2:17-19

During the medieval period, Albumasar apparently develops these old Iranian concepts into a theory of tides in his work Great Introduction to Astrology. Albumasar's theory was adopted by Thomas Aquinas, Roger Bacon, Robert Grosseteste, William of Auvergne, Albert the Great and others. The influence of the Moon on tides and the ocean is interesting in connection with the elixir as "Soma" is also a Sanskrit name for the Moon.

Oppenheimer has shown in Eden in the East how the waxing and waning of the Moon was seen in very ancient times as a sign of the immortality of the lunar deity. He feels that myths connected with the Moon and immortality were diffused by Austro-Asiatic peoples.

Iranian cosmology places the cosmic mountain at the farthest shore of the Varkash Sea to the East. From this mountain flow all the world's water after purifying the "underworld."

Waters from rivers and streams flow first into the sea where they apparenly eventually make their way east to west following the prevailing winds over the ocean. At the Western horizon they fall into "hell" where they wash away all impurities. From hell they make their way back into the cosmic mountain where initially they appear like "quicksilver" (Rivayats 1:91), and then flow into the Varkash Sea. From there, they again travel from East to West. It is this motion that causes the ebb and flow of the tide according to early tradition.

In the Varkash Sea is the White Haoma tree and also the Tree of Many Seeds. The trees are protected by a great fish known as the Kar and the Simurgh bird, which is portrayed usually with a dog or human head. The White Haoma is explicitely tied to the "Water of Life."


The Simurgh Bird that protects the Tree of Many Seeds

The Soma of Indic tradition also appears not to have been so much a single plant as the life-force of plants in the waters: "...in appearance like the sun, he [Soma] runs through the lakes, the seven streams and heaven" (Rgveda 9:52:2).

Production of both Soma and Haoma may be seen as partly a ritual reenactment of the great cataclysmic event that produced the original pot of elixir. The Soma pounded from medicinal herbs was mixed or "clothed" in milk possibly to resemble the ash-colored ocean of milk.

Even in the Rgvedic production of Soma, there appears to be an allusion to the primordial event -- a pit known as uparava, one arm-length in depth is dug in the earth to mix the juice pounded with sacred stones from the Soma herbs. The pit is reminiscent of the underworld association of the "waters of life" in mythologies from Sumer to Hawai`i.

Iranian myth mentions a three-legged "ass," apparently a whale since it is said to be the source of ambergris (Bundahishn 11:12), that purifies the fluids of the earth that return to the Varkash Sea.

Also in the midst of the sea is the great bull Sarsaok with flames shooting up out of its back. In some sources, it is said that this bull is slain in the last days and its marrow used to make the White Haoma of immortality. It is from the flames of this bull's back that the sacred Zoroastrian temple fires were brought.

Obviously, the flaming Sarsaok bull can be equated with the White Haoma tree and again with the cosmic/volcanic mountain. Also the three-legged ass or whale may also refer to the purifying fire's shooting up from the bull's back and protecting the elixir.

The word for ass is kar, and the great fish that guards the Tree of Many Seeds is known as the Kar Mahi or "ass-like fish." Thus the Kar and Kar Mahi may be the same -- a large fish or whale that resembles a three-legged ass.

Guarding of the sacred trees may refer to their fiery nature, as the Kar is also the purifier of the waters. In a similar sense, the Hebrew Bible speaks of the flaming sword that guarded the way of Eden.

Haoma's whiteness again bespeaks of the whitish ash of the volcanic eruption. In the Ayurvedic tradition of India, the incineration of plants and metals into bhasma or ash plays an important role in the making of medicines. We can look at the metals here as standing also for the great quantities of earth incinerated during the eruption. Bhasma smeared on the body of the god Siva or on the bodies of ascetics symbolizes purity through the fire of austerity, and the immortality thus gained.


Ascetics known as Nagasadhus, smeared with ash, gather for a dip in the Ganges River during the Kumbhamela pilgrimage. According to legend, some of the elixir produced during the churning of the milk ocean dropped here from the pot of Dhanvantari. (Source: http://spirit-of-india.com/SpiritualJourneys/index.html)

In the latter practice of alchemy, the ingredients of plants, metals, water and fire used to produce the elixir attempt to recreate some of the chemistry caused by the natural cataclysmic event.

Al-Balkhi and his followers placed the palace of the immortals, Kangdez, and the Varkash Sea in the same location as the Indian Yamakoti.

Quests for the Elixir

Both the Muslim and Greek geographers compressed the known world from East to West to fit into their worldviews. Ptolemy in his Geography, sought to extend the distance from the Happy Isles to Cattigara to 180 degrees.

Quite interestingly, in most of the known distances in Geography, such as those between Rome and Alexandria, between the latter and Babylon, etc., the real degree of longitude was about 3/4 of Ptolemy's longitude degree. If Ptolemy simply wanted to create fictional lands, he could have easily represented a fully-inhabited globe. However, mariners of his day would have ridiculed such a representation since they had no knowledge of any ability to circumnavigate the earth.

For Ptolemy then only half of the globe was inhabitable and he sought to fit the known world into that 180 degrees.

The Hindu astronomers appeared to have shrunk the real degree of longtitude to one-half in order to represent the known world as extending around the globe. Thus, the distance from Lanka to Romaka is given as 90 degrees when it is just slightly over 45 degrees. If we look at the real distance of the Hindu quadrants, they would represent nearly the division of the world into eight rather than four parts.

Kangdez's location was very much similar to that of the medieval Christian Garden of Eden. From this location was said to come eastern spices like aloeswood, cinnamon, cassia and ginger in both Christian and Muslim tradition. Indeed such association for these spices hails back to the Book of Enoch and the Old Testament where the mount of God appears as topped with fire and smoke.

This mountain, the omphalos, was the fountain also of the underground "waters of life" -- the Sumerian Abzu.

Many Austronesian myths locate the "water of life" in paradise, which often is also the land of the ancestors, the land of the dead. The Samoans knew of Bulotu, a blessed land whose lord has a home made of the bones of dead chiefs. Spirits come here to bathe in the water of life and regain strength. The Fijians know of the same place called Burotu or Murotu where a speaking tree is found near the waters of life.

A "river of living water" found in the mythology of San Cristoval refreshes the souls of the dead and grants immortality to the devout. In the Philippines, many indigenous peoples take ritual baths in rivers and streams to rejuvenate the body, using bundles of sacred herbs, leaves or grasses dipped in the water to baptize each other.

Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento

Glossary: Yamakoti

The ancient Indian astronomers placed the location of Yamakoti in the East precisely one quarter of the world's circumference from Lanka/Ujjain, the Indian meridian.

The 11th century Muslim geographer/astronomer al-Biruni makes the following statements about Yamakoti:

Yamakoti is, according to Yakub and al-Fazari, the country where is the city Tara within the sea. I have not found the slightest trace of this name in Indian literature. As koti means castle and Yama is the angel of death, the word reminds me of Kangdez, which according to the Persians had been built by Kai Kaus or Jam in the most remote East, behind the sea...Abu Mashar al-Balkhi based his geographical canon on Kangdez as 0 degrees longitude.

The city of Tara is also called Nara in other literature such as the Hudud al-Alam. It could refer to the Tantric goddess Tara, whose name means "star" and who is, among other things, the goddess of the sea and seafarers.

Tara's connection with mariners is particularly strong in her association with the sea goddess Ratu Kidul of Java, and Kuanyin, the Chinese goddess of mariners.

We have mentioned Kangdez before in reference to Zoroastrian prophecies of the King of the East. It was considered the center of the world and the hiding place of the savior kings. Similar concepts were adopted into Shi'ite Islam.

The geographers who used Kangdez as the prime meridian belonged to what is known as the al-Balkhi school, after Abu Mashar al-Balkhi, known in Latin as Albumasar. During the Middle Ages, Albumasar was the most renowned of Muslim astronomer/astrologers in Europe. His theories of historical cycles linked with the planets influenced many European astrologers including Nostradamus whose key work "Revolutions" was based on such concepts.

While other Muslim geographers used Ptolemy's meridan of the "Happy Isles" off West Africa, or the Indian meridian of Ujjain, the al-Balkhi school placed the meridian in the far East. His followers saw Kangdez as one and the same as the Indian Yamakoti. In addition to Kangdez, the city Tara/Nara was placed in Yamakoti at the equator.

In al-Qanun al-Masudi, al-Biruni writes that Tara was 90 degrees east of Lanka/Ujjain basically agreeing with the Indian texts about the position of Yamakoti. Again Yamakoti was the same distance from Lanka/Ujjain as the latter was from Romaka.

The city of Romaka has been variously identified as Alexandria, Constantinople and Rome. Biruni equates it with the city or capital of Rum i.e., Constantinople which is practically at the same meridian as Alexandria. It should be said however that al-Biruni did not accept the equation of Lanka's longitude with that of Ujjain. He thought instead that it referred to the isle of Langabalus, the island of cloves (lavang), which may refer to the Nicobar/Andaman chain.

If we accept the Ujjain meridian, the longitude for Yamakoti would be at around 120-122 degrees East longitude.

Not much was written about Yamakoti other than it possessing walls and ramparts of gold, but Kangdez is another matter. The immortals lived here and a great fortress was hidden here within a mountain. It is associated with the Varkash Sea, in the deepest part of which is produced the Haoma (Soma), the elixir.

This reminds us of the Churning of the Milky Ocean tale in the Mahabharata where the burnt runoff of flaming Mount Mandara flows into the sea:

The friction of the trees started fire after fire, covering the mountain with flames like a black monsoon cloud with lightening streaks...many juices of herbs and manifold resins of the trees flowed into the water of the ocean. And with the milk of these juices that had the power of the Elixir, and with the exudation of the molten gold, the God attained immortality. The water of the ocean now turned into milk, and from this milk butter floated up, mingled with the finest of essences.

The general location of the prime meridian of Kang-dez and Yamakoti would agree with Chinese myths of the three isles of the blest including Penglai, shaped like cauldrons in a manner that reminds us of the Hermetic Krater. They were located somewhere in the "Eastern Sea" but in a location where the Sun rose at the horizon i.e, in the equatorial parts. The Formosan speakers of Taiwan have legends of a homeland to the south or southeast of Taiwan also associated with the Sun (or the multiple superfluous Suns).

Even though the Indians used Lanka as their own meridian, they usually named Yamakoti first when listing the four quadrants of the globe.

Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento

References

King, David A. World-Maps for Finding the Direction and Distance to Mecca: Innovation and Tradition in Islamic..., Brill Academic Publishers, 1999.

Minorsky, V. Hudud al-`Alam. the Regions of the World: A Persian Geography 372 A.H.--982 A.D., London: C.E. Bosworth, 1970.

Sachau, Edward C. Alberuni's India Vol I: An Account of the Religion, Philosophy, Literature, Geography, Chronolog..., Routledge, 2001.

Glossary: Exploration, Ancient Sea

Early proponents of diffusionism have suggested the existence of ancient sun-worshipping argonauts who explored the equatorial regions. W.J. Perry in his book The children of the sun; a study in the early history of civilization, for example, proposed that such intrepid explorers left megaliths at each new location they discovered.

More recently, the late Thor Heyerdahl suggested that these navigators followed the Sun on its westward journey near the equator. Seeing the Sun vanish in the western horizon at evening and then reappear in the East at morning, they could rest assured they would eventually return home. Some have suggested that ancient tales of visiting and returning from the Underworld were in reality coded references to early circumnavigation of the globe.

Indeed, the knowledge of a round globe and the assurance that by traveling continuously in any direction, one would eventually return to known territory was essential in generating the "Age of Exploration."

There are however recorded seafaring traditions some preserved to this day that give us glimpses of how ancient explorers could venture over open sea for hundreds or thousands of miles without needing to circle the globe.

Navigators of the Pacific used cognitive maps for regions that were known to them. Most important of the memorized locations was what Harold Gatty called the "home center." When Tupaia constructed his map for Captain James Cook, he was able to point "to the part of heaven, where each isle was situated" according to Forster, an obvious reference to zenith stars.

However, a zenith star at any particular moment in the diurnal day can also indicate the longitude of a destination. For example, at the start of the solar year, indicated for example by the heliacal rising or setting of a fixed star, the celestial bodies at sunset will be positioned over specific geographical locations in both latitude and longitude.


At a certain time, the zenith star can indicate both the latitude and longitude of a place. As an example, the bearing of this star on the horizon can be estimated by the distance, parallel to the horizon, of the zenith star from the local meridian. The same distance is then used from the corresponding point of the compass.


This relationship will not last long due to the constant spinning of the earth on its axis. However, that location at that particular point in time, what we know as azimuth and elevation, can continue to be associated with the star and the geographical location. The azimuth and elevation at that moment can be a reference to the star and thus we will call it an "etak star" from the Micronesian system of navigational references.

At the same time during the succeeding heliacal rising or setting, the star will again be at about the same azimuth and elevation. The existing slight error is not cumulative and tends to cancel out, so this is a reliable way of correlating geography with the fixed stars both in terms of latitude and longitude.

As long as the observer is in the same geographical location the etak star for any other location will always be the same.


As the zenith star moves into a new position due to the diurnal spinning of the globe, the reference azimuth and elevation, or etak star, marks the place in the sky corresponding to the destination. While the observer remains in the same location, the etak star for the destination will always remain the same.

If the observer, however, moves toward or away from the etak star, the location of the latter will change. Moving toward the etak star, the position in the sky moves closer to the zenith, while moving away drives the etak star closer to the horizon.
Upon reaching the destination, the etak star should be directly overhead in the zenith.


The etak star moves closer toward the zenith as the ship moves closer to the destination.


For navigators trained from childhood to memorize the relative positions of the stars, keeping track of an etak star should not present a difficult task. Even amateur stargazers can rather quickly orient themselves using the polar stars, their general knowledge of the rising/setting points of constellations, the seasonal rising/setting point of the Sun, etc.

When traveling to a destination, the navigator must only be able to reposition the etak star proportionally to the distance traveled. This is what is done using the Micronesian etak system. Depending on the winds and currents, an etak represents a division of the total distance per a unit of time, usually a solar day.

The etak distance is thus relative and in certain conditions the distance covered in a day might be more than 100 miles while in another it is less than 20 miles. By maintaining orientation, the navigator perceives not only the distance covered but the relative change in position in all directions.

There exists some documented evidence of the use of zenith stars for the purpose of obtaining bearings by both the Tongans and Tikopians. Unfortunately few details are given. Even more mysterious are fuzzy references suggesting such usage in traditions concering the Hawai'i-Tahiti voyages. There are many other notices of vague, uncertain usage of zenith or other high stars in the Pacific (Lewis, p. 289ff).

Steering toward an etak star or the related bearing on the horizon is not the same as steering toward the corresponding zenith star. As J.P. Frankel notes, the longitude indicated by zenith stars changes by about one degree every four minutes. However, the etak star bearing changes only according to the change of position of the observer. At most this will usually be no more than a few degrees in an entire day.

And since any error in judgement will be random and thus non-cumulative, they tend to cancel out with each position-fixing. That would mean that longer journeys with more readings would tend to be more accurate in terms of position-fixing than short ones!

Exploring unknown territory

When the navigator ventures into new regions, they could use the home center system to always find their way back to known territory without necessarily needing to circumnavigate the globe.

Even in areas with strong prevailing winds, there are always seasonal wind shifts and current patterns that allow explorers to confidently undertake circular journeys using the etak stars of unknown regions as their guide. The journey of the Hokule`a, a recreation of the ancient Polynesian journeys from Tahiti to Hawai`i and back, demonstrates this clearly.

Some general knowledge about ocean currents could also have helped equatorial ocean exploration. For example, currents traveling just below the equator tend to move in the opposite direction as those just above the equator.

By sailing or even paddling against the wind in periods of light winds, one can explore the nature of currents in unknown regions knowing the breeze will be at your back during the return journey.

Micronesian seafarers of the Caroline Islands were able to chart confusing currents stretching some 1,900 miles east-to-west and 840 miles north-to-south, from Kapingamarangi to the Marianas.

Ancient bearing star

He defined the days of the year by constellations,
He founded the Nebiru station to determine the stars' limits,
That none may go too far or too short,
The stations of Enlil and Ea, he placed by his own,
Having opened the gates on both sides,
And strengthened the locks on the right and left,
In the center he placed the zenith.

These passages are from the Mesopotamian tale of Marduk's slaying of the dragon Tiamat, and his creation of the heavens from the dragon's body.

We have already suggested in the blog that Nebiru may have been both a bearing and zenith star, the "star of the crossing" to the Underworld gateway. The station of Nebiru may have been the etak star of Spica used to set the heavenly bands by which the Mesopotamians divided the equatorial "way of Anu." The gates mentioned above are those through which the Sun rises at twin-peaked Mt. Mashu in the East.

During the latter half of the fourth millennium, at the heliacal setting of Sirius, the star Spica would serve as an excellent zenith and etak star for the dual peaks of Pinatubo and Arayat.

Spica was associated much later in Greco-Roman times with Isis Pelagia, the patroness of mariners. In such a sense, what star would be more suited as a patron goddess for seafarers than the etak star of one's home port?

When the Roman empire adopted Christianity, Isis Pelagia apparently became Maria Pelagia, or the medieval Maris Stella or Stella Maris "Star of the Sea."

Late European representations of the Virgin Mary often show her holding a sheaf (spica) of wheat in her hand similar to the image for the constellation Virgo, or decorated with sheaves. Some paintings show a single star on her robe, which has been interpreted by some as representing Spica (alpha Virginis).

Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento

References

Chaucer, Geoffrey. Romancing the Goddess: Three Middle English Romances about Women, University of Illinois Press, 1998, p. 195.

Finney, Ben. Voyage of Rediscovery, University of California Press, 1994.

Lewis, David. We, the Navigators: The Ancient Art of Landfinding in the Pacific, University of Hawai`i Press, 1994.

Dog Star (Glossary)

The dog star has through the ages been associated with Sirius and/or less frequently the planet Venus.

The name of Sirius probably is derived from the Egyptian word seir meaning "prince," and related also to Hebrew sar. Another possibility is that the word comes from the Greek form for Osiris, the Egyptian god of the underworld.

The star is the brightest in the heavens and was called Kasista "Leader" by the ancient Akkadians. The Persians knew it likewise as Tistar "Chieftain" or Zeeb "Leader."

It was pictured in cultures throughout the world as a dog or wolf situated in the southern sky and associated with the hot or "dog days" of summer.

Sirius is also often connected with the image of a hunter. Among the Sumerians, Ninurta, the hunter, and husband of the dog goddess Bau (Gula), was linked with Sirius, while his wife had Venus associations. Later, when Inanna absorbs Bau's attributes she is likewise viewed as a huntress with links both to Venus and Sirius.

In Greek myth, Sirius formed the head of the hunter Orion's dog, the constellation Canis Major. According to Monier-Williams, the dog star was known among Hindus as Lubdhaka and Mrgavyadha both meaning "hunter" and referring to the god Siva or Rudra.

Another association of Sirius connects the star with the Milky Way, known often as the "Way of Souls" or the "Way of the Dog/Wolf." In this sense, Sirius is viewed as one or more dogs or wolves guarding the path taken by departed souls.

In ancient Egypt, the heliacal rising of Sirius was central to the yearly calendar. Sirius and Orion are personified respectively by the deities Sopdet and Sah, who are in turn manifestations of Isis and Osiris. Sopdet and Sah beget Sopdu, who is the manifestation of Horus, the son of Isis and Osiris, and the patron deity of Egyptian royalty. Sopdet is sometimes portrayed as a large dog, or as riding side-saddle on a dog (during the Roman period).

When the Sun and Moon conjoined at the start of the Egyptian New Year a festival known as the "sacred marriage" was celebrated. This may relate to the Pyramid Texts which state that Pharaoh unites with Isis in a form of hieros gamos bringing forth Horus-Sopdu. In another passage, the royal-divine union is said to beget the Morning Star, and thus may connect Venus with Horus.

Among the Sumerians, the sacred marriage took place between the priest-king and Inanna, the latter probably represented by the Lukur priestess, who was in turn linked with the daughters of dog-headed Bau. Inanna again has as her planet Venus and Sirius as one of her fixed stars. The king during this ritual stands for Dumuzi, the husband of Inanna, and every year near the rising of Sirius in the summer, the Kelabim or dog priests of Dumuzi (Tammuz) held rites for the god.

Adonis had similar rites, and Carl Kerenyi believes that the orgia festivals celebrated in honor of Dionysos were also linked with the Sirius cycle.

Further to the east we find numerous myths of the marriage of a dog to a goddess or queen in the totemic histories of numerous peoples. Especially in Central Asia, South China, Southeast Asia and the Pacific the concept of part-dog or wolf ancestry is prevalent. From Assam in the West to Mongolia in the North and Java in the South, eastward to New Guinea and other Pacific isles in Oceania and northward again to the Ryukus and Bering Sea, the sacred dog-human marriage motif is found.

David Gordon White in Myths of the Dog-Man discusses the motif found among the Chinese, Hmong-Mien and Southeast Asian peoples of a heavenly dog who comes to earth following catastrophic floods bringing the gift of rice agriculture. These resemble closely the Kapampangan tales of Tala who rescues the flooded inhabitants of Central Luzon by teaching them riziculture. White mentions a "tradition, dating from the Shang dynasty, that connects a dog with the ancient rice god Shang-ti, and a Ch'in and Han period sacrifice called the lei (a term for which the Chinese characters are "dog," "rice," and "head") that involved the offerings of dog's flesh and rice, by which a dismembered Shang-ti was ritually reintegrated and resurrected."

Shang-ti becomes associated with T'ien (Heaven) during the Zhou (Chou) dynasty and the Shih-chi states that the god in the form of the "Ti-Dog" was the ancestor of the Hou Chih and T'ai peoples.

Although Sirius (known as the Heavenly Wolf in China) is not mentioned in these legends, the idea of a heavenly dog coming after the summer floods indeed could represent a link with the dog Star. The heliacal rising of Sirius during the summer heralds the flooding season in the monsoon climate region. The descent of Sirius or Venus from Heaven in the form of a dog bringing agriculture and uniting in divine marriage all fit in the Sirius myth pattern. The flooding of the Nile after the rising of Sirius was essential to good harvests in ancient Egypt.

The image of Phan Hu descending from Heaven and swimming across the flooded earth with a rice plant in his mouth, to later marry the Chinese emperor's daughter and father the Yao people is an ideal form of the Eastern myth.

While various explanations have been given for the canine attributes bestowed to the star Sirius, the link with a culture-bearing ancestor is the one proposed here. In this sense, the heliacal rising of Sirius would herald the advent of the canine hero linked in this case with the cataclysmic eruption of the cosmic mountain.

In ancient symbology, this involved the Sun and Moon, not simply conjunct as in the Egyptian New Year festival, but in solar eclipse represented by the Crescent Sun. Venus in inferior conjunction or transit is represented as a star in the center or next to the Crescent Sun. These celestial bodies should be placed above or emerging from a mountain, hill, mound, stupa, triangle, pyramid, person's head or some other symbol of the cosmic axis.

In some cases, one can also see to the left of these symbols another star or stellar symbol that should be taken as representing Sirius. Left in this case means to the south as ideally the celestial configuration should be in the West, the direction of Pinatubo.

Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala
Sacramento

References

Kerenyi, Carl. Dionysos: Archetypal Image of Indestructible Life, Princeton University Press, 1996.

McGahey, Robert. The Orphic Moment: Shaman to Poet-Thinker in Plato, Nietzsche, and Mallarme, SUNY Press, 1994.

Sasaki, Chris. Constellations: Stars & Stories, Sterling Publishing Company, Inc., 2003, p. 32ff.

Shaw, Ian. The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt, Oxford University Press, 2002.

White, David Gordon. Myths of the Dog-Man, University of Chicago Press, 1991.