ogs are typically thought ofas man’s best friend andguardian of the household,where they protect children,land, and livestock. It is nowonder that they are alsoused as guardians ofunderworlds and theafterlife. They guard theentrances to the realms ofthe dead and accompany thepsychopompic lords andladies as they travel theirown lands and the lands ofthe living. They are fierce,loyal, and brave. And thosewho would stand againstthem must be daring or mador both; as they are notpeaceful or polite.

Arguably the most famous ofsuch hounds in the Westernworld is Cerberus (theLatinized version of theGreek Kerberos), the threeheaded guardian of theGreek underworld Hades,who served the realm’seponymous ruler. Cerberusboth watched for thoseattempting to enter and exitthe nether region, and wasadept at sniffing out livingintruders. Having apenchant for live meat, onlythe dead were safe to enterinto Hades’ land.

Born of the half-woman/half-serpent Echidna and whosefather was the fearedTyphon, Cerberus lived up tohis monstrous parents’image. Not only did thehound have three heads, butwas also said to have a maneof live serpents and aserpent’s tail. While this isthe standard description ofthe animal, it has also beensaid to have as many as 50or 100 heads, but never lessthan two. Its siblings werethe famous hydra andchimera, as well as the twoheaded Orthrus, anotherhellhound that figures intoGreek mythology.

UnderworldHOUNDS Of the

James SlavenÅsgårdsreien, a Norse version of Wild Hunt (by Peter Nicolai Arbo1872)

In general, Cerberus was anunstoppable guard dog.However, there were waysaround him. He was lulledto sleep by Orpheus,although unless you are alegendary musician this maynot be the best idea to try. Itis also possible to knock thebeast out with drugged food,which also shows he has anon-carnivore side as thesuccessful use of this trickused oatcakes. If all elsefails, having the strength of ademi-god would also work.Heracles, hero andstrongman of legend,overpowered Cerberus usingonly his body, and was ableto drag it back to the worldabove as the last of histwelve labors. Here he setthe dog to guard the secretgroves of Demeter.Cerberus’ utility in theafterlife was continued intothe Christian era. Dantewrites of Cerberus being thepunishment for gluttons,rending their souls foreternity; although here he isdescribed as a great workrather than a canine.

Norse tradition holds thatthe dog Garmr (Old Norsefor “rag”) guards Nilfheim,the lowest of the nine realmsin Norse cosmology wherethe dead who have not diedin battle find themselves.Little is written aboutGarmr’s responsibilities forHel, the ruler of Nilfheim,however the hound does

play a role at Ragnarök. Hishowl will be heard at thestart of the world’s end, andhe and the god Tyr will givethe other his fatal blow.Sometimes confused withthe great wolf Fenrir, theyare indeed distinct animals;with Garmr guarding Hel’sabode and Fenrir havingbeen chained by the gods.

Garmr is mentioned in thetwo best sources of Norsemythology, the Poetic Eddaand the Prose Edda. Theseare collections of Old Norsepoems and literature thatdescribe the Norse deitiesand heroes in Germanic lore.The poem whichgives the best examples ofthings, mentions Garm (analternate spelling) as the bestof hounds. One of Garmr’s

few listed duties is given inthe Poetic Edda, as he howlswhen Odin approaches hismaster’s realm. It is in thePoetic Edda that we learn ofhis howls at Ragnarök andfrom the Prose Edda of hisfight with Tyr, saying “he isthe greatest monster and heshall do battle with Tyr, andeach become the other’sslayer.”

From Welsh tales, the CwnAnnwn are the spectralhunting hounds of Arawn,the ruler of the WelshOtherworld Annwn. Thehounds are said to be ofwhite coloration with redears, red being the colorassociated with death for theCelts and white beingassociated with thesupernatural. They arefound primarily in the FirstBranch of the Mabinogi. Thisis the first part of acollection of Welshmythology, the Mabinogion,which also happens to be theearliest extant British proseliterature.

Here they are shown to behunting a stag and help setup the initial meetingbetween their master andPwyll, a Welsh prince that isthe focus of the first branch.In the Fourth Branch they arementioned, although not byname, as also having as amaster Gwyn ap Nudd. BothArawn and Gwyn are lords of

Hel with her hound Garmr, byJohannes Gehrts, 1889

The most stable proportionsof Artur Balder's “Saga ofTeutoburg,” four textsdedicated to Arminius theCheruscan, the man whodefeated Rome in the year 9A.D., are the mythical ones;those belonging to the field ofhermeneutics [the science oftextual interpretation] -philology and philosophy,philology and myth, myth andphilosophy. A triangle, as aGermanic valknut, isinterconnected to representthe social redemptionthroughout what the authorhimself described as theheroic dimension of the world.

In the formulation of Balder'screative thinking there is avery decisive source: GustavGerber and his philosophy oflanguage. Gerber’s “

” [Language as Art,

1871], is something that wecould describe like Kant readthrough Schopenhauer.Balder's philosophy is, andonly is, an extreme, radicalphilology: powerfulhermeneutics connecting, onthe one hand, with JohannGeorg Hamann's “

” [Writings onLanguage] and, on the otherhand, supported by thelinguistic skepticism ofMauthner and Wittgenstein:“Rational thinking is aninterpretation according to ascheme which we cannotdetach from.” Balder rejectsmental optimism of grammar,whose best example is,according to him, Descartes.

Balder states that “the being isan empty fiction, while themyth is the absolute truth.”The myth becomes his central

idea, and the anthology of themyth its precondition.Philology becomes to him anenlightened being through theancient art of reading. Andthat can only happen whenphilology, with the Proto-Germanic language involved,suggests the early light of themyth in the very roots oflanguage.

The heroic substance ispresented from a mythical-apocalyptical point of viewthat has much in commonwith the implication ofinevitable fate in theScandinavian myths. Or, aswritten by Solveig Nordströmin her essay about the Saga,“the birth of the myth in thespirit of language.” The wholephilosophy of Balder isheading towards a reflectionon the interpretation of

The Saga of Teutoburg:Artur Balder’s

by Javier Tomás

Language and the Creation of Heroic Myth

history as a basic mythicalprocess; one that extends andconceives itself only as aninterpretation of a new mythof redemption for theindividual in its heroicdimension.

Thus, the poetics, thephilosophy of language andthe birth of the myth in thespirit of language. WhenBalder adds the research onthe earliest Germanic languageto his tetralogy aboutArminius the Cheruscan is themoment he provides the Sagawith its loftiest ingredient, theone that gives it uniquecharacter. Here Tolkien'squote is not banal, a man whocould not conceive creating hisliterature without an inventionof languages that endowed hisnarration of a “depth” abovethe usual narrative, whichacquired the mythologicalweight of internal credibility,inherent to the fiction of hisstory, justified in amythological frameworkexcerpted from language. Inthe case of the tetralogydedicated to Arminius, theProto-Germanic language givesan even deeper philosophical

transcript surrounding thetheory of heroes, one ofBalder’s literature leitmotivs.

Similarly, one can speak of anontological turn ofhermeneutics following thethread of language. And thesame thing has to be stated:Balder transferred to narrativea practice of philology –hermeneutics - and, with it,

the problem and anguish ofthe mythical interpretation ofthe historical dialectic ofhuman existence. He leads usthrough paths that perhapsare far from the very nature oftoday’s society, but that todayshould be questioned. Itrepresents a jail from whichWestern heritage and traditionshould be set free.

inset of The Stora Hammars I stone,where the valknut appears in the most

central and predominant position

The Hermannsdenkmal circa 1900

Many assume mythology onlyrefers to stories of old, deadreligions, and fables passedthrough generations. Is itpossible for a group oftalented artists andstorytellers to come togetherand conceive a myth? Can alegend be created from wholecloth?

George Lucas’ is aspecial effects sword andsorcery science fiction spaceopera set “a long time ago, ina galaxy far away...” Releasedon May 25,1977, there wereother sci fi films released thatyear including the amazing

.

While great films in their ownright, they didn’t have quitethe same staying power andresonance thatheld. Perhaps it is because ofour natural proclivity forlegends and tales of old thatmade this carefully craftedtale such a hallmark foralmost half of a century, andsurely for decades to come.

Joseph Campbelldemonstrated in his book

that almost all mythologiesand tales from culturesaround the world could bebroken down to basiccommon elements. He called

this concept the “Hero’sJourney,” or “monomyth.”

Lucas’ first influence to hisscreenplay is the serialadventures of Flash Gordon, aseries of films, televisionprograms, and a comic stripladen with heroics andintrigue set in space. Lucasloved these stories as a child,and wanted to emulate thatsense of adventure the seriesinspired, but was havingtrouble structuring the eventsin his script. In 1975, havingalready completed twoprevious drafts for ,he rediscovered JosephCampbell’s famous book,

A Long Time Ago:

Star Wars and The Hero’s Journeyby Vasilios Markousis

Many assume mythology onlyrefers to stories of old, deadreligions, and fables passedthrough generations. Is itpossible for a group oftalented artists andstorytellers to come togetherand conceive a myth? Can alegend be created from wholecloth?

George Lucas’ is aspecial effects sword andsorcery science fiction spaceopera set “a long time ago, ina galaxy far away...” Releasedon May 25,1977, there wereother sci fi films released thatyear including the amazing

.While great films in their ownright, they didn’t have quitethe same staying power andresonance thatheld. Perhaps it is because ofour natural proclivity forlegends and tales of old thatmade this carefully craftedtale such a hallmark foralmost half of a century, andsurely for decades to come.

Joseph Campbelldemonstrated in his book

that almost all mythologiesand tales from culturesaround the world could bebroken down to basiccommon elements. He calledthis concept the “Hero’sJourney,” or “monomyth.”

Lucas’ first influence to hisscreenplay is the serialadventures of Flash Gordon, aseries of films, televisionprograms, and a comic stripladen with heroics andintrigue set in space. Lucasloved these stories as a child,and wanted to emulate thatsense of adventure the seriesinspired, but was havingtrouble structuring the eventsin his script. In 1975, havingalready completed twoprevious drafts for ,he rediscovered JosephCampbell’s famous book,having read it previouslyduring his film school days.With his rediscovery andimplementation of themonomyth concept he was

able to improve his storywhich would go on to wowaudiences and inspire wonderin audiences the world over.

Let's get into how themonomyth is implementedinto the film. There are threestages to the tale, ,

, and withseveral sub-stages withineach.

In the stage,several things are happening.We meet our characters, thebrave and beautiful princessand the monstrous blackvillain in the opening sceneson the rebel ship, and thenthe reluctant hero, thewarrior-wizard, and the rogueon the planet Tatooine. Lukereceives

. He views the holo-message left by Princess Leiacalling for the aid of Obi-Wan,and suspects that Obi-Wan ismore than just an old hermit.Despite being intrigued by theold man’s tale of Luke’sfather, he decides to return

The islands of the PacificOcean were one of the lastplaces in the world to becolonised by humans. Thehow, when, and why hasoccupied archaeologists,anthropologists, linguists,and historian for decades.For the European scientist,these questions need to beanswered with solid evidence.For the indigenouspopulations, myths andlegends providing all theexplanation that was needed.

New Zealand, Hawaii, andEaster Island were the lastlandmasses to be populatedin the Pacific. These firstpeoples were at the end of along line of ancestors whosecollective knowledge fuelledtheir ability and desire totravel across vast tracts ofocean. The Pacific region ismade up of three distinctareas: Melanesia, Micronesia,and Polynesia. The first areato have been settled bypeople was Melanesia; itconsists of Vanuatu, PapuaNew Guinea, Fiji, the Solomon

Islands, the BismarckArchipelago, and NewCaledonia. Dates for the firstcolonisation range betweensome 30-50,000 years ago,their ancestors originatingfrom Southeast Asia.Micronesia is situated northof the Melanesian group andis made up of groups ofislands including Kiribati,Nauru, Marshall Islands (toname a few) and the U.S.territories of Guam, NorthernMariana Island, and WakeIsland. Evidence for thesettlement of this region is

Explorers of the Pacific:Mythological Clues to Early History

Toni-Maree Rowe

Engraving of the type of double hulled canoe which would have been used for early exploration.

The islands of the PacificOcean were one of the lastplaces in the world to becolonised by humans. Thehow, when, and why hasoccupied archaeologists,anthropologists, linguists,and historian for decades.For the European scientist,these questions need to beanswered with solid evidence.For the indigenouspopulations, myths andlegends providing all theexplanation that was needed.New Zealand, Hawaii, andEaster Island were the lastlandmasses to be populatedin the Pacific. These firstpeoples were at the end of along line of ancestors whosecollective knowledge fuelledtheir ability and desire totravel across vast tracts ofocean. The Pacific region ismade up of three distinctareas: Melanesia, Micronesia,and Polynesia. The first areato have been settled bypeople was Melanesia; itconsists of Vanuatu, PapuaNew Guinea, Fiji, the SolomonIslands, the BismarckArchipelago, and NewCaledonia. Dates for the firstcolonisation range betweensome 30-50,000 years ago,their ancestors originatingfrom Southeast Asia.Micronesia is situated northof the Melanesian group andis made up of groups ofislands including Kiribati,Nauru, Marshall Islands (toname a few) and the U.S.territories of Guam, NorthernMariana Island, and Wake

Island. Evidence for thesettlement of this region isdifficult to pin down; theearliest archaeologicalevidence comes from theisland of Saipan and is datedto around 3,500 years ago.The third group of islands isPolynesia which covers a widepart of the Pacific. Generallyspeaking New Zealand, Hawaiiand Easter Island form thecorners of a triangle withinwhich all other islands sit andare referred to as Polynesia.The ancestors of thePolynesians migrated fromSoutheast Asia a little laterthan the settlers ofMicronesia, passing throughsome parts of Micronesia andMelanesia, but rarely settlingfor long. Fiji is an interestingcase, as in many ways itstraddles the line betweenMelanesia and Polynesia.When the ancestors of thePolynesians arrived in Fiji,there had already been adecent sized population therefor millennia. Today thevisitor to Fiji will see amultitude of faces, some aredistinctly Melanesian looking(mainly in the eastern islands)and others look morePolynesian. Fiji in many wayswas a jumping off point forthe exploration further west,the next islands to be settledwere Samoa and Tonga, bothof which are not a greatdistance from Fiji. Theseearly explorers are known asLapita people based on adistinctive type of potteryfound on the archaeologicalsites.

“All island groups in islandMelanesia and West Polynesiathat lie in a south-eastdirection have Lapitasettlements. None of thesesettlements have been foundon other islands.” (G. Irwin.

TeAra: The Encylcopedia of NewZealand.)These people were exploringthe region from as early as3,500 years ago (evidencefound at the Bismarcks), andby 3,000 years ago werealready as far as Samoa andTonga. The archaeology tellsus these were small groupswho travelled fast and light.They established only a fewpermanent villages on eachmajor island group and thenthey moved on.At this time the distinctivePolynesian culture began toemerge in the west, and by2,000 years ago people hadbegun to move into theeastern part of the region. By700 A.D., the majority ofPolynesia had been settledwith the last migrations beingto New Zealand, Hawaii,Easter Island, and SouthAmerica. (The only evidencefor South America is thepresence of the ‘ ,’ orsweet potato. Radiocarbondates from kumara found inthe Cook Islands indicate thatPolynesians had reachedSouth America and returnedby 1,000 A.D. at the latest).

What has this to do with themythology of the region? Tostudy the past of this region

(ficus religiosa) located inBodh Gaya, in northern India.

In Biblical symbolism there ismuch fig/ficus lore. Adam andEve covered up with fig leavesand "fig" occurs over 50 timesin the Bible, often as a symbolof peace, prosperity, fertility(Micah 4:1-4) and long life.That a tree like the Bodhi treecould actually be 2,500 yearsold, was rejected by medievalscientists for generations; even

after Leonardo da Vinci, whowas the first person tomention that trees form ringsannually; and that theirthickness is determined by theconditions under which theygrew.

There is a grove of 16 trees inLebanon known as The OliveTrees of Noah (Genesis 8:11),that have been growing for thelast 6,000 years. They’re 4,265feet above sea level, which

In Ancient Egypt, several typesof trees appear in Egyptianmythology and art, althoughthe hieroglyph written tosignify tree appears torepresent the sycamore fig(ficus sycomorus) inparticular. The sycamore figtree had a special mythicalsignificance. According to theEgyptian Book of the Dead,twin sycamores stood at theeastern gate of heaven fromwhich the sun god, Ra,emerged each morning.Sycamores were often plantednear tombs, and burial incoffins made of sycamorewood returned a dead personto the womb of the mothertree goddess.

The sycamore was alsoregarded as a manifestation ofthe goddesses Nut, Isis, andespecially of Hathor, who wasgiven the epithet “Lady of theSycamore.”

In the northern Indian holycity of Allahabad, there is a figtree called Akshaya Vatlocated in the PatalpuriTemple. A Hindu god namedNarayana (Brahma or Vishnu)was once challenged by aHindu sage to demonstrate hispower; so Narayana brieflyflooded the world. The fig tree(ficus) Akshaya Vat was theonly living thing that stoodabove the water. Some Hindusstill worship the tree atPatalpuri as the same onefrom the legend.

Buddhists believe that theBodhi Tree where Siddharthawas sitting when he attainedenlightenment 2,500 years agois also still alive. It is a largeand very old sacred fig tree

Treesof Life

inReligious

InsightRabbi Allen S. Maller

Freyja in Idunna's Garden by Arthur Rackham

almost certainly would makethem the highest olive treesalive at the time of Noah. Mostimpressive of all, the trees arestill bearing fruit. They reallycould be called “Trees of Life.”

But by Tree of Life religions donot mean a very old still livingtree; but a mythic, symbolictree that connects two or threeseemingly very differentrealms; just as a physical treeis rooted down into the earthwith its branches reaching upto the sun, with its trunk andbranches serving as aconnecting link. The simplestconnection is between heaven(divine energy) and earth(human souls).

For those who believe in(reincarnation), the tree is adeciduous tree, and the

connection is between thethree realms of birth, deathand rebirth. The roots aresouls waiting to be born, thetrunk and branches are thosealive now, and the fallen leavesare those who have died andreturned to the earth to berecycled again.

Jewish tradition offers a thirdimage. Everyone has heard ofthe Tree of Life that was in theGarden of Eden. Very fewpeople are aware that this Treeof Life is also referred to fourmore times in the HebrewBible, all of them in the Bookof Proverbs. By examining tesefour references we can learnvery important things aboutthe Tree of Life that stood nextto the (Morality) Tree of

Knowledge of Good and Evil inthe Garden of Eden.

Proverbs 15:4 teaches us thatjust by speaking words ofkindness and comfort we areable to strengthen, revive andheal a human's spirit; whilespeaking nasty words of anger,hate and meanness are able tocrush people's spirits, “Asoothing tongue is a Tree ofLife, but a perverse tonguecrushes the spirit.” Today weare so concerned with freedomof speech that we have lostawareness of ourresponsibility to always useour tongues kindly as a Torah(divine teaching) of kindness(Proverbs 31:26). Politiciansand religious leaders especiallyneed to follow this teaching.

Tree of Life by Gustav Klimt, 1905