Chapter
1
Archaeology, Ancestors and the Stars
"Straight to the horizon the wooden track lay across the flat Summerland
marshes. Tall reeds rose on either side, hiding pelicans, swans, ducks and other
wild creatures. The deeper waters teemed with fish.
There was a scuffling sound in the undergrowth of the marsh. Whispering the call
to the soul, my mother swiftly raised her arm and threw the spear. As we heard
the death squeal of the wild pig Mara gave a shrill cry, signalling the moment
of transition to ease the creature's passage into the Otherland.
Making sure the kill was clean Mara turned to the north east and the Mound where
Madron was honoured. Touching her heart she gave the gesture of respect across
the waters towards the wooded slopes of the hill. Once more the Lady had given
of Her bounty."
The findings of archaeology provide us with information
about two kinds of Ancestors. Firstly they tell us something about
the ancient peoples
who long
ago lived in
the British Isles – what they looked like, how they lived, what they ate,
what they wore, etc. It is these people who are our far blood relations and Tribal
and Totem Family Ancestors. Secondly, the study of the remains of the earliest
earth and stone monuments, of the ancient long barrows and burial mounds, of
stone circles and megaliths, of artefacts and their decoration, both in Britain
and Europe, give us clues to the cosmology and beliefs of our early forebears
about
their ancestors – the First Ancestors of the British Isles.
For there is little doubt that the early Britons revered their Ancestors. Long
ago in the neolithic age from 4,500 BCE onwards large Houses of the Dead were
erected all over the British Isles, from the north of Scotland to the tip of
Cornwall, from western Ireland to the marshlands of East Anglia. Here the special
dead were buried with ceremony in chambers made of wood or/and stone and covered
in long or round barrows and mounds of earth. Skulls and part or whole human
and animal skeletons and horns, were placed beneath these sites or within them
in ways that suggest they were not just burials of bodies, but part of a wider
vision of the interconnectedness of death and life. These burial sites were an
integral part of a ritual landscape that later included standing stones and stone
circles, in which the relationship between the elements of earth, water, fire
and air; between the earth and the stars, the living and the dead, the womb and
the tomb were known
and honoured. Most of this knowledge we have lost.
The
history of the world is long and the life of modern human beings is relatively
short. The palaeolithic and mesolithic eras range over three and a half million
years from the appearance of the first human creatures in central Africa until
approximately 10,000 BCE. This long slow development of animal and human life
on earth was marked by certain apparent leaps in physical, emotional, mental
and spiritual consciousness, which have allowed us to evolve to our present condition.
These leaps were part of a long slow process of gradual change that only in hindsight
look like sudden developments. The path of evolution encompassed the appearance
and disappearance from the earth of many species, including the dinosaurs, Neanderthal
and Cro-Magnon humans and homo sapiens our human progenitors.
Significant cultural advances in the palaeolithic era included the developing
use of tools for all aspects of human life, of containers for food and liquids,
the development of the skilled craft of flint-knapping to make knives used in
many activities, and for arrowheads and spears for hunting. The discovery of
the secret of keeping fire alive for warmth and cooking was a vital early step,
as
was the building of shelters and the important development of language.
In this book we shall take only a cursory glance at aspects of human life in
the palaeolithic era which form the context out of which present day human beings
have evolved. Our main concern is with the cultural developments which took place
in Britain when it became an island or islands from c. 9,000 BCE onwards. It
was then that the last Ice Age ended and Britain was completely separated from
the
mainland of Europe by the sea.
Our search is for the first Tribal Ancestors who lived in and migrated to the
Isles of Britain and their beliefs about their Ancestors. As part of this search
I shall attempt to correlate some of the apparent catalytic 'leaps forward' for
humankind recorded by archaeology with known astrological, astronomical and mythical
events.
"We are born from the dust of the stars
Beings of matter, energy, life-fire and light...."
I am suggesting like others before me, that there
are things which happen on our planet which are either synchronous
with or caused by extraterrestrial
influences
from other places in our Universe. For while we are creatures of the
earth, organic life-forms of the matter of the stars, we are also beings
of energy, fire and
light. We are all susceptible to influence both physical and spiritual.
We are changed through contact with external energies as well as developing
from within
our own inherent capacities.
Many of these synchronous events occurred before there were words to
describe them, and before astronomy and astrology had developed to
name them. The heavenly
bodies and the planets have been moving in their ordered cycles throughout
the aeons whether we were here to name them or not. However the naming
or discovery
of new planets or stars always marks the entrance of new physical and
psychic patterns into human consciousness and culture. For example,
the discovery of
the planet Uranus in 1781 by Herschel with its television aerial symbol
heralded the beginning of the radiation age. The more recent discovery
of Chiron, planet
of the wounded healer in 1977, coincided with the beginning of an upsurge
of interest
in holistic and alternative healing methods.
Throughout the millennia human beings have gazed in wonder at the stars
in the night-time sky, seeking meaning in their multitudes and movements.
For several
thousand years both astrology and astronomy have been highly regarded
in many cultures which have viewed their integrated study as a vital
key to understanding
both our own world and the energies which play upon us. In the past,
beliefs about the stars were part of a cosmic world view which encompassed
the Creation
of all life in our universe. In the present astronomers and astrophysicists
also seek the origins of the universe and the meaning of life, energy
and matter,
in terms
that are not so different from those of our foremothers and fathers.
Today's astrological interpretations of the movements of heavenly bodies
describe the synchronous influence on human beings of different qualities
of energy,
which are exemplified by the ten planets and other bodies such as asteroids,
so far
discovered in our own solar system. The energy of these planets is
modified as they move against the background of twelve constellations
or signs
of the Zodiac,
which mark the cycle of the solar year. In other cultures and at other
times different
numbers of planets and constellations – 7, 9, 13 and 14, have been
recognised.
Present day astrology emphasises the influences of the planets on the
psychological make-up of human beings. In the past horary astrology
was much more concerned
with accurately predicting events, such as the deaths of kings, the
timing of marriages, wars, treaties, etc. For the Babylonians of the
second
millennium
BCE who left some of the earliest astrological records on stone tablets,
the planets
were named after or by the goddesses and gods of their world.
Astrology has long played a key role in the decisions of rulers and
nations, and importantly in the timing of ceremonies. It still does
today in many
far eastern and third world countries, although in the western world
its role is
derided and often hidden from the public eye. Even US President Reagan
decided the most auspicious
dates for international meetings with the help of an astrologer.
In addition the astrologer/astronomers of the ancient world from Babylonia
to South America to China were not confined to the influence of the
planets of our
own solar system or the twelve zodiacal constellations. They were also
aware of the influence of the fixed stars. These are the stars which
are so far away
from the earth that while actually moving at great speed they appear
to us to be held in stationary shapes. It is these stars which we see
moving as unchanging
patterns
in the blue-black night-time sky.
The ancient neolithic people knew themselves to be directly influenced
by both the fixed star and planetary energies. They aligned their sacred sites, mounds and stone circles to the rising, culmination (highest
point in the sky) and setting of the Moon, Sun and Venus; and to the
more distant stars,
such as the Great Bear, Orion, Sirius and the Pleiades. There is still
much controversy amongst archaeologists as to how true particular alignments
are, but one has
only to be at ancient sites under the clear night-time sky to realise
the significance of their positioning.
Throughout history the influences which play upon human beings have
been perceived in many different terms. They are described as both
physical
and non-physical
energies; as three, five, seven, nine or more cosmic rays or impulses;
as telepathic, mental and spiritual influences; or as the arrival on
earth of beings from inner
and outer space extraterrestrials, star beings, goddesses, gods, dakinis,
dakas, rishis or primal and cosmic ancestors. Whatever they are called
or whoever they
are, their appearance in physical or psychic form coincides with changes
in the lives of human beings on the Earth. They are part of a much
greater pattern which
we do not see from our limited perspective. Their arrival may be synchronous
with or actually causal to those changes. We may never know which,
but either way the
relationship is interesting.
I know that this is difficult ground to tread and mental resistance
can be high, but which comes first an original, inspired (from where?)
idea
from a human being,
who is later honoured as a famous ancestor, or a goddess or god; or
the arrival on earth from elsewhere of a cosmic impulse or a space
being,
or an actual goddess,
god or ancestor, who brings new knowledge to give to human beings?
The realm of the Ancestors is not just physical. It is also mythic,
reflecting the underlying archetypal patterning of the universe. It
is not simply
a question of who were the first ancestral people to live in Britain,
although this is important.
It is much more than this. The Ancestors connect us to the stars and
the energy, matter and patterning of the universe. The stories of the
Ancestors describe
aspects of the fundamental matrices of life. Through communication
the Ancestors can give
us access, if they so choose, to the wisdom of the ages.
In order to fully explore the nature and teaching of our British Ancestors
we must tread a fine line of courage, truth and discrimination. I don't
claim that
all the suggestions I shall make are 'right', but they are a beginning
to the process of merging spiritual and material knowledge, to reclaiming
the teaching
of our Ancestors.
TRIBAL ANCESTORS IN THE PALAEOLITHIC ERA
In her book, Women in Prehistory, Margaret Ehrenberg
(British Museum) argues the case for a different vision of the roles
of women and men
in prehistory.
I have found it gives a more balanced, commonsense evaluation of
the lives of our forebears to that usually presented. She examines
the
findings of archaeology,
anthropology and relevant animal studies concerning the relative
status and importance of women and men in the palaeolithic and neolithic
eras.
I shall apply some of
her conclusions
to this quest for our Tribal Ancestors.
Margaret's research suggests that in palaeolithic and mesolithic
times, societies were essentially matrifocal (mother-centred), foraging
and
nomadic. Like present
day nomads, people travelled in small family groups migrating with
the seasons like the birds and the animals and foraging for accessible
sources
of food. For
these early people the most important activities were concerned with
survival, with having enough food to eat and physical and spiritual
protection for children
and adults from the elements, from disease and other hostile animals.
Margaret Ehrenberg's work shows that in these early times, as is
still the case in much of the Third World today, (Women In the World
by Joni
Seager and Ann
Olson, Pan 1986) women provided the bulk of the daily diet for the
family, tribe or clan. They spent most of their days foraging for
food seeds,
fruit, underground
roots, tubers, etc., and small animals or the remains of prey killed
by wild animals. Women had children selectively, usually once every
three or four years
after the youngest one had stopped breast-feeding. In a nomadic lifestyle
only one child can be carried at a time, leaving the hands free to
gather food and
do other work. In these early days women, through their magical ability
to recreate life within their own bodies, and through their work
of food-gathering, were
highly valued. This was particularly so where food was shared and
exchanged within the society.
There was a relatively small amount of hunting carried out by men
and also women, which depended on the gradual development of adequate
spears,
bows, arrows and
knives. Meat was a smaller part of the diet for the earliest humans.
Animals, which could be friendly or deadly, were revered as divine
spirits and magical
totems, who roamed through the bounteous forests of the Great Mother.
THE GREAT MOTHER/PRIMAL ANCESTOR
The
Creatrix of our world is the Mother Goddess of Birth, Nature and
Death, whose mythical name is the first Sound on the outward hu man
breath – Aaaaa. In
time She became known as Aaaaa. . .na, Ana, Anu, Anna, Amma, An and Ann. She
is the Great Grand Mother Ancestor of us all, who gave birth from Her cosmic
Womb
to a daughter – Planet Earth and to the Primal Ancestors – the
great energy beings who underlie the natural elements and the forces
of nature.
They are the beings who helped create the world in which we live.
They filled the oceans with water, pushed apart the separating continents,
created the endless
sky, the heaving mountains, the rivers, the plants and the animals.
They are still
here and are responsible for the continuation of her world.
For
the earth is our Mother and the outlines of her body could be seen
in the ancient landscapes, uncluttered by the work of human hands.
The hills
were her breasts
and ever-pregnant womb. The valleys were her secret places where
from within dark recesses fresh waters sprang, flowing into streams
and
rivers that ran to
the ocean. Her body was clothed in a rich green mantle of trees and
vegetation. It rose and fell and rippled like a dragon's back, sometimes
spewing
fire, or she lay coiled like a serpent, then grew large in the air
like a giant. When
she turned over in her sleep the earth shuddered and like slipping
sheets the continents
slowly separated.
The first images of the Creatrix so far found in Europe, dating from
35,000 years ago, show a rounded, fecund woman's body honouring the
fertile, birth-giving
and nurturing qualities of the Great Mother. The well-known Venus
of Willendorf is one example out of many. Her breasts and abdomen
are
full like those of a
woman who has just given birth. The personal features of her face,
hands and feet are missing, hidden or reduced in size. Other early
figurines
show the Mother
with her hand on her large pregnant belly the Venus of Laussel, or
the emphasised breasts, belly and buttocks of the Venus of Lespugue.
As the
Mother of Death
She is stiff and white, carved from bone. (The Language of the Goddess
by Maria Gimbutas, Thames
and Hudson, 1990)
In
later images from mesolithic and neolithic times this Primal Mother
is frequently associated with or depicted as being part bird or animal
as
well as ancestral
woman. She is the Bird Mother, Bear Mother, Lion Lady, Serpent Mother,
Cow Mother, Deer Mother and Fish Goddess. She is the Lady of the
Beasts. (See Lady of the
Beasts by Buffie Johnson, Harper San Francisco, 1990)
DIVINE ANIMALS AND TOTEM SPIRITS
From early palaeolithic times there is evidence from all over the
world for the worship of Totem Spirits and Divine Animals. Totems
are the
informing spirits
of the natural elements, of nature in all its facets, and particularly
of the animals and plants. Archaeological findings suggest that in
particular the Lion,
the Bear and the Elk were worshipped in many parts of the world as
Divine Animals throughout much of the palaeolithic era.
Many of the beings and their images so far found are predominantly
female. At the present time they are being reclaimed as divine antecedents
by
women and
men researching into archaeology and ancient myth. They are taken
as evidence for the presence and worship of the Goddess, the Divine
Feminine,
in many forms
in ancient times. I would like to suggest that in addition to being
evidence for the honouring and love of the Goddess, these forms are
also evidence
for the honouring of Totem Spirits and Ancestors, the divine feminine
offspring of
the Great Mother. As we begin to reclaim the Goddess in Britain,
with her associated animals and elements we may also find our lost
Totem
Ancestors. (See later section
on Ancestors,
Goddesses and Gods)
In the western world through historical time the divine Totem Spirits
of early days slowly became more humanised. Through time from being
purely divine animals
or birds they then became part-animal or bird and part-human/divine.
Later these Totem Spirits came to be named and depicted in human
form in the pantheons of
goddesses and gods who are often shown in statues and wall paintings
as being attended by the Totem animal or bird, which originally was
integral to their
nature. Their apotheosis in this form lies in the myths of the Greek
and Roman pantheons in which immortal beings act as mortals with
divine qualities and sometimes
human
failings.
THE GREAT BEAR MOTHER
A major cult of the Bear Mother has been traced
from the earliest times throughout the colder northern hemisphere,
from Finland to
Siberia
to North America. Ritually
arranged skulls of herbivorous cave bears have been discovered in
caves in France and in the German Alps, which date from the time
of Neanderthal
humans, at least
75,000 years ago. The Great She Bear, whose animal fur, skins and
body gave warmth and food to the northern peoples was revered as
an awesome
Ancestor Mother of
human beings. The Ainu of Japan, who are descendants of early Siberian
migrations, still retain their veneration of the Bear in both legend
and ritual. For Native
Americans the Bear is one of the guardians of the Four Directions.
(Primitive Mythology by Joseph Campbell, Penguin)
The
Great She Bear also reigned in the heavens. She was named in the
constellation of Ursa Major which cycled then as now, around the
night-time skies
of the northern hemisphere each year. In Altaic, Siberian and Tibetan
mythology
there was said
to be a direct connection between Ursa Major and the Earth via a
Universal Tree, which was rooted in the earth at Shambhala. Shambhala
itself
is a mythical realm
which lies somewhere to the north of Tibet. It is believed to be
a source of the 'Ancient Wisdom'. (See 'Dawn Behind the Dawn' by
Geoffrey
Ashe,
Henry Holt,
1992).
Dakinis and Dakas were female and male fiery 'sky-goers' who flew
down to Shambhala from Ursa Major attracted by their human and animal
counterparts – the
original ankas (women shaman) of the Altai. They lit up the sky with
the light from their
own bodies and brought the secrets of fire to human beings. They appeared
as pillars
of fire by night and as clouds by day.
The earliest ankas and shamans of colder northern climes were able
to physically fly through the air either on the back of a bird, on
a branch
of the Universal
Tree (just like the European witches) on a drum or on a magical horse.
They wore the skins of the Bear Mother to attract her presence. They
flew up to the top
of the Sacred Mountain and ascended through the branches of the Universal
Tree to communicate with the dakinis and dakas who were the Great
Bear Spirits. These
Spirits later became known as the Seven Rishis of the Great Bear.
Under the influence of patriarchal thinking these Spirits were seen
to be
male, but originally were
predominantly female. In the coming age we may recognise them as
both.
In ancient times this veneration of the Bear Mother was widespread
throughout the northern hemisphere. She has continued to make her
appearance with
different names throughout time. One of her most well-known forms
is that of Artemis-Callisto
in the Greek pantheon. In Europe several ancient clans, including
the Orsini or Ursini family, trace descent from the She Bear, carrying
the bear on their
coat of arms. Moscow's coat of arms includes a bear who carries a
double
axe or labrys. In Britain, based on this early veneration of the
Great She Bear,
we find our
own mythic hero-king Arthur, named from the Welsh Arth Vawr – Heavenly
Bear. He was believed to be the son/lover/spouse of Artha, Artio,
Ars, Ursa, Ursel – the
Great She Bear.
THE GREAT LION
In other parts of the palaeolithic world in a tract
of land running parallel to the Equator and including Africa, the
probable birthplace
of modern
human beings, there is evidence for the worship of the Divine Lion,
who had its heavenly
counterpart in the constellation of Leo. Later the Lion Mother was
worshipped in the early neolithic town of Catal Huyuk, now in present
day Turkey,
where many amazing archaeological remains have been found. A sculpture
from 7,000 BCE
shows a large seated Goddess accompanied by two large felines, giving
birth to a baby from between Her legs. The Lion Mother also appeared
in Krete as the Goddess
accompanied by two large cats and in Egypt as the lion-headed Sekmet.
The European Cybele, who was also the ancient Sun Goddess, is usually
accompanied by two lionesses.
The Lion Mother was equated with the power of the Sun to bring both
life and scorching death.
Some of the many expressions of the royal Lady with Lions have been
explored by Asphodel Long in her original book 'In a Chariot drawn
by Lions',
The Women's Press, 1992. She equates the Lion Mother with Asherah,
Ishtar, Anat, Elat and
with Sophia, the Lady of Wisdom.
EUROPEAN DIVINE ANIMALS
In France there are wonderful palaeolithic cave
paintings of bulls, cows, horses, cats, stags, bears, rhinoceros,
auroch, mammoth and
bison. The
beautiful carving
of the fecund Venus of Laussel from 20,000 BCE, holds a bison horn
in her hand carved with 13 lunar notches. In the famous Lascaux caves
there
are richly painted
and carved scenes dating from 15,000 BCE. They show all kinds of
animals running across the underground walls. In one a shaman figure
stands
below them wearing
a panther skin, a pair of horns and a bison's hump. Many of these
paintings are found in the deepest accessible parts of underground
caves, indicating
a belief
that the Earth herself was seen to be the Mother of the animals.
As Britain was still joined to Europe during the mesolithic era,
many wild animals also roamed here, including the elk, wolf, bear,
boar,
rhinoceros, cave lion,
etc. However the climate in Britain at the time was inhospitable
to human beings and there are as yet no known cave paintings in Britain.
These
creatures are
remembered in the much later oral traditions of the Irish peoples,
in the Welsh Mabinogion and Arthurian and other legends. Their power
is
revealed in the stories
of the Bear Son Arthur and magical quests for Divine Animals, such
as Wild Boars, the
Salmon of Wisdom, etc.
It is from these early times that family groupings and tribes assumed
their Totem Spirits and named themselves from amongst the elements
in their surroundings
the plants, animals, landscape features and natural phenomena. Family
Clans were matrilineal with totem and clan spirits and names passing
naturally from mother
to children. Like the birds and animals, nomadic tribes followed
the natural energy lines of the earth, the ley or song-lines that
wove
the web of creation
across the surface of the earth. Like the First Australians on their
migrations they sang the world
alive.
It is from within this context that the cultural evolution of the
neolithic era took place.
THE SECRET OF THE GRAIN AND NEOLITHIC EVOLUTION
Margaret
Ehrenberg observes that since it was the women in these ancient times
who daily foraged for food from the forests and seeds
from the
earth, it was
almost certainly women who first cultivated wild varieties of large-lobed
cereal grains. It must have been a woman or small group of women,
Tribal Ancestors of
the far past, who first realised, discovered or were given the secrets
of the cultivation of grain. It must have been women who first intentionally
sowed the
wild seeds of barley, emmer and einkorn wheat, knowing that they
could return in a few weeks to harvest the mature crops. The grain
could
then be stored and
eaten or ground
into flour throughout the leaner months of the year.
Some archaeologists suggest that this discovery took place after
10,000 BCE simultaneously in both the Fertile Crescent and Southeast
Asia
(Thailand, etc.). The Fertile
Crescent is an area surrounding ancient Sumer and the Rivers Tigris
and Euphrates, which includes modern day Turkey (Anatolia), Iraq,
Iran, Syria
and Israel (Jericho).
The purposeful growing of large-seeded grain crops was a major step
for humanity which slowly revolutionised the way that all human beings
lived
and was a catalyst
to neolithic culture.
As grain crops could be sown in one place and later harvested for
future use there was less need for a nomadic life style, which had
to follow
the seasonal
availability of food. Nomadic peoples began to settle in one or more
places and became horticulturists growing their own staple foods.
Where they could
they
lived in caves or began
to build permanent living structures – homes, storage places, granaries,
etc., initially from wood, woven grasses and other organic materials
and later from sun-baked mud and stone.
The knowledge of the secrets of the grain spread in a slow cultural
wave outwards from the Fertile Crescent as people travelled east
and west,
through the Mediterranean
countries and Europe and across the sea, eventually arriving in Britain,
probably from Spain and France, probably around 7/6,000 BCE. All
over Europe and the Near
East human populations expanded rapidly. More children could be born
as their mothers did not need to be constantly on the move. As women
had more children
they stayed home for longer and did not go hunting so often. Their
work became more domestic, centred on the home, and as the evidence
of arthritis
in their
skeletons shows, they spent long hours each day grinding grain by
hand on smooth stone quorns. The daily grind had begun.
Human creativity grew rapidly as buildings became more permanent
and there was no longer the need to carry all one's possessions on
one's
body. Some could be
left at home. Also individuals and family groups could have more
possessions. Areas of virgin forest were cut down for wood for fires
and buildings,
to make room to build settlements and to plant crops.
Women held the Secrets of the Grain because they had found them.
They were the planters of seeds in memory of the Grain Ancestor she
who
had given/found the
secret of the grain. Also since women bore the children only they
were believed to have the magical fertile power necessary to give
life to
the grain and successfully
sow the seeds in the earth. This is still a belief amongst some present
day native tribes-people, such as the Kogi from South America.
By this time spears, arrows and hunting equipment had evolved sufficiently
for hunters to be able to kill most kinds of animals, even the largest
and fiercest.
According to Margaret Ehrenberg meat now formed a greater part of
the human diet. A few of the young animals which had been orphaned
when
the men hunted and killed
their mothers, were kept near to the new homes and reared for their
meat and skins. Dogs helped in the hunt and were among the first
animals to
be domesticated.
Men claimed the Secrets of the Animals that had once belonged to
both women and men. In this situation where both sexes contributed
to the
general wellbeing
of the whole and both knew the Secrets of the Forest and Nature,
women and men still
had equal power and status.
THE GRAIN MOTHER/GODDESS/ANCESTOR
The
Ancestor who first revealed or discovered the secret of the Grain
is one of the earliest and most highly revered of the Ancient Ones.
Throughout
history and
in nearly all cultures She has been depicted in a womanly form and
worshipped as the Grain Maiden or Corn Mother under many names. Corn
is the generic
term used for the many varieties of grain wheat, barley, corn, etc.
She is sometimes
depicted carrying a single ear of wheat, the 'spica' or Virgin's
Spike in her left hand and a palm leaf or staff, in her right. Sometimes
she has a sheaf of
wheat or barley in her hand, on her lap or beside her. In the Eleusinian
Mysteries of Demeter and Kore the secret revealed at the heart of
the
ceremony was an ear
of corn. As image the Grain Mother represents the divine Ancestor
or spiritual impulse which brought the secrets of the Grain to women
on
the Earth and also
the First
Woman who recognised and purposefully planted grain for harvesting.
Astrologically in the northern hemisphere at the height of the grain
harvest the sun passes through the constellation of Virgo. Virgo
is variously presented
as the Wheat-Bearing Maiden or Virgin, as Kore and Her mother Demeter
or Ceres. In Britain she is the Goddess Ker, with her daughter the
Kernababy or Kernel
of the wheat and her mother Keridwen. (See The Ancient British Goddess
by Kathy Jones, Ariadne Publications, 1991). Britannia, the Warrior
Matron of Britain,
with her shield and helmet also carries stalks of grain. She is the
Saxon Epona who holds
a sheaf of wheat in her lap.
She is the Native American Corn Maiden or Corn Mother who in some
tribal traditions is said to have created human beings. She is the
Roman Astreae,
daughter of Themis,
who was said to be the last of the celestial beings to leave the
earth in approximately 3,500 BCE, with the last of the Silver people.
(The
Greek Myths by Robert Graves,
Pelican). Her credentials are ancient. She is the Egyptian Isis,
with wheat ears in Her hand, which She later dropped to form the
Milky Way.
She is also Kannae,
the mother of Krishna. In the Euphratean cycle of ecliptic constellations
She is called Siru or Shim, perhaps meaning 'ear of corn'. (Star
Names, Their Lore
and Meaning by RH Allen, Dover)
The Grain Ancestor is connected to Sirius, the brightest star in
our heavens. The culmination of Sirius at midnight was celebrated
in the
great temple of Ceres
at Eleusis. It is thought to have marked the beginning of the mystery
ceremony. For the Dogon people of Mali 'ti polo', the hidden dark
partner to Sirius the
Dog Star, is known as the 'seed star' of the universe, from which
all things are
created.
Linking all these details of myth, astrology, astronomy and archaeology
is the red thread of meaning and revelation a direct impulse of energy
or a Star Being
in the form of the Grain Ancestor/ Goddess, who came to Earth from
Sirius via the constellation of Virgo. This Ancestor spoke directly
as intuition
or in the
form of the Corn Mother herself, to the women who found the wild
barley and wheat and purposefully planted it in the earth. The discovery
of
the secret of the
grain changed how human beings lived on the earth and was remembered
in reverence for the Ancestor, who was called Ker or Ceres, the Mother
of the Grain or by
a host
of other names in other cultures.
According to archaeological theories developed thus far, the secrets
of cultivating grains were discovered circa 10,000 BCE. I would suggest
that in fact the secrets
were given out in more than one age – that they were first given
around 15,000 BCE, coinciding with the astronomical Age of Virgo. Grindstones
and
grinders dating from this time have been found in Egypt, indicating an
early knowledge
of obtaining flour and plant foods from cereal grains. There is some
evidence of grain cultivation
on the Nile plains from this time.
This was during the mesolithic era or Middle Stone Age and the time
of the great cave paintings of Western Europe. There is also evidence
at
that time of a settled
lifestyle in small dwellings and caves in central France, which can
still be visited. This would suggest that the first communication
from Sirius
via Virgo,
literal or metaphysical, had anchored earlier in 15,000 BCE, probably
in the region of Egypt and north-east Africa, diffusing northwards
to Europe and the
Middle East
and over thousands of years to other parts of the world.
Astronomy/astrology itself is a sophisticated form of encoded myth,
the constellations and astrological ages being named long ago. Who
can now
tell whether they were
actually named after important Ancestors or whether the Ancestors
in each age incarnated as psyches attuned to the appropriate informing
energies of the age
itself? Both are probably true.
According to Native American tradition the secrets of their parallel
staple food – corn
or maize, have been given out in each of the four worlds that have
so far existed from the beginning of time to help the people of the
earth
to feed ourselves.
In each world we have failed to honour this gift.
THE DOMESTICATION OF ANIMALS
According to the archaeologists the first animal
to be domesticated was probably the dog. Cave paintings from Çatal Hüyûk from
6,000 BCE show a dog helping in the hunt. Men hunted animals for their
meat and skins, going
off together into the great forests that covered much of the British
Isles. As their weapons improved they could kill larger species, eating
some of the
meat
and drying and storing products from their bodies. These hunting parties
were spiritual as well as physical adventures, later mythologised in
British legends.
Young animals were not usually killed but were sometimes taken to
be reared at home. This led to the domestication of animals who were
tended
and herded at
first by both sexes and later mainly by men (Women in Prehistory
by M. Ehrenberg). Along with keeping animals for their meat came
the secondary
products they supplied,
such as milk for drinking, wool, hair and skins for clothing and
dwellings.
THE COW MOTHER
It is suggested by archaeologists that it was not
until after approximately 4,500 BCE that cows, goats and sheep were
kept for their milk.
The milking of animals
was another step forward in the development of human life, providing
more easily available protein in liquid and solid forms. (Margaret
Ehrenberg)
The Divine Ancestor was envisioned as the Sacred Cow, whose spraying
milk formed the stars of the Milky Way. In Britain she is seen
in the form of the Cow Mother
Brigit, as Modron and later as the three Dea Matronae imported
with the Romans. In Egypt she was Hathor. In India she was Kali-ma.
She
was the
Norse Freya. In
Krete her cow horns were visible in all the palaces. The major
developments of the neolithic era in Britain took place in what
is known astrologically
as the
Age of Taurus the horned Cow/Bull. In other lands she was the
Ox, Bison or White Buffalo.
THE WEAVER
Between 5000 and 3000 BCE along with the domestication
of animals came the development of carding, spinning, weaving and
sewing
of the hair
and wool of animals and
fibres of plants. The cycle of the Weaver through the year
is preserved in Britain in the qualities assigned to ancient
British Ancestors.
The Weaver of plant and
animal material was an expression of the Weaver of the Web
of
Life, known in other traditions as Spider Woman or Grandmother
Spider.
This theme
will be more
fully developed
in the section on the ancient British Ancestor/Goddess/Gods.
THE PLOUGH
Another important element was the late neolithic invention
of the mechanical plough. Soil had been tilled from the
beginning of the
neolithic using
antlers and the horns or shoulder blades of larger animals.
The
invention of the plough
drawn by humans or oxen allowed larger areas to be cultivated
more easily. In all ancient pictographs the plough is
shown as being
controlled by
men. It is
in this technological development of agriculture and
also animal husbandry that men for the first time in history
begin to dominate
in the production
of food,
giving them more importance
than the continuing women's role of gathering food.
Margaret Ehrenberg argues that it was the ownership of
the plough and the other equipment of the farm, which
brought the beginning
of the
takeover by patriarchal
power from earlier matrilineal and matrifocal groupings
of
neolithic society. Once there was ownership of individual
property and
then land, the struggles
that
would later become war had begun.
The constellation of the Great She-Bear is also known
as the Plough. This name marks the takeover by centralised
patriarchal powers
of the decentralised feminine
tribal-totemic life. It may also indicate that the impulse
which brought us the physical plough originated in the
constellation of Ursa Major.
Click here for the Introduction to this
book
