God. Hindu (Puranic). The god SˇIVA combined with his SAKTI as a single being. His attendant animal is the bull. In iconography the left side of the image is female and the right male. A tutelary deity of eunuchs in India. Attributes: (right side) blue lotus, cup, hatchet, lute, moon disc, pestle, skin, sword and trident; (left side) ax, mirror, noose, pitcher, rosary, sacred rope and trident.
Continue reading “Ardhanari(svara) (the lord being half woman)”
Working with animal powers is a central feature of shamanism, and we can find many shamanic elements woven into the philosophy and practice of Druidry. Michael Harner, a world authority on shamanism, speaks of the shamanic way as one which is best defined as a method to open a door and enter a different reality. Much Druid ceremony and meditation has as its goal journeying into other realities, and the word ‘Druid’ is related to words meaning both ‘oak’ and ‘door’ – with the symbol of the door or gateway being central in Druidic teaching. Joseph Campbell, the great mythographer, has shown that there are a number of key features which distinguish a shaman’s art. These include: ritual dance, the possession of a wand or staff, ecstatic trance, the wearing of animal costume, identification with a bird, stag, or bull, becoming master of game animals and initiations, and the control of a magical animal or familiar. Traces of possible ritual dances exist in the old folk dances, and there are numerous references to Druid wands and staffs and ecstatic or altered states in the literature of Druidry.
God of war. Celtic (Continental European). Mentioned by the Roman writer Lucan but otherwise virtually unknown. He may have originated as a tree god. One carving [Trier] identifies Esus felling a tree with birds in the branches (see also INANA). Elsewhere he is associated with three cranes and a bull.
To see a bull in your dream, symbolizes stubbornness, strong will, strength, and power. The dream may be telling you that it is time to take a stand and be more assertive.
Alternatively, the bull indicates a rich, prosperous, and abundant life. Consider also the metaphor, “being bull-headed”. May be you need to show a little compromise in a situation. Or it could be a pun on something that is “bull”, as in crap or worthless.
Soma and the Axis Mundi
Alby Stone
‘He who is the pillar of the sky, the well-adorned support, the full stalk that encircles all around, he is the one who by tradition sacrifices to these two great world-halves.’ [1]
This verse from the Rig Veda describes a plant: Soma, from which the gods of ancient India made their fiery elixir of immortality. Here, the stem of the plant is the pillar that supports the sky and separates it from the earth. Soma is also a god, as well as being identified with the moon (and also the sun!), where its juice is stored; it is characterised as a horse, or bull; and it is brought from the sky, though it is found on certain mountains, which may amount to the same thing. The dome of the sky is the bowl into which the juice of the Soma is poured.
Witch's Well 