DARK MIST RISING: AVALON UNVEILED

By Alvesgaspar - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=43569142 Although the above sculpture depicts the rape of Demeter’s beloved daughter, Persephone, or Proserpina, by Hades, God of the Underworld, in the myths of the ancient world there was another, earlier rape: that of the earth goddess, Demeter, herself. In Demeter’s case, the rapist was the god of earthquakes, water, and horses, as well as the Underworld: Poseidon. I chose to use Bernini’s  The Rape of Proserpine  as the illustration of this post because I felt it vividly depicted the shock and horror of this ancient outrage. The two stories might have been a “twinning”, i.e.: Persephone’s later rape by Hades may just possibly have been a retelling of the original violation of Demeter by Poseidon. Here’s the initial story:   When Demeter was wandering in search of her daughter [Persephone], she was followed, it is said, by Poseidon, who lusted after her. So, she turned, the story runs, into a m

  By ArchaiOptix - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=88625666 Rage. The great bard, Homer, employed wrath as the driving force behind the events of his  Iliad , including the deaths of his leading man, Achilles – the warrior-hero of the Greeks – and the Amazon Wonder Woman, Penthesilea. For, had the warrior woman not first killed one of her own, she would not have been compelled to find redemption in battle against the Greeks. Perhaps, she would instead have died somewhere on her native steppes, unremembered. Such a death – our loss, as well as that of Penthesilea and her people – would have been sad, indeed. Her name would have then been forever lost to time and anonymity. That ancient name conveyed some connotation of sadness:  penthos  meant “sorrow” in Ancient Greek. The second syllable of the warrior queen’s name is not so easy to decipher. Maybe, it came from the Latin verb for “silence”:  sileo . Or perhaps it was some Scythian derivative of

By Fisher Fine Arts Library Image Database - Camp and audience scenes in late iron age rock drawings from Khawtsgait, MongoliaPD-Art: Non-creative photograph of a two-dimensional work of art in the Public Domain (1st century BCE -1st century BCE), Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=95087609      Copious evidence points to prominent horse cultures in Amazon, Scythian, and Pictish societies. The Amazons, depicted primarily through the eyes of the ancient Greeks, are painted as hard-riding warriors, fighting from horseback, and dying beneath the hooves of their steeds. Scythian gravemounds yield treasure troves of horse gear, as well as the bones of the horses themselves, and the bodies of their riders: Amazonian warrior women, knees bent in the riding position.      Pictish standing stones present the clearest picture. Their carven cartoons caricature a clear snapshot of Pictish riders – a few female – prancing in formation across a stone canvas, dogs dancin

  By Simon Burchell - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7405285 Pictish Hunting Parties vs. War Parties :             I would like to start with the standing stones at Meigle, where Queen Guinevere is rumored to have been buried. At the top of one of the most prominent stones prances a large, mounted rider, cloaked and using a bridle bit, with what appears to be a small cavalry brigade, or at least a company of mounted hunters, below him. The fact that this is the largest figure, depicted above all the others and virtually alone (more on that in a minute), indicates a figure of paramount importance: a chieftain or king. While Norma Lorre Goodrich believes this leader is King Arthur, I think it is the queen’s loyal champion: Lancelot, a great king in his own right. The riders below the leader may be anonymous loyalists, queen’s men, or else the king’s right hand and heir apparent, Gawain, riding beside two of his brothers, the fiery Agravaine and th