Sphinx

Sphinx-

Good morning my dearest friends and followers. Today I am going to bring you all into the world of  ancient times of the Mythology creature of the Sphinx in Greece. The Sphinx was one of the
the most famous Mythological Creatures of its times both in Egyptian Mythology & Greek Mythology. However, unlike that of the Greek Sphinx which is an female Creature. In the Egyptian Sphinx is typically a male creature. In Greece the sphinx has a lions body and a females head. In tradition they are launched as a lion with the wings of a very large bird and the face and the breasts of a woman. She is mythicized as treacherous and merciless. It is said that those who cannot answer her riddles will suffer a fate typical in the evil monster type dragons who love riddles too-in those tales if you don't answer the riddle correctly the dragon will kill and eat you. Apparently just like that of the mythicized female Sphinx too if you don't answer her riddles you could have the same faith by being killed, eaten by a changed ravenous monster. Some have said that the Sphinx is to have guarded the entrance to the city of Thebes of Greece. Which anyone to enter the city would have to ask a riddle to obtain passage. As to the exact riddle the Sphinx would ask, it was never the same or not ever specified. So this could be one of the reason the Sphinx got more of a reputation of being a ravenous monster.

Another mythology lore was that Hera or Ares, who sent the Sphinx from her Ethiopian homeland-Even though the Greeks always remembered the origin of the Sphinx to be Thebes in Greece to have Sophocles to write this in his writings & history's most famous riddle of the Sphinx too:
'Which creature in the morning goes on four feet, at noon on two, and in the evening upon three?'
The Sphinx would strangled and devoured anyone who was unable to answer: Oedipus solved the riddle by answering-'Man-who crawls on all fours as a baby, then walks on two feet as an adult, and walks with a cane in old age'...
However, the tale doesn't end with answering the hardest riddle. Upon Oedipus solving the riddle the Sphinx threw herself from her high rock and died. I guess the mythology creature couldn't live with the fact that a human or god had solve her most unsolved able riddle. There were other version to the tale which in my own opoion is hard to believe that a great mythology beast would do-that is 'Devouring herself. Maybe it was another way of death.

The Sphinx was an ancient Egyptian divinity, who personified wisdom, fertility and nature. She is also represented as a lion-body, with the head and bust of a woman. It wears a peculiar sort of hood which completely envelops her head and falls down on either side of her face.
The Sphinx is represented according to the Greek genealogy as the offspring of Typhon and Echidna. The Goddess Hera upon one occasion displeased with the Thebans, sent them the Sphinx this awful monster as a punishment for their offences. So later the Sphinx took her seat on a rocky eminence near the city of Thebes, commanding a pass which the Thebans were compelled to traverse in their usual way of business, she propounded to all comers a riddle and if they failed to solve it, she tore them in pieces. During the reign of the King Creon, so many people had fallen a sacrifice to the monster Sphinx, that the King Creon determined to use every effort to rid
the country of this beast. So on consulting the oracle of Delphi, the King Creon, he was informed that the only way to destroy the Sphinx was to solve one of her riddles. If this happens she would immediately precipitate herself from the high rocks on which she was seated to her death. So King Creon made a public declaration to take effect that whoever could give the true interpretation of a riddle propounded by the monster, should obtain the crown and the land of his sister- Jocaste. So as the tale goes, Oedipus offered himself as a candidate for the task.
Oedipus proceeded to the spot where the Sphinx kept guard, to receive her riddle-but of course Oedipus new that answer' . The Sphinx said, 'What creature goes in the morning on four legs, at noon on two and in the evening on three?" Oedipus replied, That it must be man, who during his infancy creeps on all fours, in his prime walks erect on two legs, and when old age has enfeebled his powers calls a staff to his assistance and thus has as it were three legs.'
The moment that Oedipus finished his answer the Sphinx no sooner heard his reply, which was correct, after that she flung herself over the precipice and perished in the abyss below.

I hope you all find the post interesting my dear friends and followers. Your friend always Wendy

 

CENTAURS

Centaurs-

Good Morning my dears, And welcome to my humble blog. Today we are going into the Magick World  of the Centaurs. The Centaurs lived in a region called Pelion in Magnesia, a coastal region in Central Greece. They can be either female or male.They have a head, torso and arms of either a man or woman & the body and legs of a horse. Centaurs are very large in size. However, the Male Centaur is much larger than the female Centaur. As I have said earlier the Magick Centaur are part human part horse beings. First I thought I would give you a bit of history of the Centaur, then I will go into the myth's of the Magical Creature of the Greeks. Centaurs are said to be the children of Ixion and Nephele. The tale kinda goes like this...Ixion fell in love with Queen Hera, and tried to rape her, but she reported his to her husband the King Zeus, who decided to test his wife's testimony to him. For this purpose, the God Zeus made a Cloud resembling the Queen Hera. Zeus laid the Cloud that look like like Hera beside Ixion to see what he would do. So when Ixion awaken seeing Hera beside him and then started to go around the kingdom boasting that he had enjoyed the company overnight of the Queen Hera. This of course didn't sit well, with the all powerful Zeus who bound Ixion to a large wheel, on which he is whirled into the winds by Zeus. The cloud, that Zeus made of Hera that lay beside his wife and queen gave birth to the Centaurs when Zeus consorted with the Magnesian Mares, the Centaurs were born. However, Diodorus said at the time that the Centaurus were the sons of Apolo and Stilbe, daughter of the River God Peneus. The Thessalian river flows from the foot of Mount Pindus and Creusa. There is another version or saying about the CENTAURS thus we are 'Like the Mother below, the Father above'. There are others that say the Centaur was born directly from the Cloud that Zeus created. From that tale in Greek times, there is also Greek

Mythology where it is said that the Centaurs had one father known with the name Ixion, who was one of Ares sons. Ixion killed the father of his wife, but Zeus took pity on him and forgave his acts after some time. However, in order to do so, as I had said above Zeus had to test him. As a result of the test he failed as he tried to seduce the Queen Hera and mating many others in the Kingdom of Gods. Resulting in the making of many of his Children that they Called Centaurs. Others say that the Centaurus mated with the Magnesian Mares. One never really knows, how these amazing creatures came about so many Centuries ago.
Centaurs-
Good or Bad Reputations in
Greek History-
It would be a huge mistake if I didn't go into the history of the Centaurs. You see not all centaurs were good in the day of the Greeks. Some of them were very bad others were very good. The Good Centaurs that were actually pretty famous in the Greek Mythology and History. These Centaurs aimed to find harmony in Nature. The first on of these Centaurs was Cheion, who was a scholar who loved harmony in nature, learned many things about medicine within nature, the arts, philosophy and the liberal Arts too. Cheion also learned about disciplines and the sciences that were usually irrelevant with the Centaurs.

The First and most Beloved

Centaur Cheion

However Cheion was very different than most Centaurs. He was mostly know as the tutor of the God Apollo. Also as a advisor to many people and deities such as Peleus was Cheion whom he also advised t marry the Goddess Thetis. Although the Goddess was resisting the wedding at first, she decided to marry Peleus and gave birth to the Hero Achilles.
The Second Known Good Centaur
was Pholos-
Pholos happened to be a friend of Heracles. Pholos allowed
Heracles to stay with him and gave him a grand feast in his fancy cave. In this cave Heracles asked for wine and the best food; And of course Pholos opened his Jars of his Best wine for his friend Heracles, however the two friends had no idea they were being watch by hundreds of jealous drunk wild Centaurs who wanted all that Pholos was giving to the God Heracles. Besides they could smell the wine and food being that they were have beast. So when the Centaurs though the timing was just right about a hundred of them attacked the two friends inside the cave, where they were just sitting and realizing, enjoying their company and the fine feast and good wine. Also celebrating their friendship with each

The beloved Cheiron at the

Gods Kingdom asking to died

other. The battle was ferocious and many of the centaurs and humans men were either killed or injured. On of the main Centaurs that was seriously hurt was their beloved Cheiron. He was so badly wounded that he wished to die even though he was immortal. It was a very sad day in the Kingdom of the Gods - Prometheus Heard the cries of the Beloved Cheiron and then offered him to die and gave him his immortality. Indeed the Centaur did died laving Prometheus being eternally alive. A gif that shows the kindness of Cheiron soul even at his death bed, surrounded by people that loved him dearly. There were only a few images to pick from the death of Cheiron however, I hope I pick the the most graces one I could find, for the most special and kindle Centaur of all time.
Now as for the Second known Good Centaur named Pholos. I am sorry wasn't able to find any photos, drawings, painting of any kind in the Greek Mythology. I don't really understand that but there wasn't much written about him either so who is to say what is the truth about this Centaur named Pholos. All that I do know about this Centaur Pholo is and what he is most famous for is the Centauromachy, which means to the Centaurs of the bad nature. So I guess he wasn't the most kindle of sort of Centaur like that of our honor Cheiron - I am guessing? You see they or Pholos and his Centaurs had grand wars against the Lapiths. This is not a Good quality in my opoion, its more of a bad one. It would seem that the Centaur Pholos and others in his group attempted to Carry off the Hippodamia& and the rest of the Laith besides the Wars between the Lapiths& the

Centaurs. The Centaurs with the Bad reputation, were said to be extremely heavy drinkers of wine and were usually depicted as beasts. Probably because they were so unpredictable and wild. Some of the Centaurs would often be so drunk& violent, they would eat raw flesh while drinking too much wine. These Creature also had a very bad reputations in Greece as being extremely violent towards women and other people but mostly women both human and their own. It is said that there were numerous myths and stories about centaurs violating women in the Greek mythology. One of these tales  refers to a Centaur by the name of Nesus who tried to rape Heracles wife Deianeira.
However, Deianeira, not only managed to defend herself from the Nesus Centaur but she was also able to kill the centaur too! In the last moments before his death, Nessus tried to excuse himself and gave the wife Deianerira a love drug that she used to seduce her husband Heracles. However, one should never trust a Centaur that is trying to rape you from a God son. The love drug was actually poison a very strong and painful one. Heracles had suffered so terribly from this poison that he decided to throw himself into the flames to die rather than to suffer the agony. of the effects of the poison. [note I really don't know what happened after that if what was the end of our beloved hero Heracles.] As for more history on the Centaurs, they were thought to carry bows & arrows and had very short tempers. I don't know if this was with both male and female of just the male after drinking to much. Also most Centaurs are said to be Good. And work against Evil. Its just a few fallen ones that fall between the cracks . So there you have the history of the Centaurs both good/bad. At the end of this post I will put a few of the images that I did find which I hope you all will enjoy. 

Love you all my dearest Friends & Followers

Your friend always

WENDY

THE DOVE

THE DOVE-

Good evening my-dearest friends, followers, supports & readers. Today I'm going to bring you the tale of the Dove. I was going to do this post during the Easter Holiday but I got a bit busy. However, I loved the tale of the Dove so I decided to write it out tonight for you all.
The Dove is considered sacred & magical wherever the Dove is known around the world. In general, the Dove symbolizes your soul. It's also seen as a messenger between God & humans. Among the primal traditions of the world, the dove is described as representing peace, innocence, gentleness, timidity & chastity. Although in some areas it can represent lustfulness. In virtually everybody's tradition that knows of the dove, it's considered sacred to creating the Great Mother or the Queens of Heaven. In Babylonian and Mesopotamian the traditions of the dove symbolize the Goddess Ishtar and in Christian belief it's the symbol of the Virgin Mary. The Phoenicians saw the dove as a Companion to the Moon Goddess Astarte, while the Goddess Syrian Atargatis bore a Sceptre with a Golden Dove on its tip.
In the mythology of ancient Egypt the Dove is associated with the tree of life. It is portrayed sitting in its branches or carrying the fruit of the tree in its beak. It also has a special affinity with the olive trees & to this day the image of the dove carrying an olive branch is almost universally recognized as a symbol of peace.
In Japan- the ancient legend describes the dove as a messenger of war and sacred to the God of War. This is symbolism reversed.
In Classic Greek- during the time of the Olympians  & Titian's, Zeus the oldest son of Cronos was hidden from his father by his mother Rhea. The Doves kept Zeus alive by feeding him as a infant-child to young adult ambrosia. The dove is also sacred to Adonis, Bacchus and Aphrodite who is often shown in a chariot drawn by doves.   

Turtledoves

There was an Roman writer, by the name 'Aelian who stated that the white turtledoves were sacred not only to Aphrodite & her mother Demeter, but was also sacred to the Fates & the Furies, which shows that even the sacred Dove of peace & innocence could be considered dangerous when it served such destructive forces. Another tale of the Dove is one that lived in the sacred Oak of Dodona who gave the oldest oracle of the God Zeus. It apparently spoke with a human voice & the priestesses of the sacred site was known as 'Doves'. It seems that there were other sources that said that the oracle answers were conveyed not by the voice of the Dove, but in its flight, which could be read according to the circumstances. Yet another version to this tale, attributes the oracle to the sound of the rustling of leaves caused by doves sitting among the branches of the sacred oak... 
The Turtledove was domesticated by the Hebrew people. They happen to be the only ones that the beautiful and sacred creature would allow to approach them. It was said the reason why! It was  according to the Law of the Moses that only the Hebrew people could have contact with the sacred Dove of God.
Doves are the most mentioned bird in the bible & were considered to be particularly sacred to the Hebrew people. In the old Testament tradition the dove represents freedom, escape from tyranny, simplicity harmlessness, innocence, meekness and constancy too!
In the New Testament the Dove is represents the holy spirit. In Medieval tradition times it is perceived as bringing the sacred water into the vessel of the Holy Grail.

In Babylonian Chaldean, Greek and Hebrew Traditions the dove is also associated with the story of the Great Flood in which it appearance symbolized an end to the inundation and a return to

normal life once more- For me the Dove has always meant blessing

from God and to all people, that believe their own God that they find peace all over the world. I hope you enjoyed

my post of the Dove.

love you all my dears

Your friend always

WENDY