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 Of Myth and Science: The Thirteenth Piglet. The prehistoric site of the Tarxien Megalithic Temple is one of a number of sites in the Maltese Islands that hosts megalithic structures. But it is also one that has ancient carvings in relief. One such relief that is the subject of this piece, is one that shows a sow with thirteen suckling piglets. The megalithic structures that functioned as solar calendars, and the related agrarian lore related to cereals, - the Two Queens, - were both centred on fertility and abundance. However in Tarxien temple there is also featured animal husbandry, where the 'sow with piglets' relief appears to be symbolic of natural fecundity. The meaning is hidden in the detail. Recent modern selective breeding in pigs aims particularly for sows with 12 to 14 functional teats as a high standard. However the ancient pig breeder long ago knew that 12 functional teats was a high ideal. He also knew that each piglet at birth selected a teat from ...
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Postscript to Halloween:  The Return of the Child In Greek myth Kore the maid (aka the Virgin; Persephone; Inanna;) journeys to the Netherworld. It is an allegorical representation of the sowing of the cereals; corn and barley. In the earlier myth from Mesopotamia from where it originates, Sumerian Kore is made to stay in the underworld as surety, so her brother Dumuzi is released to fertilise the Earth. Dumuzi (later Thracian Dionysos; Egytian Osiris;) represents the virility of Nature, and particularly the Corn(wheat) plant. The return of Kore to the netherworld brings the release of Dumuzi/Dionysos. Meaning that the sowing of the grain results in the sprouting of the corn/wheat or barley. In myth, the return of Dionysos is represented by the young Dionysos as a child emerging from underground with his mother Semele (see Wiki: Thracian Zemele , "mother earth"). In metaphor Kore is the grain seed, represented as 'ears of corn' in a winnowing basket. The re...
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 HALLOWEEN 4:  The Journey to the Underworld. In myth Kore the maid (aka the Virgin; Persephone; Inanna;) journeys to the Netherworld. Symbolically it is an allegorical representation of the sowing of the cereals; corn and barley. In Greek myth Kore is made to travel and return to the underworld. However in the earlier myth from which this originates, Sumerian Kore is made to stay in the underworld as surety so her brother Dumuzi is released to fertilise the Earth. Dumuzi (later Thracian Dionysos; Egytian Osiris;) represents the virility of Nature, and particularly the verdant corn plant. Particulars of the journey are the time - when the pomegranate fruit ripens and bursts -, and the mode    - via the furrow behind the plough -. The pomegranate is a time-marker, very commonly and symbolically, held prominently in an outstretched hand. The plough is a central figure in the myth and is often shown in the hand of Triptolemos the 'thrice-plougher'. The...
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  Preparation for a Journey. The Prerequisites. Proerosia: Pre Ploughing Rites. Late August to early September bring the first anticipation of rain. In central Mediterranean it is these first rains that quench the parched earth that herald the new season's harvests. It is these first rains that renew the vegetation that feeds both animals and man himself. But for that to happen the gods demand supplication. The oldest known sources of the journey in myth, appear in Mesopotamian cuneiform tablets. The story takes the name of "Inanna's Descent into the Netherworld". It is a metaphorical representation of the sowing of the cereals. It represents the first phase of the biological cycle in cereal cultivation, and starts with the sowing of the seed grain behind a plough. But there were certain prerequisites before the journey starts. In the Sumerian farmer's Almanak the cycle starts with the flooding of the fields. In Mesopotamia, the land between the two rivers...
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HALLOWEEN 3: Preparation for a Journey. Around the end of October, the mythical Sumerian Inanna (Phoenician Asht'rt; Greek Persephone/Kore), according to one cuneiform text, makes her Descent into the Underworld. It is an allegorical representation of the sowing of the corn plant (the cereals, corn/barley). The route to the Underworld is in the wake of the Plough, via the Furrow. The Plough features extensively in the myth. One of the earliest sources featuring the plough is in a Sumerian tablet known as 'The Farmers Instructions', dating from around 1700 BCE . Later, around 700 BCE , Hesiod pens his own Agrarian's Almanac, the 'Works and Days'. From ancient times the plough had attained prime importance in the cultivation of the soil. It has therefore become a central figure in the folklore of many peoples. This lore has survived to the present day, albeit in a confused and obfuscated manner. While the ploughing is done 'when the Pleiades are s...
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HALLOWEEN 2: Prelude to an Ancient Myth. For more than seven millennia prehistoric man was already cultivating the cereals. That agrarian activity became an ancient myth in metaphor. That metaphor became the basis of several later myths that still exist in folklore. The cereals, mainly corn/wheat and barley, became known as the Noble Grasses due to their importance in averting periodic famine. Hesiod, writing in the classical era, paints a clear and detailed picture on the cultivation of the cereals. On timing Hesiod says "When the Pleiades, daughters of Atlas, are rising, begin your harvest, and your ploughing when they are going to set". The first stage in grain cultivation is the ploughing of the land, in autumn. The grain is then sown after the first rains. The rise and set of the Pleiades indicated when to sow; the bursting of the ripe pomegranate indicated the humidity of the soil. Hesiod also instructs on the tools; primarily the plough. Hesiod says...
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HALLOWEEN 1:: Ancient agrarian folklore, with equally ancient pagan roots. Related to the dead and the Underworld of ancient legends. A Return to the Underworld. In what is said to be the most ancient myth from Mesopotamia, Inanna (later aka Phoenician Asht'rt; Greek Demeter; Apuleius 'the natural mother of all things') descends into the Netherworld. A later form of the myth from ancient Greece, Demeter's daughter Persephone (Kore; Proserpina) returns to the Netherworld, when the pomegranate splits open as it ripens. Time: October - November. The myth is a metaphoric representation of the sowing of the cereals.
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