Round the Herne

 It being St George's Day, I decided to record a story about a dragon - this one from Biscerne, battled by the local squire Sir Maurice Berkeley. The fate of the dragon is very reminiscent of a lot of stories where a magical or divine being becomes part of the landscape. It would be a fascinating topic for a book, if someone has not already written such a thing. I've never seen Bolton's Bench to know if the shape inspired the legend or if it stems from other sources - the photograph is not especially suggestive, but perhaps this is the result of changes over time, farming practices etc. Who knows what the hill looked like in the 15th century?

 I have been thinking a lot about a Taoist deity lately, Tu'er Shen. Yesterday I created an altar to him and painted a (not very good) backdrop to it. The painting needs working on, as I have never painted an East Asian portrait before and the skin tones do not look quite right. I also got the urge for poetry, after  along break from writing any. The metre is of a spontaneous design and the poem is told from the perspective of the unnamed Fujian Inspector who orders the execution of the mortal soldier Hu Tianbao, whose soul is lifted to the realm of the gods and become the rabbit god Tu'er Shen. It is, of course, the Year of the Rabbit on the Chinese calendar and this poem (and the myth it is based on) also contains decidedly Easter-like themes seasonal to this time of the year. Incidentally, should any readers know the shop which sells the wonderful statuette of Tu'er Shen featured in the photo - please let me know. I would love to add it to the altar.    RABBIT R...

 A few random thoughts about Carl Jung's notion of participation mystique and how it can link into animism, paganism, and the creative arts. It would be interesting to hear other views and experiences around this topic (especially what might pretentiously be called the "death of art", touched on towards the end of the video).

 This is my version of a Brothers Grimm story abut a joyless princess and the dozy Herbert who manages to charm her without even trying - recorded to mark April Fool's Day, when the gullible pretend that they are not prone to believe any old tosh (especially on social media) for the other 364 days of the year and that it is only other people who are foolish. 

 Yesterday our druid group performed the story of Cael and Credhe at the Leaping Hare pagan convention in Colchester, which went down quite well with the audience. The tale is a tragic one of doomed love. My own interpretation is that Cedhe is an embodiment of the Land - whether she is understood as a goddess or a fairy or something else entirely is a separate issue. The marital contingency that her suitor recites the list of her many treasures strikes me as being less about materialism and more that the lucky man should know the many gifts of the earth.

 This is my version of the Ancient Greek myth about how Eos, goddess of the dawn, fell in love with a handsome Trojan prince, Tithonos. All was going well until a request was made of Zeus. The moral of this tale (one of them, at least) is to be VERY careful what you wish for. This is a persistent theme in countless myths and folktales from all over the world. One can but assume that it is based on a widespread experience of the volatile nature of wish-making. The man in the photo is Marios Lekkas, the Athenian model. I have no idea if Tithonos looked anything like that, but he is suitably pretty so let's pretend. 

 Very chuffed today - advance copies of my next book (The Magic of Wolves) arrived today. Copies will be hitting the bookshelves in February 2024 and I will organise a launch party at that time. It will retail for £8.99. The book covers lupine mythology from around the world, suggesting ways in which those stories can be understood, linking to ritual and celebratory calendars - ideal for anyone who is a wolf-lover, a storyteller, a mythology devotee, or a werewolf. This is the culmination of a lifelong obsession with wolves, I just wish the book could have been bigger and included all the stories which I had to leave out. Moon Books has created a whole series of "Magic of..." books about various animals, each by a different author.