Jason Mankey has outdone himself with his class “Horned God 2.0.” With a mix of knowledge, fact, humor, and deep emotion, he led us on a journey through a master class. For starters, we discussed the difference between horned gods and antlered gods. Obvious is that their chosen headgear are two worlds apart. The term “horned god” is a modern construct, used in the works of Margaret Murray. She discusses possible origins of horned gods in the Neolithic painting The Sorcerer, in the Cave of the Trois-Frères in France (see ink drawing at left). Today, we use the term to encompass both the horned and antlered types, pulling together Cernunnos, Pan, Herne, and Janicot under one umbrella.
Jason discussed Pan at length, and his association with the Greek region of Arcadia (land of the acorn eaters).One interesting new thing for me was that the term Pa (the root of Pan) links to shepherd, watcher, and roads in various languages. Also, that road markers in ancient Rome were called Hernes!
Pan was a favorite subject for Romantic poets during the Goddess Revival period. Addressing the horned god in poetry wasn’t considered a sign of religious devotion to him, though. One poet noted that, “Jesus is my heavenly shepherd, Pan is my earthly shepherd.” Pan continues to inspire current day poets--in Pink Floyd’s flagship album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, for example.
One of the lasting memories for me was an impassioned description of his visit to the White Spring in Glastonbury, England, and the encounter he had there with his horned god. Within the springs cave was an area venerating the horned god... It was a wondrous description that will ensure we visit the same location as soon as we are able.
We then spent a wonderful hour and a half with Andras Corban-Arthen in his session “Songs and Tales of Wonder.” It was an informative and musical session, complete with performances of song and guitar. There is an entire genre of entertainment in Ireland and Britain dedicated to this cranny ;-) of music.... (Well, it might be a nook, but who knows?)
Andras performed stories and songs that struck a chord with me (pun alert!!). The King of the Cats, a story you may have heard before, spoke of cat people who dwell with humans in common cat form. A gravedigger’s cat turned out to be the King of the Cats!
Willie’s Lady is a popular ballad of yore, set to the tune of the Breton song Son ar Chister (The Song of Cider). This ballad was collected and saved for future generations through the efforts of American folklorist Francis James Child, whose collection of traditional songs is the source of Ray Fisher’s 1982 album, Willie’s Lady. The song tells of a mother who cursed her son’s bride to a neverending pregnancy. The only way to undo the spell was for Willie to work an elaborate counterspell.
Last and most touching was a song from Andras’ native Galicia in Spain: María Soleña. It speaks of a woman named María who is in love with Pedro, a fisherman. One day Pedro did not come back from fishing with the other men, who explained that he had fallen overboard and died at sea. She pled with the sea to let her see Pedro, so the sea allowed her to see him within a spot of light on the horizon one single day each year. In return, she would care for injured sea gulls and other denizens of the sea. This haunting and beautiful song went on far past the scheduled end time of the session, but virtually no one got up and left. We were all transfixed by the sad story and by Andras’ gravelly, impassioned singing.
After these sessions, more transactions in the vendor room ensued! I found a wonderful Lingam stone that is the opposite colors of one I found at our favorite metaphysical shop, Windows of Light. Mrs. Moonyak found a wonderful buy on a set of books by pagan crime novelist, M. R. Sellars.
Wow! What a ConVocation 2015!! We had a good time, met wonderful people, and made new connections. Who could ask for more! ** looks for a flux capacitor or a time turner to revisit or take two classes at once** ;-D Stay tuned in the weeks to come for absolutely new and un-ConVocation-y posts--until next year’s convention, at least.
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