Pagan Survivals in Visigothic Spain

In the course of the chapters on Priscillianism and on the efforts of Martin of Braga to uproot pagan survivals in Galicia mention was made in passing of the Visigoths, who entered Spain in the early part of the fifth century. Eventually they became the masters of the Peninsula and remained in control until their kingdom was destroyed by the Arabs in 712. The attitude of the Goths towards the survivals of paganism in Spain changed considerably after their conversion to Catholicism in 589. Hence in the present chapter there will be two main divisions, the period from the Visigothic invasion of Spain up to the year 589, and the Catholic period up to the year 712.

The Visigoths, ⁽¹⁾ as was mentioned in the previous chapter, had inflicted a crushing defeat upon the Alans in 416. They might easily have conquered the entire Peninsula, if the emperor Honorius had not secured their withdrawal by giving them Aquitania Secunda. The Goths established their capital at Toulouse. In 454 at the request of the emperor Avitus, they again invaded Spain and inflicted a decisive defeat upon the Bagaudae and two years later (456) upon the Sueves near Astorga. Under Euric (466-483), the ablest of the Visigothic leaders in the fifth century, the whole of Spain, with the exception of Galicia, came under Gothic control. In 507 the Franks under Clovis defeated the Visigothic forces at the battle of Vouglé, and the youthful ruler, Alaric II, was slain on the field of battle. The Visigoths were thus driven into Spain and of their former possessions in France only Septimania remained.

THE STRUGGLE AGAINST PAGANISM IN THE FIFTH CENTURY

During the fifth century the Catholics of western and southern Spain lived under the rule of men, alien to them in race and religion. The history of this period, as told in the Chronicle of Idacius, which [109] ends in 468, is filled with the description of the raids made by the barbarian Vandals, Sueves and Visigoths. ⁽²⁾ Strongly fortified cities, such as Cartagena, Merida, Seville, Astorga and Palencia were attacked and pillaged by the Germanic invaders. The churches in these places were often destroyed, the people put to death, or reduced to slavery. With the Catholic Church in Spain struggling to maintain its very existence it was impossible for any serious efforts to be made against paganism by the ecclesiastical authorities. Nor did the Visigoths after their defeat of the Sueves in 456 and their gradual conquest of southern and eastern Spain take any active measures against paganism. Their attitude is not difficult to explain.

The Visigoths who entered Spain professed the Arian heresy. This had been spread among them through the noted Cappadocian Ulfilas (311-383) who had been ordained bishop by the Arian leaders at Constantinople about the year 341. But the Visigoths did not become definitely allied with Arianism until the year 376, when Frithigern and a large number of his followers entered the Roman empire and embraced the Arian form of Christianity, which the reigning emperor of the East, Valens, then professed. While Dahn, Uhlhorn and Böhmer ⁽³⁾ exaggerate the part played by political motives in the conversion of Frithigern to Arianism, it is doubtless true that the Goths were not much concerned with dogmatic beliefs ⁽⁴⁾ and probably the rank and file of the Goths remained largely pagans. They did not feel the same antagonism towards paganism that the Catholics did. Thus soon after their conversion to Arianism, the Visigoths did not object to the coming among them of Athanarich, a pagan leader who had persecuted the Arians in Cappadocia. During their raids in southeastern Europe and in Italy the Visigoths were [110] joined by groups of Huns and Alans, ⁽⁵⁾ some of whom were probably pagans. The destruction of churches in Spain during the fifth century ⁽⁶⁾ can only be accounted for by the fact that many in their ranks were actually pagans or had but a thin veneer of Christianity. It is not surprising then that the Arian Visigoths made no serious efforts during the fifth century to uproot paganism in Spain.

The attitude of the Arian rulers of Toulouse towards their Catholic subjects is little known. From the letters of Sidonius Apollinaris (431-489), ⁽⁷⁾ bishop of Clermont, and an eyewitness of what he records, it would seem that during the reigns of Theodoric I (420-451) and Theodoric II (453-467) the Catholics were not molested in the practice of their religious beliefs. ⁽⁸⁾ Sidonius was more offended at the lack of culture among the Goths than at their profession of Arianism. ⁽⁹⁾ But the toleration which the two Theodorics had shown towards Catholicism was not continued by Euric, who mounted the throne in 468. This ruler, according to a letter of Sidonius, written about 472, sent many of the Catholic bishops of his kingdom into exile so that in many places the churches were without the services of a priest and soon became dilapidated. In this same letter Sidonius thus refers to Euric: "I dread him less as the assailant of our walls than as the subverter of our Christian laws. They say that the mere mention of the name of Catholic so embitters his face and heart that one might take him for the chief priest of the Arian sect rather than as the monarch of his nation." ⁽¹⁰⁾ Alaric II, who became ruler in 484, reversed the harsh religious policy of his father and thereby won the loyalty of many of his Catholic subjects. ⁽¹¹⁾ He permitted the exiled [111] bishops to return to their sees and made no objections to the holding of an ecclesiastical council at Agde in the year 506. But the most signal proof of the young ruler's good will was the promulgation of a new code of laws for his "Roman" subjects. The principal purpose of this law code, known as the Lex Romana Visigothorum or the Breviarium Alarici, was to modernize the laws of the Theodosian Code and the Novellae, which were no longer applicable to conditions in the kingdom of Toulouse. ⁽¹²⁾ The new code placed the Catholic Church in a very favorable position and also contained a number of important laws in regard to paganism.

THE STRUGGLE AGAINST PAGANISM FROM 506 TO 589

The Visigothic ruler permitted the Catholic Church to retain many of the privileges it had obtained under the emperors. The ecclesiastical courts were not suppressed; ⁽¹³⁾ in all matters pertaining to religion the opinion of the bishops had first to be obtained; in the code there was embodied the law of Honorius and Arcadius, which declared that the Catholic religion was the "one and true faith." ⁽¹⁴⁾ While the laws against heretics, such as the Priscillianists, the Montanists, and especially the Manicheans, continued in force, ⁽¹⁵⁾ naturally those that had been issued by the Catholic emperors against the Arians were omitted.

In regard to paganism, the new law code eliminated the numerous enactments of the Christian emperors against pagan temples and sacrifices. Perez Pujol cites this omission as a proof that the Visigoths [112] were tolerant of paganism. ⁽¹⁶⁾ But the more probable reason is that these laws were no longer considered necessary. ⁽¹⁷⁾ The building and maintenance of temples and their elaborate sacrifices naturally ceased as soon as state support was withdrawn from paganism. Moreover the Lex Romana Visigothorum did prohibit paganism by incorporating a law of Theodosius II against "the abominable and deadly sacrifices and superstitious rites which were practiced in hidden solitudes." ⁽¹⁸⁾ Those people who were found guilty of offering sacrifices were threatened with the confiscation of their property and the loss of their lives.

While the public practice of paganism had disappeared by the year 506, magic and divination, which were part of the private religion, were still held tenaciously by the "Romans" as well as the Germanic invaders, and against these two types of paganism the code was very severe. In the Lex Romana Visigothorum there were not only the laws of Constantine and Constantius against magicians, but also the stern passages from Paulus, according to which magicians were to be cast to the beasts, crucified, or burnt alive. ⁽¹⁹⁾ The law forbade not only the use, but even the possession of magical books. Nobles in whose homes such books were found, were to be at once deported, while people of the lower classes were to be beheaded. These laws against magic and divination were territorial and had to be observed by the Arian Visigoths as well as by the Catholics. ⁽²⁰⁾

The council which with the permission of Alaric II was held at Agde in southeastern France in the year 506, proves that the practice of magic and divination was not confined to the laity, but had even penetrated to the ranks of the clergy. The bishops under the direction of St. Caesarius of Arles threatened clerics guilty of magic with immediate and perpetual expulsion from the Church, and ordered all books on magic to be at once burned. ⁽²¹⁾ They especially inveighed [113] against the use of the sortes sanctorum, which were so called because the books of Sacred Scripture were used as a means of divining the future. ⁽²²⁾ As far as can be ascertained, the practice consisted in taking a book of the Old or New Testament, opening it at a certain page, and drawing a good or evil omen from the opening words. ⁽²³⁾ The people who practiced this form of divination were known, according to Isidore, as the sortilegi. ⁽²⁴⁾ It is evident from these canons of Agde that the decrees of the Lex Romana Visigothorum on magic and divination were directed against abuses that actually existed. It is not at all improbable that the same superstitious practices were in vogue in various parts of Spain.

By the new code of Alaric II the practice of paganism became an offense punishable by law throughout the Visigothic kingdom of Spain. But, in order to act effectively against the people who practiced magic, divination, or other forms of paganism, there was need of an active and close co-operation between the civil and ecclesiastical authorities "that those who will not practice virtue by the admonition of the priest, may be kept from doing evil by the power of the king." ⁽²⁵⁾ Various factors, however, made such co-operation impossible during the period from 506 to 589.

There was, first of all, the political instability of the Visigothic monarchy during the sixth century. The Gothic nobles were constantly wrangling among themselves for the supreme power, and they did not scruple at the means used. Thus in 554 Athanagild summoned to his aid the Byzantine troops of the Emperor Justinian in his struggle against the reigning monarch of Spain, Agila. ⁽²⁶⁾ During this period so many of the rulers of the Peninsula were assassinated that Gregory of Tours remarked: "The Goths had adopted this hateful method of getting rid of the kings who displeased them." ⁽²⁷⁾

[114] Secondly, while there is no record of an actual persecution of the Spanish Catholics by the Arian rulers except for the brief period from 583 to 585 during the reign of Leovigild, there was constant friction between the Catholics and the Arians. Thus Amalaric (507-531) treated his queen, Clotilda, so cruelly because of her Catholic religion that he provoked a war with her brother, the Frankish ruler, Childibert I. Agila (549-5 54) antagonized his Catholic subjects by desecrating the tomb of St. Asisclus at Cordova. ⁽²⁸⁾ The Council of Lerida (524) refused to accept any offerings from a Catholic who allowed his children to be baptized by Arians. The same council forbade Catholics to dine with those people who had been rebaptized. ⁽²⁹⁾ These facts point to at least some proselytism by the Arian clergy. With such open hostility prevailing between the Arians and the Catholics of Spain it was impossible for them to unite in a struggle against the survivals of paganism.

Finally by the time of Leovigild (568-585) the Arian ardor of the Visigoths had declined so that they had become generally indifferent in regard to other religions. Their attitude at this date is well expressed in a discussion which Gregory of Tours had with Aiglan, a Visigothic legate to the Frankish court, on the subject of Catholicism and Arianism. In the course of the debate Gregory said that the disgraceful death of Arius proved the falsity of the religion named after him. To this objection Aiglan retorted: "Speak not evil of law which thou thyself observest not; as for us, though we believe not the things which ye believe, yet we do not speak evil of them, for the holding of this or that belief may not be imputed as a crime. And indeed we have a common saying that no harm is done when one passing between the altars of the Gentiles and the Church of God payeth respect to both." Gregory replied indignantly: "Thou art a defender of the Gentiles, and a champion of heretics, for thou dost defile the dogmas of the Church and dost proclaim the worship of pagan abominations." ⁽³⁰⁾ Animated by such principles the Arian [115] Visigoths in the sixth century could hardly be expected to take any active part in the uprooting of pagan survivals.

During this period (506-589) there was no noteworthy activity by the Spanish clergy against paganism, as far as the extant source-material permits us to judge. It is recorded of Masona, ⁽³¹⁾ who governed the diocese of Merida about the years 570 to 605, that he succeeded by means of his charitable deeds in converting many pagans to Catholicism. ⁽³²⁾ Another Spanish bishop, Montanus of Toledo, in a letter written probably in the year 530, praises a religious named Thuribius as the promoter of divine worship in his province because he had driven out the error of idolatry. ⁽³³⁾ These are the only two instances known to us of any success against paganism during the years 506 to 589. In fact this period seems to have witnessed a noticeable decline in the membership of the Catholic Church in Spain. Gregory of Tours, meeting two legates from Spain about the year 583, asked them about the condition of the "few" Catholics who remained there. ⁽³⁴⁾ Five provincial councils were held in some of the important cities of Tarraconensis, and further west at Toledo, during the years 517 to 546, but for more than forty years afterwards the presence of the heretics in Spain rendered [116] any meeting of the Catholic hierarchy impossible. At the third council of Toledo (589), held soon after the conversion of king Recared and a number of the Arian bishops and nobles, the Catholic bishops lamented the breakdown of ecclesiastical discipline. ⁽³⁵⁾ They attributed this laxity to the Arian heretics, who not only permitted the laws of the Church to be violated, but even protected the offenders. ⁽³⁶⁾ The bishops at this council also declared quite emphatically that "throughout almost the whole of Spain and Gaul the sacrilege of idolatry has become deeply rooted." ⁽³⁷⁾ But with the conversion of the Visigothic ruler and nobles to Catholicism in 587, the principal cause of friction between the Visigoths and the natives of Spain disappeared. A new era in the struggle against paganism now began.

THE STRUGGLE AGAINST PAGANISM FROM 589 UP TO THE YEAR 654

In the year 589 King Recared of Spain, a number of Visigothic bishops and nobles and about sixty Catholic bishops assembled at the Visigothic capital of Toledo. At this third council of Toledo the ruler and his followers abjured Arianism and proclaimed their allegiance to the Catholic religion. The council then proceeded to enact laws against the abuses which had crept into the liturgy of the Church during the period of the Arian domination in Spain. One of these abuses was the practice among the people of singing immodest songs, and of taking part in unbecoming dances on the occasion of church festivals. ⁽³⁸⁾ These abuses, especially that of dancing, were regarded as survivals of paganism. ⁽³⁹⁾ The council deputed the bishop [117] and the secular judge in the separate localities to remove this evil, but did not inflict any penalties upon the guilty parties.

A far more serious abuse in Spain at this time was the prevalence of idolatry. The council took stern measures to remedy the evil. In each locality the bishop and judge were authorized to destroy the places desecrated by pagan worship, and to punish those guilty of idolatry in whatever way they could, short of the death penalty. Bishops and judges who were found negligent in combating paganism, and masters who tolerated superstitious practices among the members of their household or on their estates were threatened with the penalty of excommunication. ⁽⁴⁰⁾

To merit conciliar action idolatry must have been rather widespread in Spain at this time. But the canon gives no indication of the superstitious practices that survived, nor of the class of people among whom this abuse was specially prevalent. The clause about slaves was doubtless added to prevent any loophole in the general provisions of the canon. It is to be noted that both civil as well as ecclesiastical penalties were inflicted upon those guilty of idolatrous worship, and that the bishop and the secular judge were to cooperate in combating this evil. Such close union between the Church and State was not unusual, and was, in fact, very similar to the harmony that existed between the civil and ecclesiastical authorities in the Roman empire during the fourth century. ⁽⁴¹⁾

A provincial council held at Narbonne in the year 590 gives us an insight into the types of paganism which were being practiced in Septimania, and probably also in parts of Spain. The bishops there censured the practice in vogue among some people of not working on [118] Thursday in honor of Jupiter. ⁽⁴²⁾ Henceforth the council ordered that those who refused to work on this day, except on the occasion of a church festival, were to be excommunicated and to do penance for one year. Slaves were to receive one hundred lashes and their masters were to see to it that they did not repeat this crime. The council recommended the practice, mentioned by Martin of Braga, of abstaining from all rural work on Sunday. It may be noted that the Council of Narbonne ordered a different penalty upon a free-born person and a slave for the same crime. This distinction between the two classes, characteristic of Roman Law, ⁽⁴³⁾ will also be seen in the penalties inflicted by later Spanish councils and by the Visigothic Code of civil law.

[119] The same council of Narbonne also took action against soothsayers and those who harbored them in their homes and consulted them. ⁽⁴⁴⁾ The soothsayers were to be publicly flogged, even though they were free-born, and afterwards sold into slavery, and the money distributed to the poor. Those who gave them shelter and consulted them whether "Goths, Romans, Syrians, Greeks or Jews" were not only to be excommunicated, but also to pay a fine of six ounces in gold to the comes civitatis. ⁽⁴⁵⁾

During the half century that followed these two councils of Toledo and Narbonne nothing is known with certainty about paganism in Spain. But from a canon of the fourth council of Toledo (633), which was attended by seventy-three members of the Spanish hierarchy, and presided over by St. Isidore, bishop of Seville, it is evident that paganism had not entirely disappeared. The canon declared that a bishop, priest, deacon or any cleric who consulted a magician or augur was to be deposed and sent to a monastery to do penance there for the remainder of his life. ⁽⁴⁶⁾ The council regarded this consulting of magicians and augurs as a sacrilege, and the severity of the penalty is evident.

This same council of Toledo ordered that in reparation for the sins committed by the pagans on the Kalends of January a special day at the beginning of the year was to be spent in fasting and abstinence. ⁽⁴⁷⁾ From the De ecclesiasticis officiis of Isidore it is evident that this practice of fasting at the beginning of the year was not peculiar to Spain, but was the general practice throughout the Church. ⁽⁴⁸⁾

The fast was usually observed on the second of January. In the office of the Visigothic breviary said on this day, there are many passages from the Sacred Scriptures directed against the worship of idols. One of the capitula of this office reminds the people that the idols of the pagans are demons, and warns them against the practice of superstitious rites; the people are urged to admonish [120] and recall to the "path of salvation" those members of the Church who may be guilty of idolatrous worship. ⁽⁴⁹⁾

At the fifth council of Toledo (636) the bishops were concerned mainly with preserving the government of the reigning monarch Chintila. Hence they censured all acts of disloyalty. In one of the canons they condemned as "opposed to religion and clearly superstitious" all inquiries into the life of the ruler, and threatened those guilty of this crime with the penalty of excommunication from the Church. ⁽⁵⁰⁾ The ruler and bishops doubtless felt, as did the emperors of the fourth century, that a person might use the information obtained from a magician or augur to foster rebellion throughout the kingdom. ⁽⁵¹⁾

It may be well to mention here in passing a visit to Spain made by St. Ouen in 641. The first biographer of the saint, who wrote soon after his death in 684, declared that on the occasion of this visit Ouen had performed a striking miracle which won him fame throughout the Visigothic kingdom. A later biographer of the saint, who probably wrote in the ninth century, magnified Ouen's visit to Spain and wrote that on this occasion the saint had succeeded in persuading the pagans of the Peninsula to desert their temples and idols. ⁽⁵²⁾ This second account of what Ouen is reported to have done in Spain is purely legendary. ⁽⁵³⁾

THE ATTITUDE OF THE CIVIL LAW TOWARDS PAGANISM

Mention was made above of the fact that once the Visigoths had been converted to Catholicism the principal cause of friction between [121] them and the natives of Spain disappeared. Yet for a period of more than sixty years the Goths and the Spaniards were governed by separate laws. King Chindaswinth (642-653) realized the anomaly of this situation and began a codification of Roman and Germanic law that would satisfy the two races in the kingdom. Chindaswinth did not live to see the realization of his plan. It remained for his son, Receswinth, to promulgate in 654 the new law-code that was binding upon all in Spain, irrespective of their race. The Forum Iudicum, ⁽⁵⁴⁾ as the new code was called, is important in our present study, for it enables us to grasp the forms of paganism that existed in Spain in the middle of the seventh century, and the attitude towards them of the civil authorities.

Attention has already been called to the fact that in the Theodosian Code and the Lex Romana Visigothorum most of the laws on paganism were concerned with the practice of divination and magic. These two forms of paganism were also condemned by the fourth council of Toledo in 633 and the fifth council in 636. Hence it is not surprising that the legislation on paganism in the Visigothic Code was directed solely against those who practiced augury and magic and those who consulted such persons on these matters.

Two laws against augury were incorporated in the Forum Iudicum. The soothsayer and all those who consulted him, if freeborn, were flogged, their property confiscated, and they were reduced to the status of slaves. ⁽⁵⁵⁾ The same penalties befell their children if they participated in their parents' crime. Slaves who practiced augury were to be tortured and sold into slavery overseas. ⁽⁵⁶⁾ Another law against augury lectured the people on the impossibility of finding out the truth from soothsayers, for the devil "a liar from the beginning [122] spoke through them." ⁽⁵⁷⁾ The law went on to state that a judge who consulted soothsayers with the intention of proving something was subject to the same penalties as those who consulted them about the life or death of an individual. It concluded by stating that since augurs were hateful in the sight of God they were to receive as punishment fifty lashes. Though the Visigothic Code was indeed very severe against those who practiced augury, it did not inflict upon them the death penalty, as did the Theodosian Code. ⁽⁵⁸⁾

Besides condemning the practice of augury, the Forum Iudicum also contained some stern laws against magic, especially that intended to injure the person or property of another. Under this heading of "harmful" magic, poisoning was included. The idea, prevalent among the Romans ⁽⁵⁹⁾ and Germans, ⁽⁶⁰⁾ that poisoning was in some way connected with magic still persisted among the legislators of Spain in the middle of the seventh century. The same section of the code which treats of magicians also treats of poisoners. They believed, for example, that certain women who committed the crime of adultery could by some magical potion so change and derange the minds of their husbands that the latter were unable to accuse them of adultery in the public courts, or even to depart from them. ⁽⁶¹⁾ In such a case the law provided that the children of the couple, if of legal age, could give testimony in court against the adulteress; if, however, they were not old enough, the relatives of the husband were to conduct the accusation. Another law stated that a person who gave a potion to a pregnant woman for the purpose of causing an abortion was to suffer the penalty of death. A slave who tried to secure this potion in order to commit an abortion was to receive two hundred lashes, while a free-born person, guilty of this [123] same crime, was to lose the dignity of her rank, and to be sent as a slave to whosoever should be named by the king. ⁽⁶²⁾ Finally, the law stated that anyone, whether slave or free, who caused the death of another by poisoning, should himself be put to death. If, however, his attempts at poisoning proved unsuccessful, the poisoner was to become the slave of his intended victim. ⁽⁶³⁾

Besides the civil penalties which the Forum Iudicum inflicted for these offences there doubtless were canonical prohibitions. Thus in the council of Lerida (524) it was decreed that a person who gave poison to another for the sake of committing an abortion was to be excluded from Communion for life. ⁽⁶⁴⁾ Perhaps the same ecclesiastical penalty was attached to this crime in the Catholic period of Visigothic Spain.

The Forum Iudicum sternly punished the use of magic to injure the person or property of another. One of these laws was directed against enchanters and invokers of tempests, who by incantations were said to bring down storms upon the vineyards and crops of others, and who invoked the devil and thereby disturbed men's minds. ⁽⁶⁵⁾ These words were taken almost verbatim from an interpretation of a law in the Lex Romana Visigothorum, issued by the emperor Constantine in 318. ⁽⁶⁶⁾ While Roman law left the penalty indeterminate, the Visigothic Code ordered that these magicians should receive two hundred lashes and the punishment of decalvatio. The [124] guilty one was to be led about the ten neighboring estates in order that the sight of this punishment might deter others from committing this crime. ⁽⁶⁷⁾ This regulation was similar to, but not as harsh as a law found in the Capitulary of Chur (800/820). ⁽⁶⁸⁾ This same Visigothic law ordered that a person found guilty of magic was either to be cast into prison or brought before the king, who could do with him as he pleased. Those who consulted a magician were to receive as punishment two hundred lashes.

Another law of this code stated that a magician who placed ligatures or other charms upon persons or upon their beasts with the intention of killing or harming them, or who sought by magical charms to injure the property of another, was to be punished in the same way as he had intended to injure the person or property of his victim. ⁽⁶⁹⁾

An interesting law on magic was concerned with robbing a coffin for some magical purpose. ⁽⁷⁰⁾ This is the only mention of such magic among the Visigoths; the only other law concerned with robbing a grave was directed against those who committed this crime for the [125] sake of enriching themselves. ⁽⁷¹⁾ Those who robbed a coffin for a magical purpose were fined twelve solidi, which were to be given to the heirs of the deceased. There is here very probably a reference to necromancy, which Isidore defines as uttering incantations over a corpse in the belief that the dead person would arise, and utter words of prophecy or give answer to questions put to it. ⁽⁷²⁾ Isidore goes on to add that since the demons [always associated with idolatry and magic] love blood, the necromancer in performing his magical rites always used blood mixed with water. ⁽⁷³⁾ Among the Greeks and Romans the evocation of the dead took place in caverns and near rivers and lakes where communication with the abodes of the dead was thought to be easier. ⁽⁷⁴⁾

The strict punishment meted out to those guilty of magic shows quite clearly the horror that the law-makers of Spain felt towards this crime. Still they did not wish to see injustice done. This is evident from a decision of the council of Merida (666) which was held shortly after the promulgation of the Forum Iudicum. The complaint was made to the bishops at this council that certain priests in time of sickness believed that their illness had been caused by some magical rites which the members of their household had practiced, and ordered the suspected persons to be tortured. The council in answer to this complaint declared that in future a priest who should suspect anyone of doing injury to him by the practice of magic was to bring the matter before the bishop of the diocese. The latter was to delegate certain worthy laymen as judges. If the accused person was found guilty of the charge of magic the judges were to inform the bishop, who was to inflict a penalty upon the criminal severe enough to deter others from committing this crime. A priest who did not [126] follow this procedure when he suspected some one of magic was threatened with the penalty of deposition and excommunication. ⁽⁷⁵⁾

PAGAN SURVIVALS FROM 654 TO 711

The laws against augury and magic were the only pagan survivals with which the Forum Iudicum was concerned. There is no indication in the law code that any other superstitious practices were in vogue among the people in the middle of the seventh century. But suddenly in the closing years of the Visigothic kingdom other forms of paganism - worshiping fountains, trees and stones - became serious enough to deserve special legislation at the national councils of Toledo in 681 and in 693. During the century that elapsed between the third council of Toledo in 589 and the twelfth in 681 it is difficult to believe that, if these pagan practices were regarded as a menace, zealous and influential bishops such as Isidore, Ildefonse, Braulio and Fructuosus would not have taken counsel on this evil and suggested means to remove it. Besides, if the superstitious rites at the fountains, trees and stones were very prevalent they would doubtless have been severely censured and forbidden in the law code issued by Receswinth in 654. It is quite evident from the canons of the last councils of Toledo that the long reign of Receswinth (653-672) witnessed a marked deterioration in the ecclesiastical organization and this decline brought about indirectly the revival of paganism.

The reign of Receswinth had begun very auspiciously. Immediately upon the death of his father, Chindaswinth, in 653, he had convoked a council at Toledo and requested the bishops to dispense him from the oath which he and his father had taken to punish all political [127] offenders. One of the favorite counselors in the early part of his reign was St. Fructuosus, the metropolitan of Braga, and the founder of numerous monasteries in Galicia. But Receswinth, although well-intentioned, was very dissolute. ⁽⁷⁶⁾ During the remaining sixteen years of his reign no councils were held at Toledo, a fact which the bishops deplored at the eleventh council held after his death in 675. The opening words of the eleventh council declared that the long period of years during which the light of the councils had been withdrawn, had led to an increase of vice and ignorance "the mother of all errors." ⁽⁷⁷⁾ Later on they attributed the lack of discipline in the Church to the fact that no one could correct the erring, since the word of God was sent into exile. ⁽⁷⁸⁾ St. Ildefonse, who governed the see of Toledo during the greater part of Receswinth's reign, referred in a veiled manner to the fact that the Church in Spain had fallen upon evil days. In a letter to Bishop Quiricus of Barcelona he wrote: "I should say more, if the pressure of woes permitted." ⁽⁷⁹⁾ In another letter to the same bishop he added: "The necessity of the times so wears down the spirit that there is no joy in life because of the evils that threaten." ⁽⁸⁰⁾

The sad condition of the Church in Spain in 675 is reflected in the canons of the eleventh council of Toledo. The bishops at this council were concerned not so much with the vices of the laity as with those that had crept in among the clergy. They censured the members of the hierarchy who did not insist upon the priests of their dioceses preaching the word of God and instructing the people. ⁽⁸¹⁾ They threatened with the penalty of excommunication the members [128] of the clergy who scandalized the faithful by living at discord with one another. ⁽⁸²⁾ The council declared that any bishop who disgraced his calling by his immoral conduct or who caused others to be murdered or injured was to be deposed and imprisoned for life. The same penalties befell a bishop who in his capacity as judge passed sentence of death, or ordered a person on trial to be subjected to physical punishment. ⁽⁸³⁾ The council forbade the practice of simony, which was prevalent among the clergy, ⁽⁸⁴⁾ and even deemed it necessary to require of all candidates for sacred orders a special promise that they would conscientiously fulfill the duties of their sacred calling. ⁽⁸⁵⁾ The council praised Wamba (672-680), who had succeeded Receswinth upon the throne, as "the restorer of ecclesiastical discipline in our time." Though the eleventh council concerned itself in the main with the vices of the clergy it is not difficult to believe that the moral condition of the laity was far worse, and that in such a soil pagan practices which had probably never died out among some of the people would again spring into life. This is exactly the condition of affairs that confronted the twelfth council of Toledo in 681.

Erwig (680-693) who had become ruler of Spain in 680 under circumstances that have left a stain upon his memory, at once proceeded to call a meeting of the Spanish hierarchy at Toledo. It was attended by thirty-five prelates from all parts of Spain. The ruler urged the assembled bishops to take immediate action against the abuses that had arisen in the kingdom in order that "by your zealous government the earth may be purged of the contagion of wickedness." ⁽⁸⁶⁾ One of the principal evils that engaged the attention of the bishops was that of idolatry.

The eleventh canon of this council begins with the words of Exodus against the worship of idols: "Thou shalt not make to thyself a graven thing, etc.," ⁽⁸⁷⁾ and quoted the stern penalty of [129] Deuteronomy against idolaters: "Thou shalt bring forth the man or woman who have committed that most wicked thing [idolatry] and they shall be stoned." ⁽⁸⁸⁾ The council warned all who practiced superstitious worship that they were offering sacrifices to the devil. It ordered that all the places desecrated by pagan worship should be destroyed. Slaves guilty of idolatrous practices were to be lashed and brought in chains before their masters, who had to promise under oath not to allow them to practice such idolatry in future. If the master was unwilling to keep the erring slaves the judge was to bring them before the king, who might dispose of the slaves as he willed. A master who did not punish this crime of idolatry not only incurred the penalty of excommunication but also lost all legal claims to the services of the slaves. Free-born persons, guilty of idolatrous worship, were to be excommunicated and kept in close confinement. ⁽⁸⁹⁾

It is evident from this canon that the cult of the fountains, stones and trees, which was practiced by the natives of Spain before the coming of Christianity, and which St. Martin of Braga censured in the De correctione rusticorum, was still in vogue in the year 681. The fact that the greater part of this canon is concerned with slaves indicates that idolatry was especially prevalent among the lower classes of Spanish society. The same policy which the third council of [130] Toledo in 589 had recommended ⁽⁹⁰⁾ was still being followed by the twelfth council in 681. The bishop and the secular judge were charged with the destruction of the "sacred" fountains, stones, and trees, and the prosecution of idolaters. Two penalties were inflicted by the twelfth council of Toledo upon those who practiced or connived at idolatry, which were not mentioned at the third council of Toledo: First, a free-born person, guilty of idolatrous worship, was to be kept in close confinement; secondly, a master who did not punish the members of his household for taking part in pagan practices was threatened with the loss of their services. Since at this twelfth council of Toledo there were present bishops from all parts of Spain it is impossible to judge from the wording of the canon where idolatry was especially practiced. But the writings of a contemporary, St. Valerius, indicate with certainty one of these localities.

Valerius (c. 630-695) before his appointment as abbot of the monastery of San Pedro de Montes, founded by St. Fructuosus, had lived for many years as a hermit in the solitary regions of Galicia. An account of his experiences during these years, written by himself, has come down to us. In this autobiography Valerius describes the sad condition of the monastic life in Galicia, where people from the lowest classes of society were admitted to the cloister and some were even forced to become monks in order that the monasteries might not remain empty. Instead of practicing virtue these monks associated with people who had committed robbery, murder, and who practiced magic and other unspeakable crimes. ⁽⁹¹⁾ In this autobiography Valerius tells us how he chanced upon a nocturnal meeting in the forest and gives a vivid picture of the unbecoming songs and dances in which a priest, forgetful of his sacred calling, played the principal part. ⁽⁹²⁾ Valerius also describes a meeting he had with some peasants [131] who were practising idolatrous worship on the top of a mountain. ⁽⁹³⁾ As Valerius says that he was then in the mountains not far from Astorga, ⁽⁹⁴⁾ perhaps the cult he saw was a survival of the worship of Jupiter Candamius, who was honored on a mountain of this region, known today as Candanedo. ⁽⁹⁵⁾ At the sight of these abominable practices Valerius was filled with anger. He at once summoned a number of faithful Christians and proceeded to rout these worshipers and destroy their sanctuaries. Whether the people who practiced these pagan sacrifices were actually Christians or not is difficult to determine. The fact that Valerius summoned "faithful Christians" would seem to imply that these peasants, like those in the time of Martin of Braga, were indeed Christians who had fallen into gross errors.

The thirteenth council of Toledo (683) says nothing about paganism among the people. One canon of this council proves, however, that some of the priests were guilty of superstitious practices. These unworthy clerics who nourished a grievance against others were wont to put on garments of mourning, to close the doors of the church, to strip the altar of its ornaments, and to suspend divine services. ⁽⁹⁶⁾ Gratian quoted this canon and placed this abuse under the title of magic. ⁽⁹⁷⁾Perhaps these priests felt that they could force God, as it [132] were, to punish their enemies by their refusal to hold services in His honor, The council ordered that priests guilty of these abuses were to be deposed and sentenced to perpetual disgrace.

There is no mention of paganism at the fourteenth and fifteenth councils of Toledo, but at the sixteenth council (693) the question of pagan practices was again discussed. In the tomus ⁽⁹⁸⁾ which Egica (688-702) addressed to the assembled prelates he declared that the many misfortunes from which the land suffered were a punishment from God for the sins of the people. ⁽⁹⁹⁾ One of these evils was the prevalence of pagan practices. The ruler suggested that the things offered to idols by peasants or others should be taken to the nearest church and exposed there in the sight of the superstitious people who had made these offerings. ⁽¹⁰⁰⁾ He also urged that a bishop or judge who was found negligent in combating superstition and idolatry should be deposed from office for a year and that a more zealous ecclesiastic or official should be chosen. The bishops proceeded to enact the laws which Egica had thought advisable. They merely added that a person of noble rank who hindered a bishop or judge in the prosecution of idolatry was to be fined three pounds of gold; a person of lower rank guilty of this same crime was to receive one hundred lashes, to suffer the penalty of decalvatio, and to have half of his property confiscated by the state. ⁽¹⁰¹⁾

The regulation of this council indicates that the places defiled by pagan practices were not yet destroyed and that many people were [133] still practicing idolatry. The persistence of these pagan practices was due perhaps to the indifference of the bishops and judges in the performance of their duties, and hence the new enactment of this council that more zealous bishops and judges should be chosen. The council also added new penalties when it declared that people who hindered the prosecution of idolatry, if of noble birth, were to be fined, if not of noble birth, were to be subjected to bodily punishment and threatened with the loss of half of their property.

But the most striking departure from previous conciliar legislation on paganism in Spain was the order of Egica that things offered to idols were to be placed in the churches. The objects meant were probably the ex-votos and vases which the superstitious people placed at their sacred fountains, stones and trees. The idea for this regulation may have come from the letter of St. Augustine to Publicola, wherein he stated: "When temples, idols, etc., are placed at the service of God, the same thing happens to them as when impious and sinful men are converted to the true faith." ⁽¹⁰²⁾ The Spanish king and bishops had probably heard of the policy that Pope Gregory the Great had recommended to the abbot Mellitus in the conversion of the pagan Anglo-Saxons to Christianity. According to Gregory the temples of the pagans were to be sprinkled with holy water; altars and relics were to be placed in them, and thus the worship paid to demons would be transferred to the one true God. ⁽¹⁰³⁾ In the blessing of vases in the Mozarabic rite the priest asked God to purify them from all uncleanness. ⁽¹⁰⁴⁾ Perhaps, as Dom Férotin suggests, this was because these vases had formerly been used in the worship of pagan idols. ⁽¹⁰⁵⁾

At the seventeenth council of Toledo (694) no special legislation was enacted in regard to pagan survivals. The bishops, however, censured the conduct of certain priests who celebrated a Requiem Mass for a living person with the intention of procuring the death of [134] this individual. This canon is a sad reflection upon the state of the Spanish Church at this period when some of its anointed ministers used the most sacred rite of their religion as a form of magic to wreak vengeance upon their enemies. The council ordered that such priests were to be deposed; both they and the individuals who requested them to celebrate this Requiem Mass were to be sent into perpetual exile, and only in their last moments were they permitted to receive Holy Communion. ⁽¹⁰⁶⁾

Under this same ruler Egica or perhaps his son Witiza (701-711) the ordeal by hot water was legalized. ⁽¹⁰⁷⁾ This is the only instance of the ordeal in Visigothic Spain, and strangely enough was probably the last law issued by a Visigothic ruler. Mention of the ordeal is included in the present study because, according to the more commonly accepted opinion today, the ordeal was a survival of Germanic paganism. ⁽¹⁰⁸⁾ The reason for the ordeal is stated in the law itself. Many free-born persons had complained of the fact that they had been subjected to torture in law suits involving a sum of money of less than three hundred solidi, in which cases the law forbade freeborn persons to be tortured. The king, therefore, decided that in cases where the sum of money in question was less than three hundred solidi, the accused person was to be subjected to the ordeal by hot water. If this ordeal proved him guilty, then torture was to be [135] used; if; however, the ordeal proved the innocence of the accused person he was not to be subjected to torture. The same procedure (ordeal and torture) was to be followed in the case of a person whose testimony was regarded with suspicion. There is no mention of a religious ceremony on the occasion of this ordeal.

F. Dahn claims that the ordeal was introduced into Visigothic law because of the Franks, who had settled in Spain. ⁽¹⁰⁹⁾ This opinion has been rejected by most writers. J. Ficker asserts with greater probability that the ordeals bad never died out among the lower classes of the population, who had been little affected by the law code of Receswinth, and that their practices came to the surface and were legalized in the closing years of the Visigothic monarchy. ⁽¹¹⁰⁾ The writer believes that the process mentioned by Ficker was hastened by the fact that King Wamba had deprived many people in Spain of the right of giving testimony in court, because they had riot assisted him in crushing the rebellion of Paul, a Visigothic noble, in 673. ⁽¹¹¹⁾ Unable to settle their disputes legally these people might easily revert to the old Germanic custom of the ordeal. Moreover the last quarter of the seventh century witnessed not only a marked decline in ecclesiastical discipline but also the menacing growth of perjury. The bishops at the sixteenth council of Toledo lamented the fact that "the sin of perjury has become deeply rooted." ⁽¹¹²⁾ The following council declared that one of the intentions for which the litanies should be said was to make reparation for the sins of perjury. ⁽¹¹³⁾ As the Frankish rulers at a later date legalized the use of the ordeal to prevent the sin of perjury, ⁽¹¹⁴⁾so perhaps Egica or Witiza hoped by means of the ordeal to deter people from giving perjured testimony in court.

THE INDIRECT MEANS USED IN THE STRUGGLE AGAINST PAGANISM

Besides the action taken by the Church councils and the civil authorities of Visigothic Spain to counteract the survivals of paganism among the people attention must also be drawn to the indirect means used in this struggle.

As St. Martin of Braga had pointed out in his sermon De correctione rusticorum, the worship of the pagan gods and the survivals of paganism were due principally to the ignorance of the people. To offset the harmful effects of ignorance there was during the seventh century in Spain an insistence upon the education of the clergy, the leaders of the people. In fostering clerical education in Visigothic Spain the name of St. Isidore of Seville (560-636) is outstanding. Isidore, the counselor of kings, and the leading ecclesiastic of his time, seemed to realize more clearly than any of his countrymen the need of education, if the people of Spain were to become Christians in fact as well as in name. The primary motive of his literary activity was, according to his friend, St. Braulio: "to restore the monuments of the ancients lest our crudeness become altogether inveterate." ⁽¹¹⁵⁾ Among the ancients Isidore included the early Christian as well as the pagan writers. He did not approve, however, of the pagan classics simply because of the esthetic benefit that was to be derived from perusing them. In his rule for monks, he forbade the members of the monastery to read the works of the pagan authors "for it is better to be ignorant of their pernicious teachings than by reading them to fall into the snare of error." ⁽¹¹⁶⁾ In the chapter of the Sententiae devoted to a discussion of the pagan writings, he begins with a condemnation of the pagan poets: "Sacrifice is offered to the demons not only by placing incense before them but also by listening with pleasure to the words of the pagan poets." ⁽¹¹⁷⁾ He [137] then goes on to praise the simple style of the Sacred Scriptures in contrast to the florid and ornate language of the pagan writers. He counsels his readers to avoid the pagan writings out of love for the Sacred Scriptures. But he concludes this discussion by stating: "it is better to be grammarians than heretics . . . for the art of the grammarians can lead to [eternal] life, when it is elevated to better uses." ⁽¹¹⁸⁾ In many of his other writings, such as the Etymologiae, De natura rerum, and the Differentiae he borrows citations from the pagan writers.

It is evident from what has just been said that Isidore was not consistent in his attitude toward the writings of the pagans. ⁽¹¹⁹⁾ On the one hand he saw the dangers which the pagan classics had for the Christians. His harshness towards the pagan poets is easily accounted for when it is remembered that he regards them as the "theologians" of paganism. ⁽¹²⁰⁾ On the other hand Isidore realized that the clerics would have difficulty in obtaining any education at all, if the reading of the pagan books were entirely forbidden, and hence ignorance would be the result. In his opinion ignorance was far more dangerous to the faith and morals of the Christians than an acquaintance with the pagan writings. "Ignorance," he said, "is the mother of all errors, and the nurse of vices." And again "the ignorant man is easily deceived." ⁽¹²¹⁾ Consequently Isidore permitted the reading of the pagan writers merely to avoid the greater evil of ignorance. He never felt the same enthusiasm for the pagan classics as did Cassiodorus. Perhaps he deemed the brief extracts from the pagan authors which are found in his writings sufficient, so that people might not have to delve too deeply into the original works and thus endanger the salvation of their souls. ⁽¹²²⁾

[138] The education which Isidore had in view was principally that of the clergy. His writings on the scriptures, dogmatic and moral theology probably served the same purpose as the textbooks on these subjects that are used in Catholic seminaries today. But aside from these sacred sciences Isidore was also interested in purely secular subjects. In the preface to the De natura rerum, which is concerned with the natural sciences, he wrote: "To know the nature of these things is not superstitious knowledge if studied in the light of sane and sober doctrine." ⁽¹²³⁾ It is not difficult to realize the efficacy of a work such as this in counteracting the survivals of paganism. He explained, for example, the cause of rain in a natural and scientific manner. ⁽¹²⁴⁾ This information showed the absurdity of the belief that "storm-makers" (tempestarii) could by some magical process produce rain. ⁽¹²⁵⁾ Isidore dedicated this book, De natura rerum, to King Sisebut of Spain (612-620). The ruler replied with a poem to Isidore in which he described the manner in which an eclipse of the moon took place. But before describing this phenomenon Sisebut first rejected the superstitious explanation which the people gave for the eclipse. They thought, he said, that as the caves grew dark, the moon was being drawn beneath the shades of the lower world by the wailing of the "dreadful woman" and when "its high-wandering mirror was veiled" it passed like a mortal into the waters of the river Styx. Hence on such occasions they were wont to make a loud noise with some instruments in the belief that this clamor would save the moon from destruction. ⁽¹²⁶⁾ Sisebut then [139] proceeded to give in verse the same scientific explanation of the lunar eclipse that Isidore had given in his De natura rerum. ⁽¹²⁷⁾ Doubtless the writings of the bishop and ruler aided indirectly in curbing the foolish practices which the people performed when an eclipse took place.

Isidore's best-known work, the Etymologiae, was of great value in the education of the people. It was one of a series of works on Latin educational tradition beginning with Cato, the purpose of which was to summarize information primarily in the field of the liberal arts, but on other subjects as well. Hence it served as a convenient manual of information on various topics, for in Spain at this time the works of earlier writers were hardly accessible to most of the clergy. However, Isidore reflects in many places the decline in scientific thought which began after the Hellenistic age. Thus he regards comets as harbingers of coming calamities, ⁽¹²⁸⁾ a common belief in the Middle Ages, which arose probably from the fact that a comet had appeared in the sky before the destruction of Jerusalem. ⁽¹²⁹⁾ In speaking of medicine Isidore quotes the opinion of a certain physician that the physician should devote himself to the study of astronomy, because the human body changes with the mutations of the stars and seasons. ⁽¹³⁰⁾ In this same section Isidore discusses the various remedies in use among physicians, and though he is uncritical in his selection of material, yet, as O. Probst points out, [140] he is free from all superstitious beliefs in the value of plants. ⁽¹³¹⁾ Here again his scientific attitude is a clear condemnation of the idea that certain plants or potions had magical qualities. ⁽¹³²⁾ In speaking of the stars Isidore points out clearly the difference between "natural" and superstitious astrology. Natural astrology is concerned with the movement of the stars, and is practically synonymous with the modern term astronomy. Superstitious astrology teaches that man's birth and moral actions are dependent upon the motions of the stars. ⁽¹³³⁾ As Isidore devotes a small section of this work to magic, ⁽¹³⁴⁾ it may be well to summarize his discussion on this point.

He begins his treatment on this subject by asserting that it was introduced by the Persians and Assyrians. The spread and prevalence of magic throughout the world for so many centuries was due to the influence which the fallen angels exerted upon men. ⁽¹³⁵⁾ Isidore then proceeds to define various kinds of magic, such as necromancy, hydromancy, geomancy, aeromancy, and pyromancy. Under the heading of magic he also groups the practice of divination, by means of the flight of birds, the entrails of animals, and the movement of the stars. It is not at all improbable that Isidore in his discussion had in mind actual magical practices among the people of Spain, for, as has already been mentioned, magic and divination had been repeatedly condemned by the Church councils and also by the Forum Iudicum ⁽¹³⁶⁾. In closing his treatment of magic, Isidore again stresses the connection between magic and demonology and condemns absolutely the practice of magic in any form. ⁽¹³⁷⁾ In view of [141] the fact that this section on magic was copied by later mediaeval writers, ⁽¹³⁸⁾ it is quite probable that Isidore's condemnation of magic had a great influence upon the Visigothic clergy, and made them realize the necessity of combating all magical practices among the people.

In the Etymologiae Isidore emphasized, as Augustine before him, the allegorical interpretation of numbers: "We must not despise the science of numbers, for the deep significance which they have is evident from many passages of Holy Scripture." ⁽¹³⁹⁾ But nowhere in his writing does Isidore show any belief in the pagan superstition that certain numbers were either lucky or unlucky. Thorndike is rather severe in his judgment of Isidore's fondness for such allegorical interpretation of numbers: "With such mental magic and 'pious arithmetic,' as his friend Braulio called it, might the Christian sate the inherited thirst in him for the operative magic and pagan divination in which his conscience and his Church no longer allowed him to indulge." ⁽¹⁴⁰⁾

Isidore's efforts to elevate the educational standards of the clergy were not limited to the composition of books. Many of the principles on education advocated in his writings were translated into legislation at the fourth Council of Toledo (633), over which he presided. The council declared that henceforth one "ignorant of letters" was not to be appointed bishop. ⁽¹⁴¹⁾ In another canon the bishops stated that the "sacerdotes" should have a knowledge of [142] Sacred Scripture and the canons (of the Church). ⁽¹⁴²⁾ The term "sacerdotes" here presumably includes priests as well as bishops. It is hardly probable that the council would insist only upon the bishops possessing this knowledge of the Scriptures and canons, since ordinarily the members of the hierarchy were selected from the ranks of the priests. Lest the priest should be ignorant of the ceremonies of the Church, the council ordered that each priest was to receive a manual containing the rubrics and prayers for the liturgical functions. ⁽¹⁴³⁾ This presentation of the manual formed a part of the ordination ceremony in the Mozarabic rite. ⁽¹⁴⁴⁾ With an eye to the future it was provided at this meeting that boys aspiring to the priesthood were henceforth to live together under the supervision of a learned and holy priest. ⁽¹⁴⁵⁾ While Spain may not have been the first nation in western Europe to inaugurate these schools, the forerunners of the modern seminaries, there was no other region of Europe that insisted upon them so strongly in the seventh century. The effect of these salutary measures may be judged from the fact that the Isidorean tradition of scholarship was continued by men like Braulio, Ildefonse, Taio, Eugene and Julian, who were far superior in learning to the other contemporary ecclesiastics of western Europe. ⁽¹⁴⁶⁾

A second indirect means that aided the struggle against paganism in Spain were the exorcisms and blessings in the Mozarabic rite. The purpose of the exorcisms was to free the people from the dread of the evil spirits, and to make them vividly conscious of the unity and power of God. ⁽¹⁴⁷⁾ The blessings served the purpose of supplanting pagan practices in vogue among some of the people of Spain. Hence in the following paragraphs attention will be drawn to some of the [143] exorcisms and blessings of the Mozarabic rite that helped to counteract pagan beliefs and practices.

There was a special exorcism of the oil which was used as a remedy in time of sickness. In this exorcism the priest prayed that the oil might be a safeguard against the attacks of the devils, the arts of the Chaldeans, and the incantations of the augurs and diviners. ⁽¹⁴⁸⁾ A similar formula is found in an English liturgical book of the eleventh century, ⁽¹⁴⁹⁾ and may have been copied from the Visigothic liturgy. In the exorcism of the salt used in the blessing of a new home the priest besought God through the merits of Jesus to drive out the devil from whatever places the salt might touch. ⁽¹⁵⁰⁾ This formula is found in an eleventh century manuscript of the liturgy of Lyons. ⁽¹⁵¹⁾ Doubtless this exorcism of the salt which was to be used in blessing the home helped to supplant the pagan "purification" ceremonies which Martin of Braga censured in his Capitula.⁽¹⁵²⁾

There are many blessings in the Mozarabic rite which concern farming, such as the blessing for new land which is to be broken, the planting of the seed, and the gathering of the first fruits and the harvests. These blessings, as Férotin remarks, are found in other liturgies besides the Mozarabic, but the formulas used in them are often peculiar to the Visigothic church. ⁽¹⁵³⁾ A prayer was said over the instrument used in pruning the vines and fruit trees, a blessing which is found only in the Mozarabic rite. ⁽¹⁵⁴⁾ In the blessing of a [144] new well, the priest besought God to drive away from it every attack of the devil. ⁽¹⁵⁵⁾ A similar blessing is also found in the Sacramentary of Bobbio. This Christian blessing ⁽¹⁵⁶⁾ helped to counteract the pagan customs at the wells which Martin of Braga had censured in his sermon. ⁽¹⁵⁷⁾ On the occasion of a burial the priest recited a formula, found also in the Gelasian sacramentary, ⁽¹⁵⁸⁾ asking God to free this last resting-place from the attacks of the devil. ⁽¹⁵⁹⁾ Over the graves in Spain, as Férotin points out, a cross was placed. ⁽¹⁶⁰⁾ This blessing of the grave and the sight of the cross above it doubtless encouraged the people to be reconciled to the death of their loved ones, and to abandon all pagan practices at the tombs, which Martin of Braga had condemned. ⁽¹⁶¹⁾ An unusual blessing which, as far as is known, is found nowhere else was that of the fisherman's net. In this prayer God was asked to preserve these nets from harm by diabolical enchantment and intervention. ⁽¹⁶²⁾ Férotin has remarked that the Spanish liturgy is very rich in prayers and blessings for those about to start on a journey. ⁽¹⁶³⁾ These prayers and blessings helped to drive out from the minds of the people the belief that certain days were unlucky and that no traveling should be done on them. ⁽¹⁶⁴⁾

A very effective means of combating paganism, which continued for a long time in the country districts, was the establishment of rural parishes and monasteries. It is very probable that Christianity had penetrated into the country districts even before the Council of Elvira at the beginning of the fourth century. But during the long period of the Germanic invasions, when even fortified cities fell before [145] the attacks of the barbarians, the majority of these simple and perishable country churches were doubtless either destroyed or left in ruins. After the conversion of the Sueves and Goths to Catholicism, however, there is mention in the Church councils of the churches built by the wealthy people of Spain. ⁽¹⁶⁵⁾ These churches, which were often erected on the large estates, ministered to the spiritual needs of the donor of the church and to the people of the surrounding country. By the year 633, when the fourth council of Toledo convened, these country churches had reached a high state of development. ⁽¹⁶⁶⁾ This is evident from the disputes which arose at the time between bishops who claimed jurisdiction over the same parish, or between the bishop and the person who had endowed the church.

The monastic form of life which had begun in Spain as early as the fourth century received a powerful impetus after the conversion of the Goths in 589. As there are only sparse records of the Visigothic period there were doubtless more than the twenty-seven monasteries, which are known to have existed. ⁽¹⁶⁷⁾ Some of the most distinguished churchmen of Visigothic Spain, such as Leander, John of Biclar, Julian, Ildefonse, Helladius, and John, the brother of Braulio, had formerly been monks. At the ninth council of Toledo in 655 there were present thirteen abbots. The Church councils not only gave their approval to the monastic life, but even allowed the bishops to aid financially in the erection of monasteries. ⁽¹⁶⁸⁾ As is evident from the rules of St. Isidore, and St. Fructuosus, the two most noted monastic legislators of Visigothic Spain, the monasteries were situated in the country sections. Usually churches were attached [146] to the monasteries, ⁽¹⁶⁹⁾ and were frequented by the people of the neighborhood. ⁽¹⁷⁰⁾ As the hermit Valerius had destroyed the shrines of the idolatrous peasants, ⁽¹⁷¹⁾ so the presence of the monks in the solitary regions doubtless did away with much idolatry. Mention has already been made of the fact that Bishop Masona had succeeded in converting many pagans by means of his charitable deeds; ⁽¹⁷²⁾ similarly the monasteries of Visigothic Spain, which were obliged to assist the poor, must have attracted to the Church many of the peasants who were still involved in the superstitious beliefs of pagan times.

The decline in the ecclesiastical discipline that was evident in the closing years of the seventh century in Spain must have hindered the development of the rural parishes and monasteries, and indirectly prevented the evangelization of the people of the country districts. It is significant that Egica in his address opening the sixteenth council of Toledo (693), which took action against the evil of idolatry, lamented the fact that many churches were without the services of priests and were in a dilapidated condition. ⁽¹⁷³⁾ Similarly the breakdown in the monastic discipline of Galicia is reflected in the writings of Valerius, who found the monks consorting with magicians and taking part in nocturnal meetings and dances in the forests. But the destruction of the Visigothic kingdom by the Arabs in 712, and the scarcity of source material for the history of Spain in the eighth and ninth centuries make it impossible to judge how general was this decline in the country parishes and monasteries of Spain.

Notes

1. For the early history of the Visigoths, cf. M. Schönfeld, "Goti," Pauly-Wissowa, Supplementband, III. 797-802; L. Schmidt, Geschichte der deutschen Stämme bis zum Ausgang der Völkerwanderung, I, 256-324; A Vasiliev, The Goths in the Crimea, pp. 3-23.

2.Hydatii, Continuatio chronicorum hieronymianorum, passim; cf. H. Leclercq, L'Espagne chrétienne, pp. 213-274.

3.F. Dahn, Die Könige der Germanen, VI, 2 ed., 324; D. Uhlhorn, "Goten," Realencyklopädie für protestantische Theologie und Kirche, VI, 772-779; H. Böhmer, "Wulfila," ibid., XXI, 548-558.

4.Cf. H. von Schubert, Staat und Kirche in den arianischen Königreichen und im Reiche Chlodwigs, pp. 48-56; G. Schnürer, Die Grundlagen der europäischen Volkergemeinschaft, p.60; X. Le Bachelet, "Arianisme," Dict. de théol. cath., I, ii, 1858.

5.L. Schmidt, Geschichte der deutschen Stämme bis zum Ausgang der Völkerwanderung, I, 174.

6.Idacius, op. cit., n. 174.

7.Sidonii Apollinaris epistulae et carmina. Ed. C. Loetjohann, MGH, Auct. ant., tomus VIII.

8.Cf. S. Dill, Roman Society in the Last Century of the Roman Empire, Book IV, Chapters 1 and 2.

9.Sid. Ap., epistulae, IV, 7; VII, 14.

10.Epistolae, VII, 6. The translation is that of O. M. Dalton, The Letters of Sidonius, II, 107, 108.

11.F. Görres, "Kirche und Staat un Westgotenreich von Eurich bis auf Leovigild," Theologische Studien und Kritiken, LXVI (1893), pp. 708-734, emphasizes the disloyalty of the Catholics in the kingdom of Toulouse. He bases this charge on the assertion of Gregory of Tours, Historia Francorum, II, 36, that the Catholics were eager to dethrone the reigning ruler, Alaric II. He overlooks the fact that Apollinaris, the son of Bishop Sidonius, fought with a number of other Catholics on the side of Alaric II in the battle of Vouglé. Cf. Gregory of Tours, ibid., II, 27.

12.'The standard edition of this code is by G. Haenel, Lex Romana Visigothorum; M. Conrat, Breviarium Alaricianum: Römisches Recht im frankischen Reich in systematischer Darstellung, groups the laws scattered throughout the code under logical headings with a convenient summary in German.

13.XVI, 5, 1.

14.XVI, 5, 2.

15.Novellae Theodosii, II, 3.

16.Historia de las instituciones de Ia España goda, III, 390.

17.Haenel, op. cit., p. XV.

18.Novellae Theodosii, II, 3, 8.

19.Pauli, Sententiae, I, 5, 6; 7; 8.

20."So hatten die Vorschriften der Lex Romana Visigothorum über die Verfolgung des Heidentums . . . naturgemäss territoriale Geltung für das ganze Reichsgebiet." -- K. Voigt, Kirche und Staat, p. 126.

21.Canon 21.

22.T. Ortolan, "Divination," Diet. de théol. cath., IV, ii, 1449.

23.F. Rocquain, "Les sorts des saints ou des apôtres," Bzbliothèque de l'école des chartes, XLI (1880), 457.

24."Sortilegi sunt, qui sub nomine fictae religionis per quasdam, quae sanctorum sortes vocant, divinationis scientiam profitentur, aut quarumcunque scripturarum inspectione futura promittunt." -- Etymologiae, VIII, 9, 28.

25.Isidore, Sententiae, I, 16.

26.Historia Francorum, III, 30.

27.Ibid., III, 10.

28.Isidore, Historia Gothorum, n. 45, p. 285.

29.Canons 11 and 12. Mansi, VIII, 614.

30."Legem quam non colis, blasphemare noli; nos vero quae creditis, et non credimus, non tamen blasphemamus; quia non deputatur crimine, si et illa et illa colantur. Sic enim vulgato sermone dicimus: Non esse noxium si inter gentilium aras et Dei eclesiam quis transiens utraque veneretur." Gregory: "Ut video, et gentilium defensorem, et hereticorum assertorem te esse manifestas, cum et eclesiastica dogmata maculas, et paganorum spurcitias praedicas adorani."-- Historia Francorum, V, 43. Translated by O. Dalton, History of the Franks, II, 216. Apropos of these words of Aiglan, we may quote G. Schnürer's criticism of the indifference of the Arian Germans, Die Grundlagen der europäischen Volkergemeinschaft, p. 62; "Bei den arianischen Germanen sehen wir keine Männer, die zu sitthcher Erneuerung anrufen und andere um sich sammeln, denen sie die Höhen sittlicher Vollkommenheit weisen."

31.A biography of Masona is given in the De vitis et miraculis patrum Emeritensium, Acta Sanctorum, tomus I, Chapters 9-20.

32.Ibid., p.342.

33."Jure etenim te [Thuribium] auctorem divini cultus in hac provincia nominabo. Putasne quanto tibi apud Deum maneat merces, cujus solertia vel instantia et idolatriae error abscessit . . . ?" -- Epistola Montani, Migne. P. L., LXV, 55.

34."Quibus visis [i. e., legates from Spain] ego soilctus eram, qualiter in ipsis Christianis, qui pauci in eo loco remanserant fides Christi ferveret?" -- Historia Francorum, VI, 18.

35."Diuturna indisciplinatio et licentiae inoilta praesumptio usque adeo illicitis ausibus aditum patefecit . . ." -- Canon 13 of the third council of Toledo. Mansi, IX, 998.

36.". . .dum et licentia abundaret transgrediendi et discipilnae optio negaretur dumque omnis excessus haeresis foveretur patrocinio." -- Canon 1 of the third council of Toledo. Mansi, IX, 996.

37."Quoniam pene per omniam Hispaniam sive Galliam idolatriae sacrilegium inolevit." -- Canon 16 of the third council of Toledo. Mansi, IX, 998.

38.Canon 23. Mansi, IX, 1000.

39.". . . quia ista consuetudo balandi de paganorum observatione remansit." -- Sermon 13 of Caesarius of Arles, Morin, p. 65. On the condemnation of dancing in church, cf. L. Gougaud, "La danse dans les égilses," Rev. d'hist. ecclés., XV (1914), 229-245; idem, "Danse," DACL, IV, i, 251-253.

40.". . . synodus ordinavit, ut omnis sacerdos in loco suo una cum judice territorii sacrilegium memoratum studiose perquirat, et exterminari inventa non differat; homines, vero, qui ad talem errorem concurrunt, salvo discrimine animae, qua potuerint animadversione coerceant; quod si neglexerint, sciant se utrique excommunicationis periculum esse subituros. Si qui vero domini extirpare hoc malum a possessione sua neglexerint vel familae suae prohibere noluerint, ab episcopo et ipsi a communione pellantur." -- Canon 16. Mansi, IX, 996, 997.

41.Cf. J. Palanque, "La conversion des paiens de l'empire," Filche et Martin, Histoire de l'église, III, 500-503; W. Boyd, The Ecclesiastical Edicts of the Theodosian Code, pp. 87-106.

42.Canon 15. Mansi IX, 1018. On refraining from work on Thursday in honor of Jupiter, see above, p. 94.

43.Cf. T. Mommsen, Römisches Strafrecht, pp. 78-81.

44."Hoc itaque propter ampliandam fidei catholicae disciplinam elegimus finiendum vel tenendum, ut si qui viri ac mulieres divinatores, quos dicunt esse caragios atque sorticularios, in cujuscunque domo Gothi, Romani, Syri, Graeci vel Judaei, fuerint inventi, aut qui ausus fuerit amodo in eorum vana carmina interrogare et non publice hoc voluerit annuntiare, pro hoc quod praesumpsit non solum ab Ecclesia suspendatur, sed etiam sex auri uncias comiti civitati inferat. Illi vero qui tali iniquitate repleti sunt et sortes et divinationes faciunt et populum praevaricando seducunt, ubi inventi vel inventae fuerint, seu liberi, seu servi, vel ancillae sint, gravissime publice fustigentur et venundentur et pretia ipsorum pauperibus erogentur." -- Canon 14. The name Syrian meant at this time any person from the East. Cf. H. Leclercq, "Les colonies des orientaux en Occident," DACL, IV, ii, 2266-2277.

45.On the fines in the later Roman empire, cf. J. Bury, History of the Later Roman Empire from the Death of Theodosius I to the Death of Justinian I, 47-50. Among the Visigoths the comes civitatis was the military leader of the district and had judicial power in certain cases. V. Brunner-Schwerin, Deutsche Rechtsgeschichte, II, 220, 221.

46."Si episcopus quis, aut presbyter, sive diaconus, vel quilibet ex ordine clericorum, magos aut aruspices aut ariolos aut certe augures vel sortilegos vel eos qui profitentur artem aliquam, aut aliquos eorum similia exercentes, consulere fuerit deprehensus, ab honore dignitatis suae depositus, monasterii poenam excipiat, ibique perpetuae poenitentiae deditus scelus admissum sacrilegii luat." -- Canon 29. Mansi, X, 627.

47.Canon 11. On the pagan practices at the beginning of the year, see above, pp. 47, 95-98.

48."Jejunium Kalendarum Januariarum propter errorem gentilitatis instituit Ecclesia. . . . Sancti Patres considerantes maximam partem generis humani eodem die hujusmodi sacrilegiis ac luxuriis inservire, statuerunt in universo mundo per omnes Ecclesias publicum jejunium, per quod agnoscerent homines in tantum se prave agere, ut pro eorum peccatis necesse esset omnibus Ecclesiis jejunare." -- Chapter 41, Migne, P. L., LXXXIII, 774, 775.

49."Dilectissimi fratres, qui omnia idola gentium cum Psalmista daemonia esse creditis; illorum, quaeso, ut ritus et monstruos actus omnimodo respuamus; et si aliquem ex Ecclesiae filiis talia aut agere aut delectari prospicitis, vestra admonitione corripite, et ad viam salutis ab erronibus revocate, ut verba Dominicae orationis quae ipso Domino docente didicistis, et simul mecum et cum illis proclamare liberi possitis e terris dicentes, Pater noster, etc." -- Breviarium Gothicum, Migne, P. L., LXXXVI, 152, 153.

50.Canon 4. Mansi, X, 655.

51.See above, p. 40.

52.According to E. Vacandard, Vie de saint Ouen, pp. X-XV, the authors of these two lives are unknown.

53.Ibid., p. 82, n. 2.

54.The standard edition is by K. Zeumer, Leges Visigothorum, MGH, Legum, sect. I. For a study of Visigothic law, cf. H. Brunner, Deutsche Rechtsgeschichte, I, 481-496; Zeumer, "Geschichte der westgothischen Gesetzgebung," Neues Archiv, XXIII, ii (1898), 419-516; ibid., XXIV, i (1899), 39-122; XXIV, ii (1899), 571-630; ibid., XXVI, i (1901), 91-149; A. Ziegler, Church and State in Visigothic Spain, pp. 55-88.

55.Leg. Vis., VI, 2, 1.

56."Servi vero diverso genere tormentorum adflicti in transmarinis partibus transferendi vendantur . . ." - Loc cit. Just what place was meant by "in transmarinis partibus" cannot be determined.

57.Leg. Vis., VI, 2, 2.

58.See above, p. 41.

59.Cf. C. Lécrivain, "Veneficium," Darembeng-Saglio, Dictionnaire des antiquités grecques et romaines, V, 713-715.

60.Brunner-Schwerin, Deutsche Rechtsgeschichte, II, 873-875.

61."Ideoque, quia quorundam interdum uxores, viros suos abominantes seseque adulterio polluentes, ita potionibus quibusdam vel maleficiorum factionibus eorundem virorum mentes alienant adque precipitant, ut nec agnitum uxoris adulterium accusare publice vel defendere valeant, nec ab eiusdem adultere coniugis consortio vel dilectione discedant . . ." -- Leg. Vis., III, 4, 13.

62."Si quis mulieri pregnanti potionem ad avorsum aut pro necando infante dederit, occidatur; et mulier, que potionem ad aborsum facere quesibit, si ancilla est, CC flagella suscipiat; si ingenua est, careat dignitate persone et cui iusserimus servitura tradatur." -- Leg. Vis., VI, 3, 1.

63."Hac primum ingenuos sive servos veneficos, id est, qui venena conficiunt, ista protinus vindicta sequatur, ut, si venenatam potionem alicui dederint, et qui biberit mortuus exinde fuerit, illi etiam continuo subpliciis subditi morte sunt turpissima puniendi. Si certe poculo veneni potatus evaserit, in eius potestate tradendus est ille, qui dedit, ut de eo facere quod voluerit..." -- Leg. Vis., VI, 2, 3.

64.Canon 2. Mansi, VIII, 613. There is, as far as is known, no other council in Spain or elsewhere which speaks of this ecclesiastical penalty.

65."Malefici vel inmissores tempestatum, qui quibusdam incantationibus grandines in vineis messibusque inmittere, peribentur, vel hii, qui per invocationem demonum mentes hominum perturbant . . ." -- Leg. Vis., VI, 2, 4.

66.IX, 13, 1.

67."Maleficii . . . ducentenis flagellis publice verberentur et decalvati deformiter decem convicinas possessiones circuire cogantur inviti, ut eorum alii corrigantur exemplis" -- Loc. cit.

68."Ut si maleficus vel sacrilegus in populo inventus fuenit, primum scalvetur, mittatur pice capiti eius, ponatur super asinum et batendo ducatur circiter per vicos . . ." -- MGH, Legum, sect. 5, p. 182.

69."Presentis legis superiori sententia damnari iubemus, seu ingenuus sit, sive servus utriusque sexus, qui in hominibus vel brutis animalibus omnique genere, quod mobile esse potest, seu in agris vel vineis diversisque arboribus maleficium aut diversa ligamenta, aut etiam scriptis in contrarietatem alterius excogitaverint facere aut expleverint, per quod alium ledere vel mortificare aut obmutescere vellint, ut damnum tam in corporibus quam etiam in universis rebus fecisse repperiuntur." -- Leg. Vis., VI, 2, 5. Isidore in the Etymologiae, VIII, 9, 30, condemns this form of magic: "Ad haec omnia pertinent et ligaturae execrabilium remediorum, quae ars medicorum condemnat, sive in praecantationibus, sive in characteribus, vel in quibuscumque rebus suspendendis atque ligandis." This form of magic was also condemned by Martin of Braga; see above, p. 103.

70."Si quis mortui sarcofacum abstulerit, dum sibi vult remedium habere, XII solidus iudice insistente heredibus mortui cogatur exsolvere." -- Leg. Vis., XI, 2, 2.

71.Leg. Vis., XI, 2, 1. Stealing things from a grave was always a serious crime in both the Roman and Germanic laws. V. Mommsen, Römisches Strafrecht, 812-822; Brunner-Schwerin, Deutsche Rechtsgeschichte, II, 878-880.

72."Necromantii sunt, quorum praecantationibus videntur resuscitati mortui divinare, et ad interrogata respondere." -- Ety., VIII, 9, 11.

73."Nam amare daemones sanguinem dicitur. Ideoque quotiens necroinantia fit, cruor aqua miscitur . . ." -- Loc. cit.

74.On the rites performed in necromancy, cf. T. Hopner, "Nekromantie," Pauly-Wissowa, XVI, 2219-2221; Bouché-Leclercq, Histoire de la divination, II, 334-340.

75.". . .comperimus aliquos presbyteros, aegritudine accedente, familiae Ecclesiae suae crimen imponere, dicentes ex ea homines aliquos maleficium sibi fecisse eosque sua potestate torquere et per multam impietatem detrimentare, et hoc emendari placuit per rectitudinem hujus sententiae. Instituentes igitur decernimus, ut si presbyter talia pati se dixerit, ad aures hoc sui perducat episcopi: ipse autem datis bonis hominibus ex latere suo judicem hoc jubeat quaerere, et si sceleris hujus causa fuerit inventa, ad cognitionem episcopi hoc reducant, et processa ex ore ejus sententia ita malum exstirpatum maneat, ne hoc quisquam alius facere praesumat. Si quis sententiae hujus ordinem non observaverit, excommunicationis sententia feriendus erit et a clero abjiciendus." -- Canon 15. Mansi, XI, 83, 84.

76.Continuatio isidoriana hispana, n. .34, ed. T. Mommsen, MGH, Auct. ant., XI, says: "Chindas Recesuintum licet flagitiosum tamen boni motum filium suum regni Gothorum proponit."

77.". . . quia annosa series temporum subtracta luce conciliorum non tam vitia auxerat quam matrem omnium errorum ignorantiam otiosis mentibus ingerebat." - Mansi. XI, 131.

78.". . . quia ecclesiastici conventus non aderat disciplina nec erat qui errantium corrigeret partes cum sermo divinus haberetur extorris . ." -- Loc. cit.

79."Dicere plura vellem si miseriarum pressura sineret." -- Epistola Ildefonsi, Migne, P. L., XCVI, 194.

80."Sed ita necessitas temporum vires atterit animorum, ut nec delectet vita propter imminentia mala." -- Ibid., col. 196.

81.Canon 2. Mansi, XI, 137, 138.

82.Canon 4.

83.Canon 6.

84.Canon 8.

85.Canon 10.

86."Ob hoc venerabilem paternitatis vestrae coetum cum lacrymarum effusione convenio, ut zelo vestri regiminis purgetur terra a contagio pravitatis." -- Leges Visigothorum, supplementa, p. 475.

87.Exodus, xx, 4.

88.Deut., xvii, 2-5.

89.". . .cultores idololorum, veneratores lapidum, accensores facularum et excolentes sacra fontium vel arborum, admomemus, ut agnoscant quod ipsi se spontaneae morti subjiciunt qui diabolo sacrificare videntur. Mortis enim nomen diabolus appelatur . . . ac proinde omne sacrilegium idolatriae vel quidquid illud est contra sanctam fidem in quo insipientes homines captivitati diabolicis culturis inserviant, sacerdotis vel judicis instantia, inventa haec sacrilegia eradantur et exterminata truncentur; eos vero qui ad talem horrorem concurrunt et verberibus coerceant et onustos ferro suis dominis tradant, si tamen domini eorum per jurisjurandi attestationem promittant se eos tam sollicite custodire, ut ultra illis non liceat tale nefas committere. Quod si domini eorum nolint hujusmodi reos in fide sua suscipere, tunc ab eis a quibus coerciti sunt, regiis conspectibus praesententur, ut principalis auctoritas liberam de talibus donandi potestatem obtineat: domini tamen eorum, qui nuntiatos sibi talium servorum errores ulcisci distulerint, et excommunicationis sententiam perferant, et jura servi illius quem coercere nolunt se amissise cognoscant. Quod si ingenuorum personae his erroribus fuerint implicatae, et perpetua excommunicationis sententia ferientur et arctiori exsilio ulciscentur." -- Canon 11.

90.See above, p. 117.

91.". . .Et quos [rnonachi] noverint esse latrones, homicidas, maleficos, adulteros, atque caetera diabolicae infanda crudelitatis opera exercentes, eos summi amoris affectione ex totoque corde charitatis connexione amplectuntur." -- Migne, P. L., LXXXVII, 438. A study of the autobiography of Valerius has been promised by Manuel Tomes, "Una olvidada autobiographia visigotica del siglo VII," Spanische Forschungen der Görresgesellschaft, erste Reihe, III, 439-449.

92."Sacerdos . . .vulgali ritu in obscena theatricae luxuriae vertigine rotabatur; dum circumductis huc illucque brachiis, alio in loco lascivos conglobans pedes, vestigiis ludibricantibus circuens tripudio compositis et tremuils gressibus subsiliens, nefaria cantilena mortiferae ballimatiae dira carmina canens, diabolicae pestis exercebat luxuriam." -- Migne, P. L., LXXXVII, 444. A. Capamany, "El baile y la danza," Folklore y costumbres de España, II, 170, cites this example to show the horror which the Visigoths felt towards profane dances.

93."Cumque in excelsi montis cacumine, stulta populi sacrilega caecitatis dementia profana daemonum delubra impie atque insipienter paganorum rita excoleret, fidelium Christianorum ope tandem probrosa obscenitas destruitur." -- Ibid., col. 447.

94.Ibid., col. 439.

95.See above, p. 7.

96."Quicumque ergo sacerdotum vel ministrorum deinceps causa cujuslibet doloris vel amaritudinis permotus aut altare divinum vestibus sacratis exuere praesumpserit, aut qualibet alia lugubri veste accinxerit, seu etiam si consueta luminariorum sacrorum obsequia de templo Dei subtraxenit vel exstingui praeceperit aut quodcunque lugubritatis in templo Dei induxerit atque, quod pejus est, occasionem nutrierit unde de templis Domini aut officia consueta desint . . . loci sui dignitate se noverit et honore privani." -- Canon 7. Mansi, XI, 1069, 1070.

97.C. 13, C. XXVI, q. 5. Ed. A. Fniedberg.

98.The document which the Visigothic ruler addressed to the assembly was known as the tomus. It was read to the council and the ruler ordinarily withdrew, as his presence at the rest of the proceedings was no longer necessary. V. Ziegler, op. cit., p. 42.

99."Quantis denique malis indignante Deo terra quotidie vapulet, quantisque plagis vel perfidorum sceleribus contabescat, paternitati vestrae non reor esse incognita." - Leg.Vis., Supplementa, p. 481. Continuatio isidoriana hispana, n. 46, speaks of a famine which took place during the reign of Erwig.

100."Interea id praecipue a vobis procurandum est, ut ubicumque idolatriam vel diversos diabolicae superstitionis errores repereritis aut qualibet relatione cognoveritis, ad destruendum tale facinus ut veri Christi cultores cum iudicibus quantocius insurgatis, et quaequae ad eadem idola a rusticis vel quibusque personis deferri inveneritis, tota vicinis conferenda inibi ecclesiis conferatis." -- Ibid., p. 482.

101.Canon 2. Mansi, XII, 72, 73.

102.Letter 47, CSEL, XXXIV, ii, 132; Migne, P. L., XXXVI, 876.

103.Registrum epistolarum, IX, 5, ed. L. Hartmann, and P. Ewald, MGH, Epistolarum, tomus III.

104."Dominus Deus omnipotens, qui omnia munda elegit, hoc uas ab omni pollutione emundet." -- Le liber ordinum, col. 171.

105.Ibid., col. 171, n. 2.

106. "Nam missam pro requie defunctorum promulgatam fallaci voto pro vivis student celebrare hominibus, non ob aliud, nisi ut is pro quo idipsum offertur sacrificium ipsius sacrosancti libaminis interventu mortis ac perditionis incurrat periculum, et quod cunctis datum est in salutis remedium illi hoc perverso instinctu quibusdam esse expetunt in interitum. Obinde nostrae elegit unanimitatis conventus, ut si quis sacerdotum deinceps talia perpetrasse fuerit detectus, a proprii deponatur ordinis gradu, et tam ipse sacerdos quam etiam ille qui eum ad talia peragenda incitasse perpenditur, exsilii perpetui ergastulo religati, excepto in supremo vitae curriculo, cunctis vitae suae diebus sacrae communionis eis denegetur perceptio, quam Domino se crediderunt fraudulento delibasse studio." -- Canon 5. This abuse is somewhat similar to the so-called Mass of St. Secaire, which, according to J. Frazer, The Golden Bough, I, 232, 233, was said at night by a priest desirous of having revenge upon his enemies.

107.Leg. Vis., VI, 1, 3. The manner in which this ordeal took place is described in the Leg. Vis. Additamentum, p. 463.

108.Cf. E. Vacandard, "L'église et les ordalies," Études de critique et d'histoire religieuse, II, 191; A. Michel, "Ordalies," Dict. de théol. cath., XI, 1141.

109.Westgothische Studien, pp. 285, 286.

110.Uber nähere Verwandtschaft zwischen gotisch-spanischem und norwegischisländischem Recht, p. 455 ff.

111.Leg. Vis., Supplements, pp. 476, 477.

112."Quia et jurisjurandi transgressio granditer inolevit." -- Canon 10.

113.Canon 6.

114.Cf. Vacandard, op. cit., p. 195; Brunner-Schwerin, Deutsche Rechtsgeschichte, II, 540.

115.". . . ad restauranda antiquorum monumenta ne usquequaque rusticitate veterasceremus." -- Vita Isidori, Migne, P. L., LXXXI, 16, 17.

116."Gentilium libros . . . monachus legere caveat, melius est enim eorum perniciosa dogmata ignorare quam per experientiam in aliquem laqueum erroris incunrere." -- Migne, P. L., LXXXIII, 877.

117."Non enim solum thura offerendo daemonibus immolatur, sed etiam eorum [poetarum] dicta libentius capiendo." -- Chapter 13, Migne, P. L., LXXXIII, 686.

118."Meliores esse grammaticos quam haereticos . . . grammaticonum autem doctnina potest etiam proficere ad vitam, dum fuenit in meliores usus assumpta." -- Ibid., col. 688.

119.For a brief discussion of Isidone's attitude towards pagan letters, cf. M. Roger, L'enseignement des lettres classiques d'Ausone à Alcuin, pp. 195-201.

120."Quidam autem poetae Theologici dicti sunt, quoniam de dils carmina faciebant." -- Ety., VIII, 7, 9.

121."Ignorantia mater omnium errorum et ignorantia vitioruin nutrix. . .Indoctus facile decipitur."-- Liber synonymarum, II, 65, Migne, P. L., LXXXIII, 860.

122.Cf. Roger, op. cit., p. 200.

123. "Neque enim earum rerum naturam noscere superstitiosa scientia est, si tantum sana sobriaque doctnina considenentur." -- Migne, P. L., LXXXIII, 964. The critical edition of this work is by G. Becker. (Berlin, 1837).

124.Chapter 23.

125.See Above, p. 123.

126."Non illam, ut populi credunt, nigrantibus antris,
Inferas ululans mulier praedira sub umbras
Detrahit, altiuago speculo nec carmina uicta
Uelato Stygias mortalis transit in undas
Uincibilem petit clangorem . . ."
--Poetae latini minores, ed. E. Baehrens, V, 358.
The custom of making a noise at the time of an eclipse is found among primitive people. V. F. Boll, "Finsternisse," Pauly-Wissowa, VI, 11, 2332. Boese, Superstitiones a Caesario collectae, pp. 18, 28, 52, 73, 74, cites the various preachers of late antiquity, such as Maximus of Turin, Caesarius of Arles, etc., who censure the pagan practices at the time of an eclipse.

127.Chapter 21. Isidore's explanation of the eclipse is taken from Hyginus, Astronomica, IV, 14, ed. T Muncker, Mythographi latini.

128."Cometes stella est dicta eo quo comas luminis ex se fundat. Quod genus sideris quando apparuerit, aut pestilentiam, aut famem, aut bella significat." -- Ety., III, 71, 16.

129.Cf. H. Lesêtne, "Comète," Dict. de la bible, II, 876, 877.

130."Postremo et [medicus] astronomiam notam habebit per quam contempletur rationem astrorum et mutationem temporum: nam, sicut ait quidam medicorum, cum ipsorum qualitatibus et nostra corpora mutantur." -- Ety., IV, 13, 4. The physician here referred to is probably Erasistratus. V. O. Probst, "Isidors Schrift de Medicina," Archiv für Geschichte der Medicin, VIII (1914), 38. This work was known to Isidore through the Quaestiones medicinales, translated by Caelius Aurulius, ed. A. Rose, Anecdota Graeca, II,115-167.

131.Op. cit., p. 38.

132.See above, p. 122.

133.Ety., III, 27. Isidore elsewhere defines the meaning of the term astrologer: "Astrologi dicti, eo quod in astris auguriantur. . . . Geneses enim hominum per duodecim caeli signa descnibunt, siderumque cursu nascentium mores, actus, eventa praedicare conantur, id est, quis quale signo fuenit natus, aut quem effectum habeat vitae qui nascitur." -- Ety., VIII, 9, 22-24.

134.Ety., VIII, 9.

135."Itaque haec vanitas magicarum artium ex traditione angelorum malorum in toto terrarum orbe plurimis saeculis valuit." -- Ety., VIII, 9, 3.

136.See above, p. 121.

137."In quibus omnibus ars daemonum est ex quadam pestifera societate hominum et angelorum malorum exorta. Unde cuncta vitanda sunt a Christiano, et omni penitus execratione repudianda atque damnanda." -- Ety., VIII, 9, 31.

138.Cf. L. Thorndike, The History of Magic and Experimental Science, I, 626-632.

139."Ratio numeri contemnenda non est. In multis enim sanctarum scripturarum locis quantum mysterium habent elucet." -- Ety., III, 4, 1. On the use of allegory in regard to numbers, cf. H. Lesêtre, "Symbolisme des nombres," Dict. de la bible, IV, 1692-1694.

140.Thorndike, op. cit., I, 629.

141."Non promoventur ad sacerdotium . . . qui inscii litterarum sunt." -- Canon 19. The word sacerdotium evidently refers to the episcopate, since a few sentences later in this same canon there is mention of the consecration of a bishop.

142."Sciant igitur sacerdotes Scripturas sanctas et canones." -- Canon 25. Isidore, Ety., VII, 11, 21, thus explains the meaning of sacerdotes: "Ideo autem et presbyteri sacerdotes vocantur, quia sacrum dant, sicut episcopi. . . ."

143.Canon 26.

144.Férotin, Liber ordinum, col. 55.

145.Canon 24.

146.Cf. A. Dufourcq, Histoire de l'église, II, 99.

147.Cf. P. Forget, "Exorcisme," Dict. de théol. cath., V, 1770-1775. On the blessings and exorcisms of the Visigothic church, cf. F. Cabrol, "Mozarabe liturgie," DACL, XII, 479-483.

148."Impetum uero demonum uel incursiones spirituum inmundorum atque legiones et umbras, et impugnationes demonum uel inmissiones, artes quoque maleficiorum Caldeorum aut auguriorum, et diuinorum incantationes uenena promiscua et que per spiritum inmundum et uirtutem nefandam uel exercitu diabolico efficiuntur, iubeas, Domine, per hanc inuocationem tuam ab imis uisceribus eorum omnia expelli uenena . . ." -- Liber ordinum, col. 11.

149.Ibid., col. 8, n. 2.

150."Per ipsum Dominum nostrum Ihesum te adiuro ut efficiaris exorcizatus sal in salutem credentium, et ubicumque fueris asparsus, omnes uersutias diaboli ab eo loco expellas. Si in domibus, si in parietibus, si in fundamentis domorum, uel ubicumque tetigeris, aut quicumque te gustauerit, mox ab eodem loco diabolus confusus discedat . . ." - Ibid., col. 16.

151.Ibid., col. 12, n. 1.

152. See above, p. 101.

153. Liber ordinum, col. 166, n. 2.

154. Ibid., col 167, n. 1.

155. "Deprecamur Domine clementiam pietatis tuae . . . ex eo [puteo] fugare digneris omnem diabolice temtationis incursum." - Ibid., col. 172.

156. Ibid., col. 171, n. 3.

157. See above, p. 103.

158.Liber ordinum, col. 110, n. 2.

159.". . .nulla uis diaboli uisitatione obsideat, nulla malignorum spirituum fictione conmaculare uel obripere audeat." -- Ibid., col. 118.

160.Ibid., col. 117, n. 1.

161.See above, p. 105.

162."Non eum [id, scil. rete] sinas aduersantium arte aliqua inligare, nec uerbis incantantium pessimis inretiri." -- Liber ordinum, col. 174.

163.Ibid., col. 93, n. 1.

164.See above, p. 99.

165.Cf. II Braga (571), c. 6; III Toledo (589), c. 15; IV Toledo (633), canons 33 and 35; IX Toledo (655), canons 1 and 2.

166.Canons 33-37 of the fourth council of Toledo. On the legislation of this council regarding rural parishes, cf. P. Séjourné, Saint Isidore de Seville: son rôle dans l'histoire du droit canonique, pp. 233-237.

167.Villada, Historia eclesiástica de España, II, i, 163, bases this number of monasteries in Visigothic Spain on the writings of Isidore, Ildefonse, the life of St. Fructuosus, written by a contemporary, and the number of abbots who were present at the councils of Toledo.

168.The third council of Toledo (589), c. 4, permitted the bishop to establish a monastery.

169.The Council of Lerida (524), c. 3, speaks of a church attached to a monastery; the seventh council of Toledo (646), c. 4, declares that monastic churches were exempt from the bishop in temporal matters.

170.R. Bidagor, La 'iglesia pro pria' en España, Analecta Gregoriana, IV (1933), 62, 63.

171.See above, p. 131.

172.See above, p. 115.

173."Deinde, quia comperimus, quod multae Dei basilicae in dispersis locis parochiarum vestrarum constitutae, dum ad unius respiciunt ordinationem presbyteri, nec assidua in eis Domino sacrificia delibantur, et destitutae remanent atque sine tectis vel semirutae fore noscuntur." - Tomus Egicae, Leg. Vis., Supplementa, p. 482.

By Stephen McKenna, from "Paganism and Pagan Survivals in Spain up to the Fall of the Visigothic Kingdom".

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Dagon: Chief God of the Philistines

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Dagon was the principal deity of the Philistines, whose ancestors migrated to Palestinian shores from Crete. He was the god of fertility and crops. Dagon also figured prominently in the Philistine concepts of death and the afterlife. In addition to his role in the religion of the Philistines, Dagon was worshipped in the more general society of Canaanite peoples.

Some years after the arrival of the Minoan forefathers of the Philistines, the immigrants adopted elements of Canaanite religion. Eventually the primary religious focus shifted. The worship of the Great Mother, the original religion of the Philistines, was traded for the paying of homage to the Canaanite deity, Dagon.

Within the Canaanite pantheon, Dagon seems to have been second only to El in power. He was one of four sons born to Anu. Dagon was also the father of Baal. Among the Canaanites, Baal eventually assumed the position of god of fertility, which Dagon had previously occupied. Dagon was sometimes associated with the half fish female deity Derceto (which may account for the theory of Dagon being portrayed as half fish). Little else is known of Dagon's place in the Canaanite pantheon, but his role in Philistine religion as primary deity is quite evident. It is known, however, that the Canaanites imported Dagon from Babylonia.

The image of Dagon is a debated issue. The notion that Dagon was a god whose upper body was that of a man and the lower body that of a fish has been prevalent for decades. This idea may stem from a linguistic error in translating a derivative of the Semitic 'dag.' The word 'dagan' actually means 'corn' or 'cereal'. The name 'Dagon' itself dates back to at least 2500 BCE, and is most probably a derivative of a word from a dialect of the Semitic tongue. This notion that Dagon was represented in iconography and statuary as part fish in Philistia proper is not supported entirely by coins found in Phoenician and Philistine cities. In fact, there is no evidence in the archaeological record to support the theory that Dagon was thusly represented. Whatever the image, a varying perception of Dagon developed around the Mediterranean.

The worship of Dagon is quite evident in ancient Palestine. He was, of course, the foremost deity in the cities of Azotus, Gaza, and Ashkelon. The Philistines depended on Dagon for success in war and they offered various sacrifices for his favor. As previously mentioned, Dagon was also worshipped outside the confederacy of Philistine city-states, as in the case of the Phoenician city of Arvad. The religion of Dagon continued to at least the second century BCE, when the temple at Azotus was destroyed by Jonathan Macabeas.

Two textual sources that mention Dagon, and rulers and towns bearing his name merit note. The Bible and the Tel-el-Amarna letters made such mention. During the course of the establishment of the Israelite monarchy (ca 1000 BCE), the Philistine nation became the primary enemy of Israel. Due to this situation, Dagon is mentioned in passages such as Judges 16:23-24, I Samuel 5, and I Chronicles 10:10. Beth Dagon was a town in the land captured by the Israelites mentioned in Joshua 15:41 and 19:27, thus preserving the namesake of the deity. The Tel-el-Amarna letters (1480-1450 BCE) also mention the namesake of Dagon. In these letters, two rulers of Ashkelon, Yamir Dagan and Dagan Takala, were entered.

Despite any debate over the subject, it is apparent that Dagon was at the apex of the Philistine pantheon. He commanded religious reverence from both the Philistines and the broader Canaanite society. Dagon was indeed crucial to the cosmology of the Philistines and a vital force in their individual lives.

SOURCES:

1. The Bible (NIV Translation). Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1991.
2. DeVries, Lamoine. Cities of the Biblical World. Peabody, Massachussetts: 1997.
3. Keller, Werner. The Bible as History. New York: Bantam, 1980.
4. Knight, Kevin. 'Dagon', The Catholic Encyclopedia 4 (1999): www.newadvent.org, pg. 1-2.
5. The Revell Concise Bible Dictionary. Tarrytown, New York: Fleming H. Revell, 1984.

By Judd Burton


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Scythian Religious Terms

Most of the Scythic gods mentioned by Herodotus around 500BC. have excellent Ural-Altaic, rather than Iranian explanations. Here is a more detailed list of religious & mythological terms which were recorded by Herodotus and their Ural-Altaic comparisons.

The main agglutinative languages of Asia today are Finn-Ugor(Uralic), Altaic (Turkic,Mongol,..) and Dravidian (in India). In the past most of Iran and the near east also spoke such languages, like Sumerian, Elamite, Hurri, Urartuan, Hatti, Guti, Lulubi, Kassite.. Their effect on Semitic languages therefore is also evident. These ancient Mesopotamian agglutinative languages in fact shared a lot of common vocabulary with the current language families, and were not isolated and unrelated until they were split due to the P.I.E. invasion, even though there were naturally some differences in pronunciation and some changes in the meaning of the root words. The following list will emphasize the commonly shared basic words as they relate to Scythian religious terms.

Tab-iti = "Hestia" fire god according to Herodotus The following words have to do with fire, aspects of fire or working with fire.

1.Scythic tab = fire
Hurrian tib-ir = god of fire "vulcan"
Sumerian tab = fire
Egyptian tep = fire, burn, flame
Ugrian tab-it,tab,tut= fire
Hungarian tu"z = fire t>s>z
Hungarian tap-lo = tinder
Sumerian tibira = metal worker, smith, to hit **
Turkic timur = iron (smith>>?)
Hungarian tibor = persn.name(was smith)

2.Scythian iti ? =father
Sumerian adda =father
Elamite atta =father
Mede atu =father
Dravidian atu =father
Finnic atti =father,grandfather **
[Vot,Cher,Mordv,Eston,Sam]

Chuvash atte =father
Hungarian atya =father,patriarch
Turkic ata =father

Though not unique to U.A. this word is very common there.

Oeto-syr-(us)= "Apolo"=sun god, according to Herodotus

1.Sumerian utu =sun/time god
Sumerian ud =time
Sumerian iti =month
Hungarian Idφ =time
Ujgur φdό =time
Turkic φt =sun
Turkic ot =fire.
Mongol ot-utsir =cause of years

2.Scythian syr =royal or king
Sumir sar =king
Scythian Sauro-mata=descendants of "royal" scythians **
Etrusk ae-sar =god >> Latin cesar
Assyrian kari-ja =ruler
Kotanese chara =commander,leader
Hun chur =prince
Hun kur-sik =a Hun ruler
Parthian ar-sak =ruler
Hungarian ur-sag =lordship k>h>-
Hungarian kor-many =govern-ment
Tibetan chor =ruler
Petcheneg chur =commander,leader
Kirghiz choro =commander,leader
Turk chur =early rulers (archaic)

Scythian Apia ="mother earth"

The birth of the world from the primeval great sea is shared by many from the Finns to most ancient myths. This following is a highly unreliable and questionable explanation based on the worlds origin from the sea.

1.Sumerian a-ab-ba =the sea, (NUMA=goddes of the sea)
Sumerian ia =god of wisdom/sea lands
Hungarian hab =wave, foam
Ugrian xump =wave

Artim-pasa ="celestial aphrodite", according to Herodotus
1.Sumerian a'r =a praise
Mongol Er-gim-basa =important,prominent person
Turkic Er-dem-pasa =head of righteusness?
Turkic Ar-dam =virtue
Hungarian Er-dem =virtuous,praisworthy
Cuman er-deng =virgin

2.Scythic pasa =chief or god
Sumerian basu =elder man
Ugric Paz =god
Turkic bash>basha =head>prince
Chuvash pus =head
Sumerian pa =top,chief
Osman beyin =head
Finn-Ugor paa,paaye =head
Hungarian fo",fey =top,head,chief p>f
Hungarian feye-del-em=prince
Dravidian pay =head
Thami-mas-ada(s) = "Poseidon"=sea god according to Herodotus
Thagi-mas-ada =alternate spelling, from other reference.

1.Mongol dagas, tagas =sea d>t
Mongol teng-rim =god
Sumerian ding-ir =god
Sumerian eng-ur =subteranean sea
Hun t'ing-li =god (Chinese ref R>L)
Hungarian teng-er =sea
Hungarian dag-ay =tides of the moon (dag=swelling)
Hungarian is-ten =god
Turkic teng-ere =god
Turkic teng-iz,ten-iz =sea r>z in Turkic

2.Sumir mis = prince/youngman/hero(like Gilga-MES)
Ugor mosh = man
Dravidian mas,mac = man
Hungarian meshe = folk tale, from hero tale
Turk masal = folk tale
Russian mozer-ian = Baskir (turkecized magyar)
Dravidian maga = male s>g
Hungarian magy-ari=man>>hungarian s>sh>z'>gy
Tuva madir = hero

3. see above for ATA = father
1.Tama also as temer =sea/lake
Scythian temer =lake/sea
Sumir tim =lake or well
Hungarian tav =lake m>v
Finnic ti =lake,sea [Vog,Ost,Zurj,Votj,Sam,Selk]
Cheremis tomoz =[Collianders ref,w/o explanation]
Selkup tama =river mouth??

Exam-pe-us means "The holy way" according to Herodotus

1.Ugor cham,kami =spirit,holy
Turkic kam =shaman,holy
Japanese kami =godly spirit
Hawaian hemo-lele =holy spirit

2.Scythic peus =pathway d>t>s
Sumir bad =far away, remote
Hungarian fφs-vιny =forrest pathway d>t>s p>f
Hungarian bal-ag =stroll d>l, p>b

Papa-ios or Pa-paios "Zeus" king/ancestor/father of the gods.

1.Sumerian ab,abba =father,old man,elder p/b
Sumerian basu =old man
Akkadian abu =father >> Semitic languages
Mongol baba =lord, father
Turk baba =father, ancestor (clan head)
Bulgar baba =ruler (old Bulgar Hun)
Osman aba =father
Dravidian apa,apu,apan =father
Hungarian apa,apu =father
Hungarian ba-chi =respected elder man s>ch
Ujgur ba-ch =respected elder man s>ch
Mede,Elamite an-apa =chief god "heavenly father"

Elamite ne-bo =royal, heavenly ruler
Dravidian,Egypt,Polynesian,Hungarian
=nip,nab,anapu,nap=fire/light/sun
If second segmentation is correct see reference to head/chief.

2."ios"

Chuvas as+atte =grand+father
Hungarian o"sh =ancestor,ancient
Turk yash =elderly,time

-------- other --------------

Ash has the meaning of first,one,ancestor [Sumir,Turk,Hung]
Assyria Ash-ur =pre-semitic father of gods
According to Herodotus, they use no images, altars, or temples except in the worship of Ares the war god. .. whose main symbol is the blood soaked sword placed on top of a mound. Similarly in 12th century Hungarian Chronicles, -not invented recently- the custom of the blood soaked sword, was carried around in times of war calling to arms all able bodied men. Those not heeding this warning could be tossed into slavery. Also the custom of burrying swords on top of mountain top point up continued amongst Transylvanian Hungarians. Blood oaths
were also identical to Scythian and Parthian customs.**

Their burial customs included the burial of the chief with his favorite horses and often his wife in a burial mound. The horse burial was common among Sumerians (onager), Scythians, Huns, Turks, Cumans, Hungarians.

Indo-saka tope =a mound
Sumir dub =mound,hill
Egypt tep =mound,hill
Turkic tepe =mound,hill
Ugrian tomp =mound,hill,island
Hungarian domb =mound,hill
Sanskrit stupa =temple in shape of a mound

The Buddha was a prince of the Scythian [SAKA] tribe of the Budda.
Herodotus also mentions a "Bud-ini" tribe in Eastern Europe. Budun
can mean "people" in Turkic.

Daughter of Boristen(es)

Herodotus mentioned more than one myth of origin for the Scythians.
One of these claimed the mating of Papaois (Zeus) and the daughter of "Bor-isten", as the father of Targi-taur-us the father of the Scythian nations. His sons were supposedly Leip-ox-ais, Arp-ox-ais, and Col-ax-ais. The "ax" term is U.A. [UK] for clan,family while "ais" is more common in Turkic [yas] and Hungarian [o"s] as "ancestor". The root name is therefore Leip, Arp, and Col .. similar to the the following:

Scyth Mede ................Parthian .........................Hungarian ***

Arp-ox-ais
Arp-ax-ad ..................Ehrp-at ..........................Arp-ad (-ed=diminutive)

Leip-ox-ais ......................................................- Leb-ed=Lev-ed b>v

Col-ax-ais ..................Kal-du -.......................... Kaal,Kal-ti,Gaal

The Targi-taur name is also but a variant of the Tarx-an name, whichwere the Parthian "prince" and Turk "nobility" and also the source of the Hungarian Taryan tribal name. (Etrusk Tarkini-us ??) ***

NAGA/NAICK

Another version claimed Heracles and a half serpent (mermaid like) being as the ancestors of the Scythians. Both have ties with similar stories among other Ural-Altaic legends. Starting with the serpent like mother of the Scythians, who in India was called Naga, by the local Scythian incomers. The NAK suffix and root word also has a very rich set of meanings in the Ugrian languages, including

( 4, feminine, joint-vertabra, genetive - source, navel, rule of
important person.)

To a lesser extent the root word is part of most U.A. and Sumerian languages. Several of the local Scythian tribes use this word for chief/ruler "Naick". Similarly the Ugrians Nay=queen, Nayer=king. Hungarian Nyek tribe. (Scythian NAICK-erde tribe next to the Aral Sea.)

BOR-isten

The term Bori, Buri, Pur is an ancient term referring to a totemic ancestor of many Ural-Altaic nations. Seen on the pertoglyps of the Altai and Sayan. Now due to its animal - totemic nature, the animal may be different even though its totemic name is the same, for it represents the "ancestor spirit". Among some, the *"horned" deer is the ancestor like Hungarians and some Scythians.

In time some of the characteristics of the stagg totem were transferred over to the horse, which was on ceremonial occasions decorated with antlers. The Persian story of Rustvanshad (of eastern, non Iranian origin) reflects the close analogy with the Hungarian legend and even calls the queen "sar-istani"=doe-goddes.

Some Hun tribes also had a hind totem as is illustrated in stone engravings from Mongolia and frescoes from Dung-Huan.

Also European references to their myths. The Greek goddes Artemis which is just the borrowed form of the Scythian Artimpaz, is also symbolized with the horned-doe, indicating her identity with the Scythian totemic mothergoddess. These symbols can be traced from Luristan, to the Scythians, and Huns over a very wide area of Asia rather than from I.E. terrytories to them.

There is even a Japanese legend of the ancestors hunting a magical stagg, who in the process find the island of Japan. A few references from Gyula Laszlo's "Regeszeti Tanulmanyok" illustrate the BUR, PUR, BUW name with examples.

BUR-kan =god in Teleut, Sor, Sagaj, Kachinco, Koibal, Kara-gas, Soyot. "PUR" =the son of the chief god Ulgen, among the Teleut.

He is the ancestor of man. The Urjanchai shaman calls the ancestor spirit, the horned-doe, as my "grandmother". The Kirghiz call their ancestress "Bu-gu", who is imagined as a horned woman. Some tribal names which derive from the horned ancestress/ancestor are the Ujgur Buga-syr clan, Kirghiz Bur-lak (bull), Bur-das. Among the Ugrians PARI-aske, I believe is the name of Noah, the ancestor of man. This again is Christianized from the original. The Hungarian word for people/man em-BER is probably related. A Hungarian balad of the stagg also shows the heavenly association as the mother not just of man, but the cosmos. It has been slightly Christianized over a millenia.

"Wonderous headed hind, with horns of thousand branches and knobs
Thousand branches and knobs (shining like) a thousand candles
Amongst its horns it carries the light of the blessed sun
On its forehead a star, on its chest the moon
It starts on the banks of the heavenly Danube (Milky Way/river)
That it may be the messenger of heaven and bringer of good news
About our creator and caring god."

According to the Byzanteen historian, Procopius.
"The nation of the Uti-gurs and Kuti-gur Huns originate from the
twin sons of a Hun king. The twins separated from their father
during the hunting of a stagg. .. These same Huns also had two
princes called Mauger and Gorda, who ruled after their father's
death." Much like parts of the Hungarian legends Hunor & Magor.

A Greek legend of the origin of the Anatolian Megari claims that Zeus maries a Scythian nymph and their childred are the source of this nation. In another variation the sons of Zeus and Nemesis, are known as the Gemini twins. According to Greek tradition even Zeus originates from the east. The pre-Vedic Gathas also call the constellation Capricorn by the name Makar, while Gemini is Mit-huna. Much like the Hunor and Magor twins of Hungarians dealing with the mythical stagg. Similarly the Sumerian god ENKI is also known as Daramah the "great stagg", whose other symbol is the fish, the combination of the two is Capricorn.

Many of the Hun and Turkic tribes had the wolf and various dog breeds as the totem animals and in Turkic languages bo"ru" refers to wolf. Herodotus also mentions the Scythian NEURI, who "turn into wolves once per year.. as a ceremony no doubt. This tribal name is much like the Hurrian NAIRI tribal name. The royal tribes of the Huns had the dragon (LIU-ente dynasty) as their totem like the Medes and royal Scythians. It would only be natural for the royal Scythians to have the half serpent half woman being to be their ancestress with the type of legend Herodotus related about the mating of Zeus with such a mythical "mermaid", which Herodotus calles the daughter of Bor-isten(es).

bor-ISTEN

Isten in Hittite and Hattic was a sun god while in Parthian and Hungarian it is God, (Is=Os=ancestor). A Parthian temple to their mother goddess Nana in the city of Nisa included an inscription on its walls of the following phrase N.N.Y.S.T.N. ="Nana Isten". Ysten in the ancient Yzdanite religion of Iran, was the uncreated, eternal, nonmaterial creator of all, the ONE-god=universal. Their sacred book the DAB-ISTAN was supposedly handed down from the time of the pre-Iranian Peshdadian monarchs and translated to Iranian.



by Fred Hamori

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Symbolism of the Crow in Different Cultures

In the christian culture, the crow means nothing good. But you'll be surprised to see what it symbolizes in other civilisations.

A bad bird

The crow is seen as a negative omen only recently and mostly in Europe.

For the Celts, the crow was sacred and meant the flesh torn by fighting. As he eats carrion, the welsh poetry uses the metaphor "the crow pierced you" to say "you have died". They thought crows escorted the sun during his nocturnal path, that is to say in Hell. So they were a symbol of evil, contrary to swanns, symbolizing purity.

In Babylon, the crow was the name of the 13th month of the calendar, and he had a very negative value.

For the Greeks, the crow was too gossipy. That's why Athena replaced him with the owl, to stay with her. The crow was also devoted to Apollo. The god sent him to the aquatic world, to bring back water. The crow discovered a fig tree whose fruits were not ripe yet, so he waited near the tree to eat ripe figs instead of accomplishing his task . He was punished for his disobediance and egotism : Apollo placed him in the constellations, but the hydra prevented him from drinking the cup : he is condemned to thirst.

In the Bible, the crow is sent by Noah to search earth after the flood. But the crow didn't told Noé that the flood was finished. So he is considered selfish. Saint Golowin thought that in Paradise, the crows had multicoloured wings. But after Adam and Eve were driven away from the Paradise, the crows started to eat carrion. So they became black-feathered. At the end of time, the crows will find their beauty again and sing harmoniously to praise God.

In the Middle-Ages, it was said that crows neglect their young; as he eats carrions, he is seen as a bad omen.

In India, in the Mahâbhârata, the messengers of death are compared to crows. In Laos, the water soiled by crows can't be used for ritual purification.

The crow, symbol of the supreme God

It is mostly in nomadic civilisations (hunters and fishers) that the crow has a positive meaning. He lost this meaning with the sedentarisation and the agrarian developpement.

For Tlingit Indians (North-West of the Pacific), the crow is the main divine character. He organises the world, gives civilisation and culture, creates and frees the sun... For Haïda indians (North-western coast of the Canada), the crow will steal the sun from the sky's master, to give it to the earth's people. Raven has also a magic canoe : he can make it change its size, from the pine needle size, to big enough to contain the whole universe.
In North America, he is the personnification of the Supreme Being. When he flaps his wings he creates the wind, the thunder and the lightning.

In Mithra's cult, he can fight evil spells.

Scandinavians legends show two crows, perched on Odin's seat : Hugi, the Spirit, and Munnin, the Memory. They symbolize the principle of creation. In the same way, these birds are the companions of Wotan ("the God with the crows").

The crow was sacred for the Celts. He was associated to the creation of Lugdunum (Lyon), city of the God Lug. Lug is the great solar god. He has the form of a crow and is assimilated to Apollo.

The crow is also in the Bible: he brings bead to man, alone in the desert.Prophet Elie, Saint Paul hermit, Saint Antoine... Saint Vincent had been defended by crows against the attack of carnivores; the crow is also seen at Saint Benoît's feet and in Saint Oswald's hands. Here, he symbolizes divine providence. He is also linked to Saints Boniface and Meinrad : their two tame crows allowed to find their corpses.

The crow has also a role in the asiatic mythology : in China and in Japan, he shows love and filial gratitude.According to chinese legends, ten red crows with three paws flew away from the East Blackberry Tree to bring light to the world. But they brought an unbearable heat to the Earth. Yi The Good Archer killed nine of them, and saved the world. The last Crow is now in the Sun.

So the crow is a solar symbol. He represents the creative principle.

Guide and messenger of the Gods

The major meaning of this black bird is to be a guide and the Gods' messenger.
In Black Africa, the crow warns men that dangers are menacing them. The crow is their guide and a protector spirit.

For Mayas, he is the messenger of the God of lightning and thunder.

In Celtic civilisation, he has prophetic functions. Bodb, Goddess of the war, takes the form of a raven to observe the battlefields. The crows' fly and cawings told the future. The crow was also linked to Bran, God of the sailors (bran means crow in gaelic) : the sailors had crows on their boats. They released them at sea. They flied in the direction of the earth. The same idea is in the Bible (after the flood Noah released first a crow),in India and in Norway.

In Greece the crow foretold the future : a raven stood near the Pythie of Delphes during her prediction. It is generally said in Greece that the white crow guides messengers. This function of messenger of the Gods (especially Apollo's messenger), may have its origin in a greek legend. Coronis was unfaithful to Apollo, and a crow informed him. According to Ovide, the crow was originally white. Apollo made him become black to punish him for bringing bad news. Apollo even took a form of crow to guide Santorin's people to Cyrena. And two crows showed Alexander the Great the road to Amon's sanctuary.

Hugi and Munnin (Thought and Memory), are Odin's companions. In scandinavian mythology, they travel all over the world and come back to tell Odin all the events that happens on earth.

In the mithraic cult, Sol(the God Sun) entrust the crow with telling Mithra to sacrifice the bull.

In Japan, crows are also divine messengers, and in China they are the faerie queen Hsi-Wang-Mu's messengers. They also bring her food and are a good omen.

So we can say that the crow is a creator,a guide and a devine messenger. He also guides souls through their last travel and goes through the darkness without moving away from the road.



by Rhiannon Raven


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History of Ayurveda

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Around five thousand years ago, one of the greatest sages of India , Srila Vyasadeva wrote down the Vedas for the first time. The Vedas also included a branch called Ayurveda that means “ The Science of Life”. It is the oldest and most holistic health system available to human beings today. This ancient wisdom of healing, prevention and longevity was a part of the spiritual tradition of a universal religion before it was written down in texts.

According to many scholars knowledge of Ayurveda originated from India and influenced the ancient Chinese system of medicine and medical system practiced in Greece . Thus, Ayurveda is also known as the “Mother of all Healing”.

Indian art of healing, Ayurveda is believed to be as old as the religion of Hinduism. The complete knowledge of Ayurveda along with spiritual insights of virtue and self-realization was placed in written form over 2000 years ago in Vedas. The four main Vedas included topics like health, astrology, spiritual living and behaviour. These four Vedas are Rig, Sama, Yajur and Atharva Veda. Ayurveda was a sub section attached to the Atharva Veda. This sub section dealt with the diseases, injuries, fertility, sanity and health. All the secrets of life were revealed in the first Veda i.e. Rig Veda. Rig Veda shows the discussions on the three doshas-vitta, pitta and kapha and the use of various herbs to cure the diseases. It also included the five elements of creation, namely, the earth, water, fire, air, ether that forms the basis of all forms of life. It consists of three aspects of Ayurvedic knowledge known as the Tri-Sutras that includes cause of illness, symptoms and treatments of the disease. These tri-sutras were further elaborated in eight divisions of Ayurveda and were listed down in Atharva Veda.

The knowledge of Ayurveda is believed to be of Divine origin and was communicated to the saints and sages of India who received its wisdom through deep meditation. Originally only Brahmins were considered as physicians. But later people from other castes also learned this art of healing and a specific term Vaidya was used for these practitioners.

Around 1500 B.C. Ayurveda grew into a respected and widely used system of healing. During this time it was divided into eight specific branches of medicine. The two schools of thought also came into existence at that time and they were Atreya- the school of physicians and Dhanvantri- the school of surgeons.

The state of the art of ancient healing was enhanced by the myths and legends of the God of healing, Divodosa Dhanvantari. It is believed that Dhanvanatri, who later wrote down the text of Ayurveda, taught the science of medicine to the sages. According to another legend, the knowledge of healing originated from Brahma who taught it to Daksha, who further taught Indra.

When diseases and death started creating havoc, all great sages gathered in order to find solution to this havoc-creating problem. During this meeting sage Bharadvaja came forward to learn this art of healing from Indra. He then taught this science to Atreya- who further transmitted this knowledge throughout world. Later Agnivesh who was foremost among the disciples of Atreya wrote Agnivesha Samhita- the most comprehensive form of Ayurveda. The oldest compilations of Atreya and Agnivesha are lost. There are three main re-organizers of Ayurveda whose works still exist and in use. These works were compiled in texts of Charaka, Sushruta and Vaghbata Samhita.

Charaka was the first man who based his Samhita on Agnivesha Samhita and enlarged it with his interpretations and annotations. Sushruta based his Samhita on the Dhanwantri school of Ayurveda. Vaghbata compiled the third treatise called Ashtanga Hridaya that is a concise version of both the works of Charaka and Sushruta Samhita. These texts still contain the original and complete knowledge of the Ayurvedic world of medicine.

Charaka Samhita represented the Atreya School of physicians that shows discussions on physiology, anatomy, etiology, pathogenesis and symptoms of diseases. In brief it included the internal and external cause of illness. According to Charaka the first and the main cause of illness is the loss of faith in the divine.

Sushruta Samhita comes from the Dhanvantari School of surgeons. The Samhita contains details and discussions of various surgeries, burns, fractures, wounds and amputation. In includes the complete discussion of the human anatomy. The first science of massage of vital body points originated from Sushruta Samhita. Of all the treaties available Charaka Samhita is considered the best. It consists the details about the elements of Ayurvedic therapeutics and is also the only work that covers Ayurveda comprehensively.

Ayurveda went through a period of decline in India during the period of British rule. It became a second option that was used by traditional spiritual practitioners and the poor. This decline was only for a short period. In 1947, when India got independence, Ayurveda again gained importance and many new schools were established. Till date Ayurvedic medicine has continued to evolve its holistic approach to health in order to cope with modern needs and scientific approaches of the day. Modern Ayurveda includes:

• Principles of preventive healthcare for the entire family (kulam svastyam kutumbakam).
• Treatment of addictions (sangakara chikitsa).
• Purification and rejuvenation treatments (panchakarma chikitsa).
• The Ayurvedic approach to diet and weight loss (sthaulya chikitsa)
• Musculoskeletal system treatments (vatavyadhi chikitsa).
• Promotion of self-healing and resistance to disease (svabhaavoparamavaada).
• Male and female infertility (vajikarana).
• Beauty and cosmetic treatments for men and women (saundarya sadhana).

The western countries started taking interest in ayurveda in the mid 70’s. Many Ayurvedic teachers from India started visiting United States and Europe . Ayurvedic colleges are gaining importance and recognization in Europe , Australia and the United States . People from various countries are coming to Indian Ayurvedic schools to learn about the religious scriptures from which Ayurveda originated. They are learning the complete wisdom of Ayurveda and bringing it back to their own countries. The wisdom of Ayurveda has helped many countries to form the basis of carious medical systems.

The Complete Encyclopedia on Ayurveda

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Subterranean Mythology and Primordial Religion of the Basque People

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The origins
While many European populations are linked to their original homeland because of historical reasons or the archaeological evidence of migrations that occurred in remote times, the origin of the Basque people were and still remain shrouded in mystery.
Something like two million and half Basques live nowadays along the Western range of the Pyrenees in a territory on the border between France and Spain.
Euskal Herria (the Basque name of the country) is formed by seven provinces: Bizkaia, Gipuzcoa, Araba and Navarra in Spain, Lupurdi, Bassa Navarra and Zuberoa in France. Though these provinces straddle the geo-political boundaries of the two European countries, their are independent from an ethnic as well as a linguistic point of view.

The Basques think of themselves as the original, prehistoric inhabitants of what is, today, Spanish territory. Some scholars think that the Basques may indeed be the descendants of the Cro-Magnon populations that occupied the area in prehistorical times and that made the famous rock paintings and graffiti discovered inside many caves in this territory. Physical anthropologists think that modern Basques and ancient Cro-Magnon men share many characteristics and physical traits.

On the basis of our current knowledge, the most ancient remains discovered in the land today occupied by the Basques date to the Lower Palaeolithic period and can be assigned to 200.000 - 100.000 BCE. The evidence is based on lithic and pointed tools in sandstone, quartz, silica and basalt, discovered in sites along the coast and in riverine settlements.

The origin of the language called Euskara, spoken by the Basques, is unknown. It is a pre Indo-European language, totally unique, that shares only a few analogies with Caucasic and Berber dialects. The Basques call themselves Euskaldun, from Euskara "Basque language" and dun "somebody who speaks". Modern linguistics try to discover the age of this language by investigating its most ancient root words.

For example, the word axe, haizkolari, derives from the root-word haitz, which means stone or rock. This has lead many to think that it may be a linguistic reference to Neolithic stone tools.

In his studies, the abbot Dominique Lahetjuzan (1766-1818) came to the conclusion that the Basque language was the language spoken in the Garden of Eden. He showed how the names of the main chapters of the Book of Genesis were all Basque in origin and had their appropriate, specific meaning. For his theories, the abbot has been called one of the strangest characters of the theological era. In 1825, the French abbot Diharce De Bidassouet wrote in his "History of the Cantabrians" that Basque was the original language spoken by God, a statement for which the abbot was soundly ridiculed. At about the same period, the Basque priest Erroa stated that Basque was the language spoken in the Garden of Eden. His colleagues thought he was a lunatic, but Erroa was so deeply convinced of being right in his hypothesis that he caught the attention of the Bishop of Pamplona: he, conversely, directed his appeals to the Chapter of the Cathedral of Pamplona. The ecclesiastical institution considered Erroas theories and, after many months of deliberations, established that Erroa was right and publicly supported his theory. However, in a short time all the reports and the registry containing the ecclesiastical deliberations disappeared mysteriously.

Many studies on the Basque people stress how deeply they are different and separated from other cultures. However, if we look closely we can see this is not completely true. In ancient times the Basques were known to the Greeks, who called them Ouaskonous (the people of the he-goat), due to their habit of sacrificing goats to their gods. Later on, the Roman armies that passed through Iberia reported to have been in contact with a population they called Vascones.

The advent of Kixmi
The expansion of Christianity in the land occupied by the Basques was a very slow process. In the 9th century AD, in fact, in many areas of the country there were still many Gentiles, i.e., Pagans (the protagonists of a number of legends in which Gentile is often the synonymous of a gigantic, wild man who has exceptional strength and who lives hidden in the mountains, away from the local communities). However, the presence of groups of Christianised people in certain localities from the 4th century AD testifies that the Christian religion had already started to spread in these areas since the beginning of the Christian era.
The mythological and folk lores will be deeply touched by the new religion.
To exemplify that, it suffices to mention the legend of the mysterious cloud. One day, in the vicinity of Ataun, a luminous cloud coming from the East appeared in the sky. The Gentiles were frightened. They asked an old man what was the meaning of that omen, and he replied: Kixmi (Christ) has come. It is the end of our era, throw me down a precipice". This was done and then, followed by the cloud, they tried to hide themselves beneath a large stone: the refuge turned to be their grave.

Traces of this lost world can be found in the prehistory of the Basque people: when ordered chronologically, these traces could offer an idea of some of the most relevant traits of the Basque original religious beliefs. A lot, however, can be reconstructed analyzing the ethnographic data, the rites and the local folklore of the Basque people.

The Pyrenees are dotted with sacred sites: caves, springs, wells, valleys and mountain peaks. The mountains and the valleys were thought to be the abodes of divinities and Genies: the earth was believed to contain beautiful landscapes and green valleys hidden to mortals. The most famous of all these sites is probably a plain named Akelarre in the province of Navarra. The name comes from aker, he-goat and larre, pasture. For hundred of years, this place was connected to witchcraft and it has been probably chosen as the place where to celebrate ancient rituals and sacrifices. The Church has eradicated any information related to the pagan religion of the Basques, and has even denied the existence of such rituals. However, the Greek geographer Strabo reports beyond doubt that sacrificing goats was a ritual crucial in the religious beliefs of the Ouaskonous.

Due to the many mountains which characterize the Basque landscape, the Romans -and later on the Arabs, Spaniards and French. were not able to gain full control over the region. The Romans occupied only portions of the Basque land and imposed on them Roman law, but they did not succeed in subjugating completely the Basque people. It seems that the Basques have assimilated in their own culture only few foreign words and customs: they have been the last of all Western European people to be converted to Christianity. For centuries, the Christian missionaries and their new religion were ignored by a vast portion of the Basque people, who preferred to practice their traditional religion, full of magical beliefs. In the 14th century the number of Basques converted to Christianity had raised sensibly, but until the 17th century the non-Christian living in the area were still considerably many.

In 1609, a controller sent from Bordeaux to check the state of the Christian church in the Basque territory under French rule reported that Witches Sabbath were often held in the churches themselves, with the approval, if not the participation, of the local priest. The French controller was shocked to see how sympathetic were the local Basque priests towards the old, pagan religion. The majority of the population still practised a religion which was a mixture of Paganism and Christianity. Such reports provoked strong reactions in France and in Spain which led to the systematic destruction of the Basque religion and culture. In this way the Catholic Church was able to reach the goal which the Romans and the Arabs had missed: full control over the Basque people.
Altogether, 2000 people were first accused of witchcraft and then executed: something like 50.000 people witnessed the trials, which were public and held in open spaces to facilitate the audience.

Pope Gregory IX instituted papal Inquisition in 1231 against heresy. In 1478 Pope Sixtus IV authorised the Spanish Inquisition to fight Jewish and Moslem apostasy. In 1483 he nominated the person who would organise the Inquisition in all the regions of Spain. This was the great inquisitor Tomas de Torquemada.

A hunting season was declared against women, especially those that gathered herbs, obstetricians, widows and spinsters. It has been estimated that 9 million people, above all women, were burnt or hanged in Europe at that time.
It appears that Franciscans participated in these trials against witchcraft helping the gathering and the building up of proofs.
They were particularly busy spying potential witches and denouncing them to the authorities. They tortured women obtaining from them false confessions.

At Logrono many people were tortured until they admitted anything they were ordered to say by the monks. It is recorded that one of the tortured women, Mariquita de Atauri, after she had denounced while being tortured, a great many innocent people she killed herself by throwing herself in the river near her house and drowning . When the Inquisition was established in 1231, it was the Dominicans who were in charge of the organisation and killing of heretics.

The Inquisition and the Dominicans concentrated themselves on the Alps of northern Italy. The use of torture was officially authorised by pope Innocent IV in 1252.
The Jesuits, many of whom were Basques like their founder Ignatius de Loyola, don't seem to have taken part in the witch hunting but on the contrary, it seems that they acted as mediators and translators with the local population. Maybe it was the Basque Jesuits who defended their ancient language that was, together with the Basque culture, one of the objectives of the Inquisition as it later was that of Francisco Franco from 1930 onwards.

Basque Pantheon

With the arrival of Christianity there also came the destruction of much knowledge of various rituals and magical arts that were common to all the valleys of Euskal Herria. Fortunately the Basques have a strong oral tradition that is celebrated even today with songs and competitions among storytellers. There is still a vast collection of ancient myths and legends although many of them have never been translated from Euskara.

According to the Basques there is a duality of beings and of worlds: on the one side the natural world (berezko), on the other the supernatural one (aideko); to operate in the first, one has to use natural instruments, one enters the second through magic. The magical means are many but they are all based on the ADUR, or magical virtue, that links things with their representations. Curses or birao are transmitted thanks to adur, to the person or thing which is signalled: a symbolic action towards an image emits its adur, that operates at a distance. Names are sound images of things. According to a popular Basque saying all that has a name exists "izena duen gutzia omen da".

The main gods are Ortzi or Eguzki, the sun god, Ilargia or Illargui, the moon goddess, Mari the earth goddess and Sugaar, the god both of the earth and of the sky. Ortzi, also called Ost or Eguzki, is the god of the sun, of the sky and of thunder and is often compared to Jupiter, Zeus and Thor.

Ortzi, and its western equivalent Osti are the first elements in a dozen words like "cloud storm", "thunder" and "dawn". For example "rainbow" is Ortzadar (adar means horn)and "daylight" is Orzargi (argi means light).
In many childrens rigmaroles there is mention of a female being, scion of the earth (Lur). According to an old way of thinking, the sun is born from the earth and goes back to it. It is believed that sunlight is not liked by witches or by certain categories of Lamies, as in a narration concerning a Lamia whose golden comb was stolen by a shepherd. He was about to take it back when a ray of the rising sun touched lightly the man's clothes ...." thank the sun " she told him and retired in her cave.
Sun symbols are circles, swastikas, the flowers of thistles, very frequent in Basque popular funerary art.
The dolmen culture with its dolmens oriented from east to west are a proof of sun worship.
Unfortunately little remains of the god and of the myths and knowledge of whatever ritual was celebrated to adore it.

The moon goddess Ilargia or Illargui appears in many myths and legends. Because they are agriculturists and fishermen, the Basques are very close to the moon cycles. Ilargia is the guardian of death; lshe accompanies people on the way to the afterlife.

Ilargia regulates the world of the secret knowledge, of divination and magic.

Illargui like the sun, is of a feminine gender; when she appears on the eastern mountains one says:"Illargui amandrea, zeruan ze iberri?" (Lady, mother moon, what news do you bring us?). Friday is sacred to her in the same way as Thursday is sacred to the sky. According to an old belief, the moon is the light of the dead and to die with a waxing moon is considered a good omen for the afterlife. Sun and moon are children of the earth where they both go back after their run in the sky.

In traditional tales it is said that the face of the earth is unlimited in all directions and whoever wants to explore its borders is destined to fail. The earth contains treasures hidden in caves and mountains that often cannot be found because there are no precise indications useful to find them and also because menacing genies intervene and terrify those who seek the treasures and force them to abandon the search. It is the habitual dwelling of souls,of divinities and of most mythical beings some of which take on the likeness of bulls, horses, goats and other animals.

The mythical world of the Basques is peopled by genies or divinities that take on the shape of animals or of half human beings who live inside caves.

Among these one is particularly important.This is Mari, an anthropomorphic goddess, one of the most ancient chthonic female deities.
Mari's husband is Maju, who also appears as a snake or Sugaar. Apparently they live separately.Mari lives on earth and Maju/Sugaar in the sea. This is for a good reason. When Maju and Mari meet they produce violent rain storms with hail, thunder and lightening.
A 16th century legend says that Mari is the founder of the House of the Lords of Biscay.
The " Lady " or the " Dame", as Mari is often called, lives in the regions of the deep, but also in grottoes and in precipices linked with each other by subterranean conduits, Mari's shapes are diverse: in the subterranean regions she takes on zoomorphic shapes, on the surface instead she appears as a very beautiful lady elegantly dressed who is combing her hair with a golden comb; sometimes she moves in the sky in a chariot drawn by horses or surrounded by flames. She also appears like a flaming tree, a white cloud, a rainbow, a gust of wind, a bird, a sickle made of fire, moving from one mountain peak to another. Mari sometimes drives across the sky her chariot drawn by four white horses or she rides a white ram. Like Persephone she is abducted by a bull. She leads all subterranean genies. Sometimes she is not alone in her dwelling but is surrounded by animal-genies or by young girls.
Many of her attributes are those characteristic of witches. A legend narrates that Mari gave a piece of charcoal to one of her prisoners, Catalina. The coal became pure gold. The goddess often changes her dwelling place and for each of these places there is a corresponding different character, as if the goddess was not one and the same but a plurality of sister goddesses.
The caves where these live are often meeting places or witches Akelarre. Like Mari, the witches have power over natural phenomena.

The way the witches are called is Sorgin. Do witches exist? " One cannot say that they exist, one cannot say that they do not exist " according to a popular saying.On the other hand the witches themselves confirm their existence:" No, we do not exist, yes we do exist, we are fourteen thousand here ", thus they answered some women weavers at Eldauayen. In many popular tales there is mention of the abduction of people who disbelieved in them.
There are genie-witches and human-witches.
The first ones belong to Mari's cortage. They take on many of her tasks and they build bridges and dolmen.
Men can also belong to the second category of witches but more often they are women with a bad character whose interventions cause death or infirmity.
The witches often transform themselves into cats, sometimes into dogs or rams and they very often move about from one place to the other by smearing themselves with an ointment and reciting a phrase that says:"Sasi guztien ganeti eta odei guztien aizpiti" ( Above all the thorns and through all the clouds).

Next to the subterranean and malevolent genies there are some who are helpful (familiarrak), some aquatic, rural, nocturnal, who fly, etc.

Between the world of the gods and that of man there is the Lord of the Woods, the Basajaun. He is semi-divine and a strong, hairy being with animal characteristics. Basajaun watches over the forests and all wild creatures. He is a rural genie, the lord of the woods or also the Wild Lord. He is considered to be the protector of flocks. When comes a storm he shouts warnings to the shepherds; he prevent wolves from approaching flocks. He is the first to have cultivated the earth. Human beings obtained the right to cultivate the earth when a man won a bet with Basajaun. He stole the seeds that Basajun was sowing and he came back to his peoples to teach them how to produce food.

The Lamie or Laminak have a particular importance. They are genies with a human shape although they have chicken, duck or goat feet.
In the coastal areas they are women with the lower part of their bodies in the shape of a fish. They are not of a specific sex, although they are mostly female genies. Some legends describe them as small people that live underground.
Caves are their dwellings but they can also live near puddles and river pools. They are in the habit of spinning with a spindle and a distaff, of building bridges, dolmen and houses.

Lamies often appear with a golden comb, they willingly accept offerings left by men on the window sill of houses; they fall in love and are loved by human beings. If people enter per chance in their dwellings they greet them kindly unless they are intrusive. In that case they abduct them.
The duplicity of their nature is obvious. They can be beneficiary or malevolent.
They can become extremely violent with those they abduct. They can drink their blood and also eat the flesh of their victims.
The cycle of the Lamies has many links with that of the witches or that of the Gentiles.

There are other deities, spirits, semi-divine beings like Intxitxu, the invisible spirit that builds the Cromlechs, the mysterious stone circles in the mountains that surround Oiartzun. Irelu is a subterranean spirit that abducts whoever disturbs it. Its mysterious footprints can be seen near the caves of Armontaitz and Malkorburu. If one climbs the mountain called Ubedi you can hear its singing mixed with the sound of the wind.

Near the caves of Balzola and Montecristo lives Erensuge, a terrible snake that attracts people with its breath only to devour them. In the area of Albistur and Zegama one can be frightened by the echo of strange laments and by some sheep nearby that is running away. It is Basajun that announces its presence and warns shepherds that a storm is about to come.

Near the caves of Santimamine, Sagastigorri and Covairadea, look for a cow that is completely red, a calf or a bull with ferocious eyes. It's Beigorri, the guardian of many of Mari's abodes. This animal is represented in many of the paintings found in the caves of this region.

The"Etxe"
Basques are attached to house cults, etxe. A home is not only the place of origin but a temple and a cemetery, a symbol and a common centre for the living and the dead of a family. The'"etxekandere" or lady of the house is the main priestess of domestic cults and she performs some rituals inherent with frequenting the dead and the training of living people.
These traditions bear witness to the great respect that Basques have for female roles, so much so that at the time of the fueros the choice of the heir would fall on the first born, boy or girl, contrary to the feudal laws that gave this prerogative only to male descendants.
Before the arrival of Christianity the house was used as a family burial place. Among the beliefs that are part of the religious rituals there is that it is forbidden to turn around a house three times. The Basque house was considered inviolable so much so that it provided the right of refuge, and inalienable because it had to be bequeathed whole and undivided to the members of a given family.
The souls of the dead were prayed to in the domestic cults, They have a particular importance in Basque culture. According to a widespread belief they appear in the shape of lightening,lights or wind gusts, sometimes like shadows. By night they often go back to their etxe through subterranean passages.

Winter festivals
According to tradition death does not break family links. The memory of the dead lives in the magic rite of lighting thin candles, the argizaiolak. The 1st of November is the day when the Winter Festival begins. In places like Amezketa in Gipuzcoa the argizaiolak light the tombs to keep alive the spirit of the dead.
The winter solstice has become part of the long Christmas festivities. A character named Olentzero announces this season and seems to have originated in some pre-Christian rituals. He is described as a simple coalman who was the first to hear the good news. Maybe he is what remains of a character that was linked with the ceremony of the lighting of the fire in a remote past.

An interesting custom is that of "beating the Yule log ". The log is brought to the house under a cloth blanket. The relatives and the children say a prayer towards the log, then each of them beats the log three times with a small branch. When the blanket is removed the Yule log is exhibited together with candles and cakes.

The most important winter festival is Carnival. In many cities this festivity is announced by strange processions during which the participants are dressed like gypsies, a reminiscence of the time when large tribes of gypsies used to come to the Basque carnivals. In the province of Gipuzcoa the children of the two villages of Amezketa and Abaltzisketa dance around all the houses to awaken the generosity of their neighbours. In the city of Lasarte-Oria the dance of the witches 'Sorgin Dantza' is performed on the Sunday of Carnival..

Summer festivals

While the ancient rituals of the winter solstice have almost entirely been absorbed by Christianity, the traditions of the summer solstice have remained strong and intact. The celebrations emphasize the purification and the exaltation of summer and the sun. On the night of the solstice practically in all the villages, city or farm, a fire is lit. In the countryside these can be seen on the mountains and in front of the farms. In the towns they are lit in the middle of squares or in a nearby field. A very popular custom is that of jumping over the fire. In the country fires burning branches are taken from the fire and dragged in the fields to cast off any form of evil. The day after the summer solstice the markets of the towns exhibit " lucky branches", pieces of wood that have not been entirely burnt in the fires. These are considered to be protective against fires.

Conclusions

This is only a brief research on a very old and little known Tradition. There is much to learn concerning the mythology and the magic-spiritual practices of the Basque peoples. They contain the archetypes from which all the knowledge of the world has emerged. Within the deep knowledge of this people it seems that are hidden the keys to open the secret doors of all the world Traditions.

The genetic and ethnic-cultural constitution of the Basques, the remote origin of their language that seems to stem directly from the ancestral memory of the earth and possibly from words, sparks of life fallen from the gods of heaven, allow us to perceive a remote enchanted garden, beyond the barriers of time, inhabited by fantastic and wonderful creatures.

The attempts at erasing the signs of the Great Origin have not been capable of shadowing the intact consciousness of reality that appears in the folds of a world as modern as it is unreal and ferocious.

The Lamies of the Baia still sing their melodious whispers in the gusts of winds coming from the ocean and Mari still travels in the starry sky of the nights in Euskal Herria, with her flaming chariot leaving behind her on the top of the mountains tokens of her love for her wonderful kingdom.
And in the streets of the villages, in the countryside and in the towns one can still hear the agonizing laments for a Peace that has never been acquired and of a Freedom forever negated to the Euskaldunak people, those that speak the Basque language.



By Carlo Barbera


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Joik and the Theory of Knowledge

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Joik (hereafter written and literally pronounced 'yoik') is a traditional Saami (or Lapplandic) chant which we believe is one of the oldest forms of music in Europe. It was once an important part of our former religious practices, and this is perhaps the reason why it was branded taboo by the Christians. Even today yoik is prohibited in certain areas. Here I would like to make some brief comments on yoik, and at the same time draw a comparison between yoik and a contrasting topic, namely the theory of knowledge in the social sciences. I will use the western European notion of singing songs as a metaphor for science.

Yoik is distinguished from the western European notion of singing in several ways. For instance, one does not yoik about someone or something, but one simply yoiks someone or something. In a manner of speaking, a yoik has no object. In fact, it is altogether impossible to envision yoik in terms of subject and object. The yoiker may perhaps be considered an integral part of the yoik, and this has interesting connotations for the debate about objectivity in research. To what extent is the researcher a part of his research, and how far is the research part of the researcher?

A western European song is usually considered to have a beginning, a middle and an end. A yoik, on the other hand, starts suddenly and stops just as abruptly. In this respect, a yoik has neither a beginning nor an end, and is therefore circular rather than linear. However, even a circle is not an adequate graphical description of the structure of a yoik, because a yoik lacks the Euclidean symmetry of a circle. simply no answer to the question of where a yoik starts and ends. In view of this, let us consider development: it is commonly supposed that development has some forward linear direction, but what exactly is development if we move within an unsymmetrical circle? This arises the question of the superiority of symmetries within the scientific discourse.

There are Yoiks for persons, animals and land. In Saami tradition it was very important for a person to have a yoik, just as important as being given a name. Yoiking a landscape or an animal probably had a similar ritual significance. Even for the trained ear, it is difficult to hear the difference between an animal's yoik and a person's yoik. the reason is simply that people, animals and land are not as distinct in the Saami mind as in the western European mind. Ethics that apply to fellow humans also apply to a great extent to animals and land, or fellow animals and fellow land, so to speak. Thus, just as one cannot own a fellow man, one cannot own a «fellow» animal or «fellow» land.

Yoik varies from place to place just as language does. They may be anything from melodic. epic yoiks to imitations of bird sounds. Within each «yoik dialect«BB there are «yoik idiolects», or personal variations. Thus, yoiking is not a phenomenon of a uniform society, but belongs to a world of diversity.

Musicians would have difficulty in understanding a yoik because it differs from one time to the next. A musician would expect a yoiker to begin with the same tone every time he yoiks, so the musician would believe it possible to compose a piece of music to accompany a yoik. However, a yoiker would have difficulty changing in harmony with the musician's accompaniment, since the mood of the yoiker may have changed since the last time he chanted, and his mood will manifest itself in the yoik. In this regard a yoik has no fixed nature, but must be seen as a kind of process that defies all description by any established scientific patterns.

by Ánde Somby

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