Comrade Fergus: Friend or Foe

Fergus Mac Róich’s first mention is on page 9 of the Táin. He is described as “crafty”. For seventeen years he has lived in exile as the deposed king of Ulster whose crown was treacherously usurped by his stepson Conchobar after being betrayed by his wife, Nessa. Fergus having been forced to change allegiances, now fights for the King and Queen of the Irishmen. But has he really switched sides or is he craftily trying to regain his place in Ulster? Referred to throughout the Tain as “comrade Fergus”, the question becomes who are Fergus’s true comrades?

It is true that Fergus knows the ‘friendship of the Irish Queen thighs’, but is he appeasing her to help his foster son, Cu Chulainn who single-handedly has the job of defending all of Ulster? Not trusted by either side, Fergus makes secret deals with Cu Chuliann, but then “in a single onslaught cut down a hundred Ulstermen with his sword” (203) after choosing not to take King Conchobar’s life. Do Fergus’s “pangs of affection for the people of his native province” (24) make him secretly fight for the men of Ulster or has his “vengeance [been] thwarted by a woman’s will” (61-62)?

Fergus is conjured from his grave to tell the story of the Táin. In another legend, the prince of Connacht allows visitors to eat him out of house and home for fear of their satire. His brother, a recluse, has nothing to lose and puts the visitors under a curse that takes away their poetry until they are able to recite the Táin. Being able to recite an epic would be punishment enough (there is a reason bards were a respected elite), but in this case, the task is near impossible: the story has been lost, only fragments remain. It takes an act of magic to literally resurrect it. Colm Cille leads the cursed visitors to Fergus’s grave where he summons Fergus to tell the story. Fittingly, St. Ciaran of Cluain writes the story of The Cattle Raid of Cooley down on the hide of his pet dun cow (vellum). The question remains: why would it be Fergus who was summoned? Is he the best person to tell the story of the Táin? Why or why not?

The Táin. Trans. Ciaran Carson. New York: Viking, 2008. Print.

Visions of Cu Chulainn

Kristina posted a great essay comparing ancient myth traditions with modern interpretations. She asked for more examples in shows and movies we've watched, but I was so taken with the fantastic drawing of Cu Chulainn she used to illustrate her blog that I became distracted and went off to find out more about her art. (Thank you Kristina!)

There is a fantastic collection of artwork done to illustrate the character Cu Chulainn on the website ConceptArt.org. It seems they hold global contests to draw a particular character each week. The amazing drawing I am using was done by a woman who calls herself Arthemis IX and lives in Holland. I highly recommend going to the site and seeing if any of the drawings correspond to your personal vision of our hero.

http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=175013

Power of the Circle

You have
noticed that everything
an Indian does is in a circle, and that
is because the Power of the World always
works in circles, and everything tries to be round. In
the old days when we were a strong and happy people, all
our power came to us from the sacred hoop of the nation, and
as long as the hoop was unbroken, the people flourished. The
flowering tree was the living center of the hoop, and the circle of the
four quarters nourished it. The east gave peace and light, the south
gave warmth, the west gave rain, and the north with its cold and mighty
wind gave strength and endurance. This knowledge came to us from the
outer world with our religion. Everything the Power of the World does is in
a circle. The sky is round, and I have heard that the earth is round like a ball,
and so are all the stars. The wind, in its greatest power, whirls, Birds make
their nests in circles, for theirs is the same religion as ours. The sun comes
forth and goes down again in a circle. The moon does the same, and both
are round. Even the seasons form a great circle in their changing , and
always come back again to where they were. The life of a man is a
circle from childhood to childhood, and so its is in everything
where power moves. Our teepees were round like the nests
of birds, and these were always set in a circle, the nation's
hoop, a nest of many nests, where the Great
Spirit meant for us to hatch our children.
-- Black Elk in Black Elk Speaks as
told through John G.
Niehardt

Black Elk (1863-1950) Oglala Sioux Holy Man

Tell Me a Story

Tain Bo Cuailnge meaning the Cattle Raid of Cooley is a legendary epic from early Irish literature. The Táin Bó Cuailnge represents the oldest vernacular tale of Western Europe, predating both Beowulf and Homer’s Odyssey. It describes the invasion of Ulster by the armies of Queen Medb of Connaught and her husband Ailill intending to steal the Brown Bull of Cuailnge. They are faced only by the boy warrior Cuchulainn, the rest of the men of Ulster being incapacitated by an ancient curse placed by the ancient Celtic goddess of war, Macha. Cuchulainn is young enough to be free of the curse, he manages to hold off the invading armies until the Ulstermen are free of the curse.*

So it's another very old and very long story with heroes and bad guys and gods and goddesses and curses and timeless truths to puzzle out? So what makes this Celtic story different from the last two stories? Hmmm...

* From: Western Paradigm: Evidence of Predetermination. Archive for Feb 2009. A very interesting blog full of interesting

little articles about everything of interest that can be found at: http://westernparadigm.wordpress.com/2009/02/

Timeless Truths

During the fighting on that day there was a dreadful and thrilling battle…

Which increased the domain of the god of Death.

.....................................

As a mountain receives heavy rainfall,

So Karna received those warriors in battle.

Although the heroic Karna fought bravely, he was no match for Arjuna and Krishna:

Cut off by Arjuna’s arrow and deprived of life,
The tall trunk of Karna,
With blood gushing from every wound,
Fell down like the thunder-riven summit of a mountain of red chalk
With crimson streams running down its sides
After a shower of rain.

From The Mahabharata, Book LXIX

The Mahabharata is one of the worlds’ oldest epic myths. Like all good myths, The Mahabharata is an engaging narrative contains timeless and universal truths, jewels waiting to be discovered. The jewels aren’t always apparent. Many people hear or read a myth and come away with only the enjoyment of a good story. Those that are willing to ask questions and make connections can come away with the deeper meanings, the jewels that separate mere existence from a rich, purposeful life.

A line jumped out at me when watching Peter Brook’s Mahabharata video:

When one prefers one’s own children to those of others, war is near.

Do you think this is true? Do you think this is true of blind King Dhrtarastra (to whom it was said)? Do you think it is true in families? Are families a microcosm of nations?

What do you think of Yudhisthira’s truth from Book XL:

In all cases, war is evil. Who that strikes is not struck in return? Victory and defeat, O Krsna, are the same to one who is killed. Defeat is not very much better than death, I think; but he whose side gains victory also surely suffers some loss.

Mahabharata: gods, gods, gods...

Hindu gods are a pretty misunderstood group since "Hinduism is often characterized as being polytheistic, and while it is true that innumerable dieties are the objects of worship, many Hindus will regard these as [one] aspect or manifestation of sacred power." (Flood 10). Having one transcendant divinity that can be approached through a variety of different manifestations is just one of many distinctions between the Indian gods found in The Mahabharata and the Greek gods of The Iliad. What are some of the other distinctions? How has the relationship between the gods and humans changed? How does samsara (reincarnation) affect the relationship?

Flood, Gavin. An Introduction to Hinduism. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996. Print.

Just Say, "Om"

The Causal Word, Aum, represents the divine thought, the source of existence. It corresponds to the power of will, known as Siva Intention, or icchha shakti. The power of knowledge known as Vishnu Formulation, or jnana shakti, and the power of action known as Brahma Expression, or kriya shakti, also express the Causal Word, Aum.

Omkara signifies the Supreme Siva, being both vyashti (individual) and samashti (cosmic). Thus, Ganesha Aum, the divine son of Siva, is the support of the whole universe. His sound-symbol Aum is indestructible in past, present and future. It is immortal and ageless. He is ever Pillaiyar, the cherished child of Uma-Parameshvara. By meditating on Him in the three aspects of A-U-M, devotees can realize the reality of the Godhead. The mahavakya Aum Tat Sat implies "That is what it is," and it is transmuted into the form of Ganesha. He embodies the Truth of Tat Tvam Asi, "Thou art That."

Everything that our mind can grasp can be expressed in terms of kind, or category. So, category is a fundamental element of existence. All that can be counted or comprehended is a category (gana). The principle of classifications through which the relations can be understood between different orders of things, between the macrocosm and the microcosm, is called the Lord of Categories. He is Ganapati.

Mahaganapati is the ruler of all the categories and can be identified with Divinity in its perceptible manifestation. He guards the first approach to life and all its manifold unfoldment. The principle of categories transcends intellect. As the Lord of categories, Ganapati rules over the universal intellect and the principles of the elements (tattvas) derived from it.

It is noteworthy that Ganapati is sometimes identified with Brihaspati, the patron of letters. Mythologically, He is the scribe who writes down the scriptures. He figures as the scribe of Sage Vyasa, the author of the Mahabharata.

You, leader of categories,
are the writer of this Mahabharata.

Mahabharata 1.1.77

From: “Chapter 8: Ganesha as Primal Sound”. Loving Ganesha: Hinduism's Endearing Elephant-Faced God. Himalayan Academy: Kapaa, Hawaii, 2000. Web. 6 Apr. 2010.

Kid's Stuff

Taking the warnings to heart, I was a little nervous about the complexity of The Mahabharata, so I decided to approach it with the heart of a child; for after all, don’t myth traditions start with stories to children?

The Illustrated Mahabharatha for Children is an enjoyable collection of the stories we watched in the movie; however, it manages to explain things that weren’t explained (like Amba giving up one of her lives to reappear on the battlefield in her second life) and to do so in an undauntedly pleasant fairytale-style. Here is the beginning of the chapter, “The Exile”:

To be in exile in a forst is a very tough experience because a forest is full of wild animals. It is an area where Rakshasaas roam about freely. Mostly it is dark in the forest. One has to go in search of water and live on tubers and fruits. The Pandavas who had always lived in a royal style had to face all such hardships in the forest. But their courage and their righteousness never failed them.

We’ve never discussed translations—how they influence the text that ends up in our hands. I know we read Fagle for The Iliad over reading Lattimore, Chapman, Fitzgerald, Rieu or the other 20+ English translations. We are getting at least two interpretations of The Mahabharata (Peter Brook and Chakravarthi V. Narasimhan), but I am glad that I am able to make time for this third kid-stuff version!

Lord Ganesh

Praise be to elephant-faced Ganesha,
the Incomprehensible One with a sharp tusk,
three eyes and capacious belly,
King of all beings,
the Eternal One of blood-red hue,
Whose forehead is illuminated by the new moon,
Son of Siva-Shakti,

Remover of all difficulties.

Ganesha sharanam, sharanam Ganesha.

Homer the Stalker

Class schedules dictated that I put down Homer's The Iliad and take up Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Part 1, but shortly after I picked Henry up, there he was... Homer. In Act II, the robbers are planning their crime and one says to the other:

There are other Troyans that thou dream’st not of, the which for sport sake are content to do the profession some grace; that would (if matters be looked into) for their own credit sake make all whole. —Act II, scene I, lines 71-75

What?!? What are Trojans doing in Shakespeare? I’ve found that when reading weighty texts, it’s always good to keep a scholar close at hand, so I turned to Isaac Asimov. According to Asimov,

the references to Troyans (Trojans) harks back to the old legends of the siege of Troy…the classical legends depicted them as bravely defending their city, and later legends had them the ancestors of the Romans and the British. With all this favorable notice, the word came to mean “a good fellow” or “a fine chap (346).

So… 2000 years later, in Shakespeare’s time, a Trojan has become a synonym for a fine, worthy person. Hmmm…

Like The Iliad, Henry is all about honor and its counterparts, shame and hubris, so I wasn’t that surprised when a few pages later I ran into Achilles, but this time in the character of Hotspur (as described by Worcester):

…amend this fault.
Though sometimes it show greatness, courage, blood—
And that’s the dearest grace it renders you—
Yet often times it doth present harsh rage.
Defect of manners, want of government,
Pride, haughtiness, opinion, and disdain;
The least of which haunting a nobleman
Loseth men’s hearts, and leaves behind a stain
Upon the beauty of all parts besides,
Beguiling them of commendation.

—Act III, scene I, lines 179-188

I know from the play’s overview that Prince Henry will be forced to choose between honor and “life force“ (as exemplified respectively by Hotspur and the irreverent Falstaff). I don’t know how the Prince will forge his own new heroic path… I do know that by Shakespeare’s time war is not as glorious as it is in Homer’s. Lots to think about…

Shakespeare, William. Henry IV, Part One. Signet Classics: New York. 1986. Print.

Asimov, Isaac. Asimov’s Guide to Shakespeare. Doubleday: New York. 1970. Print.