Stag

In his word from “The Mystery,” Amergin sings, “I am a stag of seven tines.”  He mentions the Stag along with three other animals.  Anothetr is the boar. The relationship between the stag and the boar represents the relationship of the waning and waxing light throughout the year. Both creatures come from the Otherworld.  They cross the boundaries between guides and messengers. After Beltane, the Boar is a “above” and is gifted with poetic wisdom.  The power of the Stag is associated to the green, growing earth. And after Samhain, when the Boar who is now a Sow, comes to Earth, wandering over the now barren earth as a fearsome Goddess, while the Stag lives “above”  as a bright presence to us who offers hope.

The Stag is perfect to announce the great change that is to take place after the Winter Solstice. Even though the earth is dark and barren and nights still much longer than days, even though unnoticed, the light has begun to grow. We are very much in the dark times, but deep inside a spark begins to glow, reminding us of an ever-present life force, as soon the light returns. Because “stag of seven tines,” has been through many cycles of waxing and waning, he is a guide we can trust.

Alexei Kondratiev, The Apple Branch, Citidel Press, 2003

Boar

I am a ruthless boar”

In this month Amergin sings, “I am a ruthless boar.” The Boar is the last to be mentioned by him. We have seen the boar several times dealing with the “hinge” of the year, the passage across the boundary between Light and Dark. The Boar is the creature that represents the always present divine energy is seen as moving from one form to another, becoming once a dark, creature of destruction and then as a solar teacher. He is like the Stag who changes from the antlered spirit to the earth power of the greenwood. The Boar who at Samhain moves into darkness, is now the harbinger of death, whose energy is active as growth into darkness.

The Boar’s descent into the Underworld is not just a journey of destruction. Because the Boar (now a Sow) is a creature of fertility, so she plants, within Death, the seeds of renewal.

(Alexei Kondratiev, The Apple Branch)

Salmon

salmon swims from her memory
long forgotten, never known
all she knows is she must be there.
driven to a place
returning as ancestors before
generation after generation.
called home once more
alive – alert – swift
riding on her memories
ancient as time
is this what I feel
in my yearning?
my own bones knowing
an aching at times,
a body longing for home.
am I as the salmon,
pulled by ancient memories
calling me…
calling me home?

Poetry and Salmon drawing by Deanne

Fish, salmon in particular, are associated with knowledge. The child that grew to be called Taliesin, the wise magician, was found in a fish weir. The significance of the salmon can be seen in many places. Gwyrhr questioned a series of wise animals, each one wiser than the previous, the oldest and wisest of all was the salmon of Llyn Llyw.  Cúchulainn used the hero’s salmon leap across the Pupils’ Bridge to get Scáthach’s stronghold in order to gain access to Scáthach’s advanced knowledge of arms.

To gain the secrets Cúchulainn had to use the hero’s salmon leap to Scáthach herself in order to gain the secrets reserved for her family. Each leap in the land of sorcery brought Cúchulainn to greater knowledge.  Their wisdom can also be passed on by eating. The magic salmon gain the power of wisdom by consuming the hazel nuts that drop into sacred springs. By symbolically eating the salmon of wisdom, Demne gained such enormous wisdom that he was renamed.

Salmon are anadromous fish – they live in the sea but reproduce in fresh water (in a stream or lake). They are amazing fish that live in fresh water during their early life, mature in salt water, and then return to fresh water to breed (and then die). Some salmon (sockeye and chinooks) travel up to 1,000 miles (1,600 km) upstream in order to spawn.

Salmon live most of their life in the sea, but when they are mature and ready to breed, they enter fresh water to spawn (reproduce), traveling to a stream or pond high in oxygen. The female digs a nest in the gravel (called a redd) with her tail. She then pushes her thousands of eggs into the nest and the male milks the eggs, fertilizing them. Most salmon die after spawning.

The newly-emerged salmon (called alevins) still have a food sac attached to them. When the food sac is used up, the salmon fry emerges from the nest – and must find food (like insects) for the first time. As the fry matures, it becomes camouflaged (with parr marks) and is called parr . When it becomes silver-colored, it will be called a smolt. After growing for a while, the smolts swim downstream to the sea.

When smolt reach the estuary (where the river meets the sea), a process begins in which their body changes, allowing them to soon live in salt water (this is called smoltification).

The salmon lives in the sea until maturity (1 to 7 years, depending on the species); some migrate thousands of miles in the sea. They then return to the place where they hatched and continue the cycle. No one knows how salmon return home -perhaps they remember the distinctive set of smells along the way. On their journey home, they do not eat at all, they often change color, their muscles soften, and they will die soon after spawning.