Fresh Batch #14: Animals of the Gods Part 1

Eating Habits Formed by Superstition

Atargatis-Tyche (Fortuna) and the Zodiac. Note the Crown of Fortresses on her head. Read July’s End to learn the significance of this.

Every culture appears to have superstitious beliefs regarding eating certain animals in the distant past. I imagine some of this is due to illness or death, and part of the function of deifying animals is to remind future generations not to eat them, not because they are truly sacred, but because it could cause suffering.

A rationale for the Syrian dove-worship and abstinence from fish is seen in the story in Athenaeus 8.37, where Atargatis is naively explained to mean "without Gatis", the name of a queen who is said to have forbidden the eating of fish. Ovid in Fasti recounts the legend that the goddess Dione accompanied by Cupid/Eros plunged into the river in Palestine (Euphrates), whereby a pair of fish came to convey them through water to aid her escape from Typhon. The fish pair was commemorated as the constellation Pisces of the zodiac, and local Syrians abstain from eating fish on account of it.

This was no different in the Americas. The Darien Indian language had an affinity to the Highland language, and they were referred to as “white Indians.” Here’s a sample from my latest book Spirit Whirled: Terminalia, “The Dariens didn’t eat deer. So how can a people native to a country not eat its animals? This might be an indication of the Dariens being foreigners, but could people from Europe not delight in venison? I suppose if they were sea people, then that’d be the reason. Wafer wrote, ‘The Indians have several Roots which they plant; especially Potato’s, which they roast and eat.

“‘They do the same also by Yams, of which they have two sorts, a White and Purple.

“‘There are great Droves of Monkeys, some of them white, but most of them black; some have Beards, others are beardless. They are of a middle Size, yet extraordinarily fat at the dry Season, when the Fruits are ripe; and they are very good Meat, for we ate of them very plentifully. The Indians were shy of eating them for a while; but they soon were persuaded to it, by seeing us feed on them so heartily.’

Also from my latest book, “The stag was a symbol of deity (like the Agnus Dei) to the natives of Florida and to the cities of Chululteca (aka Chollula or Churula) and Atlicholoayan; Chollua corresponds to the star Sitlal Choloha, or Venus. Cholula means the deer’s foot.”

Keep reading if you want to see why pagans avoided certain meats based on their deities or if you’re interested in the Gods and their sacred animals, as well as some syncretism between Mars, Zeus, Jupiter, Apollo, and the city founded by the God: Argos.

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