A huge load of Bull!

No, really... actual bull.The bull is involved in nearly every ancient religion:

Marduk is the "bull of Utu."
Inanna, she sends the Bull of Heaven to wreak havok on Gilgamesh's city.
Ereshkigal is wed to Gulugana, also refered to as the Bull of Heaven
In Hinduism, Shiva rides on a bull
Bull leaping was thought to be part of Minoan culture- Their bull imagery is plainly obvious without even having to mention the Minotaur!
The Hitites had two bulls, Seri and Hurru (day and night) who pulled the godof weather along on his chariot.
Hercules' 7th labor: Capture the Cretan Bull which was wreaking havoc on the island? 
Pliny recorded Druid ceremonies where two bulls were sacrificed
Oxen were sacrificed to Hecate and in the Orphic Hymn, she is referred to as "Tauropolos" or "herder of bulls." Might this by a euphemism in relation to deities associated with bulls? Does she control virility and fertility?


Dionysus was also associated with Bulls and invoked as one by his followers:

The god is invoked by his devotees as a raging bull and a panther, both creatures of ferocious strength and aggressiveness. In hymns Dionysos is addressed as 'the thunderer' and 'the roaring one.' The bull is one of the most frequently mentioned epiphanies of Dionysos; he was considered to be a bull-god, as were Zeus and Poseidon. The bull is a widespread and unequivocal symbol of male strength, potency and virility, particularly in the cultures of India, the near east, and the Mediterranean.

The holy wiki tells us a bit about Egypt's bull worship:

In Egypt, the bull was worshiped as Apis, the embodiment of Ptah and later of Osiris. A long series of ritually perfect bulls were identified by the god's priests, housed in the temple for their lifetime, then embalmed and encased in a giant sarcophagus. A long sequence of monolithic stone sarcophagi were housed in the Serapeum, and were rediscovered by Auguste Mariette at Saqqara in 1851. The bull was also worshiped as Mnewer, the embodiment of Atum-Ra, in Heliopolis. Ka in Egyptian is both a religious concept of life-force/power and the word for bull.

Here's a more in-depth link summarizing different bull cults in Egypt! And yet another!


The Tauropolia was a festival held in honor of Artemis! Here is a coin depicting Her riding a bull.


And the Titan of the moon, Selene was associated with the bull as well: "Selene knows not how to put mules to her yokestrap--she drives a team of bulls!" She's also described in the Orphic hymn as "bull-horned, and wandering through the gloom of night." 


And let's not forget The Golden Calf! Perhaps we know why that was picked as an image to represent the antithesis of the religions of the bible: Mithras slaying a bull is one of the main images of his cult. He also rides bulls as well. 

From 160 CE the Roman cult to Magna Mater included a bull sacrifice known as the taurobolium. Initiates supposedly took their place in a pit beneath a slatted wooden floor, to be drenched by the blood of a bull sacrifice above. This, if an accurate description, is an exception to the usual Roman rules of sacrifice. A lesser version of the rite, known as a criobolium, involved the sacrifice of a ram. The first recorded taurobolium took place at Puteoli in AD 134 in honour of Venus Caelestia.


^{Frazer talks a bit about this in The Golden Bough, but as has been noted, much of the description of the actual ceremonies comes from possibly hostile christian sources.} 


It goes on and on! This surely deserves at the very least a part two, if not a more in depth exploration of the taurean aspect of each of these deities! If this is food for thought, tonight is merely an appetizer. 

Kindred Spirits

I've been having the best time catching up on the blog Wandering Woman Wandering. I first came across the blog when searching for a picture of Mercury to use on here. I found one of her posts about Mercury and I loved the way she described him as The God of Exchange. Perfect! I've been going back through her previous posts and between that and our limited email conversations with each other, I have realized something- Not only are we are both devotees of the same deity, but we have had similar experiences with Him. She and I share many of the same opinions on several topics, and gravitate towards similar deities aside from Mercury. I haven't seen a picture yet, but I'm betting that she has a mischievious grin and sparkle in her eyes!

I've taken a look tonight, and an informal poll about the qualities of the followers of different deities. Shall we start with Mercury? I've already mentioned the smile and sparkle, but right there on a devotee's brow, you'll find the trace of his sigil- that is just a little more angular than the crescent moon, tho both dovetail nicely together. You might be marked by Mercury if...

...you are are quick-witted, investigative, snarky, sarcastic, and at times irreverent.
...you ten to ask why and don't just take an answer at face value
 ...you vacillate between order and disorder

...you feel called to several other deities at once! I don't think he minds sharing, as long as he gets his due.

Don't mistake being called by/to several deities at once for indecision. Mercury is The Opener of The Ways and when He opens things for you, they can be Wide open. You get attention from others. I think Mercury calls those who can multitask on many levels!

The children of Apollo, for another example, are sun-kissed, or just sunburned. They play with fire, literally, and are golden in some way physically, be it their hair or skin or a physical warmth which radiates from them.

Those stamped by The Queens of Heaven - Isis, Astarte, Diana, Hecate, Demeter, Kali, Inanna, Hera and others, share a quality of carriage- these are women and men who stand straight. There is a regal posture, a sense of dignity which flows from them. This dignity isn't about being better than, or stuck up, or overconfident, it's literally about having The Goddess inside of you and walking with you. Why would The Regal Queen of Heaven ever slouch? ;)

These are just a few scant examples and involve the Deities and Devotees I work with most often. I really would appreciate community feedback on this one!

I really like this topic. It's something to research and pursue! More questions keep coming up: Would the Mercury traits apply to devotees of Hermes? Or to any of the other deities He is syncretized with? We can also get into the chicken or the egg debate: Is the Deity attracted because the devotee already has the qualities, or does the devotee develop the qualities after they are "stamped" by the Deity?

While you're thinking about that, I recommend you surf over to Wandering Woman Wandering to read the advice on working with multiple deities!