The
shepherd
Attis who
killed himself
for shame because the
Goddess Cybelle forbade
him to look at anyone
other than her – but he was weak
– lay with a nymph – died beneath a pine
Cybelle brought him back to life, now faithful
– pine log
now holy…
Andrew Wilson, 2024
Attis died by castrating himself beneath a pine tree following the awful wrath of Cybelle, a Roman Goddess of Fertility whereupon she had a change of heart and brought him back to life – needless to say he did not stray again… But this myth was celebrated by Romans (strange but true) by the bearing of a Pine log through the streets – Pines now being sacred to Attis. Christianity often subsumed old festivals into itself and this is one possible origin of the Yule Log…
I wrote more about it here.
Over at dVerse Poets Pub, Laura Bloomsbury in Meeting the Bar: Critique and Craft asks us to write an Etheree poem about
Christmas tree(s) imagery, meanings, memories etc
or Conifer/Fir tree(s) imagery, mythology, memories etc
- must be an unrhymed poem
- no specific meter
- one stanza only
- 10 lines with no paragraphs
- graduating from 1 to 10 syllables
- [add lines 11 & 12 with just 2 syllables per line – my optional extra]
Thus the first line is monosyllabic; the second line has two syllables, and so on, until there’s ten syllables on the tenth line (then reverts to 2 syllables for lines 11 & 12 if you want this optional extra). The outline of your poem takes the concrete shape of a fir tree. Centre it on the page else left or right aligned it’s only half a tree! (X=syllables not words)
Two years of Latin, a fan of myths …. I didn’t know this one! WOW what a tree-poem, Andrew!
I did 4 years Latin and one of Greek before age 11 (Which I then promptly forgot, mostly) but they did not consider suicide by castration suitable for little boys (or presumably girls) – girls usually grow up before they feel the need to contemplate castrating men…
I love the story and backgrounder of your poem about the yule log.
Thank you Grace – I came across it during my A to Z 2023 and wrote more about it here – https://how-would-you-know.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=1086&action=edit…
A great poem, Andrew. Isn’t it interesting how religions blend with existing cultural practices. Same thing happened in Brazil with Catholic and Native cultural blends.
Yes Dwight – arguably why Christianity was so successful in proselytising new peoples – a single Jesuit was usually the forerunner, living for a year with the new people, learning their language and observing their culture before recommending which festivals to subsume into the Christian calendar when the main mission followed on…
it is the season for myth in the pines and this one gloriously told
Thanks Laura I wrote more about it in 2023 https://how-would-you-know.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=1086&action=edit
Luv the mythology Frewin
Much❤️💚love
Somebody had to go to the dark side with all this Christmas cheer flying about…
Andrew, I knew the Christians stole from the pagans but this one is a new one to me.
The link I included gives a fuller account of the story and how it was worshipped in Roman pre-Christian times but it sure is strange but fascinating…
This is such an interesting poem, Andrew.
Thanks, Robbie – the story behind it is nuts!
Ah, a beautifully rendered grounding into the Pagan Celticism that I enjoy finding and following in my tree-enhanced life x
Thanks Kathy – I ha written in more detail about this myth at https://how-would-you-know.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=1086&action=edit but this time it came back as a poem…
How fascinating! I didn’t know about this. As religions grew and spread, a lot of overlapping took place.
With Christianity it was chameleon like camouflage…
This is an amazing story.
Thanks! Yes, the idea of Romans carrying a log through the streets to celebrate the death and resurrection of a man who failed to stand up to his mother is amazing to say the least, Sara!