How useful are the spirit lists for identifying what each spirit does? Where they are given descriptions, they are often at odds and we are left with trying to find references to the limited amounts of symbolism we are given. What I found was that some of this symbolism might be a little obscure. Vepar is a demonic spirit whose name means “Boar.” Yet the spirit lists describe him appearing as a mermaid who is a “guide of the waters” and in charge of shipping weapons and infecting wounds. What does that have to do with a boar? How does infecting wounds, so they kill people in three days become part of the remit for a spirit who guides troop ships? It
Tag: roman
HEROES IN MAGIC
In the Geometric Greek period (8th Century BC), there was an interesting development from Ancestor Worship to the worship of Heroes. This was inspired by the rise of Homer and other poets. The belief was that the Heroes had been so significant in life that they could act as go-betweens between the living and the dead. Despite their often bloodthirsty acts in life, they became defenders, healers and oracles and guaranteed fertility of the land. The idea that they had created an access of power by their heroic acts is similar to the idea of Christian saints which came much later. In this case, they filled a role often associated with stone circle’s as the guardians of the land. Often they were fixed