THE ARCANE ARCHIVE
	a cache of usenet and other text files pertaining to occult, mystical, and spiritual subjects.

To: talk.religion.misc,alt.magick.tantra,alt.magick.tyagi
From: catherine yronwode 
Subject: Re: The Black Dog
Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1998 15:03:30 -0800

Nish=E2c=E2rin wrote:
 =

> Bhairava's dog(s) are, firstly, symbolic of his ritual impurity and of =

> the sin of Brahminicide, which he acquired for the removal of Brahma's =

> fifth head.  The head was threatening to devour the world, and Shiva =

> took action to save it, but in so doing had to kill it, of course, and =

> it was in fact this action which was the creation of Bhairava in the =

> first place.  His black color itself is also symbolic of this.  The =

> esoteric meaning of Bhairava is the willingness to commit the greatest =

> of sins (in terms of the normal social and religious order) in =

> achieving freedom and transcendence of all restriction.  The head or =

> bowl which Bhairava holds is from Brahma, who is of course a Brahmin.  =

> This is considered the most unforgiveable of crimes in mainstream =

> Indian religious thought.
> =

> The role of the dogs is primarily to catch the venemous blood that =

> dripped from the head so that it would not fall to the earth and =

> poison everything. Their black color is often said to come from their =

> being burned by the ingestion of the poison.  This part of the story =

> is really a reprise of the Shiva-Nilakantha myth
> [...]

Got it. Thanks a lot, Tzimon. That was exactly the kind of information i
was looking for. =


> An invocation to Bhairava:
> =

> "I adore thee that sittest naked with thy head resting on thy knee;
> thy moon, thy bull and thy elephant-skin having been won at play by
> Devi. When the gods give all powers at thy mere desire and when thou
> art free from longings, having for thy only possession the matted
> locks, the ashes and the skull, how canst thou suddenly have become
> avaricious with regard to hapless me in that thou desirest to
> disappoint me for a small gain? Of a truth, the wishing tree no longer
> gratifies the hopes of the poor, as thou dost not support me, Lord
> Bhairava, though thou supportest the world .
> =

> Thou hast three eyes, I have three dice, so I am like thee in one
> respect; thou hast ashes on thy body, so have I; thou eatest from a
> skull, so do I; show me mercy."

Thanks for this as well. It certainly is an interesting image to ME, =

due to the coincidental (synchronous?) fact that the boon saoought here
is luck in dice-playing. In African-American hoodoo practice, those who
seek to better themselves as gamblers often go to a crossroads (Bhairava
is also a boundary-god or type of Herm, hence a crossroads god) or a
graveyard (Siva is worshipped in cremation grounds by some Indians).
There they wait for "the black man" (a being of the colour black, not a
person of colour) to grant them the boon of luck with dice! This black
man, sometimes called The Devil by Christian hoodoo-ists, is actually a
remnant of a constellation of West and Central African crossroads and
graveyard gods, including Exu, Nbumba Nzila, Eleggua, Legba, and the
like. And here's the funny part -- the "black man" is attended upon by
the devotee for a series of successive mornings (e.g. nine consecutive
Sunday mornings at dawn) and during the time that the practitioner
awaits him, he appears in a succession of animal forms, one of which is
usually a "little black dog." The presence of the black dog at the
crossroads may show the influence of European-American slave-owners'
folk-tales about The Devil (Satan) on African-American story telling,
but still, the imagery is so similar that one has to smile with delight. =


cat

Lucky Mojo Curio Co: http://www.luckymojo.com/luckymojocatalogue.html
The Lucky W Amulet Archive: http://www.luckymojo.com/luckyw.html  =

Sacred Sex: http://www.luckymojo.com/sacredsex.html

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From: tyagi@houseofkaos.abyss.com (nagasiva)
Newsgroups: alt.magick.tyagi,alt.satanism,alt.religion.satanism,talk.religion.misc.alt.magick.tantra,alt.mythology
Subject: Re: The Black Dog
Date: 27 Aug 1998 19:02:54 -0700
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980827 IIIom (in devotion to white cats?)

tyagi@houseofkaos.abyss.com (nagasiva):
>cat "the black dog's friend" yronwode -- cat@luckymojo.com:
>>> |I am researching black dog cults around the world right now. ....

oh and:

	DOG	The Devil's accomplice.  Dogs are also
		faithful companions of necromancers.
		The Devil assumes the shape of a dog
		to help the necromancer without
		arousing suspicion, but his presence
		is betrayed by his black hair.  Early
		magicians believed that demons appeared
		as dogs.  Plutarch relates that a black
		dog came to Cimon to announce his
		impending death.  Early Christians drove
		dogs away from their churches.  The
		Furies were called the dogs of hell, and
		black dogs in ancient times were sacrificed
		to infernal deities.
	---------------------------------------------------
	_The Dictionary of Satanism_, by WBaskin, published
		by Philosophical Library, 1972; p. 111.
	____________________________________________________

neat syrup, unsure if there is anything substantial here. ;*
nagasiva
-- 
tyagi@houseofkaos.abyss.com (emailed replies may be posted); 408/2-666-SLUG
cc me replies; http://www.abyss.com/tokus; http://www.hollyfeld.org/~tyagi

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From: sandymac@sandymac.demon.co.uk (Alexander Maclennan)
Newsgroups: talk.religion.misc,alt.magick.tantra
Subject: Re: The Black Dog
Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1998 18:30:58 GMT
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The sage Dattatreya is portrayed with a dog companion as a rule.

--  

Alexander MacLennan  sandymac@sandymac.demon.co.uk

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From: catherine yronwode 
Newsgroups: alt.magick.tyagi,alt.satanism,alt.religion.satanism,talk.religion.misc
Subject: Re: The Black Dog
Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1998 16:15:15 -0800
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Alexander Maclennan wrote:
> 
> The dog looms quite large in Celtic legend.   There are many heros
> with Cu, dog, names.  In the instance of Cuchullain, the most
> developed of the type, he kills the guard bitch of Cullan the Smith
> who is to be his fosterfather and acts as a substitute until a
> replacement can be bred.   

Oh, thanks! I had forgotten about Cuchullain, the man who took the role
of a guard dog! 

> As a hero he has a distinctly doggish
> quality though more terrier than hound and has two modes, the
> charming and attractive young man and the fearless fighter in single
> combat, his aggression quite unstoppable even killing his own son
> when they meet in a situation that triggers the aggressive mode.

My dim memory seems to recall that Cuchullain was made to wear the skin
of the dog he had killed. Am i right? And was he not made to perform
servile, dog-like tasks? Was Cullan's dog whom he killed -- or the
dog-self Cuchullain became -- black in colour? Please forgive and
indulge a curious American who is not well-versed in Celtic myth. 

Thanks, 

catherine yronwode

Lucky Mojo Curio Co: http://www.luckymojo.com/luckymojocatalogue.html
The Lucky W Amulet Archive: http://www.luckymojo.com/luckyw.html

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From: tyagi@houseofkaos.abyss.com (nagasiva)
Newsgroups: alt.magick.tyagi,alt.satanism,alt.religion.satanism,talk.religion.misc.alt.magick.tantra,alt.mythology
Subject: Re: The Black Dog
Date: 27 Aug 1998 19:02:54 -0700
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980827 IIIom (in devotion to white cats?)

tyagi@houseofkaos.abyss.com (nagasiva):
>cat "the black dog's friend" yronwode -- cat@luckymojo.com:
>>> |I am researching black dog cults around the world right now. ....

oh and:

	DOG	The Devil's accomplice.  Dogs are also
		faithful companions of necromancers.
		The Devil assumes the shape of a dog
		to help the necromancer without
		arousing suspicion, but his presence
		is betrayed by his black hair.  Early
		magicians believed that demons appeared
		as dogs.  Plutarch relates that a black
		dog came to Cimon to announce his
		impending death.  Early Christians drove
		dogs away from their churches.  The
		Furies were called the dogs of hell, and
		black dogs in ancient times were sacrificed
		to infernal deities.
	---------------------------------------------------
	_The Dictionary of Satanism_, by WBaskin, published
		by Philosophical Library, 1972; p. 111.
	____________________________________________________

neat syrup, unsure if there is anything substantial here. ;*
nagasiva
-- 
tyagi@houseofkaos.abyss.com (emailed replies may be posted); 408/2-666-SLUG
cc me replies; http://www.abyss.com/tokus; http://www.hollyfeld.org/~tyagi

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From: "Nishâcârin" 
Newsgroups: talk.religion.misc,alt.magick.tantra
Subject: Re: The Black Dog
Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1998 05:53:08 -0700
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catherine yronwode wrote in message <35E48C91.398F@luckymojo.com>...

>I will say that insofar as the ascetic aspect of Siva is a siddhi-yoga
>practioner, he has supernatural (sorcerous) powers and insofzar as his
>imagery encompasses wrathful forms (as Lord of Destruction), he may
>appear demonic, and insofar as he appears in connection with cremation
>grounds and as a corpse (Saiva), one might well see death in him and
>thus expect him to have a "black dog cult."  But details would be much
>appreciated!


>Further, insofar as i assume the role and function of the Black Goddess,
>i find that the Black Dog of Death, Siva's Black Dog, becomes as
>biddable and willing to serve me as a Border Collie would be.
>
>And this, in the end, may be what i hope to achieve: a state of
>equilibrium with the Black Dog of Death in which i am not the prey of
>wild Hunting Hounds but rather the loving mistress who sends forth my
>Border Collie to do my bidding, "bringing in the sheep."

Don't know where all this is coming from but...

Bhairava's dog(s) are, firstly, symbolic of his ritual impurity and of the
sin of Brahminicide, which he acquired for the removal of Brahma's fifth
head.  The head was threatening to devour the world, and Shiva took action
to save it, but in so doing had to kill it, of course, and it was in fact
this action which was the creation of Bhairava in the first place.  His
black color itself is also symbolic of this.  The esoteric meaning of
Bhairava is the willingness to commit the greatest of sins (in terms of the
normal social and religious order) in achieving freedom and transcendence of
all restriction.  The head or bowl which Bhairava holds is from Brahma, who
is of course a Brahmin.  This is considered the most unforgiveable of crimes
in mainstream Indian religious thought.

The role of the dogs is primarily to catch the venemous blood that dripped
from the head so that it would not fall to the earth and poison everything.
Their black color is often said to come from their being burned by the
ingestion of the poison.  This part of the story is really a reprise of the
Shiva-Nilakantha myth, wherein Shiva consumes the poison generated at the
churning of the primal ocean (from whence also came the Amrita).  The role
of the dogs is not in death, but in the preservation of life.  Bhairava
himself, while seen sometimes as a "wrathful" form, is really Shiva in his
role as universal protector against transgression which, though they might
be well within the bounds of acceptable social function, restrict
individuals from attaining moksha and thus inhibit the possibility of joy.

An invocation to Bhairava:

"I adore thee that sittest naked with thy head resting on thy knee;
thy moon, thy bull and thy elephany-skin having been won at play by
Devi. When the gods give all powers at thy mere desire and when thou
art free from longings, having for thy only possession the matted
locks, the ashes and the skull, how canst thou suddenly have become
avaricious with regard to hapless me in that thou desirest to
disappoint me for a small gain? Of a truth, the wishing tree no longer
gratifies the hopes of the poor, as thou dost not support me, Lord
Bhairava, though thou supportest the world .

Thou hast three eyes, I have three dice, so I am like thee in one
respect; thou hast ashes on thy body, so have I; thou eatest from a
skull, so do I; show me mercy."

The invocation is fairly typical of prayers offered Shiva by devotees
wanting something, regardless of sect and particular manifestation.  Similar
prayers, for example, are offered by Sundarar (a Tamil saint) in "Periya
Puranam).  See also Shri Bhairava Chalisa for more.

    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
           Tzimon Yliaster
          Tools of CHAOS
       http://www.xiqual.com
            PO Box 26362,
     San Francisco, CA 94126






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From: gwen@wave.park.wy.us (Gwen Saylor)
Newsgroups: alt.magick.tyagi,alt.satanism,alt.religion.satanism,talk.religion.misc,alt.magick.tantra,alt.mythology
Subject: Re: The Black Dog
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>catherine yronwode  wrote:
>>nagasiva wrote:

--snipping to a couple of the questions --
Very clever quipping BTW, Catherine. 

>> cat "the black dog's friend" yronwode -- cat@luckymojo.com:
>> >> |I am researching black dog cults around the world right now.

This pointer has good info on various black dogs.  Be sure to check
out the Links there, too.  See:

	Black Dogs and Werewolves --
	http://www.wolf.org.uk/

>341 {excerpts} If yo' want tuh learn to pick a guitar, go
>to a road nine Sunday mawnin's -- de fo'ks of de road, nine
>Sunday mawnin's. But 'fore yo' evah go tuh to learn yo'self, dey
>way fo' yo' tuh do -- git a rooster, an if he ain't blind, have
>some de young ones to knock his eye out... Don' do it chewse'f,
>but have somebody else tuh do it...Ah reckon yo' heerded dat ole
>song -- dey say long time ago it was named atter [after] [what a]
>root worker done, chew know. Dey say "The Ole Blind Rooster, When
>He Comes" {i am unfamiliar with this song and would welcome
>e-mail from anyone who knows it.}

Well, if "They will kill the ol' Red Rooster When She comes," 
maybe "They will kill the ol' Blind Rooster when He comes."   I
don't know the history of the American folksong, "She'll Be Comin'
'Round the Mountain (When She Comes)," but it sounds to me like 
the fellow is making a play on words off the song (or this is a verse
I don't know).  Especially I say this because the fellow quoted here
wanted dreadfully to know how to play the guitar, and this is an
especially good one for guitar strummers. 

>> >Cerberus:
>> >Cerberus, the Three-Headed Hound of the Greek underworld is a dog,
>> >to be sure, but was there ever a cult in which his worship figured?
>> 
>> and was hir color ever disclosed/ascertained?  black?  always?
>> I have no idea, I forward the question to an appropriate newsgroup
>> (what, alt.mythology?).

>I'm curious (black) about this one, too. Yoo-hoo, alt.mythology? Anyone
>home? 

Right here, Grasshopper. 

The following may be a reference to Cerberus:
"The dog, raising his rough neck, his face alternately black and
golden, denoted the messenger going hence and thence between 
the Higher and Infernal powers" (a quote from Apuleius I got from _An
Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Traditional Symbols_, by J.C. Cooper).

_The Larousse Encyclopedia of Mythology_ describes Cerberus thusly:
"At the gate was posted Cerberus, the monstrous watch-dog with fifty
heads and a voice of bronze.  He was born of the love of the giant
Typhoeus for Echidna.  Cerberus was variously represented.  
Sometimes he had only three heads, sometimes he bristled with serpents
and his mouth dribbled _black_venom." (emphasis mine)  And - 
"Cerberus infected cerain herbs with his venom which were afterwards
gathered by magicians and used in the preparation of baleful
philtres." (for the fans at alt.magick.etc)  BTW - One was supposed to
pray to Hades (according to Homer) by striking the ground with bare
hands or with rods, and one should sacrfice a *black* ewe or a *black*
ram (and/or cypress or narcissus).

Encyclopaedia Britannica (CD) says:  "The Sarapeum at Alexandria 
was the largest and best known of the god's temples. The cult statue
there represented Sarapis as a robed and bearded figure regally
enthroned, his right hand resting on Cerberus (the three-headed dog
who guards the gate of the underworld), while his left held an
upraised sceptre."

There are many dogs listed in  _An Illustrated Encylopaedia of
Traditional Symbols_ (Cooper) (I'll list some dogs here from that
source that I don't remember from your post since you may be able 
to find out they're black elsewhere):  Alchemic - the dog (and wolf)
is the dual nature of Mercurius (In Greece the dog Sirius was a
psychopomp and an attribute of Hermes/Mercury, who was alternately 
his dog or that of Orion [Homer]).  Aztec - Xolotl, God of Death and
the Setting Sun, has a dog's head and was patron of dogs, which 
were often sacrificed at the tomb as companions to the dead.  Greek -
Hecate has dogs of war, and dogs were sacrificed to her at crossroads.
Hindu - Indra has a hunting dog.  Yama, God of the Dead, is depicted
as a dog with four eyes.  Mayan - A dog carrying a torch represents
lightning.  Norse -- Odin has two dogs.  The Babylonian Belit-ili's
throne is supported by dogs or has a dog beside it.

_The Woman's Dictionary of Symbols and Sacred Objects_, by 
Barbara Walker, says (and I continue to list dogs references I don't
recall being in your post):  In Babylon, Gula, who could cure or cause
sickness, was symbolized by a dog.  The Greeks identified Sirius as
Pan, whom Pindar called, "the shape-shifting dog of the Great
Goddess."  Walker speaks of the northern European "heavenly moon 
dogs who carried away the dead," who were "children of the Goddess
Angurboda, 'the Hag of the Iron Wood,'" mother of Hel.  She says 
these dogs were "directly related to the Hounds of Annwn and the 
great black hounds with 'eyes like saucers' leading the Wild Hunt of
Odin and his ghostly company" (all of which she apparently references
to  _Gods of the North_, by Brian Branston, London: Thames & Hudson,
1955).  She says, "Berbers still consider the killer of a dog ritually
unclean for the rest of his life, the same as if he had murdered a
human" (fascinating connection to the hounds of Athene via the 
Minerva reference of Herodotus; thanks for suggesting we help ).
She has another interesting note that the Dominicans were called by
some by a pun on their name, "Domini canes," "dogs of God," and
represented by a black and white dog holding a burning torch
indicating the order's readiness to put "witches and heretics" to the
fire (note the Mayan reference above and the many references in this
group to the possible original weather-god nature of JHVH ).

Hope something here is of value to your research.  Give my best to
Tyagi.

Stey-yu.
Hen to Pan,
Gwen

--------------------------------------------------------------

And when one hears the cry of his heart and the call of his
spirit, we say that such a one is possessed of a madness,
and we cleanse ourselves of him.
                      Kahlil Gibran, _A Tear and a Smile_

--------------------------------------------------------------


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From: catherine yronwode 
Newsgroups: alt.magick.tyagi,alt.satanism,alt.religion.satanism,talk.religion.misc,alt.magick.tantra,alt.mythology
Subject: Re: The Black Dog
Date: Mon, 31 Aug 1998 16:36:20 -0800
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Thanks, tyagi, for downloading this stuff and sending it along to me --
i saw the URL when it was posted but didn't have time to open a web
browser right then and when i returned, the message had been wiped off
my server. (For some reason the expiry time on several of my favourite
newsgroups has beeen drastically cut short of late.) I am posting the
text to the newsgroups where my original enquiry ran. 

Anyway, what i see from reading the following material is that the Black
Dog that has appeared in my dreams a few times is of this type,
unrelated to the black dog cult of Bahairave/Siva, to Anubis as the Lord
of the Underworld, or to the black poodle-dog that appears as Satan or
The Devil's familiar or alter-ego. 

Like the Black Dogs in the following stories, my dreamscape "Black Dog
of Death" comes up from behind; he only appears when i am walking,
driving, or otherwise travelling; and on one occasion he (and and his
"son") had saucer-sized eyes. The funny thing is that i am not of
British descent and have not been a student of British folklore. A case
for Jungian-style archetypes? A coincidence? A repressed childhood
memory of a fearsome dog? I dunno. The mystery deepens....

catherine

===========

nagasiva wrote: 

[from http://dialspace.dial.pipex.com/town/plaza/aan26/shkstory.htm ]


   BLACK SHUCK
   The hell-hound of the Fens
   
   In the four counties that make up East Anglia, Shuck is thought
   of in differing terms.
   
   In Suffolk. he is generally believed to be harmless if
   he is left alone. If challenged he will strike out, death usually
   following to the victim shortly.

   In Essex he is a kindly hound, accompanying travellers
   on lonely roads.

   In Norfolk, Shuck is thought of in more sinister terms.
   Here he is described of as a diabolical creature whose fiendish
   howls heard above the shrieks of the strongest gales. Terrified
   people have described sensing the dog padding up behind them, and
   his icy breath on the back of their necks. In Norfolk the belief
   is that you cannot set eyes on Shuck and live.

   Cambridgeshire follows Norfolk's tales. Don't look at
   Shuck in Cambridgeshire, for death will surely follow.
   
   Here are some recorded sightings of the black dog.
   
   THETFORD, SUFFOLK - MID-NINETEENTH CENTURY
   One Christmas day last Century, a small blind boy and his sister
   were standing on a bridge in Thetford. The boy mentioned that
   there was a big dog next to him, and asked his sister to send it
   away, but his sister assured him that there was no dog around.
   The boy insisted the dog was pushing him, suddenly screaming in
   terror that the dog was trying to push him off the bridge into
   the river. At the same time, the girl felt her brother being
   pulled away from her. Just in time, she grabbed her brother in
   both arms and pulled him away from the edge and both ran off the
   bridge.
   
   BUNGAY - 1577 Bungay Church door
   
                 All down the Church in midst of fire
                       The hellish monster flew;
                   and passing onwards to the Quire
                          He many people slew
                                   
   In 1577, the villagers of Bungay had a horrific visitation of
   Shuck whilst at Prayer.
   
   This tale begins early one Sunday morning on the 4 August. The
   day started bright, with a warm sun. As was the custom, nobody
   would work on the Sabbath, so after rising, the people went to
   attend St. Marys Church.
   
   The service started as usual, the attendance was good that day.
   But some time into the service, the congregation noticed the
   sunlight fading. A few drops of rain started to fall on the roof,
   turning into a violent lashing of water falling on the roof of
   the church, threatening to drown out the singing of the
   parishioners. The sunlight was very subdued, lasting long shadows
   within the church, and making it difficult to see from one end of
   the building to the other.
   
   Without warning, there was a loud clap of thunder followed
   immediately by a bolt of lightning right outside the church. The
   lightning illuminated the interior of the church for a brief
   second before plunging it back into darkness. There was another
   flash, and another, both accompanied by the loud crack of the
   thunder. The congregation huddled together on the benches, the
   service forgotten. Some people prayed, others tried to comfort
   the children.
   
   At the height of the storm, the great outer doors of the church
   crashed open, and there stood a large black beast on all fours in
   the shape of a large dog or wolf. With one bound, it cleared the
   space between the door and the central aisle and ran straight to
   the alter with the speed of the devil himself. With another flash
   of lightning, the people lost sight of the beast for a moment,
   but it could then be seen moving in the shadows. It came across
   some people kneeling down, praying. With a ferocious snarl, it
   'wrung the necks of them bothe at one instant clene backward, in
   so much that even at a moment where they kneeled they strangely
   dyed'
   
   Whoever was unfortunate enough to have the beast brush past them
   would fall to the floor screaming as their skin was burnt. These
   people would survive, although they would be scarred for the rest
   of their lives.
   
   As the beast came across some children, one of the parishioners,
   Jon Prowling, moved across to bar his way. Seemingly enraged that
   someone would deliberately block his way, the beast flew at the
   man, knocking him to the ground and sinking its jaws into the
   man's back. The beast then turned and ran back to the church door
   and left, the storm abating as it followed the dog away from the
   church.
   
   '...the self same black dog, still continuing and remaining in
   one and the same shape, passing another man of the congregation,
   gave him such a gripe on the back, that therewithall he was
   presently drawen togither and shrunk up, as if it were a peece of
   lether scorched in a hot fire; or as the mouth of a purse or bag
   drawen togither with a string. The man, albeit he was in so
   strange a taking, dyed not...'
   
   Jon Prowling survived, although reports suggest he was a changed
   man, acting strangely and occasionally barking like a dog.
   However, he and the rest of the parishioners lived out the rest
   of their natural lives.
   
   This is not quite the end of the story. That same day, a strange
   storm brought down the spire at the church at Blythburgh,
   injuring or killing some of the congregation. Here again, people
   described a black dog in the middle of the storm, passing through
   the church as the spire tumbled.
   
   The door at Bungay church is still scarred with some clawmarks
   that have been burnt into the wood.
   
   VARIOUS SIGHTINGS - UP TO 1940
   Shuck has been seen around the villages on the Cambridgeshire /
   Suffolk border up to the middle of this century, around the area
   of West Wrattling and Balsham. One popular spot for sightings was
   Slough Hill. Since the second world war the sightings seem to
   have dried up.
   
   VARIOUS SIGHTINGS - UP TO PRESENT DAY
   On the North Norfolk coast, between Sheringham and Cromer, high
   cliffs overlook small pockets of stony beach. People have
   described walking along the clifftop, and glancing down onto the
   rocks beneath, seeing a large Black dog running from Sheringham
   in the direction of the larger town. He can also be seen running
   from Cromer lighthouse towards Overstand.
   
   CLOPTON, SUFFOLK - DATE UNKNOWN
   A villager in Clopton saw "a thing with two saucer eyes" when out
   walking on the Woolpit road. He tried to move out of its way, but
   the creature would not let him pass. As it approached him, it
   snarled 'I shall want you within a week'. With this, the creature
   turned and bounded away. The man died the following day.
   
   ST. OLIVES - MAY 1939
   The 'East Anglian Daily Times' published an article where Jimmy
   Farman described an encounter with a large Black Dog while
   walking his dog over the marshes near St. Olives. He described
   seeing it in the distance, whereupon his young bitch 'crouched
   down and went mad with fear'. Again, the Dog turned to walk
   towards them, and then vanished.
   
   WALBERSWICK MARSH - 1940
   One winter, a couple rented a hut near Walberswick Marsh. During
   the night, a thumping was heard at the front of the hut. Looking
   out of the window, they saw a large black dog with glowing eyes
   throwing itself at the front door. Terrified, the couple
   barricaded the door. Eventually, the animal leapt onto the flat
   roof and was away. Despite the snow, there were no pawprints.
   
   PARSON DROVE - WINTER 1988
   In the Winter of 1988, a mother and her son were walking in the
   fens toward Parson Drove. A light in the bushes made them stop in
   their tracks. On closer investigation, the light resolved itself
   into one huge glowing eye. The pair stood and watched as the
   'thing', as large as a calf silently crossed their path and
   vanished.
   
   LEISTON, SUFFOLK. c1900
   Lady Rendlesham described being in Leiston churchyard in the
   early hours of the morning, when a large black dog came from
   among the gravestones, and with one leap flew over the gate and
   headed toward the sandhills.
   
   MANNINGTREE, ESSEX. 1938
   There is a white dog at Mistley Hill, near Manningtree. This dog
   is part of a legend concerning the Norman family. If it is seen,
   death will shortly follow in the family. It was last seen in
   1938.
   
   KELVEDON, ESSEX
   OK, so this story may not feature Shuck, but is about a ghostly
   dog. Squire Carington Wright chased a poacher (a man by the name
   of French) off his land. French, and his dog ran toward into
   village church for sanctuary, but Squire Wright followed him in
   and shot the dog in front of the alter. Squire Wright was later
   fined for desecration, and the dog can be seen re-enacting is
   last journey, running around the churchyard and into the porch of
   the church.
   
   MIDDLETON, ESSEX
   Shuck is said to run the Essex / Suffolk border between Middleton
   and Boxford.
   
   SALCOTT, ESSEX
   Shuck has appeared near Salcott cross-roads, from the direction
   of Peldon.
   
   TOLLESHUNT D'ARCY
   Near Salcott, Shuck has also appeared in Tolleshunt D'Arcy, on
   the road leading to Tollesbury near Jordans Green.
   
   HATFIELD PEVERIL, ESSEX
   There is a story of a dog that walks between the two gates of
   Crix house, owned 1770-1858 by the Shaen family. He is rumoured
   to have been friendly at first, angered quickly when annoyed.
   
   Once, a man driving a timber wagon struck the dog with a whip,
   upon which the driver and cart were reduced to ashes. The dog is
   rumoured to have died of spontaneous combustion at the first
   sight of a motor car!
   
   CAXTON GIBBET, CAMBS
   A black dog is said to run through the woods on the Croxton Road
   (now the A428) from Caxton Gibbet to Croxton. His haunt follows
   the area where criminals who been hung at the Gibbet were
   transported to the unconsecrated burial ground a short distance
   away.

   Like most tales of Shuck in Cambridgeshire, it is said to bring
   bad luck to those who see it.
     ____________________________________________________________
   
   Gate Design of Shuck on some gates in Bungay.
  
EOF 


[from http://dialspace.dial.pipex.com/town/plaza/aan26/shuck.htm ]

   BLACK SHUCK
   A real-life hell-hound
   
                                 Shuck
                                   
   'They du speak of a dog that walks regular. They call him Skeff
   and his eyes are as big as saucers and blaze wi' fire. He is fair
   as big as a small wee pony, and his coat is all skeffy-like, a
   shaggy coat across, like an old sheep. He has a lane, and a place
   out of which he came, and he vanish when he hev gone far enough.
   - Description of Shuck in Garveston, Norfolk.
     ____________________________________________________________
   
   Shuck
   
   Black Shuck is a mysterious creature which has terrorised people
   in East Anglia for over a thousand years, up to the present day.
   A legend as old as the Scottish Kelpie or Irish Banshee, the
   Shuck is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name for demon (scucca).
   
   He commonly takes the shape of a large black dog, the size of a
   calf, sometimes distinguished by one large eye in the centre of
   his forehead, and on a bad day dripping fire from his mouth. He
   is usually thought to be the harbinger of death, although
   occasionally he has appeared simply to accompany people on dark,
   lonely roads.
   
   Please select your link
   
   [LINK] Shuck in East Anglia
   [LINK] Rest of the world
   [LINK] What is Shuck?
   [LINK] Where is East Anglia, anyway?
   [LINK] The recent sightings of large black cats in Britain
   [LINK] "Views from the Fen", articles from an East Anglian
   Newspaper
   [LINK] Other pages on Shuck
   
                             BackHomeemail
-- 

catherine yronwode

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From: catherine yronwode 
Newsgroups: alt.magick.tyagi,alt.satanism,alt.religion.satanism,talk.religion.misc,alt.magick.tantra,alt.mythology
Subject: Re: The Black Dog
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nagasiva wrote:
> 
> 980827 IIIom (in devotion to white cats?)

Opposites attract, they say. 

> tyagi@houseofkaos.abyss.com (nagasiva):
> >cat "the black dog's friend" yronwode -- cat@luckymojo.com:
> >>> |I am researching black dog cults around the world right now. ....
> 
> oh and:
> 
>         DOG     The Devil's accomplice.  Dogs are also
>                 faithful companions of necromancers.
>                 The Devil assumes the shape of a dog
>                 to help the necromancer without
>                 arousing suspicion, but his presence
>                 is betrayed by his black hair.  Early
>                 magicians believed that demons appeared
>                 as dogs.  Plutarch relates that a black
>                 dog came to Cimon to announce his
>                 impending death.  Early Christians drove
>                 dogs away from their churches.  The
>                 Furies were called the dogs of hell, and
>                 black dogs in ancient times were sacrificed
>                 to infernal deities.
>         ---------------------------------------------------
>         _The Dictionary of Satanism_, by WBaskin, published
>                 by Philosophical Library, 1972; p. 111.
>         ____________________________________________________
> 
> neat syrup, unsure if there is anything substantial here. ;*
> nagasiva

Yeah, when an author cites but does not name "infernal deities" my
suspicion-o-meter always flashes a red light. Is the word "infernal" to
be taken literally here, as in "deities of the underworld or death" or
is it being used in the connotative sense, meaning "hellish, evil,
suffering eternal torment"? 

Someone call the SPCA and stop those wicked Satanists from kidnapping
little black doggies and feeding them to Baaaaaaal! 

The Powerful Katrinka, grateful recipient of a Black Dog Bonanza

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From tyagi  Thu Aug 27 18:11:29 1998
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Subject: Re: The Black Dog
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980826 IIIom

cat "the black dog's friend" yronwode -- cat@luckymojo.com:
>> |I am researching black dog cults around the world right now. In
>> |"Speaking of Siva" -- a book of 10th and 11th century poems of praise 
>> |to "My Personal Saviour" :-) -- i have seen brief mention of "the 
>> |black dog cult of Siva" but no details. Then, in a recent usenet post 
>> |by Tzimon, he mentioned the black dog of Bhairava (an aspect of Siva 
>> |in his wrathful and protective form). Any citations of sources for 
>> |in-depth material on Siva/Bhairava and the Black Dog would be highly 
>> |appreciated. I am also checking out the Egyptian Anubis and other 
>> |Black Dog cults, if anyone has information on those as well.

nagasiva:
>> Myrddin, Satan, Anubis, Cerberus, Hunting Hounds

cat:
>What is the relationship between Myrddin and the black dog? 
>I am entirely unfamiliar with this. 

>Satan sometimes appears as a black dog (especially in German-derived
>tales). But is there a "black dog cult" of Satan? That is, has Satan
>ever been worshipped or adored in the form of a black dog? 

SHe COULD be.  Eris has designs. ;>

cf. _The Quest For Merlin...._, by Tolstoy. :>  I'm pretty sure
that I read it in this lovely exploration of Myrddin, but as I 
can't find the exact location of the text, here is an interlude
sampling pertaining to the Satanic and setting the stage for
assertions about the Black Dog:

	The demoniac aspect of Merlin's nature ...
	represents an archetype to the period of man's Creation,
	and surviving as the animal shadow lurking behind man's
	god-like image, with all its potential for
	anarchical disorder and evil.  The myth arose 
	to exorcize the constant reminder within the unconscious
	psyche that man is but a beast erect on his hind legs,
	and endowed with the powers of speech and thought.
	The exorcism is conducted through the familiar medium
	of ridicule, and Merlin with all his wisdom 
	is frequently made to appear incongruously foolish.

	He is born with hairy animal-skin, and appears later
	in the guise of a woodman, dressed in 'a short tattered
	smock, with his hair very shaggy and long, and a very
	long beard, so that he really looked like a wild man
	(*houme sauvaige*).'  The expression 'wild man'
	relates to relates to a widespread medieval conception,
	which in turn derives from extremely ancient belief.

	Wild Men were envisaged as semi-human creatures eking
	out brutish life in remote forests, and living on roots,
	berries, nuts, the raw flesh of wild animals. They dwelt
	in caves or primitive shelters, and were constantly
	obliged to defend themselves against other savage
	denizens of the woods.  They were pictured as immensely
	powerful, savagely aggressive, and only able to command
	the barest rudiments of language. They believed in no god,
	being too backward to entertain such a conception and
	lacking souls in consequence, were greatly given to
	sating an unbridled sexual appetite, and were frequently
	regarded as insane.  In appearance they were covered with
	thick pelts of hair (except on hands, face and feet), and
	frequently bore a massive untrimmed club as a weapon.

	Wild Men proliferate in medieval art and literature
	and the concept is traceable to the oldest literature
	in existence.  *Gilgamesh*, the great Addakian epic
	composed some time in the third millenium B.C.,
	contains a full account of Enkidu, the primordial Wild Man.... 

	...Enkidu represents mankind before civilization.  On
	the steppe he lives in communion with the wild animals,
	a communion which is shattered once he knows woman,
	acquires wisdom, and becomes human.

	       'Carefree became his mood and cheerful,
	 	His heart exulted
		And his face glowed.
		He rubbed the shaggy growth,
		The hair of his body,
		Anointed himself with oil,
		Became human.
		He put on clothing,
		He is like a groom!
		He took his weapon
		To chase the lions,
		That shepherds might rest at night.
		He caught wolves,
		He captured lions,
		The chief cattlemen could lie down;
		Enkidu is their watchmen....'

	Enkidu, like other Wild Men, represents man in a
	primitive, brutish condition, before his crude,
	shaggy frame knew the softening influences of
	civilized culture and morality.  The Wild Man is
	desire incarnate, possessing the strength, wit,
	and cunning to give full expression to all his
	lusts.  His life is correspondingly unstable in
	character.  He is a glutton, eating to satiety
	one day and starving the next; he is lascivious
	and promiscuous, without even consciousness of sin.

	Unlike other fabulous creatures, conceived of as
	remote in time or space, the Wild Man is
	conventionally represented as being always present,
	inhabiting the immediate confines of the community.
	He is just out of sight, over the horizon, in the
	nearby forest, desert, mountain, or hills.  The
	implication is clear enough; the Wild Man not only
	represents man in his early, savage conditions,
	but also that strain of savagery in his nature which
	is a lingering heritage of his primitive condition.
	In medieval iconography Adam is sometimes portrayed
	as a Wild Man (there is a fine example carved on a
	panel in the fifteenth-century French church at
	Ambierle), and it was Adam's sin which continued
	to tarnish man made in God's image.

	The Wild Man concept is thus to be seen as a variant
	of the Trickster motif; with the difference perhaps
	that, whereas Trickster stories portray man's
	prolonged struggle to free himself from his animal
	heritage, the image of the Wild Man is simply a
	reflection of an earlier, unregenerate state, when
	man dwelt as yet in conditions of unalloyed primitive
	barbarity.  (It is interesting, incidentally, to
	see this unconscious awareness of man's hominid and
	pre-hominid existence surviving in the face of
	virtually all [?] mythologies, which assert man's
	separate creation.)

	...

	[in contrast to Merlin...]

	...the traditional Wild Man is always represented
	as a great hunter after game, killing and devouring
	the raw flesh of his fellow-creatures of the 
	wilderness....

	...Wild Men are given over to the crudest sexual
	indulgence, fornicating like beasts in the absence
	of any moral restraint....

	...The true Wild Man is by definition utterly devoid
	of [exceptional intelligence and emotional sensitivity,
	desires to be included in the pleasures of cultured
	society]....

	[re Monmouth's Merlin]

	...Merlin is in truth far nearer to Prospero than
	Caliban -- a connexion which is oddly closer than mere
	analogy.  For Shakespeare's Prospero is thought to have
	been based on the famous alchemist Dr. John Dee, who
	in turn regarded himself and was widely regarded as
	a sixteenth-century counterpart of Merlin!  It is likely
	too that Spenser's picture of Merlin in _The Faerie
	Queene_ was drawn at least in part from Dr. Dee.

	There can be no question, therefore, but that the
	original Merlin-figure was far removed from being a
	Wild Man.  However, this is not to say that he did not
	acquire some Wild Man characteristics along the way.
	-------------------------------------------------------
	_The Quest for Merlin_, by Nikolai Tolstoy, 
	 published Little, Brown and Company; pp. 190-3.
	__________________________________________________ 

perhaps the Satan connection is Seth?  I shall contemplate 
the Set Animal.  the black dog thang might come out of wolves
(I'm pretty sure I saw the terms 'black dog' per se somewhere
and have been scouring the library for it, here's what I could
find to date):

	Among the Goldi, the shaman drank the blood of a pig;
	'only the shaman had the right to drink it, the laity
	couldn't touch it.'  At the initiatory rites, he, his
	family and guests, 'sing and dance (it is necessary
	to have at least nine dancers) and nine pigs are
	sacrificed; the shamans drink their blood, fall down
	in an ecstatic trance and shamanize for a long time.
	[cites Eliade -- tn]

	_The Black Book of Carmarthen Hoianau_ poetry appears
	to reflect this setting.  In it Myrddin is represented
	as addressing long, confused prophetic stanzas to his
	'little pig' [brings to mind Gautama and Ananda, or
	Padmasambhava and Yeshes Tsogyal -- tn :>]; clearly
	the pig is envisaged both as familiar and source of
	mantic inspiration.  And in the _Vita Merlini_, Merlin
	apostrophizes a wolf, his 'dear companion', whose
	presence is otherwise unexplained....
	-------------------------------------------------------
	Ibid., p. 150.
	______________

and

	...the invocations to the 'little pig' in the
	_Hoianau_ poetry.  'Oh, little pig!' starts each
	verse, followed apparently inconsequently with
	lamentations over Myrddin's wretched life in the
	forest, and prophecies of future wars and rumours
	of wars.

	It may be noted firstly that pigs wild and domestic
	played a very important role in the lives of the
	Celtic peoples.  The boar was clearly the cult
	animal *par excellence* of the Celts, and pork
	their favourite food.  Joints of pork were placed
	in the graves of the Marnian tribe, the Parisii
	of East Yorkshire, doubtless because 'the Celtic
	chief was to take with him on his journey the
	favourite food of the Celt.'....

	[he provides a long batch of refs for Celt claims - tn]

	Above all, pigs were believed to come from the
	Otherworld, and 'were ceterin guides to the
	Otherworld'.  Two lords of the Otherworld were
	divine swineherds and the heathen Celts sacrificed
	pigs, presumably in the belief that they returned
	to the Otherworld....  These pig sacrifices were not
	confined to the Celts.  In Greece, initiates at the
	Eleusinian Mysteries had on their second day to 
	sacrifice a pig, for the blood of the pig was
	considered a very potent agent of purification with
	the power to absorb the impure spirit inhabiting
	human beings.  In the same way Christ compelled
	devils possessing the Gadarene to enter the herd
	of swine... and a Finnish folk-tale tells of the
	ritual killing of a divine pig 'with a golden club,
	a copper hammer, a silver mallet'....

	...Myrddin in the _Hoianau_ is said to life among
	the forest wolves, and in the _Vita Merlini_ Merlin
	addressed an aged wolf as his companion.  Analogy
	suggests there may once have been a companion set
	of verses to the _Hoianau_ in which Myrddin was made
	to utter other prophecies to a wolf.  Wolves, like
	pigs, were objects of a devotional cult among the
	Celts, being seen as companions of a god.  Several
	Celtic saints are said to have tamed wolves, a feat
	probably intended to indicate that they possessed
	powers fully as strong as those of their heathen
	rivals.
	--------------------------------------------------
	Ibid., pp. 72-4.
	_________________

>Anubis:
>Anubis IS a black dog (a black jackal, to be taxonomically correct), but
>he is an ancient Egyptian judge of the dead, not a Satan-analogue. 

the God of the Underworld.  Lord of This World.  Hades.  Lucifer.
Jackal-headed or dog-headed Satan is far less common, as far as 
iconography is concerned, than, say goat-headed or mule-headed).  
Shugal is fox-headed (the desert fox, 333, the male half of 
the Beast 666; cf. Grant's _Nightside of Eden_, Weiser or some 
other distributor, and others of his works, for more).

>The ancient Eyptian deity Set has been identified with Satan 
>by a certain school of modern Satanist theologians, 

some Setians believe this, yes.  all will no doubt dispute 
what facts may be derived from the data.  ultimately what is
authoritative is what derives from a rich source of prana,
power, life, motivating energy.

>but although his animal-form has some dog-like aspects, it is so 
>mixed and mingled in terms of species characteristics that it is 
>usually referred to as the Set-animal, not a dog. 

agreed, though it could be understood by skeletal structure to 
resemble dogs or pigs rather than other types of animals (birds).

>Cerberus: 
>Cerberus, the Three-Headed Hound of the Greek underworld is a dog, 
>to be sure, but was there ever a cult in which his worship figured? 

and was hir color ever disclosed/ascertained?  black?  always?
I have no idea, I forward the question to an appropriate newsgroup
(what, alt.mythology?).

>Hunting Hounds:
>These are the Hell Hounds that figure in the famous Robert Johnson blues
>song "Hell Hound on My Trail." It is these hounds, or one of them, that
>i hve seen in dreams and have sought to understand. One might also note
>in this connection the Hans Christian Andersen story about the three
>demonic dogs with "eyes as big as saucers," eyes as big as "plates," and
>"eyes as big as platters."

lovely writer, Andersen.  I more enjoy Grimm portrayal of witches.
Laurie Anderson describes aliens with platter-hands, telescope-eyes
in her songs.

>> Cooper: sorcery, diabolocal powers, the damned, death.
>Well, yes, that is the idea. 

that's not a very reassuring list of associations. :>

>i am not sure how
>far to take these implied correspondences with diabolical and Satanic
>imagery that derives from Western European notions in which wild nature
>is continually suppreseed and reviled as "evil." Perhaps you can assit? 

it is a personal assessment, reflecting on the condition of humans
with respect to first nature.  cf. above quote on the Demoniacal aspect
of Merlin.

>...the ascetic aspect of Siva....  details would be much appreciated! 

they function to build a type of energy which can be used in detachment,
a kind of fireball-like directable charge, on par with ADnD's Magic Mis-
siles Spell, applied an extending an ability to desensitize.  it can be
misused, can become a trap.

>Death is the lot of us all, don't you agree? 
>A good death is all i ask. 

I agree strongly.  sounds nordic.

>Further, insofar as i assume the role and function of the Black Goddess,
>i find that the Black Dog of Death, Siva's Black Dog, becomes as
>biddable and willing to serve me as a Border Collie would be.

a doggess biddable, a goddess unpredictable.

>And this, in the end, may be what i hope to achieve: a state of
>equilibrium with the Black Dog of Death in which i am not the prey of
>wild Hunting Hounds but rather the loving mistress who sends forth my
>Border Collie to do my bidding, "bringing in the sheep." 

one of the sheep is black, Ms. Peep.  you will achieve whatever you
set your will to accomplishing. 

namaste,
nagasiva