Dogman history,by Oliver Dancer,Moderator Facebook Group Big
Jan 27, 2020 23:33:53 GMT
kaipo and trolljegeren like this
Post by DogFlabber on Jan 27, 2020 23:33:53 GMT
Oliver Dancer
Moderator · ,Facebook Group, Bigfoot & Dogman Info Library (BDIL) October 25, 2019
Looks like Oliver took his time to accumulate all of this information, and put it together to help others to understand the long history of Dogman.
Historically speaking, the 'Dogmen' we are all so familiar with are NOT as wild and "Evil" as many think. Perhaps a few, but far from all of them. Deaths by Bigfoot are actually rather extensive in anecdotal reporting. Yet, quite rare regarding Dogmen. They were once a celebrated race of People from northern Africa to the mountains of India, and likely beyond. Known for often being very crude in their ways, they were nonetheless great warriors, farmers, crafts people, and also worshiped their own deities. They were, and still are, formally known as the Cynocephaly, or the Greek: 'Kynokephaloi'. (Note: I won't be including anything about the Egyptian God Anubis, as that is an entire history unto itself.)
As far as the earliest origins of these peoples, what little I can find stems from Edgar Cayce readings regarding human/animal hybrids that were created by the highest royalty via scientists of Atlantis in order to create a slave race that also amused and entertained at the highest levels of government. Minotaurs and Centaurs, as well as many other types genetically engineered creatures likely also had their origins there as well. My best guess is that the Cynocephaly were the most likely to survive the great cataclysms of that era simply due to their physical makeup and overall agility.
I am presenting only historically recorded and documented accounts of this great people. To REALLY know what a 'Dogman' is, you have to know its history. What he was compared to what he seems to have become. A displaced, anthropomorphic biped constantly struggling to hide and survive. There is an awkward beauty and vulnerability to these creatures that only a few might be able to sense. I have NO doubt whatsoever that they also experience sadness, fear, grief, and a host of other 'Human' emotions, as do nearly ALL other animals, as we have come to find out over the years.
Anyway, here begins the journey...
Marco Polo once stated of the Dogmen:
"Angamanain is a very large Island. The people are without a king and are Idolaters, and no better than wild beasts. And I assure you all the men of this Island of Angamanain have heads like dogs, and teeth and eyes likewise; in fact, in the face they are all just like big mastiff dogs! They have a quantity of spices; but they are a most cruel generation, and eat everybody that they can catch, if not of their own race." (Marco Polo, Travels, 1477).
Around 400 BC, the Greek physician Ctesias wrote of the Dogmen:
"They do not live in houses, but in caves. They set out for the chase with bows and spears, and as they are very swift of foot, they pursue and soon overtake their quarry. The women have a bath once a month, the men do not have a bath at all, but only wash their hands. They anoint themselves three times a month with oil made from milk and wipe themselves with skins. The clothes of men and women alike are not skins with the hair on, but skins tanned and very fine. The richest wear linen clothes, but they are few in number. They have no beds, but sleep on leaves or grass. He who possesses the greatest number of sheep is considered the richest, and so in regard to their other possessions. All, both men and women, have tails above their hips, like dogs, but longer and more hairy. They are just, and live longer than any other men, 170, sometimes 200 years."
-Alexander the Great invaded India in the 4th century BC, he too claimed in letters to his teacher, Aristotle, that he had encountered the dog-headed men. Alexander the Great even claimed to have captured several of the creatures in battle, which he said were fierce and vicious, barking and snarling beasts.-
Around 450 BC. Greek historian Herodotus stated:
"For the eastern side of Libya, where the wanderers dwell, is low and sandy, as far as the river Triton; but westward of that the land of the husbandmen is very hilly, and abounds with forests and wild beasts… Here too are the dog-faced creatures, and the creatures without heads, whom the Libyans declare to have their eyes in their breasts."
Pliny the Elder(Quoting Greek historian, diplomat and Indian ethnographer, Megasthenes)
"According to Megasthenes, on a mountain called Nulo there live men whose feet are turned backward, and who have eight toes on each foot; while on many of the mountains there lives a race of men having heads like those of dogs, who are clothed with the skins of wild beasts, whose speech is barking, and who, being armed with claws, live by hunting and fowling." (Pliny the Elder, Hist. Nat. VII. ii. 14-22., quoting Megasthenes’ Indica).
Philosopher, theologian, and later Saint, Augustine of Hippo (354-430 A.D.) Said:
"What shall I say of the Cynocephali, whose dog-like head and barking proclaim them beasts rather than men? But we are not bound to believe all we hear of these monstrosities. But whoever is anywhere born a man, that is, a rational, mortal animal, no matter what unusual appearance he presents in color, movement, sound, nor how peculiar he is in some power, part, or quality of his nature, no Christian can doubt that he springs from that one protoplast. We can distinguish the common human nature from that which is peculiar and therefore wonderful." (Augustine of Hippo, City of God, Book XVI, Chapter 8).
Italian traveler and first to document the Mongol Empire, Giovanni da Pian del Carpini (1182-1252 A.D.) documented an encounter between the armies of Ogedei Khan and a dog-headed people near Lake Baikal:
"From hence they proceeded towards the North against the people called Bastarci or Hungaria magna, and conquered them also. And so going on further North, they came unto the Parossitæ, who having little stomachs and small mouths, eat not anything at all, but seething flesh they stand or sit over the pot, and receiving the steam or smoke thereof, are therewith only nourished, and if they eat anything it is very little. From hence they came to the Samogetæ, who live only upon hunting, and use to dwell in tabernacles only, and to wear garments made of beasts’ skins. From thence they proceeded unto a country lying upon the Ocean sea, where they found certain monsters, who in all things resembled the shape of men, saving that their feet were like the feet of an ox, and they had in deed men’s heads but dogs faces. They spake, as it were, two words like men, but at the third they barked like dogs. From hence they retired into Comania, and there some of them remain unto this day." (Carpini, 'The Long and Wonderful Voyage of Friar John de Plano Carpini', 1246)
Ibn Battuta (February 25, 1304 – 1368 or 1369) was a Muslim Berber Moroccan scholar, and explorer who widely travelled the medieval world and witnessed them personally:
"Fifteen days after leaving Sunaridwan we reached the country of the Barahnakar, whose mouths are like those of dogs. This tribe is a rabble, professing neither the religion of the Hindus nor any other. They live in reed huts roofed with grasses on the seashore, and have abundant banana, areca, and betel trees. Their men are shaped like ourselves, except that their mouths are shaped like those of dogs; this is not the case with their womenfolk, however, who are endowed with surpassing beauty. Their men too go unclothed, not even hiding their nakedness, except occasionally for an ornamental pouch of reeds suspended from their waist. The women wear aprons of leaves of trees. With them reside a number of Muslims from Bengal and Sumatra, who occupy a separate quarter. The natives do all their trafficking with the merchants on the shore, and bring them water on elephants, because the water is at some distance from the coast and they will not let the merchants go to draw it for themselves, fearing for their women because they make advances to well-formed men. Elephants are numerous in their land, but no one may dispose of them except the sultan, from whom they are bought in exchange for woven stuffs." — Ibn Battuta
(David Pescovitz (writing for boingboing-net) / 8:07 am Tue Oct 11, 2016:
"An Italian monk by the name of Odoric of Pordenone, who traveled about converting people between 1317 and 1330, claimed to have come across the Cynocephali at the island of Nicoveran. They were described as being somewhat brutish, but displaying a form of organized religion, worshiping oxen and wearing various gold and silver religious charms. French inquisitor Cardinal Pierre d’Ailley claimed in 1410 that there existed a race of dog-headed humans in India, as well as a one eyed variation of the creatures referred to as the Carismaspi. Explorer Giovanni da Pian del Carpine also mentions a race of dog-heads which he claimed inhabited the lands north of the Dalai-Nor (Northern Ocean), and Lake Baikal. Indeed, depictions of the Cynocephali appeared on maps of the time, similar to the dragons and other wondrous beasts that map-makers liked to adorn their maps with."
-The philosopher Claudius Aelianus wrote of the dog-headed men of India as a peaceful people who ate sun-dried animal flesh and also raised various livestock such as sheep and goats.-
Ctesias, Indica Fragment (summary from Photius, Myriobiblon 72) (trans. Freese) (Greek historian C4th B.C.) :
"On these [the Indian] mountains there live men with the head of a dog, whose clothing is the skin of wild beasts. They speak no language, but bark like dogs, and in this manner make themselves understood by each other. Their teeth are larger than those of dogs, their nails like those of these animals, but longer and rounder. They inhabit the mountains as far as the river Indos. Their complexion is swarthy. They are extremely just, like the rest of the Indians with whom they associate. They understand the Indian language but are unable to converse, only barking or making signs with their hands and fingers by way of reply, like the deaf and dumb. They are called by the Indians Kalystrii, in Greek Kynocephaloi (Cynocephali) (Dog-Headed). They live on raw meat and number about 120,000 . . .
The Kynokephaloi living on the mountains do not practise any trade but live by hunting. When they have killed an animal they roast it in the sun. They also rear numbers of sheep, goats, and asses, drinking the milk of the sheep and whey made from it. They eat the fruit of the Siptakhora (Siptachora), whence amber is procured, since it is sweet. They also dry it and keep it in baskets, as the Greeks keep their dried grapes. They make rafts which they load with this fruit together with well-cleaned purple flowers and 260 talents of amber, with the same quantity of the purple dye, and 1000 additional talents of amber, which they send annually to the king of India. They exchange the rest for bread, flour, and cotton stuffs with the Indians, from whom they also buy swords for hunting wild beasts, bows, and arrows, being very skillful in drawing the bow and hurling the spear. They cannot be defeated in war, since they inhabit lofty and inaccessible mountains. Every five years the king sends them a present of 300,000 bows, as many spears, 120,000 shields, and 50,000 swords.(After decades of bloody, friutless battles against them, India eventually called a truce. O. Dancer)
They do not live in houses, but in caves. They set out for the chase with bows and spears, and as they are very swift of foot, they pursue and soon overtake their quarry. The women have a bath once a month, the men do not have a bath at all, but only wash their hands. They anoint themselves three times a month with oil made from milk and wipe themselves with skins. The clothes of men and women alike are not skins with the hair on, but skins tanned and very fine. The richest wear linen clothes, but they are few in number. They have no beds, but sleep on leaves or grass. He who possesses the greatest number of sheep is considered the richest, and so in regard to their other possessions. All, both men and women, have tails above their hips, like dogs, but longer and more hairy. They are just, and live longer than any other men, 170, sometimes 200 years."
Aelian, On Animals 4. 46 (trans. Scholfield) (Greek natural history C2nd A.D.) :
"In the same part of India as the [crimson-dye] beetles, are born the Kynokephaloi (Cynocephali) (Dog-Heads), as they are called--a name which they owe to their physical appearance and nature. For the rest they are of human shape and go about clothes in the skins of beasts; and they are upright and injure no man; and though they have no speech they howl; yet they understand the Indian language. Wild animals are their food, and they catch them with the utmost ease, for they are exceedingly swift of foot; and when they have caught them they kill and cook them, not over a fire but by exposing them to the sun's heat after they have shredded them into pieces. They also keep goats and sheep, and while their food is the flesh of wild beasts, their drink is the milk of the animals they keep. I have mentioned them along with brute beasts, as is logical, for their speech is inarticulate, unintelligible, and not that of man."
Aelian, On Animals 10. 30 :
"It occurs to me now to mention the following additional facts relating to Kynokephaloi (Cynocephali). If a Kynokephalos finds some edible object with a shell on it (I mean almonds, acorns, nuts) its strips the shell off and cleans it out, after first breaking it most intelligently, and it knows that the contents are good to eat but that the outside is to be thrown away. And it will drink whine, and if boiled or cooked meat is served to it, it will eat its fill; and it likes well-seasoned food, but food boiled without any care it dislikes. If it wears clothes, it is careful of them; and it does everything else that I have described. If you put it while still tiny to a woman's breast, it will suck the milk like a baby." [N.B. This passage is probably derived from travellers' accounts of baboons.]
Pliny the Elder, Natural History 6. 194 (trans. Rackham) (Roman encyclopedia C1st A.D.) :
"On the African side [of the Ethiopian kingdom of Meroe] are the Medimni, and then a Nomad tribe that lives on the milk of the Dog-Faced Baboon (Cynocephali), the Alabi, and the Syrbotae who are said to be 12 feet high."
-Celtic folklore offers another unique perspective:
Wulver in the Shetland Islands. This creature is no werewolf; rather a man with a wolf’s head. They live in caves and enjoy fishing. Some tales even claim the wulver left fish on the windowsill of poor members of the community.
Likewise, Irish folklore boasts the Faoladh, a werewolf that protects children and guards wounded men.-
**************************************************************************************************************************************
Now for possibly the most insane and documented part of Dogman (Cynocephaly) history:
St. Christopher, our patron saint of 'Travelers', is traditionally held to have come from an obscure North African Berber tribe called the Marmarite was captured in battle by the Romans in 300 A.D. He was believed to be a Cynocephalus, accepted baptism, and then seemingly began to preach the gospel, ultimately getting himself sainted. Eastern Orthodox iconology frequently depicts St. Christopher with a dog’s head. At least until the 18th century.
Want to know WHY this is completely insane? Because at THAT time, when the paintings that you see here on this page were created, you could, and WOULD be executed for blasphemy by depicting a 'Saint' in such a scurrilous, and low-brow manner. As we all know, the church absolutely HATED(and still does) pagan traditions and glorification and casts them as a definite way to hell, and were more than happy to help send you there if found guilty. It's the church, so you were ALWAYS guilty. They mercilessly persecuted any and all groups supporting such worship and celebration. The church didn't play back then. In the 1700's, St.Christopher pictured with a dog's head was no longer supported or allowed by the Moscow Orthodox Church. After that point he was depicted ONLY as having an Anglo Saxon likeness.
So, to conclude, I am very happy to have finally answered all those questions that no one even asked. I guess it's an Aries thing.
Be well, and thanks for reading...
William Bertram. (Oliver Dancer)
No photo description available.
Image may contain: 3 people, outdoor
Image may contain: outdoor
No photo description available.
Moderator · ,Facebook Group, Bigfoot & Dogman Info Library (BDIL) October 25, 2019
Looks like Oliver took his time to accumulate all of this information, and put it together to help others to understand the long history of Dogman.
Historically speaking, the 'Dogmen' we are all so familiar with are NOT as wild and "Evil" as many think. Perhaps a few, but far from all of them. Deaths by Bigfoot are actually rather extensive in anecdotal reporting. Yet, quite rare regarding Dogmen. They were once a celebrated race of People from northern Africa to the mountains of India, and likely beyond. Known for often being very crude in their ways, they were nonetheless great warriors, farmers, crafts people, and also worshiped their own deities. They were, and still are, formally known as the Cynocephaly, or the Greek: 'Kynokephaloi'. (Note: I won't be including anything about the Egyptian God Anubis, as that is an entire history unto itself.)
As far as the earliest origins of these peoples, what little I can find stems from Edgar Cayce readings regarding human/animal hybrids that were created by the highest royalty via scientists of Atlantis in order to create a slave race that also amused and entertained at the highest levels of government. Minotaurs and Centaurs, as well as many other types genetically engineered creatures likely also had their origins there as well. My best guess is that the Cynocephaly were the most likely to survive the great cataclysms of that era simply due to their physical makeup and overall agility.
I am presenting only historically recorded and documented accounts of this great people. To REALLY know what a 'Dogman' is, you have to know its history. What he was compared to what he seems to have become. A displaced, anthropomorphic biped constantly struggling to hide and survive. There is an awkward beauty and vulnerability to these creatures that only a few might be able to sense. I have NO doubt whatsoever that they also experience sadness, fear, grief, and a host of other 'Human' emotions, as do nearly ALL other animals, as we have come to find out over the years.
Anyway, here begins the journey...
Marco Polo once stated of the Dogmen:
"Angamanain is a very large Island. The people are without a king and are Idolaters, and no better than wild beasts. And I assure you all the men of this Island of Angamanain have heads like dogs, and teeth and eyes likewise; in fact, in the face they are all just like big mastiff dogs! They have a quantity of spices; but they are a most cruel generation, and eat everybody that they can catch, if not of their own race." (Marco Polo, Travels, 1477).
Around 400 BC, the Greek physician Ctesias wrote of the Dogmen:
"They do not live in houses, but in caves. They set out for the chase with bows and spears, and as they are very swift of foot, they pursue and soon overtake their quarry. The women have a bath once a month, the men do not have a bath at all, but only wash their hands. They anoint themselves three times a month with oil made from milk and wipe themselves with skins. The clothes of men and women alike are not skins with the hair on, but skins tanned and very fine. The richest wear linen clothes, but they are few in number. They have no beds, but sleep on leaves or grass. He who possesses the greatest number of sheep is considered the richest, and so in regard to their other possessions. All, both men and women, have tails above their hips, like dogs, but longer and more hairy. They are just, and live longer than any other men, 170, sometimes 200 years."
-Alexander the Great invaded India in the 4th century BC, he too claimed in letters to his teacher, Aristotle, that he had encountered the dog-headed men. Alexander the Great even claimed to have captured several of the creatures in battle, which he said were fierce and vicious, barking and snarling beasts.-
Around 450 BC. Greek historian Herodotus stated:
"For the eastern side of Libya, where the wanderers dwell, is low and sandy, as far as the river Triton; but westward of that the land of the husbandmen is very hilly, and abounds with forests and wild beasts… Here too are the dog-faced creatures, and the creatures without heads, whom the Libyans declare to have their eyes in their breasts."
Pliny the Elder(Quoting Greek historian, diplomat and Indian ethnographer, Megasthenes)
"According to Megasthenes, on a mountain called Nulo there live men whose feet are turned backward, and who have eight toes on each foot; while on many of the mountains there lives a race of men having heads like those of dogs, who are clothed with the skins of wild beasts, whose speech is barking, and who, being armed with claws, live by hunting and fowling." (Pliny the Elder, Hist. Nat. VII. ii. 14-22., quoting Megasthenes’ Indica).
Philosopher, theologian, and later Saint, Augustine of Hippo (354-430 A.D.) Said:
"What shall I say of the Cynocephali, whose dog-like head and barking proclaim them beasts rather than men? But we are not bound to believe all we hear of these monstrosities. But whoever is anywhere born a man, that is, a rational, mortal animal, no matter what unusual appearance he presents in color, movement, sound, nor how peculiar he is in some power, part, or quality of his nature, no Christian can doubt that he springs from that one protoplast. We can distinguish the common human nature from that which is peculiar and therefore wonderful." (Augustine of Hippo, City of God, Book XVI, Chapter 8).
Italian traveler and first to document the Mongol Empire, Giovanni da Pian del Carpini (1182-1252 A.D.) documented an encounter between the armies of Ogedei Khan and a dog-headed people near Lake Baikal:
"From hence they proceeded towards the North against the people called Bastarci or Hungaria magna, and conquered them also. And so going on further North, they came unto the Parossitæ, who having little stomachs and small mouths, eat not anything at all, but seething flesh they stand or sit over the pot, and receiving the steam or smoke thereof, are therewith only nourished, and if they eat anything it is very little. From hence they came to the Samogetæ, who live only upon hunting, and use to dwell in tabernacles only, and to wear garments made of beasts’ skins. From thence they proceeded unto a country lying upon the Ocean sea, where they found certain monsters, who in all things resembled the shape of men, saving that their feet were like the feet of an ox, and they had in deed men’s heads but dogs faces. They spake, as it were, two words like men, but at the third they barked like dogs. From hence they retired into Comania, and there some of them remain unto this day." (Carpini, 'The Long and Wonderful Voyage of Friar John de Plano Carpini', 1246)
Ibn Battuta (February 25, 1304 – 1368 or 1369) was a Muslim Berber Moroccan scholar, and explorer who widely travelled the medieval world and witnessed them personally:
"Fifteen days after leaving Sunaridwan we reached the country of the Barahnakar, whose mouths are like those of dogs. This tribe is a rabble, professing neither the religion of the Hindus nor any other. They live in reed huts roofed with grasses on the seashore, and have abundant banana, areca, and betel trees. Their men are shaped like ourselves, except that their mouths are shaped like those of dogs; this is not the case with their womenfolk, however, who are endowed with surpassing beauty. Their men too go unclothed, not even hiding their nakedness, except occasionally for an ornamental pouch of reeds suspended from their waist. The women wear aprons of leaves of trees. With them reside a number of Muslims from Bengal and Sumatra, who occupy a separate quarter. The natives do all their trafficking with the merchants on the shore, and bring them water on elephants, because the water is at some distance from the coast and they will not let the merchants go to draw it for themselves, fearing for their women because they make advances to well-formed men. Elephants are numerous in their land, but no one may dispose of them except the sultan, from whom they are bought in exchange for woven stuffs." — Ibn Battuta
(David Pescovitz (writing for boingboing-net) / 8:07 am Tue Oct 11, 2016:
"An Italian monk by the name of Odoric of Pordenone, who traveled about converting people between 1317 and 1330, claimed to have come across the Cynocephali at the island of Nicoveran. They were described as being somewhat brutish, but displaying a form of organized religion, worshiping oxen and wearing various gold and silver religious charms. French inquisitor Cardinal Pierre d’Ailley claimed in 1410 that there existed a race of dog-headed humans in India, as well as a one eyed variation of the creatures referred to as the Carismaspi. Explorer Giovanni da Pian del Carpine also mentions a race of dog-heads which he claimed inhabited the lands north of the Dalai-Nor (Northern Ocean), and Lake Baikal. Indeed, depictions of the Cynocephali appeared on maps of the time, similar to the dragons and other wondrous beasts that map-makers liked to adorn their maps with."
-The philosopher Claudius Aelianus wrote of the dog-headed men of India as a peaceful people who ate sun-dried animal flesh and also raised various livestock such as sheep and goats.-
Ctesias, Indica Fragment (summary from Photius, Myriobiblon 72) (trans. Freese) (Greek historian C4th B.C.) :
"On these [the Indian] mountains there live men with the head of a dog, whose clothing is the skin of wild beasts. They speak no language, but bark like dogs, and in this manner make themselves understood by each other. Their teeth are larger than those of dogs, their nails like those of these animals, but longer and rounder. They inhabit the mountains as far as the river Indos. Their complexion is swarthy. They are extremely just, like the rest of the Indians with whom they associate. They understand the Indian language but are unable to converse, only barking or making signs with their hands and fingers by way of reply, like the deaf and dumb. They are called by the Indians Kalystrii, in Greek Kynocephaloi (Cynocephali) (Dog-Headed). They live on raw meat and number about 120,000 . . .
The Kynokephaloi living on the mountains do not practise any trade but live by hunting. When they have killed an animal they roast it in the sun. They also rear numbers of sheep, goats, and asses, drinking the milk of the sheep and whey made from it. They eat the fruit of the Siptakhora (Siptachora), whence amber is procured, since it is sweet. They also dry it and keep it in baskets, as the Greeks keep their dried grapes. They make rafts which they load with this fruit together with well-cleaned purple flowers and 260 talents of amber, with the same quantity of the purple dye, and 1000 additional talents of amber, which they send annually to the king of India. They exchange the rest for bread, flour, and cotton stuffs with the Indians, from whom they also buy swords for hunting wild beasts, bows, and arrows, being very skillful in drawing the bow and hurling the spear. They cannot be defeated in war, since they inhabit lofty and inaccessible mountains. Every five years the king sends them a present of 300,000 bows, as many spears, 120,000 shields, and 50,000 swords.(After decades of bloody, friutless battles against them, India eventually called a truce. O. Dancer)
They do not live in houses, but in caves. They set out for the chase with bows and spears, and as they are very swift of foot, they pursue and soon overtake their quarry. The women have a bath once a month, the men do not have a bath at all, but only wash their hands. They anoint themselves three times a month with oil made from milk and wipe themselves with skins. The clothes of men and women alike are not skins with the hair on, but skins tanned and very fine. The richest wear linen clothes, but they are few in number. They have no beds, but sleep on leaves or grass. He who possesses the greatest number of sheep is considered the richest, and so in regard to their other possessions. All, both men and women, have tails above their hips, like dogs, but longer and more hairy. They are just, and live longer than any other men, 170, sometimes 200 years."
Aelian, On Animals 4. 46 (trans. Scholfield) (Greek natural history C2nd A.D.) :
"In the same part of India as the [crimson-dye] beetles, are born the Kynokephaloi (Cynocephali) (Dog-Heads), as they are called--a name which they owe to their physical appearance and nature. For the rest they are of human shape and go about clothes in the skins of beasts; and they are upright and injure no man; and though they have no speech they howl; yet they understand the Indian language. Wild animals are their food, and they catch them with the utmost ease, for they are exceedingly swift of foot; and when they have caught them they kill and cook them, not over a fire but by exposing them to the sun's heat after they have shredded them into pieces. They also keep goats and sheep, and while their food is the flesh of wild beasts, their drink is the milk of the animals they keep. I have mentioned them along with brute beasts, as is logical, for their speech is inarticulate, unintelligible, and not that of man."
Aelian, On Animals 10. 30 :
"It occurs to me now to mention the following additional facts relating to Kynokephaloi (Cynocephali). If a Kynokephalos finds some edible object with a shell on it (I mean almonds, acorns, nuts) its strips the shell off and cleans it out, after first breaking it most intelligently, and it knows that the contents are good to eat but that the outside is to be thrown away. And it will drink whine, and if boiled or cooked meat is served to it, it will eat its fill; and it likes well-seasoned food, but food boiled without any care it dislikes. If it wears clothes, it is careful of them; and it does everything else that I have described. If you put it while still tiny to a woman's breast, it will suck the milk like a baby." [N.B. This passage is probably derived from travellers' accounts of baboons.]
Pliny the Elder, Natural History 6. 194 (trans. Rackham) (Roman encyclopedia C1st A.D.) :
"On the African side [of the Ethiopian kingdom of Meroe] are the Medimni, and then a Nomad tribe that lives on the milk of the Dog-Faced Baboon (Cynocephali), the Alabi, and the Syrbotae who are said to be 12 feet high."
-Celtic folklore offers another unique perspective:
Wulver in the Shetland Islands. This creature is no werewolf; rather a man with a wolf’s head. They live in caves and enjoy fishing. Some tales even claim the wulver left fish on the windowsill of poor members of the community.
Likewise, Irish folklore boasts the Faoladh, a werewolf that protects children and guards wounded men.-
**************************************************************************************************************************************
Now for possibly the most insane and documented part of Dogman (Cynocephaly) history:
St. Christopher, our patron saint of 'Travelers', is traditionally held to have come from an obscure North African Berber tribe called the Marmarite was captured in battle by the Romans in 300 A.D. He was believed to be a Cynocephalus, accepted baptism, and then seemingly began to preach the gospel, ultimately getting himself sainted. Eastern Orthodox iconology frequently depicts St. Christopher with a dog’s head. At least until the 18th century.
Want to know WHY this is completely insane? Because at THAT time, when the paintings that you see here on this page were created, you could, and WOULD be executed for blasphemy by depicting a 'Saint' in such a scurrilous, and low-brow manner. As we all know, the church absolutely HATED(and still does) pagan traditions and glorification and casts them as a definite way to hell, and were more than happy to help send you there if found guilty. It's the church, so you were ALWAYS guilty. They mercilessly persecuted any and all groups supporting such worship and celebration. The church didn't play back then. In the 1700's, St.Christopher pictured with a dog's head was no longer supported or allowed by the Moscow Orthodox Church. After that point he was depicted ONLY as having an Anglo Saxon likeness.
So, to conclude, I am very happy to have finally answered all those questions that no one even asked. I guess it's an Aries thing.
Be well, and thanks for reading...
William Bertram. (Oliver Dancer)
No photo description available.
Image may contain: 3 people, outdoor
Image may contain: outdoor
No photo description available.