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heroes against Thebes. The horse eventually passed to Hercules.
The symbol of the winged horse appears on coins as early as 430 BCE and
became a symbol of magical flight. Pegasus was the winged horse of Greco-
Roman legend that was created from the blood of the head of the monster
Medusa that the hero Perseus slew. As Medusa s blood sank into the earth,
the winged white horse sprang up from the sea. Pegasus was caught by Min-
erva, the Roman goddess of wisdom, and tamed so that the father god
Jupiter could use the steed to carry thunder and lightning and deliver mes-
sages between the deities. Pegasus lived on Mount Helicon, the mountain
where the semidivine Muses, inspirers of poetry, had their home. Here he
struck the ground with his hoof and the fountain of Hippocrene sprang up,
which had the ability to endow those who drank from it with poetic or
musical abilities.
88 Fabulous Creatures, Mythical Monsters, and Animal Power Symbols
Pegasus was, with the help of Minerva, captured by the mortal warrior
Bellerophon, using a magical golden bridle given by Minerva. On seeing the
golden bridle, Pegasus allowed himself to be saddled and rose into the air
with the young Bellerophon on his back. Pegasus and Bellerophon became a
devoted team and defeated the Chimera, a fire-breathing monster.
Bellerophon and Pegasus went on to win many quests, and as a reward
Bellerophon was given King Ioabtes daughter as his bride and was named the
successor to the throne. But Bellerophon became too ambitious and tried to
ride Pegasus to Mount Olympus and the realm of the gods. Jupiter became
angry and sent a gadfly to sting Pegasus, who threw and injured Bellerophon.
Bellerophon fell to the earth. But Pegasus became a constellation in the sky
as a reward for his devoted service.9
THE MAGICAL COW
Cows, because of their ability to give milk, were associated with nourishment
and mothering. Hathor, the Ancient Egyptian mother goddess, was depicted
with cow horns or as an actual cow nourishing the pharaoh. Statues of cows were
often placed in tombs to ensure nourishment of the deceased in the afterlife, so
Hathor also became a family goddess whose image was set on domestic altars.
In Norse myth, bovine nourishment was available from the beginning of
creation, because in the Viking world the cow was regarded as a source of
wealth and could be taken on the longboats to other lands: it could give milk
on the journey and start a herd in the new land. There is even a rune, a mag-
ical Norse symbol fehu, meaning wealth that refers to cattle as a source of
wealth.10 Therefore, it would seem sensible to myth weavers that the cow
would be among the first creatures created.
Audhumla, the primal cow in Viking myth, was formed from the melting
ice that, with fire, was considered a material of creation. Four rivers of milk
flowing from her udder sustained the giant Ymir. She licked hoar frost and
salt from the melting ice to nourish herself. As she licked, the first god Buri
emerged. He was the ancestor of the later gods, including Odin the Father
god.
The Aurochs, the huge wild cattle that roamed the plains of Scandinavia
and Germany until the 1600s, were the name given to another rune, Uruz,
which symbolized primal strength. Their horns were probably the ones worn
on Viking helmets to offer magical strength in battle.
In Celtic tradition, the cow was sacred to the goddess Brighid and from
the later fifth century to St Bridget, or Brigit of Ireland. The saint was often
Unicorns, Lost Animals of Legends, and the Magic of Animals 89
pictured with a cow, and she was credited with various milk miracles, includ-
ing her ability to turn water into milk whenever she offered a stranger a
drink.
Cattle were, in Celtic myth, believed to be gifts from the deities. It is told
that in Ireland the first cattle came from the sea: one red, one white, and one
black. White cows were sacred and associated with Boanna, goddess of the
rivers, who gave her name to the River Boyne and whose name means Woman
of the White Cows.
Small fairy cattle were, according to fairy stories from the Celtic world,
much prized as dowries from fairy brides. Small, perfectly formed women
were said to marry humans, especially in Wales, where small, brown, sturdy
cattle have thrived in mountainous conditions. In Ireland, until the mid-
1900s and still in remote places, a cow s milk is first squirted on the ground
as a gift for the little people.
The Gruagach is a Celtic female fairy (in pre-Christian times a goddess) who
guarded the cattle at night in Scotland and ensured that bad fairies did not
sour the milk. On Scottish islands such as Skye can still be seen hollow  gru-
agach stones at farm entrances where milk was left for her. Because it was said
if she was not given milk, the best cow of the herd might mysteriously die dur-
ing the night.11 The most fascinating of the fairy cow legends is that of the
huge Dun cow of Dunsmore Heath in central England. Originally belonging
to a giant, the Dun cow provided milk to all who asked and apparently grazed
happily over a period of many years, on Mitchell Fold in Shropshire. How-
ever, one day the cow became very angry because an old woman demanded
that the cow filled her sieve as well as a pail with milk. The Dun cow went on
the rampage and was finally killed by Guy, Earl of Warwick, on Dunsmore
Heath. Her horns may be seen today in Warwick Castle on the castle wall in
central England, though skeptics insist they resemble a pair of elephant tusks.
THE HINDU MILK MIRACLE
The cow is a sacred creature to Hindus. The cow, called Guias, symbolizes
the earth and is considered a gift from the deities to humankind, created from
the churning of the cosmic ocean.
Milk is the sacred fluid in the Hindu religion, much as holy water is
regarded in Christianity. The ritual offering of milk, fruit, sweets, and
money to the gods is an established practice in the Hindu faith. Milk is
poured over Shiva, the Hindu god, and Ganesha, his elephant-headed son,
during festivals.
90 Fabulous Creatures, Mythical Monsters, and Animal Power Symbols
The most universal simultaneous event that has occurred in modern times
is probably what was called in the popular press of the time the Milk Miracle.
The Milk Miracle was a phenomenon that was witnessed on Thursday,
September 21, 1995, by people all over the world. I was able to interview
witnesses of the event in London.
The Milk Miracle was foretold in the Punjab. Pandit Chaman Prakash,
Head of the Khampur Shiv Mandir Temple in Chandigargh, was approached
by a young woman before sunrise on Thursday, September 21, 1995. She told
him that her sister had dreamed that Ganesha would come to earth to drink
milk at 4 A.M. The priest reluctantly opened the temple, and at exactly 4 A.M.,
the statue accepted milk from a spoon.
News spread throughout India and to Hindu communities all around the
world. In India, during Thursday morning many of the statues of Ganesha [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]