[Editor’s Note: This and the previous sequels are a revised version of the discussion that has taken place in The Mago Circle, Facebook group, since September 24, 2017 to the present. Themes are introduced and interwoven in a somewhat random manner, as different discussants lead the discussion. The topic of the number nine is key to Magoism, primarily manifested as Nine Magos or the Nine Mago Creatrix. Mago Academy hosts a virtual and actual event, Nine Day Mago Celebration, annually.]
Helen Hye-Sook Hwang via Kirsten Brunsgaard Clausen and with Danica Anderson.
St. George slaying the three-headed dragon resonates with slaying the nine-headed snake by patriarchal heroes. The three is a representation of Nine Numerology.
Helen Hye-Sook Hwang Now compare the two iconographies: the Nine-Duga vs patriarchal heroes slaying the nine-headed snake or dragon. During this year (2019)’s Mago Pilgrimage to Korea, we were able to contrast between the nine-forms of Durga slaying a patriarchal man and a patriarchal hero slaying the nine-headed snake. They convey a global war between the nine-forms of the Goddess (Durga, Gwaneum, Muses, Matrikas, Doumu, Marichi, Magos etc.) vs. patriarchal heroes.
Helen Hye-Sook Hwang Like Lernaean Hydra, Embedded in a patriarchal money/coin:
https://worldancientcoins.com/index.php?id_product=867…
Helen Hye-Sook Hwang Its patriarchal/Christian message proves to be duplicated even in 1837:
https://www.ebay.ie/…/Cumberland-Jack…/254243022581…
Helen Hye-Sook Hwang In Russia:
https://coinweek.com/…/russia-st-george-victorious-3…/
Helen Hye-Sook Hwang This happens in very recent years. In Canada 2014:
Helen Hye-Sook Hwang In UK 2013:
https://24carat.co.uk/tescotwentypound.html
Helen Hye-Sook Hwang In 2018 Great Britain:
https://www.govmint.com/2018-great-britain-10-10-oz…
Helen Hye-Sook Hwang In 1925 South Africa:
http://goldsovereignexpert.com/…/1925-Gold-Sovereign…/
Helen Hye-Sook Hwang In 1913 Australia:
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/453667362454501651/
Helen Hye-Sook Hwang In 18th C. Slovakia:
“Though British sovereign coins might be the most recognized source of coins recalling the legend of St. George Slaying the Dragon, many other coins highlight the tale.
An 18th century example of a St. George silver taler issued in what is modern-day Kremnitz, Slovakia, recently offered in Emporium Hamburg’s April 23 and 24 auction, also tells the legend. Graded Extremely Fine to Very Fine, the coin realized a hammer price of €90 (about $97 in U.S. funds), with buyer’s fee varying depending on buyer location.
As the tale in the Golden Legends records, St. George was traveling in Libya when he reached a town that was home to a plague-infested dragon.
The residents tried to appease the dragon by first feeding it sheep and then humans, until the king’s daughter was selected by lottery as the dragon’s next meal. St. George happened to pass by the lake when the daughter (dressed as a bride) was being sent to her planned death.”
https://www.coinworld.com/…/legend-of-st–george…
Helen Hye-Sook Hwang Insofar as the land wherein Christianity advanced, St. George slaying the dragon appears: UK, Italy, Russia, Spain, Slovakia, Germany, France, Sweden, Norway, Canada… Can we call them the land of white Christian colonialists? One may Google the theme, St. George slaying the dragon (country), to find out more.
Conclusive Remark: The theme of patriarchal heroes slaying the nine-headed snake/dragon continues to this day. In the West, St. George of the Christian world inherits Huangdi (China), Hercules (Greek), Susanoo (Japan). We have the nine-forms of Chiu, Durga, Medusa, Gwaneum etc.
Who is St. George?
Saint George became the patron saint of England after the great warrior King Henry V used him in his speeches to motivate his soldiers. This has been attributed to the Battle of Agincourt when Henry V beat the French in 1415. Ever since then, St George has been the patriotic rallying point for the English people.
Henry V (16 September 1386 – 31 August 1422) was the second English monarch of the House of Lancaster. Despite his relatively short reign, Henry’s outstanding military successes in the Hundred Years’ War against France, most notably in his famous victory at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, made England one of the strongest military powers in Europe. Shakespeare’s play Henry V has the famous speech which ends mentioning St George “Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more” BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE (from Henry V, spoken by King Henry)
https://www.royalmint.com/discover/sovereigns/st-george-the-dragon-slayer/
Christianity seals the patriarchal make-believe of slaying the nine- or three-headed snake/dragon:
The legend of Saint George and the Dragon tells of Saint George (died 303) taming and slaying a dragon that demanded human sacrifices; the saint thereby rescues the princess chosen as the next offering. The narrative was first set in Cappadocia in the earliest sources of the 11th and 12th centuries, but transferred to Libya in the 13th-century Golden Legend.[1]
The narrative has pre-Christian origins (Jason and Medea, Perseus and Andromeda, Typhon, etc.),[1] and is recorded in various saints’ lives prior to its attribution to St. George specifically. It was particularly attributed to Saint Theodore Tiro in the 9th and 10th centuries, and was first transferred to Saint George in the 11th century.
The oldest known record of Saint George slaying a dragon is found in a Georgian text of the 11th century.[citation needed] The legend and iconography spread rapidly through the Byzantine cultural sphere in the 12th century. It reached Western Christian tradition still in the 12th century, via the crusades. The knights of the First Crusade believed that St. George, along with his fellow soldier-saints Demetrius, Maurice and Theodore, had fought alongside them at Antioch and Jerusalem. The legend was popularised in Western tradition in the 13th century based on its Latin versions in the Speculum Historiale and the Golden Legend. At first limited to the courtly setting of Chivalric romance, the legend was popularised in the 13th century and became a favourite literary and pictorial subject in the Late Middle Ages and Renaissance, and it has become an integral part of the Christian traditions relating to Saint George in both Eastern and Western tradition.
Saint George and the Dragon – Wikipedia
(End of the Discussion)
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In her book The Outer Hebrides and Their Legends Otta Swire gives a tale of a nine-headed giant slain off Scotland’s west coast ,whose body became the islands of the Outer Hebrides. I discuss this in The Search for The Nine Maidens 2003 p 93ff
Thank you for the information, Stuart. We have progressed in this topic and I hope I can make forthcoming sequels someday.
Christian St. Patrick is reputed to have chased all the “snakes” out of Ireland. Egyptian Scota gave her name to Scotland, after she left Ireland. Biblical St Joseph of ARIMATHIA (arithmetic/numbers/names/nam/nommo) also reputedly went there, and some say Christ did, too. The connection between a saint killing a dragon or a snake entwining the Tree of Life (see link) provides a further clue to this fable in my view. Given its ubiquitous adaptation/adoption across various cultures, I suspect the true meaning of this theme has been twisted out of all recognition, for the snake/serpent theme also anciently inferred Written LANGUAGE. Cerastes, a horned snake, was the ancient glyph which represented “word”.
A more complete list of countries which adopted the St. George theme in Municipal or Provincial coats of arms, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_George_and_the_Dragon?fbclid=IwAR0xT7FDNf-liujaZFnTGk1NJvJ0e584ybInKJmpoUq_wt-d85qg2QJ-zSo.
Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine (1999)
Moscow Oblast, Russia (2005)
Municipal coats of arms
Australia: Hurstville
Austria: Pitten, Sankt Georgen an der Gusen, Sankt Georgen an der Leys, Sankt Georgen an der Stiefing, Sankt Georgen im Attergau, Sankt Georgen ob Murau.
Croatia: Kaštel Sućurac.
Czech Republic: Brušperk.
Denmark: Holstebro.
France: Aydoilles, Couilly-Pont-aux-Dames, Ligsdorf, Maulan, Mussidan, Saint-Georges (Moselle), Saint-Georges-Armont, Saint-Georges-d’Espéranche, Saint-Georges-d’Oléron, Saint-Georges-d’Orques, Saint-Georges-de-Reintembault, Saint-Georges-du-Bois, Saint-Georges-du-Vièvre, Saint-Georges-sur-Baulche, Saint-Georges-sur-Loire, Saint-Jurs, Saorge, Sospel, Villeneuve-Saint-Georges.
Germany: Bürgel, Hattingen, Mansfeld, Rittersbach, St. Georgen im Schwarzwald, Schwarzenberg.
Hungary: Bácsszentgyörgy, Balatonszentgyörgy, Borsodszentgyörgy, Dunaszentgyörgy, Homokszentgyörgy, Pécsvárad, Szentgyörgyvár, Szentgyörgyvölgy, Tatárszentgyörgy.
Italy: Reggio Calabria
Lithuania: Marijampolė, Prienai, Varniai.
Netherlands: Ridderkerk, Terborg.
Poland: Brzeg Dolny, Dzierżoniów, Milicz, Ostróda.
Romania: Suceava, Sfântu Gheorghe.
Russia: Moscow
Serbia: Srpski Krstur.
Slovakia: Svätý Jur.
Slovenia: Šentjur
Spain: Alcalá de los Gazules, Golosalvo, Puentedura.
Switzerland: Castiel, Kaltbrunn, Ruschein, Saint-George, Schlans, Stein am Rhein, Waltensburg/Vuorz.
Ukraine: Liuboml, Nizhyn, Taikury, Volodymyr-Volynskyi.
I appreciate this continued discussion, which is crucial. We are dealing with dragon symbols in Mago Whale Pilgrimage and Magoist Studies Salons. I invite you, Lizzy, to the July Magoist Studies Salon.
https://www.magoacademy.org/2020/12/10/2021-magoist-studies-online-salon/
I find Wiki’s list of mythological sources/names of dragon/serpents most instructive for those with “eyes to see” through the multiple metaphoric veils in various cultures. Well worth a study for those seeking the truth. For example, see the entries for Greece, from whence modern Western culture evolved. Python is PYTHIA, of course, the female snake/oracle slain by Apollo himself.
Themes to consider here are Shapeshifting, the Protection of Wells/Water/Lakes/Rivers (feminine), Snakes curved around Hills/Mountains, (feminine) the overthrow of Paganism by Christian Knights, Weather, Astrology (prediction or female ‘divining’ of weather, a critical skill for survival), are all themes related to the slaying of the “dragon”; definitely connoted as feminine, and even as “all knowing”.
Links I followed in this research make several references to the Dragon’s “tongues” in its various heads being CUT OUT. Tongue is a veiled reference to language, probably a reference to the battle not only of the sexes, but the battle for control of the Word-made God.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_dragons_in_mythology_and_folklore
I am grateful, but cannot seem to navigate my way into the zoom link.