Eros and Psyche

Art by Rowena Morrill

Valentine's Day is almost here and full of love stories. It's worth mentioning this beautiful tragic romance story from Greek mythology. As I touched on the subject in my previous post about Cherubs, I will explain more about the story of Cupid (Eros) and Psyche. 

There was a princess named Psyche, the youngest of three sisters, daughter of a king from ancient Greece. Psyche was loved by everyone and she had so many admirers. They even called her Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty. Then annoyed the goddess herself, who sent her son, Eros to give Psyche a magic potion to drink. This potion would make no one fall in love with Psyche or desire to marry her. Eros went to fulfil his mother's plan, but he accidently released one of his arrows and shot her, and in panic he shot another arrow at himself. His arrows are powerful and whoever is shot will fall in love. Psyche had already drunk the potion and found no men was interested in wanting her even though her sisters found lovers and settled down to marry. This made Psyche depressed, and her worried father sought help from the Oracle of Delphi. 

The god Apollo answered the king's worried question, and advised him on what to do. So Psyche was made to dress all in black, and spend her days on a mountain waiting for a husband. Zephyrus found Psyche on the mountain, and carried her off to the palace of her secret husband, who summoned her. There she was in a beautiful place, where she was treated very well, but on one condition: she must not look at her husband's face. This was only because she wasn't allowed to know who he was, and he was really Eros. So every night, Eros would go to Psyche and it would be dark, although blissful. 

While the nights were good, Psyche felt lonely during the daytime. At night when Eros went to her bed, Psyche asked him if her sisters could visit. He agreed, but that was a big mistake. When Psyche's sisters arrive seeing the beautiful palace and luxurious clothes, they felt jealous and became spiteful. They told Psyche that her husband was probably an ugly monster. Psyche was convinced this had to be true which is why he didn't want her looking at him. They advised her to bring a lamp at night, and also carry a knife just if the monstrous husband would turn violent. That night, she saw the truth, her husband was the god Eros. 

After that, Eros left her. An unhappy Psyche tries to kill herself by drowning in the river but nymphs rescue her. The goddess Aphrodite learns about all of this, knowing that her son failed to carry out her plan as she instructed. Psyche was summoned to meet the goddess Aphrodite, and was given terms to be spared punishment. The first was to sort through lentils, poppy seeds and chickpeas, and put them in their own piles. Psyche was helped by ants to complete the task. The second task was more dangerous, she had to skin the fleece of predatory carnivorous golden sheep, and a nymph suggested she try this while the sheep is sleeping, and to gather loose fleece on bushes and grass. After finishing the task, the third one was harder. Psyche was told to visit the Underworld and get a box of magic from goddess Persephone. But Psyche was warned she must never open it.   

However, what Aphrodite didn't tell Psyche was that the box contained an elixir for eternal sleep. After she successfully collects the box and returns to the earth, Psyche opens the box believing it would help her find Eros, and she quickly entered a deep sleep. Eros locates Psyche in her eternal deathlike sleep. Using his arrows, he brings Psyche back and she wakes up. Eros marries Psyche. Zeus makes Psyche a goddess of the immortal human soul.

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Cherubs

 

This has been mentioned before on She Wolf Night blog, so often every year that it's been done to death, the subject of Valentine's Day. I bring a new twisted version now, broken in different posts, to make it tasty and more exciting. 

That time has come when Valentine's Day gifts are appearing in the shops and exchanged between parties of loved ones. It's a time famously symbolic of love hearts and cute cherubs carrying bows and arrows. Cherubs are variations of little angels that resemble winged babies, but these are actually an altered version of the Roman Pagan god Cupid, an archer who looked like a very handsome man. His Greek counterpart is Eros, son of Ares the god of war and beautiful war goddess Aphrodite. Cupid/Eros is the god of love. There is a tragic love story of Eros who fell in love with a mortal woman named Psyche. 

Renaissance era artists painted mythological scenes and included cute cherubs in them. It then started to create the tradition of cupid babies and love. Cupid and cherub came to mean the same thing today, but what are cherubs? 

While it's become popular to give children endearing names like "cherub" it's all because of the Valentine's Day image of them. However, in the Bible cherubs themselves have a sinister appearance originally. These are part of a religious celestial order of the Cherubim, who look diabolical. They are said to be violent and have the features of scary monsters. In Ezekiel 1:5_11 they're described as having four faces like that of a man, a lion, an ox and an eagle. Each cherub has four wings and two furry legs with cloven hoofs. There isn't that many (if any) Valentines cards showing accurate looking cherubs.  

More: https://the-demonic-paradise.fandom.com/wiki/Cherubim

Article with many cherub pictures posted by Marta Savova HERE

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Cryptid news February

 Here are some of the latest bits of cryptozoology that I found since posting about this subject a month ago. Every month I will deliver a few recent, and not so recent, news about strange mysterious creatures. 

In West Virginia, a cryptid enthusiast took a photograph of a footprint that he claims belongs to Bigfoot. It's size is 9 inches in width and has five toes. It was discovered in a muddy area in Ritchie County. He posted his picture on Facebook and a debate followed up. Many pointed out there was only one footprint and suggested Bigfoot was hopping around, and some claimed it belonged to another animal or was hoaxed. 

For photos on that story visit Sasquatch Chronicles HERE

While on the subject of Bigfoot, research has found that bears are actually responsible for many Bigfoot sightings. This was made in Pittsburgh by Floe Floxon of the Folk Zoology Society, and published in Journal of Zoology. For every 1,000 bears was a rise in Bigfoot sightings by 4%, and Floxon says: "As black bear populations increase, Sasquatch sightings are expected to increase." It's a case of, he believes, a mistake on the part of eye witnesses. 

Check these interesting articles on Cryptozoology at Gaia.com HERE

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