The Sacred SUN

  Yggdrasil (Old Norse Yggdrasill or Askr Yggdrasils) is the mighty tree whose trunk rises at the geographical center of the Norse spiritual cosmos. The rest of that cosmos, including the Nine Worlds, is arrayed around it and held together by its branches and roots, which connect the various parts of the cosmos to one another. Because of this, the well-being of the cosmos depends on the well-being of Yggdrasil. When the tree trembles, it signals the arrival of Ragnarok, the destruction of the universe. The first element in Yggdrasil’s name, Yggr (“Terrible”), is one of the countless names of the god Odin, and indicates how powerful and fearsome the Vikings perceived him to be. The second element, drasill, means “horse.” So Yggdrasil’s name means “Horse of Odin,” a reference to the time when the Terrible One sacrificed himself to discover the runes. The tree was his gallows and bore his limp body, which the Norse poetic imagination described metaphorically as a horse and a rider. In...

An illustration for the story Bruce and the Spider by the author James Baldwin           Battle of Bannockburn, Bruce addresses his troops There was once a king of Scotland whose name was Robert Bruce. He had need to be both brave and wise, for the times in which he lived were wild and rude. The King of England was at war with him, and had led a great army into Scotland to drive him out of the land. Battle after battle had been fought. Six times had Bruce led his brave little army against his foes; and six times had his men been beaten, and driven into flight. At last his army was scattered, and he was forced to hide himself in the woods and in lonely places among the mountains. One rainy day, Bruce lay on the ground under a rude shed, listening to the patter of the drops on the roof above him. He was tired and sick at heart, and ready to give up all hope. It seemed to him that there was no use for him to try to do anything more. As he lay thinking, he saw a spi...

The story of the Minotaur in Greek mythology begins on the island of Crete, during the reign of King Minos, the son of Zeus and Europa.   To justify his assertion that he should be king of Crete, upon the death of his stepfather Asterion, Minos prayed to the Greek god Poseidon for a sign that the gods were favoring him. Poseidon responded to the prayer by sending forth a magnificent white bull from the sea, a beast that would be known as the Cretan Bull.   The expectation was that having become King of Crete, Minos would sacrifice the Cretan Bull to Poseidon, for his show of favour. King Minos though was so taken by the magnificence of the bull that the king decided to sacrifice an inferior bull in its place. Minos obviously felt that Poseidon either would not notice the substitution, or else would not care about it.   Poseidon though did notice the sacrifice of the inferior beast, and was very much affronted by the actions of King Minos.  Poseidon though did not dir...