Pagan Journeys
Pagan Journeys => Beginner's Chat => Topic started by: DisreputableMog on August 02, 2011, 12:40:55 PM
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To be specific a chess piece. A rook.
I've never learned or played chess. I'm not good at strategy in any facet of my life. And in all my research, I can't find a single deity, not even in Eastern and Asian pantheons, that have a strong relation to games.
I looked up the rook online and the best that I can figure out, it's symbolism would be something in relation to Persian chariots, which were heavily armored and usually manned by at least one archer. But it's equally likely to be representative of crenelated turret castles, from when the game was brought to the West (because of the pieces' appearance).
The rook can move any number of spots on the board in any direction as long as the pathway is clear, if I understand completely what I read. It is also a relatively valuable piece, directly under a queen.
My only other clue is fire. Literally. I ate a giant, two-palm-sized flame in one mouthful.
I am completely stumped. Any thoughts?
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Food for thought - a "rook" is also a type of bird, related to the crow and raven. Depending on how the symbol apeared to you, it may be an interpretation to explore.
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I thought of that, but it just didn't seem to fit. It was a white-colored chess piece. (I forgot to mention that >>; ) Rooks are a kind of crow, aren't they?
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They're related, but yeah, a white one isn't pinging for me. Someone more well-versed in Celtic lore might know otherwise, though.
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It is also possible that this is an indication that "your path is clear" and you "can go in any direction" rather than trying to focus on one specific aspect of deity. Just a thought.
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My initial thought on the rook was the same as Tirya's: the bird. And white, for me, is a color of the north (snow).
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-Update-
Throwing this out there, my first thought was Apollo. The early symbolism of a chariot and archer, and the fire representing the sun.
I admit, though, this only came to me after a lot of research and poking around, and it still feels very far-fetched.
Thank you all so much for your ideas, this is the only thing I've really ever come up grasping straws at, but I am sort of starting from the beginning again.
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So you meditated with the wish to discover your patron and you got a vision of a rook chess piece?
It is also possible that this is an indication that "your path is clear" and you "can go in any direction" rather than trying to focus on one specific aspect of deity. Just a thought.
This is how I would interpret the answer also. A tower (rook) would be indicative of an aspiration and white usually signifies (at least to me) spirituality or purity.
I would meditate some more with the intent to clarify the message of the rook.
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I was thinking Mithra.
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Your mention of chariot, coupled with the eating of fire, might suggest Sól (Sunna), the Norse Sun Goddess.
She rides the chariot of the sun, and is chased constantly by the wolf Sköll (son of Fenrir), who will consume her at Ragnarok, after which her daughter will ride the chariot of the sun. There's also mention in the lore of a shield being carried by this chariot (thus making it an armored chariot, akin to the original chess piece):
In a stanza of the poem Grímnismál, Odin says that before the sun is a shield named Svalinn, and if the shield were to fall from its frontal position, mountain and sea "would burn up". - Wikipedia
Hope this helps.
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I just finished a book of Norse myths, and I remember that, actually, now that you mention it. Thanks!
Unrelated, Sun and Moon had a rough go of it. =/