The price


The dire wound that never heals

Well, this week has been shot. Even my regular schedule has gone out the window.

I'm convinced that funerals are the wrong way to recognize someone. I think people should be celebrated. The more traditional funerals I go to, the more I am convinced that the real purpose of a funeral is to stop the healing by ripping off the scab again and again.

I have been able to get some reading and research in on a long delayed project of mine though. I'm looking at the origins of the Wounded Master. Well, that is my term for it.

Several cultures have tales of a powerful wizard/king/healer/teacher with a dire wound that never quite heals. The first one that caught my attention was Chiron, the centaur and trainer of heros. Of course, there is Odin and his self-maiming for wisdom and knowledge. In Celtic lore there is the Fisher King/Grail Lord which may simply be different names for the same being. There is Osiris. Some versions of Dionysus. And there are the obvious parallels with the Christian story. There are other tales that I have either heard or read of, but I am not ready to consider them "true" legends.

There are some connections with rites and rituals, but I am curious to see if there is a context beyond the obvious. If the wounding is really the "price" paid, at least for some, then that would hint at an inner mystery. As of yet, it's all speculation on my part with a pile of notes.

But it is good to be digging back into my studies again, even if it is just on a catch-as-catch-can basis.

Posted: Fri - January 27, 2006 at 04:48 AM
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