Magic in pre-Roman Hispania and Lusitania (II). Warrior magic, votive offerings, and amulets.
We continue the article on pre-Roman magic in the Iberian Peninsula. We provide a link to the first part:
And we continue with the topics we didn't have time to cover in this second part:
Warrior Magic
Apart from the representation of animals as a way to harness their strength, as could happen with wolves, bears, and bulls, in the Celtic and Norse world, there was the custom of ingesting specific foods and drinks intended to "unleash" those forces in the warrior, the berserker, or for the performance of various rites of "masculine" strength, the männerbunde. Something similar must have existed among the Iberian peoples.
Pliny (8, 130) relates that in Hispania there was what he calls a "superstition" about bears, whereby it was believed that their brain contained the animal's rage. Therefore, eating or drinking their brains was relatively common if circumstances required it. According to him, they collected the skulls of animals killed in shows and burned the bone to obtain the edible interior.
Appian (Iber. 48) mentions the wolf skin worn by a herald of the Nergobrigenses. There are vestiges of the wolf as an animal associated with strength, war, and death, as well as other peoples who carried out their "metamorphoses" with the essence of these animals by dressing in their skins. Within the Iberian urban space at the La Alcudia site, a protective representation of a warrior wearing a wolf's skin was found, related to the heroes discussed later.
Of course, there is the theory of protections and enhancers mentioned in the first part of the article, regarding the inlays of certain materials on weapons. In addition to bronze, gold, etc., it is likely that some stones also had this talismanic and strength-giving value, such as black limestone.
Votive offerings
We have evidence of votive offerings in Iberian sanctuaries, especially in the southeastern peninsula. These votive offerings, with a clear intention of sympathetic magic, sought above all the healing of a part of the body, requested from the divinity in exchange for the votive offering or offering. Above all, extremities (legs, feet, arms, even torsos and heads) have been found, but also some representations of organs or unknown ailments, which are believed to have been depicted on these parts by painting, although these have not been preserved. There are also phalluses, dentures, eyes, and completely deformed body parts, which could be deformities or perhaps a representation of illness.
Protective magic
The protective or apotropaic intention is reflected magically in various aspects of the pre-Roman peoples. The first of these is the custom of displaying the heads or hands of enemies or animals, not only as trophies, but also with the purpose of frightening those who saw them, including divine or spiritual beings. Offering the heads or hands of sacrifices as a propitiatory offering to the gods was relatively common in the ancient Celtic world; however, we only have records of this occurrence in the Lusitanian region, where the victims' right hands were cut off. In the rest of the Iberian Peninsula, the custom of displaying heads nailed to the doors of walls or houses has been verified, and there is evidence that they were carried as ornaments or amulets on horse saddles. Reliefs and paintings of animal heads (bulls, etc.) have also been found as decoration on the doors of houses. Let us not forget that doors are always "places of passage."
Another attested custom is that of protecting the walls by burying vessels containing animal or human remains within the walls. In ancient culture—and even today, although the reasons for this are unclear—the remains of the deceased were always placed outside of towns, because they belonged to "another world" (for example, village cemeteries, always isolated or on sacred ground, never within ordinary walls). Keeping a dead person inside is an exceptional act. A clear example is found in Numantia, where it can also be confirmed that the placement locations were not random, including entrances, exits, and corners. It is still unclear whether the remains on the vessels were human or not; in any case, we would have parallels with the so-called heroa intramuris found in southern France—and which appear to follow a Greek custom—protective human remains that "reinforce" the wall, along with other Indo-European customs such as burying someone alive in buildings of great importance, etc., which would follow the same idea of the spirit remaining in the place.
There were also sanctuaries of heroa extramuris, but these would have protective or benevolent value in themselves. Or even markers of territory, as has been proposed in the cases of sculptures found in Obulco and Huelma, perhaps mythical founders or not, who delimited populations and territories.
Amulets
From the southern Iberian Peninsula, we can highlight the discoveries of numerous Phoenician amulets, most of them from trade with them. We have solar images, animals, and figurines of Phoenician and Egyptian deities such as Astarte and Melqart. We can highlight the Cadiz ring with a Phoenician inscription: "To Moloch and Ashtar of Agadir" (3rd century BC), or the amulet cases from Évora (Portugal), from the Hellenistic period, with the god Bes. Some Phoenician amulets have transmitted to us the semiotization of the funerary rite. For example, tongue-shaped amulets used in necklaces, others in the form of tubular cases with a falcon or solar disk lid, the solar boat, grandas, etc., have been found in representations of priests on Iberian bronzes.
However, these representations cannot be considered indigenous, as their origin and workmanship are recognizable externally. Although there are indigenous amulets and talismans, or they have not survived, it is clear that in the southern region, the Phoenician presence was so important that the indigenous religion was largely buried.
In the Mediterranean areas, around Ampurias and its surroundings, something similar occurred due to the Etruscan and Greek influence. We find solar and phallic symbols...
One of the greatest doubts about indigenous or imported representations is that of the tree of life, which exists in both cultures. Most amulets, rings, and seals containing this iconography consist of the figure of a tree flanked by two sacred animals, whether two griffins, two deer, two swans, two falcons, two goats, etc.
Amulets in the form of animals would be the most important among indigenous people, with the exception of those of which we have no significant remains, such as the bee, which was important in the Punic era. Among the most common representations, we find bulls and deer as solar symbols, and cows and horses as lunar symbols. Sometimes horses have an afterlife significance, as previously mentioned. We have preserved brooches with representations of bulls, deer, boars, and also serpentine bracelets, although most studies point to a possible Greek influence in this regard. What appear to be pendants made of bones and perforated wolf teeth have also been found, suggesting they may have had some kind of amulet function. It seems characteristically Iberian to wear several talismans hanging from a single necklace of beads or rings. Some small objects raise doubts about whether they were amulets or votive offerings, such as the aforementioned tiny axes. Meanwhile, we can assume that some minerals, such as turquoise, had a magical value as well as an aesthetic value, or that they were considered amulets, such as the ceraunium stone, which protected against lightning. One model of these necklaces with capsules for stones would be the so-called Elviña Necklace, and bells, carnelian beads, and gold were also hung on them, like amulet holders.
Pietro V. Carracedo Ahumada - pietrocarracedo@gmail.com
-Bibliography:
-Blázquez, J.M. Diccionario de las religiones prerromanas. Ediciones Istmo, 1975.
-Salinas de Frías, Manuel. "La religión de los celtíberos (I)." (1984).
-Moneo, T. Religio iberica: santuarios, ritos y divinidades (siglos VII-I A.C.). Real Academia de la Historia, 2003
Related articles:
> The punishment for Magic in ancient Rome
> Celtic Magic (I). Vocabulary, Magic, and Operators
> Celtic Magic (II): Natural Magic and Divination
