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wide flocked to their nearest temple where statues of Ganesha were also wit-
nessed accepting milk. By Thursday evening the phenomenon was being
reported in Kolkata, Chennai, Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia,
Bangladesh, Nepal, Dubai, Kenya, Germany, Bangkok, Brisbane, Toronto,
New York, and Jersey City in the United States and throughout the UK.
Other idols Shiva, Krishna, and Brahma were also accepting milk on
that day.
In the UK, ten thousand people visited the Vishwa Hindu Temple in
Southall, West London, where the white marble statue of Nandi, Shiva s
sacred mount, was also said to be accepting milk. A few hundred meters away
in the home of Asha and Anil, a Hindu couple who came to England from
Uganda, a small clay statue also began to drink milk. Before long devotees
were crowding the small suburban living room of Asha, waiting patiently to
offer milk to the small painted statue of Ganesha that stood in the fireplace.
Asha explained, when I interviewed her on the telephone soon after the
event, My statue is made of clay, but when I felt inside, it was completely dry
and no milk had seeped through. This continued for about a week and then
the statue would accept no more. From India, confirmation came by Friday,
September 22, 1995, that Ganesha and the other deities had ceased to accept
milk.
The phenomenon was regarded by Hindus as a sign that the problems of
the world would be overcome through faith. The fundamentalist World
Hindu Council declared the milk-drinking a manifestation of Divine Bless-
ing. Scientists have put forward many theories to explain away the Milk Mir-
acle, such as capillary action and natural absorption by marble. But the fact
that the statues did not before and have not since absorbed milk suggests that
this is not the entire story. As some statues were tiny or made of solid metal,
Unicorns, Lost Animals of Legends, and the Magic of Animals 91
there seems no adequate explanation for the absorption of such relatively
large amounts of liquid.
In India the cow is strongly associated with the cult of Krishna, a divine
being who was considered the avatar of earthly manifestation of Vishnu the
preserver god. On earth Krishna took the form of a cowherd in his youth.12
MAGICAL PETS
As humans value relations with dogs and cats as close companions, it was
thought that the deities and heroes must be accompanied by animals who
displayed a super version of the qualities shown by more ordinary pets. In
Chapter 9, the possibility is explored, and some experiments are described
that may suggest pets have intuitive links with their owners. The myth
weavers may have felt a strong instinctive bond with their pets that inspired
the stories of magical pets.
THE LOYALTY OF THE DOG
Our pets came originally from wild animals, perhaps individuals of the
species that came close to settlements and were naturally responsive to peo-
ple. Indeed the findings of three research teams, reported in November 2002
in a UK Science magazine, suggested that 95 percent of all dogs evolved from
three founding female wolves, tamed by humans living in or near China less
than 15,000 years ago. Even dogs in the New World have their origins in
Eastern Asia. According to Carles Vila of Uppsala University, Sweden, one of
the teams studying the New World dogs, the dogs traveled with the colonists
to America and Canada. Their use as hunting animals and to protect vulner-
able humans began the mutual dependence that we see today even in the most
pampered urbanized dogs.
The dog, known as a human s best friend, has a dual function in myth: the
domesticated faithful friend and fearsome wilder creature of the otherworldly
hunting pack as with, for example, the Norse Odin s Wild Winter hunt when
he rose with huge baying black hounds through the skies. Fierce dogs also
guarded the entrance to the otherworld in Celtic and classical myths. So-
called demon dogs and guardian dogs of the underworld are also discussed in
Chapter 6.
In Irish lore, many of the famous dogs were humans who had shape-shifted
or changed to protect their clan. Irish heroes, kings, and chiefs were given the
prefixed title of dog or hound to indicate their courage in protecting the land
92 Fabulous Creatures, Mythical Monsters, and Animal Power Symbols
and the people. For example, the hero Chulainn became known as Cu Chu-
lainn, which meant Hound of Ulster (see also Chapter 7).13
In Wales, where there is a strong mythical tradition, there is a story about
the Prince of Wales, Llewellyn, and his faithful dog Gelert. Cynics say that
the legend was created to bring tourists to the area of Bedgellert in North
Wales, but the story has been dated to 1120, when it is said that Prince John
of England presented Llewellyn with the specially bred wolfhound Gelert.
Sometimes stories to illustrate a moral point have a seed of fact that is elab-
orated with the telling.
One day the prince left his faithful wolfhound Gelert to guard his sleeping
infant son in his royal tent while out hunting or, some versions say, on a bat-
tle campaign. When Llewellyn returned, the cradle was empty and the dog
covered in blood, sitting outside the tent. The tent was also bloodstained.
Llewellyn thought the worst of the dog and killed Gelert in fury, but then saw
his son lying safely within the tent and the body of a huge wolf that had tried
to attack beside the infant. Llewellyn buried Gelert with great ceremony and
the place where the camp was held became known as Bedd Gelert, which
means the grave of Gelert. A town grew up there.
One of the most famous dogs in Greek legend was Odysseus s faithful
hound, Argos, described in Homer s Odyssey.14 Argos waited faithfully for his
master to return and was the only one to recognize his heavily disguised mas-
ter after many years of absence, but the joy was too much for his old heart
and he died. Homer, the Greek poet, wrote the Odyssey sometime during the
late ninth century BCE.
The everyday world also creates animal heroes that will become the myths
of tomorrow. Perhaps the most dramatic and uplifting story of animal devotion
comes from the aftermath of the World Trade Center disaster on September
11, 2001. There were many heroic rescue dogs that assisted hour after hour in
choking conditions in the attempts to save survivors. But most remarkable was
the story of Dorado, the guide dog who was at work with his blind owner,
Omar Eduardo Rivera, a computer technician. Omar became trapped on the
71st floor of the World Trade Center s north tower when the first hijacked air-
liner crashed into the building. Fearing there was no way he himself could
escape; Omar unleashed Dorado, patted him, and told him to go. But the four-
year-old Labrador retriever refused to leave his master in spite of the heat,
flying glass, and crowds who were panicking and rushing past. Dorado was
actually carried away by the rush of people but fought against the tide and
returned to guide his owner.
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