Ways that Modern People Have Overlooked Warrior Women as Historical Fact
(Historians have assumed this woman was holding a cleaning tool – um she looks more like she’s ready to cut someone’s head off with that thing than polish the floor.)
Cracked isn’t always the most accurate place for news, but the article I posted above makes some good points.
In modern depictions of the past, such as a TV series like Spartacus, we are shown an image of muscular slave men battling each other to death in the gladiatorial arena, while a woman’s maximum participation is cheering from the sidelines or later rewarding one of the gladiators with a blow job.
However, the truth is that female gladiators were quite common in Rome. There were many graves of decorated gladiators that historians assumed to be male, only to be surprised when the bone analysis revealed these warriors to be women – as if the woman just so happened to fall into the wrong grave!
The assumptions don’t just end there. Most heroic warrior figures, such as vikings or samurai are all assumed to be male, and this depiction is the norm in television dramas, comics and movies. Yet in most warrior societies – such as that of the Spartans, the Mongols, the Celts and the Vikings, the art of war was such an important skill that everyone was expected to know what they were doing – including the women. In ancient Celtic societies, there were even fighting schools where female teachers called a BAN-GAISGEDAIG taught boys the art of fighting and love.
In fact, in a DNA analysis of the Japanese battle of Senbon Matsubaru in 1580, 35 of the 105 bodies tested were female. Not to mention that this is only one of several archaeological finds that show a similar story.
Then there is the fact that most ancient societies had goddesses associated with war and death, such as Athena, Freya, Sekhmet, the Morrigan, Brigid and Kali. In fact, some of these named Goddesses were more terrifying than their male counterparts. If the idea of a woman fighting was really so unrealistic to the people of the ancient world, then why were there Goddesses entirely devoted to warfare?
So today’s reality of women in the military or police force actually isn’t anything new. If anything, it is a return to long term historical trends. Look at the fact that more than 30% of the Kurds fighting the ISIS scum are female. When a group of people are in danger, and bodies are needed to fight for survival, women will be among that number. This is why it is unrealistic for people today to think that women don’t need to know anything about fighting or self defense. What society has a better chance of survival – one where only half the population knows how to fight, or one where 100% of the population can kick some ass?
So next time someone complains that the portrayal of women warriors in historical dramas is “not realistic,” remind them that the more historically inaccurate fallacy is one where there are no women warriors at all in societies that prized the art of battle in all aspects of life.
Masha Scream of Arkona (Source)
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Japanese Warrior Women – Onna-Bugeisha
Onna-Bugeisha (Rare Photo)
The picture above is a vintage photograph of an onna-bugeisha, one of the female warriors of the upper social classes in feudal Japan.
Often mistakenly referred to as “female samurai”, female warriors have a long history in Japan, beginning long before samurai emerged as a warrior class. However, they did fight alongside of samurai warriors. They were wives, widows and daughters who answered the call of duty to protect their families, households and honor in times of war.
Onna Bugeisha were the exception, rather than the rule, but they still played an important role nonetheless. One famous example is empress Jingu, who reportedly lead a successful conquest against Korea in 200 AD without shedding a single drop of blood (or so the legends say).
The Three Things in Life Worth Fighting For
Land, Freedom and Culture
Earth air and water be the Celtic Elements three
An eagle in the sky roams like liberty
A salmon navigates ancestral waters, searching for its culture
And man reveres his land, full of glory and honor
Some say there is no such thing as a just war. Those who have actually fought in wars know it for the true beast that it is. Those who have not may romanticize violence equating it to patriotism and bravery. I would say most of the wars that United States has fought (especially the many shadow wars we engage in currently) have not been just wars. They have been wars for the purpose of expansion, imperialism and pushing our culture onto other people who don’t want it.
As Dick Gregory said, “When you have something really good, you don’t have to force it on people, they will steal it.”
You can never fight to force other people to be free. Freedom is the ability to choose what kind of culture and life you want for your own people. If you have to force it – it’s not freedom at all.
But when is war just? When must a person pick up a weapon and put their life on the line?
Fighting, (in my opinion), is just when your land, culture and personal freedoms are on the line.
The song I posted below is by a Russian band called Fferyllt. They write about Paganism, Druidism and Asatru.
The reason I posted the song though is because it reminds me of my great uncles (grandmother’s uncles). They were part of the IRA and fought the British in an attempt to unify Ireland and their people.
That, in my opinion, is an example of just war. But culture is more than just “a specific type of people.” Perhaps it’s a way of life that provides freedom, opportunity and a connection to the Earth.
But let us bring the conversation back to the modern-day. In America, who are the real terrorists? Who are really the people trying to take your land, freedom and culture away? (Not many people own their ancestral lands these days, so instead I should say who is destroying the Earth?) Is it small groups of brown men in far away lands? People that are so “dangerous” that we must spend billions every day to fly drones over their lands and drop bombs on their women and children. Are these people – who don’t even have nukes, missiles, aircraft carriers, or tanks – so dangerous that we must spend more money on the military than any other nation in the world?
Yes 911 was a tragedy. But many of the people – most of the people we are attacking right now had nothing to do with 911. Osama Bin Laden is dead. Yes, I’m sure there are many terrorist cells out there right now, hatching plans against America. But relentlessly bombing countries like Afghanistan, Libya and Pakistan is making us less safe – not more. We are only increasing the hatred of America around the globe. We are spreading vengeance instead of affluence. We are sewing the seeds of war instead of peace. We are throwing kerosene onto gas and lighting a fire that will burn for decades if not more.
We have greater battles than this. We are stepping on ant hills only to ignore mountains. We are throwing rocks at wasps, distracted while lions ravage our cities.
In this century the great titan Typhon rears its beastly head and ascends from the Chthonic realms of the Earth. Climate change is the greatest challenge now. It’s not coming – it’s here and only getting worse. Hurricane Sandy has decimated New York. And I remind you that this was a category 1 storm! Imagine the consequences had it been a 2 or a 5.
Scientists are saying that massive storms are going to become a regular part of life.
And yet the political debates, the mainstream media, the forces in control all around us are silent on climate change.
So who is the real enemy here? What is the just war of our time?
I repeat: the fight for land, culture and freedom.
We must fight for the Earth in our own way. We must fight those at every end who attempt to limit the expression of free speech on the internet. As Pagans and non Pagans we must look to our ancestors. What would they do? Would they sit down and shut up while our current leaders destroy the planet and create a police state. I doubt it. When someone tells you to shut up – you shout out. When someone tells you to sit down – you stand up. When there are people all around you telling you that you don’t matter, that your voice doesn’t matter, that there is nothing you can do – you prove them wrong.
There is always something you can do! Even if you don’t win! The vikings believed it was a great warrior who could face odds greater than himself. So what are you? A slave or a freeman? Let your actions answer that question.
Fferyllt ~ Warriors of Ireland Lyrics
For last time I see you, my fatherland proud
The voice of the horn calling you is too loud
Our foe is so close, as we hear his war cry
We go to the midnight to fight and to die.
Chorus:
Thunder in the sky is calling us to die,
To die for your freedom, your truth and your pride.
All hand-by-hand forever we’ll stand
Enemy shall run from our land!
Verse2:
Reminding my fathers, before me they’re gone,
Ages and spell turned them into stone,
I hear cry of Erin, who loved me so well,
I hear shore of waters and ring of the bell.
Chorus:
Thunder in the sky is calling us to die,
To die for your freedom, your truth and your pride.
All hand-by-hand forever we’ll stand
Enemy shall run from our land!
Verse3:
Your heroes await thee, we see them arise,
Their power and might come to us from the skies,
The Morrigan’s shelter will cover our heads,
And Erin will wait ‘till we rise from the dead.
Chorus:
Thunder in the sky is calling us to die,
To die for your freedom, your truth and your pride.
All hand-by-hand forever we’ll stand
Enemy shall run from our land!
Metal Gaia 