by Rev. Jean “Drum” Pagano
Ogmios is a great God of the Gaulish people. He is a dark skinned God, clothed in lion’s skin, carrying a club and a bow. Much has been made of an image attributed to the Roman satirist Lucian and his story in which a smiling Ogmios had chains leading from his tongue to the ears of his followers and that these self-same followers were following him willingly and joyfully. How could such a thing be possible?
Let me tell you about Ogmios and the chains that bind. Many years ago, as Ogmios walked among the people of Gaul, he was revered as a great and powerful God. He walked through the forests protecting both the creatures of the forests and the people of the villages from harm. He was darker than most of the Gaulish people and his constant smile was off-putting for the people of the time. They left him gifts and offerings for his various and numerous acts of strength and courage.
One day, a man was wandering in the forest and he became lost. Not worried about his safety or his fate, he decided to rest upon a sunlit ledge. As the sun shone down on him, he became weary and fell asleep. After wandering for hours before his nap, he slept through the afternoon, through the dusk, and into the evening. Upon awakening, he became alarmed when he noticed a fire on the ledge near him and seated next to him a large, dark, tanned man wearing a lion skin. Upon realizing that this was the God Ogmios, the man became startled and decided to flee, but the fire and the God were positioned between he and the rest of the forest. Behind him was a ledge that had a drop which a man could not sustain to endure.
Ogmios turned to the man and said “You can jump or you can sit here next to me at the fire”. The man considered the possibilities and sat down sheepishly next to the God. Ogmios turned to the man and began to tell him the story of his life, his journeys in the forest, and his thoughts on the nature of the universe. The man was held in amazement by the speech of the God – eloquent, lyrical, and so pleasing to the ears, that the man could not stop smiling. When the God asked the man to speak, the man also found that his speech, merely by hearing the words of the Gods, was as eloquent and lyrical and pleasing as that which he had heard from Ogmios. He then became a devotee of Ogmios and remained with him all of his days.
When people would ask him about Ogmios, he would say that Ogmios’ words were like rings of gold that extended from his tongue to the ears of those that would listen. This is the origin of Ogmios and the chains that bind.
