Goose "companions"

[Preston Pittman]

Elyn mentioned the goosefoot as a sign of the "Companions" - Elyn, I'm not
sure what you mean by the "companions", however it brought to mind something
I had forgotten to mention in my very long posting on the goose connections.

The latin word for "goose" is "anser".  The arabic word for "companions" is
"ansar" and in medieval Spain, members of Sufi groups (mystical sects of
Islam - sometimes accused of heresy by orthodox Muslims) were sometimes
called "Ansar".  I'm just wondering if there could have been a "goose"
connection there, too, since most educated people in medieval Spain would
have probably understood both Latin and Arabic.  Medieval mystics seemed to
have loved little word and symbol games from language to language and I
could easily imagine Arabic "ansar" taking on the symbol of a Latin "anser"
but I have no direct knowledge of this.

It seems to me that the goose symbol identifies places and people who have
some occult or mystical significance.  The places along the Camino that use
some form of one of the  words for "goose" or incorporate the goose or the
goose-foot as a symbol all seem to have some ties to very ancient (perhaps
pre-Christian) mysticism.

I'ed be interested in knowing if anyone else has encountered this goose
symbolism in regards to the Camino.


>From: Elyn Aviva <TajminaaAOL.COM>
>Reply-To: Road to Santiago Pilgrimage <GOCAMINOaPETE.URI.EDU>
>To: GOCAMINOaPETE.URI.EDU
>Subject: Re: Occult Goose and Priscillian associations
>Date: Fri, 4 Jan 2002 10:32:31 EST
>
>Fantastic! Thanks for drawing together the disparate threads of geese,
>Priscillian, etc.
>And then of course the goosefoot sign of the Companions... A friend lent me
>a
>book called the Druid Renaissance, edited by Phlip Carr-Gomm, and on the
>cover is a drawing that looks amazingly like a goose foot. It's three rays
>fanning out from three dots, and it's called the "awen," a Druid symbol of
>bardic inspiration. Haven't yet read up on the history of the symbol, but I
>will.
>
>Thanks again--
>Elyn


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