Patron Saint of Bellydance

[Duvet]

The source of all movement,
Shiva's dance,
Gives rhythm to the universe.
He dances in evil places,
In sacred,
He creates and preserves,
Destroys and releases.

We are part of this dance
This eternal rhythm,
And woe to us if,
Blinded by illusions,
We detach ourselves
From the dancing cosmos..."

- Ruth Peel

 

[Duvet]

Ares - the Greek god of war. Not often associated with dancing, but one compiler says that he was taught to dance by Priapus before he learnt to be a warrior. He is also said to have removed his armour and danced at the wedding feast of the goddess Thetis who married Peleus King of the Myrmidons.

Ares was the father of the race of Amazons, the queen of which (one of his daughters) was Hippolyte. Ares gave Hippolyte a magic belt which endowed her with strength and power; so could you call that the first 'Hipp' belt? Heracles was evidently a bellydance diva, because he wanted her belt so much that he was literally willing to committed murder to get it.

 

[Duvet]

It seems that Herakles was more the wannabe bellydancer than I realized. When he attacked the city of Troy, he was only persuaded to spare the life of prince Priam through the intervention of Hesione, Priam’s sister. She offered Herakles a golden veil in return for her brother’s safety. She must have spotted that Herakles needed a prop to go with his Hipp’ belt.

 

[cobrasdance]

what a great story! your time was definitely well spent! i think i like this version of belly dance history the best. the source of great beli-laughs!!

 

[Duvet]

I found a bellydancing angel - resplendent in bedla, head dress and sword!



Actually its an illustration from the 10th Century 'Caedmon Manuscript' - a collection of Anglo-Saxon religious poetry. The illustration depicts the angel that stood at the gates of Eden with a fiery sword, to stop Adam and Eve sneaking back into paradise.



Mind you, Adam and Eve look as if they're off to the beach with their bucket and spade, so maybe this is an early depiction of Sharm el Sheik?

 

[Duvet]

Rumi - The Dancing Cry Of The Soul (extract)

Come to me, and I shall dance with you
In the temples, on the beaches, through the crowded streets
Be you man or woman, plant or animal, slave or free
I shall show you the brilliant crystal fires, shining within
I shall show you the beauty deep within your soul
I shall show the path beyond Heaven.

Only dance, and your illusions will blow in the wind
Dance, and make joyous the love around you
Dance, and your veils which hide the Light
Shall swirl in a heap at your feet.

 

[Amulya]

I jokingly suggested Beli Mawr as a patron of Bellydance, based on the pun Beli= Belly. Then I thought -what if? And how far will the idea run? So here’s the resulting twaddle, a product of having too much time, too much imagination, and way too much experience in reading pseudo-history. Perhaps my energies would have been better spent elsewhere, but I've been unable to leave the house for the last two days, so my creativity has probably needed an outlet. It might give you a smile, get you irritated, or just make you sigh heavily.
NB This is the Games section, so academics and other seekers after truth, please look away now.
...

How come I never noticed this thread before?! LOL, it would be so funny if one day we see this story on a belly dance website presented as true!

 

[Duvet]

In the Biblical book of Job there appears the Behemoth, whose attributes surely should be fostered by every bellydancer! -

"See now, his strength is in his hips, and his power is in his stomach muscles.
He moves his tail like a cedar; the sinews of his thighs are tightly knit."
(Job 14:16-17).

 

[Duvet]

Baal Marqod, the Phonecian god of healing, earthquakes and dance.

To the Greeks he was called Bal-markos or Balmarcodus. At the Beit Meri Temple of Baal Marqod (Der al-Qalat) at Beirut, Lebanon, there are inscriptions calling him ‘Lord of the Dance’. The temple has been to a large extent incorporated into the Maronite Monastery of St. John the Baptist, who’s beheading was connected in the Bible to the dancing of Salome at Herod’s court. It was Markos, or St. Mark, who wrote the Gospel of Mark which told us this story of Salome’s dance.

Heliodorus, in his 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] Century AD novel “Ethiopian Romance”, has the narrator meet with some Tyrian sailors who are dancing to the god Baal Marqod as they celebrate their victory in a wrestling match – “I left them there at their piping and dancing, in which they frisked about at a tripping time provided by the pipes in an Assyrian measure, now jumping up lightly, now doing knee bends low to the ground, spinning their bodies round and round like men possessed.”

His priests are identified as the limping or leaping priests of Baal (1 Kings 18:26), which connects him, as Balmarkos, to the Roman god Mars who had a special priesthood – the Salii, or ‘leaping priests’ - introduced by the legendary King Numa Pompilius in the 8/7th Century BC. Composed of 12 men, all sons of acting patricians, they were appointed for life, and each year in March (the birth month of Mars) they circled the walls of Rome singing and dancing to protect the city.