Norman Shaw
Osprey[1] (Iolaire Iasgaich[2])
An Osprey (also known as the Fish[3]-hawk[4]) stands on a wooden Cross[5] holding a dead Salmon[6].
How to kill and eat a Salmon[7]
Can be caught with flies or lures. Hooks can be improvised from wire, pins, bones, wood, thorns etc. Tie some Osprey feathers to your hook, or carve a small fish out of wood and decorate it with colour or glitter. Hazel[8] wood has a soft pith and can easily be threaded through so that you can link segments which will wiggle in the water.
As soon as a salmon is caught cut its throat and allow it to bleed. Cut out the gills.
Make an incision from the anal orifice to where the throat was cut. Remove all offal. Keep the roe and milt[9] which runs down the side of the salmon. It is hard in females, soft in males; it is very nutritious. Can be poached[10], stewed or wrapped in fresh leaves and placed in hot embers before consumption.
How to kill and eat God
Once caught, God is first stripped naked, and bound to an upright stake, where He is scourged.
God is dressed again and a crown of thorns placed on His head before being made to drag a cross to the place of execution. He is again stripped naked, and impaled on the cross by iron nails driven through the wrists and ankles before being lifted into position and left to die from suffocation or blood loss.
A spear is then thrust into His side to allow Him to bleed more.
Break His legs to ensure death.
God's flesh is then consumed, and His blood drunk from a chalice or grail. Best done around the spring equinox.
[1]Migratory bird: rebirth and immortality; pilgrimage and quest.
[2]Fisher Eagle (Gaelic)
[3]Symbolizes the phallus, and Christ.
[4]Sun symbol. Hawk-headed Ra/Osiris/Horus.
[5]Sun symbol. Crucifix.
[6]Salmon - sun-moon - solomon. Celtic Fish of Wizdom. Migratory.
[7]Adapted from JL Wiseman SAS Survival Handbook (Collins, 2003)
[8]Hazelnuts: nuts of Gnoledge eaten by Salmon of Wizdom eaten by Cuchullin.
[9]Eggs and semen.
[10]'Poaching' is also the 'unlawful' killing of Salmon.
Published in 'Bird of the Devil' by Edward Summerton (Strict Nature Reserve, 2006)