Silio Italicus relates about the Celtiberians: “The Celts came united in name to the Iberians. For them it is an honor to fall in the fight, and a crime to incinerate his corpse. They believe that the dead will go to heaven with the gods if hungry vultures devour the lying body. " The vultures therefore help the soul of the Celtiberians fallen in battle in their transit to the afterlife.

Here is a vulgar but "honorable" gesture of defiance in the face of the barbarism of our time, obviously it is not an oath pose but without a doubt if our good gentleman with his hand on his chest from the Golden Age raised his head he would certainly raise his middle finger with a clenched fist.

Formerly the use of the comb simulated and was linked to the male phallus and its magical power to ward off the evil eye, a kind of phallic amulet against curses.

However, its practice as an obscene gesture comes from Roman times when Caligula offered his hand to his effeminate tribune to be kissed, the delirious and depraved emperor threw his finger in that position to humiliate his subjects.

As a direct insult we must go back to the Hundred Years War that faced the kingdoms of England and France when the French cut off the middle finger of all British archers, who, demoralized, were prevented from using their powerful bow. As the war favored the English, they showed them their middle finger to challenge and mock them.

We leave it to your imagination who to direct such an effective and ancient posture ...

Adventurers, warriors, survivors, barbarians, nomads and plunderers, the epic Goths crossed half the world, living mythical episodes. Related with the Nordic universe, they worshiped the kingdom of Asgard, their eagles and crows that whispered to Odin the thought and memory of the mortals, guide them from the legendary corners of Scandinavia, crossing the Balkans towards the West. They saw the fall of the Roman Empire and the rise of the Muslim, and built a new powerful hispanic state where they coexisted with the three cultures.

He told them through an angel to look for Pelayo,

that they named him king and that they abide by him,

and in defending the land that everyone helps him,

for He would help her to protect them.

They looked for Pelayo, as he was commanded,

they found him in a cave hungry and damaged,

they kissed his hands and gave him kingship:

he had to accept it, but not willingly.

He received the kingship, but against his wish,

the protected peoples were believed with him;

the unbelieving peoples heard the news,

to come against them all were moved.

Where he was they came to look for him,

first the rock began to attack;

there Christ wanted a great miracle to show,

I think you ever heard him tell.

Arrows and arrows that they shot at the king,

neither to him nor to his people no one came,

as angry as they went, they also became,

if it wasn't themselves, they didn't kill others.

When the Moors saw such an incredible feat,

that their weapons killed their own soldiers,

they remove the fence from the cave, they leave the mountain:

they thought that God had great fury against them.

This King Pelayo, servant of the Creator,

he protected the land so well that he couldn't do better;

the Christians were thus losing their pain

although they never lost their fear of Almanzor.

[Stanzas from El Poema de Fernán González "Pelayo, named king"]

In 1212 three kings put aside their differences and, shoulder to shoulder, galloped and charged in the Navas de Tolosa against the Almohad army of Miramamolín Al Nasir that was determined to reconquer Spain and reach Rome itself.

Horsemen, cavalry, council militias, military orders, Templars, Calatravos, Santiaguistas, volunteers, gentle men ready to fight the half moon. The confrontation was cruel. Terrible scenarios with metal ripping and tearing ...

When it seemed that all was lost for Christians, the banner of the three wolves was raised...

It is Lopez de Haro who, together with his son and his Castilian knights and innkeepers, set out at the head of the vanguard determined to immolate themselves. King Alfonso VIII of Castile, who looks at it excitedly, launches the attack shouting "Here, Bishop, we all die." Pedro II of Aragon and Sancho VII of Navarra followed him ...

The epic and the enthusiasm seizes everyone and it is that the three kings ride and charge just through the hills of the Navas de Tolosa de Sierra Morena...

There was a remote time when the gods walked among men, a mythical era that ended up being corrupted until the dark age took over everything ... according to the old Hindu scriptures, the last avatar will come to free us from kaliyuga, the era without dharma ...

Faced with the blind faith in the end-time messiah and the isolated physical and spiritual retreat in a crystal palace, a path of the left hand arises within this entropy, an active spiritual and warrior path, where the tiger can ride, avoiding being eaten while waiting for fatigue to run...

The wisdom tradition invites you to radically immerse yourself in life, in your life, assume it, accept it, confront it, become aware, forge yourself and learn from it, without fear, enter its multiple scenarios, integrate all those disparate and opposing experiences, that burn in your interior, teachings that help you to be your own avatar, the light in the darkness... an invitation to admire the greatness, splendor and magic that surround your own existence, to live in truth and freedom, that makes you transcend by overcoming your own difficulties and miseries.

Tibetan Buddhism brings us closer to the god Mahakala, an internal, compassionate warrior, the protector of the dharma, the secret doctrines, the wisdom and the lineage, that ancient demon whose head adorns with his five poisons or klesahas that he transmuted into five wisdoms, an angry and wrathful divinity capable of bringing light into darkness, as a symbol of struggle that awakens pure energy and unyielding strength to overcome and dissolve the obstacles and negativities that impede the spiritual path.

In the Bhagavad Gita —the epic and wisdom text of the Hindu tradition— through the Dialogue between Prince Arjuna and his charioteer Krishna —conceived before starting the fratricidal war between the Pvas and the Kauravas in the battle of Kurukshetra—, we are They offer keys to inner combat, to overcome suffering, death, the meaning of life, the correct action, the nature of the Divine… it gives us a way and a method for liberation. From the knowledge and mental discernment to identify our true identity with the being, with the transcendent self and not with the impermanent, to the fulfillment of duty through disinterested action until sacrifice in the fire of God. Our being, our thoughts and our actions actively surrendered to the absolute and supreme so that the Ego is dominated and unconditioned.

“Cut the ignorant doubt in your heart with the sword of self-knowledge. Watch your discipline. Get up "

"Free yourself from the anxiety of the things of this world, do not let yourself be governed by the illusions of this perishable world"

"The mind is a faithful friend of man, only when it has been conquered by the spirit"

"No one who does a good job will ever have a bad ending, not here or in the world to come."

The representation of the wolf in Iberian iconography, as a cult totemic animal, with strong roots in pastoral populations, related to myths and religious symbolism, represents ardor, heroism and warrior mysticism. Combat scenes between wolf and man are common, some symbolize death threat, lineage of power, protection in combat ... and the cult of the night, the path or initiation rite, in the passage to the afterlife, lupus as a guide in the afterlife ...

So recurrent in Iberian art, we find it in the sculptural ensembles of "El Pajarillo", in the Elche-Archena style ceramics, in the mints of the Iltirta and Iltiraka mint, in the "Copa del Carnassier", in the "Torso de Guerrero de la Alcudia"... and in the "Pátera de Perotito" where a young man, his hands are raised in a ritual position, is devoured by the wolf, merging with him, in his transit with the beyond ...

Because the wolf is also death, dying to live, dying to resurrect, when we are eaten we will renew our spirit, as a different being that is reborn as a new man. A journey of the initiate to the world of spirits, a descent to the bottom of the caverns, twinned with a wolf guide who will transfer us his great qualities...

When we enter the magical and mysterious Spain in the footsteps of the fairy world, we open not only a window to fantasy and imagination, but also to the most authentic meaning of life, since to look again with the eyes of a child is to return to believe, is to meet again with the spirit, is to be in harmony with Nature and the Earth.

Fairies, gnomes, goblins, trolls, giants, elves, undines, nymphs, mermaids, nereids, elves, sylphs, salamanders, beasts, dragons, basilisks, sorcerers, werewolves, demonic fauna —funny and grotesque—, hidden treasures, hidden kingdoms , magical caves and mountains, enchanted forests, springs of crystalline water, dark marine depths... Beings —such as elementals, spirits or men— and places —of earth, fire, air and water— that bring us closer to ourselves , to nature itself, to the pure etheric spirit, the anima mundi, where everything and everyone (living and dead) are interconnected in a spiritual way.

Tales, legends and myths loaded with folklore and popular traditions, between the real and imaginary, that help us understand and glimpse that there are forces that have been acting in our world for centuries with a higher purpose endowed with meaning.

The image comes from the bronze Celtiberian hospitality Tsera in the shape of a wolf in zenith perspective that appeared in Burgos, related to a Celtic myth of the end of the world, known as the myth of the “Wolf that devours the Sun”.

The representation of the wolf in Iberian iconography, as a cult totemic animal, with strong roots in pastoral populations, related to myths and religious symbolism, represents ardor, heroism and warrior mysticism. Combat scenes between wolf and man are common, some symbolize death threat, lineage of power, protection in combat ... and the cult of the night, the path or initiation rite, in the passage to the afterlife, lupus as a guide in the afterlife ...

So recurrent in Iberian art, we find it in the sculptural ensembles of "El Pajarillo", in the Elche-Archena style ceramics, in the mints of the Iltirta and Iltiraka mint, in the "Copa del Carnassier", in the "Torso de Guerrero de la Alcudia"... and in the "Pátera de Perotito" where a young man, his hands are raised in a ritual position, is devoured by the wolf, merging with him, in his transit with the beyond ...

Because the wolf is also death, dying to live, dying to resurrect, when we are eaten we will renew our spirit, as a different being that is reborn as a new man. A journey of the initiate to the world of spirits, a descent to the bottom of the caverns, twinned with a wolf guide who will transfer us his great qualities...

The origin of the fascination and curiosity for the mysterious and the unknown in Spain is lost in the mists of time. There are the cults of the sun and the moon, the Iberian gods, Celtic naturalism, Phoenician pantheism... To this day it continues to accompany us along with the seduction of the secret, the eschatological and the dark.

Faced with the empire of scientific reason and materialism, we walk in the footsteps of Magical Spain to observe the footprints of our ancestors and their intimate interconnection with the spiritual and sacred. Our hallmarks —which are our roots, our character, and our Hispanic spirit— lie behind the popular tales and legends handed down generation after generation, behind folklore and its enchanted places, and are already part of our collective unconscious. Reconnecting with all that supernatural universe —forces of energy and telluric power—, far from trickery and ignorance, and rescuing the heritage of that wonderful world is what moves us.

A mythical Spain, rich in Templar constructions linked to dark treasures, secret societies, legends of the Grail, magical beliefs of Islamic culture, Jewish sorcery and cabalistic magic. A Spain of heterodox tradition, miracles, saints and martyrs, idolatry and apostasy, superstition, demon worship, apparitions, processions of penitent souls or souls. A black Spain of obscurantism and witch hunts too. A Spain of stories and legends such as that of the cleric of Eiztari-Beltza and the legend of the black hunter, the nymph of Júcar, the xana Caricea, the mariños of Lobeira, the fish Nicolás, the treasure of the castro of Altamira, the gap of Roldán , the curse of Laurinaga, the legend of the magician Illán...

An unknown Spain with innumerable magical routes to get closer to its legends, the enigmatic, the sacred and the magical. Itineraries through dark worlds and worlds of light, through ancient forests, magical mountains, mystical enclaves, entrances to the afterlife, cave paintings, therapeutic sanctuaries, villages, cursed hospitals and convents, enchanted castles and hermitages, hidden chapels, abandoned holy places , cathedrals, churches, monasteries, mosques, synagogues, alleys of the dead, caves, underground, crypts or catacombs.

Magical walks that bring us closer to the ancestral arts, covens, spells, bewitchments, spells, spells, invocations, curses, evil eyes, sorceress entanglements, ritual and power objects, talismans, amulets, sacred relics; beings from here and there such as evil spirits, demons, angelic entities, possessed, exorcists, mummies, tormented ghosts, heretics, inquisitors, goblins, witches or goblins.

A journey through the geography of the mysterious through its mystical, enchanted and haunted forests like those of Orrius or Baztán; of its centuries-old beech forests inhabited by ireltxos (mischievous geniuses), lamias (seductive nymphs) and genius-protectors such as Basajuan in the magical Otzarreta; or by the chestnut and oak forests and powerful healing springs such as those of San Juan Xar.

This fantastic journey will go through its mountains of great spiritual charge and telluric force, with entrances and interdimensional portals such as that of Montserrat (La Moreneta) dominated by the great stone of the devil that points towards the sky —as a trace of the flight of the devil according to the legend of the woodcutter, a place of pilgrimages in search of the Holy Grail. Or by its rivers bathed in water nymphs with duck feet like those of Bidasoa; its black lagoons dominated by man-eating marine beings in the Sierra de Urbión. And its mountains of souls on the banks of the Duero or mountains of Celtic rituals like the one in Pindo inhabited by magical creatures. Without forgetting its enchanted roads like the Asturian one full of mythological characters and legends or with stories of witchcraft, black magic and cannibalism like those that took place in the Zugarramundi caves.

We can discover the magical thought that underlies Spain through its cities and towns, as in Galicia with its witches, its churches of souls, its old cemeteries, its stone crosses, its Santas Compañas, its pilgrimages or its Camino de Santiago to Finisterre; as in Aragon and the route of the chamineras and the scarecrows; as in the unusual and secret Barcelona that keeps in its Gothic quarter stories of freemasons, Templars, inquisitions, hermeticism and Solomon's talismans.

Or like in the imposing city of Toledo whose hinged entrance door to the old Regnum Gothorum already anticipates magical and hidden elements of the hermetic-alchemical tradition. A city that reveals its secrets, its hidden soul and its magical knowledge —magic, bewitchments, spells, spells and incantations were considered part of the Toledo sciences, which were not at all associated with fanaticism, superstition and ignorance— Inside we find: wise men, such as those of the School of Necromancy —to which famous witches, magicians and necromancers such as Enrique de Villena who practiced divinatory and magical arts attended—, who try to know the mysteries of the Ars Toledana, books that connect with the forces of the invisible, works of valuable knowledge in astronomy, alchemy, mathematics and magic from the different Greek, Arab and Jewish cultures, which were translated by the Toledo School of Translators in the time of Alfonso X; evidence of worship to the secret science of Baphomet by the order of the Temple; or clues about King Solomon's Table —which gave unlimited knowledge— and the Caves of Hercules —which accumulated knowledge and secrets, where only the chosen ones could access them.

In our journey through the sacred and profane —in the forests, towns and cities—, therefore, we can trace magical elements, hidden keys to our history and our traditions, vestiges of our distant past in order to understand thought, anthropology and the beliefs of our ancestors that still survive. We can know how they related to that invisible and supernatural world —which was in full harmony with nature— and make this magical and living Spain the “initiatory Spain” towards a knowledge without prejudices, towards a superior knowledge that reconnects us with the remote and the mysterious.

Daredevils, robbers and adventurers of the sea... «The worst enemies of the human race» or «The bravest defenders of freedom»? Terrible looters of nabios, corsairs, buccaneers and filibusters, commonly known as pirates, whose greatest splendor took place during the golden age of piracy (between the XVII and XVIII centuries) on the Caribbean coast, which under the Jolly Roger flag faced the great European empires for the dominion of the sea and the looting of the booty.

Dead men tell no tales!!!

There are many heroic moments, passages and characters during the two centuries that the indigenous resistance against the Roman invasion of Iberia lasted. Within that epic that began with the Celtiberian and Lusitanian wars, regarding the entry of Rome into the peninsula in front of the bellicose Carthage of Hannibal during the Second Punic War —The Romans of Publius Cornelius Scipio subdue the hard and iron Carthaginians in the 202 BC in the Battle of Zama. It is then when the Roman Republic begins its expansion in the ancient Iberia of the Greeks ... -, it is worth highlighting as examples of resistance the figure of the dux lusitanorum Viriato, the city of Numancia, and as the last resistant blow of the barbarian Hispania the confrontations between the Roman legions and the different Cantabrian and Asturian peoples, the so-called Cantabrian Wars.

The Celtiberians ready to revolt, despite some alliances, and the Lusitanians organized in guerrillas, knowledgeable about the forests and the mountains, were not going to back down a hand, they were going to fight to its last consequences. Between pacts, bribes, negotiations and finally betrayals that end in massacre stands its charismatic leader, a former shepherd boy, born in the Sierra de la Estrella, named Viriato. Many warriors will accompany him in his fight throughout the later Roman period, much blood spilled, Roman military leaders defeated and humiliated, among so many battles, the great victory of Tríbola, in the Serranía de Ronda, of the Lusitanian hordes in front of the consul Vetilio . The invincible Viriato who establishes his power in the Celtiberian capital of Segóbriga is a threat that must be demolished and liquidated. The consul Flavio Máximo Emiliano manages to defeat him, although the Celtiberians break their alliance with Rome and make a pact with Viriato, considered at that time the terror of the Romans, to try to definitively expel the Roman legions. Years of resistance until the desired peace, which will go through a new betrayal. The consul Cepión offers the three Viriato diplomats honors, perks and peace in exchange for the head of their leader. This is how they will kill him while he slept in 139 BC. The Celitiberian wars were also coming to an end. The last stronghold of heroic resistance would be Numantia, which fell in 133 BC. The Cantabrians and Asturians held out until 19 BC. The dream of Iberia passed away, the Roman Hispana would then be born, but that is another story ...

Aur Aur !! Wake up Ferro !! his battle cry. The Almogávares were mercenary soldiers, rude, reckless, defiant and fierce, the best infantry of the time they say, coming from the Pyrenean mountains that declared war on the most powerful Empire of the time, the Byzantine Empire. And the fact is that the emperor, despite the valuable aid received to bring the Turks under control, did not hesitate to betray these brave Catalans and Aragonese, assassinating their leader Roger de Flor. Revenge was immediate and this company of wounded guerrillas razed, burned and burned various cities, and seized the duchies of Athens and Neopatria (1337). His terrible vendetta - we do not want to imagine the fate of those who came across the action and anger of this strike force, so experienced since the time of the reconquest and already so showering in the handling of its fearful colltell, that mixture of brutal dagger and enormous butcher knife - has been left to posterity as "Catalan revenge."

Bringing in the work of Robert E. Howard was almost a must here at Culters. Heroic Fantasy and Conan has accompanied us since we were children, at home we devoured, in addition to the adult comics of Totem and Cimoc, the super conan and their wild sword. The cimero barbarian, that rogue-air hero who took on Lovecraftian creatures, demonic armies and sorcerers, had us completely overshadowed. Today we are especially interested in how much of ancient cultures there is built in all that Hyborio universe - which emerged after the sinking of Atlantis - of his stories. Serve this "Conan in heroic times. The Era of Hiboria" as a tribute and reminiscence of all that.

Landscapes of shady lands, winds from the north, peaks and hills surrounded by lush forests populated by tribes and warriors fighting in neighboring countries that take us to a lost era before the Neolithic. In those places we see European barbarians similar to the Celts, Goths, Vikings, Vandals, Cossacks, Tatars ... Druids, mercenaries, invaders, thieves, pirates, sailors, adventurers, savages, kings, civilizations, regions, mountains, jungle and desert, distant places and mythical, mysticism and Nordic beliefs, medieval culture ...

We find a perfectly recognizable cosmos, from north to south, from the West to the Far East, emerged after the decline of the precataclysmic civilizations - dominated by the kingdoms of Kamelia, Valusia, Verulia, Grondar, Thule and Commoria -, after wars, migrations and crossbreeds. Different places populated by the most varied races of the Hyboria era. Here are some interpretations:

Zingara —located on the Iberian peninsula, land of knighthood, chivalry, nobility and conspiracies, you travel through Celtiberian Spain but also Imperial Spain in other passages—, Vanaheim —Nordic town with red hair whose name comes from the Scandinavian god Vanir—, Asgard —Norse inhabitants with blond hair whose name comes from the Scandinavian god Aesir—, Nordheim —constituted by Vanaheim and Asgard, is a snow-covered Norse territory inhabited by peoples similar to Germans and Vikings—, Hyperborea —whose name evokes the mythical land of mythology. Greek, inhabitants of Norse culture that shows similarities with the Finns, Varangians and Russians—, Cimmeria —the land of Conan, the Cimmerians are the ancestors of the Celts, Gauls and Scythians—, Aquilonia —one of the most powerful, cultural and militarily, led by Conan, located perhaps in France, Great Britain or Italy - Argos and Nemedia - along with Aquilonia arose after the collapse of the Acheron Empire by the invasions barbarian ions (similarity to the Roman Empire) -, the Pictish lands - the tattooed Pictish inhabitants of northern Britain, with similarities to Native Americans versus European settlers or perhaps indigenous peoples versus Roman invasions of Britani -, Brithunia - similar to Roman Britain—, the Empire of Acheron —whose name was brought from the Greek mythology of Acheron, one of the rivers of Hades—, Zamora —browned and dark-eyed, semi-made people who recall the inhabitants of Ancient Palestine. , an exotic town of dances and initiation rites—, Stygia —a territory whose inhabitants are versed in magic and secret arcana, worshipers of Set, the Egyptian god—, Shem —Semitic references, resembling Arabia, Palestine, the Middle East, deserts with nomads and city-states, people from whom Phoenicians, Hebrews, Assyrians, Canaanites ... descended, protectorate of Styigia, like Palestine with respect to Egypt, Khitai - think of traditional China - Yamatai - a fantastic and stereotypical Japan—, Ophir —a desert kingdom similar to Arabic, a reference to the biblical region Ofir, perhaps referring to Africa or India, famous for its gold—, Black Kingdoms —primitive African natives—, Corinthia —populated by navigators and philosopher, similar to the land of the ancient Greeks—…

"Evil cannot create anything new, it can only corrupt or ruin what the forces of good have invented or built"

What would our dearest Tolkien think if his work were modified and influenced by modern stupidity, political correctness, language and inclusive usages?

Here is a defense of the teacher against the forces of evil. Our freedom and right to dissent and shout out loud Tolkien untouchable!

***

Not all that glitters is gold,

not all wandering people are lost;

frost does not reach the deep roots,

the vigorous old man does not wither.

From the ashes a fire will rise,

and a light will appear in the shadows;

the uncrowned will be king again,

They will forge the broken sword again.

To approach the Tolkien universe on the anniversary of his death is, in addition to remembering his life and his original work, to approach the myth, his ancestral conception, his values and his wisdom. To travel through Middle-earth with its dragons, hobbits, dwarves, elves, giants, wizards, ents, demons, skin-shifters, orcs, uruk-hais, nazguls, men... through its amazing landscapes, kingdoms and places, and to be left alone with the epic episodes and battles against the diabolic hosts of the dark lord Sauron would be to miss his spiritual teachings.

Through the Hobbit, the Lord of the Rings or the Unfinished Stories we can learn from the magical and ancestral wisdom of the great wizards or sacred sages, observe and teach us against corruption, degeneration, weakness, envy, the mastery and ambition that will lead to a scenario of struggle between good and evil, as well as contemplating with hope the incarnation, love, friendship and dedication of archetypal characters with heroic vocation such as Gandalf, Bilbo, Frodo or Aragorn who will give us life lessons.

[Interpretation of Tolkien's original drawing]

Our tribute to all those bands that in the mid and late 90s created an autochthonous genre, "Celtiberian Black Metal". Distancing themselves from Viking metal, those groups permeated the national scene with their own identity based on the beliefs of the native peoples of ancient Iberia, their lyrics bring us closer to Celtiberian mythology, legends, heroes, gods, epics, nature, customs, rites, Iberian landscapes and the paganism of our pre-Roman culture.

Influenced by Norwegian and Polish black bands, the "barbarians" Nazgul was born in Madrid back in 1995 by the hand of its founder Defernos and the guitarist Thorgul, an emblematic reference band that defined the concept and was one of the germs of the later bands of "Celtiberian Pagan Metal".

In parallel, the Cantabrian Erun Dagoth creates a melodic and epic Death / Black musical project with Celtic Folk elements called CrystalMoors, whose themes breathe history - the Cantabrian wars for example -, mythology and nature of Cantabria - over time and outside the ranks of Crystalmoors, Erun creates a very interesting solo project called Briargh, straddling epic fantasy, paganism and Celticism. In 2018 they joined forces with the Hordak band - we who do not come from the BM, but from the power of Manowar, Running Wild, Blind Guardian or Helloween, we have discovered them with "Father" and they have conquered us! - to create the split "Árguma / Ophiusa ". Within this cultural paganism they have shared stages with bands of neofolk and dark folk roots, whose compositions sink in ancestral folklore and the magical beliefs of the Iberian peoples, such as Keltika Hispanna whose Black / Death influences are appreciated for example in their album "Terror Romanorvm ".

In this CBM tour we have come across hundreds of bands that have dealt with pre-Christian Iberian autochthonous cultures such as Aiumeen Basoa (1994), Numen (1997), Lux Divina (1998), Berserk (1998), Nakkiga (1999), Cyhiriaeth (2000), Omendark (2001), Carcharoth (2002) or Forestdome (2002).

Therefore, this small design is used almost in crude, to remember this genre and those bands that have raised and carried the flame of the spirit of the pre-Roman peoples of Iberia.