Adaptation of the war scene of an Iberian horseman on horseback that appeared in the ceramic vessels of Liria in Elche, decorated with paintings and epigraphs written in the Iberian-Levantine alphabet. At the bottom of the drawing we have incorporated the bundle of arrows. Whose text talks about Zaldi (horse in Iberian), who is wild, indomitable and brave, with a stately appearance, rebellious and ready for warlike violence.

February 27, 380, the emperor Theodosius abolished the religion and festival of the Sun Invictus by the famous edict of Thessalonica. Until then the Romans worshiped the Sun god during the Republic, and with greater prominence in the Imperial era, since the gradual entry of different religions of salvation of monotheistic tendency, such as Christianity and Mithrism, was giving greater weight to the power of the star king, the one who conquered the darkness ...

Emperor Aurelian made it official on December 25 as the day of the birth of the Undefeated Sun (the main divinity of the Roman pantheon at that time) back in the year 274 and later Juliano the Apostate would declare Helios (Greek equivalent) as the only divinity, and would try to prevent the spread of growing Christianity.

Finally, during a long process of syncretism, both the Festival of the Birth of the Invincible Sun "Dies Natalis Solis Invicti" held after the Winter Solstice, when daylight increased, as well as many other acts and celebrations were gradually reconverted. Paganism would come to an end, a new stage would begin with a victorious sun reborn in the arms of a Galilean.

An ancient Persian myth told us of the coming of an envoy from the Sun, Mithras, who, dressed with Phrygian, torch and dagger, will be worshiped by shepherds, and in a primordial cave he will redeem men through the sacrifice of a primeval bull. According to legend after being captured, he will carry it on his shoulders and kill him. The new world will be reborn after its ascension to heaven together with its resurrected dead beyond the stars ...

As often happens, the myth was lost in time until Rome rescued it back in the 1st century BC. assimilating him to the God Invictus, where after the Saturnalia every December 25, Mitra would be reborn victorious "natalis solis invicti" (death, resurrection and growth of the crops).

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...

There is no people more feared than the Viking, they have gone down in history as barbarian invaders, cruel and ruthless warriors from the north who looted, conquered and killed with their deadly axes, however they were incredible navigators, merchants and discoverers, whose mythical stories echoed in the ancient east. Its legends and poems, written in ancient and magical runes, tell alliances and skirmishes between clans and villages, mythological stories where the fierce gods of Asgard, Thor, Migdar, Odin, the Ragnarok or the Valhalla appear, that majestic hall of the fallen where they lived, guided by the Valkyrie, the warriors killed in battle...

"He was not the most honest or the most pious man, but he was a brave man" P. Reverte.

If you lived dangerously and your life was hanging by a thread, if you defied authority, defending your reason and rights with the proud point of your sword, if you sacrificed yourself and were generous and human, if you were fearless, reckless, arrogant, brave, adventurous, seductive, rogue, loyal, if you were capable of the most heroic but also the meanest actions, if you were guided by your code of honour, if you sought glory on the margins of society and the law, if you lost your innocence in the face of the harsh reality of mud and blood, and if, disenchanted, everyone abandoned you. .. then you were probably an Old Thirdsman, a tired hero in rusty armour, a forgotten anti-hero like a cursed Alatriste.

The Iberians gained fame for their fighting prowess, but their writing systems, their trade, and their art show that they were much more than great warriors. Their mother tongue "Iberian" was spoken from the Hérault River (France) to Porcuna (Jaén) and they left thousands of inscriptions written in an original alphabet of signs that was a mystery for centuries that little by little is deciphering ... Written on coins , lead sheet, amphorae, mosaic, stone stele, silver crockery or trousseau, painted and engraved ceramics, copper plates, silver trousseau, walls ... Its enormous diffusion in the peninsula reveals to us how consolidated it was. The same alphabet was also shared with the Lusitanian and Proto-Basque languages.

[In the image the head of the wolf on the pectoral disc of the armor of the Iberian warriors]

["BAN" (people) "KEBERRIE" (Iberians) "EBAR" (from Iberia). According to the interpretation of the inscription on a bowl from the city of Turba]

The Celtiberian Warriors proudly wore one of their most important and representative indispensable pieces in their armor: the Helmet; and it is not surprising since it, according to its characteristics, ornamental designs and composition, represented its social status. They were a symbol of the Celtiberian elites.

These helmets, in addition to protecting and adorning, had a magical, supernatural character. They were thrown into the sea as an offering and it is thought that the helmets found in a single site could be a type of Sanctuary dedicated to the God of War.

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]

130 years ago, on August 20, 1890, a genius named Howard Phillips Lovecraft was born. Together with Edgar Alan Poe, he is considered one of the pioneers and great authors of the 20th century horror novel. He created an extremely detailed and lurid cosmic horror mythology called by his adherents as a Lovecraftian novel or short story. Many are the artists, authors, filmmakers and illustrators who have been inspired by his works (The Call of Cthulhu, In the mountains of madness, Ulthar's cats, The shadow over Innsmouth, The Dunwich horror ...) turning it into a whole cult. Misunderstood, eccentric, full of prejudices, undervalued in life, he is a genius who He has left us an incredible legacy that we are still playing with 130 years later. Lovecraft Country lives.

The irreverent and revolutionary Old skull, the spirit of fun. Skulls were used in the old traditions of satirical and ridiculous poems making social criticism and protest, dates 500 years ago. Also had been used in different plays like the ”Dance of Death” in the 14th century. People needed satire to help deal with the grim world (plagues and diseases) around them. But the symbol emerged in Mexico as a means of expression especially used with roguish and ironic tones against the nobles and powerful of the viceroy times. It is also used during the celebration of the day of the death.

When we enter the extraordinary history of Ancient Rome we come across its legions, its conquests, its epic battles, its emperors and its Immense Empire, its founding myths and its gods, the principle of citizenship, the law, the senate and the Roman people (SPQR), but we also find stories of persecutions, of slave traders for the Mare Nostrum, of prisoners of war and gladiators who fought heroically in the arena of the Colosseum to conquer their freedom —Many of them, of course, confronted in the amphitheatres attracted by the search for recognition, fame and glory.

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.

Brave elite warriors whose origins date back to the feudal Japan of the 10th century. Considered the noblest caste of soldiers who served the emperor, their lives of honor, loyalty and justice —strictly governed by the Bushido code—, encumbed them to the moment of greatest glory and splendor during the Sengoku period (1467-1568).

According to the warrior proverb, A true warrior does not fight for hatred against those in front of him, but for love of those behind him.

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!!!