Sugaar the Consort

Male snake or snake that lives in the depths of the earth and comes to the surface through chasms or caves, which is considered the sentimental companion of Mary (the Goddess of Basque mythology) and its name in ancestral European mythology is Herensuge or Dragon in Spanish.

In some legends Sugaar, a male snake (also called Maju or Herensuge, Mother's Angel in English, is the masculinization of Maya) appears as a subordinate male companion of Mary, and when the two come together in sacred union or “mixis”, violent storms are unleashed.

In this cosmic duality that always accompanies the figure of Mary, Sugaar represents the celestial masculine forces archetypally symbolized as a snake-ray-dragon (gargoyle?).

Sugaar, like the young God of the crops of Neolithic times, must ultimately be understood as an emanation of the Goddess herself (symbol of the All) that allows her to self-fertilize (parthenogenetic Goddess). An example of this archaic symbolism is found in the myth of the creation, by genetic engineering and human cloning, of the Pelasgians, recomposed by Robert Graves and in which the Goddess Eurynome creates the serpent Ophion from herself.

Well, the etymology of Sugaar is extremely illuminating and at the same time versatile. On the one hand it can be "suge" (snake) + "ar" (male), but other authors also suggest "su" (fire) + "gar" (calls). Also in its meaning as suarra, we get “su” (fire) and “harra” (worm). The name Suggar seems to be older than Herensuge and perhaps derived from it due to foreign contamination, since the figure of the dragon is frequent in European and world mythology.

The primordial dragon is called, in Basque, “Egansuge”, “Herensuge”, “Erensugue”, “Iraunsuge”, even “Lerensugue”, “Sierpe” in Lekeitio. He is a genie from the depths of the earth and also appears in the form of a snake.

It seems that as Sugaar lost strength in popular beliefs, Herensuge gained it, since mentions of Sugaar are preserved in isolated places, less permeable to foreign cultures, where there are no references to the new genius, a clear indication of his oldest in the country.

Summing up, we could conclude that Sugaar seems to be the original Basque numen and Herensuge is the figure resulting from a fusion-adaptation to the dragon, very common in the mythology of old Europe.

Sugaar and Dragon, rulers of the autumn equinox

In ancient times, the Basques used the solstices and equinoxes to divide the year and so did all the naturist and animist peoples of old Europe. Christians, first with the help of the Roman Empire and then through the structures of feudal society in the Middle Ages, established their religion throughout Europe based on these ancient beliefs.

It was an intelligent, well-thought-out implementation that knew how to adopt the rites and symbols of ancient beliefs on their behalf. So, instead of the rites of the solstices and equinoxes that were so widespread throughout the continent, Christianity established new rites at its convenience.

On the other hand, it seems that these pagan festivals were closely associated with lightning, thunder and storms. Since the sun, in September, is losing its strength, it is weakening, it is dying... and in the days close to the autumn equinox, Sugaar (male fire dragon or serpent) was worshipped, which represented lightning and the storm, meteorological phenomena that occur more frequently at these times of the year.

In spring, Sugaar soared through the skies showing and spreading her flames and in autumn, however, she took refuge in the holes in the mountains where the great Goddess Mary lived.

Such a belief, with different characters and names, spread throughout Europe, and to replace this ancient cult of sacred mountains, Christians erected hermitages, in many cases, in the same places where the ancient sacred places were located (or close enough to them) with the intention of erasing the memory of Mary in the Basque Country, they filled all our mountains with small churches dedicated to Our Lady.

Fight between Herensuge and the knight of Goñi (Jorge)

Among the various Basque legends and myths, the fight between Herensuge and the knight of Goñi (Jorge) stands out; it is probably the best known in our entire geography. Basque version of a universal legend.

Teodosio de Goñi, knight and warrior, beggar and hermit, is for us the penitent in chains. Medieval outline of an old myth (Saint Alban in Hungary, Saint Julian the Hospitaller, etc.), with the Camino de Santiago as a probable vehicle and our dragon as one of the protagonists.

This myth tells of the conflict between the Christian and pagan worlds, with Goñi (Jorge) representing the Christian world that was booming at that time in history, and the dragon instead symbolizing paganism that retreats from the new faith.

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