The wolf, the ram and the hart

[Xin Rong]

I never got this why are the senior partners three regular dull animals- where do they get their power from, why do they want an apocalypse in our orld when they have their own somewhere else- why where there them three books in pylea with a wolf, a ram and a hart on, was this ever explained- also you think buffy at some point pre- angel would have heard of wolfram and hart or something, or giles would have, why didnt he tell buffy when he found out angel was in LA

[AngelicSlayer00]

I think the wolf, ram, and hart on the books in Pylea represented Wolfram and Hart's influence outside the earth dimention. I don't know why it wasn't explained further.

[Mr. Pointy]

I was also peeved that the Pylea references weren't explored further in Angel. I do recall that Illyria said something about wolf, ram and hart being minor powers when she last had influence but I can't remember the exact quote...

[RockManic]

Illyria mentioned in Shells that during her time the Senior Partners were very much minor demons, not much more powerful than the vampire.

I don't think the Pylea reference needed much more explanation. We discovered that the SP's had influence in dimensions outside of the earth realm (Sahjhan mentioned as much to Lilah in Loyalty) so it isn't too big a surprise to find out that they were respected in Pylea as well.

As far as why they are named after animals it has never been explained. It might just be that the demon forms they once had resembled these animals or it could just be that they liked the names, simple as that. Maybe if there is a continuation of Angel's story eventually we will learn more about the story behind the Senior Partners and what they actually are.

[Jill_Valentine]

I'd sort of considered the animals to be sort of... totem... animals representing aspects of the firm as a whole, rather than directly referencing the appearance or qualities of the Partners themselves. A Wolf is predatory and lethal, a Ram is territorially aggressive and disproportionately powerful, and a Hart, pretty as it is, is both hard to catch and regrettable to face if you do.

[goldenboy]

"Folklore also has contributed to the wolf's bad reputation. In many old sayings, the animal is a symbol of badness or evil. For example, "to keep the wolf from the door" means to prevent hunger or poverty. "A wolf in sheep's clothing" describes a person who acts friendly but has evil intentions. Fables and other folk tales pass on the misleading notion that wolves attack people. In the story of Little Red Riding Hood, a wolf threatens to eat a little girl." (World Book Encyclopedia, vol.21)**



Cernunnos:
"Cernunnos is a Celtic God widely recognized by Wiccans. His name translates as "horned" or "peaked one". A representation of Cernunnos appears on the side of the famous Gundestrup cauldron in the museum in Copenhagen. He is considered by Wiccans to be a lord of animals and nature and is usually depicted as having a stag's antlers and ears on his head.”

http://www.witchvox.com/whs/kerr_dm3_cg.html






“Wolfram & Hart
Wondering about the mythology behind the name of the mysterious law firm that will play a big part in many of the Angel episodes this season? This is what we came up with.

* Wolf
The wolf can appear in either an evil or beneficent guise in mythology; in its malefic form it is associated with destruction, death and gods of the dead: as a totem animal or protector it is venerated and worshipped. The Egyptian god Upuat or Ap-uat is depicted either as a wolf or with a wolf or jackal head. It is associated with Osiris as Lord of the Dead. There was a cult of the wolf in Arcadia and Plato and Pausanias speak of the rites of Zeus Lycaeus in which the animal was sacrificed and eaten and its essence absorbed by the devotees who became with it and called themselves "Lukoi". Aelian says that the wolf was worshipped by the Delphans and associated with Apollo and there was a bronze image of a wolf at Delphi. The animal was also sacred to Ares/Mars and Silvanus. In the legend of the founding of Rome, the twins Romulus and Remus were suckled by a wolf and the animal appeared prominently in Roman art and gave its name to the Lupercalia. The Latin "lupa", the she-wolf, represented a prostitute and the wolf's lair, the "lupanar", was a brothel. Pliny and Plato recount the myth that if a wolf is seen by a man with its mouth shut it loses the power of opening it again, but if the wolf sees the man first with his mouth shut he loses his voice. Both Hinduism and Zoroastrianism hold the wolf as evil. In the former it represents darkness and evil and in the latter it depicts the evil in human nature. Celtic and Irish legend portray the wolf as a helpful animal, having much in common with the dog. Deities and heroes could manifest as wolves and in Celtic art Cernunnos, as Lord of the Animals, is accompanied by a wolf among other animals. An Irish tribe claimed descent from a wolf and Cormac, King of Ireland, like Romulus and Remus, was suckled by a wolf. The wolf appears in a dual role in Teutonic and Norse myth, it is a bringer of victory as ridden by Odin/Woden, but Fenris (Fenrir), the giant wolf, is the epitome of evil and one of the monsters created by Loki. He was captured but will return at Ragnarok and will be vanquished ultimately by Vidar. Two wolves, Sköll and Hati, accompanying Odin, depict repulsion and hatred and they incessantly pursue the sun and moon in an attempt to plunge the world into darkness. Wolves are ridden across the sky by the Valkyries. Wolf-headed men appear in Norse art. AmerIndian culture has numerous wolf tribes and clans; the animal is associated with Sirius, the Dog Star, the home of the gods, and is a path-finder and teacher. It is an ally of the moon and has psychic powers. The soul of a hunter can pass into the realm of wolves and some tribes claim descent from wolves who are culture heroes or brothers of the hero, while the Innuits (Eskimos) have a Great Wolf Amarok. Wolves can appear as were-animals (Werewolf or Werwolf); a 'man-wolf, i.e. a man who, according to ancient superstition, was turned or could at will turn himself into a wolf (the "loupgarou" of France). It had the appetite of a wolf, and roamed about at night devouring infants and sometimes exhuming corpses. Ovid tells the story of Lycaon, King of Arcadia, turned into a wolf because he tested the divinity of Jupiter by serving up to him a "hash of human flesh"; Herodotus describes the Neuri as having the power of assuming once a year the shape of wolves; Pliny relates that one of the family of Antaeus was chosen annually, by lot, to be transformed into a wolf, in which shape he continued for nine years. In Armenian legend it was a form taken by witches and warlocks who can also ride wolves.


* Ram
Mostly represented male fertility. It was usually associated with sun gods, and sometimes with storm or thunder gods. There were a number of ram-headed gods; Khnemu and Amon-Ra among them. The Sacred Ram of Mendes embodied the souls of Ra, Osiris, Kephera and Shu. A ram was sacrificed to Amon at Thebes and at the Feast of Optet his boat was decorated with rams' heads. The Phoenician sun god Baal/Hamon is portrayed with rams' horns and the Babylonian Ea/Oannes, god of the deeps,has either goats' or rams' horns. The ram was sacred to Zeus/Sabazios as fertility; it was also sacred to Dionysus. The Ram of Mendes was also an attribute of Pan. Devotees of Attis were bathed in the blood of the ram at initiation. Phrixus and Helle were carried away across the sea by a ram with the Golden Fleece. In Rome the ram was often associated with the hearth and a ram was sacrificed to the domestic Lar in a rite of purification. The Vedic Agni, god of fire, has the ram as his attribute, representing the sacred fire in Hinduism. In Celtic myth the ram is associated with the hearth which is the entrance to the underworld.Andirons decorated with rams' horns were found near Celtic hearths and in Gaul, fire-dogs were made in ram effigy and rams' heads appeared on Gaulish tombs and monuments to gods of the underworld. The great god of the Gauls was Belin, the ram, and his consort Belishma was his earthiy manifestation. The ram was a Celtic and Gaulish sacrificial animal. There are supernatural rams and sheep in Celtic lore.


* Hart (Deer)
Deer (Greek) The deer was sacred to the goddesses Artemis, Aphrodite, Athene, and Diana, and to the god Apollo. (Hindu) The Vedic god of the wind rides a deer. (Celtic) In some tales, the deer takes the souls of the dead to the otherworld. The goddess, Flidass, has her chariot drawn by deer. (Amerindian) A totem animal of several tribes. (Aztec) Mixcoatl, the god of hunting, is accompanied by a two-headed deer. Deer were always considered magical creatures. The extrusion of horn from their heads was a symbol of powerful life force. Horned deer were the animal prototypes of the Horned God. Medieval wizards expressly preferred parchment made of deer skin for the writing of their letter amulets. Durham cathedral was founded on the site of an ancient deer shrine. Its name was originally Duirholm, the Meadow of the Deer. It was a pagan pilgrimage center for at least four centuries. In Celtic tradition deer are frequently the means of taking souls to the otherworld. There are Celtic, Irish and Gaelic goddesses associated with them, such as Flidass, Goddess of Venery, who has a chariot drawn by deer. They are supernatural animals of the fairy world and are fairy cattle and messengers. Stag hunts often end in some supernatural situation. Deer skin and antlers were used as ritual ornaments and vestments. The Deer is one of the foremost transformatory beasts in British mythology, especially in its form of the White Doe or White Stag, which is frequently an otherworldly messenger which hunters encounter, leading them ever deeper into the forest to unknown wonders. From the White Stag encountered by Pwyll to the White Hart which Galahad sees, betokening Christ, pagan and folklore traditions have asserted the beauty and mystical grace of this creature. Sadbh was enchanted into the form of a doe. Gilfaethwy, while Gwydion was changed into a stag. The human antlered figure has been a potent image from primeval times onwards, from the shaman-hunter and the Wild Huntsman in his form of Cernunnos, to the Abbots Bromley Horn Dance which is still danced every September - the time when the deer are in rut.

Want to see all the usual suspects?**Visit the Rogue's Gallery Archives “



Source:
http://www.trinityofiniquity.com/screening/sr_s1e1.htm

[Angel's vision]

Also Wolfram could be the one word meaning tungston metal which is a very strong metal at that.

[Wicked]

I have nothing to say. beaten to every point i was gonna make :(