Ichor – The Blue Blood of the Greek Gods

 How peaceful it is sat here, listening to the patter of rain on canvas, hearing the squish of tires on wet tarmac, watching rain drops slowly making their way down the sharp, green leaves of a yucca, to drop onto the thirsty, parched earth below.

Above all though, the smell; a smell which takes me back to my childhood,wet, wooden garden fences and the musty aroma of sodden, autumn leaves, damp concrete and the sweet smell of soaked earth.

Did you know that this unique smell has a name?

 

 

Petrichor; originally the word I was going to write about today, is not a true Greek word, as it was invented by two Australians in 1964 but it is derived from two genuine Greek words;

 “Petra’, meaning rock, and “Ichor”, the blood running through the veins of Greek Gods.

This wonderful aroma; petrichor, produced by rain falling on parched earth, derives from “Ichor”, oil, produced by certain plants, which is absorbed by the earth.

As a Greek word petrichor seems a bit of an imposter, so, I am going to tell you about “Ichor”, a truly ancient Greek word and oh, so much more interesting!

 

What is Ichor?

 

Thousands of years ago, there existed caves in Crete, created in such a way, as to catch the light of Sirius (Derived from the Ancient Greek Σείριος (Seirios), meaning “glowing” or “scorcher”) Sirius is the mysterious Dog Star; the brightest star in the night sky, which shines in the constellation of Canis Major and is visible from most everywhere in the Northern Hemisphere during the winter months.

Dwelling in these caves were sacred honeybees, that in the blue-white glare of Sirius, created a mystical, golden honey, containing nectar and ambrosia, food of the Greek Gods; believed to promote longevity and immortality to whoever consumed it.

 

 

“Ichor”; the fluid running through the veins of Greek Gods, is said to contain this wondrous concoction of golden honey, nectar and ambrosia, said to be poisonous to mere mortals; killing them on the spot.

 

Ichor and Greek Mythology

 

 

One of the most known myths, concerning “Ichor”, is of Talos, a Cretan God.

Talos, a bronze, winged giant, created by Hephaestus, at the request of Zeus, to protect his daughter, Europa, had “Ichor”, running through a single vein in his body.

This single vein, containing the “Ichor” in Talos’ body, was stoppered by a nail, to prevent this magical liquid from escaping.

All was going splendidly; Talos protected Europa by hurling rocks at pirates and invaders, until one day, after the acquisition of The Golden Fleece, Jason and The Argonauts arrived on the scene.

Battle ensued, in which Media, the sorceress wife of Jason, pulled out the nail in Talos’ back, releasing the “Ichor”, killing Talos instantly.

I was going to finish with “Ichor” here, but then, things became really interesting!

Read on!

 

Ichor and rhesus O negative blood type

 

As you probably know, Greek Gods frequently cavorted with humans, any offspring resulting from these shenanigans, had a fifty fifty chance of inheriting their blood group from either the mother or the father, as is with humans today.

We aren’t talking about any old blood here; we’re talking “Ichor”; if a child, resulting from an affair between a God and a human, was lucky enough to end up with “Ichor”, running through its veins, it was a very special child indeed, set apart from us ordinary humans, he was a king!

 

 

Now “Ichor” is blue in colour, you can find it mentioned as black, or green but this is to be found in books, such as Dungeons and Dragons, or, Harry Potter.

The “Ichor” of the ancient Greeks is blue. (Or, some say, maybe gold).

 Blue; the colour of the blood running through the veins of Greek Gods and of European royalty!

 A large percentage of European royalty have the blood group rhesus O negative, only five percent of the world’s population, have this blood group.

The blood group, rhesus O negative, certainly has special properties, a person with this blood group, can receive blood, only from this group but can give their own blood, to absolutely anybody, regardless of blood type!

It has been said, people with rhesus O negative blood type, have rather a bluish hue about them, and are not new born babies with rhesus O negative blood type, called ‘blue babies’ ?

 

 

Rhesus O negative differs enormously from other blood groups and, allegedly, scientists have no explanation for this difference.

It is even said that the CIA have files, obtained through hospitals, birth registers and identity cards etc, on all rhesus O negative people and are keeping a close eye on them, trying to discover, just what makes these special people tick!

 

Could European royalty have descended from Greek Gods?

 

Remember the bees in ancient Crete, creating “Ichor”?

The bee is a sacred symbol of many ancient and not so ancient royals.

 

 

 Agamemnon, ancient Greek King of Mycenae, was buried in a “Beehive tomb” (in Greek, called a Tholo).

 

 

 Napoleon used the honey bee as one of the most important symbols of the power and prestige of his empire.

 

 

Sarah Ferguson, wife of Prince Andrew of Great Britain, former Duchess of York, took the bee as her personal symbol and had the motive embroidered on her wedding gown.

 

 

Could anyone with the rhesus O negative blood group be descended from Greek Gods?

Food for thought!

Before I go, let me tell you something;

I always knew MGG – My Greek God, was a true Greek God, his blood type is rhesus O negative!

 

 

And there is more: my daughter, Nais, and her daughter, sweet Ellie, also have this most treasured of blood groups; rhesus O negative, running through their veins.

 

 

I and my Son, Johnny, are mere mortals!

 

Related links:

Interesting ‘untranslatable’ Greek words