Aralezner
Winged dog-spirits who descend from heaven to lick the wounds of fallen heroes and return them to life.
The Sky-Hounds Who Lick the Fallen
The aralezner are the oldest attested Armenian spirits: dog-shaped beings who come down from the sky onto a battlefield and lick the wounds of the honourable dead until they rise again. Their name is read as ara-lez, 'those who lick continually'.
In the legend of Ara the Beautiful, Semiramis of Assyria had his body laid in an upper chamber for the aralezner to revive after she had caused his death in battle — the story survives in several endings, some where they come and some where they refuse.
That refusal is the point. They restore only those who deserve it, and they cannot be commanded.
Sacred Associations
Associations
Կապեր- Recovery from wounds and from grief
- Loyalty, especially of dogs
- Battlefield honour
- Second chances that must be earned
Realms
Տիրոյթներ- The place where someone fell
- The sickbed of the wounded
- The sky above a battlefield
- Kennels and the company of dogs
Sacred Offerings
Ընծաներ- Meat and clean water set out low, on the ground
- Care given to an actual dog
- A wound properly dressed
- The name of a fallen friend spoken aloud
Taboos
Արգելքներ- Never mistreat a dog and expect them.
- Do not call them for a death that was dishonourable or self-inflicted in cruelty.
- Do not ask them to restore what should be allowed to end.
Sacred Colours
Գոյներ- Bone white
- Blood red
- Dog brown
Sacred Numbers
Թիւեր- Four — the feet that come down
- Many — they are never one
Establishing a Relationship
- 1
Be good to dogs. This is not a metaphor and there is no substitute for it.
- 2
Tend wounds — your own, other people's — attentively and without disgust.
- 3
Keep the names of your dead where you can say them.
The Licking of the Wound
During recovery from injury, illness, or grief
- 1Set a low dish of clean water and a piece of meat or good food on the floor or on bare ground — never on a raised altar.
- 2Uncover the wound, or if the wound is not of the body, place your hand over your sternum.
- 3Say: 'Aralezner, hounds of heaven, you who lick the fallen — come down. I am not finished.'
- 4Wash the wound, or wash your hands and face, slowly and completely.
- 5Speak the name of one person who did not recover, and let the grief be present without argument.
- 6Sit with an animal if one is near you. If not, sit on the floor.
- 7Leave the food and water out overnight, then give it to an animal or return it to the earth in the morning.