1/ Let's take a look at another very interesting Enchanted Moura legend from the Serra da Cabreira in Northern Portugal. The legend is tied to a cave which would be below the nearby Gallaecian castro. You can check the other legends below: https://twitter.com/Herminius_Mons/status/1277341053327233026

2/ Near a rock, the tallest of the Cabreira mountain range, there are the ruins of the wall of a Gallaecian Castro. Below the rock, there is a great cave full of treasure, its entrance guarded by 3 giants. They guard not only the treasure, but also an Enchanted Moura...

3/ She is beautiful, of noble blood, waiting for her saviour who will one day slay the 3 giants, disenchanting the Moura and taking the treasures. Shepherds from the region have seen this beautiful Moura who weaves with a loom made of gold, full of rings, necklaces and bracelets

4/ The Moura is always thirsty for milk. Cows from the surrounding areas usually disappear, only to appear again with their tits dry. A clear, crystaline water runs through the cave, which delights the Moura and her guards. A wise shepherd, on seeing the cows drawn to the Moura,

5/ decided to grab one of his cows and never let go of her. Eventually the cow led him to the Moura. The woman covered his eyes, so that he may not see the paths inside the cave. The Moura then filled his hat with coal, telling him to "place the coal at the correct place at the

6/ time of the metamorphosis". However, the shepherd was never able to find out the place and the time. He failed to secure his independence [sic], as this coal would have turned to gold. The place and time of the metamorphosis was on the morning dew of the Summer Solstice...

7/ Again, the pieces of the puzzle are the same, but with some interesting additions. The cave, standing for the womb and the underworld, is guarded by 3 giants: your ancestors, who you must (symbolically) defeat to access the underworld and be allowed rebirth. They are 3 as they

8/ stand for the 3 symbolic pregnancies and 3 reincarnations throughout your life. The cave contains many treasures, i.e. the memories of the ancestors, symbolised by the items given to the dead for the remembrance of the initiates. They are made of gold because gold is eternal

9/ The Moura is you on the border between death and rebirth, the fetus. She needs to be disenchanted, that is, she needs to come back to life. She is thirsty for milk because that's the only thing newborns can drink. She weaves with a loom of gold, a common activity of the Mouras

10/ Like the Greek Moirai (notice the similarity between the names), Mouras weave the fate, or in other words, the honour and luck you have acquired from your past lives, which will affect your fate. Now we must explain the symbolism of the coal. The coal, dark, is put in the HAT

11/ of the shepherd. The coal is obviously your ancestral memories and mind, which you haven't completely reacquired yet. Since you aren't reborn, you don't remember your past lives. But, by placing them at the "correct place at the time of metamorphosis" they will turn into gold

12/ The Moura (you) becomes disenchanted, and the coal turns to gold - your memories reacquired and now very clear in your mind, the reincarnation process is complete. You have morphed into your ancestors, the real you. And this must be done at Summer Solstice, the time of the

13/ year when we jump over bonfires, the sacred flame which allows our rebirth. The dew and the pure crystaline water running through the cave make sense now too: a symbol of the mythological rivers of the Underworld and the liquid in which you are submerged within the womb

14/ Unfortunately, in the legend, the shepherd could not figure out the solution to this riddle. He wasn't reborn, the Moura wasn't disenchanted, and therefore he did not secure his "independence". But, given that you have the key, will you able to do it? Thank you for reading!