JAI MAHAKAAL MAHAKAALSMRITI REMEMBER DEATH IT IS MONDAY, THEREFORE - GLORIOUS (MODERN) SHIVA (A)ART(I) As a brief point of explication ... Kaal (काल)is one of my favourite words in any language. For it simultaneously means BLACK, TIME, DEATH, DESTINY/FATE [and also Iron, and also the pupil of the eye - which, as you'll note here, … Continue reading JAI MAHAKAAL On Moon-Day
Month: August 2019
Kali Jayanti
A ROARING COMES ACROSS THE SKY - FOR IT IS (SRI/MAHA) KALI JAYANTI ; THE KAALASHTAMI NIGHT OF SHRAVAN MONTH JAI MAHAKALI ; KALISMRITI - REMEMBER DEATH So what is this observance of Kali Jayanti? Well, the Sanskrit term "Jayanti" has multiple simultaneous meanings. In one sense, it is an auspicious and religiously important birth-date. … Continue reading Kali Jayanti
Devi NationalisMa Above All
"जननी जन्मभूमिश्च स्वर्गादपि गरीयसी" "Mother & Motherland Are Superior Even To Heaven" A noble sentiment attributed to the Rsi Bharadwaj ; and which is rendered further marvelous - to my mind, anyway - when we consider some of the implications of the Sanskrit word-choices used in its construction. For example, Janani has at its Sanskrit … Continue reading Devi NationalisMa Above All
“To Speak Is To Uphold The Weight Of The Universe” – Supernal, Scientific, Sunyata, Sanatana Theories of Language
'The Dialects Are In Motion' - arcing towards a synthesis position on two views of Language Introduction: A World of Words One of the reasons why I have often advocated for the use of etymology in our field of Indo-European mytho-religion, is in order to strengthen our discernment of what is *actually* going on, by … Continue reading “To Speak Is To Uphold The Weight Of The Universe” – Supernal, Scientific, Sunyata, Sanatana Theories of Language
Warrior-Women of the Steppe?
'Scythian' female horse archer; broadly representative of a perhaps surprisingly viable typology of the Indo-European folk of the Steppe. In my previous piece on Naga Panchami, I briefly mentioned the flawed speculative etymology of Sauromatai, the Sarmatians - noting that some had sought to suggest it derived from scale-like armour and serpentine standards of this … Continue reading Warrior-Women of the Steppe?
Napoleon Jayanti
Three dear to me were born upon this day. In rough chronological order, Napoleon I Chakravartin, The Republic of India, and the Rev. Rolinson [the latter two are the same age]. The acknowledgement of one of these, is something of an ancestral cult - The Rev. Rolinson's own (partially French) Father having maintained, if not … Continue reading Napoleon Jayanti
ON THE GATES OF SOMNATH TEMPLE – AN ESSAY OF RAKSHA(PALA) FOR BOTH SWARAJ AND BANDHAN
The 15th of August marks India's Independence Day; and, as has become my custom, I have penned an article in honour of both the occasion, and the state and struggle for which it stands. Whereas 2017's piece looked at the geopolitical saliency of India, especially from the perspective of a small South Pacific state such … Continue reading ON THE GATES OF SOMNATH TEMPLE – AN ESSAY OF RAKSHA(PALA) FOR BOTH SWARAJ AND BANDHAN
Saturday – Shani Dev’s Day – Saturn’s Day
"Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling, By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore, “Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou,” I said, “art sure no craven, Ghastly grim and ancient Raven wandering from the Nightly shore— Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night’s … Continue reading Saturday – Shani Dev’s Day – Saturn’s Day
The Bringer Of Shocking Enlightenment
Vishnu-posting? On a Wednesday? ON MY WALL?? It's more likely than you think! "You can run on for a long time [...] Sooner or later God'll cut you down" - Johnny Cash, 'God's Gonna Cut You Down' "The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and … Continue reading The Bringer Of Shocking Enlightenment
NAGA PANCHAMI – A CELEBRATION OF SERPENTS
Today marks the Hindu observance of Naga Panchami - an occasion where we honour the Snakes. Now, this might seem a most curious thing to those cursorily acquainted with Indo-European mythology. After all, pretty much every Indo-European culture and religion has voluminous accountings of the righteous and holy *smiting* of the Serpentine, the Draconic, the … Continue reading NAGA PANCHAMI – A CELEBRATION OF SERPENTS