Something that has long puzzled commentators is the strong association of the Greek figure of Poseidon with the Horse. This is incredibly prominent within the Poseidonic mythology – the form taken by Poseidon in His pursuit of Demeter Erinyes, for instance, or that of the Son born to that union, Arion (The Pegasus, likewise, is Fathered by Poseidon upon Medusa); We find the Horse hailed as a sacred animal for the God, and given unto Athens as a gift to its King by its divine creator; and mentioned as a sort of ‘substitute sacrifice’ in the context of Rhea offering up a small horse in lieu of Her Son to Kronos. The Horse, or indeed a full Horse Chariot, was frequently utilized as the major sacrifice to Poseidon, including by Alexander the Great. 

So it seems quite clear that something vitally important was understood to the ancestors of the Ancient Greeks when they called this Great God “Poseidon Hippios” – the God of Horses, Who evidently was both author and receiver of same, and passed on this mastery of the horse to mankind. 

But what? 

Well, dear reader … I believe I have cracked it! And via our habitual comparative Indo-European approach making ample use of the wonderful Vedic conceptual syllabry that has come down to us from the Hindusphere. Further proof of my theory is to be found amidst the Scythians – and it is there that we shall begin. 

One of the most mysterious deities cited to us by Herodotus in his arms-length presentation of the Scythian mythology, is Thagimasadas. Identified in IV 59 as being the deity that is specifically sacrificed to by the Royal Scythians. And that, unfortunately, is the sum total of our definitive knowledge upon this God. 

But it is most excellently useful – for Herodotus has done us a grand favour by directly linking this Thagimasadas [also spelled as Thamimasadas, inter alia, just to keep us on our toes] to the Greek figure of Poseidon. Something that had, again, perplexed previous generations of comparative mythology analysis. 

Why did we find these three elements – the Sea God, the Horse, and Royalty, in such frequent alignment? 

The Vedic Investiture Via The Hellenic Hippios – On Earth As It Is Amidst The Cloud Ocean Of Heaven

Enter Lord Varuna – and the Shatapatha Brahmana. Specifically a section on Royal Rites that may deployed for the Coronation, the Empowerment of the King. 

What do we find there? 

[VII 52 18]: “Then on the left side (he puts the head of) the horse, with (Vâg. S. XIII, 42), ‘The speed of the wind,’–this one, the horse, is indeed the speed of the wind;–‘Varuna’s navel’–for the horse is Varuna;–‘the horse, born in the midst of the flood;’ the flood is the water, and the horse is indeed the water-born;–‘the tawny, rock-founded child of rivers;’ rock means mountain, and the waters are indeed founded on the mountains;–‘harm him not, Agni, in the highest region!’ the highest region means these worlds: thus, do not harm him in these worlds!”

Well then. The Horse is Varuna. The Horse of the Waters. The Horse, also, that is a child of the (flood from) the Mountains, the Rocks. 

Now what might *that* be in a comparative Greek mythology? 

Well, several occurrences, as it happens. That Horse produced by Poseidon for the putative King of Athens – we find a flood, a stream, emergent from Rock at the same point. We also find Poseidon as Petraios [‘Rocky’] striking such Rocks in order to bring forth the horse Skyphios [a ‘striking’ that is figurative, and is better understood in its more descriptive Greek phrasing – Poseidon *impregnates* the rock in question]. [Also relevant, given the frequent co-occurrence of Rivers/Waters and Horses in this Greek understanding is the following Shatapatha Brahmana line [IV 2 1 11]: “Varuna once struck king Soma right in the eye, and it swelled (asvayat): therefrom a horse (asva) sprung; and because it sprung from a swelling, therefore it is called asva. A tear of his fell down: therefrom the barley sprung; whence they say that the barley belongs to Varuna.”; which may also invite a tantalizing supposition about the Olive Tree bestowed by Athena, and the Barley of Varuna – but more upon that, perhaps, some other time; for now it is enough to note the curative properties of the barley-imbued element in question, perhaps mirroring Soma’s strongly healing role; its application to empower the Eye speaking not only to the Solar Eye conceptry we shall discuss later, but the Eye of Lordship well-known across the Indo-European sphere (consider, for instance, ‘Drakon’ – and not at all coincidentally, the line from the Rigsthula: “ötul váru augu sem yrmlingi” – the quality of the infant Jarl being that his eye ‘flashes’ or ‘flares’ like that of a young dragon. But we are getting ahead of ourselves!] 

Yet what is being described in this Vedic rite? Well, when we find ‘Rocks’ out of which a ‘tawny’ liquid emerges in such rites – the general presumption should be the similar one to what is found by Odin ‘midst the Hnitbjorg, the ‘Clashing Stones’. An Empowering Elixir, produced via the pressing of the Stones, The Rocks, The Mountains (figuratively described). That which makes a Sage a Sage (well, one of several vectors for this imbuement of the Divine Essence) – and that which, vitally, renders the King a King. 

In these terms, something we have often found in the Vedic conceptual syllabry is the notion that a man becoming a King is expected to ‘become’ – or, rather, ‘become invested’ by Varuna, by the Deity. It is in the manner of the Eliadian Eternal Return, the Mythic Resonancy and Recurrence, or perhaps, in a sense, Jung’s Ergreiffen explication. The Essence of the God enters into the Man, the Man becomes more than a Man. The King In Heaven is found also down here on Earth amidst His Folk. 

It is via the imbibification of this ‘Horse’, the Sacral Brew, that this is done. 

Which renders the rejection of the Lordship, the Patronage of Poseidon over Athens by Kerkrops / Cercrops , Her First King , all the more interesting. We shall not speculate at this time upon what might be covertly congealed within the Contest of Athena and Poseidon therein – except to note that there is also quite intricate Vedic conceptry for the Indo-European Goddess that Athena, too, is a grand expression of, to be the Patron of the King. So it is not as untoward as it might otherwise first appear. 

Medusa, Metis, Poseidon, Perseus – The Sovereign Striking That Splits The Ground And Raises Up Regality

A further support for this is demonstrated in the mythology around the Pegasus – the Flying Horse – born first of Medusa by Poseidon, and thence ‘born again’ we might perhaps say, out of the neck of the Gorgon decapitated by the future-regal Perseus. 

As I have long observed, the etymology of ‘Medusa’, Greek ‘Medo’ – to quote myself ‘pon the subject: “The root of this in Ancient Greek is ‘Medo’ – to Rule, to Protect; and with the PIE ‘Med’ which underpins that also referring to both counsel (and healing) as well as the ‘measuring’ of boundaries and imposition of ‘limits’. ” [the ‘imposition of limits’ – both in terms of laws, and also in terms of territorial delineation (and the ensuing defence of same) is an incredibly potent part and parcel to what the Sovereign is supposed to do; whilst wisdom and wise counsel are held to be integral to the King ruling successfully – hence the ‘Metis’ and indeed ‘Royal Metis’ we find similarly construed and derived, indeed quite literally ‘taken in’ by the Celestial Sovereign, Zeus – interestingly, as a direct prelude to bringing forth the grand Princess-Queen, Athena]

A matter considerably reinforced when we consider the iconographic saliency of the Gorgon’s Head, the Gorgoneion device, as the ensign of Sovereignty borne by both Athena and Zeus, and also found as an incredibly common ‘head’ for the sanctifying Mark of the Sovereign King upon the coinage of the ancient Hellenic world. 

So – once again, we have this inexorable association: of Poseidon imparting a sort of … ‘liquid essence’ [to speak delicately] to a figure associated with stone, and in a nexus that produces a Horse, and Sovereignty, Rulership as its ultimate result. Perseus, after all, ‘liberates’ this Horse from the stone-associated Medusa, en route to his reclaiming his birthright [something that, admittedly, goes rather differently in various sources – with Perseus becoming a king in other realms, dependent upon the telling]; and in so doing proving that he is the Son, the bearer of some measure [‘medo’ again] of the (imparted) Essence of the Sky Father. 

[A reasonably direct linkage between the aforementioned Indo-European myth of the Sky Father ‘breaking’ or ‘impregnating’ the Stone/Earth and the kingly investiture under discussion, is also recorded in the Shatapatha Brahmana [V 4 3 21-22]: “Looking down on this (Earth) He then mutters, ‘O mother Earth, injure me not, nor I thee!’ For the Earth was once afraid of Varuna, when He had been consecrated, thinking, ‘Something great surely has He become now that He has been consecrated: I fear lest He may rend me asunder!’ And Varuna also was afraid of the Earth, thinking, ‘I fear lest She may shake me off!’ Hence by that (formula) He entered into a friendly relation with Her […] Now this Râgasûya is Varuna’s consecration”. It makes eminently logical sense, per the Eliadian principle of the ‘Eternal Return’, the mythic recurrence and resonancy aforementioned, for the Coronation of the King on Earth to mirror that of the King of the Heaven; and, indeed, the Ragasuya is precisely that – Royal rites to just such a purpose, for a human to become … more than such, move closer to the Divine.]

But why a Horse? 

The Solar Asva – The Shining-Maned Horse Amidst The Sea Of Stars

Now, at this juncture it should be tempting to make the obvious and somewhat euhemeric presumption – that the reason for the Horse is due to the strong conceptual saliency of the Horse, the Mounted Warrior, for the Military applications thereof. And certainly, it can fairly be argued that there is *an* element of that which is relevant. 

Except that is really only a part of it. We are looking, after all, at a specifically *Water* originated horse. And Sea Horses nor Hippopotami have tended to see significant success in martial application. 

No, for this we must look out farther – out to Sea ! For a peculiar form of quite prominent Flying Horse … 

The Sun! 

Now, the more usually encountered conceptual syllabry amidst various Indo-European mythic contexts, is for the Sun to be associated with a Chariot – either as a great, shining Chariot Wheel … or alternatively, pulled along behind or mounted within such a vehicle. It is not hard to see why. And yet, we also find the Horse and the Horseman as Solar as well. (The Nordic “Dagr” has elements of this in being mounted upon the Shining Maned Skinfaxi – although is, nevertheless, more conventionally depicted drawing a chariot that is the Day proper, thus rendering this a case of ‘both’ rather than ‘either’ as applies Solar Horse and Horseman or Solar Chariot and Charioteer. I chiefly mention that figure at this juncture, as the ‘Golden Maned’ quality is also exactly that possessed by the Horses of Poseidon’s sea-origin chariot as reported at various junctures within the Greek mythos. It would seem plausible that the mounted Horse is a-priori to the Chariot, and therefore that the older layers of conceptry should be more directly tethered to the former, with the latter building thereupon and helping to inform the literal ‘day-to-day’ understandings for the Solar Horse’s journey across the sky (and that, really, is a large part of why the Horse – the journey!), whilst the much more rare and ornately archaic coronation rites should retain the presaging and underlying Horse at their more conservative core)

To quote from one of the key Vedic hymnals required for the Asvamedha – the Horse Sacrifice that confirms the plenipotentiary power upon this earth of the King – RV I 163:

“1 WHAT time, first springing into life, thou neighedst, proceeding from the sea or upper waters,
Limbs of the deer hadst thou, and eagle pinions. O Steed, thy birth is nigh and must be lauded.
2 This Steed which Yama gave hath Trita harnessed, and him, the first of all, hath Indra mounted.
His bridle the Gandharva grasped. O Vasus, from out the Sun ye fashioned forth the Courser.
3 Yama art thou, O Horse; thou art Āditya; Trita art thou by secret operation.
Thou art divided thoroughly from Soma. They say thou hast three bonds in heaven
that hold thee.
4 Three bonds, they say, thou hast in heaven that bind thee, three in the waters,
three within the ocean.
To me thou seemest Varuṇa, O Courser, there where they say is thy sublimest birth-place.
5 Here-, Courser, are the places where they groomed thee, here are the traces of thy hoofs as winner.
Here have I seen the auspicious reins that guide thee, which those who guard the holy Law keep safely.
6 Thyself from far I recognized in spirit,—a Bird that from below flew through the heaven.
I saw thy head still soaring, striving upward by paths unsoiled by dust, pleasant to travel.
7 Here I beheld thy form, matchless in glory, eager to win thee food at the Cow’s station.
Whene’er a man brings thee to thine enjoyment, thou swallowest the plants most greedy eater.
8 After thee, Courser, come the car, the bridegroom, the kine come after, and the charm of maidens.
Full companies have followed for thy friendship: the pattern of thy vigour Gods have copied.
9 Horns made of gold hath he: his feet are iron: less fleet than he, though swift as thought, is Indra.
The Gods have come that they may taste the oblation of him who mounted, first of all, the Courser.
10 Symmetrical in flank, with rounded haunches, mettled like heroes, the Celestial Coursers
Put forth their strength, like swans in lengthened order, when they, the Steeds, have reached the heavenly causeway.
11 A body formed for flight hast thou, O Charger; swift as the wind in motion is thy spirit.
Thy horns are spread abroad in all directions: they move with restless beat in wildernesses.
12 The strong Steed hath come forward to the slaughter, pondering with a mind directed God-ward.
The goat who is his kin is led before him the sages and the singers follow after.
13 The Steed is come unto the noblest mansion, is come unto his Father and his Mother.
This day shall he approach the Gods, most welcome: then he declares good gifts to him who offers.”

As we can see, this is a Horse … a Horse with Wings … that has as its origins the (Celestial) Ocean, is identified as an Aditya [i.e. one of the 7 or 8 or 12 Solar Figures / Phases of the Sun], indeed specifically as Varuna – the Vedic Ocean/Celestial Ocean God Who Is Also the King In Heaven, and quite definitely radiantly Solar]. A ‘Winged Horse’ would most certainly resemble Pegasus (although as a point of interest, the *broader* array of animal symbolism might perhaps speak to a Dragon – especially with the prominent ‘Draconic’ association with the symbolism of Leadership, Rulership, that we have discussed in other works, and briefly quoted from the Nordic Rigsthula in support of well-above). ‘Swift as the wind in motion’ also almost exactly mirrors the description for Arion, one of Poseidon’s horse-formed Sons from the realms of Greek mythology. 

And, to nobody’s especial surprise, these key elements also align with what we find in the much-earlier aforementioned Shatapatha Brahmana verse that I had quoted: 

“Then on the left side (he puts the head of) the horse, with (Vâg. S. XIII, 42), ‘The speed of the wind,’–this one, the horse, is indeed the speed of the wind;–‘Varuna’s navel’–for the horse is Varuna;–‘the horse, born in the midst of the flood;’ the flood is the water, and the horse is indeed the water-born”

With additional support for the Solar identification of the Horse provided by an earlier verse drawn from the same Brahmana [VII 5 2 6]:

“And, again, why he puts the heads of the victims thereon. Pragâpati alone was here at first 1. He desired, ‘May I create food, may I be reproduced!’ He fashioned animals from his vital airs, a man from his soul (mind), a horse from his eye”

Prajapati is, of course, the ‘All-Father’ – and here, the Horse is identified with the Eye of this Deity. We know from the Shatapatha Brahmana presentation of the SataRudriya Rite, that this figure is correlate with the Sky Father [‘Dyaus Pitar’, Zeus Pater] – as the Emanation of the Manyu by Him is directly correlate with the Birth of Minerva / Athena in the Classical rites and legendariums. Here, the Eye is presented as the Horse’s origin … the Eye of the Sky Father being quite specifically the Sun in a number of Indo-European mythic understandings (including not only Zeus, but also Shiva, Dyaus, underpinning Odin’s ‘Blazing Eye’, and specifically both Prajapati and Varuna … but, then, I repeat myself, don’t I). 

It would be also fair to surmise, I suspect, that the Solar Horse understanding underpins the shared Greek – Vedic myth of The Sky Father in Horse Form pursuing His Wife in ‘Shadow’/’Dark’ Form. For the Greeks, this was Poseidon pursuing the Black Demeter Erinyes ; for the Vedic and later Hindu mythology it is Vivasvan [‘Wide-Shining One’], Surya [although per my identification the Sky Father referred to as Surya, rather than the Surya that is the Son of the Sky Father] pursuing the Chhaya [‘Shadowy’] form either emanated or assumed by Saranyu. The progeny of both of these mythic unions is at least one prominent Horse-styled offspring [Arion in the Greek, Revanta and/or the Asvins in the Hindu – and it should be noted just how important  a role the Asvins have when it comes to the position and elevation of the King]; although what makes these interesting for a ‘Solar Horse’ identification other than the direct and literal ‘Surya’ labelling in the latter account, is the potential for this to present the Solar Horseman as pursuing the Night – Who Flees from Him.

The Sky Father, Dyaus Pitar, after all, has always had an irreducible ‘Solar’ element [it is literally right there in the linguistics , the theonymy – ‘Dyaus’, the Bright/Shining Daylit Sky]; and, as it happens, this ‘Solar’ element being transmissible via heredity is also well attested. Zeus’ pursuit of Nemesis in Swan form (part of a parade of animal shapes perhaps not unlike what is preserved in the aforementioned Vedic verses in an attempt to describe the characteristics of the Sun) begets an equivalent to the aforementioned Asvins, Castor and Pollux … and also Helen (of Troy), a Solar Goddess (as discussed in my various previous works upon the subject; even still recalled as such by the Doric Greeks during the Classical age), Who makes Menelaus a King via Her marriage to him. 

A Solar Woman rather than a Solar Horse – yet nevertheless, the pattern remains: The Solar / Equine Expression of the Sky Father’s Kingly Mantle is what is required to make a King. And also, not at all coincidentally, what is lost to dethrone a king. 

The Solar Glories And Winged Radiency Of Persia 

We find this understanding preserved quite clearly of, in all places, the Zoroastrian / Persian texts – the ‘Khvarenah’ or ‘Hvarnah’ that is the ‘Radiant’ [‘Hvar’ – from the same root as Sanskrit ‘Svar’, PIE ‘Sohwl’, as in ‘Solar’]’ quality of the King. His “Kingliness”, we might say – his ‘Glory’ or ‘Renown’, the mantle of majesty which draws men to follow him and the law to unfurl in an almost gravitational fashion. There is also a potential understanding of its derivation being via the ingestion of particular empowering consumables; and it is important to note the ‘winged’ form this quality takes (particularly when it is *leaving* a king that has failed – as with the Varayna [often represented as either a falcon or a raven] that departs from Yima; the notion of the Solar Bird as bringing the Soma – i.e. going the other way – is found in the Vedas viz. (Agni-as-) Shyena, and the Imperial Eagle symbolism more generally as an emphatic emblem of the Sky Father, the Emperor of the Skies and bestower of blessings to His designated emulator down here ‘pon this Earth of ours). 

As with various other Indo-European peoples, we find a consistent Solar conceptry for these Persian rulers – both in terms of names or epithets [for example, those of the mythic king Yima : Hvara-, that we have just met, and Xsaeta-], but also in terms of the Sun as being somehow essential in the ‘anointing’ of a soon-to-be King. We can also, based around our comparative IE framework advanced in the above piece, tentatively link the well-documented sacrifices of Horses to the Sun carried out by both the Persians themselves and the Massagetae as having prospectively similar import. Or, at least, origination via the pan-IE Solar Horse concept. 

Of additional interests for a comparative IE approach to the Zoroastrian mythology here, is to note that the prime bearers of the Hvarnah, include Yima (Yama), Verethragna (a ‘sanitized’ copy of Indra), and Thraetaona (Trita). Which, if one scrolls back up to the list of luminaries cited in RV I 163 2, is a perfect match for the figures associated with the Solar Horse by the Vedic verse in question. Albeit with some .. significant shifts in the understanding of just Who and what these figures are undertaken by the Zoroastrian heresy, as I have discussed at great length in other works. 

And where is it that we find such a magisterial quality? Well, the Vourukasa – the Great Ocean. Following Yima’s loss of this most essence-tial quality of Kingship, the proverbial ‘Mandate of Heaven’ (to borrow a Chinese expression in translation), this is also where this quality returns to, to be contended for again by potential worthy successor(s). 

Perhaps the Fravashi emblem, so frequently held to be a Mesopotamian appropriation by the Persians, was in fact their recognition of a salient symbol that happened to match and to mirror incredibly well, the ‘Winged Sun’ they knew from their own endogenous scripture, rites, and mythology. 

Although, importantly, with this essential quality ‘de-personalized’, and taken from what we see in the Vedic understanding as being essentially an imbuement of the Kingly Essence of Varuna, indeed the *entry into the King-to-be* *of* Varuna, in a sense … through to a relatively less characterized (in all senses) general ‘radiance’, quality, and at best ‘animalistic’ term of referency. Even there, though, some of the old underlying archaic Indo-Iranian concepts (likely familiar  to the similarly derived Classical-era Scythian beliefs told to Herodotus) still shone through. 

And speaking of concepts that ‘shine through’ – there is one vitally important question that we have not yet seriously sought to answer: namely, why The Sun? 

The Light Of Law – The Light Of Life : On The Solar Sva-Reign At The Heart Of The Loka-Realm

And the answer, as they say, is “blindingly obvious”. The Sun is the ultimate source of all – all life, all energy, all light (hence the Solar focal-origin point for the famed Gayatri Mantra, etc.). The Light and the Law are fundamentally correlated within the Indo-European cosmological conceptry (although the strong adherence of terms for Darkness and Law must also be considered – as we did during the course of ‘Ragnarok And The Night Lord’) – with regard to the Indo-European Sky Father and an Indo-European (human) King, ‘Seeing’ is not merely ‘Believing’, but is also the essential ingredient to ‘Ruling’. This is expressed in quite an array of ways, including the aforementioned ‘Drakon’ conceptry in both Greek and Old Norse (specifically the Rigsthula), and Sanskrit ‘Loka’ – a term that encapsulates both the faculty of sight and the facility of dominion: a territory, a realm, rulership ‘as far as the eye can see’ (it’s from the same PIE root as ‘Look’ – ‘Lewk’). 

The Sun is correlated with the Ruling Deities of the Universe – the King, and quite pointedly the Queen (viz. Vedic Aditi, Scythian Tabiti – and see my previous work for how these Goddess facings are integral to Kingship in Their respective traditions) in Heaven. This is not only due to the manner in which we all depend upon the Sovereigns (consider Sanskrit ‘Bhaga’ – effectively ‘The Bestower’, akin also to ‘Lord’ in the archaic Germanic sense of the ‘Loaf Warden’ (in fact the term from whence ‘Lord’ derives)), nor the way in which our world can seem to revolve around Them. But chiefly because the Sovereign is the mouth-point, the locus of emanation, for the Cosmic Law – Dharma, Rta, Orlog, Dikaiosune – out into our world. Human sovereigns issue Decrees, they ‘Measure’ and they Judge. The Rulers of the Divine have only to *be* to exert an incredible and incredibly potent expansive ‘stablishment upon the universe. 

They are, in effect, the ‘mediators’ of Rta-As-Brahman (Cosmic Order as the supernal Absolute – what is also understood etymologically in Nordic ‘Orlog’ – ‘Outside/Above Law’; which is also, entirely uncoincidentaly, effectively utilized to mean ‘Life Force’, ‘Thing That Makes Us Sapient/Sentient/Human/Alive’, in the Voluspa) out into our world – the empowerment of such being found via King Soma, the implacable weaponry of the Vajra [c.f Vak Saraswati, Shyena, and the Asvins’ role in providing these], and the Insight of the Sage. 

The Sun – that is also the Deity (or Deities) in question – comes down to us in an emanated form: that of the Horse. The Vedic rites then have the Horse sacrificed so that he may re-ascend back up into the Heavens via the Sacral Pyre (Agni), his job done down here ‘pon this Earth; whilst meanwhile, this essential essence is mediated via the Horse that forms between the Press-Stones – the Soma, as well as via the Flame of Pious Rite (Agni) and His divine radiance, ‘midst other such embodiments/transverse incarnations, to be taken into the King. The King Who Becomes As The Sun, As The Horse, As The God, down here upon this Earth of ours. 

A fascinating example of this conceptry on ‘active deployment’ is to be found in a most severely misunderstood hymnal – RV X 124 – wherein the three ‘elements’ or ‘understandings’ for the bearing of this Divine Essence (‘vectors’ for it, we might say – Agni, Varuna, and Soma), are induced to leave a previous royal figure and instead be imbued into the new incipient king. Because the latter figure is identified via the title ‘Indra’ [as a deliberate ‘mythic resonancy’ for the *Son* and logical Successor of the Sky Father Who Reigns In Heaven mentioned in line 3], it is often taken literally rather than ritually as being some sort of ‘dethroning’ of Dyaus or Varuna (but, then, I repeat myself); or, more bizarrely, as some kind of ‘liberation’ from captivity within Vritra of the three Great Gods (or, I should say, three ‘facings’ of the Great God) and a ‘victory’ of the Devas over the A’Suras with a ‘changing of sides’ by these Three from Asura to Deva. A full explication of exactly why this is an incorrect (if not downright incoherent) interpretation is beyond the scope of this piece (and unlikely to dent the self-assured over-confidence of the people who tend to be the most ardent expounders of this “theory”, anyway); so for now it is enough to note that this is not merely my own opinion – but also a view with prominent and well-regarded academic support. And also that this rendering matches up precisely with what we SHOULD expect for the coronation rites, the empowerment and investiture rites, for an incoming human King who is seeing to be, as the hymnal itself puts it – “from the godless [state] to immortality by secret pathways”, as Varuna is invested into him to “come and be Lord and Ruler of my kingdom”.

To rule as a God, one must become as a God – and to act like a God requires the requisite impartment of the potency with which to do so. It is evident that the ancient Indo-European was well aware that mere human figures were failable when given supreme power; and so they resolved to endeavour to render those who were given such power .. to no longer be merely human. Not fully, anyway. 

Although as we can tell from the Ramayana, wherein Varuna enters into Ravana – the would-be world-sovereign – and Ravana begins to break under the strain of bearing Varuna within Him … not just any man, any vessel is up to the standards requisite for being, becoming, housing, the God and the Divine Potency of Kingship. The (meta)physical pressures of Varuna within Ravana that cause the latter such discomfort are mirrored via the eventual failings of Ravana and His rulership, likewise. 

Few of us, it would seem, can truly bear to hold the Sun within us. And those who are not up to bearing the weight of its Solar Corona are burned apart from within – although often not before they have manage to wreak insipid or incalculable damage ‘midst their soon-to-be death-throes. 

Conclusions – The ‘Setting’ Sun And The Descent Of Myth As Avatara Precept

As we have hopefully demonstrated once more through the course of this rather lengthy (A)Arti-cle, the Vedic texts act as an awe-inspiring keystone via which the unlocking of the subtle, hidden meanings of a vast array of the more familiar (and less familiar) Indo-European mythic sphere may be both aligned and unlocked. 

We have long advocated for Poseidon to be understood as a ‘facing’ of Dyaus Pitar – the Sky Father. And here is the proof. A Solar characterization for Poseidon, a Sovereignty characterization for Poseidon, an alignment of the Myths of Poseidon with Ritual Practice – and further proof via the ‘triangulative’ possibilities afforded us by Herodotus’ Interpretatio Graeca of the Scythian religion. 

We have also long advocated that the Scythians represent a direct continuance of the (Proto-)Indo-European mythology and religion in a way that is unmatched except by the Vedic sphere. And, again, here is the proof – direct correspondences between the Scythians and their Aryan cousins, just as we should expect for these mutual bearers of the post-Andronovo tradition. A situation rendered all the more interesting when our major salient window into their lived practice, is comprised of Greeks who still bear some *vague* degree of subconscious understanding of these matters … but are unable to truly ‘join the dots’ in the much more comprehensive manner that we are today (due to their own ‘loss’ of understanding of their own mytho-religion down the centuries). What a thing – Herodotus et co lived only a few hundred kilometers from the Scythian expanse they were describing the customs of, and were contemporaneous with them in time … and yet we, here, on the other side of the globe and more than two thousand, near two and a half thousand years hence, have the apparently superior comprehension of what they were actually practicing. Something, to be sure, only afforded and made possible via those two cursory lines *of* Herodotus’ own work, yet still a marvel. 

To expand further upon the point around the Greeks’ loss of their own archaic religious understandings – this is something we have also talked about at great length elsewhere. We have repeatedly demonstrated that various of the more prominent Greek myths (including, for example, Herakles, Athena, and Iolaus against the Hydra) have direct 1:1 correspondences with the Vedic mythology … but also the Vedic ritualine corpus. And that what is preserved in the Vedas as *both* mythology *and* ritual processes (with the narratives helping to ‘encode’ and structure for oral transmission precisely these rites), has lost the latter sense and meaning in the Greek understanding, and only been preserved there as evocatively embellished mythic recountings that may change various rather important details for artistic purposes dependent upon the teller. The various Poseidon and Horse myths that we have cited above stand as salient testimony to this fact when considered in light of the Vedic ritual verses that directly resonate with them whilst also being more so *precisely because* they are understood to be ritual processes rather than merely something that happened long ago. 

The core of the Solar Horse Rites of Kingship that we have illuminated in the above (A)Arti-cle, is that some ‘Spark’ of the Absolute – the Cosmic Order: Rta, Orlog, Dikaiosune – emanated (indeed, continually re-immanentized) out into our world, our universe via the Sun … descends down (‘rises out of the Waters’ – the liminal sphere around our universe beyond which lies the Absolute) in both Horse and God and Horse-God form; there to be transferred and imparted into the human ruler who is ‘stepping into the shoes’ of the Divine Regent of the Heavens. As Above, So Below – and So Below, through the Divine Grace of the Above. 

It is a complex arrangement designed primarily to ensure that the mortal realm resembles most closely its divine prototype; and to continually reaffirm and re’stablish, re’stabilize this relationship – as RV X 124 7 puts it: “The Sage hath fixed his form by wisdom in the heavens: Varuṇa with no violence let the waters flow.”