It can often seem rather daunting attempting to get to grips with the more in-depth material used to illustrate the underlying cultural unities between the Indo-European peoples ... so we thought we'd start with something different. Something simpler. Something so sufficiently common-place that you encounter it every day. Literally, in fact - for we're talking … Continue reading On The Indo-European Days Of The Week – An Introduction To The Comparative Mythography Of Arya Akasha
Author: Curwen Ares Rolinson
MahaShivRatri 2018
Tonight marks the most important Shaivite holy-"day" of the year. Maha ShivRatri - the "Great Night of Shiva". Various sources give slightly differing accounts as to the mythic significance and origins of the Night's place in our religion; with two of the more prominent being that it commemorates the reunification of Lord Shiva and Lady … Continue reading MahaShivRatri 2018
Kala Bhairava Jayanti
[Author's note: this piece was penned on the night of the 10th-11th of November 2017 in the course of an all-night devotional vigil] Tonight marks the Hindu observance of KalaBhairava Jayanti - the Creation, but also the Victory [same word - जयन्ति ] of Kala Bhairava, a Fearsome Destroyer emanation of Lord Shiva Whose name … Continue reading Kala Bhairava Jayanti
On The Ongoing Woeful Misappropriation Of Kali Ma When Western Metapolitical Commentators Write About Kali Yuga
I am pretty annoyed right now at the ongoing attempts at misusing Goddess Kali as part of attempted metapolitical [and often outright metaphysical political] 'analysis'. Now to be sure, I am NOT against folk attempting to incorporate religious understandings of the world into their politics. I do it all the time. I encourage others … Continue reading On The Ongoing Woeful Misappropriation Of Kali Ma When Western Metapolitical Commentators Write About Kali Yuga
‘Occasionalism’ in the thought of Al-Ghazali & The Bhagavad Gita
A curious 7 a.m thought for a Sunday morning, about the nature of 'Causality'. Now, the standard paradigm for understanding why things happen is a non-metaphysical one. It basically goes "somebody/something performs an action, it has an effect". This is so straightforward it doesn't even really require stating. We just *know* it implicitly. But as … Continue reading ‘Occasionalism’ in the thought of Al-Ghazali & The Bhagavad Gita
Vishvarupa Darshan
As is well known, I am not a Vaishnavite, nor a Krishna-bhakt. And, in point of fact, the traditional rivalry of Shaivites with these is common knowledge. But it is difficult to look upon this image - for me, anyway - and not feel something. It depicts the portion from Bhagavad Gita wherein Arjuna asks … Continue reading Vishvarupa Darshan
A Brief Elucidation On The Celtic Origin Of April Fool’s Day
Posted on behalf of Will Bordsen: "Gwydion is the Welsh god of magic and wisdom, analogous to the Germanic Odin and Greek Hermes. In addition to being the leader of the House of Don, slayer of Pryderi (God of the year, mortality), father figure to Llew (God of battle, light) and creator of Blodeuwedd (Goddess … Continue reading A Brief Elucidation On The Celtic Origin Of April Fool’s Day
Tripurantaka
Today is Kartik Poornima, a religious observance marking Lord Shiva's mighty deed as Tripurantaka ("Destroyer of the Three Cities"), which brought to a decisive and victorious end one of the Gods' wars against the Asuras. It's probably the second most significant Shaivite observance after MahaShivRatri ("The Great Night of Shiva"), which occurs in February/March. The … Continue reading Tripurantaka
Akhanda Bharata – A Concept In Flux
I've previously written a bit about the occasional bouts of revanchist and irridentist tendencies which can accompany political Hinduism - the most common of which are rather justified claims that India ought to maintain or extend territorial possession to include areas such as the full extent of Jammu & Kashmir, and areas of China (or, … Continue reading Akhanda Bharata – A Concept In Flux
Hinduism: Universalist Or Specificist Creed
I'm doing some thinking atm about Hinduism (when am I not?) and whether the Faith constitutes a Universalist or a specifist religion. Obviously, these days, there are a number of Hindu (or Hindu-derived) religious movements and sects which are pretty decidedly convinced that they are, indeed, universally applicable - the Hare Krishnas are probably the … Continue reading Hinduism: Universalist Or Specificist Creed