This Is #GangSteppe - and also, fine Devi-otional (A)Art(I) for Friday ! Depicted is Goddess Cybele on an offering-plate, from 3rd century B.C. Ai-Khanoum, amidst the ruins of the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom. Now, I find this artefact fascinating for quite a number of reasons. Not simply because of the various iconographic features upon it which come … Continue reading Votive Plate of Cybele, Great Goddess, Mountain Mother – Arte-Facts #5
Interpretatio Romana
“MY HAT IS AN ELEPHANT – YOUR SOVEREIGNTY IS INVALID” – A Gandharan Coin of Demetrius I – Arte-Facts #4
Coin of the Indo-Greek ruler Demetrios I, from the first decade of the 2nd century B.C. The Elephant has long been considered a potent symbol of sovereignty and royal, even imperial power within the Indian/Dharmic iconographic lexicon. Hence, in part, why Lord Indra rides one [Airavata - 'Storm Cloud' ... the other major reason being … Continue reading “MY HAT IS AN ELEPHANT – YOUR SOVEREIGNTY IS INVALID” – A Gandharan Coin of Demetrius I – Arte-Facts #4
The “Buddhist” Coin Of Tilya Tepe – Arte-Facts #3
I've had this coin in my head for awhile now - and it seemed rather appropriate to post for a Wednesday. It's another of the artefacts from the justifiably famed Tilya Tepe burial-site in northern Afghanistan; a roughly two millennia old set of seven graves that are likely of Scythian origin, rediscovered in 1978. But … Continue reading The “Buddhist” Coin Of Tilya Tepe – Arte-Facts #3
“Einu nafni hétumk aldregi / síz ek með folkum fór” – “By one name I have never been known / since I went among the people”
Earlier this week, one of our associates - who's a good guy, although we don't always agree - put up a thought about comparative Indo-European theology. It included the following: "All IE religions have a sky father, Earth mother and twin Gods. But, that doesn't mean those Gods aren't sovereign entities, uniquely different from … Continue reading “Einu nafni hétumk aldregi / síz ek með folkum fór” – “By one name I have never been known / since I went among the people”
Skanda in Kushan [Afghani Arte-Facts Posting #2]
This Is #GangSteppe - a fine 2nd century AD Kushan depiction of Lord Skanda, from Gandhara in present-day Afghanistan/Pakistan. Something I find pretty cool about this particular rendering, is that the well-known Hindu deity has been presented in a manner that doesn't simply 'update' the features of the representation to be more in-line with Kushan mores and … Continue reading Skanda in Kushan [Afghani Arte-Facts Posting #2]
Interpretatio Steppona
Strange thought that I may do some more work upon: If you've spent pretty much *any time at all* around the field of comparative mythography .... then you'll almost certainly have run into the phrase "Interpretatio Romana". And despite it getting a lot of criticism these days for being .. blatantly not quite accurate, at … Continue reading Interpretatio Steppona
THUNDERSTRUCK – A Brief Comparative of the Weapons of the Striking Son of the Sky Father
"Appropriate for Thursday, - a brief look at the Weapon of the Thunderer/Striker in various Indo-European mythologies. Now, there's quite a bit that could be said and unpacked about the differences between each of these mighty weapons, especially as the cultures in question continued to develop their own mythological corpuses and legendariums over the millennia … Continue reading THUNDERSTRUCK – A Brief Comparative of the Weapons of the Striking Son of the Sky Father
Sky-Earth-Thunder – A Brief Comparative Model of the Divine Family
"Instead of posting a multi-thousand word article, I thought I'd try experiment with a shorter-form word-count chart. This time, a) seeking to briefly express how many Indo-European mythologies record a Sky Father - Earth Mother, Striker/Thunderer familial unit; b) show that Greek/Roman mythology did some ... odd things, that lead to at least two 'layers' … Continue reading Sky-Earth-Thunder – A Brief Comparative Model of the Divine Family
“Beware The Man Of One Book” – A Case-Study In Slavic Secondary Source Over-Reliance
[Disclaimer: We're fully aware that there are a range of sources utilized in the reconstruction of Slavic Indo-European religion; and that there is, indeed, occasionally quite capacious use to be made in such endeavours from the writings of 'outsiders' to the traditions in question, and preservations embedded in later texts. The following is presented … Continue reading “Beware The Man Of One Book” – A Case-Study In Slavic Secondary Source Over-Reliance
On The Indo-European Days Of The Week – An Introduction To The Comparative Mythography Of Arya Akasha
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
arya-akasha 