I am, it would appear, once again infuriated. This time, by that most frequent of annoyances, Academic Shenaniganry. Specifically pertaining to Lord Shiva. An associate had directed my attention to a recent work by Lubotsky that attempted to set out that a rather large and integral swathe of Vedic religion … was non-Indo-European. And was, … Continue reading No, Śarva, The Archer Theonym Of Rudra, Is Not Of Non-Indo-European Origination
For Guru Purnima – And The True Making Of Heroes
Tonight marks one of the most pervasively resonant of the Hindu religious observances - that of Guru Purnima. It is an occasion wherein we honour, as the name should imply, our Gurus and other Teachers. Those who have so enriched our world through the bestowal of that most precious of gifts - their illumination of … Continue reading For Guru Purnima – And The True Making Of Heroes
A Well Armoured Lord of Prayer – Ganesha
A rather heavily armoured Ganesha depiction; wielding a rather weaponized Svastika and an Ankush (an 'elephant goad', although symbolic of 'control')Art, once again, by Kaizen Moksh. We are reminded, of course, of that prominent Ganesha mantra - the first line of RV II 23, which in its original context had been a Brihaspati hailing: [ … Continue reading A Well Armoured Lord of Prayer – Ganesha
On The Hellenic Propitiation of Sirius Wolf-Zeus In Order To Re-Bestow Life To The Natural World
With a storm sweeping in tonight, bringing much rain and wind, it seems only apt to present the following. This is a slightly reworked excerpt from the Wolves of Rudra piece - one of many elements that, whilst they could not be fitted in to the final version, are nevertheless integrally linked to what we … Continue reading On The Hellenic Propitiation of Sirius Wolf-Zeus In Order To Re-Bestow Life To The Natural World
“You And Whose Army” – Against Claims Of Indo-European Religious Revival Being Somehow ‘Just An Insignificant Fringe’
We have often heard assertions that Germanic (or Hellenic, or various other) revivalist religious efforts are pointless and ought not be taken seriously, due to their having purportedly small numbers of devotees. As if that somehow vitiates the Gods Themselves Faith is not a 'numbers game'. Yet if one insists that to be a relevant … Continue reading “You And Whose Army” – Against Claims Of Indo-European Religious Revival Being Somehow ‘Just An Insignificant Fringe’
Calling Down The Thunder – On The Immanentization Of The Demon-Slaying Divine Voice Through Manifest Action
I'm a great believer. In many things - but in this particular case, well … you'll see what I mean in due course. Earlier this week whilst researching the recent Sacral Cow piece, I happened across the following verse from the Shatapatha Brahmana. And it … resonated with me. Here's the section of text: "14 … Continue reading Calling Down The Thunder – On The Immanentization Of The Demon-Slaying Divine Voice Through Manifest Action
On This Week’s Claims Of Kali Somehow Not Being A Hindu Goddess
There's currently a rather loud contratemps going on in the online Hindusphere over an (Indian) art-film creator's attempt to co-opt Kali. Now, by this I do not really mean the initial photograph which caused all the furore - but rather, the artist's (Leena Manimekalai) frankly bizarre claims in reply to criticism she'd received for how she'd … Continue reading On This Week’s Claims Of Kali Somehow Not Being A Hindu Goddess
No, Fjörgyn Does Not Descend From Perkwunos – It’s Literally The Other Way Around
In the wake of discussion spurred up by that … curious assertion from a popular (neo-)pagan youtuber about two Nordic deifics allegedly having 'swapped genders' and this being demonstrable via linguistics - we encountered a comment asking if Fjörgyn might be something like this, predicated upon the often-encountered notion of Fjorgyn being somehow linguistically descended from … Continue reading No, Fjörgyn Does Not Descend From Perkwunos – It’s Literally The Other Way Around
The Sacrifice to the Fourteen Gods of Tripura of the Enemies of that State
To provide some measure of context: at the time, Bengal was significantly under Muslim (and, indeed, Afghan - Pathan) domination, in the form of the Bengal Sultanate. Tripura had been a vassal-state - although not long afore this incident had occurred, Tripura had begun to throw off the foreign yoke in earnest (and more upon … Continue reading The Sacrifice to the Fourteen Gods of Tripura of the Enemies of that State
Sacral Or Sacrificial ? Interrogating The Position Of The Cosmic Cow Within The Reconstructive Efforts Of The Proto-Indo-European Mythos
It is Wednesday - Woden's Day. And therefore, a particular exploration of a Myth most pertinent to He. That of Auðumbla - the Great Cow. More specifically, how this links to a speculative archaic Proto-Indo-European cosmogonical myth. Or, rather, how it doesn't link to the rather annoyingly pervasive very particular effort at a "reconstruction" I have in … Continue reading Sacral Or Sacrificial ? Interrogating The Position Of The Cosmic Cow Within The Reconstructive Efforts Of The Proto-Indo-European Mythos