As we'd noted towards the outset of Part One, the Scythian religion is endlessly, fascinatingly frustrating. We know so little - and yet we can seemingly 'piece together' a few elements from the scant textual (and usually virtually third hand) viewpoints of their faith that have come down to us from Antiquity. One figure in … Continue reading In Search Of Scythian Ares – Part Two : The Swords Of The Sky Father
Axis Mundi
Dakshinamurti – Lord Shiva As Teacher Of The Wise And Righteous
A fine illustration of Lord Shiva as Dakshinamurti - Now, as one can tell immediately by looking, this is a form of Shiva that is particularly prominent for knowledge-giving, insight and instruction. Hence we have one of the hands bearing a sheaf of sacred texts; and hence we also have the mala of beads with … Continue reading Dakshinamurti – Lord Shiva As Teacher Of The Wise And Righteous
The Spirits Of Ash And Fury – A RUDRAGANIKA Resonancy
It is Monday - Lord Rudra's Day - And therefore … absolutely amazing illustration by HC to further accompany our RUDRAGANIKA work looking at His Female Retinue. What we have hailed here as the Rudraganika we also find encounterable amidst the other and more westerly Indo-European spheres - as the Maenad (or the Meliae, etc.), … Continue reading The Spirits Of Ash And Fury – A RUDRAGANIKA Resonancy
The Indo-European ShivLing – Some Brief Comparative Points [Arya Akasha Arka]
Literally the same Deity. Rudra (Shiva) & Odin. To this, if we were really going to get into it, we would also be adding an array of other stone or wood focal points for worship of the Sky Father deific, found throughout the Indo-European sphere. Indeed, not just 'focal points' in the sense of altar-stones … Continue reading The Indo-European ShivLing – Some Brief Comparative Points [Arya Akasha Arka]
The Spirits Of Ash, Milk, & Honey – A RUDRAGANIKA Excerpt
An excerpt from my recent RUDRAGANIKA (A)Arti-cle looking at the Female Retinue of the Indo-European Sky Father - in this piece, uncovering the remarkable concordancy of elements concerning members of this Retinue as tenders to the Axis Mundi, the World Tree or Sthambha. This is particularly oriented toward the Ash Nymphs, although also links into … Continue reading The Spirits Of Ash, Milk, & Honey – A RUDRAGANIKA Excerpt
Shailaputri for Chaitra Navratri – Daughter of the Mountain
The First Night of #NavRatri is dedicated to Ma as Shailaputri - the Daughter of the Mountain. In English, 'Daughter of the Mountain' would be quite a frequent hailing for Devi - 'Girija' [i.e. Giri - Mountain, plus Ja - 'born from'], and even 'Parvati' may be translated in such a manner ['Parvata' - Mountain; … Continue reading Shailaputri for Chaitra Navratri – Daughter of the Mountain
In Honour Of The BanaLingam Upon The Occasion Of Its Arrival – The Living Altar Of Narmada That Is Shakti & Shiva Rightfully Conjoined
We have attained the BanaLinga ! Yet what is this mighty stone, inset within a shining Yoni of Silver ? The easiest way to explicate it is to start with the very basic and work our way up from there. At its core, a ShivLing is an 'aniconic' embodiment of the Lord Shiva. It may also … Continue reading In Honour Of The BanaLingam Upon The Occasion Of Its Arrival – The Living Altar Of Narmada That Is Shakti & Shiva Rightfully Conjoined
Deific On Horseback With Two Ravens From Central Asia
Another votive panel from the Khotanese Saka (Scythians) at Dandan Oilik in the Taklamakan. Now there are a few points of interest here. Obviously, one of these is the fine horseman figure on the right of the image. He's a direct resonancy with the similar figure I wrote about yesterday - tentatively identifiable as a … Continue reading Deific On Horseback With Two Ravens From Central Asia
On The Tocharian-Sourced Indo-European Toponymy For The Qilian Shan – And Associated Mytho-Linguistic Elements Running Right The Way Up To Kailash
For the past few days, I have been looking once more at Indo-Europeans in Central Asia - and even proximate to China. It is quite remarkable what there is out there, even if much of it has been forgotten or elsewise obscurated via the ravages of time. Now, these days the Qilian Shan refer to … Continue reading On The Tocharian-Sourced Indo-European Toponymy For The Qilian Shan – And Associated Mytho-Linguistic Elements Running Right The Way Up To Kailash
Artemis Orthia – The Inescapable Indo-European Goddess Of Cosmic Law ‘Midst The Mediterranean : Part Two – Tracking the Skeins of Fate Via The Golden Bowstring
A particularly intriguing resonance is pointed via Artemis' Χρυσηλακατος ('Khryselakatos' - 'of the Golden Distaff'), for whilst we are not accustomed in the mythology to perceiving Artemis as engaged in such a 'housewife' and literally 'economic' role … this is not exactly what is meant via the term in specific application to Her. The notion of … Continue reading Artemis Orthia – The Inescapable Indo-European Goddess Of Cosmic Law ‘Midst The Mediterranean : Part Two – Tracking the Skeins of Fate Via The Golden Bowstring
arya-akasha 