It is Monday Night - Lord Shiva's Night - And therefore … an evocative modern illustration. It is from a series of such commissioned by the well-known Shaivite monastery in Hawaii. And what is it illustrating ? Well, I would say that it is the suite of verses known from the Yajurveda [TS IV 5 … Continue reading Homage to the Rudras of Horse and Chariot
Cavalry
On Bellerophon – Echoes Of A Coronation Rite And Slayer Of The Demon Of Enclosure ?
Now *this* is interesting - quite a familiar shape, you'll see the various Christian depictions of St George engaged in a spot of dragon-slaying, for instance. However, what's depicted here is Bellerophon (mounted upon Pegasus) slaying the Chimaera, from a floor mosaic on Rhodes, circa 300-270 BC. I am not saying that various much more … Continue reading On Bellerophon – Echoes Of A Coronation Rite And Slayer Of The Demon Of Enclosure ?
‘Nomads’, ‘Murmurers’, & ‘Death-Seekers At the Border’ – Three Further Perspectives On Barbarians Drawn Into The Broader Indo-European Sphere
Following on from our earlier piece looking at 'Barbarian' in Vedic understanding - here are several further examples .. along with broader Indo-European comparanda contextualizing each. Two of these were furnished by the same associate [A.P.] whom I had been discussing with in the excerpt posted earlier. I have not independently tracked them down in … Continue reading ‘Nomads’, ‘Murmurers’, & ‘Death-Seekers At the Border’ – Three Further Perspectives On Barbarians Drawn Into The Broader Indo-European Sphere
ON THE HORSE TWINS – The Savior Sons of the Sky Father [Part 1 – Introductions, Inceptions, And Asvins]
One of the more pervasive, yet perplexing of the elements of the Indo-European mythology must surely be the Heroic Horse-Twins. Whether the Asvins / Nasatyas / Divo Napata of the Vedas, the Dioscuri of the Greeks (Castor & Pollux / Polydeuces), the Asvieniai / Dievo Suneliai of the Lithuianians, or Hengist and Horsa of the … Continue reading ON THE HORSE TWINS – The Savior Sons of the Sky Father [Part 1 – Introductions, Inceptions, And Asvins]
“An Image, Frozen In Time” – What Pazyryk Scythian Tombs Can Tell Us About Our Indo-European Ancestors
This is quite simply one of the most chad-looking images I have seen; a representation of one of the Scythian nobles buried at Pazyryk in the Siberian East, about two and a half thousand years ago. Now, the Pazyryk find itself is quite fascinating - in no small part because the freezing of the site … Continue reading “An Image, Frozen In Time” – What Pazyryk Scythian Tombs Can Tell Us About Our Indo-European Ancestors
Warrior-Women of the Steppe?
'Scythian' female horse archer; broadly representative of a perhaps surprisingly viable typology of the Indo-European folk of the Steppe. In my previous piece on Naga Panchami, I briefly mentioned the flawed speculative etymology of Sauromatai, the Sarmatians - noting that some had sought to suggest it derived from scale-like armour and serpentine standards of this … Continue reading Warrior-Women of the Steppe?
arya-akasha 