I had posted the scriptural excerpt above (as translated by Manasataramgini) with the accompanying brief comment, for Kaal Bhairava Jayanti last year. With it having been upon a Tuesday Night this time around - and therefore, a Wednesday Morning Dawn … it seems perhaps apt to contemplate an evident Germanic correlate for the mythic occurance … Continue reading The Glorious Re-Ascent Of Rudra-Odin
Daksha
‘For Want Of A Horse’ – On The Proper Perspective Upon Ritual Offerings And Why The ‘Asva’ Of ‘Asvamedha’ Is Held To Be Necessary As Same
Over the weekend, we had received a question from a reader as to the reasoning underpinning the Asvamedha - the Horse Sacrifice. Specifically, why would one offer a horse given the high value of such a creature in the late Bronze Age / early Iron Age milieu. Now, several people proffered suggestions as to the answer here, … Continue reading ‘For Want Of A Horse’ – On The Proper Perspective Upon Ritual Offerings And Why The ‘Asva’ Of ‘Asvamedha’ Is Held To Be Necessary As Same
Rohini – A Re-Examination Of The Red Goddess And Rudra
This morning marks an astrological transit - that of Mangala (Mars) into Rohini. Now, to explain a bit about this in terms that will, perhaps, be a bit more familiar - Rohini is a Nakshatra, a (lunar) star sign; and it is correlate with what, in Western terms, would be identified with Aldebaran or Alpha … Continue reading Rohini – A Re-Examination Of The Red Goddess And Rudra
Rudra By Day, Rudra By Night – Countering Claims Of The Terrific God Being Somehow ‘Marginal’ Based Upon Spurious Vedic Non-Comprehension
Every so often, we run into some comment - whether on social media or in amidst academia - that is … useful, as a teachable moment for what not to do. And applicable in its general principle to a span far broader (and more persistent) than the individual exemplar that we'd run into. Often because … Continue reading Rudra By Day, Rudra By Night – Countering Claims Of The Terrific God Being Somehow ‘Marginal’ Based Upon Spurious Vedic Non-Comprehension
No, Sacrifice Hasn’t Ended – A Response To A Case Of Insistently Myth-Taken Myth-Interpretation
We had recently had this passage from a work of the Italian writer, Roberto Calasso, thrust against us by somebody attempting to make a theological argument of sorts. This is infuriating. And not least because in the preceding paragraphs, Calasso does indeed write rather well - stylistically, at any rate. His command of content is … Continue reading No, Sacrifice Hasn’t Ended – A Response To A Case Of Insistently Myth-Taken Myth-Interpretation
Of Artemis And Actaeon, The Wolf As Defender Of The Goddess – A Forensic Theology Examination Of A Classical Myth In The Vedas And In The Stars
Many are aware of the broad outlines of the Classical instance of Artemis having Actaeon put to death. Roughly speaking - Actaeon commits an outrage against the Goddess's modesty, and so is turned into a deer and torn to pieces by his own hunting dogs. What few realize is that this particular story is also … Continue reading Of Artemis And Actaeon, The Wolf As Defender Of The Goddess – A Forensic Theology Examination Of A Classical Myth In The Vedas And In The Stars
The Indo-European Cosmology – A Brief Guided Tour : Part One – Ritual Space And The Radiating Law
Two areas I have long intended to direct more effort towards extolling - are Indo-European Cosmology and Ritual. Both are fascinating, and as it happens, quite fundamentally coterminous much of the time. However, they're also both huge - and so instead of a series of five-to-fifty-thousand wor(l)d plus megaliths, I thought I'd try something a … Continue reading The Indo-European Cosmology – A Brief Guided Tour : Part One – Ritual Space And The Radiating Law
Ghora – Gorgos – Yggr – The Terrifying Face of Thunder
Ghora - Gorgos - Yggr Three names, Three faces, Three qualities .. That are actually one and the same. The Terrifying Face of the Sky Father; in Sanskrit, Ancient Greek, and Old Norse respectively. But what do they mean in each of their original contexts? And how can we tell that these are, indeed, the … Continue reading Ghora – Gorgos – Yggr – The Terrifying Face of Thunder
MahaShivRatri And The Mytholinguistics Of War [Part 3] – The Mind, The Mania, The Manyu
[Author's Note: It is said that some efforts take on a 'mind of their own'. While this was initially intended as the third part to our MythoLinguistics of War series, with a focus more narrowly upon the strong saliency of Indo-European concepts of "Mind" and 'Spirit' with those of Warfare - as the writing progressed, … Continue reading MahaShivRatri And The Mytholinguistics Of War [Part 3] – The Mind, The Mania, The Manyu
Hades as Gaurivara, Persephone as Gauri
SHIVA-AS-YAMA, SHIVA-AS-KAAL, bearing a most Gauri bride indeed. Monday Devotional (A)Art(I) Posting! Now, technically speaking, this is actually a depiction of Hades & Persephone by Ulpiano Checa, circa 1888 [the painting, I mean, not when They were depicted]. However, not only do we have reasonable strength of analysis to make a strong linkage between Hades … Continue reading Hades as Gaurivara, Persephone as Gauri