This week just gone marked Diwali (Deepavali) - the rather aptly translated 'Festival of Lights'. Which, as seemingly every once-over-lightly-for-a-Western-audience writeup seeks to swiftly remind us, exalts the 'Victory of Light over Darkness". It's a simple enough concept - and has near-infinite potential saliency (c.f., for instance the Solar Eclipse occurring in Svati immediately the … Continue reading On Indo-European Solar Warfare – An Over-View
Devi
A Short Passage From The Skanda Purana – On The Great Power In Some Seeming-Small Things
“Do not disregard contemptuously the state of being a small infant. Even an infant serpent causes distress and strain. Even the young (rising) sun is very difficult to look at directly. Even a small fire is very difficult to be touched. A Mantra consists of very few letters. But is it not found effective and … Continue reading A Short Passage From The Skanda Purana – On The Great Power In Some Seeming-Small Things
Devi Athena Arms The Warrior Of The Divine
It's Friday - Devi's Day And so, therefore, a fine sculpted depiction from the series of Classically inspired works by Karl Heinrich Möller that adorn the Schlossbrücke in Berlin. In this case, 'Athena Arms The Warrior' ('Athena bewaffnet den Krieger') - which we would consider to be an expression of a typology prominent not only … Continue reading Devi Athena Arms The Warrior Of The Divine
On Indo-European Divine Refraction
Last week, we ran a post in reaction to yet another wave of Very Online Christian Triumphalism about Zeus having long ago been 'replaced' as the major deity worshipped in the Greek sphere. We pointed out that as Zeus Pater = Jupiter = Dyaus Pitar, with Dyaus Pitar quite directly (and in Shruti) being hailed … Continue reading On Indo-European Divine Refraction
Encountering The Great Hunter In The Wild – And Receiving His Arrow
Here's two depictions of a most particular encounter between Arjuna and … a certain Hunter (and His Wife), in the course of the Mahabharata. First, an illustration by Shobha Rajagopalan. This depicts both Arjuna and the Kirata (Who should be looking pretty familiar) engaged in the hunting of a (demonic) Boar. Now, of course, the … Continue reading Encountering The Great Hunter In The Wild – And Receiving His Arrow
The Fetters Of Fire And The Direction of the Dead – Agni-Rudra (And Ambika) Anchoring At The Cross-Paths[Of Goddesses, Gods, and Ghosts at the Crossroads – A Comparative Indo-European Exploration – Extract 4]
Let's take a look at some relevant scripture. Which, handily, we've already quoted above. But, to refresh our (collective) (unconscious or) memory: "7 Having removed all (the cakes from the potsherds) into one dish, and taken a fire-brand from the Dakshina-fire, he walks aside towards the North—for that is the region of that God—and offers. … Continue reading The Fetters Of Fire And The Direction of the Dead – Agni-Rudra (And Ambika) Anchoring At The Cross-Paths[Of Goddesses, Gods, and Ghosts at the Crossroads – A Comparative Indo-European Exploration – Extract 4]
A People Of Ash And Fury – On The Divinely Arboreal Genesis Of The Indo-Europeans
In recent days, our attention had been drawn to a most remarkable occurrence within the Þorleifs þáttr jarlaskálds wherein, as our learned associate, Gottfried Yann Karlssohn (who had drawn our attention to it in the first place) had phrased it - we find "a Norse king using incantations to animate a trémaðr (treeman), giving him a … Continue reading A People Of Ash And Fury – On The Divinely Arboreal Genesis Of The Indo-Europeans
A Combat Of Piety – Lord Rama’s Averted Eye Sacrifice To Devi For Victory And Its Vedic Antecedents
To explain what's going on here - this is a Ramayana episode of particular significance to us in relation to #NavRatri and its apex. Although the occurrence in question is drawn from other sources than the familiar Valmiki Ramayana. It illustrates a particular ritual observance hailed within the realm of Myth (and which I believe … Continue reading A Combat Of Piety – Lord Rama’s Averted Eye Sacrifice To Devi For Victory And Its Vedic Antecedents
The Divine Invocation Of The War Goddess – Katyayani Prayed To For Victory By The Gods
Illustration: 'Rama’s Sharadiya Durga Puja' - Ratan Acharya Something that I feel deserves greater prominence when we speak of Indo-European theology - is the fact that Our Gods Have Gods. Or, more pointedly - Goddess. This isn't just a Hindu thing. It is also encountered - at least, inferentially - in the Hellenic sphere. There, … Continue reading The Divine Invocation Of The War Goddess – Katyayani Prayed To For Victory By The Gods
Reunification Via Moonlight – The Sacred Saliency Of Chandraghanta’s Night Amidst NavRatri
Devi-otional (A)Art(I) posting for Chandraghanta and Her Night amidst the #NavRatri cycle. I've often focused, in the image-postings to go with the occasion, upon the more violent side to ChandraGhanta - "Ultra-Violent Light", as I've previously coined the term [as it's also the light that illuminates that which is hidden - great way, also, to … Continue reading Reunification Via Moonlight – The Sacred Saliency Of Chandraghanta’s Night Amidst NavRatri