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

Prayer As Petitioning – A Lesson In Piety From ‘The GodsFather’

The conception many people have of 'Prayer' is that it constitutes of 'asking' - often for things that might be thought of as 'for personal gain', or for the assistance of others. Now, as we've recently discussed, there's quite a bit more to prayer than that, and effectively the broad meaning to the concept is … Continue reading Prayer As Petitioning – A Lesson In Piety From ‘The GodsFather’

On Indo-European Solar Warfare – An Over-View

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

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 Empress And The Fire God – Beautiful Newari Art And The Durga Suktam

Very, very cool ! On the left, is Maheshvari (Devi) - on the right, Agni. Now, it might at first seem a little curious - we are used to thinking of Agni as a 'two-faced' figure in the iconography. Yet in a way … These depictions are, quite literally, two sides of the same artwork. … Continue reading The Divine Empress And The Fire God – Beautiful Newari Art And The Durga Suktam

Of Goddesses, Gods, and Ghosts at the Crossroads – A Comparative Indo-European Exploration

It fascinates me how our various Indo-European religions 'interlock'. Both in terms of the way that the same (or highly similar) elements co-occur in recognizable format across various of these, even separated by millennia or many thousands of kilometers; yet also in the way that a fulsome understanding of one can help to 'unlock' the … Continue reading Of Goddesses, Gods, and Ghosts at the Crossroads – A Comparative Indo-European Exploration

Subsequent Comments On Sky Father Theonymy – The Baltic And Luwian Situations Briefly Considered

One of the more … frequently referred to articles we've got up upon the site is the piece discussing that lamentably frequently recurrent claim about Tyr somehow being the 'original' Germanic Sky Father, displaced subsequently by Odin. You can take a read of that here: https://aryaakasha.com/2020/07/22/dyaus-deva-deus-tyr-many-gods-one-sky-father/ Now, a few days ago we had a comment … Continue reading Subsequent Comments On Sky Father Theonymy – The Baltic And Luwian Situations Briefly Considered

Dyaus Inter Alia – On The Sky Father’s Major Theonym And The Relative (In-)Frequency Of Its Occurrence Across Various Indo-European Spheres

Something a perspicacious associate [O.R.] observed is that even though each Indo-European mythic sphere may have its Sky Father deific in prominent pride of place … it is only amidst the Hellenic and Roman perspectives that we actually find 'Dyaus Pitar' (or, if we are being properly PIE : *Dyḗus ph₂tḗr) theonymics in prominent usage and … Continue reading Dyaus Inter Alia – On The Sky Father’s Major Theonym And The Relative (In-)Frequency Of Its Occurrence Across Various Indo-European Spheres