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
Homeric Hymn
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
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
On The Hair Colouration Of Greek Gods
Recently, we had seen a comment that read the following: "Even though the vast population of Greeks were brunettes, their gods were always blond." Now, this fine mosaic depicting Poseidon and Amphitrite is, in fact, a Roman one from the 300s AD - but one shall, perhaps, immediately observe Poseidon's rather impressive blue hair. Indeed, … Continue reading On The Hair Colouration Of Greek Gods
Kushmanda for Chaitra Navratri – The Power of the Sun
The Fourth Night of #NavRatri is dedicated to Ma as Kushmanda - which I have figuratively chosen to render as 'the Power of the Sun'. In essence, the reason that the Sun is ... well ... the Sun - rather than some abstract 'ball of flaming gas', or even simply an inanimate, lifeless object, is … Continue reading Kushmanda for Chaitra Navratri – The Power of the Sun
Adoption By A Divine Mother
It is a Friday - and therefore it is, of course, Devi's Day. I was sent this quote by an associate - and immediately felt compelled to go off and look it up in its original context [Symbols of Transformation : Two, in case you were wondering]. And upon viewing the passage (and a great … Continue reading Adoption By A Divine Mother
Hestia & Vak – The Voice In The Flame Of The Goddess At The Center Of Indo-European Faith !
Over and over again, we are told that prominent Goddess figures are somehow 'foreign' to the Indo-European world - that these 'have' to have been picked up from various non-IE groups, and in any case 'must' be merely peripheral to the actual Indo-European religions, much less the archaic Proto-Indo-European belief from which it all descends. … Continue reading Hestia & Vak – The Voice In The Flame Of The Goddess At The Center Of Indo-European Faith !
The Sieger Of Forts And The Slayer Of Dragons – Several Athena Hailings & Durga Comparatively Considered
Two of the most prominent Goddess facings for the Indo-European world would have to be Durga and Pallas Athena. I have written extensively elsewhere as to various vital coterminities between Their respective theologies - however something occurred to me recently that has as-yet lain unaddressed. A similarity of these theonyms - 'Durga', and 'Pallas'. For … Continue reading The Sieger Of Forts And The Slayer Of Dragons – Several Athena Hailings & Durga Comparatively Considered
Mercury The Dog-Headed
It is Wednesday … and it's also November. So therefore, here's Mercury, heralding November. For Dies Mercurii, you understand. Now there's something a bit different about this depiction - the fact that Mercury is, here, a cynocephal … a 'dog-headed' figure (which I suppose would render the apt Old Norse translation for 'Cynocephalic' as 'Ulfhednar'). … Continue reading Mercury The Dog-Headed
The Birth Of Athena – On The Indo-European Genesis Of Tritogeneia
Earlier this week I encountered something which has, by now, become regrettably familiar to me - although this did not dull my rage at its ridiculous (re-)appearance. Somebody proclaiming that Athena - in amidst a veritable 'Who's Who' of the Greek pantheon - was part of a clade of "certain mythological stories or deities that … Continue reading The Birth Of Athena – On The Indo-European Genesis Of Tritogeneia