Latin materials speak of 'Divine Crows' [Corniscae Divae - Allen has this as "Crow-Goddesses", even] which are of Juno; Festus' Epitome [56L] relates: "Corniscarum Divarum locus erat trans Tiberim cornicibus dicatus, quod in Junonis tutela esse putabatur", with this being often cited in accompaniment of an engimatic inscriptional "DEVAS CoRNISCAS SACRVM". This, whilst lesser-known today, … Continue reading The Crows of Juno
Human Sacrifice
On The ‘Interpretatio Germanica’ Of Odin
In the dying days for the past year, we had yet another brew-up of that perennial comparative IE misapprehension that we can succinctly surmise as "Jupiter is Thor", with a side-order of "because Tacitus said so". Now, as it should happen, Tacitus in fact said no such thing (and indeed, it's the Hercules that Tacitus … Continue reading On The ‘Interpretatio Germanica’ Of Odin
On Ritual Substitution And Traditional Offerings [Part Two: When In Rome…]
Practicing an Indo-European religion amidst the Modern Age is no easy thing. One seems endlessly caught between the twin considerations of 'Authenticity' contrasted with 'Accessibility'. The former correlates to the quite righteous desire to 'do things properly' (and so they actually work) - customarily by seeking to follow reasonably closely within the foot-tracks of one's … Continue reading On Ritual Substitution And Traditional Offerings [Part Two: When In Rome…]
On The Funeral Of A Germanic Chieftain Of The Rus Compared With Sati
Recently, we were asked to weigh in upon an interesting point of comparanda - namely, whether the immolation of a Germanic chieftain of the Rus constituted a parallel with the much-hyped (and rather correctly criticized) custom of 'Sati'. As it may prove of a more general interest, here we present a slightly edited rendition of … Continue reading On The Funeral Of A Germanic Chieftain Of The Rus Compared With Sati
On Ritual Substitution And Traditional Offerings [Part One: Understandings In Essence]
Wherever we encounter people looking to engage with Indo-European religions - seemingly, no matter whether it's 'revivalist', or the still-living since ancient times sort … there's fairly inevitably some kind of brew-up claiming that something somebody's doing is somehow 'inauthentic' - often accompanied by demands that everybody "RETURN TO TRADITION" … … with the "TRADITION" in question … Continue reading On Ritual Substitution And Traditional Offerings [Part One: Understandings In Essence]
‘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
Crossing Paths With Mania And The Lares – An Indo-European Examination Of The Roman Observance Of the Compitalia Part One: The Roman Recollection As To The Archaic Relevancy For The Rite
Some days after Saturnalia [ostensibly January 3rd], we find ourselves at the 'Compitalia' - the Observance of the Crossroads (Compita) dedicated to the Lares … and also to the formidable Goddess, Mania. And for this occasion, we shall endeavour to delve into the Indo-European origination and broader comparative co-expressions for both the Observance and its propitiated … Continue reading Crossing Paths With Mania And The Lares – An Indo-European Examination Of The Roman Observance Of the Compitalia Part One: The Roman Recollection As To The Archaic Relevancy For The Rite
On Prayer – An Indo-European Commentary Upon Purported Germanic ‘God-Bothering’ With Same
Recently, our attention was drawn to a post from a "Reconstructionist Germanic Heathenry" page which made some claims about prayer that we feel deserve a bit of a closer look. The post itself had been taking aim at "Christian Baggage" in Germanic revivalist adherents - and had singled out … well, we'll quote for you: … Continue reading On Prayer – An Indo-European Commentary Upon Purported Germanic ‘God-Bothering’ With Same
In Search Of Scythian Ares – Part Two : The Swords Of The Sky Father
As we'd noted towards the outset of Part One, the Scythian religion is endlessly, fascinatingly frustrating. We know so little - and yet we can seemingly 'piece together' a few elements from the scant textual (and usually virtually third hand) viewpoints of their faith that have come down to us from Antiquity. One figure in … Continue reading In Search Of Scythian Ares – Part Two : The Swords Of The Sky Father
The Sacrifice to the Fourteen Gods of Tripura of the Enemies of that State
To provide some measure of context: at the time, Bengal was significantly under Muslim (and, indeed, Afghan - Pathan) domination, in the form of the Bengal Sultanate. Tripura had been a vassal-state - although not long afore this incident had occurred, Tripura had begun to throw off the foreign yoke in earnest (and more upon … Continue reading The Sacrifice to the Fourteen Gods of Tripura of the Enemies of that State
arya-akasha 