We had earlier received a question as to the iconography of the Gigantes of Classical myth - more specifically, what was up with the Serpents they so prominently feature instead of legs in an array of renderings. And, because it's a very, very cool illustration for the concept - here's a beautiful 2nd-3rd Century (BC) … Continue reading On The Symbolism Of The Gigantes & Gigantomachy [Part One: He Shall Tread]
Indo-European Religion
Why We Offer To The Gods [Part One: The Integral Performance]
It is occasionally intriguing how various elements 'turn up'. I had been looking for a particular quotation on an unrelated matter (from G.K. Chesterton, as it happens), and had somehow happened across the following passages from Lucian's "Zeus Tragoedus" (Ζεὺς Τραγῳδός) (often translated somewhat loosely as "Zeus Rants"). And, at just about the same time, … Continue reading Why We Offer To The Gods [Part One: The Integral Performance]
Tveggi – Dyaus Dualis [Part I]
The Indo-European Sky Father is a God of Masques. Many of these are, upon the surface, quite clearly culturally specific - panoplies best-befitting for a particular Indo-European people's individuated circumstances, environs, and heritage. Yet when considered in constellation alongside their correlate co-expressions amidst other Indo-European groups, potent underpinning patternings often begin to shine through. In … Continue reading Tveggi – Dyaus Dualis [Part I]
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
Grim Waters, Vedic & Eddic – The Death-Visaged Wife Of The Sky Father In Nordic Expression I [The Indo-European Propitiation Of Persephone-Kali – Part Five]
Yet what of Persephone 'midst the North? Where might *She* be found? And, for that matter - with the Rivers (of the Underworld), the Water(s) as Pathways toward the Goddess and Cosmic Order within the context as to those Indo-European cultures in or about the Mediterranean ... where might the portals of liminal immersion lead … Continue reading Grim Waters, Vedic & Eddic – The Death-Visaged Wife Of The Sky Father In Nordic Expression I [The Indo-European Propitiation Of Persephone-Kali – Part Five]
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…]
A Slightly Belated Beltane Commentary (With Additional Slavic Comparanda)
Every year, we try and have (A)Arti-cles ready for the major days of the Indo-European religious calendars. Some years, we do better than others. Other years - a delay turns out to be a blessing in disguise. So it may be viz. Beltane. For we had just in the past few hours happened across postings … Continue reading A Slightly Belated Beltane Commentary (With Additional Slavic Comparanda)
Prayer – An Engagement With The Divine
Prayer has to be simultaneously both one of the single most important and yet single most misapprehended elements to our faith(s). We are genuinely surprised at how frequently we seem to come across a vocal belief that there's something somehow inherently 'wrong' or 'alien' to prayer in an Indo-European (and usually rather specifically, a Germanic) … Continue reading Prayer – An Engagement With The Divine
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
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