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
Jupiter
The Kouretes And The Rudras
Beautiful rendition of the Kouretes (Curetes) carrying out Their Dance about the newborn youthful Zeus (the infant at the base - there's a tripartite Thunderbolt behind Him also). Their Dance with its noise was undertaken to shield Zeus from Kronos - It was a … Safety Dance Now, I didn't just post this in order … Continue reading The Kouretes And The Rudras
The Thunderbolt (And Storm Shield) Of Athena – A Brief Compilation
Recently, we'd had somebody write in via the site with relation to the 'Storm' characteristic in association with Athena. It's something which one should think would enjoy more prominence in the perception as to the Goddess - but despite various attestations from around the Classical legendaria, as well as the strong implicit sense to such a prospect … Continue reading The Thunderbolt (And Storm Shield) Of Athena – A Brief Compilation
Arya Akasha on the Kumbh Mela in Indian Print Media
This was pretty cool. I'd received invitation to write something upon the present Kumbh Mela observance for a print-media publication in India.I received back the print-preview on Sunday, and it was quite an honour to see names you may have heard of such as Yogi Adityanath, and representatives of organizations like the BJP and RSS, … Continue reading Arya Akasha on the Kumbh Mela in Indian Print Media
Why We Offer To The Gods [Part Three: I Bring The Fire]
In our previous installments, we had sought to extoll two key elements. For the first - some brief textual attestations of Roman and Vedic provenance for the concept of the Gods being actively supported ("subsist[ing]", as one translated section had it) through our offerings to Them through the proper rites. Which is, of course, a … Continue reading Why We Offer To The Gods [Part Three: I Bring The Fire]
Why We Offer To The Gods [Part Two: Irrigating The Worlds With Blood-Dimmed Tide]
As you can see there from the title, our intent with these linked pieces has been to take a look at one of the more foundational questions to the Indo-European theology. Namely, why it is that we carry out rites of sacrifice and offering to the Gods in the first place. I suspect that for … Continue reading Why We Offer To The Gods [Part Two: Irrigating The Worlds With Blood-Dimmed Tide]
On The Symbolism Of The Gigantes & Gigantomachy [Part One: He Shall Tread]
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]
Dawn & Dyaus
I'd recently been tagged in a post commenting upon the (Proto-)Indo-European Dawn Goddess [said deific underpinning the Hellenic figure of Eos - beautifully rendered here by Yliade], which had borne the following line: "She was probably the child of the Dyēus Phter, the Sky-Father ." And, me being me, this precipitated a rather … extended … Continue reading Dawn & Dyaus
Lycaon – Classical Corroborations Contra the Calumny of Clement of Alexandria Against Zeus
Urgh. I know I've said it before … but some of these early-ish Christian 'Against The Pagans' efforts really do rather annoy me. Why? Because they're often pretty uh .. 'bad faith'. Tonight's example? Clement of Alexandria in his Protrepticus ('Exhortation', 'Urging' 'Pro-Turning/Converting'): "Jupiter himself, when the of Lycaon the Arcadian, partook of a human … Continue reading Lycaon – Classical Corroborations Contra the Calumny of Clement of Alexandria Against Zeus
Further Points Upon The ‘Refraction’ Of The Sky Father – With Particular Emphasis Upon Zeus, Hades, Poseidon
I should clarify that I'm not posting this with an intent of having a go at the gentleman who'd raised the counterclaim (hence, in part, why I've anonymized his comment in the cap below) - but rather, because various of the elements in my reply might be of a broader interest (the situation as to … Continue reading Further Points Upon The ‘Refraction’ Of The Sky Father – With Particular Emphasis Upon Zeus, Hades, Poseidon
arya-akasha 