The 6th of April marks the Anniversary of Arya Akasha - both of the Research Institute's founding proper, in 2016, as well as our successfully taking things 'public' upon this date some two years later. Now, when we have observed this occasion in the past, it has been an incandescent illustration of Agni with which … Continue reading The Anniversary Of Arya Akasha – And Our Purpose
Living Flame
The ‘Golden Hair’ Of Indra – The Reality To An Oft-Cited RigVedic Verse
I've seen this RigVedic verse - RV X 96 8 - come up several times in the past few weeks; quoted (in English only) by persons seemingly looking to assert that Indra was purportedly in possession of both hair and beard of blond, in the manner of some rather particular stereotype of Northern European (or, … Continue reading The ‘Golden Hair’ Of Indra – The Reality To An Oft-Cited RigVedic Verse
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]
The Kali Puja Contribution Of Our More Westerly Co-Religionists
Ten days ago - Nine Nights - Arya Akasha undertook a combined operation for Kali Puja. As the name for the occasion should appear to suggest, this was oriented toward the worship for Kali. And I have already shared some limited photography pertaining to the major 'fulcrum' Rite centered in a Smashana in West Bengal … Continue reading The Kali Puja Contribution Of Our More Westerly Co-Religionists
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]
Indo-European Religious Resurrection – Not The Denial, But The Furtherance, Of History’s Flow
We had recently had a comment on facebook, on a post of some pertinence in relation to a modern-day Classical religious revival, that read as the following: Now, because it may be of a more general interest (at least, a more general resonancy), I felt I might reproduce some of my reply here:Begins: I cannot … Continue reading Indo-European Religious Resurrection – Not The Denial, But The Furtherance, Of History’s Flow
For Pratyangira – Roaring Goddess of the Counter-Fire
A murti of the fearsome Goddess[-form], Pratyangira - a theonymic we would be tempted to translate as "Return Fire!" She is regarded as Goddess of the Atharva Veda via Atharvana Bhadrakali - and also linked to Kali through the Narasimhika ('Heroic Lioness' / 'Lion-(Wo)Man') encountered in the Sri Kalika Sahasranama stotram of MahaKalaBhairava : and … Continue reading For Pratyangira – Roaring Goddess of the Counter-Fire
Adorned By The Mantle Of Fire And The Masque Of Death
A fitting image, we had felt, to resonate with a figure encountered at various points in our work over this past year, and that we might perhaps think of as something of a 'Para-Kali' or even 'Proto-Kali' (and, of course, Chandika / Chamunda, and Durga, are also heavily in-mind here for reasons that ought prove … Continue reading Adorned By The Mantle Of Fire And The Masque Of Death
The Fetters Of Fire And The Direction of the Dead – Agni-Rudra (And Ambika) Anchoring At The Cross-Paths[Of Goddesses, Gods, and Ghosts at the Crossroads – A Comparative Indo-European Exploration – Extract 4]
Let's take a look at some relevant scripture. Which, handily, we've already quoted above. But, to refresh our (collective) (unconscious or) memory: "7 Having removed all (the cakes from the potsherds) into one dish, and taken a fire-brand from the Dakshina-fire, he walks aside towards the North—for that is the region of that God—and offers. … Continue reading The Fetters Of Fire And The Direction of the Dead – Agni-Rudra (And Ambika) Anchoring At The Cross-Paths[Of Goddesses, Gods, and Ghosts at the Crossroads – A Comparative Indo-European Exploration – Extract 4]
arya-akasha 