As we have often noted, the prevalent mythic perception of the Serpent amidst the minds of many is that of a demonic antagonist - and a male one, at that. There are solid reasons for this, of course: foremost among these is the Judeo-Christian baseline many of tend to operate under, where a certain serpent … Continue reading THE QUEEN OF SERPENTS – THE SERPENTINE FIGURE OF THE INDO-EUROPEAN EARTH MOTHER
Odin
The Shooting Goddess Of Order And Growth – The War-Effort Of The Natural World [An Extract from ‘The Queen of Serpents – The Serpentine Figure Of The Indo-European Earth Mother’]
The term - and, indeed, theonym - in question is 'Hora', best known in its plural formulation - 'Horae' (from the same root as modern English 'Hour', 'Year', etc.). In Greek usage, this refers to a set of Goddesses Who both regulate the passing of the seasons and various elements of righteous conduct - in … Continue reading The Shooting Goddess Of Order And Growth – The War-Effort Of The Natural World [An Extract from ‘The Queen of Serpents – The Serpentine Figure Of The Indo-European Earth Mother’]
On Odin Brihaspati As Song-Smith – The Sung Seizing Of The Wealth Of Cows
The Nordic textual corpus is a frustrating, glinting thing. So often we glance across a passage therein which evidently speaks to something that is evidently far deeper in meaning than what is written there upon the page … and yet which the ravages of time and obscurity mean that we now cannot feasibly interpret except … Continue reading On Odin Brihaspati As Song-Smith – The Sung Seizing Of The Wealth Of Cows
The Indo-European Cosmology – A Brief Guided Tour : Part One – Ritual Space And The Radiating Law
Two areas I have long intended to direct more effort towards extolling - are Indo-European Cosmology and Ritual. Both are fascinating, and as it happens, quite fundamentally coterminous much of the time. However, they're also both huge - and so instead of a series of five-to-fifty-thousand wor(l)d plus megaliths, I thought I'd try something a … Continue reading The Indo-European Cosmology – A Brief Guided Tour : Part One – Ritual Space And The Radiating Law
On The Crown Of Crows And The Regality Of Ravens – A Restoration And Re-Explication Of Their Incredible Indo-European Symbolic Saliency
One of the most misunderstood creatures in the Indo-European mythic conceptual syllabry has to be the Corvid - the Crow , the Raven (and I must admit that I am biased upon this score - for it is an important part of my own name and therefore nature). For if you asked many just what they … Continue reading On The Crown Of Crows And The Regality Of Ravens – A Restoration And Re-Explication Of Their Incredible Indo-European Symbolic Saliency
On The Still Active Dyaus Pitar Of The Indo-Europeans – The Sky Father Still Roars Supreme
There is much misinformation and misapprehension about Dyaus Pitar (also known as Dyeus Phter if we are going with the PIE reconstruction) - none more so, in my estimation than that He is somehow a 'remote' or 'inactive' deity Who plays no real functional role in our still-living mythology. In line with which, you will … Continue reading On The Still Active Dyaus Pitar Of The Indo-Europeans – The Sky Father Still Roars Supreme
Skanda , Heimdall , Kumara – The Star-Borne Son Of The Sky Father
A brief Indo-European observation inspired by the SkandaMata Night of NavRatri - Skanda, the War God Son of Shiva, has Six Heads. This is due to the rather unique manner of His Birth - wherein the embryonic Skanda is transplanted to six mothers via Agni, the Krittika Stars (we would know these in the West … Continue reading Skanda , Heimdall , Kumara – The Star-Borne Son Of The Sky Father
The Transcendent Indo-European Typology Of The God Of Masks – The Sky Father Dances On [ On The Indo-European ‘Interpretatio’ Of Dionysus Part Dieux ]
In my previous piece upon the subject, I asserted that Dionysus is a facing of the Indo-European Sky Father; and sought to illustrate this via the illumination of a range of connections of Dionysus to a range of figures from the broad Indo-European mythology - both Greek and of further afield. This article shall go … Continue reading The Transcendent Indo-European Typology Of The God Of Masks – The Sky Father Dances On [ On The Indo-European ‘Interpretatio’ Of Dionysus Part Dieux ]
On The Indo-European ‘Interpretatio’ Of Dionysus – A Roaring Exaltation Of The Sky Father Comparatively Considered
Dionysus is a deservedly fascinating figure. And also a badly misunderstood one. As are many Greek deities, especially in their comparative Indo-European situation. I have written upon the linkages of Dionysus to various facings - dramatic masques, we may perhaps say - in other Indo-European pantheons in the past, and shall not seek to repeat … Continue reading On The Indo-European ‘Interpretatio’ Of Dionysus – A Roaring Exaltation Of The Sky Father Comparatively Considered
Shiva Is Not Indra – A Response To A Grave Mythunderstanding
It has come to my attention that there is a curious misbelief out there - that Shiva is somehow Indra. As in, the post-Vedic Deity Shiva is a 'continuation' of the Vedic Indra under a somewhat different name. I thought that this was merely a matter of some people being a bit misinformed - yet … Continue reading Shiva Is Not Indra – A Response To A Grave Mythunderstanding