In recent days I have run into a rather recurrent skein of assertions about Odin purportedly being a "Psychopomp". Now as for why this has kept coming up - the context has been fairly much what you'd expect. Namely, people looking to affirm an accuracy for that well-known 'Interpretatio' from Tacitus, whereby Odin is inferred … Continue reading Psychopompi Germanica – And Why It’s Not Odin
Path of the Dead
TRI-LOKA : The Three Worlds Of Indo-European Cosmology – Part Three: The Dead Among The Stars
Now speaking of the Night's Sky - this brings us to what's probably the most 'divergent' area for our trifold TriPlanar schema. And I mean that in two senses - first, in terms of just how 'different' one of the Hellenic (and later Classical) conceptions for this Layer is as compared to 'Everybody Else' on … Continue reading TRI-LOKA : The Three Worlds Of Indo-European Cosmology – Part Three: The Dead Among The Stars
Halloween, Diwali, Kali Puja, Amavasya Syzygy
Interesting Syzygy tonight : it's Halloween and Diwali. And also, if you're in Bengal and/or my house, Kālī Pūjā. These latter two being because it's also an Amāvasyā [Night of No Moon] tonight, as well. As for what that is, the Amāvasyā of each month [where the Sun and Moon 'dwell (-vāsya) together (amā-)'] has … Continue reading Halloween, Diwali, Kali Puja, Amavasya Syzygy
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]
‘Send the Wolves’ – Demons And Demon-Worshippers Driven Out From The Vedic Sacred Space By The Howling Hounds Of Heaven : An Exaltation !
Ever since I first read of it, this Vedic myth (and ritual operation) has resonated most potently within my mind. It deals with an 'exorcism' of sorts. One wherein a coterie of 'priests of demons' being fought by Indra are hurled into the howling demesne that is as the 'Gates of the Underworld' - the … Continue reading ‘Send the Wolves’ – Demons And Demon-Worshippers Driven Out From The Vedic Sacred Space By The Howling Hounds Of Heaven : An Exaltation !
Sālāvṛka – The Wolves of the Temple, the Enclosure And Ancestral Warding – ‘Cruel Sanction’ Meted Out Via The Howling Hounds Of Heaven [ Excerpt IV From ‘ On The Wolves Of Rudra – The Terrific, Well-Storied Wolves And Wolf Forms Of The Indo-European Sky Father ]
Over the past several weeks, we have been running a series of excerpts from our ' On The Wolves Of Rudra – The Terrific, Well-Storied Wolves And Wolf Forms Of The Indo-European Sky Father '. The first and second of these sought to briefly examine Apollo Lykeios and the Wolf That Stalks The Stars . … Continue reading Sālāvṛka – The Wolves of the Temple, the Enclosure And Ancestral Warding – ‘Cruel Sanction’ Meted Out Via The Howling Hounds Of Heaven [ Excerpt IV From ‘ On The Wolves Of Rudra – The Terrific, Well-Storied Wolves And Wolf Forms Of The Indo-European Sky Father ]
Somavati Amavasya – Worship of Shiva and the Ancestors on the Monday of the Dark Moon
Today is Monday - Lord Shiva's Day; however it is also Amavasya - a day with special significance and potential for observances for the Dead (as we have covered in some of our previous pieces looking at the Libations to the Ancestors). What Amavasya means is the 'Dark' point of the Moon's 28-day cycle - … Continue reading Somavati Amavasya – Worship of Shiva and the Ancestors on the Monday of the Dark Moon
The Indo-European Queen of the Dead – A Bridging-Place Between Pitru Paksha And NavRatri
Pitru Paksha - the Fortnight of the Ancestors - is nearly at a close ; and immediately after it comes NavRatri - the Nine Nights of the Mother Goddess. The former, is when the veils between the worlds are thinner, and one's ancestors (Pitrs - etymologically cognate with 'Fathers') are able to come and visit, to receive … Continue reading The Indo-European Queen of the Dead – A Bridging-Place Between Pitru Paksha And NavRatri
On Why Valkyries Ride Wolves – An Extract From ‘On Odin As Agni’
[Author's Note: there are two salient occurrences which I can think of off-hand for Wolf-Riding female figures in the Nordic sphere. The Valkyries, and Hyrrokkin. In both cases, we could fairly extrapolate that there is something of a 'Psychopomp' role entailed here - the Wolf being correlate with the receiving, escorting, and journey of the … Continue reading On Why Valkyries Ride Wolves – An Extract From ‘On Odin As Agni’
An Indo-European Guide-Book of the Dead – As Massively Summarized For An Eleven Year Old, Apparently
Over the weekend, I somehow wound up called upon to explain how Indo-European eschatology and metempsychosis works … to an associate's 11 year old niece. Who wanted a reasonably comprehensive explication. I still massively simplified things, of course, because there was also an implicit time-limit … but as it may be of more general usage/interest … Continue reading An Indo-European Guide-Book of the Dead – As Massively Summarized For An Eleven Year Old, Apparently
arya-akasha 