Durgā Interpretatio For The Present Devotional Season

If I were going to craft a (Greco-)Roman Durgā 'resonance' representation for one of these Durgā Puja Pandals which are the custom in West Bengal (there is a rather fine Athena resonant effort I have posted previously) - I would have drawn upon Juno Sospita & Quiritis (Curitis). This is Juno the Warrior, the epithets being 'The … Continue reading Durgā Interpretatio For The Present Devotional Season

Psychopompi Germanica – And Why It’s Not Odin

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

The Inadequate ‘Interpretatio’ Of Odin – A Grimm Exemplar

Following one of those 'spirited' exchanges in relation to the theology of Odin some days ago (you know the type - an affronted (and affronting!) multi-paragraph "HE'S NOT MY REAL (SKY) FATHER!" column, which is then thrust … in my direction / into an ambush / into next week, by the time I've finished writing … Continue reading The Inadequate ‘Interpretatio’ Of Odin – A Grimm Exemplar

“Apollo Khshathrapati”? “Apollo Kshetrapati” – An Unfinished Draft In Relation To The Theology Of The Trilingual Stele of Letoön

[Author's Note: The following is an incomplete draft of an article that had been intended as an answer to a query received some three years prior with relation to an academic article looking at Apollo, Mithra, and an (Indo-)Iranian hailing upon a most remarkable trilingual stele from what was once Lycia. I am perhaps unlikely … Continue reading “Apollo Khshathrapati”? “Apollo Kshetrapati” – An Unfinished Draft In Relation To The Theology Of The Trilingual Stele of Letoön

The Cailleach – Brief Comparanda [Arya Akasha Arka]

Happened across this impressive rendition earlier this evening, by the inimitable Angus McBride (known for both Osprey and certain tabletop RPG offerings). It depicts the Cailleach Bheur - effectively synonymous with the Cailleach Bhéarra (see Hull 1927, inter alia), also known as Buí , the Wife of Lugh. She is a figure of far broader … Continue reading The Cailleach – Brief Comparanda [Arya Akasha Arka]

TRI-LOKA : The Three Worlds Of Indo-European Cosmology – Part Two: Sailing The Sea Of Sky 

As promised, we begin our series of subsequent commentaries seeking to add illumination to 'what went where' - and, more especially as applies some detailings, 'why' - for our TRI-LOKA  charting of the archaic Indo-European cosmology. For the first installment, we delve into various of the considerations pertaining to the Middle Realm extant between the … Continue reading TRI-LOKA : The Three Worlds Of Indo-European Cosmology – Part Two: Sailing The Sea Of Sky 

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]

Diwija Dualis [Part Two: Disappear, Into Darkness]

At the close to our previous installment, our attention had turned briefly towards a particular prominent Hellenic iteration as to the 'myth-in-motion' for the Dual-Goddess(es) - namely, Her flight whilst in Form(s) Dark, Wrathful/Avenging, and Equine from Her Husband, the Sky Father as Stallion ; and with the "Daughter" deific often attested with relation to … Continue reading Diwija Dualis [Part Two: Disappear, Into Darkness]

Diwija Dualis [Part One: Divinity, Co-Invoked In Stone]

For some reason, I found these absolutely beautiful. Three facings to the same rather large (as in, it's around two meters tall) marble block, unearthed at Corinth in 1974 - it'd been shifted and integrated into a Byzantine-era wall. The female figures are reasonably straightforwardly identified as Kore (Persephone) and Demeter, with the male figure … Continue reading Diwija Dualis [Part One: Divinity, Co-Invoked In Stone]