So, as we have occasionally discussed … while Einstein et co were pondering upon God playing dice with the universe - Indo-European Gods were not only playing dice, but also an array of other games, as well. Here's an illustration from the cover of a Tamil magazine ('Kalki', so I'm told) featuring Shiva playing a … Continue reading On The Games Of The Gods
Pralaya
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
A People Of Ash And Fury – On The Divinely Arboreal Genesis Of The Indo-Europeans
In recent days, our attention had been drawn to a most remarkable occurrence within the Þorleifs þáttr jarlaskálds wherein, as our learned associate, Gottfried Yann Karlssohn (who had drawn our attention to it in the first place) had phrased it - we find "a Norse king using incantations to animate a trémaðr (treeman), giving him a … Continue reading A People Of Ash And Fury – On The Divinely Arboreal Genesis Of The Indo-Europeans
Kali As Fire Of Time – Glorious Modern Hindu Art For Devi’s Day
JAI MATA DI !Further art from Ravi Zupa We also note, with regard to the lower portion of the text, the Vedic mention of 'KaalAgniRudra' - quite directly, the (Black) Fire of Time, and with the specific Rudra involvement (rendered in the relevant text as 'KaalAgniRudraya', because it is in the Sri Rudram of the … Continue reading Kali As Fire Of Time – Glorious Modern Hindu Art For Devi’s Day
Bhairava & Kali For The Transition Of The Cycle Of Time On New Year’s Eve / Day
There are few situations which cannot be matched with a fine exemplar of the artwork of Abhishek Singh. In this case, he had chosen to depict Bhairava & Kali at the end of a Kalpa ('Cycle of Time'). He later refined the Bhairava into a full-colour work; yet I think that there is something immensely … Continue reading Bhairava & Kali For The Transition Of The Cycle Of Time On New Year’s Eve / Day
On The Misunderstanding Of Maya As Mere Mirage
An associate earlier this week made a remark about the concept of Maya - and the 'matronly' associations he'd felt for it, coming at it from a Buddhist context. Now, Maya is often misunderstood - in no small part because it's grown so hugely as a term over the millennia … so it seemed as … Continue reading On The Misunderstanding Of Maya As Mere Mirage
On The Mytholinguistics Of War [Part 1]
In many ways, it is not at all a controversial thing to assert that War is rather fundamental to the Indo-European View of the Universe. One of the first mythemes that almost everybody tends to identify when they begin their journey along the skeins of comparative Indo-European mythography - is that of the 'Chaoskampf', the … Continue reading On The Mytholinguistics Of War [Part 1]
On Stepping Into The Same River Twice – An Indo-European Theory Of Time (Travel)
It has been said, with some justification, that one 'cannot step in the same river twice'. That the inexorable flow of time ineffably means that the past reality of a thing is irrecoverable, in the present nor future. And yet, despite the provenance of this proverb, it is not ... or not entirely accurately, at … Continue reading On Stepping Into The Same River Twice – An Indo-European Theory Of Time (Travel)
Dhumavati – The Smoke That Clouds, Reveals, Remains
Today, I think, is a Day for Dhumavati. A Mahavidya ['Great Wisdom/Revelation' - you can see the coterminous linguistic particle there with "Vidya", connected to the idea of "seeing", of truths being "revealed"] Aspect of Devi, this form of the Goddess is often regarded as being of somewhat baelful portency. And, with a poignant array … Continue reading Dhumavati – The Smoke That Clouds, Reveals, Remains