I saw this, and my immediate thought was, of course, that renowned prescription featuring the greatest of physicians - the Anglo-Saxon ‘Nigon Wyrta Galdor’ ('Nine Herbs Incantation'), and Woden (Odin), respectively (a portion as to which follows). “ðas VIIII magon / wið nygon attrum. 30Wyrm com snican, / toslat he man; 31ða genam Woden / … Continue reading Metaphysically Potent Medication, Anglo-Saxon & Atharvanic
Proto-Indo-European
An ‘Arya’ Cognate In Runic Inscription ?
Some time ago, I had been asked to weigh in upon the claim that there were Runic inscriptions featuring a Nordic cognate for "Aryan". The following is a somewhat edited (and expanded) iteration of my response. What's being referred to is one runic inscription (the Tune stone [N KJ72], mid-1st millennium AD, Østfold fylke, Norway), … Continue reading An ‘Arya’ Cognate In Runic Inscription ?
The Crows of Juno
Latin materials speak of 'Divine Crows' [Corniscae Divae - Allen has this as "Crow-Goddesses", even] which are of Juno; Festus' Epitome [56L] relates: "Corniscarum Divarum locus erat trans Tiberim cornicibus dicatus, quod in Junonis tutela esse putabatur", with this being often cited in accompaniment of an engimatic inscriptional "DEVAS CoRNISCAS SACRVM". This, whilst lesser-known today, … Continue reading The Crows of Juno
Prometheus & Ithax, Saboteur of Sacrifice – Part One: The Emissary of the Anti-Divine
As applies Prometheus - everybody knows the main 'pop-culture' narrative. But what if there was an additional reason that Prometheus deserved the outcome - and for Prometheus to have wanted to interfere with setting down the formulaic metaphysics of sacrifice to begin with… Now, here is the key detail - a fragment transmitted via Hesychius … Continue reading Prometheus & Ithax, Saboteur of Sacrifice – Part One: The Emissary of the Anti-Divine
TRI-LOKA : The Three Worlds Of Indo-European Cosmology – Part Four: Amidst The Glorious & Ancestral Dead
Now as something of a 'check and confirm' upon all of this (Parts III, II, & I), it should prove useful to return towards the Nordic cosmological schema. Wherein, as applies the destination(s) of the Glorious and Ancestral Dead - we once again observe what should decidedly seem to be 'Uppland' situations: Valhalla should certainly … Continue reading TRI-LOKA : The Three Worlds Of Indo-European Cosmology – Part Four: Amidst The Glorious & Ancestral Dead
On An Oft-Misinterpreted Term Of Power Affixed To ‘Man’
Something I found kinda nice - Ait. Br. III 34, from a suite of Roudran undertaking (hence why the cautionary note about what to do "should this verse appear to be too dangerous") - referencing / explicating how to utilize RV I 43 6 - notes that there's a pair of terms, 'Naraḥ' & 'Nāryaḥ', … Continue reading On An Oft-Misinterpreted Term Of Power Affixed To ‘Man’
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]
Yes, The Ancient Greeks Could See Blue
As hype builds up for Christopher Nolan's Odysseus exercise, I can see that quite a range and array of 'Accepted Pop-Cultural Kernels' around the Homeric and Bronze Age milieu are going to shamble forth into our ken of vision like ever so many skeleton warriors. In some of these areas, interesting and positive progress has … Continue reading Yes, The Ancient Greeks Could See Blue
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
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