occasional reminder that that's (probably) not how the myth went [prior to Ovid getting his hands on it and making some 'alterations'] [you may recall my commentary viz. what he did to the myth around Artemis and Actaeon - wherein we know, due to various other tellings and the Vedic cognate, that it's a story … Continue reading A Brief Point On Ovid’s Re-Memification Of Arachne Contra Athena
Sadly Mythtaken
No, Sacrifice Hasn’t Ended – A Response To A Case Of Insistently Myth-Taken Myth-Interpretation
We had recently had this passage from a work of the Italian writer, Roberto Calasso, thrust against us by somebody attempting to make a theological argument of sorts. This is infuriating. And not least because in the preceding paragraphs, Calasso does indeed write rather well - stylistically, at any rate. His command of content is … Continue reading No, Sacrifice Hasn’t Ended – A Response To A Case Of Insistently Myth-Taken Myth-Interpretation
A Brief Comparanda On Ymir And Purusha – A Demon Dismembered versus the Sky Father As Cosmos Himself
As we have frequently noted, there are some stubborn-to-shift shibboleths within our field that, despite all available evidence to the contrary, persist well beyond reason. One of these concerns the ongoing conflationism between Purusha of the Vedic cosmology & cosmogony - and the Ymir of the Germanic accounting. Now on the surface of things, there … Continue reading A Brief Comparanda On Ymir And Purusha – A Demon Dismembered versus the Sky Father As Cosmos Himself
On “Thor Mantras” Proposed By DharmaNation
It has come to my attention that the chap who does "DharmaNation", is once again pushing his "Thor Mantras" effort. Now with all the appropriate respect that is due to the gentleman in question … there are some issues with what he has presented. I won't get into his attempted co-identification of Odin with Indra (if … Continue reading On “Thor Mantras” Proposed By DharmaNation
The Radiant Queen and the Beautiful Princess – Two Indo-European Solar Goddesses – On Scythian Tabiti, Hindu Tapati, Greek Helen
I think by now that many would agree that if a little knowledge is a dangerous thing - then Wiki-knowledge can be the summation of many dangerous things put together. Due to its prominence as a source, questionable material placed thereupon has a way of spreading out and cropping up again all over the place. … Continue reading The Radiant Queen and the Beautiful Princess – Two Indo-European Solar Goddesses – On Scythian Tabiti, Hindu Tapati, Greek Helen
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
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
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
Yama Iamso Coin of the Kushans, And What This Means For Central Asian Indo-European Religion – Arte-Facts #7
I've had this coin in my head for some days now - a golden coin of the Kushan king Huviska (who appears on the obverse), featuring what appears to be Yama on the deity side. Why? Because of the iconography with which Yama - here hailed as 'Iamso' - is displayed. He's holding a Spear … Continue reading Yama Iamso Coin of the Kushans, And What This Means For Central Asian Indo-European Religion – Arte-Facts #7
Dyaus; Deva, Deus, Tyr: Many Gods, One Sky Father
Despite His centrality to our mythology, the Indo-European Sky Father is probably one of the most misunderstood Gods of our pantheon(s). You will semi-regularly hear people make all manner of outlandish claims about Him. The most common of which tend to be either that the Sky Father 'withered away' and was superceded by another God or … Continue reading Dyaus; Deva, Deus, Tyr: Many Gods, One Sky Father