Sunday (aptly enough) marked the Solstice - Winter if you're down here in Patala-loka, Summer if you're in the Northern Hemisphere. With that in mind, it seemed an ideal time to produce an article on one of the most intriguing artefacts of the Indo-European Bronze Age - the Nebra Sky Disk, of the Unetice Culture in … Continue reading On The Sky Disc, On The Solstice, On The Eclipse – A Bronze Age Commemorative Cartograph For The Sea Of Stars [Arte-Facts #6]
Sea of Stars
Neb(h) – Neptune – Sky As Sea Unending
Proto-Indo-European Neb(h) - Moist/Cloudy This gives us "Nebula", "Nabhas", "Nebel", "Nifl"Terms for Clouds, Mists, Waters-Of-The-SkiesAnd "Njola" - 'Night/Darkness' in Old Norse. It may also underlie "Neptune" - althoughmany argue that "Nepots" ['Descendant -like Nephew or Nepotism] is more accurate. I suspect that it may be both: Neb & NepotsFor Neptune/Poseidon, Ouranos, Varuna -These are all … Continue reading Neb(h) – Neptune – Sky As Sea Unending
To Ride The Steppe Of Stars
So one of the more … unexpected-yet-then-falls-into-place concepts I've come up with in the course of my writing, is the "Steppe of Stars"; Literally up there with the "Sea of Stars"/"Seas of the Sun" 'Space Is An Ocean' typology - which also has a perhaps surprising Indo-European precedency, and which forms a patina far closer … Continue reading To Ride The Steppe Of Stars
Saraswati Puja – The Power Of The Smiter Of Foes
Yesterday (by now) marked Saraswati Puja ; and as has become my custom, I present some brief thoughts and enlightenment via way of tribute. Seems the appropriate thing to do, given the nature of the Devi in question, and customary associations of Same. And speaking of just those customary associations - it seems to me … Continue reading Saraswati Puja – The Power Of The Smiter Of Foes
Glorious Modern Art For An Ancient Hindu Hymnal
Friday Evening Devi-otional (A)Art(I) Posting This is some truly excellent art which helps to illustrate evocatively a rather core series of principles to Shakta theology and cosmogony; which are also extolled in the course of my favourite of the RigVedic Hymnals - the renowned DeviSukta [RV X 125]. Note that it is the Hand of … Continue reading Glorious Modern Art For An Ancient Hindu Hymnal
Swear By The Sea, Swear By The Stars, Swear By The Sky – On The Mytholinguistics Of Varuna Neptune Ouranos
Within the realms of Indo-European mytho-theology, there are some areas wherein the paths of connectivity grow dark, occluded, hidden amidst the mists of time and conceptual space. This does not mean that they are not there - only that we aren't sure what the precise course of their path may be. And in the absence … Continue reading Swear By The Sea, Swear By The Stars, Swear By The Sky – On The Mytholinguistics Of Varuna Neptune Ouranos
AN INDO-EUROPEAN GUIDE-BOOK OF THE DEAD – Part Three: The River Of Stars
To Return to the Skies Above Us, then, there are two important points to be raised ... points upon a single shaft, much like Hades' Bident. The first of these is the nature of the Path to which Yama is said to have held the noble, sacred, and solemn duty of being the first being … Continue reading AN INDO-EUROPEAN GUIDE-BOOK OF THE DEAD – Part Three: The River Of Stars
AN INDO-EUROPEAN GUIDE-BOOK OF THE DEAD – Part Two: Paramevyoman to Patalaloka – ‘Outer Heaven’ to ‘Under World’
Often, when we are thinking about the afterlife, and the Realm of the Dead, our thoughts quite understandably go downhill. That's what a "Katabasis" means, after all - "Going Under". Because we are anticipating that we are heading for some form of "Underworld". Which is not entirely inaccurate, and nor should it be dismissed as … Continue reading AN INDO-EUROPEAN GUIDE-BOOK OF THE DEAD – Part Two: Paramevyoman to Patalaloka – ‘Outer Heaven’ to ‘Under World’
RAGNAROK AND THE NIGHT LORD
Consider the Sanskrit terms राजन् and रजनी - Rajan and Rajani. They look similar, no? In fact, you'd be forgiven, even notwithstanding that the former's got a longer 'a' sound ['Raajan' - like Raja, which derives directly therefrom], for thinking that they are perhaps related forms of the same word. Maybe a masculine and feminine … Continue reading RAGNAROK AND THE NIGHT LORD
To Navigate The Seas Of The Sun – What Kepler’s Letter To Galileo Can Tell Us About Reading The Past
I've had this quote upon my mind since this morning. It's from a letter written by Kepler to Galileo in April of 1610: "There will certainly be no lack of human pioneers when we have mastered the art of flight. Who would have thought that navigation across the vast ocean is less dangerous and quieter … Continue reading To Navigate The Seas Of The Sun – What Kepler’s Letter To Galileo Can Tell Us About Reading The Past