A murti of the fearsome Goddess[-form], Pratyangira - a theonymic we would be tempted to translate as "Return Fire!" She is regarded as Goddess of the Atharva Veda via Atharvana Bhadrakali - and also linked to Kali through the Narasimhika ('Heroic Lioness' / 'Lion-(Wo)Man') encountered in the Sri Kalika Sahasranama stotram of MahaKalaBhairava : and … Continue reading For Pratyangira – Roaring Goddess of the Counter-Fire
Shakti
Rama’s Invocation Of The War-Goddess
It is Friday - Devi's Day And therefore - a Hero making offering to the Goddess, so as to ensure His Victory in the (more actively combative phase of the ongoing) War soon to come, where He shall vanquish the demon who has stolen His Wife. The Hero, of course, here is Lord Ram (the … Continue reading Rama’s Invocation Of The War-Goddess
On Curious Claims Of There Not Being “Anything Like Kali” In The Vedas – A Brief Illumination To Some Of Her Correlates Within The Vedic Texts
Yesterday evening we encountered this most curious claim: https://twitter.com/Dhvasra/status/1634700610673995777 He might want to check Sankhayana Grihya Sutra II 14 14 - wherein we do, quite literally, find a 'Bhadrakali' directly attested. This guy has been doing a thing for awhile of claiming he's "reviving" the 'real' religion of Vedas. I presume this is why he … Continue reading On Curious Claims Of There Not Being “Anything Like Kali” In The Vedas – A Brief Illumination To Some Of Her Correlates Within The Vedic Texts
On Sadhguru’s Recent Curious Comment About (Hindu, Divine) Feminine And Conquest
To answer Nirjharaḥ Mukhopādhyāyaḥ's question … "No World Beyond HER RuleNo Enemy Beyond HER Wrath" is what I think about this. Now I know that Sadhguru prides himself on not letting himself be "cluttered" by reading scripture - however it does not take a pervasive engagement with our texts to see that the "Feminine", Devi, … Continue reading On Sadhguru’s Recent Curious Comment About (Hindu, Divine) Feminine And Conquest
Dyaus Draconis – The Dread Dragon Forms of the Indo-European Sky Father [ Part One – Of Grave Wolves And Flashing Eyes : The Odinic Ophidian Observed ]
Recently, we had marked MahaShivRatri - the Great Night of Shiva. And therefore, as has become our custom, we present a devotional tribute (A)Arti-cle. An effort that is, at once, intended to explore a facet of Him (as the Hindu Shiva) - and yet also cast a broader illumination upon that same dimension in relation … Continue reading Dyaus Draconis – The Dread Dragon Forms of the Indo-European Sky Father [ Part One – Of Grave Wolves And Flashing Eyes : The Odinic Ophidian Observed ]
On Ramprasad’s Devi Theonymic Weapons Of The Mind
An associate had sent me this poem - curiously, as fate would have it, very swiftly after I'd finished my Kali & Durga hymnals in the pre-dawn darkness here after yet another night awake. It is an interesting suite of verses. And no doubt, would be more so if I were working from the Bengali … Continue reading On Ramprasad’s Devi Theonymic Weapons Of The Mind
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
On The Lingam Devi of Herga, Karnataka
As is often the case, I encounter a beautiful Devi depiction and She simply must have a post ! I had initially thought that this was a Kali murti (not least due to the beautiful blue-black visage) - but some searching indicates that no, this is instead a Durga … Durga Paramesvari ['Highest Divine Empress'] … Continue reading On The Lingam Devi of Herga, Karnataka
Thursday Night Rites – Odin The Plutonic Lord Thrice-Invoked At The Crossroads [Of Goddesses, Gods, and Ghosts at the Crossroads – A Comparative Indo-European ExplorationThursday Night Rites – Odin The Plutonic Lord Thrice-Invoked At The Crossroads : Extract 7]
It is Thursday. Odin's Day [yes, really - stay tuned]; and therefore, some fine Odin art ['Odin, the Northern God of War', by Valentine Cameron Prinsep] And, in order to explicate just why I'm upending … quite a lot of 'general perception' and saying Thursday to be Odin's … here's an excerpt from our earlier … Continue reading Thursday Night Rites – Odin The Plutonic Lord Thrice-Invoked At The Crossroads [Of Goddesses, Gods, and Ghosts at the Crossroads – A Comparative Indo-European ExplorationThursday Night Rites – Odin The Plutonic Lord Thrice-Invoked At The Crossroads : Extract 7]
On Indo-European Divine Refraction
Last week, we ran a post in reaction to yet another wave of Very Online Christian Triumphalism about Zeus having long ago been 'replaced' as the major deity worshipped in the Greek sphere. We pointed out that as Zeus Pater = Jupiter = Dyaus Pitar, with Dyaus Pitar quite directly (and in Shruti) being hailed … Continue reading On Indo-European Divine Refraction