On Proto-Indo-European Agriculture – A Brief Excerpt

Running this as an excerpt [it's from my latest long-form (A)Arti-cle], because I think that this is quite important: "The supposition that this may, therefore, preserve an archaic PIE traditional understanding is likely to run into the immediate objection that so far as we know the Proto-Indo-Europeans were not large-scale plantation farmers. Which is often … Continue reading On Proto-Indo-European Agriculture – A Brief Excerpt

On Triptolemus And Demeter, Soma And The Sacral Rites Of Life And Land

A foundational principle of Indo-European ritual is succinctly expressed in the Latin maxim - 'Do Ut Des' : "I Give So That You Might Give". The Tale of Triptolemus might be thought to similarly simply express the truth of this utterance - although upon closer examination, its resonancies are anything but "simple", especially when considered in … Continue reading On Triptolemus And Demeter, Soma And The Sacral Rites Of Life And Land

The Gryphon – Indo-European Guardian of the Golden Realm

One of the more seizing figures to have captured the imagination - both ancient and modern - is the Griffin (occasionally, and to my mind superiorly, spelled 'Gryphon'). Almost everybody knows it - a creature that is simultaneously leonine and aquiline. Part Lion, part Eagle. And usually pictured by us in its heraldic form, something … Continue reading The Gryphon – Indo-European Guardian of the Golden Realm