The Nordic sphere of Indo-European religion is a paradox. At once it has a fragmentary textual canon that's substantively post-Christianization and by various turns interpolated, euhemerized, cryptic, and occasionally just plain missing. Yet it also manages to preserve quite an array of authentic and archaic elements within its troves. By which I don't (just) mean all … Continue reading On The True Origins Of Jormungandr – Illuminated Via The Dread Vedic Sorcery Of Tvastr
Vritra
On Indo-European Solar Warfare – The Sura Army of the Sun
Earlier this week we marked the Solstice - Summer, if you're here in the Southern Hemisphere, Winter if you're in the Northern. It therefore seemed an apt occasion to post this exquisite art - illustrating the Army of the Sun God setting a host of demons to flight. Now, the nature of this conflict is … Continue reading On Indo-European Solar Warfare – The Sura Army of the Sun
On Indo-European Solar Warfare – An Over-View
This week just gone marked Diwali (Deepavali) - the rather aptly translated 'Festival of Lights'. Which, as seemingly every once-over-lightly-for-a-Western-audience writeup seeks to swiftly remind us, exalts the 'Victory of Light over Darkness". It's a simple enough concept - and has near-infinite potential saliency (c.f., for instance the Solar Eclipse occurring in Svati immediately the … Continue reading On Indo-European Solar Warfare – An Over-View
On The Meaning Of Dragons – An Indo-European Exploration [Introduction & Part One – The Problem of Perception And The Horrific Hostile Hellenic Herpeton]
Some years ago, I happened across a remark of the great Argentine author, Jorge Luis Borges, on the subject of dragons: "We do not know what the dragon means, just as we do not know the meaning of the universe, but there is something in the image of the dragon that is congenial to man’s imagination and … Continue reading On The Meaning Of Dragons – An Indo-European Exploration [Introduction & Part One – The Problem of Perception And The Horrific Hostile Hellenic Herpeton]
Devi Athena Arms The Warrior Of The Divine
It's Friday - Devi's Day And so, therefore, a fine sculpted depiction from the series of Classically inspired works by Karl Heinrich Möller that adorn the Schlossbrücke in Berlin. In this case, 'Athena Arms The Warrior' ('Athena bewaffnet den Krieger') - which we would consider to be an expression of a typology prominent not only … Continue reading Devi Athena Arms The Warrior Of The Divine
A Combat Of Piety – Lord Rama’s Averted Eye Sacrifice To Devi For Victory And Its Vedic Antecedents
To explain what's going on here - this is a Ramayana episode of particular significance to us in relation to #NavRatri and its apex. Although the occurrence in question is drawn from other sources than the familiar Valmiki Ramayana. It illustrates a particular ritual observance hailed within the realm of Myth (and which I believe … Continue reading A Combat Of Piety – Lord Rama’s Averted Eye Sacrifice To Devi For Victory And Its Vedic Antecedents
Sacral Or Sacrificial ? Interrogating The Position Of The Cosmic Cow Within The Reconstructive Efforts Of The Proto-Indo-European Mythos
It is Wednesday - Woden's Day. And therefore, a particular exploration of a Myth most pertinent to He. That of Auðumbla - the Great Cow. More specifically, how this links to a speculative archaic Proto-Indo-European cosmogonical myth. Or, rather, how it doesn't link to the rather annoyingly pervasive very particular effort at a "reconstruction" I have in … Continue reading Sacral Or Sacrificial ? Interrogating The Position Of The Cosmic Cow Within The Reconstructive Efforts Of The Proto-Indo-European Mythos
On Ongoing Memetic Annoyances Concerning The Canardic Conflation Of Dasas / Dasyus With The IVC And/Or ‘Dravidians’
Every. Dang. Time. Where to begin with this. Now we shall leave aside the words of Wikipedia (for the moment) and just go for the tweeter's intended sentiment. Which, going by some comments, would appear to be some sort of Indra contra Dasyu thing … as insistently misapprehended by some sorts on the internet to … Continue reading On Ongoing Memetic Annoyances Concerning The Canardic Conflation Of Dasas / Dasyus With The IVC And/Or ‘Dravidians’
On The ‘Herakles-Artagnes-Ares’ Of The Commagene – A Cautionary Tale In Interpretatio Mistranslation
A very cool shot - although there are some … curious points to it. Depicted is the Commagene ruler Antiochus I meeting with Hercules (… more on that in a moment). For those unaware, the Commagene kingdom was a most curious combination Greek / Iranic / Armenian (and later also Romanized) polity located in what's … Continue reading On The ‘Herakles-Artagnes-Ares’ Of The Commagene – A Cautionary Tale In Interpretatio Mistranslation
On Bellerophon – Echoes Of A Coronation Rite And Slayer Of The Demon Of Enclosure ?
Now *this* is interesting - quite a familiar shape, you'll see the various Christian depictions of St George engaged in a spot of dragon-slaying, for instance. However, what's depicted here is Bellerophon (mounted upon Pegasus) slaying the Chimaera, from a floor mosaic on Rhodes, circa 300-270 BC. I am not saying that various much more … Continue reading On Bellerophon – Echoes Of A Coronation Rite And Slayer Of The Demon Of Enclosure ?
arya-akasha 