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

Sons of the Sun – A Brief Comparative Of The Indo-European Progenitor Twins

The Indo-European Myth of the Progenitor Twins is quite literally foundational for who we are and how we relate to the people, the world around us. It is therefore unsurprising that even despite occasional alterations, it has remained so recognizably pervasive amidst the descendant Indo-European peoples. In our recent "Sons of the Sun" series, we … Continue reading Sons of the Sun – A Brief Comparative Of The Indo-European Progenitor Twins

The Scythian Idanthyrsus As Fundamentally Indo-European Man

As is widely-known by now, one of my favourite portions of Herodotus' Persian Wars is the exchange between the Scythian king Idanthyrsus, and Darius the would-be world-emperor. There are some obvious reasons why this is so, and in previous posts I have gone into some detail explicating them. But for today, I thought we would … Continue reading The Scythian Idanthyrsus As Fundamentally Indo-European Man

The Indo-European Man – Sons of the Sun [Part III]: Zoroastrian Yima – The Death of Manu

Now, heading immediately to the west of Aryavarta, and quite likely some time later - we encounter the first 'degenerated' (or, perhaps more kindly, 'differently-emphatic') iteration of the above mythic typology. Amongst the Zoroastrians, they too have a 'Vivanhat', and a 'Yima'. Although the arrangement of facts is, in a number of particulars quite different. … Continue reading The Indo-European Man – Sons of the Sun [Part III]: Zoroastrian Yima – The Death of Manu

MahaShivRatri And The Mytholinguistics Of War [Part 3] – The Mind, The Mania, The Manyu

[Author's Note: It is said that some efforts take on a 'mind of their own'. While this was initially intended as the third part to our MythoLinguistics of War series, with a focus more narrowly upon the strong saliency of Indo-European concepts of "Mind" and 'Spirit' with those of Warfare - as the writing progressed, … Continue reading MahaShivRatri And The Mytholinguistics Of War [Part 3] – The Mind, The Mania, The Manyu

“An Image, Frozen In Time” – What Pazyryk Scythian Tombs Can Tell Us About Our Indo-European Ancestors

This is quite simply one of the most chad-looking images I have seen; a representation of one of the Scythian nobles buried at Pazyryk in the Siberian East, about two and a half thousand years ago. Now, the Pazyryk find itself is quite fascinating - in no small part because the freezing of the site … Continue reading “An Image, Frozen In Time” – What Pazyryk Scythian Tombs Can Tell Us About Our Indo-European Ancestors

Aesir-Vanir, Asura-Deva, but also A’Sura, Daeva

There's a few comparative mythographic ideas out there that are simple, intuitive, comfortable, persistent ... and downright wrong. One of these is the thorny thicket of presumptions which have grown up around three not-unrelated sets of terminology from the Vedic, Eddic, and Zoroastrian corpuses. The core of which is basically that as there was an Aesir-Vanir … Continue reading Aesir-Vanir, Asura-Deva, but also A’Sura, Daeva

Ancient Aryan Meath & Modern Afghani Meth – A Remembrance?

I found this rather ... disconcerting, because it is arguably an instance of #NAS meme magic in action. You see, many years ago now, when I was getting interested in Indo-European ethnobotany, I happened across the academic debate over the identity of Soma. Which - to my mind at least - has now been solved … Continue reading Ancient Aryan Meath & Modern Afghani Meth – A Remembrance?