Discussing the Mediterranean Thunderers and beyond with Josephus

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JKA1_rtJzI

Just received this in the mail and looking forward to diving into it.
I think there is a lot learn from Slavic lore tradition and it’s a big blind spot for me. Thanks Stefan https://t.me/stefcvetkovic

- O’Gravy

Abbas knows his stuff

The Gaulish Mercury of Caesar: His Identity Revealed

This is a culmination of much of my work and is the realization of harmony between Insular and Continental Celtic and Germanic religion,

That they share their leading god and always did:

the One-Eyed Wise God of Ravens, the Wild Poet God.

Watch:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqCc0a1YLdY

- O'Gravy, The Sun Riders
@solarcult

Great to see

Passing Thoughts on Santa

We are talking about archetypes on the Celtic and Indo-European level, within the folk soul, not necessarily simple historical blueprints.

Sure the Dagda is chubby and comic and eats and gives food, but isn’t he a bit of a red herring?

Who is the god who is the smith of smiths, with a famous magical bag in which he holds treasure gifts that he actually gives to various heroes?
Who is the god who tests whether a person is true or false and rewards them accordingly?
Who even has a story where he acts like the Dickensian ghost(s) of Christmas as he tests and teaches a man by taking away and then giving back his family?
Who is the god who (if we look at parallels) actually rivals the Dagda in eating ability?
Who is the god who is at home in a fireplace?
Who brings the most needed cheer in winter?

Manannan, the Fire God.

Give him a consideration this Yule. He loves a good trick yet is a great friend and gift-giver to humans and gods. He is as comic and playful as the Dagda and will eat any doubter out of house and home if he please.

If you don’t like the idea of a high god being the model of Santa, then any sort of smith or dwarf figure might provide what you seek, for instance Goibniu (equivalent of the dwarves) or Goban Saor.

But the Fire god is the leader of the smiths, who work under him (see Hephaestus), and that reminds of Santa a bit.
Manawydan is the first god in the Mabinogi to demonstrate craft and smith work when he exemplifies shield, saddle and shoe making. He has the belt and hook of Goibniu and the magical crane bag out of which he gifts crafted treasures.

My favorite argument for the Dagda being Santa-like, on the other hand, is that wind (the Dagda) is what rushes down a chimney and INTO a house, as Santa does, and the god of giving life breath surely gives a vital gift to rival that of Manannan.

On the Finn side, he is not quite a warm, crafting Santa type. But as I showed in my recent video, he is the essence of that crafting fire: Finn and Manannan are not esoterically separable. As his legendary form Partholon, Finn brings all the gifts of culture and society, including brewing and mercantile trade, the inextricable core of the Holiday experience!

Merry Christmas and happy Yule-Season

- O’Gravy, The Sun Riders

The Celtic Vishnu is a War God: Neit/Nwython, aka Cuchulainn, Cichol/Cicolluis, the Boar of Formael

Néit/Neto is a shadowed yet potent power among the gods of the Celts, a dread lord of war whose presence is felt wherever battle rages and blood is given to the earth. He stands among the ancient divine ones, bound to the Morrígan and the terrible company of war goddesses, and is remembered as a primordial father and progenitor, begetter of the Fomorians and source of ruinous strength. In Néit is embodied the raw and untamed force of conflict—the storm of slaughter, the breaking of hosts, and the sacred terror of war itself. Though his name and deeds at times flow into those of other war gods, he endures in the genealogies as an ancient king and divine ancestor, woven into the mythic accounts of conquest and destruction, a masculine counterpart to the battle-queens who circle the slain. His avatars include the legendary warrior Cu-Chulain and the Boar of Fromael amongst others His counterparts are Vishnu/Fenrir in the Veidc and Norse pantheons.

Cú Chulainn is the supreme warrior-hero of the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology, renowned for his superhuman prowess, and binding sense of honour. Born as Sétanta, he gained the name Cú Chulainn (“Hound of Culann”) after killing the smith Culann’s guard-dog and swearing to take its place until a replacement was raised.

Cu-Chulainn is an avatar of the God Neit-Neito a celtic war diety.
He is the son of the god Lug Lámfhada and the mortal woman Deichtine, placing him between divine and human worlds. Trained in arms by the warrior-woman Scáthach in Alba (Scotland), Cú Chulainn mastered forbidden techniques, most notably the Gáe Bolga, a barbed spear that killed from within the body.

In battle he is seized by the ríastrad (warp-spasm), a terrifying transformation in which his body contorts, one eye sinks into his head while the other bulges outward, blood steams from his scalp, and he becomes an indiscriminate engine of destruction. This frenzy marks him as both a protector and a danger to his own people.

Josephus joined me to discuss the “congealed in the heart of the sea” line from Exodus 15:8, as well as the Seneh of the so called Burning Bush episode.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IXGtXa0trjs

- O’Gravy, The Sun Riders
@solarcult

Atharvaveda 19.27 adapted to Celtic Deities

"Armor Hymn" or "Benedictory Hymn"

1 Let the Bull guard thee with the kine, the Stallion with the fleet-
   foot steeds.
  Let the Dagda keep thee safe with prayer, and Tuireann with his mighty
   power.

2 Let Midir guard thee with the plants, Elatha protect thee with
   the stars;
  With Breath let Wind protect thee, and the Moon, foe-slayer,
   with the months.

3 Three are the earths, they say, and three the heavens, three are
   the atmospheres, and four the oceans.
  Threefold the hymn of praise, threefold the Waters. Let these
   with triple song and tri-braid guard thee.

4 Three vaults of heaven, and three seas, three bright, three
   stationary ones,
  Three Corrgends, and three suns, protectors, I arrange for
   thee.

5 Increasing thee with butter, Manannan! with fatness sprinkle thee.
  Let not magicians harm the life of Manannan or of Moon or Sun.

6 Let not magicians mar your heat, your vital or diffusive breath.
  Brilliant and all-possessing Gods, run ye your course with God-
   like power.

7 Fire they endow with vital breath, Wind is compact, with vital
   breath:
  With vital breath the Gods produced the Sun whose face turns
   every way.

8 Live with the Life-Creators' life. Die not, live on to lengthened
   age.
  Live with the breath of men with souls. Submit not to the power
   of Death.

This is great. An excellent intro to the high god Fionn/Gwyn, and steps toward Celtic practice:

Watch:

Excellent video regarding the Celtic mannerbund God

https://youtu.be/wZmtZPs42ik

@Folk_Spirit

original link

We are building the most comprehensive Indo-European comparative mythology series that exists on the internet

This week Arno, Josephus and I discussed the Yama/Yima type god and his equivalents across European branches

Watch:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lPUmym25ckw&pp=2AabNg%3D%3D

- O’Gravy

"This work addresses the issue of magical communication found in the Elder Futhark runic inscriptions. It examines the Kragehul Spear Shaft (DR 196), Björketorp runestone (DR 360), the Horn(s) of Gallehus (DR 12), Gummarp runestone (DR 358), Lindholm amulet (DR 261), Straum whetstone (KJ 50), Ribe skull fragment (DR EM85; 151B), the Noleby runestone (KJ 67), and the Eggja runestone (N KJ 101). It seeks magical communication which may putatively be encompassed by the law of magical semiosis.

By setting objective parameters for measuring this law of magical communication, it can be determined whether or not a particular inscription should be understood as magical or non-magical specific to the Umwelt and Weltanschauung of the Runemaster. Essentially, this work is meant to challenge runologists in postulating falsifiable criteria so that magical communication in the world of the Runemaster can be discussed in an academic setting.

The work begins by discussing how Charles Sanders Peirce can help provide a basic framework regarding the sign. His phenomenological framework is applied to the world of the Runemaster. The next section then addresses the problem with the word "magic," which goes far beyond the concept of "if it does not make sense, it must be magical." It then leads to a discussion of runes and numinous qualities and finally to a corpus chapter which applies the theories and methods the author has adopted."

https://a.co/d/doYHJPT

Dr. Shell 's work on runes and magical practices come off as both approachable, practical and well educated. Support a heathen author in his journey while he offers a respectable approach from academia.

People talk about Dr. Crawford, but we need to show more support for one of our own.

Subscribe to his YouTube channel here:

https://youtube.com/@scottt.shellcontinentalger2464?si=nsKZ4DgjD463rPWl

Streaming on my YT channel in a moment, on the Horse Twins

- O'Gravy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6VFWf2HWUo