Forwarded from ☀️The Sun Riders☀️ (pagangmommy)
The birch is an important tree in the folk traditions of several European countries.
It is associated with the Goddesses Freya and Perchta, and symbolizes youth, love, fertility and femininity, but also renewal, protection, and flexibility.
Regionally, the “May Tree” is often a birch, or a softwood tree topped with a birch, and young men will frequently place a decorated young birch tree or branch at their beloved’s house, in front of her window, as a sign of their interest in her.
In the Scandinavian rune poems, it is associated with the rune Berkana.
-pagangmommy, The Sun Riders
@solarcult
It is associated with the Goddesses Freya and Perchta, and symbolizes youth, love, fertility and femininity, but also renewal, protection, and flexibility.
Regionally, the “May Tree” is often a birch, or a softwood tree topped with a birch, and young men will frequently place a decorated young birch tree or branch at their beloved’s house, in front of her window, as a sign of their interest in her.
In the Scandinavian rune poems, it is associated with the rune Berkana.
-pagangmommy, The Sun Riders
@solarcult
Forwarded from Αρυολογία☀️ (The Indo-Europeans)
Entrance to the Hattusa site, the ancient capital of the Hittite Empire, 1600 – 1178 BCE.
Forwarded from ☀️The Sun Riders☀️ (O’Gravy)
Lugh Samildánach
It is my belief, based on their correspondence to the “Mitra” archetype, that Numa Pompilius is the Roman legendary figure matching Irish Lugh. Numa was associated with all the arts as he divided the immediate territory of Rome into pagi and established the traditional occupational guilds of Rome:
"So, distinguishing the whole people by the several arts and trades, he formed the companies of musicians, goldsmiths, carpenters, dyers, shoemakers, skinners, braziers, and potters; and all other handicraftsmen he composed and reduced into a single company, appointing every one their proper courts, councils, and observances." -Plutarch
This is as close a match to Lugh’s title of “Samildánach” (skilled in many arts) as I’ve found. This aspect of Lugh is one of the reasons he was sometimes considered similar to Mercury.
Notably, the Roman and Irish similarity on this makes sense as they shared a recent ethno-cultural history via their Italo-Celtic root.
- O’Gravy, The Sun Riders
@solarcult
It is my belief, based on their correspondence to the “Mitra” archetype, that Numa Pompilius is the Roman legendary figure matching Irish Lugh. Numa was associated with all the arts as he divided the immediate territory of Rome into pagi and established the traditional occupational guilds of Rome:
"So, distinguishing the whole people by the several arts and trades, he formed the companies of musicians, goldsmiths, carpenters, dyers, shoemakers, skinners, braziers, and potters; and all other handicraftsmen he composed and reduced into a single company, appointing every one their proper courts, councils, and observances." -Plutarch
This is as close a match to Lugh’s title of “Samildánach” (skilled in many arts) as I’ve found. This aspect of Lugh is one of the reasons he was sometimes considered similar to Mercury.
Notably, the Roman and Irish similarity on this makes sense as they shared a recent ethno-cultural history via their Italo-Celtic root.
- O’Gravy, The Sun Riders
@solarcult
The Sacred and the Profane - Four Key Terms
https://telegra.ph/The-Sacred-and-the-Profane---Four-Key-Terms-07-24
In this brief article I go over a few terms that particularly resonated with me when I originally read this book. Understanding terms like this is crucial when reading in-depth articles that explore religious concepts, including our own articles like the current series O'Gravy has going.
- Owen, The Sun Riders
@solarcult
https://telegra.ph/The-Sacred-and-the-Profane---Four-Key-Terms-07-24
In this brief article I go over a few terms that particularly resonated with me when I originally read this book. Understanding terms like this is crucial when reading in-depth articles that explore religious concepts, including our own articles like the current series O'Gravy has going.
- Owen, The Sun Riders
@solarcult
Telegraph
The Sacred and the Profane - Four Key Terms
I studied this work of Eliade’s a few years ago, I do not remember every detail, but four of the core ideas really resonated with me and furthered my understanding of religious concepts. The four terms I think all of us should have a grasp on are as follows:…
How the sacred tradition of the High Ollamhs of Ireland became a “secondary source”
Time and again the Celtic sources are mischaracterized by those unfamiliar with them as mere folktale or commentary, simply due to the fact that they were written down during Christian times.
Let us imagine an alternate timeline:
⁃ The “Rig Veda” is kept alive for millennia in an oral tradition in a society that hasn’t become literate yet
⁃ One day, Christians come in and take over this society, beginning a slow and uneven “christianization” process that will last over 4 centuries
⁃ The existing oral tradition doesn’t simply stop existing, of course, but carries on passing the “Rig Veda” down via official chief bards whose office is so sacred that they continue to be considered social equals of the king far into the Christian Era. These Chiefs of the High Bards each train for over twenty years in memorization of the oral tradition.
⁃ a couple centuries after the Christians arrive these chief bards write the “Veda” down from this carefully kept oral tradition using the language of the time
⁃ A typical scholar stumbles in over a thousand years later: “I’m sorry to tell you this, but it’s not scripture now. Therefore it must just be folktales and commentary.”
⁃ The “Rig Veda” has now supposedly become a “secondary source”
While they are an entirely different thing from the Veda, if you substitute here the poetic and prose traditions preserved by the Chief Ollamhs of Ireland for the “Rig Veda” you will begin to get a sense of the bias with which Celtic sources are routinely treated by those who are only capable of binary thinking — black, white, “pre-Christian,” “Christian.”
The transmission history of the Irish mythological texts is complex and shouldn’t be over-simplified. To call the sacred oral tradition carefully kept by an unbroken (and hereditary) line of official national bards who were held to be of the same social standing as the High King of Ireland through the Elizabethan age “folktales” makes one appear either ignorant of the subject or an agenda-motivated slanderer.
In several cases we still have the names and biographical details of the High Ollamhs who finally wrote down these traditions, and it is uncommon to find that any of them were Christian priests as well as being bards. These were two separate professions. It is a strange thing for those who haven’t studied ancient Irish society to try to imagine how organized and revered the class of bards or filid were in Ireland through the medieval period.
The truth is that, were it not for the Poetic Edda, which is a wonderful text with its own debated transmission history, even scholars of Germanic tradition would blush with pride to have sources of the same antiquity and pedigree as the transcribed oral traditions the Celts have, with most manuscripts compiled from the 600s to the 1100s, and some of the content being demonstrably pre-5th century (pre-Christian), carried through by an unbroken line of official hereditary bardic schools that were at the center of their society.
Imagine a second timeline: the Poetic Edda is written down a century or so later than we now believe it to have been, during Christian times by bards who want to preserve their ancient oral tradition from being lost in the new culture. Or even imagine the Poetic Edda is discovered in the same way we know it to have been, translated into the language of that time, and then the original versions are lost to history. Would the Edda suddenly become a folktale due to the language of its writing having a date during a Christian period, would the gods be impossible to identify clearly, and would you then have the stomach to counsel your fellow Germanic brothers to despair and nihilism regarding their ancestral tradition, despite the nature of the text still being clear from poetic form, content, and comparative study?
This is not to get into the details, as the quality of every individual source is an ongoing debate.
- O’Gravy, The Sun Riders
@solarcult
Time and again the Celtic sources are mischaracterized by those unfamiliar with them as mere folktale or commentary, simply due to the fact that they were written down during Christian times.
Let us imagine an alternate timeline:
⁃ The “Rig Veda” is kept alive for millennia in an oral tradition in a society that hasn’t become literate yet
⁃ One day, Christians come in and take over this society, beginning a slow and uneven “christianization” process that will last over 4 centuries
⁃ The existing oral tradition doesn’t simply stop existing, of course, but carries on passing the “Rig Veda” down via official chief bards whose office is so sacred that they continue to be considered social equals of the king far into the Christian Era. These Chiefs of the High Bards each train for over twenty years in memorization of the oral tradition.
⁃ a couple centuries after the Christians arrive these chief bards write the “Veda” down from this carefully kept oral tradition using the language of the time
⁃ A typical scholar stumbles in over a thousand years later: “I’m sorry to tell you this, but it’s not scripture now. Therefore it must just be folktales and commentary.”
⁃ The “Rig Veda” has now supposedly become a “secondary source”
While they are an entirely different thing from the Veda, if you substitute here the poetic and prose traditions preserved by the Chief Ollamhs of Ireland for the “Rig Veda” you will begin to get a sense of the bias with which Celtic sources are routinely treated by those who are only capable of binary thinking — black, white, “pre-Christian,” “Christian.”
The transmission history of the Irish mythological texts is complex and shouldn’t be over-simplified. To call the sacred oral tradition carefully kept by an unbroken (and hereditary) line of official national bards who were held to be of the same social standing as the High King of Ireland through the Elizabethan age “folktales” makes one appear either ignorant of the subject or an agenda-motivated slanderer.
In several cases we still have the names and biographical details of the High Ollamhs who finally wrote down these traditions, and it is uncommon to find that any of them were Christian priests as well as being bards. These were two separate professions. It is a strange thing for those who haven’t studied ancient Irish society to try to imagine how organized and revered the class of bards or filid were in Ireland through the medieval period.
The truth is that, were it not for the Poetic Edda, which is a wonderful text with its own debated transmission history, even scholars of Germanic tradition would blush with pride to have sources of the same antiquity and pedigree as the transcribed oral traditions the Celts have, with most manuscripts compiled from the 600s to the 1100s, and some of the content being demonstrably pre-5th century (pre-Christian), carried through by an unbroken line of official hereditary bardic schools that were at the center of their society.
Imagine a second timeline: the Poetic Edda is written down a century or so later than we now believe it to have been, during Christian times by bards who want to preserve their ancient oral tradition from being lost in the new culture. Or even imagine the Poetic Edda is discovered in the same way we know it to have been, translated into the language of that time, and then the original versions are lost to history. Would the Edda suddenly become a folktale due to the language of its writing having a date during a Christian period, would the gods be impossible to identify clearly, and would you then have the stomach to counsel your fellow Germanic brothers to despair and nihilism regarding their ancestral tradition, despite the nature of the text still being clear from poetic form, content, and comparative study?
This is not to get into the details, as the quality of every individual source is an ongoing debate.
- O’Gravy, The Sun Riders
@solarcult
This is only to point any Celtic seekers toward the question, toward their heritage, instead of away from it.
The Great Lunar Cycle: The Horse Twins and the Grail: Part 6 of 12
https://taliesinsmap.blogspot.com/2020/07/the-great-lunar-cycle-horse-twins-and_27.html?m=1
Part 6: Oengus and Freyr: Irish and Scandinavian Horse Twins
“Having increased our understanding of the web of Horse Twin tales we have examined thus far, we must further assess the parallels which brings Oengus and Freyr into this Soma cycle, as the Northwestern European representatives of the Horse Twins.”
“It will be noticed that for many of the cases we are analyzing, only one Horse Twin is identifiable...We should remember, of course, that a twin is no less a twin when the other twin is not present.”
- O’Gravy, The Sun Riders
@solarcult
https://taliesinsmap.blogspot.com/2020/07/the-great-lunar-cycle-horse-twins-and_27.html?m=1
Part 6: Oengus and Freyr: Irish and Scandinavian Horse Twins
“Having increased our understanding of the web of Horse Twin tales we have examined thus far, we must further assess the parallels which brings Oengus and Freyr into this Soma cycle, as the Northwestern European representatives of the Horse Twins.”
“It will be noticed that for many of the cases we are analyzing, only one Horse Twin is identifiable...We should remember, of course, that a twin is no less a twin when the other twin is not present.”
- O’Gravy, The Sun Riders
@solarcult
Forwarded from Αρυολογία☀️ (The Indo-Europeans)
Who is Indra?
He who, just born, chief God of lofty spirit by power and might became the Gods' protector,
Before whose breath through greatness of his valour the two worlds trembled, He, O men, is Indra.
He who fixed fast and firm the earth that staggered, and set at rest the agitated mountains,
Who measured out the air's wide middle region and gave the heaven support, He, men, is Indra.
Who slew the Dragon, freed the Seven Rivers, and drove the kine forth from the cave of Vala,
Begat the fire between two stones, the spoiler in warriors' battles, He, O men, is Indra.
By whom this universe was made to tremble, who chased away the humbled brood of demons,
Who, like a gambler gathering his winnings seized the foe's riches, He, O men, is Indra.
...
He who, just born, chief God of lofty spirit by power and might became the Gods' protector,
Before whose breath through greatness of his valour the two worlds trembled, He, O men, is Indra.
He who fixed fast and firm the earth that staggered, and set at rest the agitated mountains,
Who measured out the air's wide middle region and gave the heaven support, He, men, is Indra.
Who slew the Dragon, freed the Seven Rivers, and drove the kine forth from the cave of Vala,
Begat the fire between two stones, the spoiler in warriors' battles, He, O men, is Indra.
By whom this universe was made to tremble, who chased away the humbled brood of demons,
Who, like a gambler gathering his winnings seized the foe's riches, He, O men, is Indra.
...
Forwarded from Αρυολογία☀️ (The Indo-Europeans)
...
Of whom, the Terrible, they ask, Where is He? or verily they say if him, He is not.
He sweeps away, like birds, the foe's possessions. Have faith in him, for He, O men, is Indra.
Stirrer to action of the poor and lowly, of priest, if suppliant who sings his praises;
Who, fair-faced, favours him who presses Soma with stones made ready, He, O men, is Indra.
He under whose supreme control are horses, all chariots, and the villages, and cattle;
He who gave being to the Sun and Morning, who leads the waters, He, O men, is Indra.
To whom two armies cry in close encounter, both enemies, the stronger and the weaker;
Whom two invoke upon one chariot mounted, each for himself, He, O men, is Indra.
Without whose help our people never conquer; whom, battling, they invoke to give them succour;
He of whom all this world is but the copy, who shakes things moveless, He, O men, is Indra.
He who hath smitten, ere they knew their danger, with his hurled weapon many grievous sinners;
Who pardons not his boldness who provokes him, who slays the Dasyu, He, O men, is Indra.
He who discovered in the fortieth autumn Śambara as he dwelt among the mountains;
Who slew the Dragon putting forth his vigour, the demon lying there, He, men, is Indra.
...
Of whom, the Terrible, they ask, Where is He? or verily they say if him, He is not.
He sweeps away, like birds, the foe's possessions. Have faith in him, for He, O men, is Indra.
Stirrer to action of the poor and lowly, of priest, if suppliant who sings his praises;
Who, fair-faced, favours him who presses Soma with stones made ready, He, O men, is Indra.
He under whose supreme control are horses, all chariots, and the villages, and cattle;
He who gave being to the Sun and Morning, who leads the waters, He, O men, is Indra.
To whom two armies cry in close encounter, both enemies, the stronger and the weaker;
Whom two invoke upon one chariot mounted, each for himself, He, O men, is Indra.
Without whose help our people never conquer; whom, battling, they invoke to give them succour;
He of whom all this world is but the copy, who shakes things moveless, He, O men, is Indra.
He who hath smitten, ere they knew their danger, with his hurled weapon many grievous sinners;
Who pardons not his boldness who provokes him, who slays the Dasyu, He, O men, is Indra.
He who discovered in the fortieth autumn Śambara as he dwelt among the mountains;
Who slew the Dragon putting forth his vigour, the demon lying there, He, men, is Indra.
...
Forwarded from Αρυολογία☀️ (The Indo-Europeans)
...
Who with seven guiding reins, the Bull, the Mighty, set free the Seven great Floods to flow at pleasure;
Who, thunder-armed, rent Rauhiņa in pieces when scaling heaven, He, O ye men, is Indra.
Even the Heaven and Earth bow down before him, before his breath the mountains tremble.
Known as the Soma-drinker, armed with thunder, who wields the bolt, He, O ye men, is Indra.
Who aids with favour him who pours the Soma and him who brews it, sacrificer, singer.
Whom prayer exalts, and puring forth of Soma, and this our gift, He, O ye men, is Indra.
Thou verily art fierce and true who sendest strength to the man who brews and pours libation.
So may we evermore, thy friends, O Indra, speak loudly to the synod with our heroes.
Rigveda II.XII INDRA
Who with seven guiding reins, the Bull, the Mighty, set free the Seven great Floods to flow at pleasure;
Who, thunder-armed, rent Rauhiņa in pieces when scaling heaven, He, O ye men, is Indra.
Even the Heaven and Earth bow down before him, before his breath the mountains tremble.
Known as the Soma-drinker, armed with thunder, who wields the bolt, He, O ye men, is Indra.
Who aids with favour him who pours the Soma and him who brews it, sacrificer, singer.
Whom prayer exalts, and puring forth of Soma, and this our gift, He, O ye men, is Indra.
Thou verily art fierce and true who sendest strength to the man who brews and pours libation.
So may we evermore, thy friends, O Indra, speak loudly to the synod with our heroes.
Rigveda II.XII INDRA
The Great Lunar Cycle: The Horse Twins and the Grail: Part 7 of 12
https://taliesinsmap.blogspot.com/2020/07/the-great-lunar-cycle-horse-twins-and_30.html?m=1
Part 7: Freyr’s Horse Twin Characteristics
We come at last to a central question in our investigation:
“Does Freyr then match any of these common Horse Twin elements?”
And we uncover an ancient divine parentage controversy:
“What this shows is that there was somewhat of a controversy in Northwestern Europe about who the true father of the 'Divine Son' Horse Twin was, whether Moon God or Father Sky.”
- O’Gravy, The Sun Riders
@solarcult
https://taliesinsmap.blogspot.com/2020/07/the-great-lunar-cycle-horse-twins-and_30.html?m=1
Part 7: Freyr’s Horse Twin Characteristics
We come at last to a central question in our investigation:
“Does Freyr then match any of these common Horse Twin elements?”
And we uncover an ancient divine parentage controversy:
“What this shows is that there was somewhat of a controversy in Northwestern Europe about who the true father of the 'Divine Son' Horse Twin was, whether Moon God or Father Sky.”
- O’Gravy, The Sun Riders
@solarcult
Forwarded from Big Dave Sunchild
This is important to understanding why nature itself isn't divine but can be sacred. Divinity comes from the word "Tív", the root of the word "Tívar", a word for the Æsir. You can see the divine in nature but nature itself is not divine. Only the Gods are divine. This doesn't mean nature is vulgar but that there is a distinction between what is heavenly and what is earthly.
Forwarded from Αρυολογία☀️ (The Indo-Europeans)
Vájra (वज्र), "the hard or mighty one", from Proto-Indo-Aryan *wáȷ́ras and, ultimately, Proto-Indo-European *weǵ-, "strong".
Forwarded from Αρυολογία☀️ (The Indo-Europeans)
The Vájra is a symbolic weapon in Indian religion, notably the Rigvedic, which symbolises diamond (industructability) and lightening (unstoppable force). It is mentioned in the Rigveda as Indra's weapon, with which he slaughters the unbelievers, the sinners; Dāsa.
The Great Lunar Cycle: The Horse Twins and the Grail: Part 8 of 12
https://taliesinsmap.blogspot.com/2020/08/the-great-lunar-cycle-horse-twins-and.html?m=1
Part 8: The Welsh Cycle: Pwyll, Rhiannon and Pryderi
This part is the most challenging bend in the road to the grail, yet there will be as many revelations as mysteries.
“...this Welsh myth thus essentially stands as the Welsh Lunar Cycle, and ultimately, among other things, is believed to be the likely origin of at least one of the key features of the later Grail myth: the "wasteland."”
- O’Gravy, The Sun Riders
@solarcult
https://taliesinsmap.blogspot.com/2020/08/the-great-lunar-cycle-horse-twins-and.html?m=1
Part 8: The Welsh Cycle: Pwyll, Rhiannon and Pryderi
This part is the most challenging bend in the road to the grail, yet there will be as many revelations as mysteries.
“...this Welsh myth thus essentially stands as the Welsh Lunar Cycle, and ultimately, among other things, is believed to be the likely origin of at least one of the key features of the later Grail myth: the "wasteland."”
- O’Gravy, The Sun Riders
@solarcult
Forwarded from ☀️The Sun Riders☀️ (pagangmommy)
Learn a Skill
Are you in quarantine or voluntary isolation?
Think of what our ancestors did during the long winter months.
They kept productive by honing their skills, such as textile arts or woodworking.
Is there a skill you’ve been wanting to learn or hone, thinking you just don’t have enough time?
Well, you have got it now.
Make the best of it!
@solarcult
Are you in quarantine or voluntary isolation?
Think of what our ancestors did during the long winter months.
They kept productive by honing their skills, such as textile arts or woodworking.
Is there a skill you’ve been wanting to learn or hone, thinking you just don’t have enough time?
Well, you have got it now.
Make the best of it!
@solarcult
Forwarded from ☀️The Sun Riders☀️ (Hariwulfaz)
Honoring your ancestors
I spent the last weekend back in my home town, visiting family. However, I made it a point to carve out a couple of hours to visit the local cemetery many of my ancestors are buried in.
What stood out to me were all the graves with decorations, mementos, plants, etc. It had been a while since I had been there, so I forgot about this practice. What also stood out to me were all the graves that had nothing there. When was the last time these were visited?
We as a people have holidays associated with remembering the dead, honoring them and leaving meals out for them. Examples include the Celtic Samhain and the Lithuanian Vėlinės. But don’t let these be the only times you honor them. If you have the opportunity, visit their grave stones. Even if you have nothing to offer them at the time, just let them know they are still honored in this world. Let them know we still think about them. Even if they were before your time, and you never met them, let them know they are still remembered here. You carry on their legacy: to you their torch was passed.
And make sure their stone or grave site is well maintained. Too many graves I saw neglected, poorly maintained, covered in grass or obscured by weeds. It is up to us to keep their stones, not groundskeepers.
-Hariwulfaz, The Sun Riders
@solarcult
I spent the last weekend back in my home town, visiting family. However, I made it a point to carve out a couple of hours to visit the local cemetery many of my ancestors are buried in.
What stood out to me were all the graves with decorations, mementos, plants, etc. It had been a while since I had been there, so I forgot about this practice. What also stood out to me were all the graves that had nothing there. When was the last time these were visited?
We as a people have holidays associated with remembering the dead, honoring them and leaving meals out for them. Examples include the Celtic Samhain and the Lithuanian Vėlinės. But don’t let these be the only times you honor them. If you have the opportunity, visit their grave stones. Even if you have nothing to offer them at the time, just let them know they are still honored in this world. Let them know we still think about them. Even if they were before your time, and you never met them, let them know they are still remembered here. You carry on their legacy: to you their torch was passed.
And make sure their stone or grave site is well maintained. Too many graves I saw neglected, poorly maintained, covered in grass or obscured by weeds. It is up to us to keep their stones, not groundskeepers.
-Hariwulfaz, The Sun Riders
@solarcult
Forwarded from European Aesthetics and People
The Song of Wandering Aengus
I went out to the hazel wood,
Because a fire was in my head,
And cut and peeled a hazel wand,
And hooked a berry to a thread;
And when white moths were on the wing,
And moth-like stars were flickering out,
I dropped the berry in a stream
And caught a little silver trout.
When I had laid it on the floor
I went to blow the fire a-flame,
But something rustled on the floor,
And someone called me by my name:
It had become a glimmering girl
With apple blossom in her hair
Who called me by my name and ran
And faded through the brightening air.
Though I am old with wandering
Through hollow lands and hilly lands,
I will find out where she has gone,
And kiss her lips and take her hands;
And walk among long dappled grass,
And pluck till time and times are done,
The silver apples of the moon,
The golden apples of the sun.
— William Butler Yeats
I went out to the hazel wood,
Because a fire was in my head,
And cut and peeled a hazel wand,
And hooked a berry to a thread;
And when white moths were on the wing,
And moth-like stars were flickering out,
I dropped the berry in a stream
And caught a little silver trout.
When I had laid it on the floor
I went to blow the fire a-flame,
But something rustled on the floor,
And someone called me by my name:
It had become a glimmering girl
With apple blossom in her hair
Who called me by my name and ran
And faded through the brightening air.
Though I am old with wandering
Through hollow lands and hilly lands,
I will find out where she has gone,
And kiss her lips and take her hands;
And walk among long dappled grass,
And pluck till time and times are done,
The silver apples of the moon,
The golden apples of the sun.
— William Butler Yeats