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Showing posts from December, 2020

Dionysus, Hades and Soma: The Greek Lunar Cycle, All Parts

Dionysus, Hades and Soma: The Greek Lunar Cycle Dionysus and Soma With a clarified understanding of this “Lunar Cycle,” as it appears in the Celtic and Germanic mythologies, we can begin to look toward Greece to see if some of these same motifs and deities may be identifiable there. The prime candidate for the Greek “Soma” god becomes apparent at once by way of a near-exact myth once again involving the central Soma incarnation, Chyavana. It ought to come as no surprise that this Greek “Soma” candidate is the lord of divine intoxicating liquid, vegetation and mystical experience, Dionysus. The nexus between Dionysus and Chyavana-Soma is the close similarity of the stories of their births.   In the Vedic case, Chyavana's mother-to-be, Puloma, is pregnant with Chyavana. A conspiring raksasa demon, who desires to marry Puloma, turns into a pig and steals her away. This frightens Puloma into giving birth right then and there. The child's name, “Chyavana,” means “born-prematurely...

The Heroes of the Iliad as Indo-European Gods: A Mythological Rosetta Stone, Part 9 of 9: Sarpedon and Conclusion

  Sarpedon Sarpedon – Dyaus (Father Sky) Beginning with perhaps the most important detail of all: while the Vedic Bhishma is the spiritual son of Dyaus, the Greek Sarpedon is said to be the son of Zeus (cognate of Dyaus, Father Sky), and is the only warrior said to be so. In the  Mahabharata , this makes Bhishma Dyaus' incarnation, but in the  Iliad  the deeper identity of Sarpedon is not at all made explicit. Both Bhishma and Sarpedon are generals not directly of the royal Kaurava or Trojan family, but are brought in as allied forces. They are also the foremost of these outside generals. Each one, as well, has reservations about the war or does not want to fight it. Bhishma is uncle to and loves the Pandavas, so his heart is not in the fight and he doesn't wish to kill his nephews. Sarpedon for his part complains during the war that he has no reason to hate the Greeks and no reason to fight them. Each one is forced to fight by bonds of alliance and loyalty. Sarped...