#pie reconstructionism

[looking-at-the-deiwos]

Páusōn

Or as I write it, Páuson. Also known as Páhuson (with a hard h like the h in loch) or Péh₂usōn. His name means "Protector".

Páuson is the god of shepherds, nature, doorways, roads, paths, traveling, animals, forests and hunting; He also acts as a psychopomp.

He is the god of the liminal, the in-between. He guards travelers, merchants, and other go-betweens. He guards herds, sources of wealth, as well. He may thus be prayed to both as an opener of the ways and as a giver of prosperity.

He is characterized as a liminal deity himself, being in a way an in-between between man and animal in the depictions of his descendants. The figure of the horned god corresponds well to how he would be depicted.

Finally, he seems to have had a connection to fertility and sexuality, especially granting sexual prowess

He also had the names K̑ṝnónos and Pṇtóspotis according to this source

Offerings

taken from here

Coins or pieces of valuable metals

Depictions or imagery related to goats

Goat's milk

silver and gold beads

Sheperd's crook

Depictions or imagery related to crossroads

goat horns, fur or leather (ethically sourced)

symbols of abundance

lantern (related to his dominion over travel and his role as psychopomp)

Devotional acts

Travel to new places

Go on hiking in nature

Take care of the forest

Pick up trash you see on the road

Take care of your financial security

Learn about nature preservation programs in your area

Associations

Goats

Forests

Shepherds

Roads

Travels

the Wild in nature

Money

Commerce

Yew

Wednesday

April

Descendants in later pantheons

Pan (Greek)

Hermes (Greek)

Faunus (Roman)

Mercury (Greek)

Pushan (Vedic)

Cernunnos (Celtic)

Finally, here's his wikipedia article

[faith-of-the-wheel]

Ṛ́tkonā part 1: Introduction and Cognates

The Indo-European Bear Goddess. A deity of hunting, wild animals, and the wilderness. Associated with the moon, the night, and liberty. An independent and dangerous woman. Her name is commonly reconstructed Rtkona means "She of the Bears", however etymology is sadly not our friend in this effort. We're going to really push the envelope with a few of these "cognates". I would also like to admit a certain level of bias. My own worship of Artemis is what brought me into paganism, my love of her and what she represents may color my thoughts on this reconstruction. I think a certain level Artemis-centric focus features in any and all attempts to reconstruct this goddess, but I wanted my own personal bias to be noted. I'm gonna try and be objective, but if the end result ends being a somewhat broadened/indo-europeanized Artemis, don't say I didn't warn you. And in my defense, we're really scrounging for anything we can get with Rtkona.

Also, while I have called her a "bear goddess", I actually think the idea of a bear goddess as opposed to simply an animal goddess is poorly attested. We have several seemingly related mythological cognates for a powerful, dangerous, huntress, a potnia theron-type goddess. But the bear connection is much more tenuous. The huntress goddess herself seems to be almost exclusively attested in western traditions, so it may also be likely that was only worshiped widely in later times. A similar situation applies to Perkwunos, who also seems to be almost exclusively attested in western traditions(However, I and others have argued for cognates in Vedic Indra, and Parjanya, and possibly even in Ossetian/Alanic myth but that's more difficult to determine).

This name is typically formed from the name of the poorly attested celtic bear goddess, Artio(about whom we know almost nothing), and the theory that Artemis' name is related to the word for bear, which is highly contentious. But I have a tinfoil hat level, crackpot theory about this. We'll get to it right after a finish listing the cognates. Don't worry, there aren't many. And their details are even scarcer.

Norse jotunn Skadi is a goddess of hunting, archery, and nature, especially mountains. She is also associated with wolves, skiing, and winter. She is most strongly connected to bears through her second husband, Odin(who, along with Thor, is VERY strongly associated with them), after her separation from the Vanir sea-god Njordr. I suspect that this may be due to the cult of Odin absorbing this aspect of her cult and their connections, which I'll definitely get into in part 2.

Her name is connected to Germanic nouns meaning "shadow" and "harm". The shadow connection is older, so we will focus on that. She is very strongly correlated with the environment of Scandinavia and some have speculated that the word itself means "Skadi's island". Dumezil has argued that Scandinavia its is connected a meaning of "darkness" and that Skadi's name comes from it. I don't hate this theory, it certainly holds some water, but if we assume he is wrong, then we can add a fourth cognate.

Irish Scathach, who's name is more concretely tied to "shadow". She is a legendary Scottish warrior woman and martial arts teacher who trains Cú Chulainn in combat. She is especially associated with the Isle of Skye, where her home Dún Scáith ("Fortress of Shadows") sits. She is called "The Shadow" and "Warrior Maid" and is the rival and sister of Aífe, both of whom are daughters of Árd-Greimne of Lethra.

Her connection to the Isle of Skye might indicate a Norse connection, which would likely be Skadi. Scathach gives a stronger example or Rtkona's martial aspect, seen as a somewhat but certainly real aspect of both Artemis and Skadi.

From Skadi and Scathach's names I have reconstructed the epithet Sḱeh₃onā (from *(s)ḱeh₃- "shadow"), written Skehona from here forward. I am not a linguistic, so this reconstruction might be terrible. But that the epithet "She of the Shadows" seems likely to me. Actually, given evenly our cognates are split here, Rtkona could be the epithet for all we know.

There is also the Lithuanian goddess Medeina/Medeinė (from medis "tree", or medė "forest"), who often treated as synonymous to Žvorūnė/Žvorūna (derived from žvėris – "beast". Note the connotation of power and danger here). She is a god of forests, hunting, and animals, especially wolves and hares.

There is also a similar goddess called Devanna(or Zevanna), associated with wild nature, forests, hunting and the moon, was worshiped by the western slavs. There are several interpretations of Devana's name. The most obvious etymology are words such as dziewa, dziewka, "girl, young woman, maiden", and dziewica, "virgin", a word derived from the dziewa. This evokes very Artemisian imagery. Another word, from which the name of the goddess may come from, may be the old Polish dziwy, "wild".

Finding an eastern cognate has proven extremely difficult, and sadly linguistics did not help. However, I have found two deities who may be of some use to us, albeit likely not in a historic sense.

The first is Aranyani, rigvedic goddess of forests and wild animals.

Aranyani(literally "forest")has one of the most descriptive hymns in the Rigveda. The Aranyani Suktam (Hymn 146 in the 10th mandala of the Rigveda) describes her as being elusive, fond of quiet glades in the jungle, and fearless of remote places. In the hymn, the supplicant entreats her to explain how she wanders so far from the fringe of civilization without becoming afraid or lonely. She wears anklets with bells, and though seldom seen, she can be heard by the tinkling of her anklets. She is also described as a dancer(as is Artemis in many instances, especially archaic, Indo-European-y ones). Her ability to feed both man and animals though she 'tills no lands' is what the supplicant finds most marvelous. The hymn is repeated in Taittiriya Brahmana and interpreted by the commentator of that work.

That was almost ripped straight from our old friend Wikipedia, minus a few spelling errors(feels good).

The second is Parvati. Kinda. Almost. Like I've said, we're really reaching here. But I'm working with what I've got(and what I've been able scrounge up from the local landfill) in order to frankenstein Rtkona together a bit. Her connection to Rtkona is both complicated as all hell, and very much in the vein Jurassic Park's frog DNA solution. So much so that Parvati gets her own part in the series. A preview of the reasons behind this exists in the third part of my series on Rudlos, which you'll be able to see enough. Hopefully.

That will be the next part I release, which will also include many of my own thoughts on Artemis, and consequently, Rtkona, and how I choose to reconstruct given a lack of particularly concrete linguistic or mythic evidence.

[skaldish]

My take on this is that Norse pagans have put way too much stock into what PIE can actually tell us. The way I see it, PIE can only provide pre-Norse information. We can't extrapolate what Old Norse religion would have looked like by looking at other PIE descendants because a religion's development is highly variable, to the point where it's impossible to predict.

Unlike the Greeks and Romans, the Norse people didn't have the agricultural stability of other PIE-descendants, which meant they didn't have the division of labor needed to develop a strong intellectual class who could standardize their religion. We can't find a strong identity for what Old Norse practices looked like because there really wasn't any. The religion was pretty early in its development when Christianization happened.

I actually wrote about this phenomenon here if you want to read more. Credit to my clergy for helping with this, because she has an M.Div and is more qualified to talk about the intersectionality between religious development and cultural development than I am:

I also want to point out that plumping up Norse Heathenry by taking from Vedic, Greek, Roman, etc. sources is not "reconstruction." This is all additive information. Extra stuff. We're assuming a religion "ought to look a certain way" and "have certain things" so we're taking from other PIE-descended practices and "Norsifying" them, maybe to feel like we qualify and have substance.

It's high time we come to terms with the fact that our standard for reconstructionism was developed during German Romanticism, which sought to idealize the past in a time rife with antisemitism and racism. I have no doubt that we still have very skewed methods within our reconstructionist approaches, especially considering most of the people avidly reconstructing Norse religions up until the 2010's were white nationalists.

So to that I say, I absolutely hope this has some serious theological implications, and I hope we have some very critical discussions about it within our various heathen circles.

There's plenty of evidence that European paganism and Hinduism have shared roots, although the people who incorporate this into their own religious practices tend to be on the racist side for some reason

Alright this is a weird one so bare with me.

There is no evidence that European paganism shares roots with Hinduism. European and Indian-subcontinental ethnographic language cultures bare some very distant roots, but Vedic religions and the myriad pre-Christian religions of Europe were developed completely separately.

Please understand, the idea that paganism and Hinduism have a shared theological ancestor is a direct result of Nazi pseudohistory.

In the early 20th century, we knew a lot less about ancient Greece. Many people thought that Mycenaean Greece was a highly-advanced culture that had developed shit like steam engines and electricity. People legitimately thought that the ancient Greeks were like the forerunners from Halo.

Also in the early 20th century, there were a lot of German ethnonationalists looking around at the great works of the ancient world and going "If Germans are supposed to be the master race, why haven't we built shit like the the pyramids, or Angkor Wat?" So they started shopping around for some historical group of people they could reasonably claim lineage from.

There are some similarities between European and Indian-subcontiantal language groups. They shared an ancestor roughly 6,000 years ago, an ancestor that linguists call the "Indo-Aryan" language group. Early German ethnonationalists saw that term and ran with it. They built this myth that the Indo-Aryans were a culture of Magical White People responsible for everything cool and impressive. It also let them claim lineage from Alexander the great.

This narrative never really caught on with the mainstream Nazis, or even with the more occult-poisioned woo-y Nazis, but it was the favorite narrative of an absolutely bizarre woman named Savitri Devi. She was a greek woman who gave herself an Indian name and was instrumental in spreading Nazi propaganda after WWII.

I am not doing this topic justice, but Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke has an amazing book on the topic called Hitler's Priestess: Savitri Devi, the Hindu-Aryan Myth, and National-Socialism.

[looking-at-the-deiwos]

Dhég̑hōm Mā́tēr

Or as I write it, Dhéghom Máter, also Dʰéǵʰōm Méh₂tēr. Her name means "Mother Earth"

She was also called Pḷtáwī or Pl̥th₂éwih₂, meaning "the Broad One", and dʰengwo, meaning "Dark" (dark-skinned?)

Dhéghom is Mother Earth. Associated with plants, nature, fertility, motherhood, cooking and agriculture. She also had a cthonic aspect, being considered both the mother of all life and the place where all living returned to with death. As an ever present mother, oaths were sometimes made by her.

She is sometimes seen as a partner of Dyéus, or of Perkwúnos (or both ;)). Both these sources consider the idea of her being both the mother and consort of Perkwúnos

Offerings

Taken from here

Stones

Symbols of deep waters, earth and grain

Depictions or imagery related to pregnancy

Grains

Green ribbons

Depictions or imagery related to breasts

Depictions or imagery of sows

Devotional acts

Gardening!

Wearing green or brown

Cooking

Educate yourself on local flora and fauna

Eat fruit and vegetables

Learn new recipes involving either vegetables or grains

Make bread

Honor the cycles of nature (seasons, etc)

Picking flowers

Drink natural teas

Ground yourself in nature

Associations

Stones

Vegetation

Fruit

Agriculture

Pregnancy

Motherhood

Landscapes

Sows

Green and brown

the feast of Mabon

November

Monday

Descendants in later pantheons

Cthonia (Greek)

Demeter (Greek)

Semele (Greek)

Plataia (Greek)

Gaia (Greek)

Terra/Tellus Mater (Roman)

Ceres (Roman)

Jörd (Nordic)

Prithvi Mata (Vedic)

Finally, here's her wikipedia article

[looking-at-the-deiwos]

Could you do an informational post on Mórā?

K̑ólyā

Or as I write it Kólya, also found as Kolyos, her name means "The Coverer". She's also known as Mórā or Mértis.

She's the goddess of the underworld, the dead and winter. While Yemós is the deity who rules over the underworld, Kólya is death itself. She is in charge of taking away souls to the underworld when the time of death comes. She is said to take the souls with a noose or a snare.

According to this source, she is the daughter of the goddess of night, Nókʷts, and the god of sleep, Swépnos. She is in turn the consort of the god of magic Wélnos and with him fathers the many monsters of Proto Indo-European myth, like the great monster Wṛ́tros which is slain by the thunder god Perkʷū́nos.

Offerings

taken from here

Goad

noose or hook

black stone, ideally one with a magnetic charge

imagery of scavenger animals: crow, raven, etc.

crow or raven feathers

Devotional acts

UPG

Visit cemeteries and leave flowers (with permission!)

Collect animal bones (ethically sourced)

Learn more about death and take your time to get more comfortable with the concept

Collect antiques

If you can, help those who are closer to death (the elderly, those in hospice, etc.)

Associations

Black

Noose

Hook

Winter

Beech

the feast of Samhain

Descendants in later pantheons

Hel (Nordic)

Calypso (Greek)

Mors (Roman)

Sarva (Indian)

Kālī (Indian)

Māra (Indian)

[looking-at-the-deiwos]

the Diwós Sūnū́

Or as I write it, the Diwós Sunú. Also simply called "the Divine Twins"

Diwós Sunú means "Sons of Dyéus". They are also known as the Ék̑winō (Horse-like), the Diwós Népote (Descendants of Dyéus), the Yéwone (Young Ones), etc.

They are great horse riders and warriors. Their fight, however, is to help and save those in need, be they gods or mortals. They are youthful and strong

This source, gives their individual names as Áusros and Wékʷsperos:

Áusros is the god of the morning star, a god of fertility and harvest. He is more peaceful and associated with cattle.

Wékʷsperos is the god of the evening star, a god of war and travel. He is more of a warrior, patron of riders, owners of horses, warriors and cavalrymen.

They are the sons of Dyéus and Apóm Népots with Ékwona, each of these gods fathering one of the twins.

As a pair, the Twins guide mankind, especially sailors, farmers, and riders, and may be prayed to for healing, fertility, and prosperity. They are divine rescuers from all sorts of immediate crises. They will be there in the midst of a hurricane. They are the closest deities to humanity, sometimes featured as sharing meals with us instead of receiving sacrifice.

They both are the consorts of the sun goddess Sáwol and they pull her chariot across the sky each day at her command

Offerings

Depictions or imagery of horses

Two horses

two horses' heads

two horseshoes

images of ocean waves with white peaks

Swan down, other water bird down

oats

Devotional acts

Riding or taking care of horses

Helping someone in need

Stand up for others

Work out or play a sport

Go sailing

Visit the sea or walk on the beach

Have a meal with friends

Associations

Horses

Sailors

Farmers

Youth

Sea

Athleticism

Swans

Abundance

Love

Healing

Oaths

St. Elmo's fire

Ash

the feasts of Yule and Litha

June and December

Sunday

Descendants in later pantheons

the Dioskouroi (Greek)

the Dioscuri (Roman)

the Ashvins (Vedic)

the Dieva dēli (Lithuanian)

Hengist and Horsa (Germanic)

Finally, here's their wikipedia page

[looking-at-the-deiwos]

Could you make a post about Rudlos

Rudlós

Also known as Wā́tonos and Léudheros.

He is the wild god of alcohol, frenzy, wild nature, poetry, shamanism, and arcane wisdom; he's a sender and a healer of plagues.

The name Rudlós derives either from rewd-, "rend, tear apart", or from rew-, "howl". So his name could be understood as "The Howler".

From his descendants we can see epithets of Rudlós as "the Frightening one" or "The Three-Eyed one". He sends diseases and also heals them, so he's invoked both as a lord of remedies and so that he doesn't send plagues.

This source has Wā́tonos (Proto Indo-European name from which comes later Woden and Odin) as another name or aspect of Rudlós, no doubt because of his role as god of frenzy, arcane wisdom and the wild hunt (Odin's name means "Lord of Frenzy"). So he could also be understood as the ancestor of Odin and related deities.

According to said source, Rudlós is one of the Ghṃgṇ̄tṓs, twelve ancient deities who arose from the sacrifice of Yemós and ruled before the Déiwōs. Rudlós married his sister Anghésonā and became the father of Páusōn and the Mā́wortes, gods of war, leaded by the god Mā́worts.

Offerings

Milk

Honey

Alcoholic beverages (induces frenzy)

Elements or imagery related to hunting (esp. bow and arrow)

Devotional acts

Have an alcoholic drink (if possible)

Visit wild natural places (safely)

Dance to music that elevates your spirits

Practice a form of divination

Try poetry or archery

Associations

Shamanism

Trance

Madness

Frenzy

The wild hunt

Plagues

Healing

alcohol and poetry

Descendants in later pantheons

Rudra (Vedic)

Rudianos (Celtic)

Rudiobus (Celtic)

Rŭglŭ (Old Russian)

Woden (Germanic)

Odin (Nordic)

Ódr (Nordic)

[looking-at-the-deiwos]

Dā́nu

Or as I write it, Dánu. Also known as Donu or Deh₂nu

She is the goddess of rivers and fertility. She may be worshiped effectively at local rivers, especially the major river in a watershed, and especially at that river's source.

This source characterizes her as one of the G̑hṃg̑ṇ̄tṓs, twelve primordial deities who existed before the déiwōs. Dánu in specific would become the mother of Dhéghom, Apóm Népots, Diwóna and Dyéus, whose father was another one of the G̑hṃg̑ṇ̄tṓs, Séwətōr. Because of this, the déiwōs are also called Dānéwyōs, that is "children of Dánu".

Offerings

taken from here

Water in a clear glass vial from a local river or water source

stone from a local water source (you can paint it with blue wavy lines)

Devotional acts

Go swimming at your local river or water source

Pick up trash at your local river or water source

Learn about rivers, get informed especially on the ecology of your local river

Support preservation efforts for your local river or water source

Associations

Blue

White

Rivers

Water

Fertility

May

Friday

Descendants in later pantheons

Dānu (Vedic)

Danu (Celtic)

Dôn (Celtic)

[looking-at-the-deiwos]

Préwyos

Préwyos (also called Wenéspotis or Yḗros) is the god of fertility, gardens, summer, love and beauty. He is characterized as a jolly deity who embodies simplicity, the rustic, and pleasure. He focuses on the essential aspects of life, like sustenance and pleasure.

Préwyos can be invoked for fertility and abundance in gardens, farms and livestock. This can also be translated to giving a central place to pleasure and your natural needs in daily life.

He is also understood as the brother, consort and/or male version of the goddess Priyá. Together, according to this source, they are the parents and rulers of the Amséwes, a series of minor gods who rule over more rustic and down to earth domains compared to the déiwōs, who are often times more celestial and beyond human affairs.

Préwyos is a phallic deity, a symbol of fertility and pleasure, as shown by the representations of his descendants Freyr and Priapus.

Offerings

Fruit

Flowers from a garden

Depictions or imagery of fruit

Depictions or imagery of gardens

Depictions or imagery of phalluses

Devotional acts

Gardening! you can devote a garden space to him

Do activities that give you pleasure

Eat fruit

Help out at a farm or with livestock

Associations

Gardens

Fruits

Summer

Love

Phallus

Pleasure

the feast of Beltane

Descendants in later pantheons

Freyr (Nordic)

Priapus (Greek)

Mutunus Tutunus (Roman)

Frawjaz (Germanic)

Jaryło (Slavic)

[looking-at-the-deiwos]

Wéstyā

Or as I write it, Wéstya. Her name means "She of the Household" or "Burning one". Other names for her are Démspotnī, "Lady of the House", Hā́sānoyā (with a hard h like the ch in loch), "Goddess of the Hearth" and Tépṇtī, related to "Warming"

Wéstya is the goddess of the hearth. She also rules over fire, the home and food stores. As the patron of the home fire, she embodies the very basis of the house and family. She is the place of refuge to which we go to feel safe, rest and be with those we consider our kin.

Wéstya has domain over fire in its role as the warming center of the house and also as a source of cooked food. Fire relates to purity, so Wéstya is deeply associated with purity.

(She is not however the Proto Indo-European deity of fire itself, they are another déiwos we will see later on)

She also plays a key role in ritual and has connection with the concept of eternal fires (fires that were never extinguished). Veiling seems to be a way to honor her too.

Wéstya also rules over the Dṃyṓs, household spirits who protect each home and their member (akin to the roman Lares and similar household spirits)

Offerings

taken from here

Fire

butter or oil lamp

Clarified butter

red, yellow, and orange beads

Devotional acts

Lit up candles (stay safe)

Tidy up your room or your home

Cook for your family/kin

Take care of relationships with your family

Organize your shelves and fridge

Veil

Honor your house and how it shelters you

Get something new and needed for your home (maybe a new rug, cleaning implement or table you have been needing for ages)

Associations

Colours red, yellow and orange

Fire

Cooking

Food storing

Rowan

the feast of Imbolc

February

Descendants in later pantheons

Hestia (Greek)

Despoina (Greek)

Vesta (Roman)

Tabiti (Scythian)

Brigit (Celtic), according to this

[looking-at-the-deiwos]

Mḗnōs

Or as I write it, Ménos. Also found as Mḗnōt or Meh₁not. His name means "The Moon"

Ménos is the god of the moon. He is considered the brother of Sáwol. He also crosses the sky on a chariot, according to the myth

Ménos is associated with time (because of the role of the moon in measuring the night and the months), hunting, fishing, magic, healing and learning, according to this source. He is also considered a good of thinking and memory, according to this source

Offerings

taken from here

White or silver disk

moonstone sphere

time piece, hourglass

white quartz

pebbles

Depictions or imagery of the moon

moon water

Devotional acts

Bask in the light of the full moon

Observe the phases of the moon

honor the cycles of the moon

Wear white or purple

Wear imagery or jewelry of the moon

Moon-gazing

Make moon water

Make a night-time ritual

Taking a full walk outside during the crescent or full moon

Sharpen your mind; play memory games

Became comfortable with change

Continue learning through your life

learn about your healthcare options

Associations

White

Purple (UPG)

All moon festivals

time

healing

thinking, memory and learning

hunting and fishing

magic

Willow

Monday

January

Descendants in later pantheons

Máni (Nordic)

Meno (Lithuanian)

Mene (Greek)

Mah (Iranian)

Men (Phrygian)

Myesyats (Slavic)

Finally, here's his wikipedia article (shared with his sister)

[looking-at-the-deiwos]

Diwónā / Gʷóuwindā

or as I write it, Diwóna / Gwóuwinda. Also Diwōnā or Diuōneh₂

(note: some people see Diwóna and Gwóuwinda as different goddesses, while others see them as two aspects of the same goddess. I here take the second approach according to this)

Diwóna is the goddess of marriage, abundance, oaths, magic, destiny and domestic crafts. She is a trifunctional deity who presides over war, poetic inspiration, sovereignty, wisdom, artistry and crafts. She is the consort of Dyéus Patér.

Under her aspect of Gwóuwinda she is the goddess of cows, motherhood, loyalty in relationships, nurture, purity and motherly love.

The name Diwónā means something like "Goddess", and its the feminine version of the name Dyéus. Gʷóuwindā means something like "She who provides the cows" or "Cow-like". According to this source, she also had names like Diwī́ Mā́tēr, Dhḗsyā, Dhēsónā and Séleswṇtī.

She is to be approached as a motherly being who blesses her children with love and protects them fiercely from attacks.

Offerings

Taken from here

Depictions or imagery of cows

Milk

Cow horns (ethically sourced)

Depictions or imagery related to motherhood

Poetry

Embroidery and crochet pieces

Devotional acts

Loyality in your relationships

Embroidery & crochet

Writing poetry

Wearing one of her colors

Wearing cow imagery

Drinking milk (if it's healthy for you)

honoring motherhood and nurture in your relationships

Helping someone pregnant

Protecting those you love

Associations

Cows

Colors white, black and brown

Color red (UPG)

May (Gwóuwinda)

August (Diwóna)

Descendants in later pantheons

Dione (Greek)

Diana (Roman)

Devi (Vedic)

Govinda (Indian)

These other descendants are based on roles and not linguistically, but have been presented by this source

Hera (Greek)

Juno (Roman)

Sarasvati (Indian)

Anahita (Iranian)

[looking-at-the-deiwos]

Dyḗus Pətḗr

or as I write it, Dyéus Patér. Also Dyḗus ph₂tḗr

Dyéus is the god of the Sky. The blue, bright sky of day, daylight and clouds are his natural dominion. He also fulfills the role of a Father and is the Leader of the whole pantheon (my own UPG is that he leads the déiwōs not like a king but like a father).

Dyéus is also connected to the concept of the Ártus or Hártus (with a strong h like the ch in loch). The Ártus is the universal law that underlies the cosmos, the order and beauty of it that makes life possible. Dyéus, then, upholds the Ártus and represents the concept of justice but in a cosmic and natural way (justice as in the laws of society are the dominion of another déiwos). In the trifunctional view of Proto Indo-european society, he fulfills the role of the priest-king. He's a patron of priests and the idea of doing rituals in respectful ways.

The first part of his name, Dyéus, derives from déiwos, which is the generic term for a god. So in a way he is THE god. The second part of his name, Patér, means father. Thus, seeing him as your father in the sky is totally valid (traditional even ;)!

In english his name literally means "father daylight-sky-god"

He seems to have had a connection to oaths, coming from his connection with the natural law of the Ártus.

The sun (which has its own déiwos) is sometimes referred to as "the eye of Dyéus"

Dyéus also has other names like Olyópətēr, which means All-Father, and Mitrós, which is associated with a role he had as a double deity with another god that we will see later)

Offerings

Taken from here

Feathers of either eagles or of your local highest flying birds

Depictions or imagery of clouds

Depictions or imagery of oxen

Depictions or imagery of eagles

Depictions or imagery related to fatherhood

Golden beads

Devotional acts

Mostly UPG

Cloud watching

Wearing blue

Learning about different types of clouds

Collecting feathers

Climbing a hill or mountain

Doing things related to fatherhood or leadership

Associations

Taken from here and here

Oxen

Mountain tops

The open sky

Clouds as his herd

Eagles

Feathers of high flying birds

Eye

Gold threads

Obelisk (white)

Alder

Thursday

January

Descendants in later pantheons

The deities of the Proto Indo-European (PIE) pantheon are reconstructed based on the cognates (similar names, myths and such) between later deities in different pantheons of indo-european peoples (Greek, Roman, Germanic, Nordic, Vedic, Iranian, Celtic, Slavic, Baltic, among others). As these people spread out they took their gods with them which got reshaped through generations and the evolution of language.

Dyéus is the most securely reconstructed deity of the proto indo-europeans. Here are some of his most famous descendants or versions in later pantheons:

Zeus (Greek)

Jupiter (Roman)

Tyr (Nordic)

Tiwaz (Germanic)

Diēvas (Lithuanian)

Dyaus Pitar (Vedic)

The Dagda (Celtic)

Mitra (Vedic and Iranian)

Finally, here's his wikipedia article

[looking-at-the-deiwos]

Ék̑wonā

Or as I write it, Ékwona. Her name means "Horse-like". She is also known as Mēdhéwī, Médhunā (meaning "Intoxicator" or "Goddess of Mead"), and Rēg̑ṇtónā (meaning "Great Queen")

Ékwona is the goddess of horses, sexuality, marriage, vengeance, sovereignty, and mead. She is a goddess of wild and free sexuality. She mates with warriors and through this bestows sovereignty (a really ancient belief of the Proto Indo-Europeans). Rulership here is hers to give.

Her sexuality is always on her own terms and she defends those who have seen their consent violated. She is a very powerful goddess who overtakes in vengeance those who go against her desires or try to hurt those under her domain.

She's the goddess of horses and all the things related to them. She also rules over mead and such intoxicating beverages (related to her nature as wild and untamed)

She is considered the mother of the Diwós Sunú, with both Dyéus and Apóm Népots. She also gave birth to other heroes and gods.

Offerings

taken from here

Horse shoe

Depictions or imagery of horses

Horse hair

Mead

horse's milk

kumis

oats

Devotional acts

Practice equitation

Ride or take care of horses

Make or drink mead

Take positions of leadership

do something you find pleasure in

support victims of SA

Associations

Horses

Mead

White and Red

Sexuality

Kingship

December

Saturday

Samhain

Descendants in later pantheons

Epona (Celtic)

Medb (Celtic)

Madhavi (Indian)

Rhiannon (Celtic)

[looking-at-the-deiwos]

Yemós

Also found as Yemo. Their name means "Twin" or "Double"

Yemós is the ruler of the afterlife or Underworld (Dhubnóm). They are the deity of the dead and may be prayed to by those about to die, or on behalf of those who have just died. Yemós is also characterized as bigender.

Yemós is not the deity of death, however. They are the one who rules over the dead, but they do not make them die, or decide when they will.

Yemós is the twin of Mónus or Mánnus and both are the protagonists of the Proto Indo-European creation myth:

Proto Indo-European creation myth

From the primeval chaos (G̑hā́nos) eventually emerged the universal principle of order, the Ártus. From these two emerged a cosmic egg, the Olyōwyóm. After it hatched three beings came into existance: Ammādhēinús, the primeval cow; and the twins Yemós and Mónus. Ammadheinús then nourished the two twins.

Eventually, Mónus sacrificed Ammadheinús and his own twin Yemós. Mónus then dismembers the body of Yemós and uses the parts to create the world: Their skull becomes the sky; their body the earth; their hair the trees and grass; their blood the rivers and seas; their brain the clouds; their bones the mountains and stones, etc. From Ammadheinús' body came all animal life.

From their sacrifice, Yemós became the first to die and also the first immortal, becoming the first deity after their sacrificial death, ruler of the underworld and of the dead, of which they are the first. Mónus became the first priest, the first king and the first mortal. From Mónus all humans descend.

After their sacrifice, Yemós begot the twelve primordial deities, the G̑hṃg̑ṇ̄tṓs, from which in turn descend the Deiwṓs and from which descend the Amséwes and all the lesser deities. So Yemós is the ancestor of all deities.

Offerings

taken from here

Skull (possibly with crown or gold wire(s))

black lantern

burial shroud

tomb image with spirals (maybe made into a candle holder)

inverted cauldron

red and black woven rope hanging from ceiling

crow or raven feathers wrapped in gold wire

depictions or imagery of skulls or tombs

Dirt with flame-colored stone

a large golden bead, or a number of small golden beads

Devotional acts

Learn about and honor your ancestors/those who have passed

Keep family heirlooms

Visit the graves of family members and leave flowers

Visit cemeteries and if allowed leave flowers

Learn about death and how to address it in a healthy way

Work on learning how to let go of the past

Visit ruins or ghost towns (safely!)

Associations

Skulls

Graveyards

Darkness

Black and red

Crows and ravens (because of their black feathers)

The feast of Samhain

October

Descendants in later pantheons

Yama (Vedic)

Yima (Iranian)

Ymir (Nordic)

Remus (Roman)

Hades, in their role as ruler of the underworld (Greek)

Dis, in their role as ruler of the underworld (Roman)

Finally, here's their wikipedia article (shared with their brother)

[looking-at-the-deiwos]

Sā́wōl

Or as I write it, Sáwol. Her name means "Sun Goddess". Also found as Sawélyosyo Dhugətḗr ("Daughter of the Sun") or Seh₂ul

Sáwol is the goddess of the sun. According to the myth, she crosses the sky daily on a chariot pulled by two horses.

She is the consort of both of the Diwós Sunú, who are the horsemen who pull her chariot across the sky.

She is also considered the sister of the moon god, Ménos

She is associated with music, archery, poetry, divination, knowledge and wisdom, according to this source

Offerings

Taken from here

Swens kʷekʷlos, "wheel of the sun"

Yellow or gold disk

chariot with sun

ring/wreath with orange, gold, and yellow ribbons (should be kept near Diwós Sunú if they’re in a shrine together)

Citrine

depictions or imagery of the sun

apples

Devotional acts

Bask in the sunlight

let sunlight come in through your window

wear sun themed jewelry

have imagery of the sun around your house

wear sunscreen when going out when the sun is out

learn about the sun's cycle (solstices, equinoxes)

ground yourself under the light of the sun

stay hydrated on sunny days

listening to music white studying

play any instrument

read poetry books

make your own poetry

learn about divination methods and how to apply them in a healthy way

Learn something new

try learning archery

Associations

Yellow, gold

music, poetry

divination

knowledge and wisdom

archery

Apples

Sunday

the feast of Litha

June

Descendants in later pantheons

Helios (Greek)

Helen (Greek)

Sol (Roman)

Sól (Nordic)

Sunna (Germanic)

Saulé (Lithuanian)

Sulis (Celtic)

Sūryā (Vedic)

Apollo, in some aspects (Greek and Roman)

Finally, here's her wikipedia article (shared with her brother)