#proto indo european religion

[looking-at-the-deiwos]

Proto Indo-European (PIE) Pantheon

Main gods

These gods are the most easily reconstructed and appear in different sources of PIE religion

Dyḗus Pətḗr ☁️

Diwónā 🐄

Dhég̑hōm Mā́tēr 🌿

Apṓm Népōts 🌊

Áusōs 🌅

Sā́wōl ☀️

Mḗnōs 🌕

the Diwós Sūnū́ 🏇🏼

Perkʷū́nos ⛈️

Páusōn 🐐

Aryomḗn ⚖️

Wéstyā 🏠

Ék̑wonā 🐎

Yemós 💀

Dā́nu 🏞️

K̑ólyā ☠️

Priyā́ 🌹

Other gods

Not as easily reconstructed and don't appear in all sources

Wēyús 🌬️

Ṇgʷnís 🔥

Wórunos 🌌

Wélnos 🧙🏼‍♂️

Préwyos 🍆

Rudlós 🌀

Wḷkā́nos ⚒️

Léudheros 🍇

Swépnos 💤

Sówəmos🍶

Ṛ́tk̑onā 🐻

For the full pantheon according to the most wide possible view of it check here, other sources are way much more reserved and give less gods for the pantheon, less than 20

I will be making posts exploring each deity and I'll be linking them from here too! Stay tuned!

[faith-of-the-wheel]

Rudlós part 2.5: Additional possible cognates

Some other possible reflexes of Rudlos, much harder to prove and provide, in my opinion, little additional detail. They might corroborate previously shown characteristics. Many of these are Celtic(Gaulic) deities who are poorly attested but whose symbology may be more helpful than the very poorly attested, but linguistically relevant Rudianos/Rudiobus. Many continental Germanic and Celtic deities are represented by kennings and epithets, rather than their names 'original' names. As Ceisiwr Serith (2009) suggests in his book about ancient PIE religion, this may have been common for many cultures descended from the PIE language groups; to utter the name of a god was to attract their attention, which was not always desired.

Faunus/Silvanus

The name Faunus is generally thought to stem from Proto-Italic *fawe or *fawono (variant *fawōn(jo)), cognate with Umbrian fons(foner) meaning 'merciful'. It may ultimately derive from PIE *bʰh₂u-n ('favourable'), which also reflects Old Irish búan ('good, favourable, firm') and Middle Welsh bun ('maiden, sweetheart').

Another theory(Briquel, 1974, and Sergent, 1991) contends that Faunus is the Latin outcome of PIE *dhau-no- ('the strangler', thus denoting the 'wolf'. Somehow.), a proposition suggested by the fact that the two Luperci ("wolf-men", from Latin lupus, 'wolf') are commonly treated as temporary priests of the god Faunus.

He strongly associated with Pan, and would alter be depicted in a similar manner. However, the oldest depictions do not ascribe bestial features to him at all. It is believed that he was worshiped by traditional Roman farmers in another capacity before he became a nature deity. He was associated directly by the ancient, and at times seemingly identical, Lupercus.

The name Silvānus is a derivation from Latin silva ('forest, wood'). It is cognate with the Latin words silvester ('wild, not cultivated'), silvicola ('inhabiting woodlands') or silvaticus ('of woodlands or scrub'). The earlier etymology of silva is unclear.

He was associated with Mars, who is sometimes depicted wearing a wolf's pelt, and seeing as Cato refers to him consistently as Mars Silvanus, giving him a warlike, martial aspect to him, and a wolf connection. Silvanus as an aspect of Mars combined with his association with forests and glades, give context to the worship of Silvanus as the giver of the art of forest(read ambush/mobile stealthy) warfare. In particular, the initiation rituals of the Evocati appear to have referenced Silvanus as a protective god of raiding for women and cattle. Some have argued that this could be Etruscan influence but it would line up very well with our already established character of Rudlos as a god of aggressive warfare, wild nature, and the village plundering, cattle/women stealing Koryos/Mannerbund.

Hraste and Vukovic connect Faunus/Silvanus to Rudra/Shiva. To qoute:

" Contemporary history of religion affirms that Roman Faunus and Silvanus represent the same divinity. This article argues for the Indo-European parallel between Faunus/Silvanus and Vedic Rudra/Shiva based on several similarities. They both possess two names that should be interpreted thus: one as wild and savage (Silvanus/Rudra) and the other as favorable and propitious (Faunus/Shiva). The male divinity can appear in both the plural and the singular, or he can have a homonymous female counterpart (Faunus/Fauna/Fauni — Rudra/Rudrání/Rudrás). They have a cult and abode distinct from other gods, closely associated with woods and wilderness. They are in special relation to animals, cattle, in particular. They have common abilities, such as healing all creatures. Their destructive character puts them in relation to the god of war. Poetry is the function of Faunus while Rudra's sons, the Maruts, accompanying Indra on his martial exploits, sing hymns of praise"

Cocidius

Silvanus as been identified in Romano-British religion with a northern Brittonic deity, Cocidius. He was also equated with Mars, in his capacity as a god of war and hunting, and also with Silvanus, as a god of forests, groves and wild fields. He was most likely worshiped by lower-ranked Roman soldiers, as well as by the Britons for whom he was probably a tribal god(a Genius Loci). The name may be related to Brittonic cocco-('red'), suggesting that statues of the god might have been painted red, and connecting him to Celtic reflexes of Rudlos, Rudianos and Rudiobus. His epithet Vernostonus connects him to Alder trees, which are associated with poetry, and the gods Apollon and Odin, and Dyeus Pter.

*U̯ātonos by Senobessus Bolgon

Visucius/Cissonius/U̯ātonos

Delamarre suggests a couple of meanings for Visucius, ranging from ‘Crow’ or ‘Raven’ from *uisuco or *uesākos to ‘who knows’, ‘who foretells’’ or ‘who sees’, possibly derived from *witsu. Olmstead however argues that it could mean ‘the Worthy’, coming from *Wesu. While the etymology is controversial, they all seem to point back towards a Rudlos-cognate. He is likely connected to the 'Gaulish Mercury' whose identity remains complicated but very well could be a transplanted Wodanaz. Senobessus Bolgon, a blog dedicated to Gaulish Polytheism, has a great article on the reconstructed U̯ātonos you can read here.

Visucius was connected by by the romans via interpretatio with Mercury, and according to Miranda Green via epigraphy recorded byJan de Vries, with Mars as well. His name and associations could indicate him being a psychopomp and a deity of eloquence, trade, traveling, knowledge, oaths, magic. Mercury was also associated with the god Lugus, who shares all of the above qualities. If Visucius is similar or identical to Lugus, we may be able to assume that he is also similar to Germanic Wotan/Odin. This is likely because of the cultural cross-pollination between eastern Gaulish and continental Germanic tribes.

Not nearly as much is to be said for Cissionius, other than that the name is almost as common as Visucius in Belgic regions.  According to Green, Cissionius also had a doublet goddess by the name of Cissionia, much like how Visucius had one called Visucia. For these reasons, as well as Senobessus Bolgon treats both Visucius and Cissionius as the same deity, as will we. 

Let's take a step back, look at all the cognates. We have very well documented, direct attestations, in the Germanic, Vedic, and an Anatolian/Greek cognate that backs up both very well. A pair poorly understood potential cognates in the Roman tradition. Several Celtic cognates, back up by linguistics and by Interpretatio romana. A possible Slavic linguistic cognate.

[gwydpolls]

Time Travel Question 22: Ancient History X and Earlier

These Questions are the result of suggestions from the previous iteration.

This category may include suggestions made too late to fall into the correct grouping.

Please add new suggestions below if you have them for future consideration. All cultures and time periods welcome.

[castilestateofmind]

"Do not think of the Proto-Indo-Europeans as a people who died out a long time ago. They live, and their culture lives, in us; transformed by time and the influences of other cultures maybe, but still recognisable at the core of our values, language, and culture. By understanding them, we understand ourselves."

-Ceisiwr Serith.

[rrcraft-and-lore]

Tapati, who is she, and why is she significant?

Well, first, she is a river goddess, but daughter of the sun god, Surya. However, her name means the hot one, the burning one. Interestingly enough, her name is tied to the river she's said to rule over - HOWEVER, language time.

Agni, a vedic fire god, has a scythian counterpart similar in name (and the scythian's are the older culture that broke off to form the vedic, indo iranian/iranian, and levant people as well as others - mixing, breeding, invading).

Back to Tapati.

Her name is cognate with the Scythian supreme fire goddess, Tabiti. Very interesting.

Tabiti is the supreme goddess of all things in the Scythian culture, primordial, the first flame, and much like Ianna (from Summerian mythology I talked about later) went on to inspire entire god/goddess roles, and had mantles inverted as interestingly enough, there's evidence some first/supreme deities were feminine, later flipped to male as cultures evolved - their places/roles attributes assigned to male gods and their places changed - made wives, daughters, so on a similar sort of flipping happens out of the Scythian culture/ proto Indo Europeans (that I've talked about) where the root word for a divine (doesn't mean good just divinely powered) being evolved along languages the ahura, asura, and asir (Norse) come from an older proto Indo-European/Scythian word.

In the Vedic stories, the daevas are good, the asura evil. In the Avestan and Iranian texts...the ahura/asura are good, and the daevas are evil.

We know the Norse asir and vanir warred also very interesting. And interesting how gods/goddesses are changed, subsumed, adopted and more, no? Tabiti was never represented in/by art, btw. Her representation was always an actual fireplace -- a flame. That's what you used.

There's historical written evidence in places of Agni's animal form being both referred to as a bull, AND a cow in places - different genders. And his flame being referred to as female in places.

In the Hindu bronze age, Agni had way more of a prominent role as fire did before later dwindling...as fire does (ooooo symbolic - okay that's just cuz of time and shifting priorities), but there are more similarities of these things in Baltic cultures -- but oh why?

(Why am I hopping around? Cuz gods/goddesses, archetypes, beats, stories all do too - all connected you muppets).

Well, did you know the closest cognate to Sanskrit is Lithuanian? It's kept so much of its proto Indo European roots.

Wait, a South Asian language and Baltic European language are cognates? YUH. WEIRD.

Almost like they both derived out of an older culture, language, their practices, beliefs and more.

And most of human history is just migrating, fucking, invading, and settling in new places and staying long enough until your features continue to change due to bow chicka wow wowing and environment.

Funny how that works.

Here's some Scythian clothing (oh btw, women were warriors/could be too - congrats you learned that).

Does this style look familiar? Yeah, you can see the evolution/adaptation from this to later styles (bearing similarities) in Iran, India, Mongolia, the Baltics.

Cuz....y'know, that's where the proto Indo Europeans went about their biz and got jiggy with it and settled. Wow-wow-wee-wah! Okay now I'm done. Circular ish convo to get there but started with a fire goddess, it's relevant, but it all comes back to this.

Btw, this is also an important lesson for fantasy authors.

Because of all these connections and how old a bad ass fire goddess is, many of the oldest cultures are regarded as fire worshippers (like the Zoroastrians) did you know some keep an eternal burning flame? -- one is in Udvada Gujarat in India.

This flame has been said to have been kept burning for 1,500 years.

FIFTEEN HUNDRED.

And again, while most of the surviving Indo Iranic sun gods are male, there is evidence the ORIGINAL sun deity (including in/from the German, Baltic, and Slavic religions) was FEMALE.

[eagle-longing-for-rostau]

[swedebeast]

As someone who can spend hours reading on this kind of stuff, this has been an incredibly fascinating and educational video on the timeline and similarities between Proto Indo-European and ancient Semitic mythologies.

[child-of-frigg]

Ostara/Ēostre: The Spring Equinox and The Sun Goddess Héwsōs.

The Spring Equinox like many other Solar and Lunar events, was a significant marker as to the passage of time for the Northern tribes. On this day the sun rises and sets directly from east to west in the Northern hemisphere, marking a significant change in weather as summer quickly approaches and the sun begins to thaw the frozen ground. The deity associated with the Spring Equinox is now commonly referred to as Ostara or Ēostre, this was not always the case though.

Saint Bede of the seventh century was the first to make a written account of the Goddess Ēostre, where he states Pagan Anglo-Saxons held feasts in her honour during the month of Ēosturmōnaþ, the Germanic equivalent of April. For the Germanic tribes this event was to signify the beginning of the summer half of their year, for the Norse this would kick off the last month of winter, Einmánuður. Sources tend to agree that in both cases a Goddess by the name of Ostara or Ēostre was hailed during these months, representative of the sun and the essence of Spring, however this deity seems to be largely absent from Norse mythology barring Idunn who has only recently been associated with the spring season.

The Goddess Ēostre seems to be based on the Proto-Indo-European Héwsōs, meaning 'the Dawn', who scholars agree was the inspiration behind similar deities such as the Greek Eos and the Roman Aurora. Due to the consistency of her characterization she is considered one of the most important deities worshipped by the Proto-Indo-European people, and this firmly suggests an importance in Norse faith as well. The significance of spring flowers is also consistent throughout the worship of Héwsōs, with an emphasis on the colours blue, purple, and yellow which were considered sacred to the spring season by the Nordic, as well as some Western Germanic tribes; be for the colours of spring flowers or the colour of the sunrise itself this seems to be the same for many of the deities inspired by Héwsōs.

[chthonic-sorcery]

The Ars Goetia didn't originate from "King Solomon" as it claims.

If it did, it wouldn't be heavily influenced by fucking Greek magic, since Solomon supposedly lived thousands of years before that period.

Medieval monks, who really wrote the Ars Goetia, had a very well documented habit of assigning parentage of magical texts to apocryphal figures like Solomon to make them seem cooler or more powerful. Particularly to christian adjacent figures, since otherwise these books would be considered hersey.

Even the word Goetia itself derives from the Greek Goêteia, meaning sorcery, specifically sorcery utilizing chthonic powers, or the Underworld: Gods, Daemons, and the Dead.

Goêteia comes from the proto Indo-European word goos, meaning to mourn, cry, or to wail; it comes from ancient funeral laments and mourning practices.

Also, Solomon likely never existed, hate to burst your bubble, but there has been zero archeological evidence found to support his, or his "father" king David's existence. Unlike other real kings of roughly the same periods, like King Nebuchadnezzar II.

Even the fact that the magic circles within the Ars Goetia utilize the same coiled serpents and five-pointed stars that Greek goêteia uses, stemming from EGYPT and Egyptian practice, not some psudeo-biblical figure like Solomon.

But wait, there's more

Even the use of demons isn't Solomonic, nor is it Jewish or christian.

It's also fucking Greek.

The word demon itself derives from the Greek daemon, meaning earthly divinity (rather than heavenly/ouranic) or a messenger of the Gods.

It was taken and absorbed into early christian theology like many other concepts such as Tartarus due to early christianity rising in the same region.

Particularly the use of daemons in magic through evocation, or even invocation (calling them within yourself to become possessed, a hallmark of Daemonism and the Engastraitai) through ritual incantations of voces magicae and nomina barbara.

All of it is fucking Greek, no Solomon to be found.

I'll add a step further: even the use of Jewish aspects of magic within the Ars Goetia stems from Greek goêteia, as Greek goêteia was a syncretism of Greek, Jewish, Egyptian, and Mesopotamian magical and spiritual practices.

Fuck, just take a look at the Greek Magical Papyri sonetime if you don't believe it.

Hell, even take a look at the Coptic Magical Papyri, which was a syncretism of early christianity and what we would call "ancient Egyptian" religion and Magical practices:

See the similarities?

Solomon my ass.

☆ ☆ ☆

Learn more here

[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

[faith-of-the-wheel]

Rudlós part 1. Introduction and Cognates

God of wild nature, disease and healing, archery, war, poetry, alcohol, and wisdom. He has always been of immense personal interest to me, as a proto-odin figure, a god of the Koryos. An almost liminal god of society, the savagery of war, wilderness, and disease, but also, poetry, alcohol, and healing. He is often depicted as being mounted on a horse, with a retinue of wolves following him.

A fascinating dichotomy, especially for the Proto-Indo-Europeans. They appear to have made a strong distinction between Defensive and Aggressive war. Perkwúnos is a protective deity, strongly correlated with Defensive war, giving Rudlos the other, invading aspect of conflict. He brings disease with arrows, which devastate communities and are often the biggest killers in war.

Yet, Rudlos is also associated with poetry, which we know was extremely important to the PIEs and possibly their main cultural expression of aesthetic beauty. The importance is also related to ritual and prayer in all likelihood. He associated with alcohol, and quite possibly hallucinogens, as he is sometimes seen as shamanic figure, guiding others on a path through the spiritual and granting divine knowledge he always seems to possess.

Art Credit: Wanderer by BrotherBjorn

Etymological Cognates (deities who share direct linguistic descendance with Rudlos):

The name could derives either from "rewd-/reud-" ("rend, tear apart"), or from "rud-/reu-" ("howl"). His name could be understood as "The Howler", an etymology shared by his linguistically closest descendant, the Vedic deity Rudra.

An alternative etymology interprets Rudra as the "red one", the "brilliant one", possibly derived from a lost root "rud-", ("red" or "ruddy") or alternatively, according to Grassman, "shining".

Stella Kramrisch notes a different etymology connected with the adjectival form "raudra", which means "wild", i.e., of "rude" (untamed) nature, and translates the name Rudra as "the wild one" or "the fierce god". R. K. Śarmā follows this alternative etymology and translates the name as "the terrible" in his glossary for the Shiva Sahasranama.

Another two likely cognates are found in Gaul, modern south eastern France. First is Rudianos. Manfred Lurker gives the name an etymology of "Red", connecting it to his being associated with Mars, reflecting the warlike nature of the god. There is also a prehistoric image of a mounted war-god, dated to the 6th Century BC, who could perhaps be Rudianos. The menhir-shaped stone depicts a roughly incised figure of a horseman, with an enormous head, riding down five severed heads. The iconography is evocative of the head-hunting exploits of the Celts, who hung the heads of their battle victims from their saddles, according to classical writers.

The second is Rudiobus, known only from a single inscription, on a bronze figurine of a prancing horse that reads: "Sacred to the god Rudiobus". This figure, from the 1st century BC, is one of a group found in Loiret, located in central northern France. It has been suggested by some that this may be an aspect of a Gaulish form of Mars instead an indigenous Celtic deity, but I consider that there just as good, if not higher chance of his him being related to, or a regional spelling of Rudianos.

Lastly, there is the slavic god Rugiaevit, Rugievit (Latin: Rugiaeuit) or Ruyevit. Worshiped on the German isle of Rügen, and primarily attested by Saxo Grammaticus, who's words we obviously have to be careful with.

There are two interpretations of the theonym. Rugiaevit is usually translated as "lord, ruler of Rügen". Often scholars propose to read the name as Ruyevit; Aleksander Gieysztor suggests combining the this interpretation with the root "ru-" existing in such words as "řuti" ("to roar"), and "ruja" ("roar of deer", "estrous, heat", as well as "fertility"), which is seen in the Old Russian word "rujenь –" a term for one of the autumn months that falls during the time of the estrous cycle examples: cf. Czech "říjen", Bulgarian "руен (ruen)", Serbo-Croatian "ру̑јан, rujan". Lubor Niederle, assuming the phonetic similarity of Ruyevit and Yarovit, concluded that the two gods were identical, but this opinion does not seem popular or particularly helpful beyond one possible etymology of "ruthless lord" which could fit well with Rudlos. The suffix "-vit" translates as "lord, ruler"; it is less often compared with the word "vitędzь" due to the borrowing of this word from Germanic languages (cf. viking).

Witczak and Kaczor (1995), cited by Mallory and Adams, take Old Russian Rъglъ ("Rŭglŭ") to be from a reconstructed Proto-Slavic *Rъdlъ ("Rŭdlŭ").

The Senowera document has the epithet Wā́tonos listed with his name. It is believed to be the PIE ancestor of Proto-Germanic Wōðanaz/Wōdunaz meaning "lord of frenzy", a name which becomes Wotan, Wodan, and Oðinn,(also Ódr, who is often believed to be a hypostasis of Oðinn) which we will get into later.

Thirdly, the typically separately reconstructed deity Léudheros (h₁leudʰero ('belonging to the people', hence 'free')) is prescribed in the Senowera document to potentially be an aspect or epithet of Rudlos. The name is primarily reconstructed from Liber and Lóðurr, who is poorly attested and whose etymology is highly controversial. Liber Pater ("The Free Father"), god of viticulture, wine, freedom, and male fertility. He cult was increasingly associated and absorbed by romanised Dionysus. Liber asserted plebeian rights to ecstatic release, self-expression and free speech.

We're gonna cover Léudheros another time as a separate deity, but we will take his possible status as an aspect of Rudlos into account when we do. In the next part, we're gonna compare the these various cognates from a mythological perspective.

[astroyongie]

🐈‍⬛ ྀི Goddess Worship: An Introduction of Freyja 🐈‍⬛ ྀི

Note: Day 17 of our October calendar! Today we have an introduction of deities I work with/worship. This post is to provide some information about the deities but also how I work with them personally. Everyone has their own methods with the Gods, and you should do whatever feels right with you while also respecting the bases of the religions.

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Historical Background:

Freyja (or Freya) is a major goddess in Norse mythology, belonging to the Vanir tribe of deities, which are associated with fertility, prosperity, and nature. (Vanir and Aesir are different deities in the Norse Mytho). She is the daughter of Njord, the sea god, and sister to Freyr (Twins), the god of fertility, peace, and prosperity. Her hall is known as Fólkvangr which welcome half of the warriors who died in battle. She is also the goddess of love, beauty, war, death, and magic (her magic is known as seidr associated with prophecy and shape-shifting. she could see into the future and use the power of runes). Freyja’s worship may predate Norse mythology, with roots in earlier Germanic or proto-Indo-European traditions second the archeologists studies.

Attributes and Symbols:

Cats: Freyja’s chariot is said to be drawn by two large cats, symbolizing fertility and domesticity. She has been long symbolized through cats and usually people who. worship her will use cats to connect with her Boars: She also rides the boar named Hildisvíni, a symbol of fertility, protection, and strength. Brísingamen: Her famous necklace, a symbol of fertility, sexuality, and beauty. The Brísingamen was often considered an object of great power and desire as in the mytho many creatures and gods have fought to have it. Falcon Cloak: This magical cloak allows Freyja to shapeshift into a bird, symbolizing freedom, the soul’s flight, and her connection to magic. Amber and Gold: Amber, known as "Freyja's tears," is associated with the goddess due to the myth where she weeps golden tears for her missing husband, Óðr.

Worship and Rituals:

Seidr (Magic): Freyja is a practitioner and teacher of seidr, a form of Norse magic involving divination, trance states, and influencing fate. Women (and men) who practiced seidr would invoke her for aid. this pratice is still used in the Nordic countries but it needs to be taught through initiation. One cannot learn to practice Seidr magic without initiation by another Seidr. One way of worshipping her is through the practice of Runes. Love and Fertility: As a fertility goddess, Freyja was worshipped by those seeking love, marriage, and fertility. Offerings of gold, honey, and flowers were made in her name. A lot of people would also use sexual intercourse as a way to give away their energy to the goddess in exchange of love and pregnancy. Battle and Death: Despite being a goddess of love, Freyja is also a goddess of war and death. Half of those who die in battle are said to go to her hall, Fólkvangr, while the other half go to Odin’s hall, Valhalla. One can worship her not only for love but also for strenght in battles. She is fierce when it comes to help protect those who pray her. Now in the modern times, her worship of battles have been adjusted with internal battles, challenges in life and even justice. Festivals: Freyja was likely honored during seasonal festivals like Dísablót (mostly done during winter seasons), where offerings were made to the dísir, female spirits or ancestors, who were linked to fertility and protection. It involves sacrifices (not animals but instead sacrificing something of you in return of something else) and ritual offerings to Freyja or the feminine ancestor spirits. Unfortunately there isn't many source of information about the norse mythology as Norse People didn't especially write it.

-> When worshipping Freyja, do not take her for granted. Her energy is pure and warm but she wishes for attention. Make a small altar for her, give offerings every friday (and of course offerings during spells were you invoke her energy or help). The important here to feel connected to the deity and respect her as a whole energy. Everyone has their own way of praticing, so do what feels right. But remember to do your own research. Get out of TikTok and READ! archeological revues and works are important.

-> Ideas for offerings: Wine, honey, bread, prayers, cat symbols (statues, whiskers, furr, ect), same with boar figures, jewelery, gold, coins, amber, red fruits, apples, incense, candles, anything else that feels right to you

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

"Freyja, Lady, Vanadis: An Introduction to the Goddess" by Patricia M. Lafayllve

"The Viking Way: Religion and War in Late Iron Age Scandinavia" by Neil Price

"Gods and Myths of Northern Europe" by H.R. Ellis Davidson LA MITOLOGÍA, Y. E. C. D. THE MYTHOLOGY AND CULT OF FREYJA AND HER IMPORTANCE TO VIKING AGE WOMEN. Bellows, Henry Adams (Trans.) (1923).

A Edda Poetica. American-Scandinavian Foundation

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[room-surprise]

do you know or have thoughts on why the dm characters sometimes reference ‘hell’ (as in ‘what the hell?’) given how the series handles religion? is that an anime thing or translation thing or…???

This is such a great question, and fun to answer, so thank you for writing to me!!! I think there's two things happening at the same time: What does hell really mean in English, and what are the characters actually saying in the original Japanese?

If the characters say hell in the original manga or in any translations, I think it is pretty safe to assume that they aren't referring to the Christian hell specifically, since it doesn't appear to exist in the Dungeon Meshi world. They are instead referring to the generic concept of a hell.

NON-CHRISTIAN HELLS

Hell is a word that can refer to a "bad afterlife" in many different world cultures. Obviously all of these cultures have their own names for these places, but when they are translated into English they are frequently referred to as "Buddhist hell", "Hindu hell", "Nordic hell", etc.

The word "hell" was adopted by Christians to describe something in their religion, but does not originate with them.

The modern English word hell is derived from Old English hel, to refer to a nether world of the dead. The word has cognates in all branches of the Germanic languages, and they all ultimately derive from the reconstructed Proto-Germanic feminine noun xaljō or haljō ('concealed place, the underworld'), and can be traced back even further to Proto-Indo European.

When the Germanic peoples were converted to Christianity, the word "hell" was adopted to refer to the Christian underworld. Before that time, hell was called many different things by the Christians, including "Sheol" (grave, death, pit, underworld), "Gehenna" (valley of wailing), "Hades" or "Tartarus." (The first two are Hebrew words, and the latter two are Ancient Greek. All of these words are attempting to describe similar things, a bad afterlife.) These Germanic cultures (most of Northern, Western and Central Europe) are the primary cultural influence of Dungeon Meshi's Eastern and Northern Continents, where the story takes place, and where most of the characters are from. So the word hel/hell would be native to the region, and logical for the characters to use both as a swear word, and also as a reference to whatever afterlife they might believe in.

WHAT ARE THE CHARACTERS ACTUALLY SAYING THOUGH?

Dungeon Meshi is, for better or for worse, written in standard, contemporary Japanese, without any particular emphasis or attempt to sound "old fashioned" or like it is "fantasy", so any changes or additions made in translation to make the dialog or narration sound that way are just that: additions and changes. The changes made during translation aren't inherently bad, but the original text is very neutral, and open to interpretation. For example, Yaad calls Laios "tono/dono" in Japanese, which is an honorific that has no direct English equivalent, but is used between two people of similar social status, when one wants to be extra polite to the other. It does not imply nobility, but respect higher than "mister" and lower than "lord." Most English translations have rendered this as "Sir Laios" which isn't literally what Yaad says, but conveys the idea with something that "feels right" for the setting. It may be that in Dungeon Meshi the characters are literally saying the English word "hell/heru" in Japanese (ヘル), the word jigoku (地獄), which is the Japanese word for Buddhist hell, another word for a specific different underworld or afterlife, they are saying a Japanese swear word, or just using casual/impolite language that doesn't have a direct translation into English, and so needs to be localized into something that will make sense in English.

The last one is most likely what is happening, and I can think of a couple of common phrases that would most likely be translated into "What the hell?":

The polite, neutral way to say "What's that?" or "What [should I] do?" is "Nan-darou? (なんだろう?) or "Nani?" (何), which just means "What?"

The more casual, aggressive, masculine way of saying it is "Nani-kore?" (なにこれ？) which doesn't mention hell in any way, but translates to something like "What the hell?" or "What the fuck?" It's more rude because it's casual speech, but doesn't literally use words for hell or fuck in it. It technically means the same thing as "Nan-darou?" or "Nani?" But translating it the same way would be ignoring the context and tone of the words.

Another thing that's often said in Japanese is "Uso!" (うそ！) Which literally means "lie" or "not true", but in conversation it’s often used to say things like "you're lying!", "For real?!", "really?", or "No way!"

Often these exclamations of "Uso!" don't have anything to do with lying or untruths, they are meant to express surprise (this can't be happening!) or a response to someone talking about an outrageous and terrible event they experienced, like saying "No way! I can't believe that happened to you!" It's also sometimes translated as "What the hell…" or "Unbelievable…"

If the translators tried to keep this sort of thing literal, the manga would be full of lines like:

CHILCHUCK, running for his life from a mimic: What's this?! (Nani-kore?!) (He isn't literally asking what the mimic is, he is expressing surprise, so he should shout some curse words in English like hell, fuck, shit, etc.)

MARCILLE, horrified by the chimera: Lie! (Uso!) (She isn't just saying the word "lie" with no context, she is expressing shock, horror and disbelief at what she sees, so she should say something like "No, that can't be..." or "Impossible...")

I am not an expert in Japanese, but I hope that all of this is helpful to you, anon, and anyone else that's interested in this sort of thing!

[talonabraxas]

Solar Diety

A solar deity (also sun god(dess)) is a deity who represents the sun, or an aspect of it, usually by its perceived power and strength. Solar deities and sun worship can be found throughout most of recorded history in various forms. Hence, many beliefs have formed around this worship, such as the "missing sun" found in many cultures.

Solar deities throughout cultures

In different religions solarised supreme deities carry different names and are associated with different aspects of the cultural universe of the society, but for the most part its raw image remains identical.

The Neolithic concept of a solar barge, the sun as traversing the sky in a boat, is found in the later myths of ancient Egypt, with Ra and Horus. Earlier Egyptian myths imply that the sun is within the lioness, Sekhmet, at night and can be seen reflected in her eyes or that it is within the cow, Hathor during the night, being reborn each morning as her son (bull). Proto-Indo-European religion has a solar chariot, the sun as traversing the sky in a chariot.

During the Roman Empire, a festival of the birth of the Unconquered Sun (or Dies Natalis Solis Invicti) was celebrated on the winter solstice — the "rebirth" of the sun. In Germanic mythology this is Sol, in Vedic Surya, and in Greek Helios (occasionally referred to as Titan) and (sometimes) as Apollo. Mesopotamian Shamash plays an important role during the Bronze Age, and "my Sun" is eventually used as an address to royalty. Similarly, South American cultures have emphatic Sun worship, see Inti.

During the later periods of Roman history, sun worship gained in importance and ultimately led to what has been called a “solar monotheism.” Nearly all the gods of the period were possessed of solar qualities, and both Christ and Mithra acquired the traits of solar deities. The feast of Sol Invictus (Unconquered Sun) on December 25 was celebrated with great joy, and eventually this date was taken over by the Christians as Christmas, the birthday of Christ.[1]

Hinduism

The Ādityas are one of the principal deities of the Vedic classical Hinduism belonging to Solar class. In the Vedas, numerous hymns are dedicated to Mitra, Varuna and Savitr.

Even the Gayatri mantra, which is regarded as one of the most sacred of the Vedic hymns is dedicated to Savitr, one of the principal Ādityas. The Adityas are a group of solar deities, from the Brahmana period numbering twelve. The ritual of sandhyavandanam, performed by Hindus, is an elaborate set of hand gestures and body movements, designed to greet and revere the sun.

The sun god in Hinduism is an ancient and revered deity. In later Hindu usage, all the Vedic Ādityas lost identity and metamorphosed into one composite deity, Surya, the sun. The attributes of all other Ādityas merged into that of Surya and the names of all other Ādityas became synonymous with or epithets of Surya.

The Ramayana has Lord Rama as a descendant of the Surya, thus belonging to the Surya Vansh or the clan of the Sun. The Mahabharata describes one of its warrior heroes Karna as being the son of the Pandava mother Kunti and Surya.

The sun god is said to married to the goddess Ranaadeh, also known as Sanjnya. She is depicted in dual form, being both sunlight and shadow, personified. The goddess is revered in Gujarat and Rajasthan.

The charioteer of Surya is Aruna, who is also personified as the redness that accompanies the sunlight in dawn and dusk. The Sun God is driven by a seven-horsed Chariot depicting the seven days of the week.

In India, at Konark, in the state of Orissa, a temple is dedicated to Surya. The Konark temple has also been declared a UNESCO world heritage site. Surya is the most prominent of the navagrahas or nine celestial objects of the Hindus. Navagrahas can be found in almost all Hindu temples. There are further temples dedicated to Surya, one in Arasavilli, Srikakulam District in AndhraPradesh, one in Gujarat and another in Rajasthan. The temple at Arasavilli was constructed in such a way that on the day of Radhasaptami, the sun's rays directly fall on the feet of the Sri Suryanarayana Swami, the deity at the temple.

Chhath (Hindi: छठ, also called Dala Chhath) is an ancient Hindu festival dedicated to Surya, the chief solar deity, unique to Bihar, Jharkhand and the Terai. This major festival is also celebrated in the northeast region of India, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and parts of Chhattisgarh.Hymns praying to the sun can be found in the Vedas, the oldest sacred texts of Hinduism. Practiced in different parts of India, the worship of the sun has been described in the Rigveda.

Ancient Egypt

Sun worship was exceptionally prevalent in ancient Egyptian religion. The earliest deities associated with the sun are Wadjet, Sekhmet, Hathor, Nut, Bastet, Bat, and Menhit. First Hathor, and then Isis, give birth to and nurse Horus and Ra. Hathor the horned-cow is one of the twelve daughters of Ra, gifted with joy and is a wet-nurse to Horus.

The sun's movement across the sky represents a struggle between the Pharaoh's soul and an avatar of Osiris. Ra travels across the sky in his solar-boat; at dawn he drives away the demon apep of darkness. The "solarisation" of several local gods (Hnum-Re, Min-Re, Amon-Re) reaches its peak in the period of the fifth dynasty.

In the eighteenth dynasty, Akhenaten changed the polytheistic religion of Egypt to a monotheistic one, Atenism of the solar-disk and is the first recorded state monotheism. All other deities were replaced by the Aten, including, Amun-Ra, the reigning sun god of Akhenaten's own region. Unlike other deities, the Aten did not have multiple forms. His only image was a disk—a symbol of the sun.

Soon after Akhenaten's death, worship of the traditional deities was reestablished by the religious leaders (Ay the High-Priest of Amen-Ra, mentor of Tutankhaten/Tutankhamen) who had adopted the Aten during the reign of Akhenaten.

Chinese mythology

In Chinese mythological cosmology, there were originally ten suns in the sky, who were all brothers. They were supposed to emerge one at a time as commanded by the Jade Emperor. They were all very young and loved to fool around. Once they decided to all go into the sky to play, all at once. This made the world too hot and nothing grew. A hero named Hou Yi shot down nine of them with a bow and arrow to save the people of the earth. He is still honored to this day. In another myth, the solar eclipse was caused by the magical dog of heaven biting off a piece of the sun. The referenced event is said to have occurred around 2,160BCE. There was a tradition in China to make lots of loud celebratory sounds during a solar eclipse to scare the sacred "dog" away. The Deity of the Sun in Chinese mythology is Ri Gong Tai Yang Xing Jun (Tai Yang Gong / Grandfather Sun) or Star Lord of the Solar Palace, Lord of the Sun. In some mythologies, Tai Yang Xing Jun is believed to be Hou Yi. Tai Yang Xing Jun is usually decipted with the Star Lord of the Lunar Palace, Lord of the Moon, Yue Gong Tai Yin Xing Jun (Tai Yin Niang Niang / Lady Tai Yin).

Buddhism

In Buddhist cosmology, the bodhisattva of the sun is known as Ri Gong Ri Guang Pu Sa (The Bright Solar Boddhisattva of the Solar Palace) / Ri Gong Ri Guang Tian Zi (The Bright Solar Prince of the Solar Palace) / Ri Gong Ri Guang Zun Tian Pu Sa (The Greatly Revered Bright Solar Prince of the Solar Palace / one of the 20 or 24 guardian devas). In Sanskrit, He is known as Suryaprabha. He is usually decipted with Yue Gong Yue Guang Pu Sa (The Bright Lunar Boddhisattva of the Lunar Palace) / Yue Gong Yue Guang Tian Zi ( The Bright Lunar Prince of the Lunar Palace) / Yue Gong Yue Guang Zun Tian Pu Sa (The Greatly Revered Bright Lunar Prince of the Lunar Palace / one of the 20 or 24 guardian devas) or known as Candraprabha in Sanskrit. With Yao Shi Fo / Bhaisajyaguru Buddha (Medicine Buddha), these two boddhisattvas create the Dong Fang San Sheng or the Three Holy Sages of the East.

Africa

The Munshi tribe considers the sun to be the son of the supreme being Awondo and the moon is Awondo's daughter. The Barotse tribe believes that the Sun is inhabited by the sky god Nyambi and the Moon is his wife. Even where the sun god is equated with the supreme being, in some African mythologies he or she does not have any special functions or privileges as compared to other deities.

Aztec mythology

In Aztec mythology, Tonatiuh (Nahuatl:Ollin Tonatiuh "Movement of the Sun") was the sun god. The Aztec people considered him the leader of Tollan, heaven. He was also known as the fifth sun, because the Aztecs believed that he was the sun that took over when the fourth sun was expelled from the sky. According to their cosmology, each sun was a god with its own cosmic era. According to the Aztecs, they were still in Tonatiuh's era. According to the Aztec creation myth, the god demanded human sacrifice as tribute and without it would refuse to move through the sky. It is said that 20,000 people were sacrificed each year to Tonatiuh and other gods, though this number is thought to be inflated either by the Aztecs, who wanted to inspire fear in their enemies, or the Spaniards, who wanted to vilify the Aztecs. The Aztecs were fascinated by the sun and carefully observed it, and had a solar calendar second only in accuracy to the Mayan's. Many of today's remaining Aztec monuments have structures aligned with the sun.

In the Aztec calendar, Tonatiuh is the lord of the thirteen days from 1 Death to 13 Flint. The preceding thirteen days are ruled over by Chalchiuhtlicue, and the following thirteen by Tlaloc.

Indonesian mythology

The same swapping process is seen in Indonesia. The solar gods have a stronger presence in Indonesia's religious life and myth. In some cases the sun is revered as a "father" or "founder" of the tribe. This may apply for the whole tribe or only for the royal and ruling families. This practise is more common in Australia and on the island of Timor, where the tribal leaders are seen as direct heirs to the sun god.

Some of the initiation rites include the second reincarnation of the rite's subject as a "son of the sun", through a symbolic death and a rebirth in the form of a sun. These rituals hint that the Sun may have an important role in the sphere of funerary beliefs. Watching the un's path has given birth to the idea in some societies that the deity of the Sun descends in to the underworld without dying and is capable of returning afterward. This is the reason for the Sun being associated with functions such as guide of the deceased tribe members to the underworld, as well as with revival of perished. The sun is a mediator between the planes of the living and the dead.

Theosophy The primary local deity in Theosophy is the Solar Logos, i.e., the consciousness of the sun.

[thevixenwitch]

Cernunnos - A Confusion of Aspects

Introduction

This was supposed to be a simple bit of research that I was going to do as a devotional act to Cernunnos, but over the course of the night I kept encountering the same dead ends that pointed to the same singular source of misinformation. So do not expect this to be entirely objective.

Let's begin with a simple question: Who is Cernunnos?

A Gallic deity, with difficult to trace roots. Depicted sparingly, there is debate on whether or not various depictions can actually be attributed to him. Particularly, one of the most famous supposed depictions – the Gundestrup Cauldron – has been theorized by Celtic scholar John Matthews to depict a Shaman and not the god himself, according to his book The Celtic Shaman. Depiction variation and debate is not uncommon in discussion of older religions and cultures, particularly when Romanization and Christian censorship were at play. Not to mention Wiccan appropriation and repurposing of beliefs without regard for earlier context.

Others have made fantastic deep dives into potential depictions and discussed them at length, and I am no historical scholar, so I have little to add in this case. I highly recommend the essay The gods of Gaul: Cernunnos by @mask131 [1] for a piece regarding depictions through history.

Upon reading the previous essay, I was inspired to dig deeper into Cernunnos, from historical contexts to meditating on my own UPG via my connection with him. My own connection with him was something that happened casually over time, ranging from dreamlike interactions to conversing directly through divination. I am an incarnate Fae, and worship him as the King of the Fae, in addition to other aspects and epithets such as:

Cernunnos

King of the Fae

Master of the Sacrificial Hunt, The Horned God, and other Wiccan Concepts

Master of the Wild Hunt

Pan

The Green Man

Herne the Hunter

This list is influenced by a resource post of druidry.org[2], but I will be researching each of these titles for further insights into their sources and how they do or do not connect to my own practice ahead.

[1] mask131, Tumblr

[2] https://druidry.org/resources/cernnunos - this is not a reliable resource

^ Cernunnos depiction on the Gundestrup Cauldron

Cernunnos

As learned in the previously linked essay, the name “Cernunnos” originates from the “Pillar of the Nautes” or the “Pillar of the Boatmen”, where the name is placed directly above a depiction of an antlered figure on the Block of Four Divinities[3] alongside the deity Smertrios. Many Gaul artifacts can be found in French museums. The Pillar of the Boatmen is attributed as a Roman-era inscription[4], so that gives us only enough information to hypothesize.

My takeaway from this is that the name Cernunnos is a modern approximation because of lacking, provable historical records, but rather serves a purpose as a modern placeholder. I came across information claiming that worship of Cernunnos as a deity was brought into modern belief by neo-pagans and popularized by Wiccans, particularly through Margaret Murray’s writings. During her studies of folklore in the early 20th century she put together a Witch-cult hypothesis that stated how a variety of horned deities were aspects of a “proto-horned god”[5]. In addition, this belief was adopted by Gerald Gardner and formed the basis of the concept of the Horned God within Wicca.[6]

“Sometimes also known as Carnonos, his name has firm Proto-Indo-European origins. It stems from the PIE word *k̑r̥no-, and is thus cognate to Germanic *hurnaz and Latin cornu, all meaning “horn”. In the Celtic Gaulish language, this word was karnon, and the connection with the name of Cernunnos is clear - it reflects the deity’s stag antlers, growing from his head. Thus, Cernunnos literally means “the horned one”.”[7]

Gallic history is sparse and difficult to pin down due to a lack of written records or literature. Multitudes of visual depictions dating from the Roman era have been attributed to Cernunnos by Archaeologists, having been retrieved from northern Gaul. These depictions are hypothesized to be this deity or others of similar archetypes. In addition, sites tend to use the words “Gallic” and “Gaelic” semi-interchangeably, despite the regional difference. Gael meaning a Celtic tribe from modern Ireland-Scotland, and Gaul meaning a tribe located in modern France. There is speculation that Cernunnos was a proto-Celtic deity, and could have had roots in any or all Celtic practices and beyond, but that is speculation because there is a lack of evidence to support the theory in any substantial direction.

[3] Name sourced from Athena Review, Vol. 4, No. 2, which also sources Huchard, V. (ed) Archéologica. 2003. “Le Pilier des Nautes Retrouvé. Histoire d’une Métamorphose.” Dijon, France. Éditions Faton S.A

[4] An observation attributed to Hatt, Jean-Jacques who recorded that the artifact was originally erected in 1st century AD.

[5] Margaret Murray, The God of the Witches

[6] Kathleen Sheppard Forced into the Fringes: Margaret Murray’s Witch-cult Hypothesis 21 April 2017

[7] According to Aleksa Vučković via ancient-origins.net

^Cernunnos's face as depicted of the Pillar of the Boatmen

King of the Fae - UPG

This title is predominantly UPG and relates to my own existence as an incarnate fae.

I find him similar but above other more location-based wild gods, beings like boar lords, and other guardians and rulers of nature. There is a loose hierarchy within fae politics, for lack of a better word, that is predominantly power based. Not as in subjugation over other beings, but rather quantified by expanse of control or domains. Finding the words for this section proves difficult, but he is simply above all of us, with a connection to all Fae. Cernunnos does not view himself as better than any of his subjects, he is not preoccupied with anything like that.

Does this title equate him with the concept of Oberon? No, I don’t believe so. He also exists outside of the seasonal courts, as he goes through a physical shift with the seasons instead of remaining in one form.

Master of the Sacrificial Hunt & The Horned God

Many modern depictions and associations with Cernunnos took their form via Wicca, as previously mentioned. The now heavily discounted Witch-cult hypothesis led to the adopting of the name as a common main aspect of Wicca’s concept of the Divine Masculine or the Horned God that absorbed many horned deities into one being, losing their individual status and becoming “aspects” of a central pillar. This is a theme often seen within Wicca and expands to their depiction of a central Divine Feminine deity as well, the pair often referred to as The Lord and The Lady. This is a simplification that I do not agree with. The epithet “Master of the Sacrificial Hunt” is unable to be sourced beyond the previous essay on Druidry.com and a repost of the same write-up on witchesofthecraft.com, so this title isn’t possible to verify. Although, mentions of Cernunnos identify him as a being that has a seasonal cycle of death and rebirth, which this epithet may be indicating. This belief appears to also have its basis within Wicca and lacks historical evidence. To quote from Wikipedia, “Within the Wiccan tradition, the Horned God reflects the seasons of the year in an annual cycle of life, death and rebirth

and his imagery is a blend of the Gaulish god Cernunnos, the Greek god Pan, The Green Man motif, and various other horned spirit imagery.”[8][9]

While I am large proponent of UPG, I do not abide by stating such concepts as strict facts. I will explore this further in future sections.

[8] Farrar, Stewart & Janet Eight Sabbats for Witches

[9] Doreen Valiente The Rebirth of Witchcraft pg 52-53

^The plaque I'm sure we've all seen in our local metaphysical store

Master of the Wild Hunt

The Wild Hunt is a concept that permeates the history of many European cultures, including the Celts.[10] Myths of Wild Hunts would most often include a central figure flanked by hunters all in pursuit of some kind of special quarry. Within Germanic legend, the mythical figure is often Odin, but there were many other figures that have been featured across cultures and belief systems, sometimes historical and other times religious. The hunters were often depicted as fairies, the souls of the dead, or otherwise inhuman participants. Witnessing the spectacle as a mortal was thought to bring calamity[11], death, or abduction to magical realms.  The concept and term were popularized by German author Jacob Grimm, originally as Wilde Jagd.[12]

This mythological concept existed in various aspects of Germanic and European folklore, across multiple cultures. Despite this, the lack of Gallic literature means that we are unable to directly connect Cernunnos to any historical uses. The prevalence of this type of myth, though, presents the obvious opportunity to incorporate our modern understanding of him into the framework to explore our own UPG. This is a topic I may meditate on further if I do further research into the concept of the Wild Hunt.

My own personal experiences with the concept are much more play oriented. If you’ve ever been to a Beltane festival, you probably know the heady feeling of being chased through the woods before being caught and celebrating the season. This interactive ritual-made-game is a fun staple you may find on the schedule of any fertility event these days meant to drive up sexually charged, excited energy. It’s a simple enough concept to incorporate into any individual practitioner’s holiday plan, if it suits your preference. Especially as a Fae, I find the concept of the Wild Hunt to be something fun to engage in with a special partner or community, and find no harm in inserting anyone into the role of Master of the Wild Hunt, as the prevalence of the format leaving the form of individual story to expand into a genre.

[10] Stith Thompson (1977) The Folktale University of California Press pg 257

[11] See, for example, Chambers's Encyclopaedia, 1901, s.v. "Wild Hunt": "[Gabriel's Hounds] ... portend death or calamity to the house over which they hang"; "the cry of the Seven Whistlers ... a death omen".

[12] Deutsche Mythologie (1835)

^Johann Wilhelm Cordes: Die Wilde Jagd (The Wild Hunt)1856/57

Pan

The conflation of Pan with Cernunnos appears to be predominantly based in the view of all male horned deities being simple aspects of a larger presence – the Wiccan Horned God. As previously stated, I do not support that concept and will use this section to study Pan as a separate entity and cover where in my UPG they overlap.

Pan is the Greek god of the wilds, music, and a guardian of shepherds and their flocks. He also was usually in the presence of nymphs.[13] Unlike the Stag depictions and associations of Cernunnos, Pan sported the legs and horns of a goat and appeared similar to a Satyr. His domain expanded to agricultural and wooded areas, as well as the realms of sex and fertility. The sum of those parts was to present him as a god of the season of Spring. He had a Roman equivalent in the god Faunus, and was also conflated with another known as Silvanus at times. Pan became a popular god during the 20th century neopagan revival[14].

Even before that, worship of him was brought back by a festival originating in Painswick, Gloucestershire by Benjamin Hyett, who also constructed various holy places in the god’s name.[15] Other popular occultists of the early 1900’s such as Aleister Crowley also crossed paths with Pan, as he built an altar to the god and wrote a ritual play about him.[16] After that point, his image and general description was absorbed into the Wiccan Horned God concept after Margaret Murray’s The God of the Witches posed the idea that he was simply one part of an overarching whole.

But who was Pan outside of this, particularly who was he before the Witch-god hypothesis altered how future generations would see him?

Pan is considered by some scholars to be a reconstruction of a Proto-Indo-European pastoral deity[17], as well as Pushan, a god originating from Rigvedic that also shared goat traits.[18]

Beyond these source hypotheses, there is evidence that Pan was first worshipped in the mountainous, isolated area of Arcadia. In that area, if a hunt wasn’t satisfactory, disgruntled hunters would scourge, or whip, the statue of Pan.[19] At this time, there were no formal temples to Pan, and worship was instead pursued in woodlands and other natural spaces. While exemptions from this rule did exist, they were few and far between.[20] He predates the Olympians, like many Grecian nature spirits. I won’t go too in depth regarding direct mythology, as its difficult to do that with the Greek pantheon without tangents.

Pan was viewed as a height of sexual prowess, and agricultural success. He had a history of dalliances with Nymphs, to put it lightly, often depicted as being controlled by his lust and anger. Such as in the myth of the Nymph Echo, whom he ordered killed when she denied any man. In some versions, the pair even have two children, or perhaps chose Narcissus over him, no matter the variation he is usually painted as rash and jealous. I’m sure we’ve all seen that statue of Pan and the goat that resides in the National Archaeological Museum in Naples.

The word “panic” can trace its sources back to him, but I was surprised to find that “pandemonium” does not.[21]

In my personal view, Cernunnos ages with the seasons, being at his most virile in the Spring, then maturing into his form as a guardian of the dead come winter, appearing dead himself. This is relevant in that I find the depictions of the lustful, energetic Pan to be inspiring of how I see that Spring form. Beyond that, the agricultural and animal connections are similar, but seem to take very different forms upon closer inspection.

Within actual historical context, there doesn’t seem to be anything connecting Cernunnos and Pan in any way beyond neo-pagan labelling.

[13] Edwin L. Brown, "The Lycidas of Theocritus Idyll 7", Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, 1981:59–100.

[14] The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft, Hutton, Ronald, chapter 3

[15] Hutton, Ronald. The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft pp 161–162.

[16] Soar, Katy (2020). "The Great Pan in Albion". Hellebore. 2 (The Wild Gods Issue): 14–27.

[17] Mallory, J. P.; Adams, D. Q. (2006). The Oxford Introduction to Proto-Indo-European and the Proto-Indo-European World. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. p. 434

[18] H. Collitz, "Wodan, Hermes und Pushan," Festskrift tillägnad Hugo Pipping pȧ hans sextioȧrsdag den 5 November 1924 1924, pp 574–587.

[19] Theocritus. vii. 107

[20] Horbury, William (1992). Jewish Inscriptions of Graeco-Roman Egypt. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. p. 208.

[21] Coined by John Milton in his poem “Paradise Lost” coming from the Greek pan- “all” and daemonium “evil spirit”

^Mask of the god Pan, detail from a bronze stamnoid situla, 340–320 BC, part of the Vassil Bojkov Collection, Sofia, Bulgaria (It is shockingly difficult to find art of Pan where he's not rock hard.)

The Green Man

Viewed as more of a motif or concept than a deity, the Green Man originated in England and was usually depicted as covered in leaves and sometimes armed with a club. One might encounter these visuals in parades, festivals, or painted on the signs of many pubs come the 17th century. This changed with the introduction of Julia Somerset, who claimed in the Folklore journal that the design often seen on church walls actually had pagan origins as some kind of fertility deity.[22] There is no evidence to support this claim, and it has been contested by many folklorists.[23] This assertion by Somerset was then absorbed into the Wiccan Horned God despite being described as distinctly “20th Century Folklore”.[24]

That’s pretty much the extent of this one and was honestly one of the most shocking to read about. The Green Man was at best a regional icon used in local festivities but was never any kind of deity. That title was misrepresented and incorporated without research.

My personal association would be the visuals of Winter, but Cernunnos’ Winter form appears very differently to me. More skeletal stag, less old man with a holly beard.

[22]  Centerwall, Brandon S. (January 1997). "The Name of the Green Man". Folklore. 108 (1–2): 25–33.

[23] Livingstone, Josephine (2016-03-07). "The Remarkable Persistence of the Green Man". The New Yorker.

[24] Olmstead, Molly (2023-04-08). "Is the Green Man British Enough for the Royal Coronation?". Slate.

^A sign for the John Barras Pub Company

Herne the Hunter

After the last section, it is a relief to move on to something that has always been presented to me with its original fictional context intact. Herne the Hunter was a character originally depicted in The Merry Wive of Windsor written by Shakespeare in approximately 1597. Supposedly, Herne the Hunter is an antlered spirit that occupies the Royal Forest in England, occupying himself with tormenting cattle and rattling chains. While the character may have been based on local legends to some degree, it is unknown just how much verifiable connection has ever existed. Attempts to connection him to other deities or legends were made often after he was written.

There is an old tale goes, that Herne the Hunter

(sometime a keeper here in Windsor Forest)

Doth all the winter-time, at still midnight

Walk round about an oak, with great ragg'd horns;

And there he blasts the tree, and takes the cattle,

And makes milch-kine yield blood, and shakes a chain

In a most hideous and dreadful manner.

You have heard of such a spirit, and well you know

The superstitious idle-headed eld

Receiv'd, and did deliver to our age

This tale of Herne the Hunter for a truth.

— William Shakespeare, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Act 4, scene 4

Despite Herne being a location-based character appearing only in the areas Windsor Forest occupied, certain books published in 1929 and 1933[25] attempted to identify him with Cernunnos and other horned deities. This is again the connection through which Wiccans incorporated Herne into the Horned God.[26]

[25] The History of the Devil – The Horned God of the West by R. Lowe Thompson; The God of the Witches by Margaret Murray

[26]  'Simple Wicca: A simple wisdom book' by Michele Morgan, Conari, 2000

^Illustration of Herne the Hunter by George Cruikshank (1840s)

Romanizations

There are theories mentioned in mask131’s essay regarding attempts at identifying what Roman deity or deities was meant to be the equivalent of Cernunnos, but there is sadly only speculation on that front. Opinions vary from person to person, but parallels are often drawn to Dis Pater and Mercury for shared traits. I did find instances such as the Lyon Cup and an altar from Reims that feature Mercury and Cernunnos depicted side by side, so I believe it is safe to say that they were at least at some point considered fully separate beings.

^1st-century CE altar from Reims with Cernunnos, accompanied by Apollo and Mercury. Mercury has a cornucopia, while Cernunnos spills grain.

Aside – Misinformation is Rampant

This one book, this one fucking “hypothesis”, changed the entire face of what would eventually become modern neopaganism. The damage of the Witch-cult hypothesis is far reaching and permeates every resource I could find while writing this piece aside from the explicitly scholarly. It is extremely discouraging how quickly you can trace something that feels off back to this one woman’s massively disproven theory that was adopted by a man that wanted to make a religion based on occult foundations because he admired ceremonial magic. The frustration I feel as someone trying to do research now after this misinformation and pseudohistory has seeped into every aspect of the path has me constantly on edge and second guessing everything I read until I can find a source.

Stating UPG as undeniable fact that others must agree with isn’t great at the best of times, but the sheer level of ignorance to historical record seems to be running rampant within the modern Pagan community. I’m all for believing something unverifiable, something that’s only true for you, or for the world from your perspective, but there is and must be a difference between that and presenting easily disproven statements as unbreakable law, especially with they come hand in hand with any dressings like, “this is actually true because I was told so by this person, who learned from this other person.” And the process is traceable to the source they borrowed from and how it was completely disproven.

We must think critically within paganism, research beyond the books with flashy covers in Barnes & Noble and question the things we are told by others are just the way things are.

Your relationship with the gods is yours alone and can take any form you want it to. Don’t let yourself be trapped by ignorance. Learn about historical contexts, question sources, seeking mentoring from those who revel in your questions and help you find the answers.

Conclusion

Cernunnos is a deity that is beyond valuable to communicate with directly due to the lack of concrete historical and folkloric information, and the prevalence of blatant misinformation that uses his name. Context is important, and even if you choose to exist outside of it, which is a perfectly valid choice, it should be a conscious one.

In addition, while attempting to research this, I actually stumbled upon sites not just with AI generated cover images, but what fully appeared to be AI generated writing. Be vigilant against information that looks like someone just skimmed the surface and made an assumption, this page had a lot of almost correct or just flat out made up information that contradicts historical fact. Especially in this modern era where people use automatic programs to make summaries of summaries for a game of unverifiable internet telephone, be aware. No matter what your personal stance on AI is, I'm sure we can all stand against information atrophy.

To me, Cernunnos is a supportive, ever-present god that helps me through things in his own way, meaning that its usually something intense and then coming out the other side putting out a fire on the back of my head. He's hands-off, and wants me to admire the turning of the seasons from new angles. He's opened my eyes to a deeper respect for other belief systems, and encouraged me to do this research so that I could better understand him as well as our own connection. He wants me to be observant and always keep learning and questioning and growing in my faith, in my magic, in my role as a faery.

When it comes to the belief systems that you rely on in life, ignorance is not bliss. Seek knowledge deep in the forest and on the frozen boundaries of a lake or standing barefoot in a grassy meadow, but also in historical records. Anyone who wants the best for you will want you to research and learn more.

Genuinely as I was finishing this up last night, adding this section to the post version the next morning, I considered becoming a YouTube essay person. Maybe someday! Perhaps an actual blog. Researching and writing this kind of thing was actually very fun. I never even did something like this while I was in school, so maybe I'm just not traumatized by the concept. Anyways, I hope this was informative and you enjoyed a peek into the journey I took while putting this together.

Now I'm gonna go light up some green in dedication to Cernunnos ✌︎︎♡⃛

^The Lyon Cup, sometimes identified as Cernunnos

[alpaca-clouds]

About the Development of Myths

Okay, I will talk about more of the specific gods tomorrow again (starting first with the other gods from Stray Gods and then just looking over a variety of gods - I might start just with the greeks and then... venture into other mythologies). But first let me talk about the entire basis of what I have been talking about so far with the origins of Pan and Persephone: Their mythology is not a fixed thing.

Something that I would say education in general really fails on is properly expressing the amount of changes that cultures go through. I wrote about this before just in terms of history: There is not THE middle ages, not THE ancient Egypt, not THE ancient Greece and so on. All of those historical periods lasted for at least a thousand years. Now imagine that in like 500 years someone goes and looks at the 20th and 21st century as: "The World War and Globalisation period". Which I think there is a good chance this will at some point be known at (assuming we do not manage to eradicate our species before that, that is). Yet, you and I both know that if we were talking to someone from 1923 there would be very little we had in common.

Sure, this effect got massively accelerated thanks to the internet. But... You gotta have to assume that the Roman dude from 100 BC would also live in a very different world from the Roman dude of 200 BC. Because a hundred years is always going to involve a lot of change.

The reason we look at those old cultures as unchanging is, that they do not change anymore. And everyone who is neither working with that kinda stuff, nor is a complete geek, will just look at that culture as ONE FIRM THING rather than something fluent.

This is also true in terms of religion and related traditions, though we in the west are even more prone to it than other cultures. Because we do assume Christianity as this one thing. And the bible as this one unchanging thing. Hence the core believe is the same and, so the reasoning goes, was always the same. In fact, if you went to a religious school it is kinda how you were taught. The bible is one thing and always was the same thing. Only... It wasn't and even the basic we hve now does not matter.

Just look at the many Christian subreligions. They all in some way or form believe in Jesus, the one big God and all of that - but what they take from that widely differs. And the bible really does not have a big impact onto what ideals they hold and how they hold mass and how they pray and what not. If you think about it, you will easily see that, right? And if you just look a bit into what you might have learned about history in relation to Christianity, you will also know that this has changed. The role of Jesus has changed. How much the Holy Spirit is looked upon as an active actor. Which saints get venerated. All of that has changed a lot in just the last 50 years. And has changed a ton between the different countries.

And what I now need you to keep in mind that this was the exact same with the Ancient Gods and the religion attached to them. That holds true for the Greek Gods, the Roman Gods, the Egyptian Gods, the Norse Gods... all of them. The way they were worshipped changed over those thousand(s of) years they were worshipped.

So, let me once again talk about the Proto-Indo-European culture. Which is always a doosy and I love it.

The Proto-Indo-Europeans originates probably in the areas of modern day Ukraine and/or Romania and/or southern Russia some time around 5000 BC (scholars argue a bit about the exact temporal placement, just that it was somewhere between 7000 BC and 4000 BC). We do not really know a lot about them, because they did not write stuff down. But we do know that they had horses, were patriarchal, and that they worshipped a polytheistic pantheon that at least involved a Sky Father as one of the highest gods, who controlled the weather and was especially associated with storms and lightning.

These Proto-Indo-Europeans started breaking apart and travelling. Some into Asia, some into Europe and the Arabian/Persian areas. They brought with them their language and religion.

Now, it should be noted that they were not the "original humans" or anything. And that whereever they went... in most areas there were already other people living there, with whom they intermingled. Also whatever land they ended up settling was different, had different environments and this was included into their religious practice. Which made their religion over the years differ bit by bit. So from their pantheon sprang a lot of the pantheons we know today.

But... again, a lot of places they settled had already people living there. Who had their own worship. And that stuff often was also included and merged. Sometimes those other worships were very far reaching, sometimes very local. But some of those deities were picked up and either made part of whatever pantheon was there to come or was merged with an already existing god. And this happened again and again during the time that whatever pantheon was prayed to.

How do we know that, if it was not written down?

Well, mostly due to some archeology, but mostly due to comparative mythology and comparative linguistics. Two fields of science that basically involve people going over a lot of languages or mythologies (which, by the way, at times also includes fairytales and other oral narratives that are not necessarily held as "true", but still told) and basically finding things the reoccur. As well as going back over whatever written stuff we do have and noticing the shifts happening between a text written in 600 BC and a text written in 200 BC.

Now, for all the stuff we have two things that help a lot: a) The old Hindi writings and b) the written stuff from Egypt. Because both go really far back and were very well documented in writing. So basically we always can compare stuff to that and see shifts more clearly.

But, yeah... Technically all the pantheons are very much related. At some point Zeus, Jupiter, Diespiter, Thor, Tinia and Tian originated from the same character. You can even kinda see it in how similar the names are. Susanoo in Shinto-Mythology probably came from this, too, at least in the iteration we actually know about. (There can be some arguments made that a lot of the Shinto gods were shifted through the Buddhist contact, as the original indigenous Japanese cultures were very likely not Indo-European in origin. But given that the Ainu are the only culture whose oral tradition managed to survive this long, while the others either vanished or merged in a way influenced by Buddhism, which comes from Indo-European culture... yeah, it is there now.)

So, what I am saying: Mythology is shifting and always has been shifting. Same goes with religion. Hence the evolution of the Greek Pantheon.

Fun fact: Through comparative mythology we can also find the origins of YHW, the Abrahamitic god. Or God, as you might know him. He is a fascinating one, as he probably started out as a local god associated with harvest and weather in Southern Egypt and was then picked up by the Semitic cultures. He got a more pronounced role in the Canaanite pantheon, where at some point he merged with Baal, the war god. And through some trials and tribulations he finally ended up merging with El(hoim), the top god of the pantheon, with a part of the Canaanites splitting from the culture and developing into what would become the Jewish culture.

Super fascinating stuff. I love it.