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[Nomad of Nowhere]

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[Nomad of Nowhere]

Not Because I Think They're Just Symbols, But Because I Don't

Some say all of the gods are one. Some of those people are pantheists, who say the whole universe is god. Well I prefer to call Apollo Apollo, because even if we are all one, I do not call you by my name, do I? Maybe all is one and one is all, but even if this is true, then by my perception, for most practical purposes we can still all be considered individuals, and the same goes for gods. Likewise, just as the human race is not necessarily in an arranged order, so might the gods exist willy-nilly, large and small, some dedicated to one course of action, others to another. Harmony exists, and there are things that bring harmony with their influence, but that is not the only force in the world. We as humans often like to project harmony over the entire universe, as though entropy, conflict, and sudden reversals are unnatural. Some might say that what I am skeptical of are notions that might be found or interpreted as one supreme will, one supreme way that dominates and restrains all others. Even in polytheistic traditions there are concepts such as this, and it never really resonated with me. Look at Veles, the god presiding over, among other things, rivers and ground water, and who fights with Perun, god of storms. Who really owns the water? No one, because water is a constantly mobile, cyclic resource that is meant to exist being passed between earth and sky. From this particular conflict, we get life. There is no clear victor; that's what keep the world spinning. Remember the Enuma Elish; I am one who believe that even the tablets of destiny can be stolen, and that mankind might even have been created from Kingu's destruction. All hell can break lose, rules and rulers can be changed, and the world can keep on moving.

So if I've managed to state one thing, I hope it's that I believe in gods as individuals, and not even necessarily individuals with a static hierarchy or with similar levels of significance and power, such as that of an ocean god when compared with that of a river. If they are just symbols, or a type of energy, then what are we? Being a symbol, or some vague magically-powered aspect of human nature that exists in all of us may be a pleasing way to engage in a very introspective sort of spirituality, and in fact, certain gods are described as being felt "within", notably Dionysus. Yet this sort of goes against other records of other gods, in which they clearly behave as individuals. What does it really matter if they're an "essence"? Aren't we all? If you find you must disagree due of our complex and imperfect natures, then you may dismiss gods with aspect-purity, but what of those without aspect purity? What keeps their symbolism, mixed, rather complex, and sometimes seemingly contradictory, from qualifying as a personality? Are we energy as well? If so, how does that invalidate our self-awareness, or that of a god? These are the questions that derailed me from the pathway of some neopagans. While thinking of the gods in such abstract terms as those I've mentioned can be a motive for mixing and matching deities, to me the opposite was my motive, because symbols are left to those they represent, whereas individuals are real for everyone, regardless of geographic placement. This is not to say that they all want to talk to someone like myself, but I believe that they are there, that they are sentient, rather than forces of nature to be channeled, and that it is not absurd to think that many people in many regions have known them.  

[Nomad of Nowhere]

The Indo-Europeans


Indo-European migration according to the kurgan hypothesis.

When I studied mythology from an academic standpoint, before being neopagan, I was fascinated with the concept of Pan-Indo-European mythology. The popular Kurgan hypothesis (above) is one about the Indo-European migration, and first of all, let me confess that it is conjecture. The actual migration doubtlessly took place, though some people will claim that they came from Norway, and traveled all the way to India, and so on, but the Kurgan hypothesis is widely accepted as the most viable given current evidence. The application of Indo-European influence to mythology is also, I think, almost certainly with some merit, as some cultures are clearly connected. The term "Indo-European" is generally used to describe the largest language family in the world, but where linguistic diffusion occurs, other transfers may have as well.

A good sign of Indo-European mythology has been observed by more than one person to be the storm god who slays a water-associated serpent, or some dragon-like being with a lightning bolt. In Greek, Slavic, Baltic, and Germanic tradition, there is a third similarity; he is associated with the oak tree. In both Indian tradition and some Slavic accounts, there seems to be cattle involved in the confrontation. Note that some were speakers of an Afro-Asiatic language, not an Indo-European one, but the Hittites, the first recorded Indo-Europeans borrowed from the likely Semitic Sumerians, so influence between the two from very early one makes them plausible examples. Also, both of them- Hurrian and Canaanite, were in the region which the Hittite empire used to cover, so the influence could be directly from them. The earliest example of this storm god that I have found is either Teshub or Tarhun, the first Indo-European, the other probably Semitic, if there was even a distinction at the time. Who had him first, I cannot say, but reason points me to the Indo-European one.

Hittite: Teshub
Hurrian- Tarhun
Canaanite: Baal/Hadad
Akkadian- Adad
Indian: Indra*
Iranian: Indra*
Slavic- Perun
Germanic: Thor, Thunor, Thunaer, Dunor
Hellenic: Zeus
Baltic- Perkons
Roman: Jupiter

*Iran's old polytheistic religion is all but obliterated from very early on by Zoroastrianism, but it is clearly connected to India's- notably among the Rigvedic deities. According to a monotheistic Iranian text, "Indra" is a demon and the enemy of Asha (roughly, "truth".) This is not surprising, considering that they use the old term for the gods, the "Daevas" to describe demons, whereas the Hindus worship the "Devas" still. Ironically, the Hindus use another root-word for god to describe a family of demons, or perhaps another family of gods who are the enemies of the Devas, and this term is "Asura", whereas the monotheistic Iranians later used "Ahura" to designate "the lord." In any case, it can be deduced that he was also an Iranian divinity, or daeva.

Most of these cultures have other parallels, but not all of them, or they might not be intact, such as in the case of pre-Zoroastrian Persian mythology. Obviously there are other storm gods, such as the celtic Taranis, but little is known about them. The Romans seem encountered Taranis, but they fused him with Jupiter. Other motifs seem to be diffusions, but either they are vague enough to be coincidence, or do not range from Europe as far away as India!

1800's Asura/Aesir theory- It was suggested that the Norse Aesir were related to the Asura's. In some ways, it may hold some merit, since both have opponent groups of gods (Vanir and Devas) and since their roots are both theoretically "Ansu" (Proto-Germanic and Indo-Iranian word that designated "god". "As" and "Asa" may be more familiar to some Asatruar, but the "Ans-" root shows up in other Germanic languages.) While interesting such possibilities probably should be kept to the domain of the theoretical, since there's little evidence beyond this.
 

[Nomad of Nowhere]

Now, feel free to comment. I will be relieved if I find out anyone actually read all of this.  

[Shearaha]

I want to thank you for posting this. It was very informitive and you said things that I have been trying to find the right way to explaine them myself.  

[Nomad of Nowhere]

Thank you. What exactly have you been trying to explain?  

[Bjornhona]

And yet, you will probably be entirely unsurprised to know that I read all of it.