Is the Biblical / post-Biblical demon Asmodeus really a displaced Vedic storm god who entered Middle Judaism through Zoroastrianism?
No idea, and the video above isn´t scholarly, but it´s an interesting idea, to be sure! Note also the peculiar ambivalence towards the Asmodeus character in Judaism. Solomonic grimoire magick, anyone?
Of course there are psychedelic drugs in Hinduism. This is just exoteric/right hand path apologetics. What´s next? "There is no ritual sex in Hinduism"? "Kali has nothing to do with death"? And so on.
The "classical" definition of anti-Semitism is "hostility to Semites, especially Jews". By that standard, Thomas Sheridan´s latest rant is clearly anti-Semitic. And no, I´m not surprised. He is simply reverting to his old self about ten years ago. Yawn. But OK, he doesn´t like Sumerians either, apparently...
Will the next video be about how the Apollonian-Solar Aryans have always been at war with the Cthonic-Lunar Dravidians?
Note how he claims that *both* Yahweh and Jesus Christ were demons!
Dude.
Or just dirty yin? Dr Robert discusses soma, cannabis and astrological remedies in these short videos. Not intended as medickal ad-vice...
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| A dark-skinned Buddha preaching to snake-spirits and tree-spirits! |
A little gem from 2024.
O Varuṇa, Lord of the endless Ocean,
Sovereign of the stars and the sacred night,
whose eyes behold the hidden paths,
whose wisdom rests in the depths.
You are the mystery beneath the waves,
the unseen keeper of truth and order,
the knower of what is concealed,
the guide of those who seek beyond the veil.
Your Māyā weaves the worlds,
yet you command the power of illusion.
The Makara rises from your waters,
sign of the depths you rule.
Ancient Lord, remembered from the dawn of the Indo-European peoples,
guardian of the cosmic law (ṛta),
Ocean of the Infinite —
lead us through the darkness
into the light beyond all appearances.
Om Varuṇāya Namaḥ.
I posted this before, but just rediscovered it. It´s a ChatGPT-composed hymn to Varuna, which sounds almost like the real thing. Making me wonder what the template might have been!
1.
O Varuṇa, Lord of the far-spreading sky,
whose eye is the sun upon all worlds,
you encompass the oceans and the clouds;
your law is the circle that never is broken.
From you flow the waters of truth and mercy.
2.
As the river returns to the sea,
so let my wandering mind return to you.
Cleanse me of falsehood and forgetfulness,
unbind the cords of guilt and fear.
Let your clear stream run through my heart.
3.
Great guardian of order, vast and kind,
friend of the truthful, refuge of the humble,
may I live beneath your open heavens
in harmony with your eternal law.
So I bow, saying: Om Varunāya Namah.
In Greek mythology, the deity associated with wine is Dionysus. In other words, a male god. In Hinduism, by contrast, the deity associated with really strong forms of liquor and intoxication is...a goddess?!
Varuni is sometimes said to be the wife of the Vedic god Varuna, sometimes his daughter. Apparently, Varuni was "demoted" to an asura (an anti-god or titan) when Indian civilization became more skeptical of heavy drinking!
The picture above is Gemini´s very "civilized" take on Varuni. Link below to Wikipedia.
1. I TRAVEL with the Rudras and the Vasus, with the Adityas and All-Gods I wander. I hold aloft both Varuna and Mitra, Indra and Agni, and the Pair of Asvins.
2. I cherish and sustain high-swelling Soma, and Tvastar I support, Pusan, and Bhaga. I load with wealth the zealous sacrificer who pours the juice and offers his oblation.
3. I am the Queen, the gatherer-up of treasures, most thoughtful, first of those who merit worship. Thus Gods have stablished me in many places with many homes to enter and abide in.
4. Through me alone all eat the food that feeds them,-each man who sees, breathes, hears the word outspoken. They know it not, but yet they dwell beside me. Hear, one and all, the truth as I declare it.
5. I, verily, myself announce and utter the word that Gods and men alike shall welcome. I make the man I love exceeding mighty, make him a sage, a Risi, and a Brahman.
6. I bend the bow for Rudra that his arrow may strike and slay the hater of devotion. I rouse and order battle for the people, and I have penetrated Earth and Heaven.
7. On the world's summit I bring forth the Father: my home is in the waters, in the ocean. Thence I extend o'er all existing creatures, and touch even yonder heaven with my forehead.
8. I breathe a strong breath like the wind and tempest, the while I hold together all existence. Beyond this wide earth and beyond the heavens I have become so mighty in my grandeur.
This is supposed to be "Pashupati" (the Indus Valley Civilization deity) in a rainy northern forest. I suspect Copilot might have gotten some inspiration from Cernunnos, though. Note the coy wolf (pun intended) and the squirrel?! The bird is probably a quail.
Current mood?
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| - Strait of Hormuz? You gotta be kidding, I may be the god of the oceans, but I´m avoiding *that* place like the plague! |
How could the Islamic terror regime in Iran survive for almost 50 years? Well, we just got the answer. It´s the Strait of Hormuz, stupid. Oil and gas is more important than human rights. It worked for the mostly pro-Western Shah, so why not for the mostly anti-Western Khomeini and Khamenei? Who dares, wins.
As for the latest Trump "taco"...LOL. The Iranian regime has a 10-point list of very maximalist demands ("give us everything, Don") which the POTUS actually claims is a serious basis for peace negotiations?! Which either means that Trump will cave, or that the war will be resumed again in two weeks.
Well, let´s hope at least some of those tankers get through that fuckin´ strait.
This seems to have gotten stuck in my pipe line of future possible blog posts. Not sure if anyone finds it interesting, but here we go anyway...
Yes — Varuṇa in the Vedic tradition has deep associations with the night, though it’s not his only sphere. Here’s how and why:
In the Ṛgveda, Varuṇa is one of the Ādityas (solar deities, “sons of infinity”), but he is not just a sun god.
He is the upholder of ṛta (cosmic order, truth, the law of the universe).
He is a god of the vast waters, sky, and cosmic expanse — often linked to the dark, infinite, unfathomable aspects of reality.
Unlike Indra (storm-warrior of the day), Varuṇa is majestic, contemplative, moral, and mysterious.
Many Vedic hymns call Varuṇa “lord of the night” (whereas Mitra, his twin counterpart, is more associated with daylight, friendship, and contracts).
The Varuṇa–Mitra pair mirrors night and day, mystery and clarity, cosmic depth and social order.
Why night?
Starry sky: Varuṇa is invoked as the controller of the night sky and the path of the stars — he “knows the path of the birds that fly in the air” (Ṛgveda 1.25). Here “birds” = stars moving across the heavens.
Hidden waters: He rules over the hidden cosmic waters, which are likened to the unseen realms of night.
Secrecy and moral watchfulness: In the hymns, Varuṇa is said to see everything, even in darkness. His thousand eyes (stars) watch human actions, even at night. Hence, he became linked with sin, guilt, confession, and forgiveness.
Many Vedic rituals to Varuṇa were performed at dusk or night, in contrast to Indra’s morning sacrifices.
His role was to protect sleepers, maintain order in darkness, and guard against unseen dangers.
Some scholars even suggest that Varuṇa reflects an older Indo-European “sky at night” god, while Dyaus Pitar was the bright sky of day.
Varuṇa gradually lost prominence to Indra and then to Viṣṇu and Śiva.
But in the epics and Purāṇas, he remains the god of the ocean and waters — again linking him to the dark, unfathomable depths.
Symbolically, night and ocean both represent the vast, hidden, infinite order that Varuṇa embodies.
✅ Summary:
Varuṇa is indeed associated with the night, because he rules the cosmic depths, starry sky, unseen waters, and hidden moral law. At night, when the sun’s clarity fades, Varuṇa’s vast, all-seeing presence is felt — watching silently, like the stars.
Would you like me to also explain how Varuṇa’s night aspect may have influenced early Buddhist and Jain ideas of karma as moral law (since Varuṇa was seen as the all-seeing enforcer of truth, even in darkness)?
OK, so I couldn´t resist another ChatGPT essay. Just one more, bro, just one more!
Tabiti is one of the most intriguing and least understood figures in Scythian religion, precisely because she sits at the intersection of Indo-Iranian tradition, steppe nomadism, and very archaic fire symbolism.
Our knowledge is limited, but what is known is unusually suggestive.
The only explicit ancient source for Tabiti is Herodotus (5th century BCE), Histories IV.59.
He lists the Scythian gods and equates them (very roughly) with Greek ones:
Tabiti → equated with Hestia
Papaios → Zeus
Api → Gaia
etc.
Crucially:
Tabiti is named first, before all other gods.
Herodotus explicitly says she is the most honored deity of the Scythians.
That alone tells us a great deal.
Herodotus’ identification with Hestia has often misled people.
Both associated with fire
Both central, not anthropomorphic warriors or rulers
Hestia = domestic, civic hearth
Tabiti = cosmic, sovereign fire
Among nomads:
There is no permanent hearth
Fire is portable, dangerous, sacred
Fire binds clan, oath, kingship, and ritual
So Tabiti is not a cozy household goddess. She is closer to:
Sacred fire itself
Fire as order, truth, and continuity
Most scholars agree Tabiti is of Indo-Iranian origin, linguistically and conceptually.
Often linked to Iranian tap- / taf- roots:
“to burn”
“to heat”
Possibly meaning something like:
“The Burning One”
“She who is aflame”
Tabiti aligns well with:
Vedic Agni (fire as divine mediator)
Iranian Ātar (sacred fire, truth, kingship)
But with an important distinction:
Agni and Ātar are usually male; Tabiti is female.
This points to an older stratum of Indo-Iranian religion, where fire was not yet rigidly gendered.
One of the most important (and often overlooked) aspects:
Among the Scythians:
The king’s authority was sacral
Oaths were sworn by fire
Sacred fire symbolized cosmic order
Tabiti likely functioned as:
Guardian of oaths
Source of royal charisma
Axis between human society and cosmic law
In this sense she resembles:
Asha/Ṛta (cosmic order)
More than a “goddess” in the mythological sense
Herodotus’ ordering is extremely significant.
Tabiti is not:
A sky god
A warrior
A fertility figure
She is foundational.
This suggests:
Fire is not one power among others; it is the condition that makes the rest possible.
In steppe terms:
No fire → no life
No fire → no ritual
No fire → no polity
Tabiti is thus closer to a metaphysical principle than a personality.
Tabiti’s femininity is striking.
Possible interpretations:
Fire as womb, transformation, continuity
Fire as guardian rather than aggressor
A pre-patriarchal layer preserved among nomads
She is not erotic, maternal, or martial.
She is untouchable, pure, dangerous.
That places her closer to:
Vedic Arani (fire sticks, female principle)
Later Iranian reverence for sacred flame
Even Vestal concepts — but without urban domestication
Several reasons:
Scythians were non-literate
Their religion was ritual, not myth-heavy
Greek observers misunderstood nomadic categories
Later Iranian religions moved in different directions
What survived is the core, not the stories.
Tabiti was the supreme Scythian deity, a female embodiment of sacred fire and cosmic order, older than Olympian-style gods, central to kingship, oath, and ritual life. Rather than a hearth goddess, she represents fire as the living principle that sustains society and truth among nomadic peoples, preserving an archaic Indo-Iranian conception later eclipsed elsewhere.
If you want, we could next:
Compare Tabiti with Vedic Agni and Iranian Ātar in detail
Explore whether she reflects a Brahma-Kalpa–like archaic goddess stratum
Or look at how Scythian religion differs fundamentally from Greek myth despite Greek labels
Varuna controls the mystical forces of Makara! Happy Winter Solstice, btw. And yes, I´m using the Western tropical zodiac here, but thanks for asking...
- Yes, my dear Hiranyapaksha, the Charvakas are right. Morality is just enlightened self-interest. I should know, my friend. Because you see, I created all the monads that way. Maybe it was in my best interest...
Here´s the Slav connection, folks.
Is there some connection between the Krampus traditions and Slav traditions, perhaps about the Devil?
Yes — there are clear historical and thematic connections between the Alpine Krampus traditions and various Slavic wintertime devil or demon traditions, especially in the areas where Germanic and Slavic cultures have overlapped for centuries (Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, northern Italy, Czech lands, Slovakia, and parts of Poland).
These connections are not identical origins, but rather mutual influence in a shared cultural zone where winter demon lore is very old.
Below is a structured explanation.
Krampus is strongest in:
Austria (especially Tyrol, Salzburg, Styria)
Bavaria
South Tyrol
Northern Italy (Trentino)
Slovenia ← important overlap zone
Northern Croatia
Carinthia (Austria, with a Slovene minority)
In these areas, Alpine and Slavic folklore have interpenetrated for centuries. Many customs simply flow across linguistic boundaries.
Thus, Krampus shares motifs with Slavic winter demons, devils, chasing figures, and masked processions.
Across Slavic folklore, wintertime is full of demonic, horned, or beast-like figures who:
appear during Advent or Christmas
punish or frighten children
accompany saintly figures
carry chains or rods
are hairy or beastly
sometimes abduct the naughty
This makes them functionally analogous to Krampus.
Key examples:
This is almost the same figure as Krampus, and scholars view them as two names for variants of the same tradition.
Horned, shaggy, demonic
Accompany Saint Nicholas (Miklavž)
Carry chains, bells, birch rods
Frighten children
Appear on 5 December
The word Parkelj is sometimes linked to:
perk- (Slavic root for devil)
or the German Perchten
This is the strongest Slavic connection.
Figures similar to Krampus are called:
Krampus (loan from German)
Krampuslauf traditions
Djed Mraz’s devils (in some older areas)
Krampusi (plural)
Catholics in northern Croatia adopted the Alpine Nicholas + demon pairing directly.
In Czech and Slovak folklore:
Čert (“devil”) accompanies Saint Nicholas during Mikuláš festivities.
He is blackened, horned, shaggy, with chains.
He threatens to take naughty children in a sack.
A benevolent angel accompanies Nicholas too.
This three-figure setup (Nicholas + Angel + Devil) is extremely close to the Krampus–Nicholas pair.
Čert is not identical to Krampus, but the functional role is almost the same.
In southern Poland:
Nicholas is accompanied by “diabły” (devils) in Christmas folk processions.
They wear horned masks, furs, and chains.
They test children’s behavior.
They sometimes chase people.
In old Polish folklore, winter devils were part of the Dziady (ancestral) and Kolęda processions, which merged with Christian feast days.
While not directly linked to Krampus, East Slavic winter rituals include:
horned goat demons
devils who chase villagers
“koza” (the goat spirit)
masked beast figures
These belong to the same pre-Christian winter-cycle demonology.
Many Alpine and Slavic winter demons share:
the goat symbolism (linked to fertility gods and liminal spirits)
horns, furs, and wildness
the winter solstice as a time when the dead or demons roam
the threat of carrying away the naughty or impure
ritualized inversion and chaos
These point to a broader Indo-European winter-spirit complex, not a simple borrowing in one direction.
The Christian framework (Saint Nicholas + demon) got mapped onto older winter rites across Europe.
Yes — in border regions.
Especially in Slovenia, Croatia, Carinthia, and South Tyrol, Krampus evolved in a cultural zone where:
Slavic devils (čerti, parkeljni)
Germanic Perchten
Alpine Wild Men
Christian Nicholas pageants
all interacted.
However:
The core Krampus-Shint Nicholas pairing seems to have rooted mainly in German-speaking Alpine areas.
It then spread into Slavic areas, where it merged with pre-existing devil folklore.
But Slavic winter devils may have, in turn, reinforced and enriched the Krampus figure.
It’s a two-way osmosis, not a one-way borrowing.
Short version:
The Krampus tradition is Alpine-Germanic in structure, but it blends seamlessly with Slavic devil traditions in regions where the cultures overlap. Slavic winter devils (čert, parkelj, diabły) play the same role and likely reinforced or shaped Krampus in border regions.
Yes, Krampus has connections with Slavic folklore.
In Slovenia, the Parkelj = practically Krampus.
Across Czech, Slovak, Croatian, and Polish regions, winter devils accompany Nicholas just like Krampus does.
These traditions come from pre-Christian winter spirits that Christianity “domesticated” by tying them to Saint Nicholas.
Germanic and Slavic traditions blended in a shared Alpine cultural space for centuries.
So I wanted a picture of the proto-Shiva deity from the Pashupati seal, but in a naturalistic setting, walking around among birds. This was the closest thing I could get Bing AI to generate. Probably freely based on Cernunnos, but no hard feelings. I mean, the similarities between "Pashupati" and the Celtic god are staggering.
Then it struck me that all the birds shown are either European or North American (the ones I could make out), so I suppose we could see this as a truly Holarctic Pashupati!
So I´ve been experimenting with ChatGPT again. Here is a newly-composed (?) hymn to the Vedic god Varuna...
1.
O Varuṇa, Lord of the far-spreading sky,
whose eye is the sun upon all worlds,
you encompass the oceans and the clouds;
your law is the circle that never is broken.
From you flow the waters of truth and mercy.
2.
As the river returns to the sea,
so let my wandering mind return to you.
Cleanse me of falsehood and forgetfulness,
unbind the cords of guilt and fear.
Let your clear stream run through my heart.
3.
Great guardian of order, vast and kind,
friend of the truthful, refuge of the humble,
may I live beneath your open heavens
in harmony with your eternal law.
So I bow, saying: Om Varunāya Namah.
A genuine language nerd discusses the three most insane proposals for new language families. At least in his estimation! Number three on the list is a proposed "Sardo-Babylonian" family, claiming that Sardinian (a Romance language) is related to Babylonian and Sumerian. Number two claims that Basque and Hittite are related, while number one claims that the Minoan language of ancient Crete (which isn´t even deciphered yet) must have a relation to Hungarian?!
Unsurprisingly, the Sardinian proposal was made by a Sardinian, and the Hungarian one by a Hungarian. Strangely enough, the authors of the second proposal (linking Basque with Hittite) are neither Basque nor Hittite (I think), but I suppose you can´t get everything in an imperfect world.
I suppose these national romantic drafts can at least win the Nobel literature prize, LOL.
