Center

Dedicant's Work

Study Program

Runes

Esus

Definitions

Rituals

Essays

Poems

Biography
---------
Search

LiveJournal

email

links
---------
Chronarchy.org

adf.org

ThreeCranes.org

Pagan Student Association

---------
CafePress Shop

Chronarchy.Com

Indo-European Mythology 1, Requirement 8g

Discuss how the following seven elements of ADF's cosmology are (or are not) reflected in the myths of two different Indo-European cultures. For this question, please use the same two cultures as a basis of comparison for the entire question. (minimum 100 words each)

Tree

In Celtic myth, the sacred tree (called Bile in Irish), and it is watered by the waters of heaven and seems to help transport the souls of the dead to the otherworld (and so has connections with various portions of the world). (Ellis, 122) In Vedism, the sacred center is often referred to as its own direction, (MacDonnell, 9) and could possibly be regarded as a representation of the "center" aspect of the Tree. Regarding the "tree" as "phallus" (a common explanation for its centrality to ritual), we have the word śiśnadevah, meaning "those who have a phallus for their deity," which indicates that phallic worship was known to the Vedics, but it was not until post-Vedic times that the phallus or linga became widely worshipped as symbolic of Shiva's (a Hindu deity) generative power. It seems that the Vedics found phallus worship to be repugnant, and Indra is called upon to destroy the śiśnadevah, and also slays them to win the treasure of the hundred-gated fort. (MacDonnell, 155) In ADF ritual, the tree acts as the axis of the ritual, the sacred center. It seems to adequately reflect both the tree of the Celtic world and the center of the Vedic.

>----------'-|-|||||-,,--||||-/////-|||||-,,,,--|-,,-,,-'--|-|||||-,,--''-|||||-,,,,-''''-||-/////-''-|||||-|-<

Content © 2003 - 2006, Michael J Dangler
Updated on 03/14/2006. Site Credits / Email Me!
Basic site design from ADF.org
(Yes, I stole it!)