Thoughts on PIE
Since school has been out I have not had much time for spiritual and philosophical ponderings. Though the last week or so I’ve been fascinated by the proto-indo-european (PIE) spiritual legacy.
It all started with some research into Celtic Gods, it seems that the Irish river Goddess Danu, the Welsh Goddess Don, the Danube River (and several other rivers) on the continent and a Hindu River Goddess also called Danu are all related; Goddesses of a river and fertility who gave birth to a race of people. The two Goddesses are over similar to be coincidental, in my view and a lot of scholars opinions too.
India and Ireland too many people you couldn’t get much further apart than that and yes these are the ends of the PIE linguistic influence and the last places corrupted by the civilizing influence of Rome and other destructive cultures.
The PIE spiritual influence is fascinating. It can be pieced together somewhat, and the influences can be seen throughout the PIE descendant cultures. The linguistic and mythological similarities go far beyond Danu and Danu. Recurring themes include twin Gods who create man, Hearth Goddess, three fates (the Norns and Moire), the thunder God, and the mother Earth. They also had a tendency to think in polar opposites; mortal and immortal, day and night, active and inactive, this may be where the persistent and irritating idea that everything is either good or evil comes from. Not that the original PIE people believed this necessarily, but it may be an extension of that early duality thinking.
One particular archetype in the PIE pantheon has the majority of my interest. The Hearth Goddess, true name unknown, perhaps best equated with the Vestal Virgins and the Goddess Brigid with their circular temples of stone and trees, and their fires tended day and night by brides of the land. (Interpretation mine.) This I think is part of what I was originally looking for, as a Kitchen Witch the hearth and home are everything to me, and the roots of the sacred hearth idea is quite fascinating.
