Indo European Fire Rituals

Indo-European Fire Rituals is a comparative study of Indo-European fire rituals from modern folklore and ethnography in Scandinavia and archaeological material in Europe from the Bronze Age onwards to the Vedic origins of cosmos in India and today’s cremations on open pyres in Hinduism. Exploring Indo-European fire rituals and sacrifices throughout history and fire in its fundamental role in rites and religious practices, this book analyses fire rituals as the unifying structure in time and space in Indo-European cultures from the Bronze Age onwards. It asks the question how and why was fire the ultimate power in culture and cosmology? Fire as an agent and divinity was fundamental in all major sacrifices. In Europe, ritual fires in relation to agriculture and fertility may also explain the enigma of cremation. Cremated remains were ground and used in fertility rituals, and ancestral fires played an essential role in metallurgy and the creation of cosmos. Thus, the role of fire rituals in culture and cosmology enables a unique understanding of historic developmental processes. For students and academics studying Indo-European culture history from the Bronze Age onwards, this book has a broad interdisciplinary audience including archaeology, ethnography, folklore, religious and Indo-European studies.

"Archaeological excavations of prehistoric Scandinavian graves and ritual sites often reveal seemingly enigmatic and contradictory features. There is a great deal of evidence to suggest that such sites can be given a much broader interpretation than as solely burial grounds, in the sense of places for the deposition of the remains of the dead. Interpretation from a comparative Indo-European perspective allows a partly new approach to material which at first sight seems fragmentary and anonymous." "The author discusses mortuary practices and votive customs in ancient Scandinavian tradition in a long-term perspective, with a comparative Indo-European approach. This is illustrated by a variety of archaeological sites, particularly some examples that have been excavated by Swedish contract archaeology in recent years, yielding a rich new body of material for interpretations of this problem field."--Jacket

A comprehensive overview, by period and region, of the archaeology of ritual and religion. The coverage is global, and extends from the earliest prehistory to modern times. Written by over sixty renowned specialists, the Handbook presents the very best in current scholarship, and will also stimulate further research.

This supplement to the author's study of Indo-European cosmology, Atman, employs the cosmological insights of the ancient Indo-Europeans to illuminate the various sacrificial, theurgic, and gnostic systems that were developed therefrom by the Japhetic Aryans and the Hamitic Egyptians, Sumerians, and later Indians. The original yogic understanding of the full macrocosmic dimension of the human microcosm is seen to inform both the Vedic fire-rituals and the later Agamic temple-rituals since they focus equally on the solar force either as contained within the ritual fire or as embodied in divine idols and in human devotees. A consistent picture thus emerges of the apparently diverse religions of the Indo-Europeans. This work should be of interest to all students of Hinduism, the religions of the ancient Near East, and the spiritual culture of the Indo-Europeans.

This revised and expanded edition provides a comprehensive overview of comparative Indo-European linguistics and the branches of the Indo-European language family, covering both linguistic and cultural material. Now offering even greater coverage than the first edition, it is the definitive introduction to the field. Updated, corrected, and expanded edition, containing new illustrations of selected texts and inscriptions, and text samples with translations and etymological commentary Extensively covers individual histories of both ancient and modern languages of the Indo-European family Provides an overview of Proto-Indo-European culture, society, and language Designed for use in courses, with exercises and suggestions for further reading included in each chapter Includes maps, a glossary, a bibliography, and comprehensive word and subject indexes

This book examines the figure of the returning warrior as depicted in the myths of several ancient and medieval Indo-European cultures. In these cultures, the returning warrior was often portrayed as a figure rendered dysfunctionally destructive or isolationist by the horrors of combat. This mythic portrayal of the returned warrior is consistent with modern studies of similar behavior among soldiers returning from war. Roger Woodard's research identifies a common origin of these myths in the ancestral proto-Indo-European culture, in which rites were enacted to enable warriors to reintegrate themselves as functional members of society. He also compares the Italic, Indo-Iranian, and Celtic mythic traditions surrounding the warrior, paying particular attention to Roman myth and ritual, notably to the etiologies and rites of the July festivals of the Poplifugia and Nonae Caprotinae, and to the October rites of the Sororium Tigillum.

Here are 80 articles on mythologies from around the world, including Native Americans, African, Celtic, Norse, and Slavic, and about such topics as fire, the cosmos, and creation. Also includes an overview of the Indo-Europeans and an essay on the religions and myths of Armenia. Illustrations.

The contributions in this Festschrift extend over the whole range of Indian civilization: in the first part the earlier stages of Indian history spanning the period from the Indus civilization up to medieval times, and in the second part the more recent history of South Asia.