The Indo-European Changes Made to the Neolithic Pantheon (original) (raw)

Proto-Indo-Europeans –Gods and Religions and Evolution of Mythologies

This brief article describes confirmation of "steppe origin of Proto-Indo-Europeans" based on new genetics studies performed on discovered mummies and connects the dots on various cultures of steppe and their genetic affinities and subsequent dispersal, covering their religion and mythologies to Europe and south Asia.

The Assimilation of Pre-Indo-European Goddesses into Indo-European Society

The Journal of Indo-European Studies. Papers from the conference, THE TRANSFORMATION OF EUROPEAN AND ANATOLIAN CULTURE 4500-2500 B.C. AND ITS LEGACY, Dubrovnik, Yugoslavia, 1980

Proto-Indo-European Goddeses were few in number and they largely reflected natural phenomena. Their personification was slight. As evidenced by comparative linguistic and mythological data, most powerful goddesses and heroines in the mythologies and literatures of the various Indo-European cultures have been descendants of pre- Indo-European female figures. They were products of the cultures indigenous to the areas to which the Proto-Indo-European peoples migrated, in the fourth to third millennia B.C. They were subsequently assimilated into the patriarchal Indo-European pantheons, but with attrition of their powers. These powers underwent a qualitative change as well: in origin autonomous entities, whose powers were self- contained, these goddesses, when assimilated into Indo-European cultures, became bestowers of energy. It is notable that, although they bestowed energy, they did not retain that energy for themselves. Hence, the goddesses bestowed their forces on the three functional levels required by Proto-Indo-European males, becoming transmitters of sovereignty, martial energy, and nurturing energy. However, these female figures cannot be pigeonholed into distinct functional levels. Such a classification belongs only to male deities, who were the active participants in Indo-European patriarchal cultures. Conversely, when the quality of their powers was modified, the pre-Indo-European female figure assumed a 'passive' role in Indo-European society.

European Origin of Vedic Deities?

WAVES Conference, Bengaluru, 2020

Colonial and European scholarship put forth the notion of an ancestral Proto Indo European (PIE) language which led to a PIE homeland, whose cultural artifacts included the so-called PIE deities. Comparative "mythology" as a subject sought to address common features of stories in different cultures. In this paper, we highlight problems with interpretation arising from dubious language translations.