Deities

Gods

Godesses

Dyé:us Pté:r
Xáryomen
Perk^wúnos
Diwós Sunú
Xák^wo:m Népo:t
Yemós and Mannus
Páxuson
Ménot

PIE Goddesses (An Overview)
Hekwona
G^wouwinda
Xausós
Sawelyosyo Dhukhter
Donu
Westya
Dhég^yho:m Má:tr
Kolyos

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The word for “deities,” "Déiwo:s" (sing. Déiwos) "the shining ones," or "the celestial ones." This leaves no doubt both as to how the Proto-Indo-Europeans had of them and where they believed they dwelt. There are also chthonic deities, those of the Underworld, but the celestial ones set the tone. The deities are also the *ghutom, "to whom libations are poured" (> "god"), telling us one way in which they are to be worshiped. They are *dotores weswa:m, "givers of goods," telling us what they do in return for this worship.

The Déiwo:s are *n-mrto:s, "undying." They may have had a beginning (perhaps as long ago as the beginning of the universe itself), but they will have no end. This is because they drink a beverage called *Nekter, the ambrosia or nektar of the Greeks, the soma of India, the haoma of Iran. A version of it may be drunk by us in ritual, giving us power and long life, but even that won't keep death from us forever. We are not gods.

We are not gods. This is one of the articles of the Indo-European faith. We are related to them, made from similar stuff, and even able to interbreed with them. But they are a different kind of being, as different from us as we are from the animals. We are ontologically different.

The gods are beings who are powerful, holy, and good. They are not archetypes, and in no way are mere projections of psychological reality. They certainly correspond to archetypes. This should be no surprise; one of the ways in which psychologists determined archetypes was by investigating myths.

More important, the gods we know are those who are relevant to us. This explains why so many of the are good to us, because we wouldn’t tend to encounter deities who weren’t. Even those deities who aren’t good can be dealt with in such a way that they are as good to us as possible, because they fit into the Xártus, which is the ultimate good. There may well be other gods, but the ones we worship are the ones suitable for us. This is just another way of saying that each corresponds to an archetype – corresponds to it, but not identical with it.

The gods are not simply personifications of natural laws, either; the laws and the gods co-exist. The gods are both the servants and the guardians of natural law. They enforce it, but are not the same as it. The gods uphold the Xártus. In part this is simply by being who they are, in part it is by performing their functions. In part it is in a deliberate sense, by opposing the forces that would destroy the Cosmos – the Outsiders.

The gods are individual beings, separate from us and from each other. As individuals, each has their own interests and preferences. This is necessary if they are to take part in the Xártus, which is a relationship between separate elements. Knowing and acting by the Xártus perfectly, they are much wiser and more powerful than us. This means that their interests and preferences will sometimes seem mysterious to us, or even be unknown. Our ancestors, through thousands of years of experience, by thousands of different people, came to understand them pretty well, and we therefore should rely pretty heavily on the records our ancestors left us.

The deities are not omnipotent. They are constrained by both their nature and by the Xártus. For instance, Dyé:us Pté:r is a god of justice. It would be against his nature to act unjustly. The gods cannot act against their nature because it is their nature that defines their existence. This does not mean that Dyé:us Pté:r will always act in a way that seems just to us. He has more concerns than each of us, and more wisdom to understand what is necessary. It also does not mean that he chooses between acting in accord with the Xártus and acting not in accord with it. The question simply doesn't occur to him; he is a being whose actions correspond to the Xártus.

Because they are constrained by the Xártus, the deities are similar to natural forces. Each is part of the working of the universe, and each fulfills their part to perfection. That is what makes them gods.

Neither of these two constraints – their nature and the Xártus – are external to the gods. They are both what the gods are. There is thus nothing above the gods (except for other gods). There is something within them and behind them. Notice also that one of these constraints – the Xártus – is within and behind everything. Notice also that it might be said that the nature of a deity is the same as the Xártus for them. Another way of putting this is that each "rides" a branch of the Xártus, the one that corresponds to their nature, expressing it, affecting it, governing it.

Judging from the descendant traditions, the Proto-Indo-Europeans must have worshiped a large number of deities, and honored a number of lesser divine beings as well. Unfortunately, only a few of these can be reconstructed by both name and function. Others are clear in their functions, but lack names.

Most Indo-European deity names are transparent in meaning, originating as descriptions, as titles. Woden is "the ecstatic one," Rudra is "the howler," Hermes "the god of the cairn." Certain of these titles became the main ones, promoted to the status of names, but the poets and priests still took delight in inventing titles. The Homeric Hymns praise the “Far-Shooter” (Apollo), the “Shooter of Stags” (Artemis), and the “Fulfiller” (Zeus).

For the deities who survive in function but not in name, I have therefore felt free to construct my own names, or rather titles by which they might be addressed. I will specify which names are my own creation. All others are reconstructions. It is possible that I have by luck or inspiration struck on an actual primary Proto-Indo-European title for a deity. It is even more possible that I have constructed a title which the Proto-Indo-Europeans would have recognized. What matters most, of course, is that the gods to whom they refer will recognize them. Given the Indo-European love for such titles, I feel sure the gods will know whom we are talking to.

Like their descendants the Romans, the Proto-Indo-Europeans had deities of abstractions. They believed that the existence of an idea assumed the existence of a deity to rule over it. This comes from the belief in the Xártus; the reality we perceive reflects the structure of the universe. If we perceive an idea, there must be a something in the structure of the universe that corresponds to it. That something is personal. That something is a deity. So rather than turning an abstraction into a deity, the Proto-Indo-Europeans were noticing the preexistence of a deity of that abstraction. This means that if you have something you want to pray for and there is no reconstructed Proto-Indo-European deity that seems appropriate, ask yourself what abstraction best expresses your desire. You can then use that as your deity name. (Translating it into Proto-Indo-European would be nice, but not necessary.)


The Gods

Many of the Proto-Indo-European male deities may be assigned to particular functions. There are very few male deities who cross the line between the three functions, and these probably originated as gods of one of the functions who acquired the other functions in a secondary sense. The gods can slop over a bit into other functions, though. For instance, Thor is a second function deity. However, though his connection with thunderstorms he was prayed to by farmers for rain. He becomes thereby a god of fertility. Sometimes this slopping over comes as a result of patronage. Because someone might have developed a particularly close relationship with Xáryomen, Xáryomen would be expected to have a particularly close interest in them. Although he is a god of social unity, then, they might pray to him for fertility or protection. Warriors who pray to a second function figure for courage and protection might end up praying to him for prosperity as well. This sort of thing creates a little wiggle room in the system.

The third function is connected religiously with fertility cults. It is difficult to find evidence for Proto-Indo-European religion of this type for two reasons. First, most of what we can reconstruct of Proto-Indo-European religion is from the works of first function writers, composed either for their own function or for second function, the warrior aristocracy. The members of these two functions did not care about the third function’s cults as much as their own, and may even have viewed them with suspicion as possible sources of subversion against the established order.

The other reason is less sinister. As the Indo-Europeans migrated, they would naturally absorb local agricultural religion, leaving their previous agricultural cults behind. This is because the fertility of the land is connected with the spiritual inhabitants of the land. It behooves us to make friends with the local fertility deities. Trying to impose our own on the land may offend both sets of beings. Under this interpretation, the lack of knowledge about Proto-Indo-European cults shows a great respect for the deities of fertility, not a lack of it.



Dyé:s Pté:r
"The Shining Sky Father" is the most important deity of the Proto-Indo-Europeans. His very name is related to *Deiwos – he is the god. It is recognizable in the Roman Jupiter, Greek Zeus Pater, Illyrian Dei-paturos, Vedic Dyaus Pitar, Baltic Dievas, Luvian Tatis Tiwaiz, Palaic Tiyaz Pa:paz, and Germanic *Tiwaz (later Tý4. [Some of these from West, 2007, 166-7.] Among the Scyths he was just Papaeus, "Father" (Herodotus, 4.59). In other words, memories and versions of him survived in almost all the IE cultures, evidence of his importance to the Proto-Indo-Europeans.

From the beginning he was the major deity. The best example in the descendant traditions of Dyéus Patér's magnificence is the Roman Jupiter, the most supreme form of whom was Jupiter the Best and Greatest (Jupiter Optimus Maximus). In Greece, a land made up of many city-states, each with their own versions of the gods, there was a Zeus Hellanios, ”god of the Greeks,” with a temple on Mt. Oros (Howie, 1989, 68).

Dyé:s Pté:r is the transcendent lord. He is the protector of the Xartus, the enforcer of natural law. As such, he is called "Xartuspotis," "Lord of the Xartus." (The vocative form, that used to address him, is Xartupotei; the vocative of Dyé:us Pté:r is Dyeu Pter.) This is implied in Hesiod’s prayer that Zeus “make judgements straight with righteousness” (Works and Days 10). Hesiod also tells us (Works and Days, 256-64) that Justice is Zeus’ daughter, and makes sure that he knows the sins of men so he can judge and punish rightly.

He is not, however, the one who forms the Xártus, and is as constrained by it as anyone is. Zeus is still bound by fate, and all of the Vedic gods are constrained by rta. Odin’s sacrifice of an eye is not made to gain the power to control wyrd, but to know it.

As god of the bright sky, he was probably connected with the sun, although not in the sense of being the sun. Rather, the sun was his symbol. The sun sees all, is lord of the bright sky, and performs functions according to the unfailing law of the universe, the Xartus – just like Dyé:us Pté:r. In some Indo-European languages, the word for “sun” has become that for “eye;” the sun is the eye of the sky. It is a common comment in Greek literature that the sun god Helios “sees all that goes on on earth.” However, in Hesiod (Works and Days, 267-9), it is the “eye of Zeus” who sees all and punishes injustice.

Dyé:us Pté:r dwells in great splendor, and is almost unapproachably sacred. The Greek playwrights might include Apollo, or Herakles, or Mercury as characters in their plays, but not Zeus (Burkert, 1985, 131). This is why Aristotle (Magna Moralia 1208 b 30, in Burkert, 1985, 274; Dowden, 2010, 54) says that it would be absurd (or bizarre) for anyone to say he loves Zeus. This remoteness may explain why in the Vedic tradition his worship has been so attenuated. It may also have been explained by the fact that in all the traditions in which it survives the reflex of *Dyé:us, in the form *deiwos, becomes the name for simply “god.” This is seen already in Proto-Indo-European; Dyé:us Pté:r has become almost the generic deity.

He is the god of priests (Gamkrelidze and Ivanov, 1995, 693), the embodiment of the way rituals are to be performed. In Dumézilian terms, he is the magico-ritual half of the first function.

He is a god of justice. He does what is right, ensures that others do likewise, and punishes those who do not. Laws had their origins in Zeus, as did kingship (Burkert, 1985, 130). Zeus’s close connection with justice is given a concrete manifestation in the story that, hearing a prophesy that a child of his by Themis would unseat him just as he had done with his father, he swallowed her. Themis is “Law;” the word comes from the same root (*dhe- “set, place”) that dhétis does. Not only is Zeus the guardian of natural law, but the giver and enforcer of societal law; the dhétis literally lives in him. It is likely because of this that oaths are sworn by Dyé:us Pté:r, (e.g., Zeus is called to be a witness to an oath in Pindar, Pythian 4). The best-known story of Týr, the binding of Fenris wolf, tells how he lost his hand through swearing a false oath. The gods knew that the wolf needed to be bound because otherwise he would destroy the world. They made a game with him of tying the wolf up, with him breaking the bonds each time. Finally, they brought a slight cord, which had been given the magic power of being unbreakable. After having been bound with stronger ropes, he was suspicious. Týr swore that that if the wolf couldn’t break this tie he would be released, and as a pledge placed his hand in the wolf’s mouth. Of course, the bond could not be broken, the world was saved (until Ragnarok, when he will break free and play a major part in the destruction of the cosmos), and Týr lost his hand. He, the god of oaths, ironically swore a false oath to save the world, knowing that he would be punished by losing his hand. Even gods must suffer from false oaths, no matter how nobly made.

Dyé:s Pté:r’s name has “father in it.” This is the most common title of Dyaus pitar in the Rig Veda. He is not, of course, the biological father of humans (although Zeus was certainly the biological father of plenty of heroes); he rather performs the role of father. Adkins (1969, 430) points this out for Zeus, and Apollo Patroo:s (“of ancestry”) is invoked in the oath-taking of Athenian archons (Aristotle, in Rice and Stambaugh, 1979, 140; Howie, 1989, 67). Dionysos was at least once called páter. That this was also the case in Rome is shown by other deities (Mars and Janus) also being called pater (Cato, De Agricultura 134.2 f., 141.2-4; Varro, De Lingua Latina 8.33, 8.49, 9.75), as are Neptune, Saturn, Dis, and even the Tiber. In Iran, any of the male deities could be called “Father” (and any of the female ones “Mother,” for that matter) (West, 2007, 140). Agni, Brhaspati, Tvastr, and Varuna are also called “father” (West, 2007, 131). Each of them could perform the divine paternal role. Nonetheless, it belongs supremely to Dyé:s Pté:r; the other gods may each be a father, but he is the father.

Dyé:s Pté:r does not have a wife whom we can identify, although he must have at least a mate in order to be the father of the Diwós Su:nú (see below). Because he is a sky father, it may be tempting to link him with an earth mother, and indeed his Vedic version, Dyaus Pitar, is so linked. However, the Earth Mother fits more easily with another deity, Perk^wú:nos, so his wife is unfortunately unknown. Jackson (2002, p. 73), wants to identify her as Diwo:na: (*diuo:neh₂). There is a Diwija in Mycenean, but there is also a Posidaeja to match with Poseidon, so this may just be like providing Indra with an Indrani; i.e., a deity specifically created as a match, rather than one that was inherited. That both of these goddesses had their own temples supports a belief that they were seen as definite personalities, but not that they are descended from Proto-Indo-European times. Diwo:na: is just a female form of *dié:us, meaning, therefore, simply “goddess,” and therefore useless for our purpose here.

Or maybe not; it may be the solution. As chief of the gods, Dyé:s Pté:r was the counterpart of the chief of the Indo-European tribes. And just as the incoming tribes would intermarry with the local people, with the men of the patriarchal Indo-Europeans taking command over the women of the locals, so Dyé:s Pté:r would “marry” the chief local goddess, the Diwo:na:. Perhaps, then there never was a Proto-Indo-European consort of the chief god, but instead she was always the local goddess.

Perhaps, as West (2007, 192) points out, since we are dealing with mythology we shouldn’t look too hard for biological niceties. Still, although virgin mothers abound in world mythologies, virgin fathers are considerably rarer. Perhaps the “Sons of Dyé:us Pté:r” we’ll be encountering were “sons” in the same way that Dyé:us Pté:r was a father; that is, as an office, an existential relationship rather than a biological one. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

The sacred animal of Dyé:us Pté:r, that which is sacrificed to him, is the ox, power under control.

Lord of the wide and shining sky,
Guardian of the well-laid law,
Dyé:s Pté:r, preserve my people,
may their way conform to Right.

Adkins, A. W. H. Greek Religion. In Historia Religionum: Handbook for the History of Religions. ed. C. Jouco Bleeker. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1969.

Burkert, Walter. Greek Religion. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1985.

Dowden, Ken. Olympian Gods, Olympian Pantheon. In Ogden, Daniel. A Companion to Greek Religion. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010, 41-55.

Gamkrelidze, Thomas V. and Ivanov, Vjaceslav V. Indo-European and the Indo-Europeans: A Reconstruction and Historical Analysis of a Proto-Language and a Proto-Culture. tr. Johanna Nichols. New York: Mounton de Gruyter, 1995.

Howie, J. G. Greek Polytheism. Cosmos 5 (1989), 51-76.

Jackson, Peter. Light from Distant Asterisks: Towards a Description of the Indo-European Religious Heritage. Numen 49 (2002), pp. 61-101.

Rice, David G., and Stambaugh, John E. Sources for the Study of Greek Religion. Society of Biblical Literature: 1979.

West, M. L. Indo-European Poetry and Myth. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007.

Xáryomen
"Xáryomen" is one of the personalized abstractions I mentioned earlier. He is not one whose name I made up, though, being found in Ireland (Eremon), Gaul (Ariomanus), Anglo-Saxon England (Irmin), Zoroastrianism (Airyaman) and the Vedas (Aryaman). His name is formed by adding *-men, a suffix similar to the English "-hood," to a root that may mean "Indo-European" (Puhvel, 1987, p. 182). This is the root that was made famous when it was distorted by the Nazis – *arya. Its descendants include Old Irish aire, "free, noble," and Hittite ara, "member of one's own group, peer, friend" (Puhvel, 1978a, pp. 336 – 337). The Hittite meaning seems closest to its original one, with "Xáryomen" therefore meaning "The God in Charge of Our Group," specifically of doing things the way our group does them. He is the deity of "Indo-Europeanness."

Xáryomen is the partner of Dyé:us Pté:r in the first function, the legal figure according to Dumézil's classification. He could be considered an early king, who established the laws of society. This last is his defining characteristic; just as Dyé:us Pté:r rules (and is ruled by) natural law, Xáryomen rules (and is ruled) by social law, the dhétis. Together with Dyé:us Pté:r he enforces justice, and oaths are sworn by him as well. He enforces contracts. Through him, the wealth of society is circulated properly among us.

Xáryomen is a god of marriage and of healing. This at first peculiar combination of traits makes perfect sense in a Proto-Indo-European context. Marriage is a contract which ensures the continuation of the tribe in an orderly manner. It joins members of a tribe or closely related tribes into a society ruled by the dhétis. Healing is a return to the way things should be; *med-, the root of "medical," means just that, "returning to the way things should be" (Benveniste, 1973, p. 399). Xáryomen is a god of good social order, of the right way for things to be. He is therefore a god of peace and plenty, of the successful and orderly continuance of society.

For all our sons, good wives.
For all our daughters, good husbands.
For all our people, happiness and health.
in a land ruled by just law:
Xáryomen, we pray to you.

And since Dyéus Patér and Xáryomen are often linked together, here is a prayer for them both:

Dyé:us Pté:r Xáryomenk^we:
May what we do be according to the Dhétis.
May what we accomplish conform to the Xartus.

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Perk^wúnos
Perk^wú:nos Perk^wú:nos (either "Striker" or “Oak God”) is the god of thunder and lightning. As the mighty champion, he is a god of war, particularly against outside dangers and in defense of his people. As god of the thunderstorm, he is also, like Thor, Perkunas, and Mars, a patron of farmers.

Perk^wú:nos has numerous places named after him among the Balts and the Germanic peoples. Thus we have the Lithuanian villages Perku:nai, Perku:niskiai and hills, Perku:nkalnis (Gimbutas, 1973, 467), the mountain Perun in Macedonia (Gimbutas, 1973, 467), and English towns such as Thurstable and Thunderfeld (Turville-Petre, 1962, 20). In some of the descendant traditions his name comes from one of his titles, the Thunderer. Thus we have the Norse Thor (<*Thunaraz) and Celtic Taranis. Another name by which he might be know is *Koryonos, “god of the warband.”

Perk^wú:nos survived by name in Albania (Perëndi (“god,” “sky”) (Jakobson, 1972, 6)), Thrace (basically the area of modern Bulgaria) (Perkos), India (Vedic Parjanya and Kalasha Pe:ru:ne), and Anatolia (Pirwa). The name might also underlie Greek Keraunós “thunderbolt,” which appears as a title of Zeus, if that is a tabu-variant of *Peraunós (Jakobson, 1972, 6). His worship under a name descended from *Perk^wú:nos survived best among the Balts and Slavs; among the Balts, he was called Perkunas (variably, in early texts, Percunus, Percunos, Pirchunos, Perkuns, Parcuns, or Pargnus (West, 2007, 239)), and among the Slavs Perún_b (Old Russian Perunu, Belorussion Piarun, Slovak Parom). The Baltic hero was a defender of truth, protector against evil, and ensurer of fertility. He was prayed to for rain or, alternatively, to withhold damaging storms (West, 2007, 239; Gimbutas, 1973, 474).

Parjanya is sometimes the consort of Earth, and it is his rain that is the semen that fertilizes her. “Nature is born for the whole world when Parjanya quickens the earth with his seed” (RV 5.83.4; Macdonell, 1917). In the rest of this hymn, dedicated to Parjanya, he is described as “bellowing,” just as Indra is, and as accompanied by the Maruts, who are thunderstorm spirits that more commonly accompany Indra.

(It must be noted, however, that Dyaus also fertilizes the earth (RV 1.100.3, 5.17.3 181, in West, 2007, 181).) Indra has become the thunder god in the Veda, but besides his name and his rain, Parjanya is the “father of the mighty bird” (RV 9.82.3, in Hillebrandt, 1980, 227) which brought the soma, the sacred drink of which Indra is so fond.

The Balts and Slavs believed that the first thunder of spring caused plants to grow again; lightning achieves the same result (Gimbutas, 1973, 471; 1971, 165).

There is some question, however, as to whether the name of “Parjanya” belongs to this list. According to West (2007, 245), the expected outcome). in Vedic Sanskrit should be “**Parkyn(y)a. Some have suggested a combination of another “strike” root, *per-g’, and then perhaps taboo deformation to fix things. I am not competent to judge on the linguistics, but I find it difficult to believe that a name so close for a deity so close is not related somehow.

Other reflexes, ones which don’t have names like “Striker,” “Oak God,” or “Thunder,” are the Greek Herakles (“Fame of Hera”) the Irish Daghda (“Good God”). But perhaps the most famous is Indra, the Vedic champion god. His major deed is killing the great serpent Vrtra, after being fortified with the sacred drink soma. So identified with this myth that he is often called simply Vrtrahan, “killer of Vrtra.” In Iran he survived under both names, as a demon Indara, and a god, Verethragna. This is even though the dragon-slaying myth does not survive there, and there is no demon with the name Verethra, which would have been the Iranian version of Vrtra (Duschesne-Guillemin, 1969, 332-3). Mars, who threw down a bronze shield from heaven once, might belong here as well. He is also, like Thor and Lugh, an agricultural god; his connection with agriculture, which has puzzled generations of classicists can easily be explained if he was in origin a thunder god.

Both Herakles and the Daghda were armed with clubs, with Herakles also bearing a bow. Perkunas can be armed with a mace, a spear, a sword, an iron rod, arrows, or stone bullets (West. 2007, 240), and Perún with an axe or arrow (West, 2007, 242). The strely “arrow” of Perkunas is, despite its name, a piece of a meteor or a Neolithic axe (Gimbutas, 1973, 475). Stone tools, i.e., Neolithic axes and such, were used as talismans to protect homes from lightning (Gimbutas, 1973, 476).

Indra was armed with some sort of throwing club, called the vajra. It is made of copper, since it is described as “red-brown,” the Vedic term for copper (Mallory and Adams, 1997, 12), but is also sometimes called ashman “stone.”

Although a club was Herakles’ defining weapon (he is almost never shown without it), he more often fights with arrows. As well as his vájra, Indra also used arrows. In Ireland, the Daghda, in the dindshenchas of Mag Muirthemne, killed some kind of underwater monster with his “thunder-club” (lorg anfaidh; Gwynn, 1924, 4:295, translates it “mace of wrath,” but “thunder-club” is equally legitimate, and I think more likely).

The weapons of the reflexes vary, then, but they can be categorized as either clubs (Perkunas, Indra, Herakles, the Daghda) or aerial weapons (mainly thrown axes and hammers (Perkunas, Perun, Thor) but also arrows (Herakles, Perún, Perkunas, Indra; Indra’s vajra, although a club, is also thrown).

The most primitive of these weapons would be a club or axe; I believe that Perk^wú:nos’ classic weapon is the double-headed axe, either metal (bronze or the sacred metal iron) or flint. The Proto-Indo-European word for his weapon would be *wágros, from which Indra’s weapon, the vájra, draws its name. Perk^wú:nos throws his wágros, and it returns to him to be thrown again. It does not take much imagination to see in a club or an aerial weapon an image of lightning.

The myth of Perk^wú:nos slaying a great serpent is the best-reconstructed Proto-Indo-European myth. Perkunas killed the dragon Áitvaras (West, 2007, 240), Indra killed a number of serpents/demons. Herakles killed both the Hydra (Apollodorus, 2.5) and the serpent of the Hesperides, the Daghda killed a monster under the waters, Thor is in constant opposition to the Midgeard Serpent. (He will kill and be killed by him in the final battle of Ragnarok.) One of the panels of the Gundestrup cauldron, a silver-gilt work of art created in the Balkans or northeastern Italy but transported to and discovered in Gundestrup, Denmark, shows a deity holding a wheel. The wheel is a symbol of the Gaulish thunder deity, Taranis. At the bottom of the panel is a ram-headed serpent. In eastern Gaul and western Germany we find the Jupiter columns, which have on their tops Jupiter on horse back, spearing snakes, sometimes with human heads, which his horse crushes under its hooves. This may be meant to depict the fight with Typhon, a semi-serpentine monster with a hundred heads, but these columns are found only in this limited Celtic area, so they most likely represent something which was found in Celtic myth, represented in a Roman form. This myth may have survived into Christian times in the legend of St. George killing a dragon, represented in art in a form strikingly similar to that of the Jupiter columns. In Albania, there is a monster called bolla, a term otherwise used for grass snakes (which are positive figures in both the Balkans and the Baltic regions), which on St. George’s Day (April 23) opens its eyes and eats whomever it sees. It was originally defeated by St. George (who hunts in the mountains (Elsie, 2001,100)), and cursed to be only able to open its eyes on this day (Elsie, 2001, 47). The dragon kulshedra, who guards the Earthly, Sea, and Heavenly Beauties, is a form of this dragon. He is defeated by St. Elias, who kills him with thunderbolts (Elsie, 2001, 83). Her approach is accompanied by rain clouds. Churches dedicated to St. Elias are usually on hill tops (Elsie, 2001, 84). There is an altar dedicated to Perun (found at Peryn’, near Novgorod), where he is on horseback, and the Hittite Pirwa also rode a horse (Gamkrelidze and Ivanov, 1995, 474).

The dragon-slayer is often accompanied by a human helper. Thus, Indra is helped in the killing of Trisiras by Trita Aptya (RV10.8), and Herakles by Iolaus. The dragon-slayer is often accompanied by a human helper. Thus, Indra is helped in the killing of Trisiras by Trita Aptya (RV10.8), and Herakles by Iolaus. The wheel on the Gundestrup cauldron is held up by a smaller figure, almost certainly meant to be a human rather than a deity.

The serpent often has multiple heads, usually three, or is multiple is some other way. The serpent of the Hesperides had a hundred heads, the hydra had nine, Trisiras has three, the kulshedra has seven to twelve, Typhon one hundred, and Geryon had three.

The serpent is also connected with water in some way; Vrtra withholds the waters, the Midgard Serpent is wrapped around the Earth in the surrounding sea, the Hydra (“water”) lives in a swamp, the serpent of the Hesperides lives next to the ocean, the monster which the Daghda defeats is at the bottom of the sea. “Kulshedra” comes from the Greek kersúdros, “amphibious snake” (Elsie, 2001, 153) and can turn herself into an eel, a turtle, a frog, or a salamander (Elsie, 2001, 155), all water animals. She lives beneath a lake or a swamp, and rust-colored springs are believed to contain her blood, and one way she kills people is by drowning them in her milk or urine (Elsie, 2001, 155). She can cause wells to run dry, being appeased only by a human sacrifice (Elsie, 2001, 155). In Albania, the dead snakes were used in rain magic (Elsie, 2001, 215). I think we are seeing here the connection between water and Chaos, of which the serpent is a representation.

Alternatively, the serpent might be guarding either women or cows (sometimes identified with each other). The Albanian kulshedra, guarding the three Beauties, is an example of this. Geryon, killed by Herakles, guards cattle.

In European folklore, Neolithic axes, often turned up by farmers when plowing, were believed to be actual thunderbolts. This connects with a belief held of Perkunas that the first thunderstorms of spring fertilized the fields (Gimbutas, 1973, 471).

These beliefs connected with Perkunas were most likely held regarding Perk^wú:nos. This great fighter is therefore a defender of truth, a provider of fertility, and a source of protection to his followers.

Perkunas is described by Simon Grunau in the Prussian Chronicle (dating from c. 1520), as related in West, 2007, 240, as “an angry-looking middle-aged man with a fiery face and a dark crinkly beard. He spits fire, and hurls an axe or (less often) a hammer, which returns to his hand.” Perún has a tawny beard (West, 2007, 242).

The sacred animal of Perk^wú:nos is the bull, an animal of great power, rampant sexuality, and danger. The hoof beats of a running bull suggest thunder. One of the Proto-Indo-European words for "bull," *wisontos, means "the one who urinates." The combination of bellowing and urination brings to mind the god of thunderstorms.

Some of his reflexes are connected with goats. The car of Perkunas is drawn by one or more (West, 2007, 240; Gimbutas, 1973, 466), as is that of Thor. The infant Zeus, who has acquired the thunder and lightning power of Perk^wú:nos is fed with goat’s milk. I am unaware of any connection between goats and Indra, although the Indo-Iranian connection may be found in the use of goat’s milk in the preparation of the Zoroastrian haoma, which is cognate with the soma which Indra is so fond of.

It is probable that rituals in honor of Perk^wú:nos involved dancing. In Rome the Salii priest danced through the city each March in armor; one of their shields had been cast down from the sky, and the others were duplicates. Perkons himself is said to have danced (Ogibenin, 1974, 33, n. 11). Indra and the Maruts were called nrtu, “dancers” (Dumézil 1970, 211). The crying of the infant Zeus was drowned out by the Kouretes, dancing with spears and shields.

There is an ancient connection between Perk^wú:nos and Dyé:s Pté:r (Gamkrelidze and Ivanov, 1995, 694), (possibly pre-dating the rise of the social division seen in the ideology of the three functions), as gods of the stormy and of the sunny sky, respectively. This is well expressed in the comparison between their usual sacrificial victims, the unpredictable, passionate bull (the stormy sky), and the placid, rulable ox (the clear sky).

There is some question as to whether his name should be translated as “Striker” or “Oak God.” The *perk^w- in his name may be that which is the root of “percussion,” or the source of words meaning "oak," perhaps because oaks were believed to be often struck by lightning. The root has reflexes meaning “strike” in Lithuanian (perti), Slavic (prati), and Armenian (harkanem). In Latin (quercus) and Celtic (hercos), on the other hand, the meaning is “oak” and “oak forest,” respectively. Other descendants are linked with "mountain" (Gamkrelidze and Ivanov, 1995, 526-527), such as Hittite peruna and Sanskrit párvata, both meaning “mountain top” (Gimbutas, 1973, 466); this is also the case in the Gothic fairguni (Jakobson, 1972, 6).

This complex of ideas – striking, lightning, oak, and mountain – identifies Perk^wú:nos with the axis mundi. This fits with his position as defender of truth; he is the support of the universe. The oak connection also emphasizes his strength, integrity, and tenacity. The root *dreu-, from which comes English "tree" and "true," formed the root for "oak" in some languages. Perk^wú:nos is hard, even stubborn. But stubbornness in defense of truth is a virtue.

Lord of lightning, mighty warrior,
Slayer of serpents, dry earth wetter.
Perk^wúnos, lord, earth's great hero.
Perk^wúnos, lord, you I praise.

Duchesne-Guillemin, Jacques. Symbols and Values in Zoroastrianism. New York: Harper and Row, 1966.

Dumézil, Georges. Archaic Roman Religion. tr. Philip Krapp. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1970 (1966).

Elsie, Robert. A Dictionary of Albanian Religion, Mythology, and Folk Culture. London: Hurst and Company, 2001.

Friedrich, Paul. Proto-Indo-European Trees. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1970.

Gamkrelidze, Thomas V. and Ivanov, Vjaceslav V. Indo-European and the Indo-Europeans: A Reconstructionand Historical Analysis of a Proto-Language and a Proto-Culture. tr. Johanna Nichols. New York: Mounton deGruyter, 1995.

Gimbutas, Marija. Perkunas/Perun: The Thunder God of the Balts and the Slavs. Journal of Indo-Europeantudies 1:4 (Winter, 1973),466 - 478.

Gwynn, Edward (ed. and tr.). The Metrical Dindsenchas. Todd Lecture Series IX-XI (1906 - 1924).

Hillebrandt, Alfred. Vedic Mythology. tr. Sreeramula Rajeswara Sarma. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, 1980 (1929).

Jakobson, Roman. Slavic Gods and Demons. In Roman Jakobson: Selected Writings. Vol. VII: Contributions to Comparative Mythology. Studies in Linguistics and Philology. (1972). ed. Stephen Rudy. New York: Mouton Publishers, 1985. 3-11.

MacDonell, Arthur Anthony. A Vedic Reader for Students. Delhi, India: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, 1999 (1917).

Mallory, J. P., and Adams, D. Q. (ed.). Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, 1997.

Ogibenin, B. L. Baltic Evidence and the Indo-Iranian Prayer. Journal of Indo-European Studies 3:1 (Spring, 1974), 23-45.

Turville-Petre, E. O. G. Thurstable. Nine Norse Studies. London: Viking Society for Northern Research, 1972. Orig. pub. in . ed. Norman Davis and C. L. Wrenn (1962), 241 - 249.

Watkins, Calvert. How to Kill a Dragon. New York: Oxford University Press,1995.

West, M. L. Indo-European Poetry and Myth. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007.

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Diwós Sunú
The "Sons of God" are twins who are third function deities. Their worship survived among the Greeks and Romans (Castor and Pollux, called the Dioskouroi, "Zeus's boys", as well as the Theban Zethos and Amphion (Burkert, 1985, 212)), the Vedic Indians (the Asvins, also called the Na:saytas or the Divó nápa:la: “Sons of God”) and the Balts (the Dieva deli). Among the Iranians they have become a demon, Nânhaithya (Duchesne-Guillemin, 1969, 331, 333), but also may survive in the form of the linked Haurvata:t-Amereta:t.

Echoes of the twins may also have survived among the Celts, the Anglo-Saxons, and the continental Germans (see O’Brien, 1982; Ward, 1968). In Wales we have Pryderi, son of the horse goddess Rhiannon, who is born on May day (a holy day), at the same time as a horse. This horse is raised with him (Ford, 1977, 50-4). In Ireland, the hero Cú Chulainn is also born at the same time as a horse, which also is raised with him. When one form of the horse goddess Macha dies, she has just given birth to twins.

In Germanic tradition, we find the heroes Hengist and Horsa, both of whose names mean “horse” (Ó Brien, 1982, 119).

Their most important connection, then is with horses, to the point of having a name which means “horse,” or even having the form of a horse. Pindar (Olympia 3.39) describes the Dioskouroi as “having good horses;” elsewhere (Pythian 5.10), Castor is “gold-charioted.”

The Twins, like Indo-European warriors in general, are dancers. The Dioskouroi are the inventors of the war dances (Burkert, 1985, 212). They are connected with stars. The Dioskouroi are in fact called “stars” (Burkert, 1985, 213).

The Twins often appear in battle, riding on white horses (West, 2007, 483).

Although twins, they are not identical in nature. They are both associated with horses, and both are warriors, but one is more so, a god for riders, owners of horses, and warriors, especially cavalrymen. The other more peaceful, is associated with cattle. This is the case with the Asvins. Among the Greeks and Romans, the difference is in mortality; Castor, as the son of Tyndareus, is mortal, while Zeus’s direct son, Pollux, is immortal. In the Iranian pair, Haurvata:t is connected with water, and Amereta:t with plants (Dumézil, 1970, 57).

Even though they have these different function and personalities, they are invoked together. In fact, their separate names are not recoverable. As a pair, they guide mankind, especially sailors, farmers, and riders, and may be prayed to for healing, fertility, and prosperity. They are divine rescuers from all sorts of immediate crises, particularly at sea (Euhemerus 6, in Grant 1953, 76). In the second Homeric hymn to them (33), they are called “deliverers of men on earth and of swift-going ships when stormy gales rage over the ruthless sea.” They may not help you get that project done on time, but they will be there in the midst of a hurricane. They are saviors in general; a fun example is in Menandar’s The Dyskolos, where a character cries out, “Gods above, Apollo, Castor, Pollux! Heal me! – save me!” (l. 192, p. 15). They are, in sum, deities of the third function (Dumézil, 1970, 57-8).

The sea is a common connection of theirs. The Asvins drive their chariots on the sea, and the Baltic twins their sledges (Ward, 1967, 235-6). Castor and Pollux are saviors at sea. St. Elmo’s fire was considered by the Greeks to be their manifestation (Burkert, 1985, 213). The connection between horses and the sea might be relevant. Poseidon is Poseidon Hippios (Burkert, 1985, 138; Diodorus 5.69), Manawydan is the husband of the horse goddess Rhiannon, waves are horses throughout folklore, the Indic fiery horse head is hidden under the sea.

The Twins are closely related to the sun and mare goddesses (see below), and are often found in the same stories as them and related to them in some way. Thus Helen is the sister of the Dioskourio; she was perhaps originally a sun goddess; she was worshiped at Sparta, shown between her brothers (Dexter, 1984, 139, and in some sources she is the daughter of Helios (Ward, 1967, 235). The Welsh Pryderi is the son of mare goddess Rhiannon and the husband of the daughter of "Fair Shining One." The Asvins (“Horsemen”) are the husbands and/or brothers of Su:rya: duhite or Duhita: Su:ryasya (“Daughter of the Sun”) (Ward, 1967, 235; West, 2007, 227). Su:rya: rides in their chariot (e.g. RV 1.34.5). Saules Dukterys (also "Daughter of the Sun"), is, in Lithuanian folklore, wooed by her brothers the Dieva deli ("Sons of God"), who accompany her through the sky. Castor and Pollux also accompany the sun, and in some versions of their myth are the sons of a mare goddess. The two most common relationships are that either the three are siblings or the Twins are the suitors or husbands of the goddess. Of course, we are dealing with deities here, so these are not mutually exclusive.

They may also, but less commonly, be connected with the dawn goddess. The Asvins follow Usas (RV 8.5.2), and she is born when they yoke their chariot (RV 10.39.12) (Macdonell,1974, 50), or she wakens them (RV 8.9) (Macdonell, 1974, 48). They are gods of the dawn (Aitareya Bra:hmana 2.15; Macdonell, 1974, 51).

Whichever goddess they are associated with, they sometimes serve as her rescuer. They perform this function in the Greek, Baltic, and Indian traditions (Grottanelli, 1986, 126). Castor and Pollux rescued Helen when she had been kidnapped by Theseus son of Aegeus and Pirithous son of Ixion (Hyginus, 79). Grottanelli suggests, however, that the goddess is their superior, in part because of the two to one relationship.

Another connection is with swans. The sister of Hengist and Horsa is Swana; the Norse Swanhild is the sister of two brothers (Ó Brien, 1982, 119-20); Helen and Castor and Pollux are born from a swan’s egg after Leda has been impregnated by Zeus in a swan form (Hyginus, 77). I have to wonder if the connection is because swans are the largest water bird, and the twins are connected with water.

They are so connected with horses that one or both might appear in horse form. Such is the case in with Pryderi and Cú Chulainn. The Baltic Twins appear as horses, pulling the chariot of the sun (Ó Brien, 1982, 118), while the Theban twins are called "The White Colts of Zeus” (Ward, 1968,12). And Asvins means “Horsemen.”

The father of the Twins may be Dyéus Ptér, as for instance among the Greeks, where Castor and Pollux are the sons of Zeus, or the Balts, where they are the sons of Dievas. The Asvins are sometimes the sons of Dyaus Pitar, although sometimes only one is. Their fatherhood by Dyéus Ptér is only found in the easternmost families (Greek, Baltic, and Indo-Iranian), so it may not have been a common Indo-European belief. Nevertheless, Pryderi is fostered by Teyrnon, whose name means “Lord;” with such a name it is possible that he is a reflex of Dyéus Ptér (although it must be pointed out that Ford, in the notes to his translation of The Mabinogi (1977, 12) suggests instead that he is a sea god). Pryderi is later the foster son of Manawydan uab Llyr, the Welsh version of the Irish Manannán mac Lir, “Son of the Sea.”

They are connected strongly with third function values; Dumézil (1970, 31) calls them, along with Sarasvati, “the canonical deities of the third function – the function of health, fecundity, and abundance.”

When described physically, the Twins are always youthful. The Asvins are described as bedecked with gold (RV 8.8.2), and Pryderi, when he was fostered with Teyrnon, was named Gwri, “Golden Hair” (Ford, 1977, 53). This is not a rare attribute for a deity, however, and may not be significant.

The classic treatment of the Twins is by Donald Ward (1968).

Riding on your well-matched steeds,
Come to me, Diwós Sunú.
Come with your blessings for house and land.
Come with your blessings for men and cattle.

Burkert, Walter. Greek Religion. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1985.

Dexter, Miriam Robbins. Proto-Indo-European Sun Maidens and Gods of the Moon. Mankind Quarterly 25:1 & 2 (Fall/Winter, 1984), 137-144.

Duchesne-Guillemin, Jacques. The Religion of Ancient Iran. In Historia Religionum: Handbook for the History of Religions. ed. C. Jouco Bleeker. Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1969.

Dumézil, Georges. The Destiny of the Warrior. tr. Alf Hiltebeitel. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1970 (1969).

Ford, Patrick K. (ed. and tr.) The Mabinogi and Other Medieval Welsh Tales. tr. and ed. Patrick K. Ford. Berkeley, CA: University ofCalifornia Press, 1977.

Grant, Frederick C. (ed.) Hellenistic Religions: The Age of Syncretism. New York: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, 1953.

Grottanelli, Christiano. Yoked Horses, Twins, and the Powerful Lady: India, Greece, Ireland, and Elsewhere.Journal of Indo-European Studies 14: 1 - 2 (Spring/Summer, 1986), pp. 125 - 152.

Hesiod, Homeric Hymns, Epic Cycle, Homerica. tr. Hugh G. Evelyn-White. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1936.

Keith, Arthur Berriedale. The Aitareya and Kaustakin Brahmanas of the Rigveda. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1998 (1920).

Macdonell, Arthur Anthony. A Vedic Reader for Students. Delhi, India: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, 1999 (1917).

O’Brien, Steven. Dioscuric Elements in Celtic and Germanic Mythology. Journal of Indo-European Studies 10:1 & 2 (Spring/Summer, 1982), 117-136.

Pindar. The Complete Odes. tr. Anthony Verity. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007.

Ward, Donald. Solar Mythology and Baltic Folksongs. In Folklore International: Essays in Traditional Literature, Belief, and Custom in Honor of Wayland Debs Hand. ed. D. K. Wilgus. Hatboro, PN: Folklore Associates, 1967, 233-42.

West, M. L. Indo-European Poetry and Myth. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007.

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Xák^wo:m Népo:t
"Close Relative of the Waters" (sometimes called just "Neptonos") guards a well which contains a fiery liquid. (*Xak^wom Népot (*H2ékwom népot) is Jackson, 2002, p. 82; Edgar Polomé and J. P. Mallory (in Mallory and Adams, 1997, p. 203, suggest Apom nepots (*h2epom nepots).) This liquid grants rule, wisdom, inspiration, or prosperity to those who drink it. There's a catch, though. (There always is.) Those who wish to drink from the well must deserve the well's gifts. They cannot have any moral flaws, and they must approach the well in the appropriate ritual manner. In other words, the gifts of the well are available only to the virtuous.

In the myths of the well some sort of disaster arises that demonstrates this. In Ireland, the reflex is Nechtan, whose well contained a fiery liquid which only he or his three cupbearers could draw. His wife, Boand, committed adultery with the Daghda, and to purify herself (or to prove her innocence in another version of the tale) went to take water from the well. She went about it counterclockwise (the wrong direction to circle Irish holy wells) three times, and each time the well overflowed, destroying in turn an eye, a hand, and a thigh. This trifunctional destruction was completed when the last eruption chased Boand to the coast, drowning her and forming the river Boyne.

The Roman version is in the form of history. This is typical; before their contact with Greece, they had turned much of their myth into history. In the 4th century BCE, during the feast of Neptune, the Alban lake, fed by a spring and enclosed within an extinct volcano, overflowed. The oracles said the lake was offended because improperly created magistrates were conducting rituals. Once again there is a spring-fed body of water, associated with fire and a water god, offended by a breach in sacred law.

The Greek god Poseidon, equated with Neptune by the Romans, had a holy salt-well in Mantinea. Anyone unauthorized who looked into it would be blinded.

The Zoroastrian Apam Napat was the guardian of a sacred lake in which the Xvarenah, the glory of God and the source of sovereignty, was stored. Frangasyan tried to lay claim to it because that would have given him the kingship. He was not, however, qualified to be king, so although he tried three times, each time the water escaped him. Finally, both Xvarenah and water flowed out through three channels and surrounded the earth (Littleton, 1973, p. 425). These waters are personified as female spirits. This lake may have been what is spoken of in Yasna 10.4, where a well that is the source of Truth is described.

In India the Son of the Waters is so closely related with fire that he was even addressed as “Agni.” His liquid nature was not forgotten, though; he is also connected with Soma, the god of the sacred drink of the same name.

The waters of which Xák^wo:m Népo:t is both guardian and relative are the source of all that is good in all three functions plus the transfunctional sovereignty. It makes sense, then, that he doesn't fit into any single function. His well is the one at the world's center. "Relative" does not necessarily mean in a genetic sense; it is likely to have meant "connected in a very close way" or "dweller in." The waters themselves appear sometimes as cows (prosperity) and sometimes as young women (such as Nechtan's cupbearers).

With such widespread survival of his name and myths, Xák^wo:m Népo:t was clearly an important figure to the Proto-Indo-Europeans. The "Fire in Water" theme is one of the mysteries of Indo-European myth and religion. It will be discussed in depth in chapter 16. For now it is important to note that Xák^wo:m Népo:t provides immense power, but only to those who approach him in a morally pure state and with the proper ritual.

It’s worth remembering that even though Neptune was identified with the Romans as a god of the sea, that was not his original function, nor is it a function of Xák^wo:m Népo:t. The Proto-Indo-Europeans did not, so far as we can tell, have a god of the sea.

Keeper of the flaming water
Lord of Power, Lord of Truth:
Keep us pure and strong and holy,
Make us fit to drink from the well.

Findly, Ellison Banks. The "Child of the Waters": A Reevaluation of Vedic Apam Napat. Numen 26:2 (1979), pp.164 - 183.

Ford, Patrick K. The Well of Nechtain and "La Gloire Lumineuse." In Myth in Indo-European Antiquity. Ed.Gerald James Larson. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1974.

Littleton, C. Scott. Poseidon as a Reflex of the Indo-European "Source of the Waters" God. Journal of Indo-European Studies 1:4 (Winter, 1973), pp. 425 - 440.

Puhvel, Jaan. Aquam Extinguere. Journal of Indo-European Studies 1:3 (Fall, 1973), pp. 379 - 386.

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Yemós and Mannus
Yemós ("Twin") and Mannus ("Man") are another set of twins found throughout the Indo-European world, in myths from the Germanic peoples (Norse Ymir, and German Tuisto and Mannus), as well as from the Celts (the Irish Donn) and the Romans (Romulus and Remus). Yemós really comes into his own in the Indo-Iranian area, where as Yama/Yima he is the god of the land of the dead.

These deities are bound up in the origin of the Cosmos. In the primordial time, Mannus sacrificed Yemós and formed the world from his body. (See chapter 6 for this myth in complete form.) Mannus was therefore the first priest, and Yemós the first to die. Yemós (or his soul) went to the land of death and became its ruler. In so doing, he established the pathway to death.

These twins didn't just establish the Cosmos and then go away. After their deaths they were both deified, although Yemós is definitely "more divine" than Mannus, a first among equals. Yemós gets into the very structure of the world, while Mannus stays behind and starts history rolling.

Although they are twins, then, they are not the same in either rank or function. Of the two, Yemós is higher; his name describes both of them. He is the twin. He is the first king, succeeded by his brother.

The most important aspect of Yemós is as god of death. He may be prayed to by those about to die, or on behalf of those who have just died.

As the offerer of the first sacrifice, Mannus is the first priest. He treats his brother as if he were a sacrificial bull. This may explain why the Irish Donn, first to die in the invasion of Ireland and lord of a land of the dead, shares his name with the great bull of Cuailnge whose story is told in the Irish epic The Táin Bó Cuailnge.

Yemós and Mannus, king and priest,
Sacrificed and sacrificer,
I pray to you.
May the path be clear to the land of the dead.
May the funeral rites be properly performed.

Lincoln, Bruce. The Indo-European Myth of Creation. History of Religions 15:2 (1975), pp. 121 - 145.

--The Lord of the Dead. History of Religions 20:2 (Nov.,1980b), pp. 224 - 241.

Plutarch. Plutarch's Lives. tr. Bernadotte Perrin. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1914.

The Tain: Translated from the Irish Epic Táin Bó Cuailnge. tr. Thomas Kinsella. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 1969.

Ward, Donald. The Divine Twins: An Indo-European Myth in Germanic Tradition. Berkeley, CA: Universityof California Press, 1968.

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Páxuson
"The Nourisher" has a famous descendant - Pan. Páxuson is also the source of the Vedic Pushan, god of herdsand roads, and may have a functional cognate in the Gaulish Cernunnos (Fickett-Wilbar, 2000). (If not, he isprobably not Proto-Indo-European at all, but merely a Greek-Indic isogloss.) Originally probably a god ofherds, from the location of the pastures outside the homestead and the nature of the herds as between properly domestic and wild he early became a god of bidirectionality. He is the one who stands between. He guardstravelers, merchants, and other go-betweens. He guards herds, source of wealth, as well. He may thus beprayed to both as an opener of the ways and as a giver of prosperity. He is also, however, the psychopomp,the deity who guides the souls of the dead on their way. As such he is prayed to in the funeral ritual.

Páxuson, guardian of the borders,
Open up the gate
and let our prayers through.
Bless all our beginnings
so our acts may be done rightly.

Fickett-Wilbar, David. Cernunnos: Iconography and Ideology. Paper presented at the UCLA 22nd AnnualCeltic Conference, March 16 - 19, 2000.

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Ménot
"The Moon" - yes, the Indo-European moon is male, as shown by the gender of the word in Celtic and Germanic. The female moon seems to have been an eastern Mediterranean invention. The Man in the Moon is a good Indo-European figure. "Ménot" may also mean "Measurer" (Lincoln, 1986, p. 8); the moon measures the sky in space, while measuring out time as well.

Shining Wheel turning, rolling through the night,
Continue to measure the far-flung sky.
Continue to measure the days' steady passing,
Continue to measure with the Xártus in mind.

Dexter, Miriam Robbins. Proto-Indo-European Sun Maidens and Gods of the Moon. Mankind Quarterly 25:1 & 2 (Fall/Winter, 1984), pp. 137 - 144.

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PIE Goddesses (An Overview)

While gods can generally be assigned to specific roles and Dumézilian functions (with some fuzziness, of course), the goddesses are more difficult to pin down. This is due in part to the patriarchal nature of Proto-Indo-European society. Most goddesses were less important than the gods.

What is more interesting is that some goddesses are more important than the gods. This is because while men were associated with doing things (the three functions), women were associated with being things. They are associated with natural phenomena, locations, weather conditions, times, etc., rather than with roles. Because many of the goddesses were associated with locations, the Indo-Europeans left many of them behind as they migrated, replacing them with the goddesses of the new lands. The gods came with the Indo-Europeans because they could. The goddesses stayed behind because they had to. The land couldn't move with the Indo-Europeans, and the land's goddesses stayed with it.

What made some of the goddesses so important is that proper worship of the new goddesses validated the Indo-European possession of the land. The Indo-Europeans knew that without the approval of these goddesses they had no business being in their new lands. Such approval was approval by the land itself. This belief was repeated in the home life, where the hearth fire was a goddess, and it was the establishment of a hearth fire that made possession of the house legal.

The Indo-Europeans did, however, pour the new goddesses into the Indo-European mold. Thus, although we can’t always be sure of the original Indo-European goddesses, their shapes have been left behind in the descendant traditions. This means that we can make some good guesses as to what those goddesses must have been like.

Because of the adoption of local goddesses by the early Indo-Europeans, it is most proper for Indo-European worshipers to learn the goddesses associated with the land in which they live, and to worship them in the manner preferred by those goddesses. This is the Indo-European way.

There are some Proto-Indo-European goddesses that did survive. Two are astronomical goddesses - locations that are accessible from everywhere. One is a portable location. Two are not so much particular goddesses as categories into which local goddesses can fit, and two are with us no matter where we go. One is a very special case.

Functionally speaking goddesses tend to fall into one of three categories. They may belong to no function at all, they may fall into the third function, or they may be trifunctional.

Trifunctional goddesses may in turn be classified as Cow Goddesses and Mare Goddesses. A cow goddess is maternal, safe, and protecting. Her sexuality is at the service of the tribe. A Celtic example is Brighid. She is the patron of poets (first function), smiths (second function), and healers (third function). She is attended by a white cow with red ears, and is given offerings of dairy products. In her Christian form, St. Brighid, called the foster mother of Christ, her maternal aspect is clear.

The mare goddesses are more dangerous. Because of this, they tend to be harder to identify, their stories having been toned down by Christian recorders, or even by their own worshipers. An Irish example of her would be Medb. She practices magic (first function), leads an army (second), and is sexually promiscuous (third). It is this latter that is frequently emphasized. Mare goddesses usually have many mates, and are not faithful to any of them. This is a goddess whose sexuality is in service only to herself. She is great, but she is dangerous.

While the mare goddess may seem to be more appealing to moderns than the cow goddess (macho goddesses are in), the ancients were quite clear that she was not someone to be trifled with. Medb sends most of her lovers to their deaths in battle against Cú Chulainn, for instance. The ancients by far preferred cow goddesses; this is only to be expected, since they were more concerned with the survival of the tribe than the sexuality of the individual.

O’Flaherty, Wendy Doniger. Sacred Cows and Profane Mares in Indian Mythology. History of Religions 19 (1979-1980), pp. 1 - 25.

-- Women, Androgynes, and Other Mythical Beasts. Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1980.

Robbins, Miriam. Indo-European Female Figures. Dissertation, UCLA, 1978. Ann Arbor, MI: University Microfilms International.

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Hekwona
“Horse Goddess.” Another possible name would be Medhuna “Intoxicator” (“Goddess of Mead”). This is a fairly well-reconstructed name found in Ireland (Medb), Gaul (Meduna) and India (Ma:dhavi:).

Hekwona is the goddess who provides sovereignty through mating with the one who would be king. If refused or mistreated, though, she can be vicious in her reprisals. The Irish Cú Chulainn, having rejected the mare goddess Morrígain, was sent to his death. Even not refusing her can be no treat, since she often appears in the form of a hag who demands sex. Those who give her what she wants are delighted when afterwards she turns into a beautiful women who gives them the kingship. In the story of Niall of the Nine Hostages, the hag he encounters is described in horsy terms, her hair like a mane.

Gerald of Wales (102) describes a ritual involving this goddess. According to him, in northern Ireland a king was inaugurated by having intercourse with a mare. The mare was then killed and cooked. The king bathed himself in her broth and drank it without using his hands. There are parallels with the Vedic Ashvamedha, a horse sacrifice performed to make a king a universal sovereign. "Ashvamedha" is cognate with the name of a prince, Epomeduos, found in a Gaulish inscription" (Puhvel, 1955).

As well as being the granter of sovereignty, Hekwona is an erotic goddess. She gives sex on her own terms, granting power and inspiration in return.

A figure who preserves the characteristics of Hekwona is the Indian Ma:dhavi: (from *medhu-), whose story is found in the Maha:bharata. There was a rule in India that after “graduating” from his training, a disciple was to offer a gift to his teacher. When Ga:lava asked his teacher Vishvamitra what he wanted, the teacher asked for eight hundred horses, each white but with one black ear. In despair over where to find so many of such a rare kind of horse, Ga:lava asks advice from Yaya:ti. He doesn’t have the horses, but he gives her his daughter Ma:dhavi:. Ga:lava brings her to a king named Ayodhya, who has such horses. He offers the king Ma:dhavi:, but Ayodhya has only 200 of the horses. Ma:dhavi: then pipes up and says that she has the magic power of restoring her virginity, which means that she can bear this king a son, but still be qualified to marry other kings. The deal is made, and after a son is born Ga:lava and Ma:dhavi: make the same deal with two other kings. Now with 600 horses, Ga:lava is appalled to learn that that is all there are. He returns to Vishvamitra, and offers Ma:dhavi: to him as a substitute for the missing horses (we have, after all, already learned that she is equivalent to 200 of them), for his own conception of a son. Vishvamitra replies that if only Ga:lava had brought her to him in the first place, he would have engendered four sons, and they would have been even. Ma:dhavi: is returned to Yaya:ti, who gives her the choice of a final husband. Turning down the hundreds, perhaps thousands, of men, sages, spirits, and even animals, who present themselves to her, she chooses instead to “marry” the forest, and disappears into it to live as a sage (Dumézil, 1973, pp. 70-78).

Even with the elements inserted by later patriarchal society, the identity of Ma:dhavi: as a horse goddess shines through. Although Ga:lava comes up with the idea of trading her for the horses, it’s she who suggests only giving the first king a son, and then regaining her virginity so she can do this more times. As well as showing that she has control over her own sexuality (no matter how limited is the degree to which society can allow her this), her serial marriages are, for Hindu society, downright promiscuous. Add in the facts that not only is she the equal of 800 rare horses, but that she is, through bearing kings, the founder of royal dynasties, and then topping this with the source of her name in *medhu-, and we have clear reflex of Hekwona.

The sequential matings are also found in the Irish Medb (also < *medhu-), a wife and mother of kings, who never had a man without another in his shadow. The Irish story of the “Cattle Raid of Cooley” (Táin Bó Cuailnge) tells of a war she starts a war to gain an especially fine bull. Her nemesis in this war is Cú Chulainn, whom we have already seen having troubles with a mare goddess. At the end of this war, one of her men complains that they’d lost the war because they had followed a mare. We are also told that wherever she plants a horse goad, a bile grew. A bile was a sacred tree which mythically symbolized a territory and the right of its king to rule, and ritually a common spot for inauguration rituals. That we have here a goddess who isn’t just Irish, but pan-Celtic is shown by the Meduna in Gaul, about whom we would dearly love to know more.

Hekwona is not exactly a one-man woman, then. She is partial to warriors, whom she makes into kings. On a divine level, her natural mates are the warrior Perk^wú:nos, with whom she conceived the Twins in some versions of the myth, or the kingly lawgiver Dyé:us Pté:r, the father of the Twins in others, or, of course, both.

The Mare Goddess has both benevolent and malevolent sides. In her malevolent aspect, she is a bitch goddess, in both senses of the word. There is, for instance, the Irish Morrígain, with her love/hate relationship with Cú Chulainn ("Hound of Culann").

Her malevolent side is due to the untamed nature of her sexuality. Sexual force is dangerous, both to individuals and to society, if it is not channeled into constructive outlets. With the Mare Goddess we are dealing with pure power, which is beyond our ability to control. It is only by playing according to her rules that her power can be harnessed.

Hekwona overlaps the sun goddess Sawelyosyo Dhukté:r somewhat to the point that in some of the later descendant traditions they have become identified with each other. Sawelyosyo Dhugté:r is connected with horses(especially through the Diwós Su:nú), and Hekwona is described with solarimagery. Hekwona is particularly solar in her power and the danger of approaching her. In Proto-Indo-European times, they seem to have been different goddesses, though.

Horse goddesses are often accompanied by or in some other way associated with birds. The Welsh horse goddess Rhiannon had birds which could wake the dead and lull the living to sleep (“Culhwch and Olwen,” The Mabinogi, p. 139); she also have a bad relationship with horses, since she has puppies' blood smeared on her face by her maids so they can accuse her of eating her son. The Dioscuri and Helen of Troy were conceived when Zeus raped Leda in the form of a swan; she then gives birth to an egg from which her children hatch.

Although primarily connected with sex separated from motherhood, Hekwona’s descendants nonetheless sometimes do have children. When she does become a mother, she is a dark one. She may conceive through rape, as with Leda, or she may destroy her children, as Rhiannon was accused of doing, or simply abandon them, as Ma:dhavi: did.

She may also have conceived through rape. Demeter of Phigalis was lusted after by Poseidon. To escape him, she changed herself into a mare and ran away. He changed himself into a stallion, followed her, and raped her. Because of her rage over this she was given the name "Fury." The Hindu Samjña: left her husband the sun, leaving behind a double. When her husband eventually figured things out, he went after her. She turned herself into the form of a horse and ran, but he caught up with her and ejaculated into her mouth. She vomited the semen out through her nose, giving birth to the Ashvins who, as we have already seen, are forms of the divine twins, associated with horses.

It is common to interpret such myths as a reflection of the conquest of goddess worshiping peoples by the Indo-Europeans. The goddess worship aspect of the pre-Indo-Europeans has been greatly exaggerated, though, and there are other myths in which the pre-Indo-European goddesses are assimilated peacefully. Perhaps the rape versions arose in areas where the Indo-European migrations were particularly violent, or were invented later to support patriarchal institutions. The story of Ma:dhavi: makes me think that it was the latter;in her story we see a transition from a woman who chooses her own husband to one who is treated as property to be traded for horses.

Whatever the reason for it, the rape myth adds emphasis to Hekwona’s insistence that sex will always be on her terms, making her a deity to pray to for defending against or punishing sexual abuse of any kind. "Never again" might be her motto.

The Demeter/Poseidon connection illustrates another association, with the sea. Waves are called "horses" throughout Europe, the Irish Macha is daughter of "Nature of the Sea," and Rhiannon is married to Manawydan, the Welsh version of the Irish sea god Manannan. India, as usual, has developed the connection into a complex image, involving a fiery mare that must be kept submerged lest she destroy the world. Eventually, she will do just that.

Because of her immense power and ambiguity of motivation, Hekwona is not a "fun" goddess, and is not one to be lightly approached. Her approval is vital in inauguration rituals, but in general she is better propitiated than invoked.

Hekwona, great and powerful,
Wielder of power great and dangerous,
Giver of gifts, giver of kingship,
Provide the power to protect the just.

Dexter, Miriam Robbins. The Hippomorphic Goddess and her Offspring. Journal of Indo-European Studies 18:3-4 Fall/Winter, 1990), pp. 285 - 307.

Dumézil, Georges. The Destiny of a King. tr. Alf Hiltebeitel. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1973.

Gerald of Wales (Giraldus Cambrensis). The History and Topography of Ireland. tr. John O'Meara.Harmondsworth, UK: Penguin Books, 1982 (1951).

Grottaneli, Christiano. Yoked Horses, Twins, and the Powerful Lady: India, Greece, Ireland, and Elsewhere. Journal of Indo-European Studies 14: 1 - 2 (Spring/Summer, 1975), pp. 125 - 152.

Herbert, Maire. Goddess and King: The Sacred Marriage in Early Ireland. Cosmos 7 (1992), pp. 264 - 275.

The Mabinogi and Other Medieval Welsh Tales. tr. and ed. Patrick K. Ford. Berkeley, CA: University ofCalifornia Press, 1977.

O Maille, Tomas. Medb Cruachna. Zeitschrift für Celtische Philologie 17 (1978), pp. 129 - 146.

Puhvel, Jaan. Vedic Asvamedha- and Gaulish IIPOMIIDVOS. Language 31:2 (1955), pp. 353 - 354.

--Aspects of Equine Functionality. In Myth and Law Among the Indo-Europeans. ed. Jaan Puhvel. Berkeley,CA: University of California Press, 1970.

--Comparative Mythology. Baltimore, Maryland: Johns Hopkins Press, 1987.

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G^wouwinda
It should come as no surprise that the Proto-Indo-Europeans, herders of cattle, should have a cow deity. Her name means either “White Cow” or “She Who Provides Cows” (Campanile, 1985).

The Cow Goddess is a completely benevolent character. Like the Mare Goddess, she is a highly important deity; unlike her, her sexuality is dedicated to the maintenance of the social order. She is wife and mother, and directs her sexual energy in those directions. She grants the wishes of her worshipers; in the Irish, Norse, Iranian, and Indian cultures there are stories of magic cows that grant wishes.

Cow goddesses are scattered throughout the Indo-European world. Perhaps the most famous is "cow-eyed Hera," from Greece. A mother of many of the gods (Hephaestus and Ares parthenogenically), she is called the origin of all by Alcaeus of Mythilene. Her Roman equivalent, Juno, is also honored as a mother. In a trifunctional form, Juno Savior Mother Queen, she was invoked by women about to give birth.

An interesting link between the horse and cow goddesses appears in Greece. Poseidon seduces Melanippe ("Black Mare"). She gives birth to twins. Following her mare nature, she exposes them on a mountain, where they are found by a cow, who raises them. This is a good illustration of the difference between a horse and a cow goddess.

It is at the ends of the Indo-European world, where the old cattle herding days were preserved the longest, that the best examples are found. Ireland, land of cattle raids, gives us Boand and Brighid. We have heard Boand’s story already; how she committed adultery with the Daghda and was destroyed by a fiery liquid, creating the river Boyne in the process. The pairing with the Daghda pairs her also with his other mistress, the Morrígain. In this myth we see a cow goddess acting like a horse goddess and being punished for it. It is from Boand's name (and Vedic govinda- (RV 9.96.19, cited in Campanile, 1985, p. 478) that we can reconstruct the name *G^wouwinda.

The fire and water mixture appears with Brighid as well. Primarily a hearth goddess, she will be dealt with in full later. For now though, her cow connections are important. She travels with a white, red-eared cow. She causes cows to give milk three times a day. Offerings of milk are set out for her. Although a virgin, she serves, in later Gaelic folklore, as the foster mother of Jesus. Her water connection comes through in the many healing wells associated with her.

At the other end of the Indo-European world, India gives us an embarrassment of cow goddesses. The most striking is Sarasvati, goddess of a sacred river whose actual geographical identity has been unfortunately forgotten. Perhaps it doesn't really matter; her river comes from heavenly sources.

There is much maternal and cow imagery about Sarasvati. She is prayed to for children (RV 2.4.17), she pours forth milk and ghee (a form of clarified butter) (RV 1.164.49), she is prayed to for a safe pregnancy (RV 10.184.2). Throughout the Rig Veda, waters are described as cows. Sarasvati is portrayed as white, dressed in white garments, like a sacred cow. In most descriptions, she is calm and peaceful, although she can show a dangerous side if necessary to protect her worshipers.

Sarasvati is trifunctional; a goddess of purity who inspires speech, a consort of heroes, and a giver of gifts, fertility, and healing. She causes the success of all prayers (RV 6.3.8), defeats enemies (RV 6.61.7), and is the best of mothers (RV 2.41.16).

Another Vedic cow goddess is Danu. She will be discussed in greater depth later. For now it is enough that she is described as laying down with her son like a cow with her calf (RV 1.32.9).

In the nearby Iranian field we find Aredvi Sura Anahita - “Moist, Heroic, Immaculate” - clearly a trifunctional goddess. I am not aware of any specifically bovine features of hers, but otherwise she fits this slot well.

Although connected with all three functions, G^wouwinda operates mainly in the third (giver of fertility, prosperity, and healing). She is associated with purity, including sexual purity. This led to the magnitude of Boand's transgression. G^wouwinda is, in fact, the image of the perfect wife and mother, loyal to both husband and children.

There are enough cow goddesses to raise doubt that there was one Proto-Indo-European cow goddess. It is quite likely that the cow goddess is a classification rather than an individual deity. Even if this is so, however, she may be treated as an individual goddess by the principle of the deification of abstractions.

Pray to G^wouwinda for protection and for blessings, then. Approach her as you would a beneficent mother. Ask her to pour out her blessings.

Mother of Cows, Mother of People,
whose stream of blessings is everflowing,
whose shining body delights the eyes,
whose holy purity blesses all:
Praise to you, honor to you, love to you.

Campanile, Enrico. Old Irish Boand. Journal of Indo-European Studies 13:3 & 4Fall/Winter, 1985), pp. 477 - 479.

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Xausós
"Rising," the goddess of the dawn, the source of the Greek Eos, Roman Aurora, Vedic Ushas, Baltic Aushrine, and Germanic Eostre. She is the most confidently reconstructed of the Proto-Indo-European goddesses, both by name and by function. This is no surprise; dawn, after all, travels with the tribe. Although a beautiful maiden, Xausós is not all sweetness and light. Dawn is ambivalent. It is neither night nor day. The dark has been safely navigated, but the light is not yet here. And it might not come. Xausós is the keeper of the gates of dawn. Will she open them? There is always the chance that she might not. And even when she does come, her gift is ambivalent. Each day brings us closer to death. Xausós is therefore a goddess to be propitiated rather than befriended.

Even with the ambiguity, Xausós is an upholder of order, of the Xártus. The sun does rise, and as long as we continue our own proper behavior it will continue to do so.

The ambiguity has another source. Dawn is a threshold, neither night nor day. Such transition points don't fit into the structure beloved by Indo-Europeans, so they share in both the promise and danger of Chaos. As a result, dawn rituals express some hopeful thinking and try to work a little magic. Through them it will be the promise we get, not the danger.

Xawsós is connected with birch trees. The birch is, after all, one of the first trees to reawaken in the spring, and thus an apt symbol for a dawn and spring goddess. (There may be another reason; "birch" may be connected with a root meaning "to shine" (Friedrich, 1970, p. 27).)

Shining and young, she appears on the horizon.
Baring her breasts, she spreads her light.
With singing maidens, with streaming cows,
she dances over the earth disk's edge.
You who precede the shining wheel,
perform great deeds according to the Xártus.
Friedrich, Paul. Proto-Indo-European Trees. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1970.

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Sawelyosyo Dhukhter
"Daughter of the Sun” - and yes, the figure connected with the Indo-European sun is female. She is not necessarily the sun herself, though, but rather the daughter of the sun as a symbol of Dyéus Patér, or a maiden who conducts the sun through the sky. Her name has survived as Greek Helen, Vedic Surya, Baltic and Saules meita.

Sawelyosyo Dhughter is the sister of the Twins, although in some of the descendant traditions she has merged with Hekwona and become their mother. The merge may have occurred because Sawelyosyo Dhukhter is closely connected with horses. This forms part of her link with the Twins. It is most likely to be seen as describing the sun as either a horse in itself, carried on the back of a horse, or pulled in a chariot by a horse (or by two, who are the Twins).

As well as the Twins' sister, she is the wife or lover of one or both of them. Thus in Wales we have Cigfa, daughter of "Fair Shining One," married to Pryderi (who was twinned with a horse),the Vedic Asvins as the husbands of Surya, and the Baltic Saules Meita being wooed by the Sons of Dievas.

A phrase *suens kwekwlos, "wheel of the sun," is reconstructible from Sanskrit, Germanic, Celtic, and Slavic (Gamkrelidze and Ivanov, 1995, p. 624). The symbol of the sun is a circle, usually with rays, and sometimes with an equal-armed cross inside it. This was commonly put in graves (Jones-Bley, 1993, p. 432). Maybe it represented a hope that as the sun emerged from darkness so would the dead person. This does not necessarily imply a belief in reincarnation, since the rebirth could have been in the land of the dead, but it does show that Sawelyosyo Dhukhter was a helper to the dead.

Bright One, who shines in the midst of the dark,
Helper of those on life's final journey:
Watch over those who give you worship.

Dexter, Miriam Robbins. Proto-Indo-European Sun Maidens and Gods of the Moon. Mankind Quarterly 25:1 & 2 (Fall/Winter, ,1984), pp. 137 - 144.

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Donu
Donu is the special case. According to Miriam Robbins Dexter (1990b), she seems to be a non-Indo-European river and earth goddess who was adopted at an early stage of Proto-Indo-European religion. This makes her Proto-Indo-European enough for our purposes, though. She is found throughout the Indo-European domains, from the Irish goddess Danu to the Vedic Danu to the Danube, Don, Dniester, Donets, and Dniepr rivers. The Greeks were called the Danaans, and the Danes are descended from Dana. She is not found among the Hittites, which may be evidence that she is late Proto-Indo-European, but even to the Hittites the deities of rivers and springs were female.

As a river goddess, Donu is the giver of fertility to the land. "Donu" may have been carried along with the Indo-Europeans as a title rather than a personality, being applied to a river or earth goddess in each new land. She may be worshiped effectively at local rivers, especially the major river in a watershed, and especially at that river's source. The local goddess may be worshiped under her own name, or called "Donu," or even "the Donu" as a title or name. Or she may be called by a combination of names; the Charles river here in Massachusetts, called Quinobequin by the Indians, may be the abode of Donu Quinobequin.

Pure stream, water clearly flowing,
source of life and source of power,
Donu, queen of land extending,
lady of both earth and river:
Here for you this sweet libation,
Here for you our glad oblation,
Back to you our gift is flowing.

Dexter, Miriam Robbins. Reflections on the Goddess *Donu. Mankind Quarterly 31:1 & 2 (Fall/Winter, 1990), pp. 45 - 57

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Westya
"She of the Household" (from *wes-, "to dwell" with an extension *-t- and the feminine ending *-ya), or perhaps “Burning One,” (from *H1eus-) is the goddess of the hearth. She is the very basis of the family, its sacred source. The hearth fire is the heart of the house.

Westya is the least personified of the Proto-Indo-European deities, being actually present in the flame on the hearth and therefore having little need of personification. In Rome, statues of Vesta were rare and late, and the Greek Hestia had no myths told about her. The identification with the flame resulted in her being given titles that referred to the fire: the Scythian Tabiti, "The Warming One;" Baltic Gabija, "Little Fire." Because of this, we don't know her Proto-Indo-European name. I have constructed "Westya" from the same root as "Vesta." Alternate names are "Páurnoya" (*páur-, "fire" + *-no-, a deity name suffix + *-ya) or "Demespotya," "Lady of the Household."

Fire is exceptionally holy, the most holy thing in our world. In some myths it comes down from the heavens, either as lightning or from the sun. In others its origin is from under the waters, the mystery expressed in Akwom Népot.

Fire is the means by which natural items are transformed into food. This is true both of our own food and that which we give to the gods - the sacrifice. Fire is a doorway between our world and the next; that which is burned in it goes up to the celestial gods, up the pillar of smoke as if up the axis mundi.

Westya incorporates all of these themes. She is that without which we can not worship the gods, can not even live in our homes.Without her we have no right to live on our land.

In Welsh law a squatter gained possession of land only when a fire had been lit on his hearth and smoke had come from the chimney (Owen, 1978, 1980, p. 339). The association between ownership and the fire was so strong that the right of a Welsh heir to occupy his father's land was called "the right to uncover the fire" (Rees & Rees, 1961, p. 157).

At the far eastern end of the Indo-European realm, under Vedic law new territory is legally incorporated with the construction of an altar to the fire god Agni. In this case the home-based ritual has been extended into the public realm. The intent is the same, however. A place belongs to those whose fire burns in it.

Although these are late examples, archaeological evidence from the Romanian Celts hints at a similar belief. Some houses excavated appear to have been abandoned voluntarily. Their hearths, which were in the center of the room, had been deliberately and ritually dismantled (Zirra, 1976, pp. 16 - 17). To the southeast, in Albania, it is the fire on the hearth that confirms the existence of the family through the generations.

All this sheds light on the most famous fire, that of the Vestal Virgins at Rome. In their round temple (the other temples in Rome were rectangular) burned a fire that was not allowed to go out. It was tended by the Vestal Virgins, who were buried alive if they lost their virginity. If the fire went out, they were scourged by the pontifex maximus, and then relit the fire through friction.

The fire of Vesta was the hearth of Rome. It gave the Romans the right to occupy their land so long as it burnt. The Vestal Virgins were the "brides of Rome." (In fact, they wore bridal dress.) Similarly, in Greece the eternal fires of Hestia, in her round temples were tended by women past the age of marriage (Plutarch,Numa, IX), i.e., by unmarried women.

Thrace gives us a variation of this theme. In the royal palace of 3rd-4th century BCE Seuthopolis was a main hall with a raised hearth in its center. The hearth was square, with a circular depression in its center. That this was equivalent to the fires of Hestia and Vesta, the common hearth of the people, is shown by the presence of another hearth altar in another room of the place (the royal family's domestic hearth), and smaller hearth altars in many of the city's houses (Maringer, 1976, pp. 178 - 180). The hearth of the people was in the home of the king, where it was presumably tended by his wife and/or daughters. There would be no concern about divided loyalties. The king was the embodiment of the people; loyalty to him was loyalty to everyone and his fire was the people's fire.

The famous fire of Brighid at Kildare, described by Gerald of Wales (76-69) in the 12th century, is one more example of a virgin-tended hearth, this time outside but within a circular hedge. By the time the existence of the fire is recorded the virgins are nuns ("brides of Christ") and Brighid is a saint. Just as at the temple of Vesta, men were excluded from the area within this hedge.

A fire of the god Perkunas in 15th century Lithuania was tended by women who were put to death if the fire went out (Puhvel, 1974, p. 78). We are not told if they were unmarried; based on the Greek, Roman, and Irish parallels that is almost certain.

Again in India, during a Vedic ritual, among the several fires, the round one (is this beginning to sound familiar?), the garhapatyagni, is tended by the wife of the person the sacrifice is being performed for. No conflict there; it is his sacrifice, so it should be his hearth, tended by his wife. If any of the other fires go out, they can be relit from the garhapatya. Like Westya, the garhapatyagni is the point of origin. Westya is the center, the beginning, the point from which all things come.

Westya is the holy center of the home, its inside. She is especially connected with women. This is not only because she is a goddess. She, like women, is a source of holy power. She is also identified with the home. (As an aside, it is good to continue the traditional rule that women may wear hats indoors but men may not. For a man to wear a hat indoors is to offend the house spirits, as if the house alone was not enough protection. But a woman is identified with the home, and therefore cannot offend it.)

The cult of Westya is directed at the living flame. More details are given in chapter 8, but for now it should be noted that her rituals are conducted by the women of the household.

Not really a guest in my home, little flame on the hearth,
I give you the offerings due a guest.
Not really a guest in my home, Household's Queen:
I am a guest in yours.

Dumézil, Georges. Archaic Roman Religion. tr. Philip Krapp. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1970 (1966).

Gerald of Wales (Giraldus Cambrensis). The History and Topography of Ireland. tr. John O'Meara. Harmondsworth, UK: Penguin Books, 1982 (1951).

Puhvel, Jaan. Indo-European Structure of the Baltic Pantheon. In Larson, Gerald James; Littleton, C. Scott; Puhvel, Jaan (ed.) Myth in Indo-European Antiquity. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1974.

Zirra, Vlad. The Eastern Celts of Romania. Journal of Indo-European Studies 4:1Spring, 1976), pp. 1 - 41.

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Dhég^yho:m Má:tr
The “Earth Mother” was probably not a purely Proto-Indo-European deity. Her name does appear in the Balkans (Thracian Zemel?, surviving in the name Semele, the mother of Dionysos (West, 2007, 175)), the Baltic lands (Lithuanian Žemy??na, Latvian Zemes Mate), and perhaps among the Slavs Mati syra zemlja (“Moist Mother Earth”) (Gimbutas, 1971, 169). In Greece the Earth Goddess is sometimes called Chthón, (West, 2007, 174), from *dhég^yh?m. Although the Vedic Earth deity is not usually called by a reflex of this name, she does appear in the dvandva dyva:ksá:ma: ‘heaven and earth’ (West, 2007, 174).

That the concept goes far back is shown by the Hittite Daganzipas, “Earth-Spirit” (West, 2007, 174). Earth Mothers in other Indo-European areas bear other names. Among the Slavs, as well as Moist Mother Earth, she also appeared as Mokosh, whose name is likely related to Slavic mokru, “wet.” The Iranian Armaiti may have been an Earth goddess (Duschesne-Guillemin, 1969, 336).

The Earth Mother was most likely either part of the Proto-Indo-European women's cult (with her name thus often replaced when the Proto-Indo-Europeans migrated) or a goddess worshiped by the non-Indo-Europeans among whom the Proto-Indo-Europeans lived, given a name associated with the earth by the Proto-Indo-Europeans. On the other hand, she could, like fire, have lacked personification, and thus had her name re-formed from time to time. Jackson (2002:80-81) suggests the name “Pltwi:” (his actual form is *plthwih₂-), “broad one” as a title. This is found in India (Prthivi:), Greece (Plataia, where she was worshiped (Burkert, 1985, 17), and perhaps Gaul (Litavi) (West, 2007, 174, 175, 177).

In Greece, the Homeric Hymns (XXX) call her the Mother of All, as does Hesiod (Works and Days, 563), and in India she was the womb of all. She is not the only goddess referred to as “mother” – any Iranian goddess might be called that (West, 2007, 140) – so we have to be careful against identifying any “mother goddess” as Dhég^yho:m Má:tr.

It must be remembered that just because a goddess is a mother that does not mean she is the Earth Mother. The second half of Demeter’s name is definitely mother, but although her cult is essentially that of an Earth Mother, the first meaning of the first half does not seem to be “Earth.” As well as Zemes Mate, Latvian worshiped mothers of cattle (Lopemat), gardens (Darzamat), the fields (Laukamat), the sea (Jurasmat), the wind (Vejamat), and the woods Mezamat (Boyer, 1991, 306). The “Mothers” of Gaul (the Matronae) were mothers of the tribe rather than of the earth.

In the Vedas, Earth and Sky are mentioned almost solely in the dvandva Dyavaprthivi. The Greek Zeus and Gaea are often paired as well (Larson, 2010, 67), although they are not seen as mates.

Dhég^yho:m Má:tris a cow goddess, and similar in many respects to Donu; the giver of fertility, the source of power.

Her most common sacrificial victim is a sow. Demeter receives a pregnant sow, for instance (Grant, 1953, 31). On the other hand, the Greek Erchian calendar prescribes a pregnant sheep for Gaea, and in the Tetrapolis calendar, she is given a pregnant cow and a black ram (Larson, 2010, 67). In the Iliad (3.103), Gaia receives a black female lamb. The use of a pregnant animal or a young animal for the Earth is no surprise; the blackness of the ram and lamb is no doubt because chthonic deities were often give dark animals.

Oaths may be sworn to the Earth (Gimbutas, 1971, 169; for Greece, in Larson, 2010, 67), probably as if "on my mother's womb" or perhaps because, like the Sun, she was always present. Among the Slavs she was called to witness in land disputes (Gimbutas, 1971, 169; West, 2007, 175).

Boyer, Régis. Baltic Myths and Religious Categories. In A Restructured Translation of Mythologies (2 vol.). ed. Yves Bonefoy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1991, 305-6.

Duchesne-Guillemin, Jacques. The Religion of Ancient Iran. In Historia Religionum: Handbook for the History of Religions. ed. C. Jouco Bleeker. Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1969.

Gimbutas, Marija. The Slavs. New York: Praeger Publishers, 1971.

Grant, Frederick C. (ed.) Hellenistic Religions: The Age of Syncretism. New York: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, 1953.

Jackson, Peter. Light from Distant Asterisks: Towards a Description of the Indo-European Religious Heritage. Numen 49 (2002), 61-101.

Larson, Jennifer. A Land Full of Gods: Nature Deities in Greek Religion. In Ogden, Daniel. A Companion to Greek Religion. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010, 56-70.

West, M. L. Indo-European Poetry and Myth. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007.

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Kolyos
“The Coverer” - the goddess of death. Her name survived into the Norse Hel, Greek Kalypso, and Hindi Sarva (Lincoln, 1991, p. 78). We have seen that the land of the dead has a god; Kolyos, on the other hand, is death itself. She drags people down into death with a noose or a snare. She is not a goddess to be friends with, then, but not one to make an enemy of either. Sacrifices to the dead involve a separation, while at the same time honoring; this sort of ritual is definitely appropriate for Kolyos. She is best offered a pig, which is not shared with her worshipers.

Keep far from us your snare,
You who lie in wait for us.
Keep far from us the time
when you will be our Coverer.
We honor you, we acknowledge your power,
but we do not desire your presence.
Take what we give you and do not return.



[The forms of names of many of these deities have been taken from Jack-son, Peter. Light from Distant Asterisks: Towards a Description of the Indo-European Religious Heritage. Numen 49 (2002), 61-101. ]

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