Christians want us to think that there was a Celtic, a Scandinavian, a Slavonic, a Greek, a Baltic, a Finnish, a Thrakian, a Basque, an Illyrian, a Roman etc. religion, making Ancient Europe a mish-mash of different Pagan religions. For some reason they also intentionally mix linguistic terms with cultural terms when they talk about Ancient Europe, like I have done above to illustrate this, to spread confusion. When the Romans e. g. talked about the Gallic and Scandinavian deities by Roman names they didn't do this because these deities resembled their own Roman deities, they did because these deities were the same to their own deities, known to them by Roman names.
The Romans didn't “steal” the Greek religion either, and made it their own, like Christians often try to make us believe; these two religions were so strikingly similar because they were the same. All the native peoples of Europe had at some point the exact same Pagan religion, and although geography and different language influences made this religion look somewhat different in the different tribes of Europe, it was in fact the same all over Europe.
The mythologies were not really different from each other, but they are presented as different from each other today because the one European mythology has been recorded differently and often at different times and by very different types of people too, with very different motives for doing so – and with very a different level of understanding of the European religion and mythology.
Finnish Perkele is the same as the Lithuanian Perkunas, the Russian Perun, the Greek Zevs, the Gallic Taranis, the Scandinavian Thor, the Italian Jupiter, etc., and the same is the case for all the European deities. They are found everywhere in Europe, and if they are not this is only because our knowledge about them has holes today, because the Christians have destroyed the memory of them.
The traditions were the same all over Europe, the rites, the high festivals, the customs, the habits: everything was the same all over Europe. There is only one single Pagan religion in Europe!
The Romans didn't “steal” the Greek religion either, and made it their own, like Christians often try to make us believe; these two religions were so strikingly similar because they were the same. All the native peoples of Europe had at some point the exact same Pagan religion, and although geography and different language influences made this religion look somewhat different in the different tribes of Europe, it was in fact the same all over Europe.
The mythologies were not really different from each other, but they are presented as different from each other today because the one European mythology has been recorded differently and often at different times and by very different types of people too, with very different motives for doing so – and with very a different level of understanding of the European religion and mythology.
Finnish Perkele is the same as the Lithuanian Perkunas, the Russian Perun, the Greek Zevs, the Gallic Taranis, the Scandinavian Thor, the Italian Jupiter, etc., and the same is the case for all the European deities. They are found everywhere in Europe, and if they are not this is only because our knowledge about them has holes today, because the Christians have destroyed the memory of them.
The traditions were the same all over Europe, the rites, the high festivals, the customs, the habits: everything was the same all over Europe. There is only one single Pagan religion in Europe!
An example of how the swastika was also used as a symbol in Classical Greece. Here it can be seen as a decoration on the clothing of a picture of Athene, the Goddess of Wisdom, the arts and war - and also patron of the city of Athens. This detail is from a Greek vase dating from approximately 500 BC.
The Indo-European origins of the Romans - in particular the Latini tribe - are apparent through their liberal use of the swastika as an emblem. Here the swastika can be seen upon the Ara Pacis Augustae: the altar built to commemorate the peace established by Augustus, consecrated 4 July 13 BC. The swastika can also be seen in a virtually identical format in many Classical Greek designs: hence it is often called a "Greek key" pattern.
The Indo-European origins of the Vikings is illustrated by this detail from a very well preserved Viking ship uncovered by archaeologists in Scandinavia, known as the Osberg ship, circa 800 AD. A handle mount on a bucket found in the ship depicts a figure carrying a shield with four swastika sun emblems in its corners. The fact that the swastika appears as a symbol from Scandinavia to Italy to India indicates precisely how far the Indo-European influence was felt.
The Isle of Man Triskelion, ca. 10 Century AD. According to the islanders, this symbol was of Norsk [Norwegian] origin, and was displayed on the armorial bearings of the Kings of Norway.
The Triskelion also appears on this 6th Century B.C. Greek vase - further evidence of cultural links through race and time
The Triskelion also appears on this 6th Century B.C. Greek vase - further evidence of cultural links through race and time
Another thing that confuses many is the fact that there are so many different deities in each and every European mythology. We can easily boil it down to four main Pagan deities though: the Sky God, the Earth Goddess, the Sun God and the Moon Goddess, or if you like to just a Sky God and an Earth Goddess – and then all the other deities are just different faces of these four or two deities: the Sun the right hand of the Sky God, the Moon his left hand, the Sea Goddess a face of the Earth Goddess, the Thunder God a face of the Sky God, the Goddess of Love a face of the Earth Goddess, the War God a face of the Sky God, the Death Goddess a face of the Earth Goddess, and so forth.
The Sky is masculine because the rain fertilizing the soil falls from the Sky like the semen of men does into women. The Earth Goddess is feminine because the plants come from her like children come from the womb of women.
The Sky is masculine because the rain fertilizing the soil falls from the Sky like the semen of men does into women. The Earth Goddess is feminine because the plants come from her like children come from the womb of women.
This represent Pregnant mother Earth.This is a burial mound were the dead would be buried and were a ceremony worshiping the dead was held. Also a sacred initiation was held within the burial mound its self. All the European deities serve a purpose, and none of them are “evil” in any ways. They work to explain natural phenomena, ideals, processes in man and nature – and perhaps in particular in the minds of men. Some deities represent man himself too, or stages in the life of man. A goddess is the ideal of the unmarried woman, another the married woman, and yet another the pregnant woman, and yet another the mother, etc., but they are in fact all the same goddess, only at different stages in her existence. And she is a part of the feminine divine force that we define simply as the Earth Goddess. What name we use when we identify her is not important. Freyja, Venus, Aphrodite or whatever else this one side of her may be known as: they are all beautiful and suitable names!