Mythology

"“That’s part of the prophecy of the Rapture, right? The dead will rise and crash our parties?” He laughs. “Do you really think that’s a priority, for the reanimated corpses?” “Absolutely,” I say. “No French onion dip in purgatory.”"

"The biblical evidence for the existence of purgatory is, shall we say, ‘creative’, again employing the common theological trick of vague, hand-waving analogy."

"(About Wu Daozi) He excelled in every subject: men, gods, devils, Buddhas, birds, beasts, buildings, landscapes—all seemed to come naturally to his exuberant art. He painted with equal skill on silk, paper, and freshly-plastered walls; he made three hundred frescoes for Buddhist edifices, and one of these, containing more than a thousand figures, became as famous in China as “The Last Judgment” or “The Last Supper” in Europe. Ninety-three of his paintings were in the Imperial Gallery in the twelfth century, four hundred years after his death; but none remains anywhere today. His Buddhas, we are told, “fathomed the mysteries of life and death”; his picture of purgatory frightened some of the butchers and fishmongers of China into abandoning their scandalously un-Buddhistic trades; his representation of Ming Huang’s dream convinced the Emperor that Wu had had an identical vision."

"As in Mediterranean Christianity, these saints became so popular that they almost crowded out the head of the pantheon in worship and art. The veneration of relics, the use of holy water, candles, incense, the rosary, clerical vestments, a liturgical dead language, monks and nuns, monastic tonsure and celibacy, confession, fast days, the canonization of saints, purgatory and masses for the dead flourished in Buddhism as in medieval Christianity, and seem to have appeared in Buddhism first."

"Their beloved priest must now wander for all eternity chained to this earthly purgatory—a warning to all that God forgives only that which is confessed to Him through true repentance and atonement. I walked down the church steps, keeping my secret stitched to my tongue. After the ceremony I would have no one to answer for my yearnings but myself, even if after my death I would have to lag behind that priest until the end of days, a pair of branded souls dragging the heavy burdens of their sins, like cows roaming the foggiest dawns, the first guiding the second with its dangling rosary of a tail."

"Time is the only true purgatory."

"Happy the man who hath never known what it is to taste of fame—to have it is a purgatory, to want it is a hell!"

"When God sees the Soul pure as it was in its origins, He tugs at it with a glance, draws it, and binds it to Himself with a fiery love that by itself could annihilate the immortal soul. In so acting, God so transforms the soul in Him that it knows nothing other than God; and He continues to draw it up into His fiery love until He restores it to that pure state from which it first issued. These rays purify and then annihilate. The soul becomes like gold that becomes purer as it is fired, all dross being cast out. Having come to the point of twenty-four carats, gold cannot be purified any further; and this is what happens to the soul in the fire of God’s love."

"We know from Blessed Anna Maria Taigi that Napoleon did not go to Hell, but will remain in Purgatory until the end of time. A very heavy punishment, but not eternal damnation. And Sister Elena Aiello, whom I hold in very high esteem, informs us that even Mussolini will remain in Purgatory until the end of the world. As you can see, it is not only Farinacci who needs our prayers."

"Once a refugee, forever a refugee. Roads back to the lost (or rather no longer existing) home paradise have been all but cut, and all exits from the purgatory of the camp lead to hell... The prospectless succession of empty days inside the perimeter of the camp may be tough to endure, but God forbid that the appointed or voluntary plenipotentiaries of humanity, whose job it is to keep the refugees inside the camp but away from perdition, pull the plug. And yet they do, time and again, whenever the powers-that-be decide that the exiles are no longer refugees, since ostensibly 'it is safe to return' to that homeland that has long ceased to be their homeland and has nothing that could be offered or that is desired."

"Look at those detractors. Look at those dogs. They ridicule us for baptizing infants, praying for the dead, and asking the prayers of the saints. They lose no time in cutting Christ off from all kinds of people to both sexes, young and old, living and dead. They put infants outside the sphere of grace because they are too young to receive it, and those who are full grown because they find difficulty in preserving chastity. They deprive the dead of the help of the living, and rob the living of the prayers of the saints because they have died. God forbid! The Lord will not forsake his people who are as the sands of the sea, nor will he who redeemed all be content with a few, and those heretics...."

"I have no sympathy for fascism, I regret the Papal States, the temporal power of the Church, the era of Pope Pius IX."

"The Narakas are the realms of suffering that equate to the Christian hell or, more accurately, to purgatory. If a person is born into one of these realms as a result of bad karma, this is not a permanent punishment - he or she may well be reborn into one of the higher worlds in the next life. Watched over by Yama, judge of the world, the Narakas are not only physical places but also states of consciousness – and symbols of the suffering that can take place during life, as well as after death."

"In the early Vedic tradition, the death god Yama kept two dogs, Syama the Black and Sabala the Spotted, to bring and hold souls in the Purgatory-like afterlife called Naraka. Even the Norse god Odin kept a pair of wolves, Geri and Freki."

"The savage dies — they sacrifice a horse To bear to happy hunting-grounds the corse. Our friends expire — we make the money fly In hope their souls will chase it through the sky."

"Kazanas appears to be on fairly sound ground when he argues that the horse sacrifice in a late Ancient Mesopotamian text is due to Vedic influence. A rich horse mythology is attested in almost all Indo-European traditions, the horse sacrifice is referred to in late hymns of the Ṛgveda (RV 1.162 and RV 1.163), and is perhaps alluded to in the early family books (RV 3.53.11), and the peculiarity that in both the Vedic and Ancient Mesopotamian traditions a priest whispers into one of the horse’s ears would seem to indicate that the borrowing is a certainty."

"Split apart the enclosure of the cow and the horse like a stronghold for your comrades."

"Indra conquered all cows, all gold, all horses."

"Finder of horses, pour on us horses and wealth in kine and gold, And, Indu, food in boundless store."

"The Angirasas gained the whole enjoyment of the Pani, its herds of the cows and the horses."

"There is a humped bull on the royal seals of Muwatalli II (c. 1295–1272 BC). The joint seals of Muwattalli II and Tanuhepa also depict a humped bull. The figure of the bull is a hieroglyph and a part of the name of Muwatalli (syllabogram "mu"), but it is important that the king preferred to use the image of the zebu bull to write his name. In some Hittite images, the humpback bull represents the god of the storm. In the name of Muwatalli II, the image of the bull also functions as a symbol of the god of the storm - the personal patron of the ruler, whose power is manifested in the power of the king. Signs on the figure of the bull on the seals of Muwatalli II are found only on the images of the bull, calf and deer — i.e. animals– representatives of the god of the storm and the god of the fields — which emphasizes the sacred character of the humped bull on the seals."

"He “found the cattle, found the horses, found the plants, the forests and the waters”."

"I won myself these herds of cattle, steeds and kine, and gold in ample store, with my destructive bolt. I give full many a thousand to the worshipper, what time the Somas and the lauds have made me glad."

"The cows had settled in their stalls, the beasts of prey had sought their lairs, Extinguished were the lights of men, when things unseen infected me."

"He gained possession of the Sun and Horses, Indra obtained the Cow who feedeth many."

"The importance of cattle in various aspects of the Gathic doctrine can be taken as certain. This importance can be explained as a reflection in religious practice and myth of a socioeconomic set-up in which cattle-raising was a basic factor."

"Contrary to what is often stated, the horse (or its symbol) is not the `Rgveda’s foremost animal: that honour goes to the bull, a symbol of power and might, as in many other ancient cultures. The bull makes his appearance over 400 times in the `Rgveda alone; every powerful Vedic god – Indra, Agni, Varuna, Vishnu, Rudra, etc. – is praised as a “mighty bull”, very rarely as a horse... It is curious that the bull, as either animal or metaphor, receives so little attention from Indo-Europeanists; J.P. Mallory’s and D.Q. Adams’s monumental Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture has no entry for the bull, while it devotes six pages to the horse"

"Paved with the rock is this our treasure-chamber; filled full of precious things, of kine, and horses. These Paṇis who are watchful keepers guard it. In vain hast thou approached this lonely station."

"Ten horses and ten treasure-chests, ten garments as an added gift, These and ten lumps of gold have I received from Divodāsa's hand. Ten cars with extra steed to each, for the Atharvans hundred cows, Hath Asvatha to Payu given."

"The discovery of the sealing with the inscription Shaushtatar, son of Parshatatar, the king of Mitanni‘ (circa 1440 BC) is extremely important. It was also used later by at least four generations of kings of this state with Indo-Aryan names. The impressions of this seal were found on tablets with the texts mentioning the ruler and his donations of villages in the region from the eastern bank of the Tigris to the western bank of the Euphrates in the settlements of Nuzi, Umm el-Marra, Tell Brak and Tell Bazi (northern Syria). This seal depicts the slaughter of a one-horned zebu... Thus it combines two images of Rigveda and Mature Harappa in a socially, politically and ritually significant context — that of a unicorn and that of a zebu."

"In sum, if we adopt a literalist approach, we must concede that the horse is as much an animal of the Dasyus as it is of the Aryas: the horse can no longer be seen as a marker for immigrating Indo-Aryans. The only way out of such self- inflicted conundrums is to abandon colonial readings of the Veda and to look deeper for what 'horse', 'bull' and 'cow' really stood for in the Vedic rishis' mind. Let us also note that contrary to what is often stated, the horse (or its symbol) is not the Veda's primary animal: that honour goes to the bull, a symbol of power and might, as in many other ancient cultures. Every powerful Vedic god—Indra, Agni, Varuna, Vishnu, Rudra, etc.—is praised as a bull, very rarely as a horse."

"Compassing those who bore away Dabhīti, in kindled fire he burnt up all their weapons. And made him rich with kine and cars and horses. These things did Indra in the Soma's rapture."

"It is impossible to read into the story of the Angirases, Indra and Sarama, the cave of the Panis and the conquest of the Dawn, the Sun and the Cows an account of a political and military struggle between Aryan invaders and Dravidian cave-dwellers. It is a struggle between the seekers of Light and the powers of Darkness; the cows are the illuminations of the Sun and the Dawn, they cannot be physical cows; the wide fear-free field of the Cows won by Indra for the Aryans is the wide world of Swar, the world of the solar Illumination, the threefold luminous regions of Heaven (Aurobindo [1914–20] 1998: 223)"

"So, of a truth, Indra and Soma, Heroes, ye burst the stable of the kine and horses, The stable which the bar or stone obstructed; and piercing through set free the habitations."

"The cow and horse, go and ashva, are constantly associated... A study of the Vedic horse led me to the conclusion that go and ashva represent the two companion ideas of Light and Energy, Consciousness and Force."

"It now strikes me that the attempt to reconstruct a prototypical (“Proto- Indo-European") form from which all attested variants can ultimately be derived may actually obscure much of what is most fascinating and important in myth. For while this stance acknowledges that the contents of a given myth will vary as it is recounted by different persons over time and across space, such variation is treated as a problem—or better, as the problem—to be undone by scholarly research: research that takes as its task the restoration of some hypothetical “original." Such research aims, in effect, to reverse historic processes and recapture a primordial (and ahistoric) moment of unity, harmony, and univocal perfection. In its very presuppositions, such research—it now seems to me—is itself a species of myth and ritual, based upon a romantic "nostalgia for paradise," to cite Mircea Eliades famous formulation."

"All of these exercises in scholarship ( = myth + footnotes) suffer from the same problem . They attempt to reach so far back into prehistory that no textual sources are available to control the inquiry, but where archeology offers a plethora of data. In practice, all the remains found throughout Eurasia for a period of several millennia can be constituted as evidence from which to craft the final narrative, but it is often the researchers' desires that determine their principles of selection. When neither the data nor the criticism of one's colleagues inhibits desire-driven invention, the situation is ripe for scholarship as myth. Prehistory here becomes "pre-" in a radical sense: a terrain of frustration and opportunity where historians-cum -mythographers can offer origin accounts- complete with heroes, adventures, great voyages, and a primordial paradise lost- all of which reflect and advance the interests of those who tell them . Ideology in narrative form."

"The all-inclusiveness of the Vedic is all too apparent and quite remarkable."

"Several people who have examined Indo-European scholarship have drawn parallels between research about the Proto-Indo-European world and myths, in the sense of narratives about origin. Indo-European research has, in many ways, been an attempt to write the origin narrative of the bourgeois class - a narrative that, by talking about how things originally were, has sanctioned a certain kind of behavior, idealized a certain type of person, and affirmed certain feelings. Certainly, there have been some scholars who have not identified themselves with the Proto-Indo-Europeans, but they are few."

"It is obvious that the RV contains a decisively greater portion of the common IE mythological heritage. In fact there is hardly a major motif common in two or more of the other branches that is not found in the RV. ...no major mythological (or religious) feature appears in two or more branches to the exclusion of the Vedic."

"There are people who, independently of the debate about Dumézil, have maintained that the scholarly work on the Indo-Europeans is simply a collection of myths."

"If what I claimed above is true, that the research on Indo-Europeans has not given rise to myths in the sense of sheer fiction, one might still suppose that it has given rise to another kind of myth—namely, myth as normative narrative. In this sense of the word, myth involves a narrative about origins that gives individuals a feeling of belonging with others; that motivates certain actions; that legitimizes specific institutions; and that presents certain behaviors, feelings, and norms as natural, eternal, and necessary."

"The Meetei ancestors lived on the hills till the valley dried up. Late Oinam Bhogeswor cites the names of Manipuri autochthones as mentioned in 'Numit Kappa' viz., Chakpa, Shelloi-Langmai, Maring tribe (supposed to be the oldest hill tribe) and Thongnang (possibly the Boros)."

"Numit Kappa is the first long narrative verse which is addressed to the Sun God. According to them, the poem was recited before King Taothingmang (possibly 264-364 A.D.) to the accompaniment of a penā..."

"Ballet or dance drama is also present in Meitei culture. The famous ballet Numit speaks of the story of two suns. It is a wonderful ballet which can match any ballet of the world having rhythm, expression and lyric."

"Ballet (dance drama) is an essential part of their culture-the most famous being Numit Kappa, depicting the story of two siblings. The rather longish song associated with this ballet is probably the best example of a single song illustrating the entire gamut of rich and ancient culture."

"In earlier literary works like Poireiton Khunthok, Panthoibi Khongul, Numit Kappa, Nungsamei Puya, Naothingthong Phambal Kaba, etc., the presence of loan words has not been noted, but with the introduction of Vaishnavism, the flow of loan words, mainly from Sanskrit and Hindi, increased to a considerable extent with the passage of time."

"There are books like the Numit Kаррa, narrating some old Manipuri legends, and there is a rich literature of chronicles as well as works on the movements of the tribes, in Manipur, which are all preserved in the Old Manipuri language."

"The Lois continued to be worshippers of nature and natural forces, eg, sun and moon (as were the Meiteis during their pre-Vaishnav days), as revealed by the Numit Kappa, a legendary Loi book in the genre of the Epics."

"In the mythology of Numit Kappa, the two suns were even synonymously known with the two kings, ruling together in roster. This may be because of the fact that in the ancient time, kings were considered to be so powerful like sun. As the two kings rule throughout the day, the people on earth were suffering as if there was searing heat coming continuously from the two suns. While serving as a King’s man to the two kings, “Khwai Nungjengbam Piba aka Khwai Nongchengbam Naicha” could not spend any time with his son Haotang-khu and daughter Haotang-han. So, he decided to shoot down one sun (king)."