The Proto-Indo-European Religion: the well from which all our pantheons sprung

: FourOne; General Articles; 12 January 2018

Six thousand years ago, large parts of Eurasia experienced large migrations of a cultural & ethnic group called Indo-Europeans. These people spread their culture, blood, language, and faith.

The Indo-European religion was polytheistic...Indo-European polytheism is the religion followed by our ancestors, the Indo-Europeans. It continued after we broke off and founded the many linguistic/cultural groups that exist to this day.

Indo-European Polytheism and the various branches indeed do have differences. However, they do come from the same root, and thus, they are the same religion.

Myth

Evidence of the shared history of the different branches of Indo-European polytheism can be seen in common myths such as the Sky-Father appearing as consort to the Earth-Mother; in the concept of cycles & ages; myths of Polar origins; myths of the first sacrifice and so on. The clearest example of this is the story of the Thunderer being enemy of a Serpent (Or a serpentine Dragon):

Zeus fights Typhon in Greek myth, [1]

Perun fights Veles (While Veles is in the form of the serpent*) in Slavic myth, [2]

Indra fights Vritra in Vedic myth, [3]

Thor fights Jörmungandr in Germanic myth, [4]

Tarhunt/Tarhunz fights Illuyanka in Hittite myth. [5]

These Stories of the Thunderer and the Serpent battling are preserved variants of the same myth. There are also two very similar myths that exist in Greek and Slavic Polytheism. These are also likely from the same Proto-Indo-European (PIE) myth.

There is further evidence of this phenomenon in the Greek story of the Harvest Goddess Demeter not granting the growth of crops for half a year, due to the absence of her daughter which was kidnapped by Hades, the God of the underworld. There is a very similar Slavic story of the Harvest God Jarilo who goes every year to spend time with the God of the underworld Veles in his realm.

Greek Myth:

Hades, astonished by Persephone's beauty, is granted by his brother Zeus the permission to abduct her. When the youthful lady was admiring the colours of her garden, the God of the Underworld tore open the earth below her and dragged her to his realm. Upon discovering that her daughter was gone, Demeter goes through all the land searching for her with no success. She then goes to the abode of Lord Helios, the Sun, to plead for his knowledge. He, who sees all from his throne, informs Demeter of what has transpired. Now stricken by grief, the Lady of the Harvest hides the seeds beneath the earth and stops the wheat from growing. All the fields of crops fail, and the cries of hunger reach the ears of the Lord of the Gods, Zeus, who then forces Hades to release Persephone. Hades agrees to it, but before releasing her he offers the young lady seeds of pomegranate as trickery. Hermes, who was sent to the underworld by Zeus, retrieves Persephone and brings her back to Olympus. But as part of Hades trickery, those who eat the food of the Underworld are bound to it (This is also seen in celtic mythology), so Persephone must return and stay in the Hades' realm every year, in which the grief of her mother causes the harsh days of winter, and the youth's return to her mother's arms marks the warmth of spring. [6]

Slavic Myth:

Veles, the God of the underworld, kidnaps Perun's son Jarilo and takes him to his realm. Upon discovering that his son is gone, Perun searches through all the land, but with no success. Jarilo is adopted and raised by Veles but in his absence crops fail, and famine is widespread. Jarilo spends most of his time with his adoptive father's enormous herd of cattle until eventually, in Spring, he returns to the world of the living. With every step he brought fertile soil, exploring the land. The first sentient being he met was Marzanna (Morana), the goddess of winter and decay. Being related by blood as brother and sister, they both fell in love regardless. Jarilo wasn't a faithful husband and Marzanna gathered the other Gods (except for Veles, whom was herding his cattle) and forced Jarilo back into the underworld via dismemberment. After murdering her husband, Marzanna becomes cruel and angry but the cycle of life and death allows Jarilo to once again meet, marry and be dismembered by his sister once again each year. The cycle of Jarilo’s return to the world of the living, bringing spring, and his eventual death and return to the underworld, along with Marzanna’s rage, brings winter. This cycle is eternal. [7]

Looking at these two myths, they are so very similar, two myths both explaining a story of a harvest deity’s activity (in a yearly cycle) causing seasonal changes, starting with the God of the Underworld’s abduction causing this event. In conclusion, both these myths must be from an earlier source, a Proto-Indo-European myth.

Etymology

We also see etymological links between names of different Gods and their PIE root name:

Names such as Taranis or Taranos (from the Proto-Celtic *torano- [8], meaning thunder) and Thor, Donar, Thunar (from the Proto-Germanic *þunraz [9], meaning thunder) come from the PIE word *tónr̥ [10], meaning thunder, while the name of the Anatolian god Tarhunz may come from the PIE word *terh[11], meaning to overcome, as in Hittite *terhu. [12]

Other names for the Thunderer are from *perkʷu-s [13](Speculated to be related the Oak Tree), found in Perkūnas, Perendi, and Perun. The reconstruction of the Old Aryan name for the Thunderer is Perkwunos.

The names of the Sky-Father are often from the same root. The reconstructed PIE name for the Sky-Father is Dyeus-Pater [14]

This is most obvious in the Vedic Dyaus Pita. [15]

Tiwaz and Zeus coming from Dyeus. [15]

Jupiter (Iou-pater) coming from (Dyēus-pətēr) [15]

Dievas, the Lithuanian name for the sky father, also from Dyeus [16]

The Proto-Celtic name Dagadeiwos meaning Good-God The latter part coming from Dyeus. [17]

The name Sabazios also comes from Dyeus through “zios” [18]

Other etymologically linked names:

The ‘Dawn Goddess’ was reconstructed to be “Hausos”.

Many names for the Dawn Goddess are connected to Hausos, such as the Anglo-Saxon Ēostre (from where we get ‘Easter’). The Vedic Goddess Ushas, The Roman Goddess Aurora, The Greek Goddess Eos, the Baltic Goddess Austrine.

The Sun Deity was reconstructed to be “Suhul”

Again, we can see many names for the Sun Deity in Indo-European polytheism are connected to “Suhul”. There is the Germanic Sól, the Celtic Sulis, the Vedic Surya, the Roman Sol, the Greek Helios, and the Baltic Saule. There are exceptions, such as Zorya the Slavic Dawn Goddess (Simply meaning “Dawn” in most Slavic languages e.g. Zora = Dawn in Serbian), or the Irish name for the Dawn Goddess “Brighid”. These particular names do not seem to be etymologically connected to the PIE name Hausos, we do know the deities are the same due to their similar aspects.

When the majority of names are connected, or when myths are so similar we can make the conclusion that these Gods/Myths are all from the same Proto-Indo-European root.

The White God is the White God to all Indo-European Polytheists whether you call him Baldr, Bel, or Apollo. The Wanderer is the Wanderer, whether you call him Lugus, Vishnu, Hermes, or Wotan. These myths are the same myth. All branches of Indo-European religion lead back to the same faith, our faith.

Thanks for reading. - FourOne