Skeleton Lake of Roopkund, India

"In 1942 a British forest guard in Roopkund, India made an alarming discovery. Some 5000 meters above sea level at the bottom of a small valley, was a lake absolutely full of skeletons. As the glacier melted in the summer it revealed ever more skeletal remains, both floating in the water and lying haphazardly around the edges. Something horrible had happened here.

The immediate assumption, it being war time, was that these were Japanese soldiers who had been sneaking through India and died of exposure, and the British government terrified of a Japanese land invasion sent a team of investigators. However upon examination the quickly realized these bones could not be Japanese soldiers, in fact they were much much older than that."

All the bodies had died in a similar way, from blows to the head. However, the short deep cracks in the skulls appeared to be the result not of weapons but of something rounded. The bodies also only had wounds on their heads, and shoulders as if the blows had all come from directly above...

Among Himalayan women there is an ancient and traditional folk song. The lyrics describe a goddess "so enraged at outsiders who defiled her mountain sanctuary that she rained death upon them by flinging hailstones “hard as iron.”

After much research and consideration the 2004 expedition came to the same conclusion. All 300 people died from a sudden and severe hailstorm. Trapped in the valley with nowhere to hide or seek shelter, the cricket ball sized hailstones "hard as iron” came by the thousands and killed the travelers in a sudden and bizarre death. The bodies would lay there for some 1200 years before the astonishing tale of what happened to them would be revealed to the world.
(link)

Aphrodite Sosandra

Aphrodite Sosandra, carved during the 2nd century C.E., or known as the Hadrian period. When I first saw this image of Aphrodite in a Greek Mythology book I was first floored by how different it is compared to all other depictions of Her. That was months ago and having forgotten the image due to school and life, I was finally able to find it again.


Sosandra means "Savior of Men" from what I gathered, and was presumably in Athens. An unfinished Roman copy of the Sosandra (c. 460 BCE), found at Baiae in 1954 and now in the National Archaeological Museum of Naples, Italy.

The possible attribution of this statue to Kalamis is due to the austere, early Classical style of this statue: a Sosandra, 'Savior of Men,' by Kalamis was admired by Lucian for its simplicity; this may have been the statue dedicated by Kallias (brother-in-law of Kimon) on the Acropolis at Athens. (link)

The same style has been used to depict Aspasia (470 BCE) or Europa, with a meditative expression.

Gods of the past returning

I grew up in a Puerto Rico from a very young age to graduating high school. The influence the island has held on me pretty much set up my belief system as it is now. I never went through a Wiccan-phase, as most pagans do, because I couldn’t get my head around the concept of a dual god-form, one male and one female when I had experienced the Orishas myself. My mom had espiritismo and Santería friends, and my great-grandmother was a well-known Santera in the town I grew up in. She wanted to initiate my mother into the “work” but my grandmother was very religious - and very Baptist - so this never happened. I dabbled here and there, but was never fully immersed in the culture so by the time I hit 19 I had married and left the island to reside north in the cold, snowy land of Alaska.

It’s been years since I’ve been in a Botánica, a Latin shop full of candles, statues and other occult and Christian paraphernalia, and it’s something I’ve purposely avoided. While I’ve entered many new age and pagan shops, there’s something inherently darker and viscous about a botánica for me. So this week, I decided to go to one. It’s very basic, honestly, not as flashy or well-stocked as a pagan-flavoured shop usually is. And two of the things that first greeted me when I walked in were two four-foot statues of a bleeding Jesus on crutches and the other of Santa Muerte. They had many statues of Santa Muerte, sickle and all with oils, powders and images of the Virgin and saints. I talked with the owner of the store, a Santero and he quickly recognized my Caduceus necklace. I got a few items, incense and a candle for Eleggua. There’s something about the Orishas that always meant home for me, a very scary and reverent home, that is. Perhaps that is why I always pursue the Gods that walk the edges, the darker roads, like Hekate, Hermes, Set and Odin. Yes, this is quite a mix of pantheons, but as I’ve gone through my life studying and exploring and trying to find my way. If I had a spiritual passport, it’ll show some interesting stamps of the places I’ve wandered.

I got a Spanish book from the Santero on my way out that I found useful since I’ve had trouble finding something I could work with without working one-on-one with someone. While I won’t leave my home within the Theoi, nor the weekly practices I do, sometimes the ties you’ve done in the past return and I have to make space for them.

There’s an interesting podcast called A Year in White that I’ve subscribed to. I’ve discovered his blog a while back when he was interviewed in another podcast I listen to. It feels familiar, of course, to be doing these things while at the same time I feel somewhat out of place. It’s like long lost uncles and aunts have been meaning to visit and I’ve been putting it off, and forgotten everything. They want to see how my life is going and are expecting some hospitality. I guess I should start brewing some strong coffee for them.

Alcest - Écailles De Lune (part I)

Alcest @ MS

Library Additions

I am excited to have received in the mail two books that have been on my wishlist for quite some time - Did the Greeks Believe in their Myths? by Paul Veyne and Magic, Witchcraft and Ghosts in the Greek and Roman Worlds by Daniel Ogden. I got these used so money wasn't an issue, instead it's my habit of amassing large numbers of books and never finishing them. And yes, I get chastised for this a bit, thank you very much.

I am looking forward to reading them this weekend, and having perused the Ogden book today I will definitely be posting and giving some thought on some of the stories that are presented.

Vîrstele pămîntului

I received an email regarding Negură Bunget’s new album in the works, since I am on their email newsletter. I assume I got myself on it since I created their myspace page a long time ago and then handled the reigns over to Negru. The original band members split up, but after some disagreements, Negru decided to keep the band going against his ex-bandmates wishes. While I adore this band to no end, I wish they would have kept their words but that is none of my business.

I own all of their work, including reissues and copies of Negură Magazine. So in regards to the new album, I am of course very interested and very much looking forward to it, despite past/personal issues within the group.

Vîrstele pămîntului is an album about places of the earth and places of the spirit, about bounds transcending worlds. Symbolically the album is based on the principle of 9. 9 is the triad of the triads, symbol of fulfillment of the creative effect. It symbolizes the return of the multiplicity to unity (like the snake biting his tail). 9 is the number of patience, of meditation and harmony. Symbolize the plenitude of talents, the reward of the tests. It is a symbol of creation and life as rhythm and development. The earth is where we came from and where go back into, athe one from above and beyond us. Understanding and respecting it means to understand yourself, your purpose and destiny. Vîrstele pămîntului is an album about embracing your destiny, about choosing and consciously assuming a way of life.

The work on the album was done on a seclusion Negură Bunget took into the wilderness of the mountains, concentrating solely on the work for the album. The album will be released by code666 Records in a special limited edition - handmade woodbox, roped and filled with the very earth of the place it comes from (Romania). Release date is: worldwide - March 31, Germany and Italy - April 2.

They never disappoint with the style of their newsletter, but the beauty and simplicity of this new email completely blew me away. The description of the new album is also very interesting and I look forward to listening to it – I’m sure (but hope) it is no different than their amazing masterpiece releases in the past - ‘N Crugu Bradului being my top favorite album ever, followed by OM.

Negură Bunget translates to “Dark Foggy Forest” in Romanian and the album ‘N Crugu Bradului means “Through the Deepness of the Fir Tree Heights” according to an interview I once read (early editions of this disc contained a sprig of a Fir tree within). I loved the album so much that I had originally named my newly adopted Norwegian Forest cat that, but seeing people struggle with the pronunciation, I changed her name to something more normal, like Camila. Yes, I am weird, but at least I didn’t name her Beelzebub or Shehamforash (tho no offense who do; just sayin’).

Ancient Greek Podcast

A quick post - I found series of video lectures titled Introduction to Ancient Greek History by Yale professor, author and foremost Greek historian Donald Kagan.