Mr Caws:
> I know I am on shaky ground with my mythological argument, but I
>have a good feeling about it. Veles, Volos, Vala are all 'horned god"
>types, related to the forest, the serpent, death. Veltha/Voltumna is
>so similar in both name and spheres of influence that I have to draw
>the connection. Veles and Volos are Slavic(and Baltic)and Vala
>appears to be old Indo-Iranian. While a Mid-East origin is possible,
>I haven't been able to find any similar names for comparison in the
>region yet.
I'm getting a vibe from this "Vel" thing too. There is also /Velchans/. If I
didn't know any better, I'd almost say that there was a chthonic deity with
a name beginning with "Vel"/"Pel"/"Bel", worshipped in Eastern Europe at a
preIE date. Perhaps the god, if it existed, was a *PerkWnos-like deity. But
if true, I can't help but notice the connection between Semitic *Ba`lu- in
both function and phonetics. I know it's a wild connection but damned if I'm
not drawn to it...
> The sky division thing is intriguing.
Yes. Sixteen is four times four. Since sixteen is a rather complex number, I
would presume that the concept arose out of a simpler concept of four
divisions. Later, each quarter would be divided into four parts in turn,
giving sixteen parts. But if each division represents a realm of a deity,
wouldn't that mean that there were originally only four main deities
involved in this? What deities would they be? Would they something along the
lines of a Zeus-Hera-Ares-Aphrodite quartet? In Etruscan terms, perhaps
Tins-Menerva-Velchans-Turan? Actually, I want to make a seperate post that
would relate these four gods, tanism, trinity, the number seven, 5500 BCE
and the Minoan "snake goddess" symbolism all in one go, but it's late and
I'm sleepy.
Drink another Mountain Dew on me.
- gLeN
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