Human-Bull hybrid

Human-Bull hybrid, Deity or a Priest wearing a bull skin and horns. I think animal calendar markers can help us figure out who is depicted on this Indus Valley civilisation seal from Mohenjo-Daro, dated to 2600-1900BC, now in National Museum of Karachi (inv NMP 50,214)...

I will propose that this is either Proto Shiva, or one of his priests...And here I why I think so...

Shiva's Vahana (vehicle) is a bull...

But why is Shiva riding on a bull? 

To find answer to this question, we have to look at the climate in India. 

Indian climatic year is shaped by the monsoon winds...

It is the summer monsoon winds, which blow from Apr/May to Oct/Nov that bring moisture from the sea, and cause monsoon rains, which fall from Jun to Sep...For instance, here is the annual climatic chart for Varanasi...

These monsoon rains are the main source of water in Indian rivers...For instance, this is the annual water flow chart of the river Ganga, at Varanasi...

Interestingly 🙂 river Ganga is said to come out of the top of the head of Shiva...Shiva, whose symbol is lingam, penis...So out of the top of which head exactly?  🙂 The upper one or lower one? Oh, Look! Ganga is pouring out of Shiva's head on top of a lingam...So symbolic...

Now even more interestingly 🙂 , this divine ejaculation (spike in water flow) of the river Ganga starts in June...The middle of summer: Apr/May, May/Jun, Jun/Jul...Summer, whose symbol is Bull...Summer which starts in Taurus...I talked about it in my post "Symbols of the seasons"... 

Why is this part of the year marked by a bull? Because Apr/May is when Eurasian wild cattle, Aurochs, started calving...Hence bull/cow and calf symbolism we find everywhere linked to summer...And water...

Like in Mesopotamia...I talked about this in my post "Shamash young and old"...

And Egypt...I talked about this in my post "Cow and calf ivory"...

And Iran...I talked about this in my post "Elamite water bull"...

And Levant...I talked about this in my post "Mystery seal"...

And India...I talked about this in several of my posts, starting with my post "Kharif and Rabi season"

Kharif (wet) season (May to November)

Rabi (dry) season (November to May)

Based on the data about Zebu cattle, I would postulate that the wild Indian cattle, Indian aurochs, the ancestors of the Indian Zebu cattle, probably had earlier mating season, which started at the beginning of summer, and peaked in Jun, at the beginning of the monsoon season...

So in India, bulls ejaculated their semen when monsoon rain (heavenly semen) started to fall and gather into swelling rivers...Hence Shiva, whose symbol is a lingam, penis, riding on a bull with Ganga pouring out of his head...

I talked about this first in my post about Ardhanarishvara where I explain the meaning of the union of Shiva and Parvati (peak of the monsoon season Jul/Aug) and their Vahanas (bull=summer=May/Jun/Jul, lion=autumn=Aug/Sep/Oct). I talked about this in my post "Ardhanarishvara"...

And in my post "Modesty" about Lajja Gauri. Lord Shiva and Lady Parvati were having sex. Just when they were reaching their orgasms, they were interrupted by other Gods...Parvati picked a lotus and covered her face. And this is why she is called "Modesty"... 

And in my post "Fig with bulls" about this Indus Valley civilisation seal depicting (the) tree (of life), flanked by two bulls, neatly arranged in such a way as to shape Shiva's trident... 

You know, bulls, rain, tree of life...

BTW the tree is The Sacred Fig... 

And so I would suggest that before Shiva became Shiva, God riding on a bull, Shiva was deified bull, and then anthropomorphised deified bull...

And his priests probably danced around every Apr/May, just before the beginning of the rain season dressed in bull skins with bull horns on their heads, pretending to be holy bulls of rain...

We have exactly the same behaviour in Arizona. Different horns though...Different climate, different (deified) horned animals, different horns...

Alósaka/Muyingwa were two aspects of The Corn God of the Hopi pantheon: The God of Germination and The God of Growth (of corn). To understand why The Corn God was depicted with wild sheep horns, you need to look at animal calendar markers...I talked about this in my post "Alosaka"...

And in Europe...Article "Goat in European culture" about Ibex goat as an animal calendar marker imbedded in in European cultures and mythologies...Again, different climate, different (deified) horned animals, different horns... 

And in Iran, where rains arrive when wild Ibex goats begin to mate, in Oct/Nov...This is why Ibex was venerated in Iran, and this is why it is in Iran that we find the first Goat man...The earliest transition from Goat of rain to God of rain...I talked about this in my post "Goat petroglyphs from Iran"...

What is very interesting is that animal calendar markers prove that Hindu culture is indigenous culture of India, dating back all the way to Indus Valley civilisation. It developed around local climate, animals and agriculture...And only makes sense if viewed as such...

Of course Hinduism contains various imported bits too, but the core, the oldest part, is indigenous...

You can find all the posts talking about animal calendar markers hidden in Indian mythology if you run this query on my blog...

To read more about ancient animal and plant calendar markers, start here…then check the rest of the blog posts related to animal calendar markers I still didn't add to this page, and finally check my twitter threads I still didn't convert to blog post...I am 9 months behind now...

PS: I want to thank Gabriella Brusa-Zappellini for drawing my attention to this stamp...

The bitch of the gods

Figurine of spotted dog, Pakistan, Indus Valley, Chanhu-Daro, about 2600–1900 BC. currently in the Museum of Fine Art Boston 

In Indian mythology we find these 3 sisters: 

Saranyu "Wet Monsoon Wind", peaks Jul/Aug 

Sarasvati, "Monsoon Flood", also peaks Jul/Aug

Sarama, "The Bitch Of The Gods"????

Monsoon peaks Jul/Aug, during "Dog days" when "Dog star", Sirius, rises with the sun...I talked about this in my post "Tishtrya"...

Interesting right? "The Bitch Of The Gods" helps Indra (the rain god) to recover his stolen cows (euphemism for rain clouds)...

BTW, Indra rides on a white elephant. Indian elephants mating season peaks in Jul/Aug, Dog Days, peak of the monsoon season...

I talked about this in my post "Musth"...

Also interesting is that "The Bitch Of The Gods" is the mother of the two dogs that belong to Yama (the god of death). The dogs which guard the entrance into the underworld...

This is super interesting...Pariah dogs, the old dog breeds, mate during autumn (Aug,Sep,Oct) starting from Jul/Aug, Dog Days. Gestation lasts 60+ days, so pups are born (Oct,Nov,Dec)...

I talked about this in my post "Dog days"...

Guess what happens in Oct/Nov? Mating season of water buffalos begins...Which is why water buffalo was used as an animal calendar marker for Oct/Nov...

Now water buffalo is a very interesting animal calendar marker, because it is found in both Mesopotamia and India, where because of the opposite climates, it has opposite meaning...

In Mesopotamia, Oct/Nov is the beginning of the rain season, so there, water buffalo is a positive symbol associated with water...I talked about this in my post "Buffalo licking jar"...

In India, Oct/Nov is the beginning of the dry season, so there, water buffalo is a negative symbol associated with drought. I talked about this in my post "Mahishasuramardini"... 

So...."The Bitch Of The Gods" which marks Jul/Aug, the beginning of the mating season of the old breed Pariah dogs, gives birth to the dogs of Yama, the god of death, who rides on a water buffalo, right at the beginning of the mating season of water buffalos...

And these dogs guard the entrance into the land of the dead...Which is in the places where we have wet (fertile) and dry (infertile) season, associated with the dry season, which in India begins in Oct/Nov...

Which is where we find Yama Puja, which marks the border between Kharif (wet) and Rabi (dry) season in India. 

I wrote about this in my post "Kharif and Rabi season" about this amazing Indus Valley civilisation vase which depicts these two seasons using animal calendar markers...

Interesting...

BTW, one of the two Yama's dogs was called "Sharvara" which means "Spotty" 🙂

That's it...

To read more about ancient animal and plant calendar markers, start here…then check the rest of the blog posts related to animal calendar markers I still didn't add to this page, and finally check my twitter threads I still didn't convert to blog post...I am 9 months behind now...

Harappan wheel seal

A seal from the mature Harappan period, the time when the civilisation was at its peak (2600 BC to 1900 BC), which was discovered in Rajasthan few years ago...It depicts a bull, sacred fig leaf, a wheel and another symbol which looks like a rake...

The climatic year in Rajasthan consists of dry period (Nov-Apr) and wet, monsoon period (May-Oct)...

Just before the beginning of the wet season is the hottest part of the year in Rajasthan. This is when the sacred fig sheds its leaves only to regrow them again just when the first rains start...

The bull on the seal is Auroch, Eurasian wild cattle. The beginning of the wet season (end of April, start of May), falls in Taurus (Bull). I talked about this in my post "Ram and Bull". And the rain season basically covers the whole summer, which is symbolised by a bull. I talked about this in my post "Symbols of the seasons"

The wheel is very very interesting. Here it is on another cylindrical Indus Valley tablet. I talked about this artefact in my post "Musth"...

It symbolises sun and rain. It is the symbol of the sun god and the rain god. Of the sky god...Well it is in Slavic mythology where it is the symbol of Svetovid (sun god) and Perun (rain god). The rain season arrives in Rajasthan at the hottest part of the year...Interesting...

I have no idea what the rake means...Just before the rains start, in the middle of Taurus, is the driest part of the year. And the time when grain is harvested in Rajasthan...Does this rake has anything to do with harvest? No idea...

But Taurus was bloody important time of the year for Harappans...

Someone asked me "why refer to symbolism in Slavic mythology to explain all this?"

Because without Slavic mythology and folklore we wouldn't have been able to decipher any of it. The original keys were found in there...Why and how? Slavs seem to have preserved a lot of old stuff which they inherited from their many ancestors (look at their genes)...

Indian tradition has no explanation for any of this...