Croesus

This is Croesus, the last Lydian king. In 546 BC, he misunderstood the prophecy from Delphi, which said that "If Croesus attacked the Persians, he would destroy a great empire". Croesus went to war with Persia which ended up with the destruction of his empire...

Apart from being famous for his disastrous prophecy interpreting abilities, Croesus was also famous for minting the earliest known gold coins known as "Croeseids". They always depicted lion and bull in this pose, and the meaning of this scene is still debated... 

Finally, Croesus was also famous for the fact that no one knows what actually happened to him after he was captured by the Persian king Cyrus the Great...

In the version of the story written by Bacchylides, Croesus tried to commit suicide, by burning himself on a pyre. But at the last moment Zeus sent the storm with rain which extinguished the fire, and then Apollo took Croesus to the Hyperboreans where he lived happily ever after

In the version written by Herodotus, Cyrus captured Croesus and ordered for him to be burned to death on a pyre. But at the last moment, Croesus was saved from death by Apollo who sent a violent storm with rain which extinguished the flames. Cyrus then made Croesus his advisor..

The fact that we don't know how Croesus ended up on the pyre and what happened to him after he was saved, is not that interesting (to me at least). What is interesting (to me at least) is who and how saved him...

In the Bacchylides' version, Zeus, the God of Thunder, sends the rainstorm which extinguishes the flames. But in the Herodotus' version, it is Apollo who sends the rainstorm which extinguishes the flames...A weird thing for a Sun god to do...

A lot of people say that Herodotus was "known" to have written crap...But maybe not. Maybe Herodotus just had access to information other Greeks didn't...

Homer pictures Apollo on the side of the Trojans, fighting against the Achaeans, during the Trojan War. Believe or not the Hittite records, which called Troy "Wilusa", identify Trojan tutelary deity as a god named Appaliunas (A-ap-pa-li-u-na-aš), usually identified as Apollo...

Now there is a recently translated Hittite document which talks about a peace contract made between Hittite king Muwatalli and Wilusa king Alaksandu...The kings swear not to break the contract and list their deities as witnesses...

And in that document, one of three gods guaranteeing the terms of the treaty on the side of Alaksandu is A-ap-pa-li-u-na-aš who was described as the "Storm-god of the Army"...

Well, I guess, a storm god could easily send a rain storm to extinguish the flames of the Croesus' pyre...Right?

You know how you always wandered (well I did anyway) why Greeks were so afraid of lyre playing Apolo? They weren't. They were afraid of A-ap-pa-li-u-na-aš...

The same way Serbs were afraid of Sveti Ilija Gromovnik (St Elijah the Thunderer), The Thundering Sun. Serbs celebrate him at the end of summer and beginning of autumn. The moment when summer (represented by a bull) ends and autumn (represented by a lion) begins. Lion and bull???

In Serbian folklore, St Elijah is a weird character indeed. He is both the sun god (Helios, Veles) and storm god (Zeus, Perun)...Like A-ap-pa-li-u-na-aš??? I talked about St Elijah in my article "Thundering sun god"

He gets so angry every year around his pattern day, 2nd of August, the hottest part of the year, called in the Balkans "Kresovi, Krijesovi" (fires), that he "wants to burn the world to cinder". Just like any real scary sun god would do...

But he doesn't...His wife/sister Ognjena Marija (Burning Mary, the ever hotter summer earth) calms him down...After St Elijah calms down, his wife turns to Blaga Marija (Mild, Kind Mary, the ever cooler autumn earth)... 

And right then, at the end of summer, beginning of autumn, the temperature starts to decrease and the first autumn rains arrive, the world is saved...By the way, Serbs believed that these rains were brought by St Elijah himself...As any decent thunder god would have done...Hence Elijah (Helios) "The Thunderer" (Zeus)...

Climate chart for Belgrade, Serbia...

In Serbian the expression "On vedri i oblači" means "he rules", "he has absolute control, absolute power". Literally this expression means "he makes the sky clear and cloudy"...

Originally the all powerful one was the Sky God...I talked about this in my article "The power of the thunder giant"

Was the original Apollo, "A-ap-pa-li-u-na-aš", before Greeks borrowed him from the Anatolians, one such god? The sun god + storm god = scary MF who can destroy your crops, dry out your wells, flood your houses, kill you with fire and lightning and disease? I believe so...

Finally, did you know that apparently no one knows what Croesus's name means??? Croesus comes from Latin Croesus, from Greek Kroîsos (the name has no further etymology)...

As i said he was famous for his gold, and for the pyre...Now Ancient Greek word for gold was χρυσός (kʰryː.sós)...Was this the root of his name? Golden king? Just misspelled???

At the same time Slavic word Kres, Krijes, Kris means "fire" but also "ritual summer solstice bonfire" representing the sun's fire...

Looks very much like Croesus's pyre...And sounds very much like Croesus...Probably a coincidence...

Musth

This is a very very interesting Indus Valley civilisation artefact. Official description: "TPlano convex molded tablet showing a female deity battling two tigers and standing above an elephant. A single Indus script depicting a spoked wheel is above the head of the deity"...

The interpretations of this artefact which are put forward all pretty much sum up to "We have no idea what we are looking at"...

So I would like to put forward my interpretation of this image to see if it makes sense to you guys...

First I would like to remind you of my article about the Assumption of Mary. In it I talked about all Eurasian and North African goddesses which either sit or stand on a lion, or arrive in a cart pulled by lions, or sit on a throne between lions...

In Serbia this goddess is preserved as St "Ognjena Marija" (Fiery Mary).


Middle of Leo, the moment of maximum heat in the northern hemisphere, is in Serbia known as St Elijah's day. St Elijah, the saint that "gets so angry at the world that he is about to burn it to cinder.

 Except he doesn't, because he is calmed by his wife Ognjena Marija (Fiery Mary)...The Lion (Leo) Lady...

I talked about Serbian Middle of August mythology in my posts "The thundering sun god", "Alidjun", "Ognjena Marija"

I proposed that all these images represent one thing: Virgo which starts when Leo ends...Mary. Fiery Mary...

The image of a woman standing or sitting between two lions specifically marks the moment when the Earth starts to increase its influence in the Sun-Earth system and the beginning of the cooling of the northern hemisphere. This happens in the middle of Leo...I talked about this in my post "Two Crosses"

The middle of Leo is difficult to represent visually. You can do it by depicting the woman as standing on the middle part of the lion's back, or standing or sitting between two lions...Which is exactly what we find...

Sun in the middle of Leo is on this illustration from a 17th century Persian Manuscript represented as a sun sitting between two lions.

So the woman standing between two lions (not tigers) on the Harrapan seal represents middle of Leo and the beginning of the cooling of the area of India and Pakistan where Indus River civilisation once flourished (Area 1 on the below map)...

The average temperature all over India starts dropping in the middle of Leo (July-August). The same is true for northwestern part...

Why is the "Goddess" standing on an elephant? Every year, during mating season, Asian elephant bulls develop a physiological condition called "musth"...

Musth occurs at the same time every year and peaks during wet season, monsoon season. And that season starts in June and ends in September. And yes, it peaks during Leo (July-August). Here is the precipitation for northwestern India....

Climate details for Indian subcontinent can be found in this article.

So the image depicted on the Indus Valley seal means: When Elephants go into mating season, in the middle of Leo, Earth will start to cool down, and Lady, Virgo, Yin, Mother Earth aspect of nature will start taking over...I talked about the Earth - Sun system in my post "Yin and Yang".

And the Lady is not standing between two lions for no reason either. Mating season of Asiatic lions starts in August, in Leo...

I talked about this in my post "Entemena vase". 

And what comes after Leo? Virgo of course...The lady that likes "riding on lions" or "riding on carts pulled by lions", or "standing between the lions"...

What about the "Indus Valley script symbol" above the scene? Well, middle of August, middle of Leo, is in Serbia known as day of Perun, the day of the thunder god. The bringer of rain. The scene on the seal depicts "middle of Leo, maximum heat, maximum rain"...And the wheel...

Interestingly, Serbian ritual folk songs talk about "Serbian old country, India". I talked about this in my post "Triglav, Trojan, Trinity, Trimurti"...

O yeah. Did you know that Indra, Hindu thunder god, arrives on Airavata, a white elephant which is also called "Abhra-Matanga" meaning "elephant of the clouds", "Naga-Malla" meaning "the fighting elephant" and "Arkasodara" meaning "brother of the sun"...

Interesting, right?

Minoan sacred marriage seal

This is a Minoan seal which is by archaeologist interpreted as a depiction of "hieros gamos" or the "sacred marriage".  

Hieros gamos ("holy marriage") is a sexual ritual that plays out a marriage between a god and a goddess, especially when enacted in a symbolic ritual where human participants represent the deities.

So who are the god and goddess depicted on this seal? And why are they depicted standing on top of a dog?

In my post "Ognjena Marija" I wrote about the holly marriage between Ognjena Marija (Fiery Mary) and St. Ilija Gromovnik (Elijah the thunderer). 

Ilija Gromovnik (Elijah the thunderer) is the Christianized Perun. But also he is the Christianized Helios, the old titan Sun God. 

In Slavic mythology, Ognjena Marija or the "Fiery Mary" is considered to be the sister of St Ilija Gromovnik and (or) wife of Perun. She is also known as Perunika.

Serbian folk tradition says that if it wasn't for Ognjena Marija, St Ilija Gromovnik, Perun, Thundering fiery sun would burn the whole world. 

The day on which St Eliah the thunderer is celebrated, the 2nd of August, used to be the known as Perun day. 

The period three days before and the three days after the 2nd of August, is in South Slavic tradition called Kresovi meaning Fires. This is the hottest part of the year in the northern hemisphere, the period of the burning heat. These are the dog days when the dog star Sirius is in the sky with the sun. 

In Serbian folk mythology, Ognjena Marija has been transformed into two female Christian characters: St Marina, known also as St Margaret and St Mary Magdalene.

If we look at the days on which people celebrate these two female saints, we can see that they mark the beginning and the end of Kresovi (the fire days):

30th of July. St Marina, St Margaret, Ognjena Marija
2nd of August. St Ilija the thunderer
4th of August. St Marija Magdalena, Blaga (kind, benign, mild, gentle) Marija

You can see that Serbian tradition Kresovi, the week of fire, starts with the fiery Marija and Ends with kind, benign, mild, gentle Marija. The 2nd of August, Perun day, the day of Ilios the thundering sun, is actually the hottest day of the year in the Balkans. All summer the sun has been burning in the sky. This is the time of wild fires and drought. Everyone is praying for the first big thunderstorms to arrive and save the land from being burnt to cinder. And this is what Ognjena Marija delivers. In Serbia there is a saying: "Od svetog Ilije sunce sve milije" which means "From St Ilija the sun starts getting kinder, milder, gentler". The first part of the 2nd of August is considered to be Summer and the second is considered to be Autumn. And this is what the transformation of Marija from Ognjena (Fiery) to Blaga (kind, benign, mild, gentle) represents, The end of summer and beginning of autumn.

The reign of the sun (Yang, Light, Heat, Dryness, Male principle) is ending and the right of the earth (Yin, Darkness, Cold, Wetness, Female principle) is beginning. 

Basically the god and goddess are Father Sky and Mother Earth...

Is this what the above Minoan seal represents?