Indo-European and Ancient North Eurasian cosmology - The World Tree and Hell

Watch above on Rumble or click to watch on Odysee or YouTube

Through comparative mythology we can reconstruct the earliest Indo-European beliefs about the cosmos and the afterlife as far as 6000 years back. but Indo-European religion has many features in common with Siberian and Native American religions. These three groups all share common ancestry from an ice-age population called Ancient North Eurasians, so we can even reconstruct cosmological beliefs of a Siberian people 20,000 years ago! This film helps you to understand the most ancient and fundamental pagan beliefs concerning death, the underworld and reincarnation.

 

ART

These four artists created original art for this video:

• Hell hounds / Wolf art / Gaulish warrior / Yamnaya couple / Hel and her army by Christian Sloan Hall 
• Sacrifice to the head in Hell / Yamnaya funeral by Graman  
• Wading through Hell by Jack Jones
• The World Tree in Hell by Pete Amachree (summer pudding)

The following artists also kindly contributed preexisting art for this video:

• Animations by Castor and Bollux animation
• Elf blot by Thomas Cormack
• Sky father by Andrew Whyte
• Celtic chariot by Alex Cristi
• Yamnaya facial reconstructions by Robert Molyneaux
• Primordial sacrifice by Johan Jernhed
• Hell tree / boat of souls / Hell hall by Waking of sky tree
• Haoma drinker (viraf's dream) by A Forest of Shadows Art & Illustration
• Hel by Leo Albiero (contact him at Leohjart@outlook.com)
• Bronze age map by Dan Kogosov

Additional Thanks

Readings contributed by voice actor D. W. Draffin of  'Study of Antiquity and the Middle Ages' on YouTube

Research information relating to *Kolyéh₂  from John of Crecganford on YouTube

Music

In order of use in the score

Tom May - Atlantis falling

Gvasdnahr - Through the Astral void 

Wolcensmen - Sunne (remix by Eternal Rik)

Saichaika - Musica Aeterna

Kevin MacLeod - Rites

Borg - The Dancing Forest

Chris Zabriskie - The_Theatrical_Poster_for_Poltergeist_III

Legionarii - Aristocracy

Andrew weis - scottish medieval

Kevin MacLeod - Enchanted journey

Bark sound productions - Forn

Bark sound productions - Eld

Rishi Shah - song IV - From Runes to Ruins

Borg - May queen enters the circle

Doug Maxwell - Bansure raga

Kevin MacLeod - Dhaka

Doug Maxwell - Arabian nightfall

JR Tundra - Shesh Pesh

Lorcán Mac Mathúna - Caoineadh Fherdia

Stewart Keller - flickers while the door creaks

Myling - Töcken

Xurious - Steppe expansion

Realization of a New Earth - I Think I Can Help You
Ormgård - Sjálfsforn

Chris Zabriskie - Virtues inherited

Altyn Tuu - Altai tuva mix

Mauerbrecher - Hunnic horde

Eagle song of the Hopi Indians

Sources

• Ara, M. ‘Eschatology in the Indo-Iranian Traditions: The Genesis and Transformation’...
• Anthony, David W.; Brown, Dorcas R. (2019). "Late Bronze Age midwinter dog sacrifices and warrior initiations at Krasnosamarskoe, Russia". In Olsen, Birgit A.; Olander, Thomas; Kristiansen, Kristian (eds.). Tracing the Indo-Europeans: New evidence from archaeology and historical linguistics. Oxbow Books. ISBN 978-1-78925-273-6. 
• Berresford-Ellis, P. ‘The Ancient World of the Celts’ Constable 1998  
• Dineley, M. 2014 ‘Beakers were for Beer! part one: ale, mead & residues’ 
• Dodge, Erick. (2020). Orpheus, Odin, and the Indo-European Underworld: A Response to Bruce Lincoln's Article “Waters of Memory, Waters of Forgetfulness"”. 10.13140/RG.2.2.15131.90402.  
• Grim, J. ‘The Shaman: Patterns of Siberian and Ojibway Healing’ 1983  
• Günntert, H. Kalypso. Bedeutungsgeschichtliche Untersuchungen auf dem Gebiet der indogermanischen Sprachen, 1919
• Lincoln, Bruce. (1982). Waters of Memory, Waters of Forgetfulness. Fabula. 23. 19-34. 10.1515/fabl.1982.23.1.19. 
• Lincoln, Bruce. Death, War, and Sacrifice: Studies in Ideology & Practice. 2nd ed. edition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1991. 
• Meyer, K ‘Der irische Totengott und die Toteninsel’ 
• Nihil obstat blog ‘The Silencing of St. Oran’ 2009  
• Okladnikov, A.P. ‘Yakutia Before Its Incorporation Into the Russian State.’ 1970 
• Pitulko, V., Pavlova, E., Nikolskiy, P., & Ivanova, V. (2012). The oldest art of the Eurasian Arctic: Personal ornaments and symbolic objects from Yana RHS, Arctic Siberia. Antiquity, 86(333), 642-659. doi:10.1017/S0003598X00047827 
• Saga Book XVI, Viking Society for Northern Research, UCL 1962-65  
• Schlerath, B. 1954. Der Hund bei den Indogermanen. Paideuma, Bd. 6, H. 1. pp. 25-40. Frobenius Institute Stable 
• Scholz, Herbert. The Hound in Greek-Roman magic and religion. Berlin. 1937 (p. 51)

PAGAN FUTURES - Talks, photos and Key points

The playlist below contains the talks of Dr. Borja Vilallonga and myself, Tom Rowsell, as well as the live musical performances by Wolcensmen and the Q and A panel session with the three of us interacting with the audience.

Several people have requested that I post the summary of the core assertions of pagan belief from the talk as text for people to refer to. To reiterate them simply; 

• We revere nature as a path to the divine and therefore require access to sacred natural spaces 
• We revere death as a path to the divine and therefore reject any ideology that seeks to escape death
• We revere our bodies as a gift from the gods - which were created according to divine will and are therefore neither incomplete nor imperfect - but must be maintained and kept healthy and strong 
• We believe that the diversity of mankind is a manifestation of divine will, not a problem to be overcome - and that to approach the divine we must follow the example of our own ancestors, revering the sacred spaces of our own ancestral homelands in order to become closer to the gods of our ancestors
• We must therefore live in accordance with our own ancestral laws and customs

My talk "Pagan Tradition in a Globalized Future" is also available on Odysee and several podcasting websites.