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Shennae Davies's avatar

maybe we learned to partake in rituals and tell complex stories through those rituals from our brother and sister hominid species wherever we ended up. maybe we influenced their culture and vice versa. everyone likes a yarn. we developed the capacity for language alongside them and we shared stories and rituals together in deep time.

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neanderthal paganism's avatar

well said, but are they a different species, or are they us?

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Shennae Davies's avatar

depends on the hominid because some of them successfully interbred with archaic modern humans where others didn't make it long enough to meet us. the ones where they did get to meet us, i think of them as half-siblings to homo sapiens where others are more like our distant cousins

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Witchsmith's avatar

A superb piece of writing. Interesting to think that the light shining into New Grange could easily be seen as a deity. Today, Gods are rarely imagined as underworld Gods, and as we fill our lives and cities with light from screens, street lamps, cars, and modern mirrors, we have become less spiritual in the modern world. Churches today still rely on dark recesses and candles, reflecting the impression of a cave. Here's to more darkness!

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neanderthal paganism's avatar

Exactly 🌌 and thank you.

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Indiana Alive!'s avatar

You are so right! I long for the darkness of a darkmoon night! Backlighting has taken away so much of the brighness of the planets and stars that our ancestors saw.

I read that Venus shone brightly into Newgrange at certain times... heralding her pentaginal path across the sky every 8 years. Perhaps the ancients built Newgrange in honour of the "new" planet in our Underworld maybe at the end of the Younger Dryas...? She was seen with "long hair" - a trail of debris from when she was catapulted from the Asteroid belt way back when.

The Sun apparently emits dark rays. I find this facinating!

Too much light has dulled perspectives seen - like the dimensionality of the constellations seen in the night sky long ago. I have experienced this once only at a remote setting between high mountains far ftom any town or city... Each constellation I could see in perspective - some were closer than others like told about in the Zodiac... I also could see their home in the Milkyway Galaxy seen side on and the Asteroid Belt clearly.

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Indiana Alive!'s avatar

A truly brilliant article!Thank you! Your research is inspjring!

I am writing about Aesclepius and see the parallels in him and his symbology as you have seen in so much else! I loved reading Jean Auel's 'Earth Children Series' and her work came to my mind and Plato's Cave, too. Through your article I am seeing the depth of the cave in new light. Fredy Silvaand Peter Kingsley helped me to understand the cave's deeper meaning to the ancients as well.

I have just received a news letter from the Megalithamania team all about the French palaeolithic caves...Lascaux in France included... so caves, bears and ritusl in caves have been on my mind for months ... as well as Cappadocia in Turkey and the many underground cities in this area as we had a studentfrom Istanbul staying with us from a village near Cappadocia! The end of the Younger Dryas and what happened during this time period had a pivotal impact on the psyche of humanity and the religions that evolved thereafter! The cave and underground became vital over 1200 yesrs ago for the survival of our species... Thank you for deepening my perspective of this time! Big appreciation.

Diana van der Westhuizen. (westindiana@gmail.com)

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neanderthal paganism's avatar

Thanks Diana! Good luck with your research.

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Witchsmith's avatar

I've seen the constellations and Milky Way spread out only when I camped in central France near the Dourdogne. Absolutely wonderful, there's no need for a phone when you have that every night, get a campfire, join your friends look at the stars and make up stories about what you see there. That same holiday I went to the Lascaux cave near Montignac. It was primal, I tell thee!

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LCFNS Lucifer Nostra Salus's avatar

I cannot even imagine how terrible and hopeless life must have been before the advent of Christianity. All those dinosaurs, Australopithecus, Neanderthals, Egyptians and Chinese didn't know Jesus. How could they have been happy at all? Where did they get their morals from? Are they all in hell or purgatory now?

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SocraticGadfly's avatar

No, but Jung influenced himself to believe that he was "The Aryan Christ," per Richard Noll's book. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3005795773

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neanderthal paganism's avatar

bro cited his own goodreads review

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SocraticGadfly's avatar

What else would I cite to explain what a book about the truth about Jung is about?

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Sep 10
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neanderthal paganism's avatar

Neanderthals are not a different species — but one of our archaic ancestors. There is an unbroken line of inheritance from the Stone Age to our current religious traditions.

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Sep 10
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neanderthal paganism's avatar

The evidence is in the overlapping tales and traditions of unknown origin from across the northern hemisphere. Their archetypes are observable in the Neanderthal sites.

For specifics, refer to the articles.

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