☀️The Sun Riders☀️

16 Feb 2022 21:50

This poem is my own creation and is in reference to the Scythian worship of "Scythian Ares", as Herodotus put it, which the Scythians would sacrifice prisoners of war to, pouring their blood on an iron sword. This deity I believe is Mihr or Mithras, due to his association with the sword and its esoteric meaning. Targitaos being their equivalent to Hercules or Indra, a god of great strength.

-Kalin, The Sun Riders
@solarcult

☀️The Sun Riders☀️

14 Feb 2022 16:32

Some good news:

I’ve been notified that SOME hardcover orders have already begun shipping, after only a few days, despite the site saying “usually ships in 3-4 weeks.”

I’m sure this will vary depending on your country and region and the 3-4 weeks could still apply in some places.

- O’Gravy

☀️The Sun Riders☀️

13 Feb 2022 17:14

📚 New Book-Review!

Taliesin's Map: The Comparative Guide to Celtic Mythology by @solarcult

Read here:

https://thegoldenone.se/2022/02/13/taliesins-map-the-comparative-guide-to-celtic-mythology/

☀️The Sun Riders☀️

09 Feb 2022 14:01

Ledberg Runestone

An interesting example of runic magic or a possible “galdr” (chant) of sorts can be observed in an 11th century stone in Sweden.

The main body of text is a Younger Futhark memorial to the carver’s father, Thorgautr (Thor-goth). The inscription then ends in the following charm:

ᚦᛘᚴ ᛬ ᛁᛁᛁ ᛬ ᛋᛋᛋ ᛬ ᛏᛏᛏ ᛬ ᛁᛁᛁ ᛬ ᛚᛚᛚ ᛬
þmk : iii : sss : ttt : iii : lll :

The first set of 3 letters correspond to the first 3 letters of a sequence of words. The final triplets are then the remaining letters in those words, yielding

>þistill, mistill, kistill
>thistle, mistletoe, casket

This formula, referred to as the Thistle Mistletoe Formula, is found in identical form in Denmark as well. The exact use of the formula isn’t known, but it is known that mistletoe was a sacred plant in pagan times. Pliny the Elder for instance recounts sacrifices by druids in oak grooves heavy in mistletoe, mistletoe is also the plant that kills Baldr, as a few examples.

-Hariwulfaz, The Sun Riders
@solarcult

☀️The Sun Riders☀️

01 Feb 2022 12:03

The River Lethe and Reincarnation in Greco-Roman Mythology

Lethe, the river of forgetfulness, is one of the five rivers of the underworld in Greco-Roman mythology; Lethe was also the name of the personification of forgetfulness and oblivion, with whom the river was often associated. The shades of the dead were required to drink the waters of the Lethe in order to forget their earthly life: in the Aeneid, in book VI, Virgil writes that it is only when the dead have had their memories erased by the Lethe that they may be reincarnated.

"Spirits they are, to whom second bodies are owed by Fate, and at the water of Lethe’s stream they drink the soothing draught and long forgetfulness." (Aeneid, VI, 714-715)

This allows us to understand how the concept of reincarnation was present in the ancient Indo-European cultures outside of the Eastern paths.

- Patrick, The Sun Riders
@solarcult

☀️The Sun Riders☀️

27 Jan 2022 06:00

'Through these stories, (Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus, Lucretia, Publius Horatius Cocles, Gaius Fabricius) we gain a glimpse of how the Romans saw their ancestors and themselves. Early Rome was held up as a golden age, whose people embraced a simple lifestyle uncorrupted by excessive luxury. From this virtuous life, they won divine favour and drew the strength in adversity that gave Rome superiority over its neighbours. Later generations were taught to emulate and surpass their heroic forebears. It was this emulation that helped to drive the Republic’s expansion, which brought wealth into Rome on a previously unimaginable scale. And as the Republic finally collapsed into chaos and civil war, it was moral decline and the loss of ancestral virtue that the Romans invoked to explain their fate.'

David M. Gwynn on the Roman Republic (Gwynn, 2012, ‘The Roman Republic: A Very Short Introduction’)

(Image: Cincinnatus leaving the plow to make laws in Rome - Juan Antonio Ribera)

☀️The Sun Riders☀️

23 Jan 2022 10:32

"O Jupiter, it was thy omen that directed me when I laid here on the Palatine the first foundations of my City. The fortress is already bought by a crime and in the possession of the Sabines, whence they are come, sword in hand, across the valley to seek us here. But do thou, father of gods and men, keep them back from this spot at least; deliver the Romans from their terror, and stay their shameful flight! I here vow to thee, Jupiter the Stayer, a temple, to be a memorial to our descendants how the City was saved by thy present help."

(Livy, Ab Urbe Condita, Book I, Chapter 12)

@collispalatinus

☀️The Sun Riders☀️

22 Jan 2022 01:39

I want to take this chance to thank everyone who has shared my book announcement around and those who have supported the work we do here by seeking out a copy. I am blessed that so many have helped me make this release successful and have understood its purpose.

Thanks to the overwhelming support I’ve received, Taliesin’s Map has been the #1 New Release in both the Comparative Religion and Paganism categories every day this week on Amazon.

The first week sales surpassed all of my expectations. This tells me that people are fully awake to the need for this sort of research into the foundations of Celtic paganism.

I am thrilled that more people will now be tackling this subject matter and learning long lost truths about the Celtic and Indo-European gods.

I’d also like to express sincere gratitude to those who took the time to leave reviews, as these help others to discover the book and its message on into the future.

Amazon USA link: https://tinyurl.com/3dmra3kx

- O’Gravy, The Sun Riders
@solarcult

☀️The Sun Riders☀️

19 Jan 2022 17:25

The important point I took away from this quote that a good friend shared with me, is that you need to follow the traditions of your own ancestors.

'These are principles which were obtained from Hermes, who commanded man to abide by the laws of his fathers and ancestors, and to avoid alien practices.'

Make your ancestors proud!

☀️The Sun Riders☀️

17 Jan 2022 17:11

I’ve been working on a blog for the last two years with the goal of making Celtic myth (and myths of other cultures) more clear and understandable.

Many people have asked me for a physical book version of the blog so they don’t have to read so much on a screen.

Today is the day.


Taliesin’s Map: The Comparative Guide to Celtic Mythology

Amazon USA link: https://tinyurl.com/3dmra3kx
Amazon UK: https://tinyurl.com/525vnavd
Amazon Canada: https://tinyurl.com/bdcmedxf
(please search the title and author in your country’s Amazon site if not listed)

The paperback edition is OUT NOW and a hardcover version (with an alternate cover design) will be available in 3 weeks.

What you see on the blog is what you will get in print, with a few added footnotes (and no index). It is the size of a textbook at 540 pages 7 x 10 in.

I make a lot of claims that this book has the most accurate interpretation of Celtic myth yet produced, digging down to the ancient theology underneath the myths, and I am aware that the information in it must, with great urgency, be spread among Celts and other Europeans interested in Indo-European religion. I am making this format available for those who would like a hard copy they can sit with, study, and teach others with.

The greater purpose of this book is to provide the one book people will need to begin accurately understanding the Celtic gods and seeing them in their proper relations to the gods of the other pantheons of Europe and India. Having all of this information in one place can provide a single clear entry point for practitioners of Celtic paganism and a shared understanding that can be built upon together.

This book furthermore sheds light on Germanic and Greek myths in turn. When properly understood, Celtic myth again and again provides missing pieces to the puzzles of these related branches.

Some of these puzzles will ONLY ever be solved by looking to what Celtic myth has preserved, just as most of Celtic myth can only be understood by looking at the other Indo-European branches. And so I urge people to hear what I am telling you, and to become familiar with the solutions I have made easily available here.

Although spending time studying this material is one of the most purely enjoyable things I’ve ever done, I don’t only do it for fun, but am driven by a burning obsession to improve the practical and theoretical understanding available to Celtic pagans.


The Celts are a sleeping giant. We must awaken to an understanding of our sacred lore at last and begin to do justice once again to what was the most prized possession of our ancestors.

⁃ O’Gravy, The Sun Riders
@solarcult

☀️The Sun Riders☀️

10 Jan 2022 06:00

On the Subject of Burial

How did our ancestors bury their dead, and how can we create pagan burial practices today?

-pagangmommy, The Sun Riders
@solarcult

☀️The Sun Riders☀️

09 Jan 2022 16:08

​We would like to recommend you a list of interesting channels dedicated to Tradition, northern mythology, history and aesthetics and beauty of European folks.

🇷🇺 @ODAL24 - The project is dedicated to the heritage of ancestors, history of Indo-European peoples, Pagan traditions, anthropology, aesthetics of Northern phenotypes and European landscapes. [Mostly in Russian].

🇷🇺 @ODAL_STORE - Store of the ODAL project, where you can buy goods of excellent quality.

🇷🇺 @THETRUENORTHERNER - Northern Aesthetics and Heathen Tradition of Europeans. Project by Odal.

@ARYOLOGIA - Channel exploring the scholarship of Indo-European Studies.

@SOLARCULT - The Sun is the Absolute. Worship the Gods. Venerate your Ancestors. Revere and build upon our sacred traditions. As above, so below. Seek Truth.

@SPBchannel - Channel dedicated to spreading awareness of survival techniques, bushcraft, hunting, camping, fishing, gardening, cooking, simple living, etc.

🇩🇪 @URppp - In this channel You will learn everything about holistic Thinking and the German Divine knowledge/Folkish Religion.

🇩🇪 @URqqq - Art is the intellectual creativity of a Folk. This channel is dedicated to the art of the Indo-Europeans.

🇩🇪 @URwww - Archive of important books on the subject of the previous channel UR - Gemeinschaft

🇩🇪 @GODEHH - Association for the promotion and care of the Folkish religion, which opens itself to all people who feel connected to the our traditions.

🇫🇮 @WAINOLA - The abode of Wäinämöinen • Finnic & Finno-Ugric religion, mythology, folklore, culture, and history (with emphasis on Finland & Karelia) — and occasionally other things • No conspiracy nonsense.

🇳🇱@TRIBALEUROPA - European Forts, Buildings, Statues, European History, Art & Culture, European Pride, Folk & Nature.

🇫🇷 @FOLKISHFRANCE - Folkish, historic & mythological info related to France.

🇫🇮 @KIRJOKANSI - Finnish Paganism. [Posts mostly in Finnish and Karelian, but lots of PDFs in English].

🇦🇹 @THULEANSUN21 - Nature and European Urfaith, Blood and Soil, Ancestral Heritage.

☀️The Sun Riders☀️

01 Jan 2022 15:00

Aurelian had just completed the reunification of the Roman Empire, returning from the victory over Queen Zenobia of the Kingdom of Palmyra, which he claimed was possible thanks to the auspicious vision of the sun god venerated in the Syrian city-state of Emesa.

Therefore, as described in the Divus Aurelianus of Historia Augusta, Aurelian brought the cult of the Sol Invictus in Rome, dedicating various games and festivities to him, erecting large temples endowed of great treasures in his honour and entrusting him with a priestly body.

- Patrick, The Sun Riders
@solarcult

☀️The Sun Riders☀️

29 Dec 2021 19:01

An interesting article to contribute to the conversation regarding the date of Jól/Jul/Yule in Pre-Christian Scandinavia.

- Grief, the Sun Riders
@solarcult

☀️The Sun Riders☀️

25 Dec 2021 11:14

The Cult of Sol Invictus

https://telegra.ph/The-cult-of-Sol-Invictus-12-23

Sol Invictus (Invincible Sun) was the most powerful god of light and life. It was also a religious appellation used for several deities in the late Roman Empire, such as Helios, Elagabalus, Mithras and Apollo, who ended up being assimilated, in the period of the Severan dynasty, within a solar monotheism.

- Patrick, The Sun Riders
@solarcult

☀️The Sun Riders☀️

16 Feb 2022 21:50

Scythian Scenes - An Original Poem

Pouring blood on the sword of Mihr
Riding with the Gods, covered in fear
Seething on the steppe of violence
Living off strength Targitaos lends

Milk and arrows, flow and fly
Even when our horses die
Clenching in the battle calm
Our swords in our palms

Enjoying their women with their mead
As virile as my violent, wild steed
Knowing their men were all dying or dead
To Mihr their Arms, To Mihr their heads

☀️The Sun Riders☀️

13 Feb 2022 20:36

Thank you to THE GOLDEN ONE for the thorough review!

- O’Gravy, The Sun Riders

☀️The Sun Riders☀️

11 Feb 2022 19:17

HARDCOVER edition now available

The 6th century legendary seer-poet Taliesin tasted the liquid of Inspiration and underwent a series of metamorphoses. This was the archetypal bardic initiation and as he changed shape he traced within himself the changes of the cosmic powers. He became the Knower whose words were a mythological map…

Amazon USA link: https://tinyurl.com/3nffvytz

Amazon Canada link: https://tinyurl.com/3c7d8dx2

Unfortunately, print on demand hardcovers are not available from Amazon UK.
This hardcover can be found on other European Amazon sites, however.


- O’Gravy, The Sun Riders
@solarcult

☀️The Sun Riders☀️

07 Feb 2022 19:16

Happy to see the book getting out into the world.

Link for those in the USA: https://tinyurl.com/4zwr3sed

UK: https://tinyurl.com/525vnavd

Canada: https://tinyurl.com/bdcmedxf

Get a copy on your country’s Amazon site.


Hardcover edition announcement to come this week.

- O’Gravy, The Sun Riders
@solarcult

☀️The Sun Riders☀️

31 Jan 2022 06:00

https://telegra.ph/Leshy-Personal-Experience-05-01

Leshy: Personal Experience

In this post I share with you my first personal experience with Leshy, his wrath and blessing.

-Daelendil, The Sun Riders
@solarcult

☀️The Sun Riders☀️

25 Jan 2022 22:11

Copper alloy inscription, from Arezzo, honouring Appius Claudius Caecus. Translated into English it reads:

Appius Claudius Caecus, son of Gaius.
Censor, consul twice, dictator, interrex three times.
Praetor twice, curule aedile twice, quaestor, military tribune three times.
He seized many Samnite towns.
He routed Sabine and Etruscan armies.
He forbade peace with King Pyrrhus.
As censor he paved the Appian Way and brought water into the city.
He built the temple of Bellona.

——————————————————

As well as highlighting political and military achievements, I find it particularly interesting the inscription ends by highlighting that Appius Claudius Caecus built a temple, emphasising the importance of religious virtue in Roman culture.

Owen, The Sun Riders
@solarcult

☀️The Sun Riders☀️

22 Jan 2022 19:25

Here are a few smaller channels which post content on similar topics to us that I would strongly recommend subscribing to:

Sigmund's Metaphysical Männerbund 🜨

Collis Palatinus

Vajrarāṣṭra

Himā-laya

Brute Norse

- Owen, The Sun Riders
@Solarcult

☀️The Sun Riders☀️

20 Jan 2022 14:01

The Color White

In Proto-Germanic and Proto-Indo-European (PIE) there were a number of different words for the color white, most stemming from words which meant “to shine”. Modern Spanish “blanco” actually comes from Proto-Germanic *blankaz (Modern English “blank”) likely via the Goths. *Blaikaz eventually became Modern English “bleach” (think: I bleached my hair).

The word “white” on the other hand stems from Proto-Germanic *hwītaz and has a more inconclusive origin from PIE, perhaps only sharing cognates with the Slavic languages. Interestingly, this word could also meaning “beautiful”, for instance, we find this in the following passage of the Poetic Edda in Old Norse: “Þá kvað þat Heimdallr, hvítastr ása”, in English: “Then Heimdall spake, whitest of the gods.” We see a similar theme presented in the Proto-Germanic word *fagraz and it’s descendants.

However, one PIE word of interest meaning white was *albʰós. This word is the root of the Modern English “albino”, ultimately from Latin albus (white). This root also existed in Proto-Germanic as a direct descendant of PIE *albʰós as *albiz. However, unlike other branches, this word took on a slightly different meaning, ultimately becoming the Modern English “elf” or Old Norse “alfar”. It is certainly curious that this class of deity took in this name in the Germanic branch, perhaps because our ancestors saw them as shining beings with pale complexions.

We can also see something similar in the Celtic branches of language, taking on the Proto-Celtic *albiyū. This word is ultimately the source of the mountain range Alps, as well as various ethnonyms such as the Hispano-Celtic Albiones peoples, the Old Irish Albu (Scotland), and also whence the Modern English Albany.

Hopefully this post provides a little insight into how linguistics can be very useful to reconstructionist pagans. The shifting meanings of words provide us insights into how our ancestors saw the world and themselves. We can track these changes in context and connotation, for instance, the change of the word white to mean a class of deities, in order to get a better understanding of what the Elves or Alfar were, in this example.

-Hariwulfaz, The Sun Riders
@solarcult

☀️The Sun Riders☀️

19 Jan 2022 17:19

The first exhortation of the Golden Verses of Pythagoras says: “First honor the immortal Gods, as is established and ordained by the Law.” Proclus has written a commentary on it and this is what he has to say about this exhortation: “The glorification of the Gods is effected by true belief in Them, and by doing good before Them; the true belief about Them is that They are good, and the givers of all things; that They do not cause evil; that They are not susceptible to change, because They are absolute, while change is a transition from something to something else, and that They are the Knowers of things that truly are, with a knowledge uncontaminated by falsehood.
Doing good varies according to the does and his position, and so for each different rank there are differences in sacrifices, incense, the use of pigs and wine, and festivals, and so on, and in this matter ancestral ruling is followed; this is what is meant by ‘Law.’ The reason why the rulings of the Law differ is that they conform to the difference among the minds, beliefs and habitations of men: the law of the Athenians was to sacrifice the pig and to make offerings of diluted wine, whereas the Egyptians refuse to sacrifice pigs. These are principles which were obtained from Hermes, who commanded man to abide by the laws of his fathers and ancestors, and to avoid alien practices. In accordance with the disposition of each nation of mankind and its ancestral rule, the usages established by the wise men regarding sacrifice, festivals and incense vary, and they trace back these principles to the Gods. This is why if any nation transgresses against its own custom, it perishes.
The Egyptians and the Greeks mingled their customs together, while some peoples think it appropriate to direct prayer toward the south, others to the north, and others in other directions, for the prescriptions of the law require the glorification of the Gods in accordance with the regulations laid down by the ancestors concerning the offering of sacrifices, incense, the directions of prayer, and so forth.”

☀️The Sun Riders☀️

16 Jan 2022 15:58

TOMORROW is the big day, the height of Yule. The second full moon of the Yule season rises tomorrow night and so many heathens, myself included, will be feasting and making offerings to Woden. The saga of Hakon the good reveals that originally there were three days of feasting and that you needed ale to last throughout! My hearth has only a one night feast of horse meat, during which we will make solemn Yuletide oaths concerning how we will improve ourselves by next winter.

☀️The Sun Riders☀️

09 Jan 2022 20:21

Goddess Cybele as Potnia Theron, mistress of the wild beasts. Discovered in Latium, 3rd century A.D. Archaeological Museum of Naples.

☀️The Sun Riders☀️

05 Jan 2022 05:46

Odin's Names

The many names or kennings of Odin can give hints into his many roles as a deity. Possibly leading to the conclusion that he is a composite of deities stemming from his Rudraic core, this article explores that possibility. With Odin probably being the most interesting deity of the Norse pantheon, he may have the attributes and myths of Pushan, Varuna and Agni.

- Kalin, The Sun Riders
@solarcult

https://telegra.ph/Odins-Names-01-04

☀️The Sun Riders☀️

30 Dec 2021 12:00

Prayer to Apollo

"Grant us, god of Thymbra, an enduring home; grant our weary band walls, and a race, and a city that shall abide; preserve Troy’s second fortress, the remnant left by the Greeks and pitiless Achilles! Whom should we follow? Whither do you bid us go? Where fix our home? Grant, father, an omen, and inspire our hearts!"

(Virgil, Aeneid, III, 85-9)

- Patrick, The Sun Riders
@solarcult

☀️The Sun Riders☀️

29 Dec 2021 19:01

Here's the obligatory annual repost (with attached update at the end) of my basic rundown of how the Old Norse lunisolar calendar worked, as exemplified by the pre-Christian Yuletide holiday (as per the masterly work laid down by Dr. Andreas Nordberg in his "Jul, disting och förkyrklig tideräkning: Kalendrar och kalendariska riter i det förkristna Norden" (2006).

But first a few words: Did the pagan Scandinavian Yuletide holiday coincide with the Winter Solstice? It's a common misconception, and the evidence for it isn't even that thick. On the other hand, our sources are fragmentary: It's clear that several later chroniclers, working from Christian ecclesiastical calendars, didn't always understand or care to explain the nuances of how the pagans determined their holy days. And so the result is simplistic and fragmented. But by far there is enough evidence to offer a very qualified attempt at reconstruction: If much of the content of their holidays eludes us, we are at least fairly certain -when- they celebrated them.

One of the ways Norse people used to reckon time was by means of an anstronomical, lunisolar system in which the lunar year (one month lasting one lunar cycle) is tied to the solar year. This attachment came at the winter solstice, but their calendrical rites were more likely determined by a regular interval of astronomically determined events that divided the year into four parts. Old Norse Jól, much as it's been since, was a prolonged period with many different events, activities, duties, taboos, and customs associated with it. In total spanning two months (Ylir and Jólmánuður respectively) culminating in a three day feast enclosing the full moon of the second Yule Month. In "our" modern calendar, this means the exact date will not be on the same date from one year to the next, but bounce back between to points in an interval, like every other date in the lunisolar year.

For the most satisfactory rundown, I'll refer to Nordberg's work (he also has a decent English summary). As for my own article on the matter, you can find it here:
https://www.brutenorse.com/blog/2017/12/norse-yuletide-sacrifices-had-almost.html

☀️The Sun Riders☀️

20 Dec 2021 06:01

https://telegra.ph/On-the-Subject-of-Reincarnation-05-14

On the Subject of Reincarnation

Reincarnation is a broad and well contested subject, here I seek to expand upon the understanding of it. If you would like to add to this then please join the discussion group here at The Sun Riders.

-Cormac Cás, The Sun Riders
@solarcult