Pillars of the Ancestral Tradition

The Pillars of the Ancestral Tradition are the major themes shared between the Ancient Religions that appear to descend from a common source (that is, Celtic, Norse, Greek, Vedic, Sumerian, and Egyptian religions, and their respective relatives and descendants, such as Abrahamic Tradition).

• Identifying The Major Themes of the Ancestral Tradition
• Major Themes and Motifs

Identifying The Major Themes of the Ancestral Tradition

While these pillars of the Ancestral Tradition are speculative by their very nature (we are dealing with mythology and theology after all) their manner of identification is sound. Within the various mythologies (the most prominent of which are mentioned above) we see certain themes repeated with a high degree of both consistency and alacrity.

In addition, we also have a definitive etymological relationship in many cases. For example, we have the goddess Danu and her tribe (the Danaans, Tuath De, or Tuatha De Danaan) described in Ireland. Thousands of kilometers to the east, the ancient Vedic people also told the same story around 2000 BCE when they entered India about a goddess Danu and her offspring, the Danavas.

In this case, the relationship between language and tradition is obvious.

Similarily.

The Major Themes

The Creation of the Universe

The Flood Myth

Gods Born From A Cosmic Egg

Full Article: Gods Born From A Cosmic Egg

Elongated Human Lifespan

[Full Article: Legends of Immortality and Elongated Human Lifespan]

Legends of people with elongated lifespan — both immortals themselves, whether they be gods, demons, or other supernatural beings, as well as humans who achieved, or were given, life-everlasting. These represent different classifications of this type of story that we can make.

In the Bible (specifically the Hebrew Bible / Old Testament) the Jews remembered a time when humans lived longer. (Specifically, the ancient ancestors of the Hebrews.) The line in Genesis/Bereshit reads:

“”

The Jews record a tradition were their ancestors live for hundreds of years. However, these Jewish legends are based on Sumerian and Akkadian traditions, such as those found in the Sumerian King List. In these records, the Sumerians remember a time when the

A curious passage from the Tirtha-yatra Parva (Book 3, Varna Parva, CXLII), Lomasa tells the eldest Pandava brother Yudhishthira that “in days of yore, there was (once) a terrible time in the Satya Yuga when the eternal and primeval Deity [Krishna] assumed the duties of Yama. And, O thou that never fallest off, when the God of gods began to perform the functions of Yama, there died not a creature while the births were as usual.” [1]

This led to an increase in the population and the Earth sinking down “for a hundred yojanas. And suffering pain in all her limbs.” The earth sought the protection of Narayana, who incarnated as a boar (Varaha) and lifted her back up. [1]

In this Vedic myth we have the interesting reference to both humanity not dying (i.e. living longer lifespans) as well as to people being born with unusual features (flaws) or perhaps, depending on how it is read, born in unnusual ways. I am going to assume the former, because it makes more sense. This is interesting because Krishna is the incarnation of Shiva, and Shiva is a form of Mithra and Varuna, the gods who are associated with Enki who in Sumerian literature created humanity. In his creation, there were numerous attempts which created unusual, flawed humans.

This also mentions a burgeoning of the Earths population, which dwindled after the Great Flood cataclysm.

Resources

1. Wikipedia Editors. Yama. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yama. Accessed 8 June 2024.