/lit/ - Literature

>>13816199
earliest known isn't really much of an indication since those texts were passed down/transcribed much later than estimated dates of composition. Most scholars agree though that shramanism was a distinct development arising out of India during the Vedic era. The most likely scenario was that the shramana movement was a Harrappanian synthesis that diffused into the vedic substrate (which was much more influential in the subcontinent at the time) and traces were therefore apparent in the main Hindu text (for example the rig veda barely mentions them in a few verses making them distinct from the sacrificial priest hierarchy, while in the Upanishads they occupy a more important role).

>>9705462
>What do you know about Kali?
Aspect of Shakti. Goddess of time and change. Destroyer of demons and the fake ego. Representator of kundalini and its potential danger, seen in the myth of her dancing on Shiva so as to not destroy the universe. Often called a mother, which is something you wouldn't guess from her looks.

My own experience with her and the stuff above makes me think she's in particular related to ending the repetition compulsion.

>More a Vishnu than a Shiva.
Yes! And Vishnu feels like Apollo as well. They all feel like gods that came about with cities, unlike older more shamanic or animal gods.

>Shiva to me represents what is truly great in the world: Creative destruction.
Shiva finds a juncture with Wotan in asceticism. Dionysus doesn't have that aspect of the man who goes at it completely alone.

Another interesting connection is pic related, thought to be Shiva. This figure is seen a lot in far away places and this one in particular is from the ancient Indus Valley civilization. The earliest known depiction of a Siberian shaman (from 1692) also looks like this. This is how Pan and the Satyrs looked. This is Cernunos, one of the Celtic gods looked. Baphomet, the figure that was used to accuse the Templars, also is represented like this. And Veles, the enemy of the celestial Perun in Slavic myth, god of music, magic and cattle is also like this, and was used by Christianity as an approximation of the Devil.