neanderthal paganism
@milbel.bsky.social
Writing about the origins of religious thought, prehistoric ritualism, mythology, and pre/perinatal psychology.
Articles here ➡️ milbel.com
Articles here ➡️ milbel.com
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neanderthal paganism
@milbel.bsky.social
· Nov 13
Symbols repeat across cultures because they’re older than any civilization we know.
Reposted by neanderthal paganism
If I had to explain magic to an alien life form I would tell them about nature.
“Our natural magic is but the ancient religion of the world—the ancient worship of nature.”
―W.B. Yeats
―W.B. Yeats
December 8, 2025 at 7:03 PM
If I had to explain magic to an alien life form I would tell them about nature.
"The honor that was to console a man in death must have a compelling force—not only to beget songs, but also to beget a successor in whom the honor shone out anew."
―Vilhelm Grönbech, The Culture of the Teutons (1931) #MythologyMonday
―Vilhelm Grönbech, The Culture of the Teutons (1931) #MythologyMonday
December 8, 2025 at 3:33 PM
"The honor that was to console a man in death must have a compelling force—not only to beget songs, but also to beget a successor in whom the honor shone out anew."
―Vilhelm Grönbech, The Culture of the Teutons (1931) #MythologyMonday
―Vilhelm Grönbech, The Culture of the Teutons (1931) #MythologyMonday
Reposted by neanderthal paganism
🏺🏛️ Witham shield, Middle Iron Age, River Thames
(pic taken at British Museum)
(pic taken at British Museum)
December 8, 2025 at 3:00 PM
🏺🏛️ Witham shield, Middle Iron Age, River Thames
(pic taken at British Museum)
(pic taken at British Museum)
death is a journey toward the mother, just as birth is a departure from her
December 8, 2025 at 2:07 PM
death is a journey toward the mother, just as birth is a departure from her
“Religious creativity was stimulated, not by the empirical phenomenon of agriculture, but by the mystery of birth, death and rebirth.”
December 2, 2025 at 8:23 PM
“Religious creativity was stimulated, not by the empirical phenomenon of agriculture, but by the mystery of birth, death and rebirth.”
1 year of neanderthal paganism ❤️
November 27, 2025 at 5:06 PM
1 year of neanderthal paganism ❤️
Reposted by neanderthal paganism
Sunset at the Waen Oer (cold moor) stone row
November 22, 2025 at 12:22 AM
Sunset at the Waen Oer (cold moor) stone row
Myth is the archaeology of the mind.
November 20, 2025 at 7:57 PM
Myth is the archaeology of the mind.
“The ancient Pythagoreans called the two Bears the Hands of Rhea, and the wandering planets the Hounds of Persephone, Queen of the Underworld.”
November 18, 2025 at 6:05 PM
“The ancient Pythagoreans called the two Bears the Hands of Rhea, and the wandering planets the Hounds of Persephone, Queen of the Underworld.”
“Our natural magic is but the ancient religion of the world—the ancient worship of nature.”
―W.B. Yeats
―W.B. Yeats
November 17, 2025 at 7:32 PM
“Our natural magic is but the ancient religion of the world—the ancient worship of nature.”
―W.B. Yeats
―W.B. Yeats
Were the ancients ignorant in canonizing the fetal drama as a mythological archetype, or humbly reverent and curious before creation?
November 17, 2025 at 7:31 PM
Were the ancients ignorant in canonizing the fetal drama as a mythological archetype, or humbly reverent and curious before creation?
Reposted by neanderthal paganism
Symbols repeat across cultures because they’re older than any civilization we know.
November 13, 2025 at 4:09 PM
Symbols repeat across cultures because they’re older than any civilization we know.
Showing my family what I’ve worked on this year (they don’t care)
November 12, 2025 at 9:14 PM
Showing my family what I’ve worked on this year (they don’t care)
Reposted by neanderthal paganism
Get outside. And hopefully North of a major urban light center
November 12, 2025 at 2:40 AM
Get outside. And hopefully North of a major urban light center
“Our lives are like the wind, or like sounds. We come into being, resonate with each other, then fade away.”
―Hayao Miyazaki
―Hayao Miyazaki
November 11, 2025 at 5:07 PM
“Our lives are like the wind, or like sounds. We come into being, resonate with each other, then fade away.”
―Hayao Miyazaki
―Hayao Miyazaki
The fairy-tale worldview is Neanderthal.
The folklorists were simply the first to write it down.
The folklorists were simply the first to write it down.
November 11, 2025 at 5:06 PM
The fairy-tale worldview is Neanderthal.
The folklorists were simply the first to write it down.
The folklorists were simply the first to write it down.
By the third trimester, fetuses achieve REM sleep, unconsciously logging the earliest memories that will inform their dreams forever.
November 10, 2025 at 7:55 PM
By the third trimester, fetuses achieve REM sleep, unconsciously logging the earliest memories that will inform their dreams forever.
Reposted by neanderthal paganism
Citizens of the Land of Mushrooms, C20th lithograph.
November 9, 2025 at 9:37 AM
Citizens of the Land of Mushrooms, C20th lithograph.
Every Northern culture shared this common idea: the bear's retreat into the earth promises rebirth in spring.
November 9, 2025 at 8:55 PM
Every Northern culture shared this common idea: the bear's retreat into the earth promises rebirth in spring.
Scholars assume indigenous cultures were passive recipients of European stories rather than the bearers of their own rooted mythological traditions.
The argument for common Paleolithic inheritance 👇
open.substack.com/pub/milbel/p...
The argument for common Paleolithic inheritance 👇
open.substack.com/pub/milbel/p...
The Bear’s Son Tale: A Neanderthal Legacy
The world's most widespread folktale may echo a shared ancestral memory.
open.substack.com
November 7, 2025 at 5:21 PM
Scholars assume indigenous cultures were passive recipients of European stories rather than the bearers of their own rooted mythological traditions.
The argument for common Paleolithic inheritance 👇
open.substack.com/pub/milbel/p...
The argument for common Paleolithic inheritance 👇
open.substack.com/pub/milbel/p...
Reposted by neanderthal paganism
Forest in Late Autumn,
Caspar David Friedrich, 1835.
Caspar David Friedrich, 1835.
November 7, 2025 at 6:08 AM
Forest in Late Autumn,
Caspar David Friedrich, 1835.
Caspar David Friedrich, 1835.
Neanderthals buried their dead in the fetal curl, returning them to the “womb” for rebirth.
Bodies faced the rising sun. Caves became tomb-temples—thresholds between worlds.
#LegendaryWednesday
Bodies faced the rising sun. Caves became tomb-temples—thresholds between worlds.
#LegendaryWednesday
November 5, 2025 at 10:05 PM
Neanderthals buried their dead in the fetal curl, returning them to the “womb” for rebirth.
Bodies faced the rising sun. Caves became tomb-temples—thresholds between worlds.
#LegendaryWednesday
Bodies faced the rising sun. Caves became tomb-temples—thresholds between worlds.
#LegendaryWednesday
Ancestors blend into a single form to protect their descendants.
Trees die and become the mycelial networks that protect their descendants.
Paganism is nature.
Trees die and become the mycelial networks that protect their descendants.
Paganism is nature.
November 5, 2025 at 6:16 PM
Ancestors blend into a single form to protect their descendants.
Trees die and become the mycelial networks that protect their descendants.
Paganism is nature.
Trees die and become the mycelial networks that protect their descendants.
Paganism is nature.