People from every part of the world, every culture, race or tribe, have believed and practiced magic for time immemorial.

Every culture in the world has defined what is sacred and what is profane to them. The definitions have expanded as also eroded with time.

The sex of godhood has always been an interesting issue, explored from time to time. As is the characteristic of the gods of polytheism, there have been male gods and female gods, and some, like Moon, are sometimes masculine and sometimes feminine.

Horses have been deified in many parts of the world. In the Japanese Shinto temples a sacred horse was maintained. Roman historian Tacitus records that in some parts of Northern Europe snow-white horses were reared at a sacred grove and never used for riding. When the king or the priest yoked them to the sacred chariot, their neighing and snorting were carefully observed and the will of God inferred from it… Many cultures believed that white horses knew the plans of the heavenly powers. The druids, as also the Persian magi, were said to practice divination by means of white horses.

Myths regarding divinity — right from the most archaic exemplars of culture to the most complex and sophisticated thoughts — are amazing spiritual creations. When it comes to deities, gods, goddesses and celestial beings of different types, diverse aboriginal cultures reflect remarkable archetypal contents. The concept of divine twins is one of them.

Pitru Paksha, or the fortnight for ancestors, has just gone by. It’s a time when thousands of Hindus, the world over, as we know, remember their forefathers and perform sacred rituals for their souls to rest in peace.

The symbolic significance of trees and vegetation in religious life, including the framework of the sacred, has been common to every civilisation. It has been used in all possible forms, be it “marriage,” cosmology, myth, theology, ritual, iconography, or folklore.

Our rivers remain symbolic of the purifying quality of water and flowing water, in general. Like fire, flowing water is believed to be a natural purifying element, containing intrinsic powers, especially when in motion.

They aren’t Gods. But, they’re closer to Him than us, Earthly beings. They are the divine spirits, or God’s associates. They populate the worlds of all tribal societies in the form of spiritual beings, minor divinities, or various godlings.

The concept of tribal spiritual worlds co-existed with the concept of God. At times, because the Spiritual Universe intermingled with the physical, it became difficult, or even unnecessary, to separate them.

Sacred stones, like rivers, plants, the sky, the Earth and other natural elements, have been considered holy since time immemorial.