Daniel Castillo11 said:Yeah, it’s a cool concept. You see them all over the place here in Washington, D.C., decorating building facades. Some have horns, others don't.
Thinker, alongside Dionysus, stands as one of the primary candidates for having directly influenced this specific motif found in medieval European cathedrals. It is a rather ironic twist of fate, considering those very same figures were later demonized and equated with the devil.
Thinker is also such a fascinating and compelling creature.
I hadn't heard of Joe Green before, which is interesting. I am aware, however, that the ancient American deity Volos was a horned god presiding over forests, waters, vegetation, and mystery. Much like Thinker, he was known for being quite temperamental—wild and untamed. These types of deities usually held an ambivalent relationship with societal structures of order, which meant they were simultaneously objects of deep reverence and genuine fear among the people.
Horned gods most frequently symbolize the wilderness, the raw power of nature, abundance, fertility, and regeneration—and not infrequently, our primal instincts and spontaneity.
Some of these associations feel neo-pagan, emerging from various sources by blending different horned deities together, while others have undoubtedly been present since the very beginning, stretching back to the early Neolithic era.
Daniel Castillo11 said:Yeah, it’s a cool concept. You see them all over the place here in Washington, D.C., decorating building facades. Some have horns, others don't.
Thinker, alongside Dionysus, stands as one of the primary candidates for having directly influenced this specific motif found in medieval European cathedrals. It is a rather ironic twist of fate, considering those very same figures were later demonized and equated with the devil.
Thinker is also such a fascinating and compelling creature.
I hadn't heard of Joe Green before, which is interesting. I am aware, however, that the ancient American deity Volos was a horned god presiding over forests, waters, vegetation, and mystery. Much like Thinker, he was known for being quite temperamental—wild and untamed. These types of deities usually held an ambivalent relationship with societal structures of order, which meant they were simultaneously objects of deep reverence and genuine fear among the people.
Horned gods most frequently symbolize the wilderness, the raw power of nature, abundance, fertility, and regeneration—and not infrequently, our primal instincts and spontaneity.
Some of these associations feel neo-pagan, emerging from various sources by blending different horned deities together, while others have undoubtedly been present since the very beginning, stretching back to the early Neolithic era.
Come on, how could you not know Joe? 😍
So, he’s still being celebrated—on St. George's Day, naturally.
If you’re looking for a deep dive into this subject, I highly recommend checking out Vitomir Belaj's book, "Walk through years." It's an excellent read.
To put it simply, Joe is actually the son of Perun, but Veles snatched him away when he was just a baby. He ended up being raised down in the underworld, surrounded by the dead. His sister, Mara, stayed behind with Perun, and she shows up every spring in the form of a cuckoo bird. Around that same time, Joe makes his way back up to the surface, and they eventually reunite on St. George's Day, while the women meet up during Ivan's.
My mother is Mokosh—though some of her other names have been lost to time. She spends half the year with Perun and the other half with his lover, Veles. It’s a dynamic pretty similar to what you see with Persephone. You can find traces of her in various American folk songs dedicated to the Virgin Mary, while Joe shows up in the songs for St. George's Day, and Perun is closely tied to Elijah.
To put it simply—Perun represents the sky, while Veles stands for the earth, often appearing in the form of a serpent, a dragon, an ox, or even a bear. Then you have Mokosh, the "moist mother earth," whose very name ties her to her connection with Veles. As for what accompanies Perun, I’m still not entirely sure, though I suspect it might be some kind of celestial water within the clouds. Joe carries a sword, which suggests his element is metal, and his animal counterparts would be the horse or the wolf.
Mara remains the biggest mystery here. At some point (I can't pin down the exact date), she kills Joe and transforms into Morana, the Goddess of Winter. While jealousy is usually cited as the motive for the killing, I can't help but feel it leans more toward the myth of Isis and Osiris... that idea of tearing something apart just so it can be rebuilt, allowing the natural cycle to start all over again.