Roman period Head of Apollo

An incredible 2,800-year-old temple at the ancient Thracian city of Heraion Teikhos in Turkey, revealing secrets that rewrite our understanding of early medicine.

Digging through history in Heraion Teikhos, the dedicated investigation team discovered a remarkable "ancient pharmaceutical production area" complete with its own water supply system.

This groundbreaking find not only illuminates the advanced medical practices of the Thracians but also offers a unique glimpse into the sophisticated urban planning of the era.

Hellenic traditional clothing of Thrace.

As far as I know this "foresia" is not from a specific Thracian village, but rather a generic representation of the motif the various Thracian villages followed.

Note the bead choker that some Thracian villages produced.

Silver helmet, Thracian, 4th century BC

from The Detroit Institute of Arts

πῶλε Θρηικίη, τί δή με λοξὸν ὄμμασι βλέπουσα νηλέως φεύγεις, δοκεῖς δέ μ’ οὐδὲν εἰδέναι σοφόν;

ἴσθι τοι, καλῶς μὲν ἄν τοι τὸν χαλινὸν ἐμβάλοιμι, ἡνίας δ’ ἔχων στρέφοιμί σ’ ἀμφὶ τέρματα δρόμου·

νῦν δὲ λειμῶνάς τε βόσκεαι κοῦφά τε σκιρτῶσα παίζεις, δεξιὸν γὰρ ἱπποπείρην

οὐκ ἔχεις ἐπεμβάτην.

- Anacreon, Thracian Filly

Thracian filly, why indeed are you looking at me through the corner of your eye while you pitilessly flee? Do you fancy I know not one skill? Look, know this: I would fit the bit into your mouth beautifully, and holding the reins I would turn you around the bends of the track. But now you're grazing on the meadows. Nimble and prancing you play, for you don’t have a skilful rider to mount you.

The slaughter and expulsion of the Thracian Hellenes started on April 6th, 1914

Before the Armenian, Assyrian, and Hellenic (Pontiac) genocide, the "cleansing" operation of Turkey started with the Hellenes of Thrace. In the previous years, the Hellenic (together with all Christian) element was suppressed through heavy taxation, trade blockades, plundering and terrorist attacks. But that "Black Easter" hundreds of Hellenic families were beaten, and thrown away from their houses under the threat of sword and whip. Others were executed, or massacred on the spot.

During the "cleansing" period, 96.000 were taken to moving concentration camps ("τάγματα εργασίας") where they were worked to death.

The rest 250.000 had to walk towards Hellas. Some managed to bring some essential things and sacred objects to Hellas but the way back home was long and difficult. The first months of living in their new home were also hard, as most of them had nowhere to go.

The Hellenic state aided them in time, with the help of many Near Eastern nations, European nations, and US private relief organizations. Along with praising the persistence of the refugees, let's also thank our xenoi friends for their humanitarian help which saved thousands of our ancestors.

Today let's remember.

Η απόφαση για την καθιέρωση της 6ης Απριλίου ως Ημέρα Μνήμης της Γενοκτονίας του Θρακικού Ελληνισμού εγκρίθηκε με σχετικό ψήφισμα στο 7ο Παγκόσμιο Συνέδριο Θρακών (Διδυμότειχο - Ιούνιος 2006).

Scythian gold statuette 4th C. BCE. From Kul Oba Kurgan.

"The Agathyrsi live more delicately than all other men, and are greatly given to wearing gold. Their intercourse with women is promiscuous, that so they may be brothers and kinsfolk to each other and thus neither envy nor hate their fellows. In the rest of their customs they are like to the Thracians."

-Herodotus, The Histories, Book 4.104

Cernunnos: The Good Liar

And now that I've probably offended a few people with my snazzy new epithet for the guy, it's time for me to try to spill some UPG all over this page.

Cernunnos is very special to me; he was the first deity to reach out to me and he's been a central point of my practice for as long as I've been active in it (there've been a few accidental hiatuses). He's introduced me to my second most important deity, the Horned Serpent, and through that, pointed me down the path I now currently walk.

I think, at least in GaulPol, he's pretty well known as a liminal deity, but that one has never quite sat perfectly for me. I think as I present my notes of my UPG, it'll become clear that Cernunnos as I understand him is more of a "union of opposites" than a "between all things" - something I definitely wouldn't have been able to enunciate not long ago.

First I remember not really having a clear way to describe him beyond "Druid, I think", which would at first glance look like a liminal role if it weren't for the fact I couldn't quite square that away in my head. And then I gave him a couple epithets, "Keeper of Secrets" and "Provider of Ecstacy" (both of these were written back to back, in the same prayer, and I still stand by them).

Then I began using the title "Songmaster(s)" for the three main deities on the interior of the Gundestrup Cauldron - Cernunnos, Taranis/the wheel god, and the Mother-Queen - and I began to look at music as a way for the gods to create, not just stories but create reality itself.

The next major one I remember is writing a prayer and sharing it with a Discord community October 31st 2022:

Songmaster, First Dancer

Truth is your friend and secrets are your trade

Madness, your tool, peace, your accomplishment

Your quiet patience is unshakeable, and your quick action is keen

And recently, as I was singing and trying to reflect on his relationship with the Mother-Queen, I found myself scribbling down some notes from a song I didn't fully intend to sing, addressed to him (quotes are exact lines):

"she shines on you, and you grow"

Shadow, child of sun; darkness, friend of light

"embrace light, embrace night all the more"

I heavily associate the Mother-Queen with the sun, light, and fire, and have had the thought "her light touches all things" in my head for a minute, and Cernunnos I associate with a dark, shadowy forest because of a couple of intense experiences, so the poetic play there was pretty obvious, but it took me a bit to start piecing out what this is all supposed to mean. One friend pointed out that, as we learn, as truth is illuminated to us, it also reveals how deeply our ignorance runs. Which I definitely think is a solid read, but for me personally, for my relationship with him specifically, I think it's deeper than that.

I've also come to believe that the interior panels of the Gundestrup Cauldron are a loose guide of what kind of religious life was expected of the practitioners, so I take it as a loose guide for me. And honestly, going into detail is going to require probably multiple series, but for now suffice it to say that I believe that, when we die, some of those people will be selected to try and earn a kind of divine status. I believe Cernunnos' primary role as depicted on the Gundestrup Cauldron is in teaching harmony between individuals and possibly between the natural world. I also interpret the Horned Serpent as the guide for those who've been chosen to try their hand at earning divinity. So in this context, Cernunnos is the teacher and the Horned Serpent a kind of deliverer.

Okay, that's all well and good, but what does that have to do with the rest of this rant? I've come to the conclusion that, if the Mother-Queen reveals, then Cernunnos' role to her is that he obfuscates. That he purposefully obfuscates certain truths in order that his devotee can learn. I think it's because there are certain lessons that can't really be told - not if you plan on these lessons actually sticking. Wisdom is earned, not given.

Hence the new epithet, "The Good Liar" - he who obfuscates things behind silence or confusing ideas that his student might find truth on their own accord, and come to a new and better place, perhaps even arming his devotees with the skills to move through whatever trials may await us after death.

Gold Thracian helmet from Cotofenesti, Romania from "An Introduction to Celtic Mythology" by David Bellingham

ANATOLIA & LEVANT RESOURCES

The Anthropological Masterlist is HERE.

Anatolia, or Asia Minor, is a historical West Asian peninsula that constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. 

HITTITE ─ “The Hittites, or the Empire of Hattusa, were an Anatolian people that lived during the Bronze Age, from 1650 B.C.E. to 1190 B.C.E. At their height, the empire encompassed the majority of modern-day Turkey, Lebanon, and Syria.” ─ Hittite Cuneiform Script ─ Hittite Grammar ─ The Chicago Hittite Dictionary Project

HURRIAN ─ “The Hurrians, or Khurrites, were a Near East people that lived from 3000 B.C.E. to 1300 B.C.E. They lived in Anatolia and Mesopotamia.” ─ The Mitanni Empire ─ Hurrian Culture ─ Hurrian Mythology

LUWIAN ─ “The Luwians are a group of Anatolian people that lived from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age. They lived in modern-day Turkey.” ─ Luwian Studies ─ Luwian Dictionary

PHRYGIA ─ “The Phrygian people were an Anatolian people that lived from 1200 B.C.E. to 700 B.C.E. They lived in central Anatolia.” ─ Phrygian Language ─ Phrygian Inscriptions

THRACIA ─ “The Thracians were an Indo-European people that lived from the 8th century B.C.E. to 1st century C.E. They lived in the Balkans and Anatolia.” ─ Thracian Information ─ Thracian Culture ─ Thracian Language

UGARIT ─ “Ugarit was an Anatolian civilization that lived from 6000 B.C.E. to 1185 B.C.E. They lived in modern-day northern Syria.” ─ Ugaritic Information ─ Ugarit in the Bible ─ El in Ugaritic Texts

The Levant is a historical West Asian region in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Asia. It spans from the western part of the Arabian Peninsula to northeast Africa.

CARTHAGE ─ “Ancient Carthage, or the Carthaginian Empire, was a Mediterranean civilization that lived from 814 B.C.E. to 146 B.C.E. They lived in modern-day Tunisia.” ─ Carthage Information ─ Carthaginian Religion ─ Carthaginian Archaeology

EGYPT ─ “The Ancient Egyptians were a northeastern African people. They lived in the Nile Valley in Egypt.” ─ Egyptian Information ─ Ancient Egyptian Art ─ Women in Ancient Egypt

PHOENICIA ─ “The Phoenician people were a Mediterranean people that lived from 2500 B.C.E. to 64 B.C.E. They lived in modern-day Lebanon.” ─ Phoenician History ─ Phoenician Alphabet ─ Phoenician and Punic Languages

SYRIA ─ “The Syrians are an Eastern Mediterranean people that share the Syrian culture. They are native to Syria.” ─ Syria Information ─ Syria from 1700 C.E to 1920 C.E. ─ Syrian Cultural Zones

My Little Pony OC : Icicle Storm

Kind : Thracian

Sex : Female

Residence : Island of Thrace

Occupation : Holder of Hearth's Warming Eve

Taking Care of Youngsters and Train them when they are old enough.

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Icicle Storm is a female Thracian from My Little Pony Friendship is Magic. She lives in the Island of Thrace and follows her leaders King Diomedes and his daughter Swift Foot, but she is not as ruthless and possibly violent as them. She also sets up Hearth's Warming Eve celebration in her country in order to light up the mood as most of them don't take any time for themselves. She is able to set everything up as her magic is linked to ice, snow and cold, hence why she has icicle wings, though it's pretty much impossible for her to fly with them. She is often seen alongside her baby Snow Fox Yuki.

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Name :

Icicle Storm's name referenced her powers and abilities, as she is able to use ice-like magic, that helped her create her icicle wings. This is also a reference to her colours, as her coat is mostly light blue, her eyes are turquoise and her mane is grey.

Most of her relatives are calling her "Stormy", but the ones she is closest with gave her an abbreviated name, and is therefore called "Icy".

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Element(s) :

King Diomedes created a "fake" version of the Element of Loyalty as she is always by her tribe's side no matter what and always tries to make things rights for them when they are not in battle or anything. However she never wear it as the red lightning has pretty much nothing to do with her, and therefore keeps it in her house.

However, she actually owns a real Element that is obviously not from the Original 6 that we used to know. She represents the Element of Inspiration. She was entrusted with this Element as she was giving a lot of Inspiration not only to do the young generation, but also the older one. Her Element represents a white Edelweiss with a snowflake in the middle.

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Cutie Mark :

It was stated that she was the first one in her class to get her Cutie Mark. Moreover, she got it fairly young, which further implies that she is an inspiration to others as they were amazed by how fast she got it.

Her Cutie Mark derived from some sort of tatoo that represents her name, especially the second part of her name. The purple part represents a storm and the green part represents gusts of winds near it.

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Icicle Storm's Parents :

It has been shown multiple times that Icicle Storm was looking at the starry night and often sees two shooting stars, which represents her parents that have passed away.

Swift Foot pretty much considers her as a little sister.

The Death of Spartacus by Hermann Vogel

The golden Helmet of Coțofenești comes from 4th century Thrace. Its ornate design and mythological scenes are a fusion of cultural influences. Who did it belong to, and did it have a sacred or divine function?

Inside the replica of the Thracian tomb of Kazanlak, Bulgaria.

So uhh

I made a tier list

I don't know if I have the right to rate some of these characters (went down the A route, didn't want illios, got ced, etc)

But uhh

If y'all wanna judge me, IM ALL EARS

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