a question of commonalities

[JField]

A lot of the of places that speak the Indo-European languages and their derivatives have religion's, or had religion's, and myths which are very similar; with similar stories,such as the flood myth and a lot of the creation stories, and their Deities obviously have a common origin. I know that these are from the shared ancestry, but I was just wondering if perhaps any native group of people outside of this cultural sphere have beliefs and stories similar to those found with in that area ?

 

[Sees]

You can find some similarities far across the globe depending on specific topic. Some people believe a long, long time ago Gods and/or Spirit/s taught our most ancient ancestors some things and over immense spans of time the stories, rituals, superstitions, etc. evolve and adapt to the environment and cultural development. And today many believe their personal experiences, intuition, and so on confirms the core, rather universal aspects.

Some things are small but interesting like the way elves, duendes, fairies, etc. can be understood very similar on opposite sides of the world.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

Not only common origins such as the native Indo-European religions, but cultures will also borrow from each other through contact. There's a flood myth in Hellenic religion, too, which seems to have been borrowed from Babylonian religion (the same flood myth that the Bible ripped off). I've never seen this flood myth in the other Indo-European religions.

 

[JField]

Not only common origins such as the native Indo-European religions, but cultures will also borrow from each other through contact. There's a flood myth in Hellenic religion, too, which seems to have been borrowed from Babylonian religion (the same flood myth that the Bible ripped off). I've never seen this flood myth in the other Indo-European religions.

You can find this flood myth in India, as well. Only instead of Noah they have Manu and the deity who warns of the flood is Vishnu in the avatar of a fish

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

You can find this flood myth in India, as well. Only instead of Noah they have Manu and the deity who warns of the flood is Vishnu in the avatar of a fish

Interesting. Thanks. But I suppose it makes sense, since India does have problems with floods.

 

[EyeofOdin]

The pattern of the dying god is one. Although the deities are usually not related, there's almost always a dying-rising god. Odin in the North, Dionysos in Greece, and Osiris in Egypt.

There are also linguistic connections. Proto-Indo-European Dyew Ph-ter "sky father" is the origin of many gods such as Jupiter (from Diovis Pater), Zeus, Tiwaz (commonly known as Tyr), Dagda and Dyaus Pitar. Other linguistic connections include Freyja and Prajaapati, Thor, Taranis, Perun (?) and Indra, Ymir and Yama, and possibly Borr or Buri and Brahman. Keep in mind this is all theoretical.

Deities which aren't linguistically related may still have common origin, but were given different names and titles. Odin is a psychopomp deity associated with magic and trade, so is Hermes. Dionysus is a fertility god associated with trees and drink, so are Thor and Indra. Vulcan is a blacksmith associated with fire and possibly lightning, while Thor is a fire and lightning god associated with crafts. Many earth goddesses are very similar but their titles and names seem to simply be the native word for "earth" (Gaia, Jord, Tellus/Terra Mater, etc.) Keep in mind this is hypothetical.

Symbolism is also common. The Aegishjalmur in the Germanic Culture is strikingly similar to the Indian Asthanga Yantra. The cosmological symbolism of trees is common among Proto-Indo-European cultures (excluding Greece and Rome).