Some Vanic and Tantric Parallels
There are some good reasons to think that there might be some common ground shared by those who practice Vanic and Tantric ways. It’s all disputable, no doubt-what isn’t? However, I think that the information is worth sharing.
My primary source is Ann Moura’s New History of Witchcraft. Ann, best known for her (very Vanic) Green Witchcraft books, is a historian. In her New History of Witchcraft she draws from several standard historical works to demonstrate how modern witchcraft has its roots in the currently oldest known religion, that of the Dravidic culture of Sindh.
She presents the historical evidence that shows how the Dravidic people carried their religion westward spurred by both trade and the migrations and possible invasions of the warrior Aryans into the area of Sindh (modern Pakistan and India). The Dravidic people went west in waves over a period of many centuries.
The current evidence supports the theory that the Dravidic people migrated from Sindh to Sumer, Anatolia/Lydia (Turkey), Crete (Minoans), Italy (Etruscans), western and northern Europe, including England and Ireland.
Some of the characteristics of the Dravidic culture and religion included-
-Farming and animal husbandry
-No temples, home shrines, but places for communal gatherings
-No professional religious authorities, no priesthood.
-a Goddess and God, sometimes depicted as androgynous. They were called Shakti and Shiva.
-The God depicted seated with an erect phallus.
-The Goddess depicted with grain, cats and snakes. (In Minoan religion the Goddess Cybele drives a wagon draw by two cats-lions)
-Worship that involved veneration of the cycles of the seasons, sun, moon, bulls, cows, snakes, cats, dogs, horns.
-Ritual nudity and sex as well as casual attitude toward sex.
-Burial of the dead in circular mounds
-Creation myth of 7 days, 7 day week
-Tree of life
-Emphasis on knowledge
-A pictographic script- still undeciphered