Gobekli Tepe's Pillars

Comets in ancient myth

Figure 1 from Balaji Mundkur's 'The Cult of the Serpent'

In Prehistory Decoded I make the case that much of the world's mythology, ancient and modern (known as religion), is connected by an ancient system of astro-mythology, largely focussed on comets - their appearance and catastrophic effects.

If true, we should see comet symbolism throughout myth and religion, from before Gobekli Tepe into modern Christianity. So where is it? It should be everywhere.

If you Google 'ancient comets' you'll see a wide variety of shapes and depictions for comets through the ages. There is the standard 'menat'-shaped comet through to fox-tail shapes, scimitars, rosette shapes, tridents, and so on. They come in all sorts of shapes, sizes and colours. So how would this translate into religious symbolism? Moreover, their catastrophic effects, such as a massive explosive airburst, would take on different symbolism.

Mike Baillie, a leading dendrochronologist, makes a great case for comet symbolism in Irish Myth - in his book 'The Celtic Gods'. Clube and Napier focus more on ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt and Greece in their books. In Prehistory Decoded I try to connect nearly all the world's myth to comets via Michael Witzel's book 'The Origin of the World's Mythology'. But my favourite image is the one above from Balaji Mundkur's book. It shows the goddess Mahamayuri, painted on a wall in a Himalayan monastery. She is described as a 'partly serpent-bodied goddess whose ferocity can cause floods, earthquakes and other catastrophes. Human skulls adorn the crowns of her nine heads; her weapon is an elephant-headed serpent'. It is an obvious depiction of a cometary air-bust over an ocean.

I'm interested to know of any other mythological comet or air-burst symbolism you find - please provide links in your comments.