Ancient Priesthood

Under Construction

Scythian Amazonian Women and Medea

Among the Indo-European migrations, the Scythians stand out for their complex social structures, including their powerful warrior women — the inspiration behind the Greek legends of the Amazons. Archaeological evidence, such as female burial mounds with weapons, supports the existence of Scythian women who fought alongside men.

These warrior women also feature in Greek myth: Medea a famed pharmaka (drug) sorceress from Colchis (on the Black Sea’s eastern shore), is often described with traits recalling these Scythian-Amazonian traditions. Her knowledge of herbal and animal poisons, healing, and necromancy (symbolic death inducing rites for rebirth of the initiate's self) echoes a priestly-magical role that was likely preserved through steppe shamanic traditions. Medea’s story bridges Greek myth with the deep cultural memory of Indo-European priestess-healers moving across the Eurasian steppe.

Magi, Druids, and the Rigveda

As Indo-European cultures migrated, they carried with them a specialized priestly class, recognizable under different names: the Magi among the Iranian peoples, the Druids among the Celts, and the ṛṣi (sages) who preserved the Rigvedic hymns in the Indian subcontinent.

These priesthoods served similar functions — maintaining oral traditions, performing sacrifices, and guarding esoteric knowledge of the cosmos, ritual, and healing. They acted as oracles, judges, and keepers of cosmological wisdom. Linguistic and comparative mythological studies suggest they emerged from a common Indo-European religious framework that evolved along the migration routes from the Pontic-Caspian steppe outward to Europe and South Asia.

Ties to Buddha

The name “Shakyamuni” — meaning “Sage of the Shakya” — is particularly intriguing, because “Shakya” connects to the Scythians (or Saka in ancient Persian sources), who were an Iranian-speaking group originating from the steppe. While Siddhartha Gautama (the Buddha) was born in northern Nepal, a region influenced by waves of steppe migrants, his clan’s name likely preserves a trace of these older Scythian connections.

There is even a symbolic echo of the ancient oracular serpent traditions during his enlightenment: a snake is said to have sheltered the Buddha from rain, a motif that resonates with the serpent as a protective, knowledge-bearing figure in many Indo-European cultures.

Though the Buddha was not ethnically Scythian, the tradition that named his clan after the Saka points to a preserved heritage of steppe elements in the Himalayan foothills, woven into new spiritual practices and new identities — a testament to how priestly traditions moved, adapted, and flourished across Eurasia.

Indo-European Migration Timeline (simplified)

4500–3500 BCE

Proto-Indo-European (PIE) speakers lived on the Pontic-Caspian steppe, north of the Black Sea (modern Ukraine, southern Russia).
Their culture is associated with the Yamnaya archaeological horizon, which practiced mobile pastoralism with horse-drawn wagons.

3500–2500 BCE

Expansion begins: PIE groups spread both westward into Europe and eastward toward the Altai and Central Asia.
These movements may relate to the introduction of wagons, horses, and new pastoral economies.
The Corded Ware culture in Europe emerges from these expansions, incorporating steppe ancestry.

2500–2000 BCE

Into South Asia: The Indo-Iranian branch (the ancestors of Sanskrit- and Persian-speaking peoples) moves through Central Asia, linked with the Andronovo culture and related cultures.
Into Anatolia: The ancestors of the Hittites and Luwians move south across the Caucasus or via the Balkans.
Into western Europe: Proto-Celtic and Proto-Italic dialects begin to spread.

2000–1500 BCE

The Indo-Aryans reach northern India (Punjab region), bringing Vedic ritual traditions with them.
Iranian-speaking groups move into Iran, becoming the Medes, Persians, and related groups.
The Tocharians settle in the Tarim Basin (western China), preserving a distinct branch of Indo-European.

1500–500 BCE

Further differentiation of European Indo-European languages: Celtic, Italic, Germanic, and Slavic branches expand.
Iranian steppe nomads (Scythians/Saka) roam widely from the Black Sea to the edges of China.
The priestly and heroic traditions of Indo-European societies evolve into local forms like the Druids in Celtic lands, the Brahmins in India, and the Magi in Iran.

In brief, the sequence is:

Pontic-Caspian steppe (Yamnaya culture)
West to Europe (Corded Ware, Bell Beaker)
South into Anatolia (Hittites)
East into Central Asia (Andronovo)
South into India (Indo-Aryans) and Iran (Iranians)
Farther east to Tarim Basin (Tocharians)
Later Iron Age expansions: Celts, Scythians (Amazonian, Medean), Persians

Christian Erasure

Christianity did ultimately absorb, replace, or suppress most of these traditions. Here’s a historically balanced view you can use for your article:

Scythians:

By Late Antiquity (300–600 CE), the Scythian tribes had already fragmented under pressure from new steppe groups (Sarmatians, Huns, later Turkic peoples).
Christianity spread into the former Scythian lands by the Byzantine Empire, but these societies were already transforming politically and linguistically, so it was a mix of displacement and cultural absorption.

Celts (Druids):

The Roman Empire targeted the Druids for destruction, particularly under emperors like Tiberius and Claudius (1st century CE), because their influence threatened Roman rule.
Christianity then replaced Celtic religion across Britain, Ireland, and Gaul from the 4th–7th centuries CE, but often incorporated elements of folk practice, saints replacing local gods, etc.

Greek Oracles (like Delphi):

Greek oracles continued operating deep into the Roman period. The Oracle at Delphi, for example, functioned until the late 4th century CE.
Emperor Theodosius I (in the 390s CE) formally closed pagan temples, enforcing Christian orthodoxy. That marks the final closure of the great oracular sites.

Medea-like Amazonian priestess figures:

In the mythic tradition, figures like Medea were already demonized in Greek literature as dangerous sorceresses.
Their real-life counterparts — steppe female shamans and priestesses — were gradually lost from record as Scythian cultures fell to later nomadic groups, and as Christianity and Islam spread through their homelands.

So in short:

The Celts were systematically targeted by both Roman and later Christian authorities.
The Greek oracles were shut down by Christian emperors.
The Scythians and their priestly women declined from steppe upheavals before Christianization arrived.
By the end of Late Antiquity (5th century CE), the Indo-European priesthoods (Druids, Magi, oracular priestesses) were mostly extinct or had been syncretized into Christian forms.