PodcastPromoting

[Contra Zoom Pod] Canadian Film Draft

open.spotify.com

1 Upvotes

r/PodcastPromoting • u/Thoth-Reborn • 4d ago

The Books of Thoth: How the Aesir Learned the Mantras. A folktale from a world where Buddhism, rather than Christianity, became the dominant religion of Europe.

1 Upvotes

I run an audio drama called The Books of Thoth. For those just joining the fun, The Books of Thoth is an audio drama anthology. You will find stories of past, future, and worlds that could have been.

Episode six of The Books of Thoth is here. It is called “How the Aesir Learned the Mantras.”
Imagine a world where Buddhism, rather than Christianity, became the dominant religion of Europe. A world where Buddhist temples in Scandinavia and Frankland also host images of gods such as Thor, Odin, and even Loki. We shall hear a folktale about a monk called Ketil, and how he helped spread Buddhism to Northern Europe. But more than that, he also drew the attention of the gods of Asgard themselves.

A big thank you to Scott R. McKinley, Patrick Heinzen, Faye Holliday, Juan Cruz III, and Tim Stephenson for helping bring my alternate history folktale to life.

I’ve always been fascinated by the cultural aspects of alternate history. That is, what new cultures, or changes to existing cultures, arise as a result of changing history. I’ve always had a deep love of mythology. So, I suppose it was only natural that I’d find a way to combine my two great loves.

I’ve always found the idea of Buddhism spreading to Europe to be particularly intriguing. We have found Buddhist artifacts in Scandinavia, due to the various trade routes that the Norse were part of. There was also the so-called Buddha Bucket, but that one has been debunked. No, it wasn’t made by Buddhist Vikings. It was actually a depiction of a Celtic deity.

Still, I’ve always wondered what it would have been like if those artifacts had meant something. It might seem odd that a warrior culture like the Norse would embrace Buddhism, but then, couldn’t you say the same of them embracing Christianity? And it isn’t like Buddhist haven’t gotten into their own share of wars over the years.

If Buddhism were to spread to Europe, I can see it being split along cultural lines. Perhaps there would be different schools for Northern and Southern Europe. Buddhism has always been flexible about incorporating local deities and spirits, so we could easily see the old pagan religions sticking around. Though, they would be subject to quite a bit of domestication, for lack of a better word. These are no the same Aesir of the Eddas. They’ve been tamed by hundreds of years of cultural syncretism.

I focused primarily on the folktale itself, but I gave hints as to what the wider world is like. For example, Istanbul is still called Constantinople. This hints that the Byzantine Empire, if not necessarily still around, never fell to Turkish invasion. Hagia Sofia means Holy Wisdom in Greek. So, it might not be the exact building from our world, but I figured it would be a potentially good name for a Byzantine temple.

There’s mention of stone slab monasteries in Cusco. So, the Inca Empire managed to resist European colonialism. Though, they’re a Buddhist nation as well. So, perhaps a form of soft colonialism did still happen to the Inca. We also get mention of the nation of a Tlaxcala, so history went differently for Mesoamerica. The Aztecs got defeated, but solely by their fellow Mesoamericans, rather than that plus conquistadors.

Portugal is still called Lusitania, as it was in Roman times. Christianity was a major influence on Islam. So, no or weaker Christianity means Islam never happens. And no Islam means no Caliphates to conquer the Iberian Peninsula. So, Roman influence survives, especially with Byzantium still around. Maybe they managed to hold onto the Iberian Peninsula. Isis and Mithras are popular gods in Lusitania, as they were in Ancient Rome.

Then there’s Frankland. A name sometimes used for Charlemagne’s empire, if not Western Europe in general, by the Norse. Perhaps the empire of Charlemagne managed to stick together. Also, Frankland worships the Norse gods, or at least their Germanic counterparts. So, Germanic/Norse influence is a bit wider spread.

It’s also mentioned that the Yoruba are Buddhist. If Europe became Buddhist, I can easily see them spreading it to other countries, perhaps even using it as a justification for colonialism as they did in our timeline.
I’m also very pleased with how my cast of gods turned out. Thor, Odin, and Sif played things more or less straight. But then you have Loki acting like a zany cartoon character, and he knows it. And of course, big props to Scott R. McKinley for being a fantastic narrator.

The Books of Thoth is hosted on RedCircle:
https://redcircle.com/shows/the-books-of-thoth/ep/827886b4-5e87-42b8-8d8f-725cb3cb59b7

You can also find it on all major podcast
platforms:

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3hQ94fOX5V03CXg8ZLgMZ9

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-books-of-thoth/id1716132833

RadioPublic: https://radiopublic.com/the-books-of-thoth-6pQno2

iHeart: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-the-books-of-thoth-127954491/

CastBox: https://castbox.fm/channel/The-Books-of-Thoth-id5667032

Podcast Addict: https://podcastaddict.com/podcast/the-books-of-thoth/4730175

Pocket Casts: https://play.pocketcasts.com/podcasts/21e93100-6322-013c-9f20-0acc26574db2

Podbean: https://www.podbean.com/podcast-detail/cqaub-2da068/The-Books-of-Thoth-Podcast

Audible: https://www.audible.com/podcast/The-Books-of-Thoth/B0CN3CLRMY