A persistent theme of primitive fertility rituals…

A persistent theme of primitive fertility rituals is the freeing of the waters and the subsequent regeneration of the earth.

Many hymns of the Rig-Veda are supplications to Indra, in his role as god of weather and war, to slay the giant who had imprisoned the great rivers of India.

Such personification of natural phenomena is common.

Another prevalent myth of pastoral societies, often enacted as sacred drama, is the search of the earth goddess for her lost lover, brother, or child who either has been killed or has disappeared from Earth.