The image of a horned White man storming the US Capitol building is now part of history. It reveals the fragility of democracy and the lure of megalomaniacs and conspiracy theories. But, why horns? Do they imply power? Or is it a fantasy of how barbarians should be? 

The world of horned gods come to us from ancient tribal cultures that admired the horns of the mighty buffalo or bison, and the antlers of a stag. They were associated with the forest and fertility. We find this in Harappa. Not just the famous horned sage, surrounded by wild animals, who is often mistaken for Shiva (he is most certainly not), but also many horned creatures—horned tigers, horned elephants, horned humans. Between the horns is a branch of a tree with leaves, or maybe feathers. This headgear is still worn by tribal communities of central India such as the Maria, during ceremonies. We find such horned headgear in cave art of central India, indicating these were ancient Stone Age practices, to depict the power of the buffaloes and the bison who could fend off tigers.