Blessed Valleys of the Indus, or the myth of the Orient on the example of the vegetarian narratives of Polish esotericists of the late 19th and the first decades of the 20th century

The aim of this article is to present one of the many variants of the myth of the Orient - interesting and relatively rarely analyzed. It is the motive of India seen as the cradle of the theory and practice of vegetarian diet. This thread was a frequent element of the narratives produced by Polish esotericists and supporters of alternative cultural trends of the late 19th and first decades of the 20th century, involved in the promotion of a meatless diet. This narration is a perfect illustration of the mythical practice of explaining the world and making it meaningful, especially in a situation of uncertainty caused by a paradigm shift.