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From:
FBInCIAnNSATerroristSlayer@yahoo.com
https://www.ancient-origins.net/ancient-places-europe/return-ancient-gods-008033
Return of the Ancient Gods: The Resurgence of Paganism
Over the past two centuries, Europe has become increasingly secular.
Scholars in fact no longer talk of the Christian West when they speak of
Modern Europe and North America, but of the Secular West. There is
however evidence of a spiritual revival stirring on the continent where
God is supposedly dead.
Old traditions pre-dating the appearance of the Jewish carpenter turned
Messiah are beginning to re-emerge. Since the 19th century, there has
been an increasing interest in ancient pre-Christian European religions
such as ancient Greek, Germanic, Celtic, and Slavic paganism. This stems
from an increasing interest in spirituality in Europe, specifically a spirituality in touch with European heritage and ethnic roots in a
similar manner to indigenous religions of Native Americans and
Aboriginal Australians.
Ancient and Modern Combine
Among modern Pagans, there are two approaches to reviving pagan
practices. One is eclecticism or syncretism, in which elements of
historical ethnic religions such as the ancient Norse religion are
combined with modern movements such as Wicca, Theosophy or other New Age philosophies. This is largely based on romantic views of these ancient religions which emerged in the 19th century which may or may not be historically accurate.
Reconstructing the Past
The other approach is polytheistic reconstructionism which is an attempt
to make an historically accurate reconstruction of these ancient
religions based on historical sources, archaeological data, and perhaps ethnographic comparison. Reconstructionists avoid embellishing ancient
pagan religions with modern movements and ideologies.
Germanic Paganism
One of the largest movements currently which can be either syncretic or reconstructionist is the revival of Germanic Paganism or “Heathenry.” Modern Germanic Pagans or Heathens, as they prefer to call themselves,
worship the old Germanic gods, especially Thor and Odin as well as
Germanic nature spirits such as Elves and Trolls. Germanic Heathens
appear to have three different approaches to proselytizing and
practicing their religion. Some Heathens emphasize simply the worship of
the Germanic gods and believe that anyone regardless of their national,
ethnic, or racial background can worship the Gods. These are the
universalists.
There are other Heathens, however, who believe that Germanic cultural
and spiritual values also need to be adopted in order to be true
worshipers of the Germanic gods. Most of the latter group of Heathens
also believe that worship of the Germanic gods is not limited to any
particular ethnic or racial background simply that those individuals
interested in worshiping them should learn something about and agree
with some aspects of the culture from which they originated. Germanic
Paganism is after all technically an ethnic religion. There are some
Heathens however who call themselves Folkists or Folkish Heathens who
believe that only those who are of White Northern European descent have
any right to worship the Gods. These are the ones that tend to promote
White supremacism and other explicitly racist agendas. Other Heathens,
as a result, try to distance themselves from the Folkists, even those
who would otherwise agree that Heathens who worship the Germanic gods
should adopt Germanic values.
Slavic Paganism
Slavic Paganism or Heathenry is also enjoying a resurgence in Eastern
Europe in countries with large Slavic populations. A movement known as Rodnovery or “Native Faith” is made up of communities which claim to continue the ancient Slavic religion which was mostly replaced by
Eastern Orthodox Christianity. This movement is especially strong in
Poland despite the nation’s dominant Catholic identity. Many Rodnovery
are self-described reconstructionists but others claim direct continuity
with the ancient traditions claiming that their families continued the
old religion in secret or in cloaked form alongside Christianity.
Revival of the Greek Gods
In Greece, a couple of organizations have emerged promoting a revival of
the ancient Greek religion under the name “Hellenism.” The Hellenists
also call themselves Dodekatheists or believers in twelve gods, namely
the Olympian deities. Religious practices in Hellenism include public
worship at temples or in outdoor open spaces of the major Greek gods,
Zeus, Apollo, Artemis, Hera, Athena, Ares, Aphrodite, Demeter,
Hephaestus, Hermes, Hestia, Dionysus, Hades and Poseidon among others.
There is also a large household worship component centered on domestic
Greek deities such as Hestia, goddess of the hearth. Most Hellenists are politically inactive but some of them desire to create a national and
ethnic identity for Greece not rooted in Eastern Orthodoxy. Some
Hellenists have been vocally hostile towards the Greek Orthodox Church
but many simply want to practice their religion amicably alongside Greek Christians.
The Return of Celtic Paganism
In addition to the revival of Greek, Germanic, and Slavic forms of
paganism, there is also an attempt to revive Celtic paganism. There are
both reconstructionist Modern Celtic Pagans and syncretic Modern Celtic
Pagans who also incorporate Wicca and other traditions into their
religion. Modern Celtic Pagans use the Lunar calendar of the ancient
Celts and celebrate the solstices and equinoxes as well as the
cross-quarter days, days that are half-way between one of the solstices
and one of the equinoxes, as religious festivals. These festivals
include the well-known festivals of Samhain and Imbolc. There does not
appear to have been any attempt to connect Contemporary Celtic Paganism
to a political agenda or nationalist movement unlike the other forms of Contemporary Paganism.
The Past Meets the Future
Religions tend to shape civilizations. When Europe became Christian and
the Middle East and North Africa became Muslim, two different
civilizations were formed which were quite different because of the
religious traditions on which they were based. Europe most likely won’t become pagan again, but it is interesting to think of what sort of
civilization would be birthed from the revival of one of these ancient religious traditions. What would a modern Pagan Greece look like
culturally and politically, for example? One thing is for certain, it
would go in a rather different direction than either a Christian or
Secularist Greece.
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: www.darkrealms.ca (1:229/2)