tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35792969869840679022024-03-13T09:41:49.171+11:00neo polytheistCelebrating Western (esp Roman and Germanic) and Dharmic Polytheism (esp Buddhism)M' Sentia Figula (aka Freki)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04898083473029906396noreply@blogger.comBlogger123125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3579296986984067902.post-49417289368891736642023-09-15T12:08:00.001+10:002023-09-15T12:08:29.245+10:00The Hyperboreans and Their Connection with Apollo<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZpaHrKwC7mmVkW9mYELZoE5fMB8Ks_1PulWhOUX6HoFDZeCH21yEv5rY16HTqo5ok_GX9hm-7tuGriifRbRHrKLEDA1ahaEDLszozc2O_KWv1Ebl78xyDuLMWtVZqNTnUJfRjj_fyjYAWiV51o_y8USfIG3aWmcPTvuKxvfNk5Jyl7XPtDYQmZW-DQDlj/s501/Larsson%20Apple%20Tree%20Blossom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="501" height="199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZpaHrKwC7mmVkW9mYELZoE5fMB8Ks_1PulWhOUX6HoFDZeCH21yEv5rY16HTqo5ok_GX9hm-7tuGriifRbRHrKLEDA1ahaEDLszozc2O_KWv1Ebl78xyDuLMWtVZqNTnUJfRjj_fyjYAWiV51o_y8USfIG3aWmcPTvuKxvfNk5Jyl7XPtDYQmZW-DQDlj/w200-h199/Larsson%20Apple%20Tree%20Blossom.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>Apple Tree in Blossom</i> by Larsson (before 1919)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;">In the 5th century BCE Herodotus wrote of the Hyperboreans, a word which literally means “over Boreas”. Boreas is the Hellenic God of the north wind, sometimes conceived of as living in Thrace, which is more or less the land we now call Bulgaria. Herodotus described the Hyperboreans thus:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: justify;">“A man of Proconnesus [a Greek town in modern day NW Turkey], one Aristeas … came to the Issedones [ancient people who lived in central Asia] and, being inspired by Apollo, wrote a poem in which he declared that above the Issedones there lived a tribe of Arimaspians, being men with one eye, and, above these, the griffins [birds sacred to Apollo] that guard the gold, and, above these, the Hyperboreans, whose land reaches to the sea. All of these people, beginning with the Arimaspians and excepting only the Hyperboreans, continually make war upon their neighbours. The Issedones, say Aristeas, were thrust out of their lands by the Arimaspians, the Scythians [ancient people who lived in and around Crimea] by the Issedones, and the Cimmerians [ancient people who lived north of the Caucasus], living by the southern sea, being hard pressed by the Scythians, also left their country …</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Considering the Hyperboreans, then, the Scythians have nothing to tell, nor do any of the other people who live in those parts, except, perhaps for the Issedones … But Hesiod does talk about the Hyperboreans, and so does Homer …</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But far the most that is told about these people comes from the Delians [of the Greek island Delos, said to be the birthplace of Apollo and his twin sister Artemis]. These say that holy offerings come wrapped in wheat straw from the Hyperboreans into Scythia, and, after the Scythians, each of their neighbours successively forwards these offerings to the point furthest west, at the Adriatic, and, as they conveyed to the south, the people of the Dodona [in NW Greece, a location sacred to Zeus and which had a famous oracle] are the first Greeks to receive them, and from there they … are carried … from city to city … to Tenos, and the Tenians carry them to Delos. That is how, they say, the offerings get to Delos. They say too that on the first journey the Hyperboreans sent, to bring the offerings, two girls, whom the Delians call Hyperoche and Laodice. With them, for safety’s sake, the Hyperboreans sent along with them five men as escort, citizens of their own, those who are now called Peripherees and have great honour in Delos. But when those whom the Hyperboreans sent did not come home again, the Hyperboreans made a great outcry that it should always be their lot to send out men who never came back; and so they have the offerings borne, wrapped in wheaten straw, to their borders and bid their neighbours convey them from their own land to the next. And so, they say, by this form of constant escort the offerings come to Delos. I myself know of something like this done with offerings; for the Thracian and Paeonian women [from north of Greece], when they sacrifice to Queen Artemis, have their offerings packed in wheat straw.<span><a name='more'></a></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This, too, I know that they do: girls and boys at Delos cut their hair in honour of the Hyperborean girls who died at Delos. The girls before marriage cut off a tress of their hair and, winding it about a spindle, lay it on the tomb. The tomb is on the left hand side as you go into the temple of Artemis, and an olive tree grows over it. The Delian boys, too, twine some of their locks of hair around a green stalk, and they likewise put this on the tomb.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">These, then, have this honour from the inhabitants of Delos. But these same inhabitants of Delos say that Arge and Opis, being maids, came to Delos from the Hyperboreans and travelled through the same peoples on the way, and that this was before Hyperoche and Laodice. The two latter, indeed, came bringing tribute that they were assessed to pay, for ease of childbirth [of Leto, the mother of Apollo and Artemis], to Eileithyia [the Goddess of childbirth]; but Arge and Opis, say the Delians, came with the Gods themselves, and other honours were granted them by the people of Delos. The Delian women, they say, collected gifts for them. It was from Delos that the islanders and Ionians learned to sing in honour of Opis and Arge, calling them by these names and collecting gifts for them … It is said, too, that when the thigh bones are burnt upon the altar, the ashes are used up by casting them on the graves of Opis and Arge. This grave of the two girls is behind the temple of Artemis, to the east [note that the maid Opis features in the story of the death of the hunter Orion – Artemis shot an arrow into his head after Apollo told her he was “a villain … who has just seduced Opis, one of your Hyperborean princesses”: R Graves, <i>Greek Myths</i> at 61] …</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">That is now enough said about the Hyperboreans, for I will not tell that tale of the man called Abaris the Hyperborean – that he carried an arrow round the whole Earth without eating anything at all … [Herodotus, <i>The History</i> at 4.13-4.36]”</div></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A modern description of the Hyperboreans is thus:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: justify;">“… After Apollo’s birth, he flew with his team of swans to the land of the Hyperboreans where he remained until he made his ceremonial entrance into Delphi [the location of his most famous oracle]. For nineteen years he returned to this land … Each night between the vernal equinox and the rising of the Pleiades he could be heard singing hymns and playing his lyre.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">After Apollo had massacred the Cyclops, he hid the arrow he had used in a temple in the main Hyperborean city. The arrow flew there of its own accord, before forming the constellation of Sagittarius. A Hyperborean called [Abaris] travelled throughout the world borne by this arrow …</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Leto was … born in the land of the Hyperboreans, and the sacred objects pertaining to Apollo which were venerated at Delos were said to have come from there …</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Delphic Oracle was reputedly established by a Hyperborean called Olen. When the Gauls attacked Delphi, two phantoms appeared to them; these were the Hyperborean heroes Hyperochus … and Laodocus …</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Hyperboreans also figure in the myths of Perseus and Heracles. Their country had a mild climate, inhabited by people with happy temperaments … The Hyperboreans knew of magic; they could travel in the air and find hidden treasure [<i>Dictionary of Classical Mythology</i> at 209]”.</div></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Everything about the Hyperboreans appears to be connected in some way with Apollo. Delos and Delphi were major sites of pilgrimage throughout the Greco-Roman period and both sites strengthened their legitimacy by claiming connection with Hyperborea (thus Apollo). Even a shrine to Apollo in ancient Italy could claim a connection with Hyperborea, as Herodotus recounts:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: justify;">“… The Metapontines [of Metapontum – a city in southern Italy that flourished from around the 7th century BCE to the 3rd century BCE; Pythagoras died there circa 500 BCE] say that Aristeas [who had travelled to Hyperborea] appeared in their country and bade them establish an altar to Apollo and set beside it a statue of Aristeas … For Aristeas said to them that they were the only Greeks living in Italy whose country Apollo had come and that he himself – who was now Aristeas – had followed him; but then, at the time he had followed the God, he was a crow [Herodotus, The History at 4.15] …”</div></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Pliny the Elder wrote of the Hyperboreans in his <i>Natural History</i> in the 1st century CE:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: justify;">“Behind these mountains [near Scythia], and beyond the region of the northern winds, there dwells, if we choose to believe it, a happy race, known as the Hyperborei, a race that lives to an extreme old age, and which has been the subject of many marvellous stories. At this spot are supposed to be the hinges upon which the world revolves, and the extreme limits of the revolutions of the stars. Here we find light for six months together, given by the sun in one continuous day … to these people there is but one rising of the sun for the year, and that at the summer solstice, and but one setting, at the winter solstice. This region, warmed by the rays of the sun, is of a most delightful temperature, and exempt from every noxious blast. The abodes of the natives are the woods and groves; the Gods receive their worship singly and in groups, while all discord and every kind of sickness are things utterly unknown. Death comes upon them only when satiated with life; after a career of feasting, in an old age sated with every luxury, they leap from a certain rock there into the sea; and this they deem the most desirable mode of ending existence. Some writers have placed these people, not in Europe, but at the very verge of the shores of Asia, because we find there a people called the Attacori, who greatly resemble them and occupy a very similar locality … Nor are we at liberty to entertain any doubts as to the existence of this race; so many authors are there who assert that they were in the habit of sending their first-fruits to Delos to present them to Apollo, whom in especial they worship … However, this custom, even, in time fell into disuse [Book 4, Ch 26]”.</div></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Hyperborea seems to have been sort of like the Shangri-La of the Greco-Roman world. It is as if it still lived within the golden age of man, as described by Ovid:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: justify;">“Golden, that first age … of its own will, uncoerced, fostered responsibility and virtue: men had no fear of any punishment, nor did they read of threatened penalties … As yet no pine tree on its mountaintop had been chopped down … the earth … untaxed, she gave of herself freely, providing all the essentials … Spring was the only season that there was, and the warm breath of Zephyr stroked flowers that sprang up from the ground, unsown. Later – though still untilled – the earth bore grain, and fields … whitened with their wheat; now streams of milk, now streams of nectar flowed, and from the green oak, golden honey dripped [Ovid, <i>Metamorphoses</i>, Book 1, lines 126-154]”.</div></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Thus was the golden age of Saturn (Cronus to the Greeks). When Saturn was replaced by Jupiter (Zeus) the age of silver began, and spring became shorter. Then there was the age of bronze, which was “crueller by nature and much more disposed to savage warfare, but not yet corrupt” (<i>Metamorphoses</i>, 1.170-1). Finally, the age of iron emerged:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0 0 0 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: justify;">“… modesty, fidelity, and truth departed; in their absence, came fraud, guile, deceit, the use of violence, and shameful lusting after acquisitions … Now men demand that the rich earth provide more than the crops and sustenance it owes, and piercing to the bowels of the earth, the wealth long hidden in Stygian gloom is excavated … for iron … men live off plunder … and piety lies vanquished … Virgin Astraea, the last immortal left on the bloodstained earth, withdraws from it in horror [Ovid, <i>Metamorphoses</i>, 1.174-1.204]”.</div></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This final age is a descriptor of how not to live; it is spiritual and material hell, and it contrasts beautifully with the paradise of the golden age. The golden age depicts a more perfect life, as does Hyperborea, but both are seemingly inaccessible, though Hyperborea less so. In the ancient sources there seems to be a sense that one could travel there, though it would be an extremely arduous, almost impossible, journey. The ancients thus travelled to Delphi and Delos instead, and perhaps there was a idea that through the worship of Apollo one could in some sense ascend to the higher life state of the Hyperboreans.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9HndDWpKRpHUBxrSGc_QsQemUbDT8ue4r5tQlZlut0ueF-S2VylogI5rEGW04LCw-Ivz9WflpMPG35Zj3zH4fCEceVyz6JtoYTbRR5PhdltEOSHVIqvVs0cYFIPwNUMUu3CfGmVWey0H8DKOQ8hRv8DzxBkcHRmD3DFgSpU7hDZdtKTDDFtP_EHTUSgxX/s951/Apollo_on_Chariot_by_Louis_Grell.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="690" data-original-width="951" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9HndDWpKRpHUBxrSGc_QsQemUbDT8ue4r5tQlZlut0ueF-S2VylogI5rEGW04LCw-Ivz9WflpMPG35Zj3zH4fCEceVyz6JtoYTbRR5PhdltEOSHVIqvVs0cYFIPwNUMUu3CfGmVWey0H8DKOQ8hRv8DzxBkcHRmD3DFgSpU7hDZdtKTDDFtP_EHTUSgxX/w400-h290/Apollo_on_Chariot_by_Louis_Grell.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>Apollo on Chariot</i> by Grell (circa 1930)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">If we today were to seek to somehow touch the blessed life of Hyperboreans we would presumably start with rites in honour of Apollo. Such rites might include:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><ol><li>Spending time outdoors in nature on sunny days.</li><li>Eating healthy, natural food – preferably organic.</li><li>Playing / listening to music, particularly if it sounds healthy or healing.</li><li>Reading, writing, memorising or reciting poetry.</li><li>Wearing clothes or jewellery evocative of the sun.</li><li>A celebratory meal with wine on each solstice and equinox.</li><li>Making offerings of incense and wine on 25 December (Dies Natalis Solis Invicti).</li><li>Creating a crown of laurel and burning it in a fire in honour of Apollo.</li><li>Making offerings of pastries, incense, wine, etc at a sacred location.</li></ol></div><div style="text-align: justify;">---------</div> <div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Sources</span></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><ul><li><span style="font-size: x-small;">britannica.com</span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;">Robert Graves, <i>Greek Myths</i>, Book Club Associates</span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;">Pierre Grimal, <i>Dictionary of Classical Mythology</i>, Penguin Books</span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;">Herodotus, <i>The History</i> (translated by D Grene), The University of Chicago Press</span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;">Ovid, <i>Metamorphoses</i> (translated by C Martin), W W Norton & Company</span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;">Pliny the Elder, <i>Natural History</i> (translated by J Bostock and H Riley), gutenberg.org</span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;">theoi.com</span></li></ul></div><div style="text-align: right;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: right;"><i>Written by M' Sentia Figula (aka Freki), find me at <a href="http://romanpagan.blogspot.com/">neo polytheist</a> and <a href="https://romanpagan.wordpress.com/">romanpagan.wordpress.com</a></i></div>M' Sentia Figula (aka Freki)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04898083473029906396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3579296986984067902.post-19992163622142819412023-07-06T23:01:00.012+10:002023-09-29T11:49:13.808+10:00Demons in Buddhism<div style="text-align: justify;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5bpIMkhoYusRyeSJQNq2wRQfFf4e2weOl3x9onpjI2Snpr8nb7v6a_SOIG7KRxou-hIKYgHQRQg2hwrnRwZwnS3BchpiswaUI-oeu_QAGbpFzTGo0Xnf2Vhf4ExJ1CTLa09YYph75dHKJ24_Dju2l5ZnGNsnyUqE1C_0RmVUECkYkZ_JfokEcZOksyzhM/s864/Oni_in_priest's_robes.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="864" data-original-width="614" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5bpIMkhoYusRyeSJQNq2wRQfFf4e2weOl3x9onpjI2Snpr8nb7v6a_SOIG7KRxou-hIKYgHQRQg2hwrnRwZwnS3BchpiswaUI-oeu_QAGbpFzTGo0Xnf2Vhf4ExJ1CTLa09YYph75dHKJ24_Dju2l5ZnGNsnyUqE1C_0RmVUECkYkZ_JfokEcZOksyzhM/s320/Oni_in_priest's_robes.jpg" width="227" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Demon Priest by Tawanabe Kyosai (1864)</span></td></tr></tbody></table>I have been a little obsessed with demons for a while now, mostly in terms of wanting to understand their fundamental nature. I strongly suspect that many of the deities we call demons are actually deities of rival pantheons, and the process of “demonisation” is designed to strengthen the legitimacy of one religion over another. It may even be that some neglected deities become wrathful and seemingly demonic (while others leave desecrated locations or just lose interest in humans). I tend towards believing in voluminous polytheism, by which I mean there are many types of deities, and some of them really are demonic, as conventionally understood.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I recently watched a horror movie called “Incantation” (original title: “Zhou”) – I didn’t enjoy it but was genuinely spun out by it afterwards and thought about it for weeks. The effectiveness of the film was that it used Buddhist themes and turned them upside down, so that instead of Buddhist practice and iconography being benevolent (which is what I have associated with Buddhism my whole life – I was raised as a Buddhist) it delved into the world of curses and demonology. When I sat before the Mandala on my shrine to do some chanting I was reminded that demons are depicted on it – in particular Mara, Hariti and the Ten Demon Daughters. The reason for this is that the Mandala represents the universe in its entirety. I have also heard it said that the Mandala I pray before (called the Gohonzon) is a mirror – and a mirror does not show you only the things you want to see, but everything in you, including the potentiality to become demonic.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>The traditional Buddhist approach to the demonic</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In Buddhism there are multiple realms of existence, most prominently including the realms of:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><ul><li>Devas / Gods – joy and contentment.</li><li>Asuras / Demons / Devils / Demi Gods – anger, animosity, arrogance and belligerence.</li><li>Humans – intermittent suffering, as well as calmness and self-discipline.</li><li>Animals – instinct (fear, sex, predatoriness, the thrill of the hunt, etc).</li><li>Preta / Hungry ghosts – insatiable hunger and unquenchable desire.</li><li>Naraka / Hell – misery, pain, rage and self-destructiveness.</li></ul></div><div style="text-align: justify;">When we talk of the demonic in a Buddhist context we are drawing from the ancient Indian understanding of the cosmos – including what the Vedas (1500-1200 BCE) refer to as Asuras. The Asuras are almost identical to the Greco-Roman Titans and the Germanic Jötun. It is probably more useful to consciously take on an Indo-European perspective, rather than a Christian one, when trying to comprehend them. Like Titans and Jötun, Asuras are described as being in conflict with the Gods. They are said to be dominated by anger, egotism, perversity and aggressiveness. Unlike most animals, hungry ghosts and hell creatures they are sophisticated, deceptive and powerful. They are said to encourage others to engage in shameful acts, greed and foolishness, and they have the power to curse, ie, to cause negative influences that erode our happiness.<span><a name='more'></a></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Mara, demon-king of the sixth heaven</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The most famous demon in Buddhism is Mara, who attempted to thwart the oncoming enlightenment of the Buddha under the bodhi tree by harassing him with demonic illusions and temptations.</div><blockquote style="border: medium; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">“The Sanskrit word māra also means killing, death, pestilence, or obstacle … In Buddhist scriptures, Māra is the name of a devil king who rules over numerous devils who are his retinue. He is described as the great evil enemy of Shakyamuni Buddha and his teachings … Māra is identified with the devil king of the sixth heaven … [<i>Dictionary of Buddhism</i> at nichirenlibrary.org]”.</div></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The sixth heaven is known in Sanskrit as the “Paranirmita-vaśa-vartin”, it is a world of desire, where Asuras freely make use of things created by others. Their lifespans are said to be thousands, if not billions, of years long. Mara and the Asuras of the sixth heaven delight in manipulating others and are said to harass and fool practitioners of Buddhism in order to dissuade and prevent them from attaining Buddhahood. However, not all demons are antithetical to Buddhism – as the stories of Hariti and the Ten Demon Daughters demonstrates.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Demons who convert to Buddhism</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Hariti is not a demon from the sixth heaven, but rather the daughter of Yaksha demon from northern “India” (which could also mean central Asia). Yakshas are nature spirits who can be benevolent or malevolent – a bit like Fairies or Elves. It may be helpful at this point to keep in mind that demons in Buddhism are more like Demi Gods rather than creatures of Satan’s Hell.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Yaksha are associated with the benevolent God Vaishravana (associated with wealth – he may be something like the Germanic Freyr, the fertile ruler of the Elves, or perhaps like the Roman Dis Pater – ruler of Hades and underground wealth), as are another kind of demon called Rakshasha, who are notable shape-shifters said to enjoy eating men – the male Rakshasha are described as ugly and terrifying monsters while the females can be appear as extremely beautiful women.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A famous story is associated with Hariti – it is said she had hundreds of children and regularly killed the infants of others in order to feed her own. The parents of her victims pleaded with the Buddha to help and so he hid the youngest son of Hariti for seven days – during which time Hariti desperately searched for him. In despair she approached the Buddha to ask for his help. The Buddha returned her son after he pointed out to her the great suffering she had been inflicting on the bereaved parents of her victims. Hariti was thus moved by compassion and vowed to never kill another child (switching to feeding on pomegranates instead – there is a strange similarity to the Hellenic story of Demeter and Persephone which is probably not merely coincidental given that Hariti was worshipped in Gandhara – an area that was subject to Greek influence from the 2nd century BCE to the 3rd century CE). Henceforth she transformed into a Buddhist deity of childbirth and the protection of small children. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Likewise, the Ten Demon Daughters, who are Rakshasi (the feminine form of Rakshasha), became protectors of those who uphold the Lotus Sutra. In chapter 26 of the Lotus Sutra it reads:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><blockquote style="border: medium; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: justify;">“At that time there were daughters of rakshasa demons, the first named Lamba, the second named Vilamba, the third named Crooked Teeth, the fourth named Flowery Teeth, the fifth named Black Teeth, the sixth named Much Hair, the seventh named Insatiable, the eighth named Necklace Bearer, the ninth named Kunti, and the tenth named Stealer of the Vital Spirit of All Living Beings. These ten rakshasa daughters, along with Mother of Demon Children [Hariti], her offspring, and her attendants, all proceeded to the place where the Buddha was and spoke to the Buddha in unison, saying, ‘World-Honored One, we too wish to shield and guard those who read, recite, accept, and uphold the Lotus Sutra and spare them from decline or harm. If anyone should spy out the shortcomings of these teachers of the Law and try to take advantage of them, we will make it impossible for him to do so.’ Then in the presence of the Buddha they pronounced these spells … [and] they spoke … saying: ‘If there are those who fail to heed our spells and trouble and disrupt the preachers of the Law, their heads will split into seven pieces … we will use our own bodies to shield and guard those who accept, uphold, read, recite, and practice this sutra. We will see that they gain peace and tranquillity, freeing them from decline and harm and nulling the effect of all poison herbs.’ The Buddha said to the rakshasa daughters, ‘Excellent, excellent! If you can shield and guard those who accept and uphold the mere name of the Lotus Sutra, your merit will be immeasurable. How much more so if you shield and guard those who accept and uphold it in its entirety, who offer alms to the sutra rolls, flowers, incense, necklaces … who burn various kinds of lamps … and who in this manner offer hundreds and thousands of varieties of alms. Kunti, you and your attendants should shield and guard teachers of the Law such as these!’ [nichirenlibrary.org]”.</div></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Splitting heads “into seven pieces” sounds rather violent and not normally the kind of thing one expects from Buddhists – it may be a case of demons gonna demon, ie, they cannot help being what they are, but they can channel their energies in such a way as to gain merit that will be “immeasurable”. This is very much in keeping with the fundamental message of the Lotus Sutra, which is that Buddhist realisation is not confined to monkish elites, rather it is for everyone, whether male, female, human, non-human, dragon, child or demon.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Hence Nichiren wrote of the protective nature of these Buddhist demons:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><blockquote style="border: medium; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: justify;">“It is written that those who embrace the Daimoku [mantra] of the Lotus Sutra will be protected by the Mother of Demon Children [Hariti] and by the ten demon daughters. Such persons will enjoy the happiness of the wisdom king Craving-Filled [Ragaraja, similar to Venus or Cupid, thus the happiness of love] and the good fortune of the heavenly king Vaishravana [God of wealth]. Wherever your daughter may frolic or play no harm will come to her; she will move about without fear like the lion king. Among the ten demon daughters the protection of Kunti is the most profound. But your faith alone will determine these things [<i>The Quotable Nichiren</i>, World Tribune Press, at 172]”.</div></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This is an interesting quote – on the one hand Nichiren indicates that practitioners of the Lotus Sutra will be protected by external forces (Hariti, the Ten Demon Daughters, Ragaraja and Vaishravana), but at the end of the quote he makes it clear that the mind state of the practitioner is the key factor. In Buddhism everything comes back to this, as it says in the first verse of the Dhammapada:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><blockquote style="border: medium; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: justify;">“All that we are is the result of our thoughts; it is founded on our thoughts and made up of our thoughts. With our thoughts we make the world. If a man speaks or acts with a harmful thought, trouble follows him as the wheel follows the ox that draws the cart [Bancroft (ed), <i>The Dhammapada</i>, Vega, at 35].”</div></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>A more contemporary approach to demons in Buddhism</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Demons, in particular the Asuras of the sixth heaven, appear to be the embodiment of counter-Buddhists. The following lines from chapter 16 of the Lotus Sutra, describing people who are unable to practice Buddhism due to over-privilege, sound very similar to the descriptions of Asuras:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><blockquote style="border: medium; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: justify;">“… arrogance and selfishness arise in their minds. Abandoning restraint, they give themselves up to the five desires and fall into the evil paths of existence [nichirenlibrary.org]”.</div></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Every person has demonic tendencies (as well as divine tendences, animal tendencies, hellish tendences, etc) – these can be characterised as negative internal functions, selfish attachments and bad influences that prevent us from pursuing truth and cultivating a positive life state. Daisaku Ikeda writes:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><blockquote style="border: medium; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: justify;">“Devils in Buddhist mythology are personifications of negative internal functions. They represent selfish attachments and bad influences that hinder people’s pursuit of truth and that work to prevent them from cultivating a strong, positive life force [Ikeda, <i>Unlocking the Mysteries of Birth and Death</i>, Middleway Press, at 67]”.</div></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Ikeda further points out that a mind clouded by illusion is fundamentally vulnerable to becoming demonic:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><blockquote style="border: medium; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: justify;">“Just as our physical condition affects our mental state, our bodily health is greatly affected by the beliefs (or delusions) we hold and our attitude to life – factors that originate in the mind … [which is] especially subtle and susceptible to external influences. Replacing the illusions arising from the three poisons [greed, anger and foolishness, which are ‘essentially devilish’] with wisdom, courage and confidence generated by Buddhist practice becomes an important aspect of strengthening and sustaining our spiritual health – the foundation of physical and mental well-being [Ibid, at 67 and 70]”.</div></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">So what to do when you encounter demons? Respect the Buddha potential that resides within but get out of the way of harm!</div> <div style="text-align: justify;">---------</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Sources:</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><ul><li><span style="font-size: x-small;">britannica.com</span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;">britishmuseum.org</span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;">Ikeda, <i>Unlocking the Mysteries of Birth and Death</i>, Middleway Press</span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;">Mills, <i>Buddhism Explained</i>, Silkworm Books</span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;">nichirenlibrary.org</span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>The Quotable Nichiren,</i> World Tribune Press</span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;">tibetanbuddhistencyclopedia.com</span></li></ul></div><i><br /><br /></i><div style="text-align: right;"><i>Written by M' Sentia Figula (aka Freki), find me at <a href="http://romanpagan.blogspot.com/">neo polytheist</a> and <a href="https://romanpagan.wordpress.com/">romanpagan.wordpress.com</a></i></div>M' Sentia Figula (aka Freki)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04898083473029906396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3579296986984067902.post-87057904745092640182023-05-19T20:41:00.034+10:002023-12-01T10:48:14.896+11:00 What Western Polytheists Can Learn from Muslims<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkW8ioSVBo0mmTceYCxLjCdRYV3KEVh4dasLj51eGU46MuQMlCz1toSOhfax1nxfFoF4m3bEuDOQp5le5nY_KJFUT6YEOGo2ZxW9mf_YUZc5HO13KwuKns8PXxXaSEWVL67wCVxMUvI1VpvAWvQIXIuMShU1VnmetDJErGF-HVYKwzVXWJ06A7zX75Zg/s700/Portaels_-_Choosing_the_rose.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkW8ioSVBo0mmTceYCxLjCdRYV3KEVh4dasLj51eGU46MuQMlCz1toSOhfax1nxfFoF4m3bEuDOQp5le5nY_KJFUT6YEOGo2ZxW9mf_YUZc5HO13KwuKns8PXxXaSEWVL67wCVxMUvI1VpvAWvQIXIuMShU1VnmetDJErGF-HVYKwzVXWJ06A7zX75Zg/s320/Portaels_-_Choosing_the_rose.jpg" width="245" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">"Choosing the Rose" by Portaels (1860s)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;">Islam is said to be the fastest growing religion in the world. Currently around a quarter of all people on earth identify as Muslim. According to Pew Research:</div><br /><blockquote style="border: medium; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;">“If current demographic trends continue … Muslims – a comparatively youthful population with high fertility rates – are projected to increase by 73% … As a result … by 2050 there will be near parity between Muslims (2.8 billion, or 30% of the population) and Christians (2.9 billion, or 31%), possibly for the first time in history.” </blockquote><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Conversion to Islam also seems to be relatively common, with nearly a quarter of American Muslims being converts, so the Islamic growth factor is not only down to having more children. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">There is undeniably something dynamic about Islam, and Muslim communities appear to be getting at least some of the crucial aspects of being human very right. Most praiseworthy is the Islamic reverence, or at least strong respect, for mothers – the saying goes “heaven lies beneath the feet of mothers”. By way of example, when a young man asked Muhammad if he could join the military (because he longed to do so) though his mother objected, Muhammad is said to have replied “stay with your mother. I swear to the God Who chose me as prophet that the spiritual reward which you receive for serving her even one night and making her happy with your presence, is greater than a one-year long holy war”. A more contemporary example of the Islamic reverence for mothers took place in Morocco after the 2022 FIFA world cup, when the Moroccan team (who had just become the first ever Arab team to reach the semi-finals) was honoured by the King along with their mothers, after heart-warming videos had gone viral throughout the Islamic world of players running to embrace their mothers after winning a match.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Any spiritual tradition that venerates motherhood is operating in accord with the regenerative aspect of nature. When we look at the most prominent Gods of ancient Rome we see what aspects of nature they revered most: Venus and Mars – thus love, fertility and virility (Mars is not only a God of war but also agriculture). To get these very fundamental things right is to light the path to success, though it’s clearly a path on which many descendants of Europa have lost their way. It is not so much that we are not sexually active but that too few of us are in long term relationships.* This not ideal, as a tale from Ovid’s <i>Metamorphoses </i>demonstrates:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span><a name='more'></a></span></div><br /><blockquote style="border: medium; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;">“The Propoetides – fools who denied Venus divinity – she stripped off their good names and their undergarments, and made them whores. As those women hardened .... their features hardened like their hearts. Soon they shrank to the ... heartless, treacherous hardness of sharp shards of flint.</blockquote><blockquote style="border: medium; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;">The spectacle of these cursed women sent Pygmalion ... slightly mad. He adored woman, but he saw … these particular women transform, as if by some occult connection, every woman's uterus to a spider. Her face, voice, gestures, hair became its web ...</p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: medium; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;">So he lived in the solitary confinement of a phobia, shunning living women, wifeless. Yet he still dreamed of woman ... <span style="text-align: justify;">[The story of Pygmalion from bk X, as translated by Ted Hughes]”</span></p></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">Thus, when we engage in sex without love Venus is displeased – the sexually active Propoetides lost not only the ability to love, but also the gift of fertility (btw, I am not here implying that modern women are equivalent to the Propoetides, I repeat the story for its cautionary tale). Venus is not a Goddess of lotus-eating pleasure, she is a divine mother. She is, as Lucretius writes:</div><br /><blockquote style="border: medium; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;">“… mother of the Roman race, delight of men and Gods, Venus most bountiful … by your power creatures of every kind are brought to birth and rising up behold the light of sun … first birds of the air proclaim you, Goddess divine, and herald your approach, pierced to the heart by your almighty power … you make each in their hearts’ desire beget after their kind their breed and progeny … [bk I, as translated by Ronald Melville]” </blockquote><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">While fertility declines so too I detect a subtle swell of angst as one nation after another has less children, and the ranks of the elderly grow. Some even say there will be a great replacement … which reminds me of another great replacement, namely that of the Palestinians. Many years ago I read an article that really stayed with me (but which I have been unable to locate again) – it was about well-educated Palestinian women who wanted to wreak revenge for the loss of their ancestral homeland. They decided to do what they knew would upset their usurpers the most – they refused the prospect of annihilation by having as many children as possible. Thus the Arab population of Palestine was 1.4 million when they lost their nation in 1948 and 5.4 million in 2023 – in the last decade the average Palestinian woman got married at age 20 and gave birth to three or four children (despite low financial wealth). There is nothing to stop Westerners doing the same thing except ourselves. If we live with love as our highest ideal and hold motherhood in reverence we too can find our way out of the desert.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">* With the inevitable result that fertility, especially amongst young women (who are the most natural acolytes of Venus) has declined sharply: <a href="https://aifs.gov.au/research/facts-and-figures/births-australia-2023">Births in Australia | Australian Institute of Family Studies (aifs.gov.au)</a>.</span></div><b><br /><span style="font-size: xx-small;"> Sources: </span></b><div><span style="font-size: xx-small;">T Hughes, <i>Tales from Ovid</i>, Faber and Faber</span></div><div><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Lucretius, <i>On the Nature of the Universe</i>, Oxford World's Classics</span></div><div><a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2015/04/02/religious-projections-2010-2050/"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">The Future of World Religions: Population Growth Projections, 2010-2050 | Pew Research Center</span></a></div><div><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2018/01/26/the-share-of-americans-who-leave-islam-is-offset-by-those-who-become-muslim/">Islam gains about as many converts as it loses in U.S. | Pew Research Center</a><br /><a href="https://www.al-islam.org/lantern-path-imam-jafar-al-sadiq/love-allah">Love of Allah | Lantern of the Path | Al-Islam.org</a></span></div><div><a href="https://www.islamreligion.com/articles/11333/introducing-a-allaha/"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Introducing “Allah” - The Religion of Islam (islamreligion.com)</span></a></div><div><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="https://www.islamweb.net/en/article/137250/the-love-of-allah">The love of Allah (islamweb.net)</a><br /><a href="https://islamweb.net/en/article/149345/mothers-in-islam">Mothers in Islam (islamweb.net)</a> <br /><a href="https://myislam.org/30-islamic-quotes-on-mothers/">30 Islamic Quotes On Mothers (Quran, Hadith, and Scholars) (myislam.org)</a> <br /><a href="https://www.al-islam.org/status-mothers-islam-sayyid-muhammad-sohofi/status-mothers-islam">The Status of Mothers in Islam | The Status of Mothers in Islam | Al-Islam.org</a> <br /><a href="https://www.newarab.com/news/morocco-team-mothers-honoured-king-after-heroes-welcome">Morocco team, mothers honoured by king after heroes' welcome (newarab.com)</a> <br /><a href="https://www.newarab.com/news/world-cup-morocco-team-kin-melt-hearts-celebrations">World Cup: Morocco team kin 'melt hearts' with celebrations (newarab.com)</a> </span></div><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20220405-single-shaming-why-people-jump-to-judge-the-un-partnered">'Single shaming': Why people jump to judge the un-partnered - BBC Worklife</a><br /><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2019/03/21/its-not-just-you-new-data-shows-more-than-half-young-people-america-dont-have-romantic-partner/">It’s not just you: New data shows more than half of young people in America don’t have a romantic partner - The Washington Post</a></span><br /><div><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="https://www.unfpa.org/data/world-population/PS">World Population Dashboard -Palestine | United Nations Population Fund (unfpa.org)</a> <br /><a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Palestine/Palestine-and-the-Palestinians-1948-67">Palestine - Arab Displacement, Unity, and Nationalism in UNRWA Refugee Camps | Britannica</a> <br /><a href="https://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/palestine-population">Palestine Population 2023 (Live) (worldpopulationreview.com)</a></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><i>Written by M' Sentia Figula (aka Freki), find me at <a href="http://romanpagan.blogspot.com/">neo polytheist</a> and <a href="https://romanpagan.wordpress.com/">romanpagan.wordpress.com</a></i></div></div>M' Sentia Figula (aka Freki)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04898083473029906396noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3579296986984067902.post-66938646377181144022022-10-21T21:11:00.012+11:002022-11-04T13:20:05.546+11:00The Heimdall Caste System in Germanic Polytheism<div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: justify;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: justify;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFvFKndLoD5EiIY5umBWShHFujIu_xhNo2nGBgfJNYsR3cXLbWkK_r1qHcsRqP-nBh86vKTtYBm89WfbEyMkTG6LS7gTP2MJXQrSru1zVl_VH2ty2H8O4NEOCzrSLhfymnsDMrWcFvJD2n6kU7xzZgdMefPvpNtIHtpYIlfWCwEKf5kfLEWRN7zZlwdg/s1359/Freya_and_Heimdall_by_Blommer%202.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1359" data-original-width="1069" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFvFKndLoD5EiIY5umBWShHFujIu_xhNo2nGBgfJNYsR3cXLbWkK_r1qHcsRqP-nBh86vKTtYBm89WfbEyMkTG6LS7gTP2MJXQrSru1zVl_VH2ty2H8O4NEOCzrSLhfymnsDMrWcFvJD2n6kU7xzZgdMefPvpNtIHtpYIlfWCwEKf5kfLEWRN7zZlwdg/w252-h320/Freya_and_Heimdall_by_Blommer%202.jpg" width="252" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">"Heimdall returns Freyja's necklace" (1846) by Nils Blommer</span></td></tr></tbody></table>In the <i>Rigsthula </i>what appears to be a Germanic caste system is described:</span></div></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li style="text-align: justify;">The caste of Thralls (slaves and landless workers) – they are often physically ugly (sometimes even deformed) but strong, hardworking and useful members of their community, though men and women live together they are unmarried and their sons have names like Weather-beaten, Barn-cleaner, Sluggard, Shorty, Fatty and Stinker, while their daughters have names such as Skinny-hips, Fat-calf, Gossip and Beak-nose.</li><li style="text-align: justify;">The caste of Freemen (landholding farmers, artisans and soldiers) – they are skilled and industrious workers, eg, the men are skilled at wood carving, working the plough, and building wagons, barns and homes, while the women engage in wool-spinning and weaving; their hair is tidy and they wear nicely tailored clothes; they are married (they've “exchanged rings”) and their children are described as red-haired and keen-eyed; their sons have names like Manly, Brave, Swordsman, Soldier, Smith, Farmer and Trim-beard, while their daughters have names such as Sensible, Smart, Swan, Lady, Shy and Vivacious.</li><li style="text-align: justify;">The caste of Nobles (aristocracy, military leaders and shamans) – their skin is pale, their fingers are long, their hair is blonde, their eyes are piercing, they are wise, understand the language of birds, know the runes, and the spells associated with them; the men are skilled at using weapons, horse-riding, hunting, swimming and war – causing them to own large estates and treasure, with which they are generous; couples love each other deeply and their children have names such as Noble, Kinsman, Heir and King.</li></ul><div style="text-align: justify;">The three castes share the same divine, paternal ancestor – being Heimdall the White, as it says in the <i>Voluspa</i>:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: justify;">“Heed my words, all classes of men, you greater and lesser children of Heimdall [J Crawford, <i>The Poetic Edda</i>, 2015, Hackett].”</div></blockquote><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span><a name='more'></a></span>These castes are not necessarily representative of all of mankind, however, for the creator of all men is Odin and his brothers (according to the <i>Prose Edda</i>). Separately to that Odin is the divine ancestor of Germanic Royal lines, the Swedish people, and he is the father of Heimdall – thus the most high and sacred line of Odin circulates today amongst the Germanic people.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Certainly the Heimdall castes pertain to the Germanic people (though perhaps not only the Germanic people), for the Thralls are descended from a couple called great-grandfather and great-grandmother, the Freemen are descended from a couple called grandfather and grandmother and the Nobles are descended from a couple called father and mother. Heimdall’s role in creating the castes is to lay in the middle of the beds of these respective ancestors, following which their children are born. Jackson Crawford has suggested that the social role and physical description of the Thralls references slaves from Ireland and Scotland, which is likely at least partly true, but given that there is an implication that Thralls have darker hair I suspect native Germanic people are most definitely included, as well as Slavs and any other group (who will inevitably have been European) whom Germanic people are known to have enslaved in the ancient and medieval period?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">As for what percentage of people belonged to each caste, it is very difficult to know for sure but one hint might come from the Doomsday data collected in 11th century England, wherein around 6% were nobility, around 12% were landowning freemen, circa 70% were serfs and 10% were outright slaves. If we apply the Heimdall caste system to this structure it places around 80% of the population as equivalent to Thralls, with the remaining two castes occupying the other circa 20%. This percentage split is not wildly different from the distribution of castes in contemporary India where, counted together, the Brahmin and Kshatriya castes (being the two highest castes) make up less than 25% of the population.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Amongst the Indo-European people only south Asians have a manifest caste system today – why this is so is better left to an Indian scholar to answer, but I do wonder, and I may be wrong, if the caste system came into being to ensure that distinct ethnoreligious identities were preserved in an environment where they might otherwise have been expected, via the passage of time, to be diluted into the greater number of the Indian population?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">ᚲᛟᚢᛚᛞ ᚨᚾ ᚨᚱᚷᚢᛗᛖᚾᛏ ᛏᚺᚢᛋ ᛒᛖ ᛗᚨᛞᛖ ᛁᚾ ᚠᚨᚡᛟᚢᚱ ᛟᚠ ᛏᚺᛖ ᚺᛖᛁᛗᛞᚨᛚᛚ ᚲᚨᛋᛏᛖ ᛋᚤᛋᛏᛖᛗ ᚨᛋ ᚨ ᚹᚨᚤ ᛟᚠ ᛈᚱᛖᛋᛖᚱᚡᛁᚾᚷ ᚷᛖᚱᛗᚨᚾᛁᚲ ᛁᛞᛖᚾᛏᛁᛏᚤ ᛁᚾ ᛏᚺᛖ ᛁᚾᚲᚱᛖᚨᛋᛁᚾᚷᛚᚤ ᛗᚢᛚᛏᛁᚲᚢᛚᛏᚢᚱᚨᛚ ᚹᛖᛋᛏ?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Can we make a case for restoring the Heimdall caste system amongst Germanic polytheists today?</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A thousand years (give or take a few hundred years) of Christianity as the dominant spiritual teaching amongst Germanic people has just about wiped out caste distinctions. Some of us might be able to ascertain our caste by studying the occupations of our ancestors. In my case I appear to be mostly Freeman (landowning ancestors who were either dairy farmers or had other skilled occupations), but no doubt I have Thrall and possibly some Noble ancestry. I suspect most Germanic people will find their ancestry is similarly a mix of all three castes. Physical characteristics might indicate that the features of one caste predominates – tall, blonde people may thus identify as Nobles, but even those people will notice many of their close relatives have brown and red hair, so again we have a very mixed situation. I think the better way to approach this is to recognise the inherent kinship between all the castes, for we are all children of Heimdall, and to aspire to bring out the best features of these castes within ourselves, these would include:</div></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li style="text-align: justify;">Being fertile and raising children (all of the castes)</li><li style="text-align: justify;">Physical strength (Thrall)</li><li style="text-align: justify;">An excellent work ethic (Thrall and Freeman)</li><li style="text-align: justify;">Skilfulness (Freeman)</li><li style="text-align: justify;">Manliness, eg, bravery and willingness to engage in warfare (Freeman and Noble)</li><li style="text-align: justify;">Womanliness, eg, ladylike, takes care of her appearance (Freeman and Noble)</li><li style="text-align: justify;">Loving one’s partner deeply (Noble)</li><li style="text-align: justify;">Generosity (Noble)</li><li style="text-align: justify;">Learning the runes and the way of birds – shamanism (Noble)</li></ul><div style="text-align: justify;">As for the people who are not part of this caste system – well, perhaps they are ᛟᚢᛏᛋᛁᛞᛖᚱᛋ? Which is not to denote inferiority, but rather to denote their status as outside our ethnoreligious identity – just as Jewish (or Parsi) people prefer to marry other people both born into and practising the Jewish (or Parsi) religion. Of course friendships with ᛟᚢᛏᛋᛁᛞᛖᚱᛋ are good sense in a multicultural community, but we might encourage our children to marry others who also carry the Heimdall bloodline. The point of all of this – which is really just a thought experiment tbh – is not to encourage racism, but to seek a viable means to continue the Heimdall bloodline long into the future. Over the course of thousands of years it doesn’t matter if occasionally a Germanic polytheist marries an ᛟᚢᛏᛋᛁᛞᛖᚱ (consider the intermarriage with Huns in the <i>Völsunga Saga</i>), the point is to preserve the bloodline in the longer term, if for no other reason than to ensure optimal candidates for Valhalla. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Before I end, I wish to honour Heimdall with Hilda Ellis Davidson’s rather good and succinct description of our divine ancestor:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div style="text-align: justify;">“Heimdall, the White God … was said to sit beside the rainbow bridge to guard the entrance to the fortress of the Gods from the giants and monsters. He kept unwearying watch, since he needed less sleep than a bird, and his hearing was so keen that he could detect the sound of grass growing in the earth, or wool on a sheep’s back. Heimdall carried the horn which would warn the Gods when Ragnarök was at hand, sounding its blast through all the worlds … One form of his name meant ‘ram’ … the strange saying that a sword was the head of Heimdall could refer to the ram’s sharp horns, its weapon of attack … Heimdall … was said to be the son of nine mothers … who are said to be daughters of the sea … He seems to have a special link with Loki, who is to be his opponent in the last great battle, and there is also a confused tradition that Heimdall and Loki once fought in the form of seals for the necklace of Frejya … He … gave advice when Thrym sought her in marriage … [H R Ellis Davidson, <i>Scandinavian Mythology</i>, 1969, Paul Hamlyn at 105-107].”</div></blockquote><p>---------</p><p><span style="font-size: x-small;">Sources not otherwise cited:</span></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-size: x-small;">J Crawford, <i>The Saga of the Volsungs</i>, 2017, Hackett</span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNsj1EW1JtM" style="text-align: justify;" target="_blank">Jackson Crawford on YouTube</a></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;">H R Ellis Davidson, <i style="text-align: justify;">Gods and Myths of Northern Europe</i><span style="text-align: justify;">, 1964, Penguin Books</span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="text-align: justify;">Doomsday data is taken from my earlier post in February 2022: <a href="https://romanpagan.blogspot.com/2022/02/what-does-it-mean-to-be-free.html" target="_blank">What Does It Mean to Be Free?</a></span></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;">C Larrington, <i>The Poetic Edda</i>, 1996, Oxford</span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;">J Lindow, <i>Norse Mythology</i>, 2001, Oxford </span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://scholarblogs.emory.edu/rel100hinduism/2015/11/25/the-caste-system-brahmin-and-kshatriya/" style="text-align: justify;" target="_blank">scholarblogs.emory.edu/rel100hinduism/2015/11/25/the-caste-system-brahmin-and-kshatriya</a></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;">Snorri Sturluson, <i>The Prose Edda</i>, 2005, Penguin Classics</span></li></ul><p></p><div style="text-align: right;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: right;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: right;"><i>Written by Figula (aka Freki), find me at <a href="http://romanpagan.blogspot.com/">neo polytheist</a> and <a href="https://romanpagan.wordpress.com/">romanpagan.wordpress.com</a></i></div>M' Sentia Figula (aka Freki)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04898083473029906396noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3579296986984067902.post-40289523908761746722022-09-25T13:53:00.014+10:002022-09-25T15:37:15.286+10:00Interpreting the Gohonzon (Buddhist Object of Veneration)<p></p><div class="post-footer" style="color: #bf8b38; font: 400 12px Montserrat, sans-serif; margin: 50px 0px 0px;"><div class="post-footer-line post-footer-line-1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #bf8b38; font-family: Montserrat, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 2.3; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"></div></div><p></p><div style="text-align: justify;">The object of veneration in Nichiren Buddhism is the Gohonzon, a sacred mandala which practitioners are encouraged to chant in front of twice a day. Nichiren Buddhism originated in Japan in the 13th century and is now practised worldwide, particularly (when outside of Japan) by members of the Soka Gakkai International (SGI). Members of the SGI receive a Gohonzon when they join the organisation. They then enshrine the Gohonzon in a Butsudan (a small cabinet for housing sacred objects) in their homes.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The images on the Gohonzon consist of beautiful Chinese-Japanese calligraphy representing many things, including important deities. Most of the Gods on the Gohonzon refer to ancient Indian Gods, thus in attempting to understand the nature of these deities I have looked to their Roman equivalents. Given that these deities have a shared Indo-European origin this approach seems suitably viable. Using the <i>interpretatio Romana</i> the major deities represented include Dis Pater (top left), Neptune (top right), Venus / Cupid (centre left), Aurora, Diana, Jupiter, Apollo, (middle centre), Vulcan (centre right), Juno (just below the middle), Ceres (lower left), Mars (left of the lower middle), and Mercury (lower right). </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Nichiren wrote that the Gohonzon “was revealed in the last eight years of the fifty that the Buddha preached in this world”, and states that others, such as T’ien-t’ai (a renowned 6th century Chinese Buddhist), “perceived it in their hearts, but for some reason never put it into words”. In a letter to one of his followers Nichiren wrote that the Lotus Sutra:</div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><br /></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTGhdW4F84jCPNWiHw4dBdZK1wNzW2Jt2aqNHJfLqy_SgAhSfRcYXe6976UAfH2xgGv6votLJx3O2lLE7uxNLHqKzvxfqfsjcbAnZHd3W-WLn1lFSeU7Zn5Fv0EBksyjUv2Aol4k_OnmPFhdkkRKUwHrWRBaaSz69oakaEb69RDAKqSIgEmeYoX1imVQ/s623/Nichiren%202.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="623" data-original-width="543" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTGhdW4F84jCPNWiHw4dBdZK1wNzW2Jt2aqNHJfLqy_SgAhSfRcYXe6976UAfH2xgGv6votLJx3O2lLE7uxNLHqKzvxfqfsjcbAnZHd3W-WLn1lFSeU7Zn5Fv0EBksyjUv2Aol4k_OnmPFhdkkRKUwHrWRBaaSz69oakaEb69RDAKqSIgEmeYoX1imVQ/s320/Nichiren%202.jpg" width="279" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">"A miracle saving Nichiren's life" by Keishu (early 20th century)</span></td></tr></tbody></table>“... itself and the commentaries of T’ien-t’ai and Miao-lo [a renowned 8th century Chinese Buddhist] explicitly state that the Gohonzon will appear after 2000 years have elapsed following the Buddha’s passing, in the first 500 years of the Latter Day of the Law … </blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"> </span></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;">I was the first to reveal as the banner of propagation of the Lotus Sutra this great mandala … This mandala is in no way my invention. It is the object of devotion that depicts Shakyamuni Buddha [the original Buddha from northeastern India BCE] ... seated in the treasure tower of Many Treasures Buddha [a celestial Buddha of the east] ...</blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: justify;">Thus the five characters of the Lotus Sutra’s title are suspended in the centre, while the four heavenly kings [the Lords who serve the God Shakra / Indra, and protect the four corners of the world] are seated at the four corners of the treasure tower. Shakyamuni, Many Treasures, and the four leaders of the Bodhisattvas of the Earth are side by side at the top ...</span> </p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: justify;">Without exception, all these Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, great sages, and, in general, all the various beings of the two worlds and the eight groups who appear in the Introduction chapter of the Lotus Sutra dwell in this Gohonzon. Illuminated by the light of the five characters of the Mystic Law, they display the dignified attributes that they inherently possess. This is the object of devotion.</span></p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: justify;">This is what is meant when the sutra says “the true aspect of all phenomena” … Therefore, this Gohonzon shall be called the great mandala never before known; it did not appear until more than 2,220 years after the Buddha’s passing.</span> </p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: justify;">A woman who makes offerings to such a Gohonzon invites happiness in this life, and in the next, the Gohonzon will be with her and protect her always. Like a lantern in the dark, like a strong guide and porter on a treacherous mountain path, the Gohonzon will guard and protect you …</span></p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: justify;">Never seek this Gohonzon outside yourself. The Gohonzon exists only within the mortal flesh of us ordinary people who embrace the Lotus Sutra and chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo …</span> </p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify;">Since Nichiren’s disciples and lay supporters believe solely in the Lotus Sutra, honestly discarding expedient means ... exactly as the Lotus Sutra teaches, they can enter the treasure tower of the Gohonzon. How reassuring! Make every possible effort for the sake of your next life. What is most important is that, by chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo alone, you can attain Buddhahood … [from a letter written by Nichiren called <a href="http://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/101">The Real Aspect of the Gohonzon</a>]”</blockquote><span><a name='more'></a></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">What is inscribed on the Gohonzon:</div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li style="text-align: justify;">Centre – nam-myoho-renge-kyo: the ultimate Law permeating all phenomena in the universe, underneath is Nichiren’s name.</li><li style="text-align: justify;">Extreme top left – Vaishravana / Kubera, God of (mineral) wealth and guardian of the north (<i>interpretatio Romana = Dis Pater</i>). Then going inwards, (1) "those who make offerings will gain good fortune”; (2) Bodhisattva Firmly Established Practices; (3) Bodhisattva Pure Practices; (4) Shakyamuni Buddha.</li><li style="text-align: justify;">Extreme top right – Dhritarashtra, guardian of the east (<i>interpretatio Romana = Neptune</i>). Then going inwards, (1) "those who vex and trouble will have their heads split into seven pieces"; (2) Bodhisattva Boundless / Limitless Practices; (3) Bodhisattva Superior Practices; (4) Many Treasures Tathagata / Thus Come One (Taho Nyorai), a Buddha who appears at the Ceremony in the Air to bear witness to the truth of Shakyamuni's teachings in the Lotus Sutra.</li><li style="text-align: justify;">Middle left – Ragaraja Vidyaraja / Wisdom Craving-Filled, a Buddhist deity who is said to purify people's earthly desires and free them from illusions and the sufferings accruing from earthly desires, signifying the principle that "earthly desires are enlightenment" (<i>interpretatio Romana = Venus, or Cupid</i>). Then going inwards, (1) Aruna, God of the morning sky (<i>interpretatio Romana = Aurora</i>); (2) Chandra (<i>interpretatio Romana = Diana</i>); (3) Shakra, also known as Indra (<i>interpretatio Romana = Jupiter</i>), then underneath these three Gods – (1) eight great dragon kings, including the father of the dragon girl who became enlightened, thus proving that it is not only male humans who can become enlightened; (2) Dengyo Daishi, the founder of the Tendai sect in Japan in the early 8th century. Dengyo maintained that all people have the Buddha nature and that the supreme vehicle of Buddhahood expounded in the Lotus Sutra is the true teaching. He was a key figure in upholding the righteousness of the Lotus Sutra in the Middle Day of the Law; (3) then Hariti's 10 daughters, who protect the sutra's votaries.</li><li style="text-align: justify;">Far right – June 13, 1720, the date this particular Gohonzon was transcribed by Nichikan Shonin (there are multiple versions in existence).</li><li style="text-align: justify;">Middle right – Achalanatha Vidyaraja / Wisdom King Immovable, a Buddhist deity who serves practitioners by defeating the obstacles and evils that hinder Buddhist practice (<i>interpretatio Romana = Vulcan</i>). It is said that he exudes flames that destroy all karmic hindrances, he signifies that "the sufferings of birth and death are nirvana”. Then going inwards, (1) Surya (<i>interpretatio Romana = Apollo</i>); (2) Mara; (3) Brahma. Then underneath (1) Tendai Daishi (Great Teacher T'ien-t'ai), advocated the supremacy of the Lotus Sutra. He also expounded the theory of "a life-moment possessing 3,000 realms"; (2) Hariti, Mother of Demon Children (<i>interpretatio Romana = Juno</i>).</li><li style="text-align: justify;">Bottom left – Virudhaka, Great Heavenly King Increase and Growth, guardian of the south (<i>interpretatio Romana = Ceres</i>). Then going inwards, (1) Hachiman, God of war and agriculture (<i>interpretatio Romana = Mars</i>); (2) "I respectfully transcribed this" refers to the high priest who transcribed the Gohonzon; (3) Nichikan (1665-1726), the twenty-sixth high priest of Nichiren Shoshu.</li><li style="text-align: justify;">Bottom right – Virupaksha, Great Heavenly King Wide-Eyed / Many Eyed (Shiva), guardian of the west (<i>interpretatio Romana = Mercury</i>). Then, going inwards (1) “never in 2,230-some years since the passing of the Buddha has this great mandala appeared in the world”; (2) Tensho Daijin, the Japanese Goddess of the sun.</li></ul><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A rough diagram in English</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiaMyT1-QqIUFeGVikPCVW3Vf0n8CGpa4rXe_98PLP5whg-Tc5hhWrL0VGVJ5i1a_TCC3eqJGj6VPqxlFAxBD6LEMAAFqFw4j-LniBrEr0F0LF28jhDVFpoduRA7Xx9d79vtKREeTcNgAzEMmr8NAFkGaiae763bpub2KKKswKUrDCOQqXEti9eCopb7w" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1274" data-original-width="936" height="831" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiaMyT1-QqIUFeGVikPCVW3Vf0n8CGpa4rXe_98PLP5whg-Tc5hhWrL0VGVJ5i1a_TCC3eqJGj6VPqxlFAxBD6LEMAAFqFw4j-LniBrEr0F0LF28jhDVFpoduRA7Xx9d79vtKREeTcNgAzEMmr8NAFkGaiae763bpub2KKKswKUrDCOQqXEti9eCopb7w=w610-h831" width="610" /></a></div><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">*“earthly desires are enlightenment”.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">** “the suffering of life and death are nirvana”. Note that to the right of this text is the date of the inscribing of this Gohonzon.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">*** This is a honorific.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">---</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Applying the Interpretatio Romana to the deities on the Gohonzon (caveat: this is an inherently uncertain process, I do this in order to make the deities on the Gohonzon more comprehensible to me but no doubt many will dispute the efficacy of my attempt):</div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li style="text-align: justify;">Apollo = Surya</li><li style="text-align: justify;">Aurora = Aruna</li><li style="text-align: justify;">Ceres = Virudhaka</li><li style="text-align: justify;">Diana = Chandra</li><li style="text-align: justify;">Dis Pater = Vaishravana / Kubera</li><li style="text-align: justify;">Juno = Hariti</li><li style="text-align: justify;">Jupiter = Indra / Shakra</li><li style="text-align: justify;">Mars = Hachiman</li><li style="text-align: justify;">Mercury = Virupaksha (considered to be an aspect of Shiva)</li><li style="text-align: justify;">Minerva = unknown, perhaps Many Treasures Tathagata (Taho Nyorai)?</li><li style="text-align: justify;">Neptune = Dhritarashtra</li><li style="text-align: justify;">Sol = Tensho Daijin</li><li style="text-align: justify;">Vesta = unknown, perhaps Achalanatha Vidyaraja (in the Vedic/Hindu pantheon the God that incorporates the domains of both Vesta and Vulcan is one, called Agni)</li><li style="text-align: justify;">Venus = Ragaraja Vidyaraja </li><li style="text-align: justify;">Vulcan = Achalanatha Vidyaraja</li></ul><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">---------</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">SOURCES: </span><span style="font-size: small;">sgi-usa.org</span><span style="font-size: small;">, </span><span style="font-size: small;">500yojanas.org</span><span style="font-size: small;">, </span><span style="font-size: small;">webring.org</span><span style="font-size: small;">, </span><span style="font-size: small;">nichirenlibrary.org</span><span style="font-size: small;">, </span><span style="font-size: small;">rigpawiki.org</span><span style="font-size: small;">, </span><span style="font-size: small;">hinduwebsite.com</span><span style="font-size: small;"> and various other sources obtained via google.</span></div><br /><div style="text-align: right;">Posted by <a href="https://www.blogger.com/profile/04898083473029906396">M' Sentia Figula (aka Freki)</a></div>M' Sentia Figula (aka Freki)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04898083473029906396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3579296986984067902.post-66451200630937268652022-02-18T22:34:00.060+11:002023-02-10T19:01:29.551+11:00A Brief History of Servitude in the West<div style="text-align: justify;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjcB4DVlKiPP1PXZIYu1aqJ7Ao3booLEHBK2czlJEuuQf4eREv-kgvFycbJdQ9GImYHqEuSOJJHAihVqjefNKrAbWonivkxLK4yx_LxjZlq-QVelSwDp3vUGocIutpwvXS1zLAe-5pKPQCvPSzMfQh_lUKVDJNivHDfdIGtQQBjtqS3jJspqLmmLBXChQ=s1302" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1302" data-original-width="1149" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjcB4DVlKiPP1PXZIYu1aqJ7Ao3booLEHBK2czlJEuuQf4eREv-kgvFycbJdQ9GImYHqEuSOJJHAihVqjefNKrAbWonivkxLK4yx_LxjZlq-QVelSwDp3vUGocIutpwvXS1zLAe-5pKPQCvPSzMfQh_lUKVDJNivHDfdIGtQQBjtqS3jJspqLmmLBXChQ=s320" width="282" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b>Castle of the Duc de Berry by the Limbourg Bros (15th c.)</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table>There is an idea that has emerged in recent years which holds that Western nations are increasingly dominated by billionaire elites and multinational corporations who seek to transform our nations into authoritarian, surveillance states, wherein censorship is widespread and widely tolerated, real property is so hideously expensive that large portions of the population never even try to acquire it, and so many people live in what feels like a profaned world devoid of spiritual aspiration that mental illness is commonplace. On the other hand, a smorgasbord of transitory pleasures (junk food, video games, television, porn, sex toys, prescription medication, etc) is perpetually within reach. Perhaps Tacitus’ observations about the actions of the Governor of Roman Britain in the 1st century CE are germaine:</div><blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">“Agricola … described his campaign … as ‘keeping a conquered people under control’ … His intention was … [that the native Britons] become accustomed to peace and quiet by the provisions of amenities. Hence he gave … assistance to communities to build temples, market-places, and town houses. He praised those that responded promptly [to Romanisation] and censured the dilatory. As a result they began to compete with one another for his approval, instead of having to be compelled … even our style of dress came into favour and the toga was everywhere to be seen. Gradually, too, they went astray into the allurements of evil ways, colonnades and warm baths and elegant banquets. The Britons … called it ‘civilisation’, although it was a part of their enslavement [Tacitus, <i>Agricola and Germany</i>, Oxford World’s Classics, Ch 18-21].”</div></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">Could it be that we are at risk of succumbing to the illusion of good living while in fact being profoundly unfree? In order to explore the possible answer to this question one first needs to understand what slavery actually is, as well as some of the other forms of bondage that have evolved in the West over time.<span><a name='more'></a></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh6pzMx1Ry-7OoplYP5JA5-AfuAbra014clm7UsrmUmRZWoA63KVUzrfFCV2VKp5OAClWf_vP-UFPguCQhXmUBN2KoLg7htu7isdUVs236oZrXXoHo75zdChecqbRS9TlqYDMDw93taWdT8380GLlDK1nYlzw265hLJHRX_7V1xF8vvksbUiaxNnTYHPA=s1200" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="586" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh6pzMx1Ry-7OoplYP5JA5-AfuAbra014clm7UsrmUmRZWoA63KVUzrfFCV2VKp5OAClWf_vP-UFPguCQhXmUBN2KoLg7htu7isdUVs236oZrXXoHo75zdChecqbRS9TlqYDMDw93taWdT8380GLlDK1nYlzw265hLJHRX_7V1xF8vvksbUiaxNnTYHPA=s320" width="156" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b>"Roman Slave" by da Silva (1894)</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table>A portrait of slavery (in ancient Rome)</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Scholars estimate that between 10-20% of the population during the height of the Roman empire were slaves:</div><blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">“In using slave labour, the Romans were perpetuating an institution which had existed in Egypt since at least 2600 BC, and had been carried on under the empires of China, India, and Babylon, and by the Greeks … Slaves worked in the mines, and also in the potteries. They constituted the state’s labour force for building and maintaining public works, and in other government services such as the mint and the grain supply; they were also its ‘white-collar’ workers, who kept the machinery of bureaucracy and administration working. They served as clerks and accountants in private businesses, and as secretaries, teachers, librarians, doctors, scribes, artists and entertainers. And they were the private staff of villas, town houses, and palaces … A slave could purchase his freedom or achieve it by a process of manumission which was at the discretion of the owner, but which became such a popular practice at the beginning of the empire that Augustus introduced laws restricting it. A freedman had full rights of citizenship except that of holding public office. Some freedmen became even richer than the masters they had once served. Others … influenced affairs of state … [Kamm, <i>The Romans: An Introduction</i>, Routledge at 121-123]”</div></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">However, at a very fundamental level Roman slaves were at the mercy of their masters:</div><blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">“In the face of even the most violent physical abuse, slaves had little recourse … In theory a slave could take refuge in a temple or at a divine statue, using the ancient right of asylum as a protection against an abusive master. And they did, as a number of anecdotes mention. One must wonder, however, how often this desperate recourse met with long-term success. True, slaves had various legal rulings in theory limiting the … arbitrary action of masters … laws and decrees were issued to prevent owners from … retrieving abandoned sick slaves who recovered, from killing a slave with impunity, and against the castration of slaves. There is legal evidence of slaves pursuing justice with regard to such things, but surely it was the rare slave who would find success in a complaint against his master – through a representative, of course, because the slave was not a person at law [Knapp, <i>Invisible Romans</i>, Profile Books at 138].” </div></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">Many ordinary Romans were sympathetic to the plight of slaves, but that did not necessarily ameliorate its worst excesses:</div><blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">“… [in AD 61] the city prefect, Pedanius Secundus, was killed by one of his own slaves … when the time came to take out to execution all of the slaves of the household [numbering around 400], as was the time-honoured tradition [when one slave killed their master all the slaves in the household were consequently executed alongside the murderer], there was almost a revolution of people, bent on sparing innocent lives, [who] got together and besieged the senate. In the senate-house itself there were those who protested that the punishment was unfair, though the majority saw no reason why the law should not be observed … The decision could not be put into effect as an enormous crowd gathered, armed with stones and flaming missiles. Nero issued an edict reprimanding the public, and gave orders that the entire route along which the condemned slaves were being led to execution should be lined with soldiers [Tacitus, cited in Kamm, <i>The Romans: An Introduction</i>, Routledge at 122-123].”</div></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">The truth is that the Roman economy was fundamentally reliant upon slavery for its prosperity – or, better put, the prosperity of land-owning Roman elites was greatly enhanced by the institution of slavery. Cunliffe describes how this came about: </div><blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">“During the second century BC the Roman economy was undergoing major transformations … [there was] a gradual shift [of former citizen soldiers who had owned small farms] to the cities and in particular Rome [after having spent years away from their land fighting Roman wars] … As the urban proletariat grew, so the smallholdings were bought up and gradually amalgamated into estates of increasing size. By the end of the second century large tracts of land were held by comparatively few owners … The estates required large bodies of agricultural workers. With extensive rural depopulation … [a] way to fuel productivity was with slave labour. Slaves were cost effective, not least because they could breed in captivity and slaves could be sold. By the beginning of the first century BC the reliance of the Roman economy on slave labour was considerable. One estimate is that in the early first century BC there were 300,000 Gaulish slaves in Italy alone, a total which required to be topped up at the rate of 15,000 a year [Cunliffe, <i>The Ancient Celts</i>, Penguin at 215 – see also a similar assessment by Goldsworthy, <i>Roman Warfare</i>, Hachette at 105-106].” </div></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">It can even be said that:</div><blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">“Roman expansion was the result of a never-ending search for fresh peoples to defeat and loot in order to supply the aristocracy’s demand for wealth and glory, and maintain a constant supply of the slaves on which the economy of Italy had become based [Goldsworthy, <i>Roman Warfare</i>, Hachette at 92].”</div></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">To compare conditions amongst ordinary people in Western nations today to that of ancient Roman slaves would be absurdly hyperbolic. This kind of institution simply does not exist, other than in very small, aberrant and clandestine numbers, in the West – though theoretically a comparison could be made between Roman elites having a penchant for cost-effective imported labour and the contemporary penchant amongst business leaders for cheap and plentiful migrant labour (or in a globalised world we could even extend that to cheap labour within developing countries).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhrbnIGduxTXAyvYXwl3UWgnvknHrJUoTSzWq-CEO1urQUCtfYgPK3106boBxXPVT5v1q8UCg3py-cqYyMQ0FlV0EOs0E77Cac1gb1afgckJuEILWTYV3Tr80TyCrXAhg4HKybHPdAaSycn0T-G5mRY4p6TeR7Ht7jH60AW5I3n7PtDAVeNacalpXubKQ=s1187" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1187" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhrbnIGduxTXAyvYXwl3UWgnvknHrJUoTSzWq-CEO1urQUCtfYgPK3106boBxXPVT5v1q8UCg3py-cqYyMQ0FlV0EOs0E77Cac1gb1afgckJuEILWTYV3Tr80TyCrXAhg4HKybHPdAaSycn0T-G5mRY4p6TeR7Ht7jH60AW5I3n7PtDAVeNacalpXubKQ=s320" width="243" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b>"Peasant Woman Digging" by Van Gogh (1885)</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><b>A portrait of serfdom (in medieval England)</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A detailed survey of landholding in late 11th century England, the Domesday Book, revealed that over 70% of the English population were serfs. Serfs owned no land, but they could rent it, and were not permitted to leave the land upon which they worked in service to the local lord, nor were they allowed to marry or change their occupation without their lord’s permission (thus their fertility was subject to the control of the lord). However, they could not be sold in the manner of slaves, for they were tied to the estates upon which they worked. They occupied a wide variety of roles – not only as farmworkers but also as blacksmiths, millers, shoemakers, thatchers and other trades.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">English feudalism equated to a relatively small group of elites (which according to the Domesday Book was about 6% of the population, so around 90,000 people) dominating positions of power, especially military and economic power. Extreme differences in wealth, particularly land ownership, underpinned the structure, which consisted of:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><ul><li>The king at the top, who theoretically owned all the land in the realm. The king distributed large parcels of land to –></li><li>Nobles (tenants-in-chief) who in turn provided knights and tax revenue to the king. At the time of the Domesday Book their number was around 1400, equating to 0.093% of the population, and they were mostly Norman in origin. Their lands were in turn largely distributed amongst –></li><li>Knights and lords of the manor, comprising around 5% of the total population. They fought for the nobles when asked and paid taxes to them. Beneath this lesser nobility there were the great masses –></li><li>Peasants, who in total made up around 84% of the total population, which was over 1.2 million people. Within this group there were:</li><ol><li>Freemen and <i>sokemen</i>, who were around 12% of the total population. They were mostly found in the north-east, where the Danelaw had once been, ie, where Vikings invaders had settled in the preceding 9th and 10th centuries. Though they were bound by some level of service to local lords (eg, attending court and paying tax) they held land in their own right and, unlike serfs, had freedom of movement. </li><li><i>Villans</i> (villeins), were unfree serfs who constituted around 40% of the English population. They were able to use up to 40 acres of farmland for themselves but were required to work for the local lord 2-3 days a week, as well as pay taxes and provide military service if called upon.</li><li><i>Bordars</i> and <i>cottars </i>(cottagers)<i> </i>were also unfree serfs (constituting around 32% of the total population) who were able to use smallholdings of just a few acres of land and were required to spend most of their working week in service to the lord. They were also required to pay taxes and provide military service.</li></ol><li>Slaves were around 10% of the population in 11th century England; they were mostly found in the west and south-west, where the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of Mercia and Wessex had been. Slaves had no property rights at all and could be bought and sold.</li></ul></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Underpinning the feudal structure was the notion of protection, responsibility and obligation to those both above and below other groups in the hierarchy. At a really macro level, the peasants, knights and nobles fought for the king when called upon and in turn they lived under the king’s peace – a precursor to the rule of law – in which social order prevailed (most of the time) so that prosperity could flourish. It is crucial to keep in mind that feudalism was a remediating response to the anarchy and violence that gripped the former Roman empire for centuries, from the late 4th century onwards:</div><blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">“Manorialism [the social system by which the peasants of medieval Europe were rendered dependent on their land and on their lord. Its basic unit was the manor, a self-sufficient landed estate … that was under the control of a lord who enjoyed a variety of rights over it and the peasants attached to it by means of serfdom] had its origins in the late Roman Empire, when large landowners had to consolidate their hold over both their lands and the labourers who worked them. This was a necessity in the midst of the civil disorders, enfeebled governments, and barbarian invasions that wracked Europe in the 5th and 6th centuries. In such conditions, <i>small farmers and landless labourers exchanged their land or their freedom and pledged their services in return for the protection of powerful landowners who had the military strength to defend them</i>. In this way, the poor, defenseless, and landless were ensured permanent access to plots of land which they could work in return for the rendering of economic services to the lord who held that land. This arrangement developed into the manorial system, which in turn supported the feudal aristocracy of kings, lords, and vassals [emphasis added, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/manorialism">britannica.com/topic/manorialism</a>].”</div></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">Hence the elite within the feudalistic structure provided a crucial service to the peasants – safety. The lesson of history is perhaps that fearful people are willing to give up quite a lot, even their freedom, if only those with more power will promise to keep them safe.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">By the end of the medieval period the kingdom of England was relatively stable, peaceful and lawful – ordinary people no longer feared the threat of foreign invasion or Viking raids, and an increasingly well-ordered legal and governmental system prevailed across the land (not least because of the consolidation of the common law system in 1154 and the innovations of Magna Carta in 1215). Population decline as a result of the Black Death, which first arrived in 1348, led to increased bargaining power for ordinary people (as well as the Peasant's Revolt of 1381). By the end of the 14th century feudalism had fallen into significant decline, though it lingered on in an increasingly weakened state until it was completely abolished in the mid 17th century. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgnaV_YdtsUvhpmnL4080uTkTfaoAAKQIyGsGRqCLd89JPU6gebH7o-qkjCE1IMou-b-IlC8uKtgfTfYaXJEQoocaPpRNEdXJ0EhetrY0Q6oDcEZ1fl_Z08bwJVOJxOmJL9N_R-ZpZLTgnjIIdxBS0XQfkTnZZHqnKXjApRFwVbM6ilZRIng0MobyMfPg=s1251" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1251" data-original-width="859" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgnaV_YdtsUvhpmnL4080uTkTfaoAAKQIyGsGRqCLd89JPU6gebH7o-qkjCE1IMou-b-IlC8uKtgfTfYaXJEQoocaPpRNEdXJ0EhetrY0Q6oDcEZ1fl_Z08bwJVOJxOmJL9N_R-ZpZLTgnjIIdxBS0XQfkTnZZHqnKXjApRFwVbM6ilZRIng0MobyMfPg=s320" width="220" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b>Painting of a housemaid by Hillestrom (18th c.)</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table>A portrait of the servant class (in early modern Sweden)</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>Thräldom</i> (related to the English word <i>thrall</i>) was practiced in Sweden until the 14th century. It was ended by a number of kings’ decrees, such that it eventually became illegal for any Swede born to Christian parents to be in a condition of bondage. The reasons for the abolishment of <i>thräldom</i> in Sweden were complex but one significant factor related to economics:</div><blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">“It was quite simply no longer profitable for the wealthy and powerful to use unfree labour on their estates. Such labour was difficult to supervise, and even in the winter months, when there was no work for the bondsmen, they still had to be fed. On the great estates the most profitable sort of labour was that which could be employed during those times of year when it was most needed, and then laid off. Only on small farms, employing a couple of bondsmen at most, was the old system still profitable [Moberg, <i>A History of the Swedish People: Volume I</i>, Dorset Press at 22].”</div></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">Freeing the thralls also meant freeing their lords of the responsibility of caring for their well-being. There may be a lesson for us here – wealthy elites don’t necessarily want actual slaves, thralls or serfs. What they want is ready access to cheap and conveniently timed labour; they may also want to be free of the burden of being morally responsible for the overall welfare of their labourers.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In theory, freed thralls and their descendants became masters of themselves; they had choice over which employer they would be willing to work for; they drew a salary; they had the right to own property and were recognised as persons at law. But:</div><blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">“… freedom of movement was sharply restricted even so. All unpropertied persons were obliged by law to work, and here the law drew a clear distinction between the land-owning [and thus tax-paying] peasants and the serving class; between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots’. As the law put it: ‘Let him be peasant that can pay tax; let him that cannot pay tax be servant’ … By an ‘unpropertied person’ the … laws meant anyone owning less than three marks. Property was calculated … in cattle or grain [which normally required consequent land ownership]. In the provincial laws three marks were regarded as equivalent in value to … a sum adequate to support one person for one year.</div></blockquote><blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">All who did not possess these three marks were obliged by law to take service for one year at a time … The legal obligation on certain citizens to take service persisted right up into the 20th century … As the centuries followed one another fresh statutes of the same sort were always being passed: in 1576, 1664, 1686, 1723, 1805 and 1858 … Not until the Statute of 1805 were free agreements permitted and servants at last allowed to have a say in fixing their own wages … By compelling the landless to work, the Statute of Servants subjected this class of the population to special legislation and regulated their lives for six hundred years … It was not until 1920 that this last relic of bondage was abolished … [Moberg, <i>A History of the Swedish People: Volume I</i>, Dorset Press at 24-28].”</div></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Freedom as both a spiritual and a material condition </b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">So what is heir to these various forms of bondage in the West? That is open to speculation. It has seemed that Western people in well governed nations, where the rule of law and relative affluence prevail, have benefited from the conditions most conducive to widespread liberty. The problem is these conditions appear to be weakening. The middle class has been measurably shrinking in Western countries for decades, and a widening gap between socioeconomic elites and ordinary workers has emerged. There is disagreement between individuals as to why this is so but, arguably, globalisation and the increasing power and wealth of multinational corporations (who are fond of giving money to the politicians and technocratic “experts” who govern and persuade us) appear to be contributing factors. If we are already foot-deep in a less salubrious age that may be getting worse, how do we (and our descendants) avoid becoming de facto slaves, serfs, or members of an entrenched servant class? How do we stay free?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The undertaking to avoid human bondage in all its guises is surely both spiritual and material, and the material very often follows the mental – if we are spiritually courageous we are less likely to yield to assaults on our dignity, privacy, prosperity and freedom. Spirituality beckons us to recognise the world is not profane but soaked in divinity, to be confident in our own abilities to work for the happiness of ourselves and others (since we cannot be happy if we are surrounded by misery), to discard the allure of excessive luxury and hedonistic comfort, to not overeat, to restrict the sexual to the realm of love, and to cherish truth. If enough of us focused less on a material revolution and instead embraced a spiritual revolution the conditions in which narcissistic and hubristic elites thrive would be diminished and thus the breeding ground for exploitation and control would surely shrink.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">That said, the crucial lesson from history is that property ownership matters, and it matters a lot. When I was younger there was an idea that a mortgage was some kind of shackle, but the truth is the reverse – real property (ie, land) is the source of freedom, and a mortgage is thus a ladder to freedom, so long as there is hope of paying it off. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The material future is uncertain, but individuals may still be masters of their mind. Drug addiction and dependency on psychiatric medication can act like mental chains, but fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the origin-story which led to hundreds of thousands of medieval Europeans becoming literal villeins. If the worst predictions are true and we are witnessing the rise of neo-feudalism then refusing to succumb to fear, which means making peace with the inevitable reality of loss and death, may be a powerful antidote to the indignity of slipping into bondage. Only then will we have the courage to seize the best of what life has to offer and resist every seemingly benevolent manacle that promises safety and comfort. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">For a Greco-Roman antidote to fear see this post on <a href="https://romanpagan.blogspot.com/2016/06/epicurean-polytheism.html">Epicurean Polytheism</a>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">For a Germanic antidote to fear see this post on <a href="https://romanpagan.blogspot.com/2014/03/odin.html">Odin, God of the Fearless</a> and <a href="https://romanpagan.blogspot.com/2017/12/germanic-values-advice-from-havamal.html">Germanic Values, Advice From the Havamal</a>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjtRbK6byuYaqGmRmMrSD16Oy4puIWSc6yFR4JlIAUbXmWZ8tYInbxbdfloY-jiGxyPgyBxDhZJM2yB9j09QYsCV-D-LGLPO3YL6K1Tj6IRmgavivmKVaakLGqQ43eKhwVpDTQi4FhH2VGA-SgSqPTWKe_xfno6Z7lmz3VeMvtSnp3DZp7rbcVk-zs7Hg=s956" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="479" data-original-width="956" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjtRbK6byuYaqGmRmMrSD16Oy4puIWSc6yFR4JlIAUbXmWZ8tYInbxbdfloY-jiGxyPgyBxDhZJM2yB9j09QYsCV-D-LGLPO3YL6K1Tj6IRmgavivmKVaakLGqQ43eKhwVpDTQi4FhH2VGA-SgSqPTWKe_xfno6Z7lmz3VeMvtSnp3DZp7rbcVk-zs7Hg=w640-h320" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">How neo-feudalism might look (by Neo Polytheist)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">---</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b style="font-size: small; text-align: left;">Additional sources (not cited above):</b></div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://www.britishmuseum.org/exhibitions/nero-man-behind-myth/slavery-ancient-rome"><span style="font-size: x-small;">britishmuseum.org/exhibitions/nero-man-behind-myth/slavery-ancient-rome</span></a><br /></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com.au/millennials-gen-z-savings-hardest-hit-pandemic-2022-2">businessinsider.com.au/millennials-gen-z-savings-hardest-hit-pandemic</a><br /></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;">Coupe and Scanlan, <i>Threads of Time</i>, Longman</span></li><li><a href="https://www.dw.com/en/germanys-struggle-to-keep-its-middle-class-from-shrinking/a-60018537"><span style="font-size: x-small;">dw.com/en/germanys-struggle-to-keep-its-middle-class-from-shrinking</span></a></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;">McDowall, <i>An Illustrated History of Britain</i>, Longman</span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/domesday/world-of-domesday/order.htm">nationalarchives.gov.uk/domesday/world-of-domesday/order.htm</a><br /></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/rising-inequality-is-hollowing-out-the-australian-middle-class-20181120-p50h2o.html">smh.com.au/national/rising-inequality-is-hollowing-out-the-australian-middle-class</a></span></li><li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/jul/12/uk-wealth-gap-widens-in-pandemic-as-richest-get-50000-windfall">theguardian.com/business/2021/jul/12/uk-wealth-gap-widens-in-pandemic-as-richest-get-50000-windfall</a></span><br /></li><li><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/dec/12/british-middle-class-young-people-class-home-ownership-job-security"><span style="font-size: x-small;">theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/dec/12/british-middle-class-young-people-class-home-ownership-job-security</span></a><br /></li></ul><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: right;"><i>Written by Figula (aka Freki), find me at <a href="http://romanpagan.blogspot.com/">neo polytheist</a> and <a href="https://romanpagan.wordpress.com/">romanpagan.wordpress.com</a></i></div><style class="WebKit-mso-list-quirks-style">
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</style>M' Sentia Figula (aka Freki)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04898083473029906396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3579296986984067902.post-69804549458383105972021-11-28T19:54:00.013+11:002021-12-25T19:36:42.570+11:00The Virus – A Pagan Sci-Fi <div style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">(A fictional short story inspired by the Australian lockdowns of 2021)</span></b></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--rBszW_6ekg/YaM-H0s9JUI/AAAAAAAAHrg/Cy4YQrIAtYYioRx1D1UAP2sllU95NQY9gCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/PavlovskParkMercury.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/--rBszW_6ekg/YaM-H0s9JUI/AAAAAAAAHrg/Cy4YQrIAtYYioRx1D1UAP2sllU95NQY9gCLcBGAsYHQ/w240-h320/PavlovskParkMercury.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Statue of Mercury at Pavlovsk Park<br />Image by Aleksandrov (<a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pavlovsk_Park._Twelve_tracks._Statue_%22Hermes_Florence_(Mercury)%22.JPG">Wikimedia Commons</a>)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The television turned itself on because it was time to get up. She lay in bed half-listening to journalists speaking in serious tones about various things, none of it was any more consequential than the faint sound of cars swooshing past on the busy road near her apartment until the voice of one man said sternly “what’s wrong with mandatory vaccinations?” Two men spoke to each other on the television, one was a union leader complaining about “right-wing extremists” hijacking a protest that had happened the day before – he explained that it wasn’t the case that workers were protesting against their own union for not pushing back against a government mandate that all tradies be vaccinated. What had actually happened was professional protestors had turned up and impersonated tradies … even so, the official union position was to support choice. The journalist on the State-run morning show chided the union boss for suggesting that adults should have the right to choose whether or not to be vaccinated.</div><span><a name='more'></a></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The conversation was jarring and decidedly odd – surely adults should be free to make decisions regarding their bodies according to their own conscience? Edith had chosen to be vaccinated but she wasn't so haughty as to assume she had the right to tell other people what they must do with their bodies. “Well”, she thought, “everything kinda sucks until the first coffee”. The coffee machine was broken but that didn’t matter so much as she lived minutes from two competing and almost equally excellent cafes. She pulled on jeans and a shirt and stumbled out while tying her hair up in an elastic band. She was about to turn left at the end of her street when she noticed something missing. Where there had been a massive shrine to Mercury there was now … a void. The trees were still there, but the enclosure was gone, the statue was gone, the offerings around the statue were gone. Instead there was a notice board with pictures of missing cats, adverts for music performances that had been cancelled, and a paradoxical poster that read “Pro-Vaccine Mandates, Anti-Fascism”. Off to the side there was a sticker, obviously freshly placed, that read “The Media is the Virus”, and in smaller letters a social media username. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">She pulled her phone out and looked up the username. The most recent post by this beacon of hope was a picture with the caption “Woman Moment”. It was a snapshot of a text exchange: “Sir, I need help with this homework”, “Send a pic and I’ll help you.” Then a picture of a young woman with her derriere exposed. This was meant to be humour she supposed, but it looked like naked misogyny – apparently the author of the sticker was not a voice of sanity after all, just a dick. She still hadn’t had that coffee and this day was beginning to feel totally f--ked, so she turned around and got her caffeine shot. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Before she could get it she had to use her State-run app and check in so the government would know at what time she had visited the cafe – her vaccine certificate was synced with the app, so that only vaccinated people could check in. She got two coffees – her brother was holding out on getting vaccinated and couldn’t buy anything as a result. As she grabbed the coffees she had this strange feeling that she was in a world that wasn’t her own. In the world she understood the government didn’t track where people bought coffee; they promoted vaccines as a risk-benefit scenario and explained to citizens what the harms of getting the virus were likely to be compared to getting vaccinated; they assumed adults should be free to make decisions about what medical procedures to consent to; journalists wrote balanced articles, referencing the latest data, explaining how the virus impacted people differently depending on age and co-morbidities, as well as other factors. In the world Edith lived in her teenage brother made a risk assessment and decided that he wouldn’t get vaccinated, and she respected his choice – that was when Edith closed her eyes for a moment and connected with her old self. This new self was not in the same kind of world. This world was …</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Her musing was interrupted by raised voices – a policeman had pulled over a car near the cafe and was arguing with the occupants of the vehicle about whether or not the woman in the passenger seat was allowed to be in the car. “She just needs to prove she lives within 5km of you mate, then I’ll let you go”. Edith had the distinct sensation that she needed to avoid police, even though her facemask was on and … too late. A cop was asking her for ID. She pulled it out, he nodded, gave it back to her and asked another person waiting for their coffee. She lived within 5km of the café so it was all good. It was just a spot check. But that jarring sense was hammering itself on her again – this isn’t how life is meant to be.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Somehow she had woken up in a world where sacred shrines were replaced with uninspiring billboards, and so-called anti-fascists supported fascistic vaccine mandates. The government was literally and openly monitoring her movements (in fact everyone’s movements) via a smartphone app, and mandating that certain people must be vaccinated or else lose their employment and their right to buy basic things like food and coffee. All of this was apparently to “keep us safe”, like women in purdah. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Musing thus, she walked home and snuck in a sip of coffee. She was in a side street now so she felt safe removing her mask. She leaned against a wall and had another sip. She pulled out a pack of cigarettes and lit one up, and that is when she heard Mercury’s mocking laugh. She looked across the road and his shrine was still there. People walked their dog on the other side of the street – they weren’t wearing masks. She checked her phone and that stupid app was gone. The statue of Liberty still stood in America, and life was good.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: right;"><i>Written by Figula (aka Freki), find me at <a href="http://romanpagan.blogspot.com/">neo polytheist</a> and <a href="https://romanpagan.wordpress.com/">romanpagan.wordpress.com</a></i></div><div></div>M' Sentia Figula (aka Freki)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04898083473029906396noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3579296986984067902.post-21252645523948337702021-08-22T21:01:00.020+10:002021-08-26T12:58:06.461+10:00 The Priests Are in Charge and It Feels Dystopian<div style="text-align: justify;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Y71s8-enZug/YSIrKdo4izI/AAAAAAAAHqc/57wQFVE5SCs4aoOLOWzxIUHUYli80Ts3ACLcBGAsYHQ/s389/Armand_Bouthillier_Rance%2B2.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="389" data-original-width="300" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Y71s8-enZug/YSIrKdo4izI/AAAAAAAAHqc/57wQFVE5SCs4aoOLOWzxIUHUYli80Ts3ACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Armand_Bouthillier_Rance%2B2.jpg" width="247" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">"Abbot Armand-Jean le Bouthillier de Rance" <br />by Hyacinthe Rigaud (17th century)</span></td></tr></tbody></table>Earlier this month every Australian was required to fill in the 4 year census. When it came to answering the question in relation to religion the form displays “no religion” as the first choice, because “no religion” was the single most popular answer to this question in the last census – 30.1% of Australians giving this answer in 2016 (followed by Catholic at 22.6% and Anglican at 13.3%; all other religions were at less than 4% each). In theory Australia is a fairly irreligious nation, but in practice the quasi-religion of Scientism is wildly popular. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Science is the “the systematic study of ... the physical and natural world through observation and experiment” (Oxford Dictionary) – it is a method by which hypotheses can be either plausibly dreamt up or validated. Scientism is an “excessive belief in the power of scientific knowledge” (Oxford), and there now seems to be a large body of people professing to hold such sacred knowledge. They are our “experts” (typically scientists and doctors of one kind or another) who are more than willing to present themselves as the true holders of the only kind of knowledge worth having any faith in. The worst among them are the de facto astrologers and haruspices of our time – these priests of our secular age who tell us they know how to confidently predict, via the magic of modelling, variable and unpredictable things, such as controlling the spread of a highly contagious virus. </div><span><a name='more'></a></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Grey-faced epidemiologists and health experts who might otherwise have been destined to obscurity are now trumpeted regularly by the media to proffer their gloomy predictions if suitable penances are not undertaken. The best of penances is generally held to be city-wide lockdowns involving forced closures of non-essential businesses and schools, as well as near total social isolation of individuals. The longer the penance the more likely “the science” is to save us, so we are told by most of these doomsayers. Sydney is currently in week 8 of such a lockdown. Our penance must continue until … we are unsure when, but “the science” will surely let us know. Initially the modelling declared that if at least 70% of us underwent (the rites of) double vaccination then our period of penance would finally end. But “the science” is apparently a capricious God, for now we are told even an 80% vaccination rate may not be enough. These essential rites must also be supplemented by continuing “restrictions”.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The 2021 Sydney lockdown started with a handful of cases in late June, but by the end of July (after a month of lockdown) cases per day were more than 200, and as of late August cases are more than 800 a day. The priests told us if we locked down “the science” would save us and yet instead our predicament has become worse. The reason for that, say many of the grey-faced priests, is that we were not penitential enough – our 8 week lockdown has apparently been too soft. More radical acts of penance are required, hence fines for lockdown breaches have been increased, the once inviolable right to protest continues to be on hold, surveillance and police action is more visible and more intense, the lockdown timeline is ever more vague, and the rules of lockdown routinely change in some important way – gripping the attention of law-abiding citizens to the depressing govt updates that occur daily at 11am. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Like most Sydney-siders I was originally more or less content to endure all of this for the first couple of weeks. I dutifully made a booking to get vaccinated (and kept that appointment). I chided a dear friend who sent me an anti-govt meme at the start of the lockdown. I explained to my increasingly unhappy son that we just need a bit of time to get vaccination numbers higher so the death rate could be minimised. The State appointed High-Priest had seemed so sensible and seemingly did such a good job in protecting us from the invisible enemy in 2020 – her contact tracers were said to be second to none. Government trust and trust in “the science” was high. But the more punishing this lockdown becomes (and it is the children who suffer the most) the less faith I have in the benevolence or wisdom of our secular priests. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">What is particularly frustrating is that the religious flavour of the whole thing is so obvious to me, but so many people have such myopic faith in scientism, wherein we must all “listen to the experts” and “follow the health advice”, that they cannot see that they are as bound by the tenets of faith as it is possible to be. When “the science” is revered to such a degree, democratically elected politicians are tempted to simply hand over crucial decisions to a priesthood whose only concern seems to be preventing as many deaths as possible, no matter the cost to the quality of lives. Unfortunately these priests are absolutely awful at running a State – it’s not their wheelhouse after all. What results is what we have in Sydney in August 2021, and it feels more dystopian than I could ever have plausibly imagined. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Bl6svPTFvek/YScCaDSuLGI/AAAAAAAAHqk/z-_sW6Qztew7GcbPZbacPNEbNAJYfpneACLcBGAsYHQ/s1004/IMG_0471.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="647" data-original-width="1004" height="258" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Bl6svPTFvek/YScCaDSuLGI/AAAAAAAAHqk/z-_sW6Qztew7GcbPZbacPNEbNAJYfpneACLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h258/IMG_0471.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">(Actually the High Sparrow talking to King Tommen in HBO's <i>Game of Thrones</i>)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div> <i style="caret-color: rgb(56, 57, 57); color: #383939; font-family: Georgia, Utopia, "Palatino Linotype", Palatino, serif; text-align: right;"><div style="text-align: right;"><i><span style="color: #274e13; font-size: x-small;">Written by M' Sentia Figula (aka Freki), find me at <a href="http://romanpagan.blogspot.com/" style="color: #3b70a2; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">neo polytheist</a> and <a href="https://romanpagan.wordpress.com/" style="color: #3b70a2; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">romanpagan.wordpress.com</a></span></i></div></i> </div>M' Sentia Figula (aka Freki)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04898083473029906396noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3579296986984067902.post-63427829573755245292021-02-12T11:08:00.020+11:002023-02-10T18:12:04.776+11:00Social Media Blitz<div style="text-align: justify;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-B3Pj6KDDquM/YCXFuCazcmI/AAAAAAAAHkk/s4hHU2JJGcocS2Eu8Y3JqZNjNE_97E4lgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1169/W%2Bforum.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Roman Forum in 2011" border="0" data-original-height="1026" data-original-width="1169" height="281" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-B3Pj6KDDquM/YCXFuCazcmI/AAAAAAAAHkk/s4hHU2JJGcocS2Eu8Y3JqZNjNE_97E4lgCLcBGAsYHQ/w320-h281/W%2Bforum.jpg" title="Roman Forum in 2011" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Roman Forum in 2011 (image is my own, as used on my Facebook page)</span></td></tr></tbody></table>Just a quick post to let you know that I have deleted the Facebook page (called “Neo Polytheist”) associated with this blog, in case you’re wondering where it went. Reason being that I recently deleted just about all of my social media accounts (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Reddit, etc) and I can’t run a Facebook page without a Facebook account. Although social media can be very useful I feel my journey with it has run its course. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">If, for whatever reason, you ever want to get in contact with me please leave a comment at the end of any blogpost, even if it is unrelated to the post itself. I’m very happy to respond to (polite and civilised) comments, questions and observations. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">If you have questions about Roman polytheism and are still on Facebook I recommend joining the group “Cultus Deorum: Religio Romana (original)”, I learnt a lot in this group during my first few years of exploring Roman polytheism and I am very grateful to some of the people I engaged with there. I also quite like the “Roman Religion Reformists Group”.<span><a name='more'></a></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">---</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Postscript (October 2021): so I deleted Instagram and Twitter in early January 2021 and Facebook, Reddit and Pinterest in early February 2021. What I have felt mostly is a sense of relief. There is something kind of stressful about having a public version of oneself on the internet with whom all kinds of random strangers, irl acquaintances and pseudo-friends can interact with. Also, I didn't like the sense that content (including some very well targeted ads) I was viewing regularly was being filtered and manipulated by big tech. I feel like I have reclaimed that time (before 2008, when I first got on social media) when I had a better sense of myself as a private individual. It's almost a bit like I have got a part of my soul, or my dignity, back. I realise that this blog is another kind of internet persona, but generally people who read it are interested in the topics of the posts, and any projection of my personality is very much on the side, and tbh hardly anyone I know irl reads (or even knows about) this blog, which is how I like it. There have been some downsides with leaving social media though. Firstly, I have effectively lost contact with some overseas relatives, so that is kind of sad, but I didn't really know them all that well and I was probably never going to see them again anyway. Secondly, I have sort of missed social media for its distracting entertainment value, hence to some extent I've quasi-replaced it with Telegram. I just follow random pages and scroll down, kind of like Instagram but without the ads, but I almost never comment and I don't engage with people I know for real through this app. There are some cool pages, for example: </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><ul><li>t.me/privateart (Western art, mostly historical)</li><li>t.me/wildlifen (animal videos)</li><li>t.me/GreekLeague (all things Hellenic)</li><li>t.me/survivethejive (European Paganism and ancestry)</li><li>t.me/ThirstForBeauty (Western art, mostly historical)</li><li>t.me/jultomte (awesome pics of Tomten)</li><li>t.me/sketchheadgroup (contemporary art)</li><li>t.me/birdcontent (for bird lovers)</li><li>t.me/collispalatinus (for lovers of ancient Rome)</li></ul></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>One of the best things about Telegram is the</b> <b>lack of an algorithm</b> - it doesn't feed me content, rather I find new content organically by clicking on pages that other people I follow have forwarded content from. Using this method I have found content that is far more diverse and way more amusing than anything I ever saw on Facebook or Instagram. There's also some messy free speech (and yeah sometimes I'm put off by it), but that's ok; it's not hard to just unfollow an account where things are getting toxic. I tend to think that being exposed to large volumes of a diversity of unfiltered free speech is more likely to make people geuninely open minded and tolerant of difference than anything else. It's hard to be racist when you're laughing at memes posted by people from all around the world. Overall I am super happy I deleted Facebook and co, and most definitely have no intention of going back. </div>M' Sentia Figula (aka Freki)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04898083473029906396noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3579296986984067902.post-63309722884849898152020-12-21T19:55:00.040+11:002021-02-12T11:26:56.349+11:00The Ancestral Diet of the Germanic People <div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vzPodXTkXKo/X-BhatM4rHI/AAAAAAAAHhI/W5rQJSSK_fAu_hFMUEio8l1opdfs36quACLcBGAsYHQ/s562/banquet%2B3.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="535" data-original-width="562" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vzPodXTkXKo/X-BhatM4rHI/AAAAAAAAHhI/W5rQJSSK_fAu_hFMUEio8l1opdfs36quACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/banquet%2B3.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">"Julaftonen" by Carl Larsson (1904)</span></td></tr></tbody></table>As creatures of evolution we should ideally be consuming a diet consistent with our human biology, which arguably means looking at what our ancestors ate. As someone with predominately Germanic heritage (plus a little bit of Celt) I want to take a look at as many reputable sources as I can to understand what the indigenous diet of the Germanic people is, noting that it will overlap a good deal with the indigenous diet of other Indo-European peoples. </div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Before humanity </b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Humans are primates belonging to the subgroup known as great apes. Primates are believed to have evolved around 65 million years ago, following the mass extinction event which brought an end to the age of dinosaurs. Apes evolved around 25 million years ago, mostly or exclusively in heavily forested environments. Our primate cousins – monkeys and lesser apes – never really left their homes in the branches and tend to eat mostly leaves and fruit. Other great apes are still animals of the forest but they are bigger and able to roam forest floors. At least 87% of their diet is plant based (especially fruit), supplemented by insects. Chimpanzees, our closest relative, also eat meat. Our lineage separated from the chimpanzee line around 7 million years ago, so it is likely our ancestors have been eating meat (and other parts of animals, such as organs and bone marrow) for millions of years – ie, long before we evolved into modern humans. <span><a name='more'></a></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Becoming human </b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">There are some significant differences between humans and other primates – the size of our brains, the size of our guts, and our sophisticated tools. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">First. The human brain is many times larger than would be expected for a primate of similar body size. This means humans have a greater need to consume energy and nutrient dense diets (ie, foods high in protein and fat). The diet of chimpanzees is around 5-10% animal based, while contemporary hunter-gatherer humans derive 28-58% of their energy intake from animal foods – though location is key. Where more plants are more readily available humans will eat them in greater proportions compared to animal foods. Hence hunter-gatherer humans in tropical regions eat more plants than animal foods, while foragers in colder climates eat more animal foods than plants (Leonard et al). </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Second. Human guts are very different from other ape species. Our stomachs are almost the same in size as most other apes, but our small intestines are roughly twice as long as any other ape and our colon is more than half the length of all other apes (Milton). What this means is that we are not designed to eat the large volume of low nutrient food (aka, plants) that apes eat, rather we are designed – at least when compared to other apes – to also eat nutrient dense food (which for our ancestors included animal foods). </div><blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">“In many respects, the human gut is more similar to that of a carnivore and reflects an adaptation to an easily digestible diet that is higher in energy and fat [Leonard et al]”. </div></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">Third. For well over a million years our ancestors have been using increasingly sophisticated tools; tools that can replicate the use that carnivores make of their distinctively long and sharp teeth. Sharp cutting tools removed the need for our ancestors to evolve the tooth structure typically seen in mammals with an animal rich diet. These tools made us better at killing other animals and breaking their bodies up for consumption, as well as diversifying what we could do with plant foods. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The evolutionary push towards greater animal consumption and increasingly sophisticated tool use seems to have been an adaptation to climate change. Around 2 million years ago Africa became cooler and drier, the rainforests of our more animalistic ancestors thinned out into more open woodlands and grasslands, leading to a reduction in edible plants and an increasing abundance of large grazing herbivores (Leonard et al, Milton). Evolution took its course and we did what we could with the food sources that were available to us at the time. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Enter Prometheus </b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Our species, homo sapiens, is thought to have emerged around 200,000 years ago – almost certainly following mastery of the art of fire control, which eventually led to cooking. It is unclear when fire control began but it was likely before the split between homo sapiens, neanderthals and denisovans, so at least 275,000 years ago (and perhaps as much as 650,000 years ago). With the emergence of cooking humans were able to increase the digestibility and energy of food, whether plant or animal based. It is theorised that humans cannot extract sufficient energy from uncooked wild foods, whether from animal or plant sources, and are thus now biologically committed to cooking (Carmody et al). </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Exit Africa </b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Homo sapiens is thought to have evolved in Africa, where bow and arrow technology emerged between 80,000 to 60,000 years ago (which would have been a technological leap for hunters), and then migrated out via the Middle East – we can’t be sure when, but at least 60,000 years ago. Low level interbreeding with neanderthals took place. During this exit from Africa period megafauna in Eurasia were abundant, including the mammoth – which appears to have been a major food source for our ancestors. A study of homo sapiens’ diet in Ukraine, at a date of somewhere between 37,800 to 33,100 years ago, demonstrated that mammoth was a primary food source, although antelopes, horses, deer and hare were also eaten. The same study also showed that homo sapiens ate higher amounts of plant foods compared to European neanderthals (Drucker). Having a more flexible diet (and better technology) may have been among the reasons homo sapiens eventually overwhelmed neanderthal populations. Even so, the abundance of megafauna appears to have been key to human prosperity until they became mostly extinct by around 10,000 years ago. Megafauna extinction was at least partly related to human over-hunting, however, climate change (leading to environmental change) was perhaps a more significant factor. In Eurasia megafauna extinction was more or less simultaneous with the replacement of vast tundra by huge areas of forest in which mostly only smaller animals were able to thrive. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Becoming European </b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The bulk of Germanic paternity derives from: (1) native hunter-gatherers (largely represented by Y-DNA haplogroups I1 and I2) who had lived in Europe since at least the mesolithic age, and had engaged in low levels of interbreeding with early farmers who migrated to Europe from the near east during the neolithic age (predominantly represented by Y-DNA haplogroup G2a, plus smaller numbers of other near eastern lineages); as well as (2) Indo-Europeans (represented by Y-DNA haplogroups R1a and R1b) who came to Europe during the bronze age (3500 to 1000 BCE). </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Farming gradually spread into Europe from the near east from around 7000 BCE onwards. By 5000 BCE farming had reach the Rhine area and by 4000 BCE it had reached Britain, Denmark and southern Sweden. Throughout the neolithic period European farmers interbred with, and taught their ways to, pre-existing hunter-gatherer communities. The latter had a diet dominated by fish, deer, aurochs (a now extinct species of cattle), boar and wild European plants, while the neolithic farmers ate a diet that featured domesticated sheep, goats, cattle and pigs, plus fish, as well as barley, wheat, peas and lentils. Archeologists have confirmed that dairy products were consumed by neolithic farmers, despite most adult Europeans being lactose-intolerant throughout this period.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Ultimately it was the Indo-Europeans (also known as the Yamnaya people, originally they appear to have come from the general region of Ukraine, southern Russia and Kazakhstan) who became the predominant ethnicity in Europe from the bronze age onwards.* The Indo-European diet relied heavily on herded cattle and sheep, including dairy farming, as well as hunting and fishing. Horses were crucial to their culture and mobility, and would have also featured in their diet. As they interbred with the natives of northern Europe, which by now included neolithic farmers, the corded ware culture emerged (circa 3000-2350 BCE). The diet of these people was rich in fish, animal protein, plants and milk products – similar to that of the Indo-Europeans. Dairy farming was an integral part of their diet, assisted by the genes of their Indo-European ancestors who appear to be responsible for the introduction of the lactose-tolerance mutation that allows most adult Europeans to consume milk. Modern Germanic Europeans have amongst the highest frequencies of lactose persistence in the world (89-96% in Britain and Scandinavia; 62-86% in central and western Europe). A less welcome genetic inheritance from the Indo-Europeans is a predisposition to develop gluten intolerance (which is in turn associated with a number of other autoimmune disorders) – not only in Europe but wherever the descendants of Indo-Europeans live today, including northern India, northern Africa, the Americas and Australasia. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>The pre-Christian Germanic diet </b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Germanic peoples are first described during the Roman period, most notably by Tacitus who wrote in the 1st century CE that the Germanic tribes: </div><blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">“have a liquid made out of barley or other grain, fermented into a certain resemblance to wine [ie, beer] … Their food is plain: wild fruit, fresh game, or curdled milk. They satisfy their hunger without elaborate preparation or seasonings [Tacitus, <i>Agricola and Germany</i>, Oxford]”. </div></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">Fast-forward to the Viking age and the Germanic diet was rich in meat (beef was the most popular, followed by meat from pigs, sheep, goats, chicken, geese, duck and sometimes seal, which was hunted, as well as horse meat on special occasions), at least 26 types of fish (herring being the most important), eggs, vegetables (especially cabbage, onions, beans, peas, parsnips and celery), cereals (typically unleavened rye bread or porridge made from barley, oats, buckwheat and millet, while the elite sometimes ate bread made from wheat) and milk products from cows, goats and sheep. Sweet food was consumed in smaller portions in the form of berries (especially raspberries and bilberries), fruit (mostly plums and apples) and honey. Hazelnuts and walnuts were also eaten, as were mushrooms, and wild plants and herbs, such as dill, juniper, caraway, mustard seed, garlic, horseradish, coriander, marjoram, mint, thyme, mugwort, chicory, chamomile, angelica and yarrow. Medieval trading in the east also introduced allspice, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves. Weak beer made from barley was consumed in large quantities by adults and children alike as it was generally safer to drink than water. Stronger beer and mead, made from fermented honey and spices, was consumed on festive occasions. Wine made from grapes was imported from France but drunk sparingly by only the most elite individuals or used to flavour stew. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Conclusion – for a child of the Germanic tribes </b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Arguably, it is unethical to expect an animal to eat in a manner inconsistent with its biology. When it comes to our biology, it is clear that our ancestors ate whatever was available and could be safely consumed in the regions in which they lived. For the last few hundreds of thousands of years that has meant a diet rich in meat and fish plus whatever non-toxic plant foods were around. Within the last 6000 years cereals, pulses and dairy foods have enriched our diet. Through all of this period cooking has been crucial, fasting would have been routine due to periodic food scarcity, a species of refrigeration was available due to the cold climate of the European north, and fermentation has become increasingly important over the last few thousand years. It would possibly be a folly to suggest we should only eat the foods of our ancestors – plant foods indigenous to previously unexplored parts of the world have improved the taste and nutritional value of the Western diet in the last few centuries. However, other highly processed foods of the industrial age seem to be a bit of a poisoned chalice. The over-abundance of sugar and bread made of super refined wheat flour that has a greater gluten content (= extra fluffiness) than any pre-modern person could have dreamed of seem to be doing our waistlines few favours. Eating food that is as close to nature as possible, while allowing for cooking, refrigeration and fermentation, is probably the way to go. If you want something sweet forgo sugar entirely and add honey instead; if you want bread then avoid the ubiquitous white and fluffy stuff and go for something more medieval. Skip the quick oats and cook porridge properly. Avoid the faux milks in their infinite variety and go for whole raw milk. Avoid vegetable oils that can only be extracted via intense mechanical and chemical processes and stick to the more traditional alternatives, such as butter, duck fat and olive oil. And not least – unprocessed meat and (low mercury) fish, such as mackerel, salmon, trout, herring, sardines and anchovies, are excellent sources of nutrient dense protein. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><p style="text-align: left;"></p></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">* Especially in Celtic regions, where the Indo-European lineage dominates – in Ireland, Scotland, Brittany and the Basque country it accounts for more than 80% of paternity. The paternal mix of Germanic people today is roughly 40-70% Indo-European, 20-40% indigenous hunter-gatherers, 2-15% neolithic farmers, as well as small numbers of other lineages deriving from southern Europe, the near east and north Asia.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">---------</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><i><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Disclaimer: </b>I am a total amateur when it comes to nutrition, science and history but I have done my best with the incredibly broad topic of this post. Any mistakes are unintentional and I am open to correction. Regarding my heritage, according to my most recent DNA tests I am circa 55% Scandinavian (mostly Swedish), 35% British (mostly English) and 10% German. </span></i><div><br /></div><div><span style="text-align: justify;">---------</span><span style="font-family: times; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><div><br /></div><div><b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Sources (not in order) </span></b></div><div><span style="font-size: xx-small;">https://australian.museum/learn/science/human-evolution/humans-are-apes-great-apes/ </span></div><div><span style="font-size: xx-small;">https://australian.museum/learn/science/human-evolution/how-have-we-changed-since-our-species-first-appeared/
https://academic.oup.com/jn/article/133/11/3886S/4818038 [Milton] </span></div><div><span style="font-size: xx-small;">https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4860691/ [Carmody] </span></div><div><span style="font-size: xx-small;">https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK53561/#ch1.s5 [Leonard et al] </span></div><div><span style="font-size: xx-small;">https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3020090/ </span></div><div><span style="font-size: xx-small;">https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4880197/ </span></div><div><span style="font-size: xx-small;">https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10378206/ </span></div><div><span style="font-size: xx-small;">https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14527629/ </span></div><div><span style="font-size: xx-small;">https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14672286/ </span></div><div><span style="font-size: xx-small;">https://www.newscientist.com/question/humans-evolve-apes/ </span></div><div><span style="font-size: xx-small;">http://www.sci-news.com/othersciences/anthropology/europes-early-homo-sapiens-mammoth-meat-plants-05113.html </span></div><div><span style="font-size: xx-small;">https://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/.premium-how-the-consumption-and-extinction-of-giant-animals-changed-human-evolution-1.8958264
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/when-the-first-farmers-arrived-in-europe-inequality-evolved/ </span></div><div><span style="font-size: xx-small;">https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/04/in-a-few-centuries-cows-could-be-the-largest-land-animals-left/558323/ </span></div><div><span style="font-size: xx-small;">https://phys.org/news/2017-01-humans-climate-australian-megafauna.html </span></div><div><span style="font-size: xx-small;">https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/who-were-the-neanderthals.html</span></div><div><span style="font-size: xx-small;">https://www.eupedia.com/genetics/yamna_culture.shtml </span></div><div><span style="font-size: xx-small;">https://www.eupedia.com/europe/european_y-dna_haplogroups.shtml </span></div><div><span style="font-size: xx-small;">https://www.eupedia.com/genetics/corded_ware_culture.shtml </span></div><div><span style="font-size: xx-small;">https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/our-european-ancestors-brought-farming-languages-and-love-dairy-study-shows-10311317.html
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rspb.2018.2347 </span></div><div><span style="font-size: xx-small;">https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2015-11-24/europeans-drink-milk-tolerate-lactose-dates/6955414 </span></div><div><span style="font-size: xx-small;">https://www.brusselsjournal.com/node/4361 </span></div><div><span style="font-size: xx-small;">https://theconversation.com/ancient-dna-reveals-how-europeans-developed-light-skin-and-lactose-tolerance-43078 </span></div><div><span style="font-size: xx-small;">https://www.popsci.com/science/article/2013-08/infographic-day-where-people-can-digest-milk/ </span></div><div><span style="font-size: xx-small;">https://en.natmus.dk/historical-knowledge/denmark/prehistoric-period-until-1050-ad/the-viking-age/food/beer-and-mead/ </span></div><div><span style="font-size: xx-small;">https://en.natmus.dk/historical-knowledge/denmark/prehistoric-period-until-1050-ad/the-viking-age/food/bread-and-porridge/ </span></div><div><span style="font-size: xx-small;">https://en.natmus.dk/historical-knowledge/denmark/prehistoric-period-until-1050-ad/the-viking-age/food/herbs-spices-and-vegetables/ </span></div><div><span style="font-size: xx-small;">https://en.natmus.dk/historical-knowledge/denmark/prehistoric-period-until-1050-ad/the-viking-age/food/meat-and-fish/ </span></div><div><span style="font-size: xx-small;">https://en.natmus.dk/historical-knowledge/denmark/prehistoric-period-until-1050-ad/the-viking-age/food/fruit-and-berries/ </span></div><div><span style="font-size: xx-small;">https://sciencenorway.no/archaeology-food-viking-age/what-did-the-vikings-really-eat/1706735 </span></div><div><span style="font-size: xx-small;">https://www.chemeurope.com/en/encyclopedia/Coeliac_disease.html </span></div><div><span style="font-size: xx-small;">https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/aug/07/not-just-a-fad-the-surprising-gut-wrenching-truth-about-gluten </span></div><div><span style="font-size: xx-small;">https://celiac.org/about-celiac-disease/related-conditions/autoimmune-disorders/ </span></div><div><span style="font-size: xx-small;">https://www.foodauthority.nsw.gov.au/consumer/life-events-and-food/pregnancy/mercury-and-fish</span></div><div><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Tacitus, <i>Agricola and Germany</i>, Oxford World Classics</span></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: right;"><i>Written by M' Sentia Figula (aka Freki), find me at <a href="http://romanpagan.blogspot.com">neo polytheist</a> and <a href="https://romanpagan.wordpress.com" target="_blank">romanpagan.wordpress.com</a></i></div></div>M' Sentia Figula (aka Freki)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04898083473029906396noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3579296986984067902.post-4935003429312551492020-11-08T13:20:00.020+11:002021-02-02T20:32:21.830+11:00Why Our Ancestors Were Saner Than We Are Today<div style="text-align: justify;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-baacFHdZk5o/X6dJ2pwF_xI/AAAAAAAAHeo/EUwtpjlhU9gXjzIssUf-lAVm602Vvq0CwCLcBGAsYHQ/s693/William_Blake_Ghost_of_Flea.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="693" data-original-width="500" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-baacFHdZk5o/X6dJ2pwF_xI/AAAAAAAAHeo/EUwtpjlhU9gXjzIssUf-lAVm602Vvq0CwCLcBGAsYHQ/w289-h400/William_Blake_Ghost_of_Flea.jpg" width="289" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">"The Ghost of a Flea" by Blake (1810s)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>There is a fundamental difference between people today and our ancestors that has emerged, and sped up, over the last few decades. In the past we belonged to our communities and barely comprehended what was happening elsewhere in the world. When Rome’s Vestal flame was extinguished by Christian fanatics in the 390s CE people in India were unaware of this great tragedy and shed no tears. When Islamic invaders swept through India destroying Buddhist monasteries and wiping an ancient religion from its homeland in the 12th century CE the people of Europe knew almost nothing of it. When the last Viking settler died in Greenland in the 15th century only a few Icelanders could have guessed what had happened. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">By contrast today, here in Sydney, it seems nearly everyone I know is too interested in what is happening in far away places. For many, now that <i>Game of Thrones</i> has finished, there is a new Westeros (the USA) to think about. It is as if the Democrats are the Starks and the Republicans are Lannisters. It makes sense for Australians to be interested in US affairs up to a point, eg, Australians should want the US to have a strong military to match a strong alliance. But that is not the focus of so many Australians, because they are too invested in the stories which spit out of their televisions, their webpages and their social media. Their minds are not at home, and by living through stories happening in far away places they’ve launched mental and digital crusades in worlds that are basically illusory. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span><a name='more'></a></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I have begun to realise this is how I tend to be too. A few weeks ago I was upset because I had seen a television show about how irrigation is doing terrible things to communities living upstream in rural Australia. I saw footage of thousands of fish who had died awful deaths due to poor water quality, and locals expressing their disgust at the horrible situation, and I saw interviews with Aboriginal people who had dreamtime stories about their part of the river, which was now almost dried up. It was indeed upsetting, but what was I really going to do about it? It was in a place I had never been and had no real intention of going to. My angst was impotent. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Meanwhile, I live near one of the most polluted river systems in Australia; so polluted that people haven’t swam there in decades. A few days ago I realised I have power over that situation. I can join a local community group and help with the continuing efforts to clean it up and encourage wildlife to live there. I can make a difference in my local area, but when I invest myself in stories from far away places I stop living where I am and start half-living somewhere else. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It is true that we can "take a stand" for what seems right or true, and "raise awareness", but we will be far more powerful at doing these things if we do them within our local area. Supporting causes from faraway lands is not necessarily without merit, but too often it is a waste of mental time and energy. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Stories from faraway places might be more gripping and dramatic than the ones nearby, but we have agency in the ones nearby. The world we can physically feel and touch is the world that matters and is real. The digital world, with its stories from distant shores, is filtered and intangible and we live in it like wraiths. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Our ancestors mostly lived in the world they were in. Sometimes they thought overmuch about the afterlife and the supernatural, sometimes they got lost in their own fantasies, but mostly they lived in this physical world, and did not fret overmuch about what was happening in places where they had no agency. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">We are going mad because we think and know too much about what is happening in other domains. We have choices, we can live in the physical world of our here and now, or we can live like bots and half-beings in the digital world. If we know the digital world is a game, like Skyrim, that can be a nice break from reality, but if we fool ourselves into thinking the digital-made world is real (even though it might describe what is real in distant lands) then we risk walking down a path of illusion.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i><span style="color: #274e13; font-size: x-small;">Written by M' Sentia Figula (aka Freki), find me at <a href="http://romanpagan.blogspot.com" target="_blank">neo polytheist</a> and <a href="https://romanpagan.wordpress.com" target="_blank">romanpagan.wordpress.com</a></span></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div>M' Sentia Figula (aka Freki)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04898083473029906396noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3579296986984067902.post-26570810496309934672020-09-26T19:08:00.028+10:002023-05-19T21:45:59.967+10:00Germanic Pagan Jewellery <p style="text-align: justify;">The primary symbol of Germanic Paganism today is Thor's hammer, and there are a number of websites where you can buy really stunning Mjolnir pieces to wear, but they tend to be chunky and are clearly intended to be worn primarily by men. The hammer is a symbol of strength so it makes sense that men would want to wear a Mjolnir amulet, but I am no man and so here follows images of feminine jewellery that can be worn with contemporary dress while being evocative of Germanic deities. All of the pictures refer to the websites where you can buy them (as of September 2020). Click on the image to enlarge.</p><p><span><b><a href="http://romanpagan.blogspot.com/2014/03/odin.html" style="font-size: x-large;">Odin</a>, God of victory, wisdom, eloquence, wandering, death, inspiration and more</b></span></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-b64RjOBPDxs/X27NzWjOWOI/AAAAAAAAHU0/o8THUAegdk4VVB4n2SrHV8f52nUOIv4tQCLcBGAsYHQ/s550/odin-pendant-silver.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="550" data-original-width="550" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-b64RjOBPDxs/X27NzWjOWOI/AAAAAAAAHU0/o8THUAegdk4VVB4n2SrHV8f52nUOIv4tQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/odin-pendant-silver.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Silver pendant based on a 6th century image of a berserker<br />thevikingdragon.com </td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="700" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aeLOkLPTY1U/X27GkxX2TsI/AAAAAAAAHUo/F0kH9PhSxAYeZDIFYk0kQPb4HDdcg2VqACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Odin%2Bvalkyrie-with-horn.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Silver pendant, Valkyrie with horn replica<br />sonsofvikings.com<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cf1wTBtNlQc/X2_n6-ulgjI/AAAAAAAAHa4/Ukis7-3wU74H1HakSDcUZGSki05tJmcawCLcBGAsYHQ/s593/Raven_Earrings%2B2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="543" data-original-width="593" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cf1wTBtNlQc/X2_n6-ulgjI/AAAAAAAAHa4/Ukis7-3wU74H1HakSDcUZGSki05tJmcawCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Raven_Earrings%2B2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Raven feather earrings in oxidised silver by Aurum<br />aurum.is</td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /><div><p style="text-align: justify;">While spears, wolves and ravens are more obvious symbols of Odin, horns are associated with Odin for a number of reasons. Firstly, archeologists have found a number of images of warriors with horned helmets who are thought to be connected to Odin. Secondly, Valkyries are said to bring horns of mead to the warriors of Valhalla, and thirdly, it is said that Odin gained three drinks of the mead of poetry (this is the origin story of the triple horn symbol). With this in mind I think the following high end jewellery from georgjensen.com is subtly Odinic.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LlwSrYOiXgg/X28KVgdNQRI/AAAAAAAAHZs/LROJPt9Cns8geV_yJgPkw6XYe1Nt7XazQCLcBGAsYHQ/s481/MAGIC-earhook.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="439" data-original-width="481" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LlwSrYOiXgg/X28KVgdNQRI/AAAAAAAAHZs/LROJPt9Cns8geV_yJgPkw6XYe1Nt7XazQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/MAGIC-earhook.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Magic" earrings that evoke the look of a drinking horn<br />georgjensen.com<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iUsrzh_LwvA/X28JqkQ9FJI/AAAAAAAAHZc/tfsAdgtOc9EG-1ws54LOcjGeAfKY0lS3QCLcBGAsYHQ/s1200/Odintriplehorn.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="591" data-original-width="1200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iUsrzh_LwvA/X28JqkQ9FJI/AAAAAAAAHZc/tfsAdgtOc9EG-1ws54LOcjGeAfKY0lS3QCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Odintriplehorn.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Magic" earrings that evoke the look of three horns<br />georgjensen.com<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CX1LeBAzbBM/X28K7uJKTDI/AAAAAAAAHZ4/JTum-B2xtUwPPZ2hsDtnGreY7lK2PFdlwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1200/OdinMAGIC-charm-pendant-diamonds-gold.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="973" data-original-width="1200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CX1LeBAzbBM/X28K7uJKTDI/AAAAAAAAHZ4/JTum-B2xtUwPPZ2hsDtnGreY7lK2PFdlwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/OdinMAGIC-charm-pendant-diamonds-gold.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Magic" pendant evoking two drinking horns and Odin's ring Draupnir<br />georgjensen.com<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><div><p><span><b><span style="font-size: large;">Frigg</span>, wife of Odin, Goddess of childbirth, motherhood, family-life and more</b></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TNp0psOgvA0/X27fQyBB8xI/AAAAAAAAHVo/WKs_EHEG1fgxxHof9FiHk47Pydq0X8y5QCLcBGAsYHQ/s800/Frigg.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TNp0psOgvA0/X27fQyBB8xI/AAAAAAAAHVo/WKs_EHEG1fgxxHof9FiHk47Pydq0X8y5QCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Frigg.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Viking age pendant replica which may depict Frigg, or perhaps another Goddess or Valkyrie<br />sonsofvikings.com</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9OLd9_nVe3k/X27hNwBpYWI/AAAAAAAAHV0/ujCoQjDHn3YgrrAN9b6ew2pdd47rhxqtACLcBGAsYHQ/s1588/Friggsilver.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1270" data-original-width="1588" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9OLd9_nVe3k/X27hNwBpYWI/AAAAAAAAHV0/ujCoQjDHn3YgrrAN9b6ew2pdd47rhxqtACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Friggsilver.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pendant, probably of Frigg (or perhaps the Norns), the runes read "Heil Asynjur o Disir" (Hail Goddesses, o female Deities)<br />etsy.com/au/shop/SWORLDesigns<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><b>The Moon</b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It is thought that some Viking age women wore jewellery evocative of the moon, which would logically have an association with female fertility. However, in Norse myth the moon is associated with a boy who rides the moon chariot across the night sky (while a girl rides the sun chariot). Perhaps women who wore these amulets hoped to have boys of their own?</div><div><br /></div><div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_jS9qBV332U/X27jCZruSLI/AAAAAAAAHWA/2HK-cwGlH4oTVsodJ6qXbyV-r373-QkAwCLcBGAsYHQ/s700/Moon%2Bdanish-lunula.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="700" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_jS9qBV332U/X27jCZruSLI/AAAAAAAAHWA/2HK-cwGlH4oTVsodJ6qXbyV-r373-QkAwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Moon%2Bdanish-lunula.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Silver lunula (crescent moon) pendant replica<br />sonsofvikings.com<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fql5UPUTEy0/X27kJsN7MjI/AAAAAAAAHWM/XdZs0oC8BGE6JMSMOLQO5DcdBeWHrvTEACLcBGAsYHQ/s800/LunulaVKNG.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fql5UPUTEy0/X27kJsN7MjI/AAAAAAAAHWM/XdZs0oC8BGE6JMSMOLQO5DcdBeWHrvTEACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/LunulaVKNG.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Silver Lunula pendant in Viking age style<br />vkngjewelry.com<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CgXM3pDCnr0/X27mxxQWr-I/AAAAAAAAHWY/WWDZLtPyqxABos2LHemo8OBIn4Ffk8RjwCLcBGAsYHQ/s800/Moon-earrings.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="533" data-original-width="800" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CgXM3pDCnr0/X27mxxQWr-I/AAAAAAAAHWY/WWDZLtPyqxABos2LHemo8OBIn4Ffk8RjwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Moon-earrings.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Contemporary Lunula earrings by Love and Hatred<br />loveandhatred.com <br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><b><span><a href="http://romanpagan.blogspot.com/2015/08/the-germanic-god-and-gods-of-fire.html" style="font-size: x-large;">Thor</a>, God of storms, lightning, </span></b><b><span>strength, heroism, vigour, </span></b><b><span>oaths and more</span></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">While it is certainly possible to find smaller Mjolnir pendants, which seem more suitable for women, I prefer the evocation of the Oak tree, which is sacred to Thor and evokes both strength and fertility. </div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qf4azXv3O08/X27pxjGZd5I/AAAAAAAAHWk/W-vWpozr9Ow0YHrTYKo0GrE1w6PvbIYcACLcBGAsYHQ/s640/ThorSilver.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="640" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qf4azXv3O08/X27pxjGZd5I/AAAAAAAAHWk/W-vWpozr9Ow0YHrTYKo0GrE1w6PvbIYcACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/ThorSilver.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Acorn and oak leaf ("Forest") pendants from Ole Lynggaard<br />olelynggaard.com/au/category/collections/forest<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2Brcb1Iq83Y/X28L4gdu0qI/AAAAAAAAHaI/h4xycKq7CjYm4eLopFRzEh3ksuGqLW8rQCLcBGAsYHQ/s403/Thor.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="403" data-original-width="379" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2Brcb1Iq83Y/X28L4gdu0qI/AAAAAAAAHaI/h4xycKq7CjYm4eLopFRzEh3ksuGqLW8rQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Thor.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Forest" acorn and leaf pendants in gold and diamond pave from Ole Lynggaard<br />olelynggaard.com</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LLl8XDGwoYQ/X273yU97b0I/AAAAAAAAHYY/SkPBm5tq0TMlODLV9QGYB-7oUsUDzCGeQCLcBGAsYHQ/s698/ThorWalker%2B2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="698" data-original-width="690" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LLl8XDGwoYQ/X273yU97b0I/AAAAAAAAHYY/SkPBm5tq0TMlODLV9QGYB-7oUsUDzCGeQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/ThorWalker%2B2.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Silver acorn and leaf pendant by Karen Walker<br />karenwalker.com</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><b><span><a href="http://romanpagan.blogspot.com/2015/02/freyr.html" style="font-size: x-large;">Freyr</a>, God of male fertility, sexuality, agricultural prosperity, elves and more </span></b><div>The phallus, the horse and the boar are typically associated with Freyr, as is the ship (which is also sacred to his father Njord).</div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wEUw3lfLfwc/X27uuq5QxMI/AAAAAAAAHXk/riABHxN7fXoyCsgE4Fuhw-JNCmwQoDVqACLcBGAsYHQ/s600/Freyr%2Bsilver-viking-ship-pendant.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wEUw3lfLfwc/X27uuq5QxMI/AAAAAAAAHXk/riABHxN7fXoyCsgE4Fuhw-JNCmwQoDVqACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Freyr%2Bsilver-viking-ship-pendant.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Silver Viking ship pendant<br />sonsofvikings.com<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fqgqalbmGSs/X27u-TkxdBI/AAAAAAAAHXo/F71tjMTrvo4p2cSzDkZVrsUAg0tVAkToQCLcBGAsYHQ/s600/Freyr%2Bviking-ship-pendant-silver.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fqgqalbmGSs/X27u-TkxdBI/AAAAAAAAHXo/F71tjMTrvo4p2cSzDkZVrsUAg0tVAkToQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Freyr%2Bviking-ship-pendant-silver.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Silver Gotland stone ship pendant<br />thevikingdragon.com<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IUsegKjWkRQ/X27xi98r52I/AAAAAAAAHX4/Sbr6q05FDFssah2KqhYyqeZsf6Gi7ayxwCLcBGAsYHQ/s415/Viking-Ship-Pendant.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="359" data-original-width="415" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IUsegKjWkRQ/X27xi98r52I/AAAAAAAAHX4/Sbr6q05FDFssah2KqhYyqeZsf6Gi7ayxwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Viking-Ship-Pendant.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Viking ship pendant<br />museumstorecompany.com<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><div><span><a href="http://romanpagan.blogspot.com/2016/03/freyja-great-goddess.html" style="font-size: x-large; font-weight: bold;">Freyja</a><b>, Goddess of the fertile earth, sexuality, beauty, love, shamanism and more</b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Freyja is strongly associated with beauty, so jewellery associated with her needs to meet a high standard. She is also associated with golden tears, cats, falcon feathers and the famous gold necklace (or perhaps torc), known as Brisingamen. It has been speculated that Brisingamen included yellow amber, so I looked for the most beautiful gold and amber necklace I could find (it is by Ole Lynggaard): </div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MOSZi0WUHjY/X270Uws80nI/AAAAAAAAHYM/EB0T3uZ01nQQ-akBt3lkJrN9DiBSY8KZwCLcBGAsYHQ/s853/Freya%2B2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="853" data-original-width="727" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MOSZi0WUHjY/X270Uws80nI/AAAAAAAAHYM/EB0T3uZ01nQQ-akBt3lkJrN9DiBSY8KZwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Freya%2B2.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gold and amber pendant and (feather-like) leaf pendants<br />olelynggaard.com</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ryt8JLHIi-k/X2762v5rVdI/AAAAAAAAHYk/piXovkGgRAAX53Rk_rlOgv2zYTizYDfPgCLcBGAsYHQ/s696/SaboFeather.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="178" data-original-width="696" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ryt8JLHIi-k/X2762v5rVdI/AAAAAAAAHYk/piXovkGgRAAX53Rk_rlOgv2zYTizYDfPgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/SaboFeather.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Feather bracelet from Thomas Sabo<br />thomassabo.com<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AJQbWzNL390/X28CEoZ8Y2I/AAAAAAAAHY8/N3oXzyvIQ2AKmQ-qrdN4ujXQR4XMHowVgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1786/Torc%2B2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1435" data-original-width="1786" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AJQbWzNL390/X28CEoZ8Y2I/AAAAAAAAHY8/N3oXzyvIQ2AKmQ-qrdN4ujXQR4XMHowVgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Torc%2B2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pearl torc set by Monica Vinader<br />monicavinader.com</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Sa2VMW-TH04/X2_tFkMws7I/AAAAAAAAHcE/BNB4Z5-o9r8K1GjrU6HzRUIYzRu5vZt7wCLcBGAsYHQ/s599/Falki_Earrings%2B2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="564" data-original-width="599" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Sa2VMW-TH04/X2_tFkMws7I/AAAAAAAAHcE/BNB4Z5-o9r8K1GjrU6HzRUIYzRu5vZt7wCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Falki_Earrings%2B2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Falcon feather earrings by Aurum<br />aurum.is</td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_RTw5YYftLQ/X28WMojFTdI/AAAAAAAAHag/o50W6oJPHOs0Bo6_nhejG_cmHLyScqY0ACLcBGAsYHQ/s1024/Nordic.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="682" data-original-width="1024" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_RTw5YYftLQ/X28WMojFTdI/AAAAAAAAHag/o50W6oJPHOs0Bo6_nhejG_cmHLyScqY0ACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Nordic.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rose gold "Nordic Scroll" earrings with tear-shaped citrine<br />loveandhatred.com</td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-T5Vbal8990A/X27-3zxXKVI/AAAAAAAAHYw/e-JizWa-__8DYsYwDPAUAiEdkHNtGw6AwCLcBGAsYHQ/s500/da-vincis-cat.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-T5Vbal8990A/X27-3zxXKVI/AAAAAAAAHYw/e-JizWa-__8DYsYwDPAUAiEdkHNtGw6AwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/da-vincis-cat.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Leonardo da Vinci's cat, silver pendant<br />museumstorecompany.com<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><div><span><b><span style="font-size: large;">Skadi</span>, Goddess of hills, mountains, snow, </b></span><b>skiing, </b><b>hunting, archery and more</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6E0VHEnyaZ8/X28EQfnU1TI/AAAAAAAAHZQ/txtwsuLBQvYE8Yy22QhedA31cQbPNsmFwCLcBGAsYHQ/s611/Skadi%2B2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="572" data-original-width="611" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6E0VHEnyaZ8/X28EQfnU1TI/AAAAAAAAHZQ/txtwsuLBQvYE8Yy22QhedA31cQbPNsmFwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Skadi%2B2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Winter frost earrings by Ole Lynggaard<br />olelynggaard.com<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-V00yqOzwmJI/X3G5nXt127I/AAAAAAAAHc4/2ygyjlSTz3ELp6O5ohYbFPIkweE0seMFwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1024/Icicle%2B2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="1024" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-V00yqOzwmJI/X3G5nXt127I/AAAAAAAAHc4/2ygyjlSTz3ELp6O5ohYbFPIkweE0seMFwCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/Icicle%2B2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Icicle" diamond ring by Grew and Co<br />grewandco.com.au<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Njord,</span> God of the sea, seafaring, ships, fishing and more</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MRa_8lu3W3w/X37be60CBtI/AAAAAAAAHdg/ZB6fhOSkrSs3dp-5-JzcjZBieEjzjxeOACLcBGAsYHQ/s600/dolphin-tail-ring%2B2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="268" data-original-width="600" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MRa_8lu3W3w/X37be60CBtI/AAAAAAAAHdg/ZB6fhOSkrSs3dp-5-JzcjZBieEjzjxeOACLcBGAsYHQ/s320/dolphin-tail-ring%2B2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Silver dolphin tail ring by Atolea<br />atoleajewelry.com</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IUmR5sBTy1w/X3rRUmZN5rI/AAAAAAAAHdU/9P1hWFgNfmwRv466x7EgWv3rOm9bYZQuQCLcBGAsYHQ/s768/harbour-pendant%2B2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="672" data-original-width="768" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IUmR5sBTy1w/X3rRUmZN5rI/AAAAAAAAHdU/9P1hWFgNfmwRv466x7EgWv3rOm9bYZQuQCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/harbour-pendant%2B2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">15mm south sea pearl "nautical" pendant by Kailis<br />kailisjewellery.com.au<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /><span style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Please note: I have received no financial reward for this post and none of the images above belong to me, nor have any of the jewellers endorsed this post or blog in any way.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: right;"><span style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i style="font-size: medium; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #274e13; font-size: x-small;">Put together by M' Sentia Figula (aka Freki), find me at <a href="http://romanpagan.blogspot.com" target="_blank">neo polytheist</a> and <a href="https://romanpagan.wordpress.com" target="_blank">romanpagan.wordpress.com</a></span></i></span></span></div></div></div></div></div></div>M' Sentia Figula (aka Freki)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04898083473029906396noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3579296986984067902.post-44149201513831821122020-07-12T20:03:00.025+10:002021-05-16T00:39:36.583+10:00Primordial Morality<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: justify;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wCe6tZ0EFxA/XwrWC6pTlMI/AAAAAAAAHTU/iw3wtCHvkuQZazpx6aCOTj1zu66-RKSIwCLcBGAsYHQ/s600/Lucretia.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt=""Lucretia" by Bassano (16th/17th century)" border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="452" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wCe6tZ0EFxA/XwrWC6pTlMI/AAAAAAAAHTU/iw3wtCHvkuQZazpx6aCOTj1zu66-RKSIwCLcBGAsYHQ/w241-h320/Lucretia.jpg" title=""Lucretia" by Bassano (16th/17th century)" width="241" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><font size="1">"Lucretia" by Bassano (16th/17th century)</font></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;">One sometimes encounters the notion that Christian values are foundational aspects of contemporary Western culture, but if this is so what happens when Westerners stop being Christians in large numbers? I have relatives who believe that within 3-5 generations without Christianity human behaviour will devolve into a hellscape, and fathers will start initiating their daughters into sex. I have total confidence that this will not happen (at least not commonly – such behaviour will continue to be regarded as aberrant and wicked). Not because I have confidence in any other particular moral code prevailing but because I suspect that most people have a gut instinct for what is fundamentally right and wrong, and that where that instinct is absent reason can fill in the gaps – absent other factors which may cause reason to lapse (such as rigid belief systems, psychological scarring, brain damage and general low intelligence – unfortunately all of these things are fairly common). What might ethics in a post-Christian world look like? Looking to European notions of virtue before Christianity prevailed may give us an idea, as may looking deeper into our own selves.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><b><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Roman Virtue</b></div></b><div style="text-align: justify;">Ancient Roman polytheism was primarily concerned with the proper conduct of ritual rather than personal morality, but meritorious conduct was not entirely divorced from the realm of the religious, as Cicero lets us know in <i>On the Laws</i>. In that work people living in an ideal society are described in the following way:</div><div><blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">“Let them worship deities … who have won a place in heaven through their merits, such as Hercules, Liber, Aesculapius, Castor, Pollux and Quirinus; and those qualities through which men may gain access to heaven – Mens <Mind>, Virtus <Virtue>, Pietas <Piety>, Fides <Faith>; of these virtues let there be shrines but none of any of the vices … Let sacrilege committed that cannot be expiated be deemed impious …</div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Except for the servants of the Magna Mater – and they only on their fixed days – let no one beg for contributions. He who steals or takes away what is sacred or in trust in a public place, let him count as a parricide. For perjury the punishment is destruction from the Gods, shame from men. The pontifices [priests] shall punish incest with the capital penalty … Let them fulfil vows scrupulously … Let them treat their dead kinsfolk as divine. Let there be limits to expenditure and mourning for them [cited in Beard, North and Price, Vol 2, at 353-355]”.</div></div></blockquote><div><div style="text-align: justify;">From this we see that Cicero condemned begging, stealing, killing family members, lying under oath, incest and excessive mourning rites. He praised:</div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li style="text-align: justify;">The healthy mind, which a Roman would understand to include intelligence and mental courage.</li><li style="text-align: justify;">Piety, meaning unflinching devotion and loyalty to family, friends, country and Gods.</li><li style="text-align: justify;">Faithfulness, by which is meant trustworthiness and reliability.</li></ul><div style="text-align: justify;"><span><a name='more'></a></span>Cicero’s thought draws not only from his Roman cultural values but from Hellenic philosophy. Throughout the Roman era there were two philosophical schools that were particularly dominant, they being Epicureanism and Stoicism (and Cicero studied both). Epicureanism holds that fear of divine wrath and the possibility of an unpleasant afterlife poisons human happiness; the remedy is to know that Gods do not concern themselves with our lives and there is no afterlife. Rather, the Gods live overwhelmingly happy lives because they are virtuous, and so should we, ie, we should seek to free ourselves from superstition, fears and sorrow, and we should strive to be rational, modest, frugal and clean, while taking pleasure in simple things, such as friendship, gardens and plain food. For Epicureans the vices of man include lust, fear, pride, filth, wantonness, luxury and sloth – to master them is to live like a God (Lucretius at 138). Stoicism has different underpinnings (focusing on the power of human reason in a world saturated by the divine; the end goal is <i>apatheia</i>, being a mind freed from disabling passions) but the Stoic concept of behavioural virtue is similar. Marcus Aurelius summarises that which is both praiseworthy and blameful in his <i>Meditations</i>:</div><blockquote style="text-align: justify;">“… display the qualities that are wholly within your power, sincerity, dignity, endurance, disdain for sensual pleasure, satisfaction with your lot, contentment with little, kindness, freedom, frugality, avoidance of idle chatter, and elevation of mind … Or are you compelled to grumble, to be grasping, to flatter others, to heap criticism on your poor body, to be ingratiating, and boastful, and restless in your mind … [Book 5.5].”</blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">All of the above discussion on Roman virtue is male-centred, but Roman ideas about feminine virtue appear to have not been so very different. Ancient Roman eulogies in praise of women emphasise the virtues of modesty, moral integrity, chastity, diligence, loyalty, hard work, wisdom, affability, religiosity without superstition, elegance, simplicity of dress and, less appealingly, obedience and wool-working (cited in Shelton at 291-292).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><b><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Germanic Virtue</b></div></b><div style="text-align: justify;">Pre-Christian Germanic people traditionally had more of an honour code than a moral one; their notion of virtue was perhaps more akin to Nietzschean “master morality” than morality as conventionally thought of today. The <a href="https://romanpagan.blogspot.com/2017/12/germanic-values-advice-from-havamal.html"><i>Havamal</i></a> (“Sayings of the High One”, ie, of Odin) is probably the best source we have for determining what honour looked like; it makes up part of what is variously called either the <i>Poetic Edda</i> or the <i>Elder Edda</i> within the <i>Codex Regius</i>. The <i>Havamal</i> is not really about prescribing honour, much less virtue, rather it is a series of verses said to be composed by the God of Wisdom (Odin) that seem not intended to be prescriptive so much as inspirational and reflective. With that in mind it appears from the <i>Havamal</i> that the following were considered wise, if not virtuous:</div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li style="text-align: justify;">Don’t drink to get drunk (verses 12-13 and 19).</li><li style="text-align: justify;">Don’t be a glutton (verses 20-21).</li><li style="text-align: justify;">Don’t be garrulous (verses 15, 19, 27, 29 and 125).</li><li style="text-align: justify;">Don’t get too close to the wife of another man (verses 115 and 131)</li><li style="text-align: justify;">Don’t be miserly (verse 40).</li><li style="text-align: justify;">Be generous with your loved ones (verses 40, 48 and 78).</li><li style="text-align: justify;">Be loyal to your friends and regularly exchange gifts (verses 41-42, 43-44, 50 and 121).</li><li style="text-align: justify;">Be good to your guests (verses 2-4, 132 and 135) but don’t be a guest for too long (verse 35).</li><li style="text-align: justify;">Be bold in battle and not cowardly (verses 15-16 and 48).</li><li style="text-align: justify;">Be wary and prudent, but not anxious and fearful (verses 15-16, 23 and 85-88).</li><li style="text-align: justify;">Stand tall, cast off shame and despair (verses 61, 69, 71, 75 and 133).</li></ul><div style="text-align: justify;">Interestingly, and in contrast with what generally passes for virtue today, being utterly ruthless in relation to one’s enemies is praised in the <i>Havamal </i>(verse 127 – “grant no peace to your foes”), as is deceptive behaviour:</div><blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">“42. To his friend a man must be a friend, and repay gift for gift; laughter for laughter folk should receive, and also falseness for lies …</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">45. If you’ve another that you trust ill, but from him want nothing but good: you must speak him fair and think him a fraud, and give him falseness for lies.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">46. Another thing about him that you trust ill, and have no faith in his thoughts: you must smile at him and not speak your mind, gifts should be repaid in kind.”</div></blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">To give some context though – trustworthiness and loyalty are highly valued in the <i>Havamal</i>. Figuring out who is trustworthy and worthy of loyalty is an aspect of wisdom – the trustworthiness of others, especially strangers, is not assumed, and trusting the wrong person could be deadly. The violence of the age is emphasised in verse 58:</div><blockquote style="text-align: justify;">“He must rise early, who will take another’s life or goods; a wolf lying down seldom gets the ham nor a sleeping man victory.”</blockquote><b><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Primordial Morality</b></div></b><div style="text-align: justify;">Verse 58 of the <i>Havamal</i> implies that murder and theft are things a pre-Christian Germanic man might consider as a legitimate course of action (unless against one to whom he owes loyalty), and history is awash with examples of Vikings who did just this – many times. So their concept of morality was clearly at odds with contemporary notions, but the concept of an undefined goodness is there:</div></div><div><blockquote style="text-align: justify;">“128. … never be made happy by wicked things, but make yourself glad at the good.”</blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">The surrounding text in the <i>Havamal </i>give us some idea of what wickedness and goodness might be (as described above) but I honestly think there is more to this. When you speak to atheists it is common for them to say that they don’t need religion to tell them what is right and wrong, they can act ethically anyway. I have observed that this is mostly true. The question then becomes, well why is that? I do not believe the charge of some that it is merely the lingering aftertaste of Judeo-Christian values, nor have I noticed atheists flocking to read books on philosophy so that they might settle on a code of ethics. No, I think they have an intrinsic sense of right and wrong, as do I, as do most people who are not fundamentally damaged or brainwashed. I would like to call this <i>primordial morality</i>, and suspect that this is hardwired (through evolution) into most people to the point that it is instinctual, but that it can be overridden when people become denatured, eg, by adopting fanatical beliefs, or through severe psychological damage or actual brain damage.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Having thought about this for weeks and discussed it with a number of people I think primordial morality, or instinctual morality, might encompass the following:</div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li style="text-align: justify;">Protect the young – spurning incest between children and parents is a fundamental aspect of this, but so to is feeding, clothing and caring for familial children, and at least to some extent it implies a more benevolent disposition towards all young children (compared to adults) one comes into contact with. The evolutionary utility of this is clear.</li><li style="text-align: justify;">Avoid gratuitous cruelty – an example is don’t kill a koala for no reason, because this just feels fundamentally wrong. Possibly this is a sort of primal understanding that making enemies for no good reason is contrary to the instinct to survive. We need as few enemies as possible and all the friends we can get – and animals most certainly can be our friends (our longstanding relationship with dogs is perhaps the best example of that).</li><li style="text-align: justify;">Be loyal to loved ones – usually they are family and close friends, but of course this can and does fracture in contemporary society, possibly because we are now at greater liberty to choose our allegiances than in the tribal past; the instinct then is to be consistently loyal to the people one has elected to love, such as close family members (in whom one has not become bitterly disappointed), one’s lover and certain friends. Clearly this instinct to be loyal has some connection to our evolutionary status as animals who thrive in social groups and become utterly vulnerable when solo. </li></ul></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;">As it says in the <i>Havamal</i>:</div><blockquote style="text-align: justify;">“50. The withered fir tree which stands in the mound; neither bark or needles protect it; so it is for the man whom no one loves, why should he live for long?”</blockquote><div style="text-align: justify;">Over and above these three fundamental virtues it may be that industriousness and courage are primal morals – because they are highly regarded across cultures – but if they are they are at the sliding end of primordial morality, as laziness and cowardice are commonplace.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><b><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>The Importance of Reason in Determining Right Action</b></div></b><div style="text-align: justify;">Once one has slid off primordial morality altogether other factors inform human action, such as ever-changing cultural values, enforceable laws, and the need to avoid that which is stupid. At this point we need to use our (sometimes fallible) ability to reason. Bringing back the koala into the scheme of morality – my gut (by which I mean everything in my being, so my instincts, or my primal morality) tells me it is wrong to kill a koala for no reason other than that I can; but if I am hungry and there is nothing else to eat killing a koala for food is not wrong (I would, and many people would, say). However, destroying koala habitat, which leads to koala death and is lamentably common, is not so much primordially wrong as stupid. The probable result of koala death following habitat destruction introduces the element of moral wrong, but it is so diluted through the prism of diffuse responsibility that it loses force, for do we blame the politicians for passing laws that allow excessive land-clearing, the corporations that buy the land and initiate the clearing of it (which members of the company then?), the woodcutters, or the people who buy a home built on the cleared land? Only an intelligent solution can solve this sort of ongoing problem, not gut instincts, and therein lies the challenge.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">---------</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><font size="2"><br /></font></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><font size="2"><b>Sources: </b></font></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><ul><li><font size="2">Beard, North & Price, <i>Religions of Rome (Vol 2)</i>, Cambridge</font></li><li><font size="2">Crawford, <i>Honour and Shame in Norse Society</i>, youtube</font></li><li><font size="2">Larrington (trans), <i>The Poetic Edda</i>, Oxford</font></li><li><font size="2">Lucretius, <i>On the Nature of the Universe</i>, Oxford</font></li><li><font size="2">Marcus Aurelius, <i>Meditations</i>, Oxford</font></li><li><font size="2"><a href="https://romanpagan.blogspot.com/">Neo polytheist</a> (ie, I looked back on information in some of my earlier posts in this blog)<br /></font></li><li><font size="2">Orchard (trans), <i>The Elder Edda</i>, Penguin</font></li><li><font size="2">Shelton, <i>As the Romans Did</i>, Oxford</font></li><li><font size="2">Urmson & Ree, T<i>he Concise Encyclopedia of Western Philosophy and Philosophers</i>, Routledge</font></li><li><font size="2">Warrior, <i>Roman Religion</i>, Focus</font></li></ul></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #274e13; font-size: x-small;">Written by M' Sentia Figula (aka Freki), find me at <a href="http://romanpagan.blogspot.com" target="_blank">neo polytheist</a> and <a href="https://romanpagan.wordpress.com" target="_blank">romanpagan.wordpress.com</a></span></i></div><div style="text-align: right;"><br /></div> </div></div>M' Sentia Figula (aka Freki)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04898083473029906396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3579296986984067902.post-35045197028312055482020-05-29T21:52:00.006+10:002021-02-02T20:34:17.218+11:00Polytheism for Beginners<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: justify;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ucm6G0ZZKcY/XtDsxQYGcwI/AAAAAAAAHRk/PiYxBk1VcxMebBplMkFBnKMVY-K93SsIwCK4BGAsYHg/forkarinsnameday1899%2B3.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt=""For Karin's Name Day" by Larsson (1899)" border="0" data-original-height="524" data-original-width="421" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ucm6G0ZZKcY/XtDsxQYGcwI/AAAAAAAAHRk/PiYxBk1VcxMebBplMkFBnKMVY-K93SsIwCK4BGAsYHg/w257-h320/forkarinsnameday1899%2B3.jpg" title=""For Karin's Name Day" by Larsson (1899)" width="257" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><font size="1">"For Karin's Name Day" by Larsson (1899)</font><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;">After over a decade of being consciously polytheistic I think perhaps it is possible that I may have some useful advice for people new to polytheism. All of the advice below comes from years of studying mostly Roman and Germanic sources, as well as some others (such as Celtic polytheism, Buddhism and Hinduism), as well as my lived experience.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>There is no one and true way</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The first and most important piece of advice I can give is to completely ignore anything that follows if it does not resonate for you. I am not a guru, and I suggest you be wary of anyone else who holds that they have discovered the one and true way to be a polytheist. Polytheism does not just imply a plethora of Gods but also a plethora of approaches to the divine.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: 700;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-weight: bold;"><div style="text-align: justify;">There are no texts which are the polytheistic equivalent to the Bible</div></span><div style="text-align: justify;">Polytheism predates literacy and flowered in an age of limited literacy. Therefore there are no texts that should be regarded as absolutely authoritative. The closest you can get to this in Germanic polytheism is the <a href="https://romanpagan.blogspot.com/2017/12/germanic-values-advice-from-havamal.html"><i>Havamal</i></a>, which is part of the <i>Elder Edda</i> (also known as the <i>Poetic Edda</i>). If you are new to Germanic polytheism I suggest reading <i>The Saga of the Volsungs</i>, then the <i>Elder Edda</i> (because many of the poems relate to the story of the <i>Saga of the Volsungs)</i>. If you want something really easy to read then the <i>Prose Edda</i> is a great starting point, though fallible. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In Roman polytheism there is nothing quite like the <i>Havamal</i>, in terms of spiritual guidance, but if you can get a handle on Ovid’s <i>Fasti </i>and Cicero’s <i>On the Nature of the Gods</i> you will learn a great deal - though neither of these texts are particularly easy to read for beginners. A good beginners text is Beard, North and Price’s <i>Religions of Rome: A Sourcebook</i>, and to get an overview of the Roman mindset Shelton’s <i>As the Romans Did</i> is great. There are a number of good scholarly books dealing with Roman polytheism but they tend to focus on Roman polytheism as a State religion, with only glimpses of how polytheism would have been experienced by ordinary Romans. Of ancient texts Ovid’s <i>Metamorphoses</i> is perhaps the easiest bridge to understanding Roman polytheism, as well as Apuleius’ <i>The Golden Ass</i>. <span><a name='more'></a></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><b><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>The Gods are not necessarily present everywhere, nor are they omnipotent</b></div></b><div style="text-align: justify;">The Christian God is conceived of as ubiquitous and omnipresent, hence you can theoretically pray to him anywhere and for anything. Whereas polytheistic Gods have varying degrees of power, influence and presence. Shrines and other sacred locations exist as ... well kind of like portals through which we hope we can access the divine. That doesn’t mean the Gods are only present in these locations, but we shouldn’t assume that they can hear every prayer that we utter in any old location. Likewise, they cannot necessarily answer every prayer because their powers are somewhat delineated.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><b><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>The Gods are not necessarily entirely benevolent ... or interested</b></div></b><div style="text-align: justify;">The polytheistic world (as I understand it) is not really one of good versus evil, although divine beings are more likely than humans to be virtuous, wise, compassionate and powerful. Some Gods are more likely than others to be well disposed towards us; many Gods (I suspect) are fairly indifferent to us. This means that the Gods are not in some manner obliged to answer our prayers. Arguably, if we have made some awesome offerings, and conducted ourselves properly during the ritual, then a God is more likely to take an interest in us and then answer our prayers, but that is not quite the same as a binding quid pro quo.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><b><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>You do not need to worship every God that exists</b></div></b><div style="text-align: justify;">In my experience there are particular Gods that really resonate for individuals, and while we might be respectful of all Gods it is not necessary, or even possible, to venerate every one of them. Beginners sometimes seem to think they need to create a shrine with every one of the major Gods of a particular pantheon represented. A more realistic approach is to recognise the God or Gods who seem somehow close. You could think of them as patron Gods. For example, if you are a woman who is greatly interested in looking good, being sexually alluring and attracting love then Venus (or Freyja) is probably (1) going to strongly resonate, and / or (2) is a Goddess you may wish to venerate.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><b><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Shrines and offerings form the basis of polytheistic practice</b></div></b><div style="text-align: justify;">If you are lucky you live near a temple or a grove, spring or other natural location that is sacred to a particular God, but many of us don’t and so we either need to identify places that are likely to be sacred to a God (eg, the ocean to Neptune or Njord) and go there to conduct our prayers and offerings, or we create shrines where we reside, as we need to work with what we have. If you set up a shrine in the home don’t forget to include the household Gods (Lares, Penates and possibly Manes for Roman polytheists, and Tomten / Nissen / Elves for Germanic polytheists).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Note as well that making offerings is generally thought to be important. Christians pray to God and offer only their obeisance, and sometimes their servitude. Polytheists tend to have a more reciprocal approach. Friendship and family loyalty is often glued together by the exchange of gifts (on birthdays or at Christmas). Likewise, if you want to form a good relationship with a deity then offering a gift is generally a good start.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><b><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Lit candles, incense and tasty beverages are generally good offerings</b></div></b><div style="text-align: justify;">The most basic practice is to find a secluded place in nature that is sacred to the God one wishes to venerate. Go there, light a candle and make a prayer. If you want to up the ante then make a more substantial offering, eg, incense, or wine, ale or honey poured onto the ground or in sacred water. If you want to go further then you could create a kind of altar, eg, pile up stones in a sacred grove and pour wine over them, or light incense upon them; or dig a hole and place offerings in there. Make sure you invoke the name of the God, and descriptions of the God (eg, “hail Venus, Goddess of beauty, love and sexual passion”), and perhaps place something known to be sacred to them on, or near, the altar (eg, a statue representing the God, or something known to be associated with them). </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">If you can make an offering known to be specifically pleasing to a God then that may be even better. For more on what that might be see my earlier post on <a href="https://romanpagan.blogspot.com/2012/03/offerings.html">Pagan Offerings to the Gods</a>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><b><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Polytheism is generally compatible with other belief systems</b></div></b><div style="text-align: justify;">Polytheism tends to embrace, whereas monotheism tends to restrict. Thus you can be a polytheist as well as an adherent of any other religion, philosophy or ideology, so long as that does not conflict with the notion of the existence of multiple deities. You don’t have to pick one religion, unless that religion is intolerant of all other religions (eg, is an Abrahamic religion). Likewise, you can venerate Gods from multiple pantheons, or just one particular patron God. Just as the basics of atheism is disbelief in God, so the basics of polytheism is belief in multiple Gods, it is that simple. You don’t have to subscribe to a particular moral code just because you revere Freyr or Diana, or any other God. You don’t have to try to be a faux Viking because you revere a Germanic God; though you might study Viking era sources to try to better relate to, or understand, that God. You don’t have to become a Stoic, or an Epicurean or a Neo-Platonist just because they were the dominant philosophies in the Roman period, though studying their beliefs may help you to better understand the Roman approach to the divine. You can be a crypto-fascist, a right wing patriot, a political centrist, someone who is totally indifferent to ideologies, a feminist who loves drinking male tears, a socialist, a share-trading globalist, a monarchist, a republican and anything in between; it is all compatible with polytheism. Because, just to reiterate, polytheism is simply the belief in (and perhaps the reverence of) multiple Gods. Whether any of the Gods adopt a particular political ideology, philosophy or moral code, well honestly that I could not say. Although as certain Gods are associated with certain qualities, it would be only natural if Gods tend to favour people with qualities and behaviour aligned with their own. For example, it is written in the<i> Havamal </i>that we should not be a “fool in the belly”, it may follow then that Odin is not particularly fond of the obese, but who knows?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Written ad lib.</div></div><br /><i><span style="color: #274e13; font-size: x-small;">Written by M' Sentia Figula (aka Freki), find me at <a href="http://romanpagan.blogspot.com" target="_blank">neo polytheist</a> and <a href="https://romanpagan.wordpress.com" target="_blank">romanpagan.wordpress.com</a></span></i><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><br /></div>M' Sentia Figula (aka Freki)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04898083473029906396noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3579296986984067902.post-86067827863292203542020-04-19T15:36:00.003+10:002021-05-16T00:40:26.891+10:00Aesculapius – God of Medicine<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">"A sick child brought into the temple of Aesculapius" by Waterhouse (1877)</span></td></tr>
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<b>Mythological origins of Aesculapius</b></div>
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In the Roman tradition Aesculapius is the God of medicine. Myth proclaims him as the son of the God of healing (Apollo); the father of the Goddess of good health (Salus);* a favourite of the Goddess of skilfulness (Minerva, who gifted him the blood of Medusa, which could restore the dead to life), and as a child he was said to have been a student of Chiron – a centaur renowned for his wisdom and skill as a doctor. There are a number of stories associated with Aesculapius, most of them Greek in origin, like the God himself. In <i>The Nature of the Gods</i> Cicero (1st century BC) tells us:</div>
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“As for the sundry figures called Aesculapius, the first is the son of Apollo and is worshipped by the Arcadians; he is said to have invented the probe, and to have been the first to use splints for healing. The second is that [he is] the brother of Mercury mark two. The story goes that he was struck by lightning, and that he is buried at Cynosura. The third, the son of Arsippus and Arsinoe, was reportedly a pioneer in the application of purgatives and the extraction of teeth. His tomb and grove are open to inspection in Arcadia [3.57]”.</blockquote>
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In the same work Cicero informs us that Aesculapius was not born to Godhead, but was one of those “men who conferred outstanding benefits [and so] were translated to heaven through their fame and our gratitude … These men were duly regarded as Gods because their souls survived to enjoy eternal life, for they were both outstandingly good and immortal”. Other examples of men who became Gods include Hercules, Liber, Romulus and the brothers Castor and Pollux (Cicero, 2.62). The most popular story of the apotheosis of Aesculapius describes how he brought back to life Hippolytus, who had been killed in a chariot crash; Jupiter then struck Aesculapius dead in retaliation for disrupting the natural order.</div>
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“Hippolytus, after [being] … torn apart by stampeding horses … came again to the heavenly stars, and the upper air beneath the sky, recalled by Apollo’s herbs and Diana’s love. Then the all-powerful father, indignant that any mortal should rise from the shadows to the light of life, hurled Aesculapius, Apollo’s son, the discoverer of such skill and healing, down to the Stygian waves [Virgil, <i>The Aeneid</i>, 7.641-782]”.</blockquote>
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<a name='more'></a>Subsequently, Aesculapius became both a God and a constellation, the Ophiouchos – which literally means “serpent bearer”. Snakes are part of the origin myth surrounding medicine, as Ovid describes in his version of the story above.</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
“[Hippolytus] had given up his life, much to Diana’s outrage. ‘There’s no reason for grief’ says the son of Coronis [ie, Aesculapius] ‘for I shall give back life without wound to the dutiful young man, and the grim Fates will yield to my skill’. At once he brings out herbs from ivory boxes, they had been of use before to the Manes [ghost] of Glaucus [a prince of Crete], at the time when the augur resorted to herbs he had observed, and a snake used help given by a snake [the augur Polyidus witnessed a snake bring another snake back to life after giving it a certain herb]. Three times he touched his chest, three times he said healing words. The young man [Hippolytus] lifted his head from the ground where it lay [Ovid, <i>Fasti</i>, 21 June]”.</blockquote>
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It is also the case that snakes were a symbol of renewal in classical antiquity, and thus fittingly sacred to Aesculapius (Shelton at 367).</div>
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<b><b>Aesculapius’ cult in Rome</b></b><br />
The cult of Aesculapius was officially brought to Rome in the 290s BCE. Livy (1st century CE) gives us the background:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
“a plague … devastated both the city and the countryside. It was now a calamity more like a portent, and the [Sibylline] books were consulted to discover what end or remedy the Gods might offer for the misfortune. The advice discovered in the books was that Aesculapius should be summoned to Rome from Epidaurus [the centre of his cult in Greece]; but nothing was done about it in that year because the consuls were engaged with … war, except that a one-day <i>supplicatio</i> [collective prayer performed on behalf of the citizen body] to Aesculapius was held [Livy, cited in Warrior at 87]”.</blockquote>
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An anonymous historian (possibly Aurelius Victor) from around the 4th century CE continues the story:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
“Because of a plague, and on the advice of the Sibylline books, the Romans sent ten envoys under the command of Quintus Ogulnius to bring Aesculapius from Epidaurus. When they had arrived at Epidaurus and were admiring the huge statue of the God, a snake, which inspired respect rather than terror, slithered out of the temple, and to the amazement of all headed right through the middle of the city to the Roman ship were it coiled up in Ogulnius’ cabin … When the ship was sailing up the Tiber, carrying the snake to Rome, the snake jumped onto an island. A temple was built there and the plague subsided with remarkable speed [<i>A Book about Famous Men</i> (anonymous), cited in Shelton at 367-8]”.</blockquote>
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Contemporary French scholar Robert Turcan describes what we believe went on in the Roman sanctuary of Aesculapius.</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
“… people would come to sleep in order to receive the God’s instructions in their dreams – a typically Greek procedure. This ‘incubation’ was performed under porticoes set up near the temple to receive the sick. Aesculapius was thanked with ex-voto offerings, found in their hundreds near the Fabrician bridge … They were of terracotta, marble, bronze, silver or even gold, depending on the means of the faithful whose prayers had been granted, but chiefly of clay, the majority of the clientele of the island in the Tiber being of humble estate. There were feet, hands, breasts, intestines, viscera in an open torso, genital organs, eyes, ears, mouths … Above all, it was necessary to demonstrate gratitude by way of an inscribed tablet bearing the account of the miraculous treatment. Sometimes several edifying cures were grouped into one detailed report: </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
‘At that time, the God gave an oracle to a blind man … he was to go to the sacred altar, prostrate himself before it, next go from right to left and place his five fingers on the altar; he must then take his hand away and put it on his eyes. And he saw, in the presence of the crowd, who congratulated him …' </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
'Lucius suffered from a pain in his side. And he was cured, and publicly gave thanks to the God, and the crowd congratulated him.' </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
'Julianus was losing blood; everyone despaired for him. The God gave him an oracle: he was to come and take some pine cones from the altar, and eat them mixed with honey for a period of three days. And he was cured, and publicly gave thanks to the God before the crowd’ [at 107-108]”.</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
It is also known that, in emulation of the original cult in Greece, the priests kept snakes and dogs (Beard et al at 69). Fittingly, the sanctuary of Aesculapius was located outside the <i>pomerium</i>, which marked the religious perimeter of Rome, for by tradition the worship of foreign Gods should not occur within the sacred boundary (Beard et al 1 at 180). Just how foreign the worship of Aesculapius really was, at least at first, to the Romans is unclear.</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
“The Latin form of the God’s name may well have been established before the 290s BC, or at least it derives from an older form of the Greek name, given the extent of Roman contact with Greece in the archaic period, this may suggest that the God, as well as the rituals associated with him, was known to the Romans already [Beard et al at 69-70]”.</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Moreover, archeological findings suggest that rites that we know were associated with Aesculapius were being practiced around a hundred years earlier than when his cult was officially brought to Rome.</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
“Several sites have now produced substantial deposits of votive offerings dating back to at least the fourth century BC, which consist of primarily small terracotta models of parts of the human body; this suggests that there were a number of sanctuaries soon after the beginning of the Republic to which individuals went when seeking cures for their diseases: at these sanctuaries they presumably dedicated terracottas of the afflicted part. This implies … that individuals turned to the Gods directly in search of support with their everyday problems of health and disease [Beard et al at 12-13]”.</blockquote>
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We can assume the worship of Aesculapius was completely normalised by the 1st century BCE / CE as Ovid mentions the foundation date of Aesculapius' temple in his <i>Fasti</i>:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
“… on this day the Fathers dedicated two temples. The island the river hems in with divided waters received the son of Phoebus [Apollo] and the nymph Coronis [ie, Aesculapius]. Jupiter has a share: one place took them both, and the temple of the grandson is joined to that of his mighty grandfather [Ovid, <i>Fasti</i>, 1 January]”.</blockquote>
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Moreover:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
“Augustus’ private physician, Antonius Musa, who had pulled him through a serious illness [in 23 BCE], was honoured with a statue, brought by public inscription and set up beside Aesculapius [Suetonius, <i>The Twelve Caesars</i>, 2.59]”.</blockquote>
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By the mid 1st century CE the sanctuary of Aesculapius in Rome was so well known that:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
“Finding that a number of sick or worn-out slaves had been abandoned by their owners on the Island of Aesculapius, to avoid the trouble of giving them proper medical attention, Claudius freed them all and ruled that none who got well again should return to the control of his former owner; furthermore, that any owner who made away with a sick slave for the same mean reason should be charged with murder [Suetonius, <i>The Twelve Caesars</i>, 5.25]”.</blockquote>
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As the Roman empire expanded so too did the veneration of Aesculapius. For example, in the 2nd century CE Apuleius, a native of the Roman province of Numidia, was known to have been a devotee of Aesculapius; and in the 3rd century Diocletian’s newly built palace in the province of Dalmatia included a temple to the God (Kamm at 166).</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><b>Conclusion</b></b><br />
In Roman religion Aesculapius is the God of medicine, associated with overcoming ill health through the use of “artful remedies” and “strong herbs” (Ovid, <i>Metamorphoses</i>, 15.623-5). A white cockerel was the usual sacrificial animal used in his rites (Scheid at 81), and supplicants would stay overnight in his temples in the hope of receiving his instructions for divine remedies via their dreams. When they successfully overcame their ailments they would typically thank Aesculapius by, inter alia, offering a representation of the bodily part so cured. But while Aesculapius was indeed regarded as a patron God of doctors (Scheid at 155) it would be remiss to suggest that all Romans accepted the magical approach to medicine that the cult surrounding Aesculapius sometimes implied. Cicero gives voice to skepticism in his <i>On Divination</i>:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
“What would be the sense in the sick seeking relief from an interpreter of dreams rather than from a physician? Or do you think that Aesculapius and Serapis [a Greco-Egyptian deity associated with healing] have the power to prescribe a cure for our bodily ills through the medium of a dream … or think you that though Minerva will prescribe physic in a dream without the aid of a physician, yet that the Muses will not employ dreams to impart a knowledge of reading, writing, and of other arts? If knowledge of a remedy for disease were conveyed by means of dreams, knowledge of the arts just mentioned would also be given by dreams. But since knowledge of these arts is not so conveyed neither is the knowledge of medicine. The theory that the medical art was imparted by means of dreams having been disproved, the basis of a belief in dreams is utterly destroyed [2.59]”.</blockquote>
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In <i>On the Nature of the Gods </i>Cicero makes the case even more plainly:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
“When I see a host of sick people restored to health I do not regard Aesculapius as their benefactor, but Hippocrates [3.91]”.</blockquote>
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Hippocrates was an ancient Greek physician traditionally regarded as the father of medicine. However, many Romans seemed to have doubted the efficacy of mortal doctors too. In the 1st century CE the poet Martial joked that:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
“You are now a gladiator, although until recently you were an ophthalmologist. You did the same thing as a doctor that you now do as a gladiator [Martial, <i>Epigrams</i>, cited in Shelton at 89]”.</blockquote>
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Pliny the Elder (1st century CE) laid bare the situation:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
“Of all the Greek sciences, only medicine has not yet gained wide interest among us sober and serious-minded Romans. Very few of our citizens are attracted even by its considerable monetary rewards, and those who are immediately begin to act like Greeks. In fact, medical writers, unless they write in Greek, are not accepted as authorities even by the ignorant … people tend to trust advice about their own health less if they understand the language in which it is spoken. Medicine is the only profession, by Jove, where any man off the street gains our immediate trust if he professes to be a doctor; and yet surely no lie could be more dangerous. But we don’t worry about that; each one of us is lulled by the sweet hope of being healed. And we don’t even have laws against the ignorance which endangers our lives. Doctors risk our lives while they are learning; their experiments lead to deaths; and yet for doctors, and only doctors, there is no penalty for killing a man. In fact, they pass on the blame, reproach the deceased for his lack of moderation and his self-indulgence [Pliny the Elder, <i>Natural History</i>, cited in Shelton at 89]”.</blockquote>
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In such an environment I think I would rather rely on dreams sent from Aesculapius.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qUPtarrGTyI/Xpvit4xsw7I/AAAAAAAAHNw/WnlfbVvfKLceKFpj8PCgB2u7vOda6qxjwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/temple%2BVilla%2BBorghese.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="646" data-original-width="1000" height="257" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qUPtarrGTyI/Xpvit4xsw7I/AAAAAAAAHNw/WnlfbVvfKLceKFpj8PCgB2u7vOda6qxjwCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/temple%2BVilla%2BBorghese.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">"Temple of Aesculapius at pond in the Villa Borghese" Artist unknown (18th century)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: x-small;">* As well as others.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Sources:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Beard, North and Price, <i>Religions of Rome: Volume 1: A History</i>, Cambridge</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Britannica.com</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Cicero, <i>On Divination</i>, penelope.uchicago.edu</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Cicero, <i>On the Nature of the Gods</i>, Oxford World's Classics</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Dictionary of Classical Mythology</i>, Penguin Reference</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Kamm, <i>The Romans: An Introduction</i>, Routledge </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Ovid, <i>Fasti</i>, Oxford World's Classics (directly quoted above)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Ovid, <i>Fasti</i>, Penguin Classics </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Ovid, <i>Metamorphoses</i>, Norton</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Scheid, <i>An Introduction to Roman Religion</i>, Indiana University Press</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Shelton, <i>As the Romans Did: A Sourcebook in Roman Social History</i>, Oxford</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Suetonius, <i>The Twelve Caesars</i>, Penguin Classics</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Turcan, <i>The Gods of Ancient Rome</i>, Routledge</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Virgil, <i>The Aeneid</i>, gutenberg.org </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Warrior, <i>Roman Religion: A Sourcebook</i>, Focus</span><br />
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<i style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #274e13; font-size: x-small;">Written by M' Sentia Figula (aka Freki), find me at <a href="http://romanpagan.blogspot.com" target="_blank">neo polytheist</a> and <a href="https://romanpagan.wordpress.com" target="_blank">romanpagan.wordpress.com</a></span></i></div>
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M' Sentia Figula (aka Freki)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04898083473029906396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3579296986984067902.post-50673982795119623752020-03-06T13:17:00.002+11:002021-05-16T00:40:54.931+10:00Pax and the Roman Understanding of Peace<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gn5njoLCUVc/XmG1mZW82PI/AAAAAAAAHMs/Z-qHzbAsXbM848XJ0lTh4CAAjwMOYghvgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/denarius.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1181" data-original-width="1181" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gn5njoLCUVc/XmG1mZW82PI/AAAAAAAAHMs/Z-qHzbAsXbM848XJ0lTh4CAAjwMOYghvgCLcBGAsYHQ/s200/denarius.png" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;">3rd century denarius depicting Pax </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: xx-small;">(moneymuseum.com)</span></td></tr>
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The worship of the Goddess Pax (Peace) in ancient Rome first comes to prominence during the reign of Augustus, when in 13 BCE the Senate commissioned the <i>Ara Pacis Augustae</i> (Altar of the Augustan Peace) to mark the safe return of Augustus from Gaul and Spain. Significantly, it was dedicated on the <i>Campus Martius</i> (field of Mars), which until the 1st century BCE had been used primarily as a military exercise ground. This is a powerful hint as to how ancient Romans understood Pax, ie, that Pax and Mars have a relationship with each other. In the Roman mind, Mars (war) establishes the necessary conditions for Pax (peace) to flourish.</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
“One of the legacies of the classical world is the belief that a secure peace can be obtained only through war … Cicero … said: ‘If we wish to enjoy peace, we must wage war. If we fail to wage war, peace we shall never enjoy.’ … The Romans believed that war and peace alternated as cause and effect. The civil wars broke out because of the extravagance that followed the wake of earlier wars. The luxury and prosperity of the late Roman Republic and Empire, and the enervating effects of peace effeminated its citizens and made them the prey of barbarian invaders … </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
The Roman concept of peace was fragmented. One way of looking at this is to remember that during the regal and republican periods of history there was no God or Goddess who personified peace. While it is true that Saturn was said to have established the Golden Age, a time of peace and harmony, and that no war could be declared during the festival of Saturnalia, the Golden Age was no more. Peace was an abstract … concept that was imported into Rome and personified as a Goddess. At the same time, there were several [long established] deities who personified war, such as Mars and Minerva … </blockquote>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
Another way of looking at the slow development of the Roman concept of peace is to examine the changing meanings of the word <i>pax</i>. According to the Oxford Latin Dictionary, <i>pax</i> originally meant a pact between individuals, or a blessing conferring freedom from divine anger … <i>Pax</i> took on the meaning of a broad concept or policy only in the time of Augustus with the <i>Pax Romana,</i> a state of tranquility within those parts of the empire that had been pacified … the classical Roman concept of peace assumed that peace must be preceded by a total victory imposed by the victors, which assumes the existence of war … Augustus had derived the concept of peace from the Greek Goddess Eirene, who had been known to the Greeks since the time of Hesiod [8th-7th century BCE]. Although the Greeks had fought their wars ferociously, they, and the other city-states of the ancient Greek world, had generally restored peace through negotiated peace treaties rather than demanding total victory … [By contrast, a] Roman peace treaty was imposed on enemies after a crushing victory … Roman coins often depict Pax linked to the Goddess Victoria, with the latter wielding a sword and shield and displaying war trophies. This reinforced the idea that peace was something to be imposed, hence the motto Mars pacifier [Manning at 31-32]”.</div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Pax Romana</b><br />
If we think of the English word <i>pacify</i>, and how it was used in the once common phrase “pacify the natives”, we get a little closer to the ancient Roman understanding of <i>pax</i>. Etymologically <i>pax</i> is connected to the verb <i>paciscor</i>, which means to “to make a bargain or agreement, covenant or contract” – it is related to the English word <i>pact</i> (Raaflaub at 58). In the context of <i>pax</i>, that pact is to establish, as <i>Cassell’s Latin Dictionary</i> states, “a state of peace, opp. to war”. For the Romans <i>pax</i> implied a state of orderliness within the empire and a measure of social harmony, and so they were able to boast that one of their greatest achievements as an empire was to impose the <i>pax Romana</i>, which enabled an unprecedented level of travel, communication, trade and prosperity within her extensive borders (Shelton at 286).<br />
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<b>Pax Deorum</b><br />
The other species of <i>pax </i>that ancient Romans prided themselves on was the <i>pax Deorum</i> (peace with the Gods).<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“It was the purpose of Roman religion to gain the good will of the divine forces and to keep them benevolent … since the benevolence of the Gods could ensure the success and prosperity of both the individual and the community, it was essential that all citizens strive to establish a correct relationship with the Gods and maintain <i>pax Deorum</i> “peace with the Gods” …</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Maintaining <i>pax Deorum</i> … was a continual process. The Roman Gods did not demand constant professions of faith, but they did require that humans respect their power and acknowledge their participation in the universe. Acknowledgment of the Gods formed the ritual of Roman religion … </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
It was the duty of the officers of the state religion to preserve the <i>pax Deorum</i> … because religion was a function of the state, priesthoods were occupied by politicians … [Shelton at 370 and 384]”.</blockquote>
The <i>pax Deorum </i>could be described as a kind of pact, between the individual and / or the state, with the Gods:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“The relationship between man and Gods was like a contract that had to be constantly maintained by regular prayer and sacrifice. Otherwise the Gods’ favour could not be assured … [Warrior at 4]”.</blockquote>
The Augustan historian Livy gives an example of how ancient Romans experienced the <i>pax Deorum </i>(or, in this case, the lack of it and the measures taken to reestablish it):<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“The plague lasted during both this and the following year … In the latter year [364 BCE] … they held a <i>lectisternium</i> [a ritual banquet for the Gods] … in order to implore the peace of the Gods (<i>pax Deorum</i>). When neither human wisdom nor the help of the Gods alleviated the virulence of the disease, men’s minds succumbed to superstitious fears (<i>superstitio</i>). Among other attempts to appease the anger of the Gods, <i>ludi scaenici </i>[theatrical plays] are said to have also been instituted. This was an innovation for a war-like people, whose only public spectacle up to that time had been the circus [horse races] … [cited in Warrior at 119]”.</blockquote>
Here we see that the <i>pax Deorum</i> is most definitely about defining the relationship that the community of Rome had with the Gods, but it is notable that Livy mentions what happens to the inner life of individuals when <i>pax Deorum</i> is not present, namely, they succumb to superstitious fears. <i>Pax Deorum</i> is thus not only about a good relationship with the Gods in the material realm, it is also necessary for the good of the human spirit.<br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Pax Christi</b><br />
The Catholic Church, from St Augustine onwards, took this nuanced meaning of <i>pax</i> and extended it, so that it became strongly associated with a sort of cosmic and an inner spiritual peace (with God), which is closer to our more tranquil understanding of the word today (Mantello et al at 268-269). The extended meaning of the word can be easily inferred by looking at how it was used in medieval communion services: <i>pax domini sit semper vobiscum</i> means “may the peace of the Lord be upon you always”, likewise Christians sometimes greeted each other with <i>pax vobiscum </i>“peace be with you”. </div>
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<b>Conclusion</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
For ancient Romans there was no irony in the fact that two of her most war-drenched emperors – Augustus and Vespasian – were keen promoters of the cult of Pax (Beard et al I at 253-254). To them war created the necessary conditions for peace – the two things, and the two deities (Mars and Pax), were interrelated, and in this understanding perhaps there is a lesson for us today.<br />
<br />
While ancient Romans primarily associated <i>pax</i> with the absence of war, this was implicitly associated with “a state of order, regularity, harmony, and discipline ... It was the environment in which humans could be productive and successful because they were free of anxiety about disruption or disorder” (Shelton at 370). Thus <i>pax</i> is primarily a state of affairs that exists in the material plain – not least through establishing a beneficial relationship with the Gods, and when this relationship is functioning properly so too does the inner life of the individual. </div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-l33-ISE8Z38/XmIiT3okqLI/AAAAAAAAHM4/jinmxX57UXcbDggk7x0ugprZpaQI8CE3QCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/allegory-of-justice-and-peace.jpg%2521Large.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="513" data-original-width="750" height="272" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-l33-ISE8Z38/XmIiT3okqLI/AAAAAAAAHM4/jinmxX57UXcbDggk7x0ugprZpaQI8CE3QCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/allegory-of-justice-and-peace.jpg%2521Large.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Allegory of Justice and Peace" by van Thulden (17th century)</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Sources: </span></div>
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: x-small;">Aleteia.org</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: x-small;">M Beard, J North and S Price, <i>Religions of Rome: Volume 1: A History</i>, Cambridge University Press </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: x-small;">M Beard, J North and S Price, <i>Religions of Rome: Volume 2: A Sourcebook</i>, Cambridge University Press </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: x-small;">Britannica.com </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: x-small;">A Kamm, <i>The Romans: An Introduction</i> (2nd ed), Routledge </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: x-small;">R Manning, <i>War and Peace in the Western Political Imagination</i>, Bloomsbury </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: x-small;">F Mantello and A Rigg, <i>Medieval Latin: An Introduction and Bibliographical Guide</i>, Catholic Uni of America Press </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: x-small;">K Raaflaub, <i>War and Peace in the Ancient World</i>, Blackwell </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: x-small;">J Shelton, <i>As the Romans Did: A Sourcebook in Roman Social History</i> (2nd ed), Oxford University Press </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: x-small;">D Simpson, <i>Cassell’s Latin Dictionary</i>, Bloomsbury </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: x-small;">R Turcan, <i>The Gods of Ancient Rome</i>, Routledge</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: x-small;">V Warrior, <i>Roman Religion: A Sourcebook</i>, Focus Publishing </span></li>
</ul>
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<i style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #274e13; font-size: x-small;">Written by M' Sentia Figula (aka Freki), find me at <a href="http://romanpagan.blogspot.com" target="_blank">neo polytheist</a> and <a href="https://romanpagan.wordpress.com" target="_blank">romanpagan.wordpress.com</a></span></i></div>
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M' Sentia Figula (aka Freki)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04898083473029906396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3579296986984067902.post-59552944090976428332019-08-03T13:22:00.004+10:002021-05-16T00:43:52.905+10:00Our Degenerate Age – A Buddhist Prophecy<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">A man feeling spent after a night of debauchery<br />Detail from "Marriage a la Mode" by Hogarth (1743)</span></td></tr>
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In many Indo-European religions there is a tradition which predicts the decline of humanity. The Romans spoke of an initial golden age of man, followed by a silver age, bronze age and finally iron age, with each age being less virtuous and less verdant than the last – it was predicted that our kind would finally be wiped out by floods and starvation (see Ovid’s <i>Metamorphoses</i>). In Germanic spirituality there is a tradition that speaks of mankind’s devolution: kinship bonds break down, lasciviousness and violence abound, the weather is harsh and sunbeams turn black (implying volcanic ash clouds?) – this is the age just before the destruction of our world by violence and fire, Ragnarök. It will be followed by the rebirth of a verdurous world when Gods and virtuous folk begin anew (see the <i>Völuspá</i>). In Hinduism it is taught that there are four epochs that characterise the cycle of existence. The first is the most blessed age, with each of the succeeding ages becoming more degenerate than the last, until the cycle begins anew (see the <i>Mahabharata</i>). </div>
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Likewise, in Mahayana Buddhism, which originated in northern India but is now most common in NE Asia, there is a very old and widely accepted prophecy which speaks of the inevitable decline of Buddhism. It describes three ages. The first begins with the life of the Buddha of the Shakya clan, at some point between the 1th-5th century BCE (the exact century of the birth of Shakyamuni Buddha is unknown), and lasted between 500 to 1000 years. This was a golden age of Buddhism, when it was comparatively easy to follow the Buddha’s teachings and achieve enlightenment. The second period represents a time of the weakening of Buddhist spirituality, it also lasts between 500-1000 years. The third age is said to last for 10,000 years. According to Japanese tradition it began in the 11th century CE (which coincides with the Islamic conquest of south Asia; Muslims massacred Buddhist monks and destroyed their monasteries, universities and libraries, thus causing Buddhism to almost disappear from these regions where it had previously flourished: Reat at 76). During this latter age it is said that it will become increasingly difficult for people to follow the Buddha’s teachings, though there will be a period of flourishing before finally becoming obscured and lost. Following this there will be an extremely long period of spiritual darkness, after which a new golden age of Buddhism will eventually emerge, ushered in by the Maitreya Buddha.<br />
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I have managed to find three translations of the main sutra prophesising the decline of Buddhism. It is believed to have originally been composed in Sanskrit, then translated into Chinese, whereupon it formulated part of the Chinese Buddhist canon, which was subsequently also adopted in Korea and Japan. Here follows a summary of what is more or less agreed upon between the translations. They are: </div>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li style="text-align: justify;">The Sutra Preached by the Buddha on the Total Extinction of the Dharma (fodian.net)</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Sutra of the Total Annihilation of the Dharma (sutrasmantras.info) </li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">The Buddha Speaks of the Ultimate Extinction of the Dharma Sutra (cttbusa.org)</li>
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Note that my summary does not strictly follow the sequence of the predictions presented in the sutra, rather I have grouped related points together.</div>
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The sutra starts with a description of the Shakyamuni Buddha staying in the kingdom of Kushinagar (in northern India), three months before his death. He gives a teaching to a large assembly of beings in which he states that his teachings will one day disappear, preceded by a degenerate age during which the following will occur.</div>
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Monks will no longer be the true custodians of Buddhism</div>
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<li style="text-align: justify;">Slaves, criminals and people of poor character will become monks and nuns, but they will lack virtue, instead they will live licentiously and engage in depravity. Men and women will mix freely together in these communities. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Monks will become lazy, sutras will cease to be recited or understood. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Arrogant and bumptious people will recite sutras and glorify themselves as fake Buddhists in the hope of attracting offerings and wealth. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Monks will wear multi-coloured lay-clothing, use intoxicants, and kill other beings. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Monks will lack compassion, bear hatred and be envious.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Monks will become most interested in material wealth.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Temples will fall into disrepair and ruin.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">When they die these false monks will suffer rounds of rebirth in hell, hungry ghost and animal realms, and when finally they are born as humans they will be born amongst people who know nothing of Buddhism.</li>
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It will still be possible to practice Buddhism</div>
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<li style="text-align: justify;">Bodhisattvas and true Buddhists will exist and they will cultivate virtue and treat all beings with respect; they will take pity on those living in poverty and difficulty. Even so, these Buddhists will not be widely respected.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">They will encourage others to revere and protect sutras and holy images.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">They will be benevolent, kind and peaceful.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Corrupted monks will slander and ostracise genuine followers of Buddhism.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">These true Buddhists will eventually retreat into the wilderness and there the Gods will protect them and Buddhism will flourish “like an oil lamp that flares brightly for an instant just before it goes out” (cttbusa.org).</li>
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Men will tend towards being more degenerate than women</div>
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<li style="text-align: justify;">Women will be more likely to practice Buddhism and be more virtuous than men (this inverts the tendency of the earlier ages of Buddhism when men were more likely to attain enlightenment than women).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Men in the latter age of Buddhism will tend to be lazy and obsessed with sex.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Lacking respect for the monks that live in their age, men will rarely even discuss Buddhist teachings, much less believe in them.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">The lifespan of many males will decrease so that they mostly die before they are 60 (and their hair will go grey by the age of 40), while the lifespan of many women will increase to between 70-100 years.</li>
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Whether man or woman most people will be debased</div>
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<li style="text-align: justify;">Most people will be ignoble, while virtuous people will be hard to find.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">The human population will explode, and people without virtue will be as numerous as is sand in the sea. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Local government leaders will plot and scheme while the mass of humanity, whom they exploit, endure hard lives.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">The bulk of people will hold erroneous views about permanence – believing it to exist, though Buddhism teaches to the contrary (for all things are everchanging).</li>
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The natural world will cease to be harmonious</div>
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<li style="text-align: justify;">Mountain forests will be burned and destroyed to make way for huge farms, greatly harming the beings that lived in them.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Rivers will both flood and dry up and will lose their natural cycles (conceivably due to irrigation and dams).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">There will be droughts and extremes of climate. </li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Crops will fail.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">Disease will kill large numbers of people.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">The Gods will shed tears.</li>
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Buddhism as we know it will completely disappear (before being reborn again)</div>
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<li style="text-align: justify;">The Shurangama Sutra* (which is highly esoteric) and the Pratyutpanna-Samadhi Sutra (which describes a spiritual technique involving mental concentration) will be the first to disappear, then the remaining canon will gradually follow until all Buddhist sutras known today vanish completely.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">The robes of monks will turn white (wearing white is traditionally associated with death and mourning in India).</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">After a long period (at least several thousand years, if not considerably longer) the Maitreya Buddha will be born in this world, which will now be peaceful, harmonious and verdant, and many living beings will attain enlightenment. </li>
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According to all of this we are now firmly in the age of degeneration. But within this age the sutra speaks of a flourishing of Buddhism, described by one translation thus:</div>
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“When my Dharma is destroyed the process will be comparable to an oil lamp which, drawing close to the time it will go out, will shed an even greater radiance and brilliance and then be extinguished [fodian.net].”</blockquote>
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So, strangely, in this most degenerate of ages we are well placed to practice Buddhism, even as it becomes a twilight religion. </div>
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<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">*See at buddhasutra.com.</span></i></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Appendix</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">According to some Mahayana lineages (such as Nichiren Buddhism and Zen Buddhism) the Lotus Sutra is the most important of all Buddhist sutras, and it is particularly well suited to our degenerate age. In chapter 14 of the Lotus Sutra it is written:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">“Manjushri, after the thus come one has passed into extinction, in the Latter Day of the Law, if a person wishes to preach this sutra, he should abide by … peaceful practices. When he opens his mouth to expound or when he reads the sutra, he should not delight in speaking of the faults of other people or scriptures … Also he should not allow his mind to become filled with resentment or hatred … he is good at cultivating this kind of peaceful mind … </span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Manjushri, if a bodhisattva … in the latter age hereafter, when the Law is about to perish, should accept and embrace, read and recite this sutra, he must not harbour a mind marked by jealousy, fawning, or deceit … </span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Manjushri, if among these bodhisattvas … there are those who in the latter age hereafter, when the Law is about to perish, succeed in carrying out … peaceful practices, then when they preach this Law they will be free of anxiety and confusion, and will find good fellow students to read and recite this sutra with. They will attract large assemblies of persons who come to listen and assent. After they have listened, they will embrace; after they have embraced, they will recite; after they have recited, they will preach; and after they have preached, they will copy, or will cause others to copy, and will present offerings to the sutra rolls, treating them with reverence, respect, and praise … </span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Manjushri, if among these bodhisattvas there are those who in the latter age hereafter, when the Law is about to perish, accept and embrace the Lotus Sutra, toward believers who are still in the household or those who have left the household they should cultivate a mind of great compassion, and toward those who are not bodhisattvas they should also cultivate a mind of great compassion, and should think to themselves: These people have lost much … although these people do not inquire about, do not believe, and do not understand this sutra, when I have attained supreme perfect enlightenment, wherever I may happen to be, I will employ my transcendental powers and the power of wisdom to draw them to me and cause them to abide in this Law.”</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">While in chapter 17 of the Lotus Sutra it is written:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">“In the evil age of the Latter Day of the Law if there is someone who can uphold this sutra, it will be as though he supplied all the alms described above [ie, the kind of offerings that could be made in the first age of Buddhism, such as making offerings at a stupa of flowers, incense, necklaces, robes, and musical instruments, and burn fragrant oil or ghee to light up the area around the stupa]. If someone can uphold this sutra, it will be as though in the presence of the Buddha he should use … sandalwood to build monks’ quarters as an offering, or thirty-two halls as high as eight tala trees, or supply all kinds of superior foods and wonderful clothes and bedding, residences for assemblies of hundreds, thousands, gardens, groves, pools, and lakes, exercise grounds and caves for meditation, all with various kinds of fine adornments. If someone with a believing and understanding mind accepts, upholds, reads, recites, and copies this sutra or causes others to copy it or offers alms to the sutra rolls, scattering flowers, incense, and powdered incense or constantly burning fragrant oil extracted from … flowers, if he offers alms such as these he will gain immeasurable merits, boundless as the open air, and his blessings will also be like this.”</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Sources not elsewhere cited: </span></div>
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: x-small;">berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/essays/chinese-canon</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Dictionary of Buddhism</i> | Nichiren Buddhism Library (online)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: x-small;">Reat, <i>Buddhism: A History</i>, Jain Publishing</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: x-small;">Watson (Ed), <i>The Lotus Sutra</i>, nichirenlibrary.org</span></li>
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<i style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #274e13; font-size: x-small;">Written by M' Sentia Figula (aka Freki), find me at <a href="http://romanpagan.blogspot.com" target="_blank">neo polytheist</a> and <a href="https://romanpagan.wordpress.com" target="_blank">romanpagan.wordpress.com</a></span></i></div>
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M' Sentia Figula (aka Freki)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04898083473029906396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3579296986984067902.post-13673015814540971352019-06-01T13:44:00.003+10:002021-05-16T00:44:44.157+10:00The Greco-Roman Cosmos<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Illustration from <i>La Sphere du Monde</i> by Oronce Fine (1549)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">(the sublunary elements are fire, air, water and earth; above the moon is aether)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">In most ancient Greek and Roman minds the distant stars were not thought to be suns capable of supporting a family of orbiting planets, and our own sun was not thought to be the central hearth-fire of our familial solar system. Their view of the cosmos was fundamentally different to our own.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“The Greeks, by about 500 BC, were trying to explain the movements of the planets by first assuming the earth to be the centre of the universe. ( … practically everyone before modern times assumed that it was.) A philosopher named Anaximenes about 550 BC suggested that the stars were fixed in a huge hollow sphere that enclosed the earth, the sun, the moon and the planets … This sphere might be motionless while the earth turned, or vice versa. Later Greeks argued both ways.</span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The sun, moon and planets could not be fixed to this sphere of the stars, because they did not move along with the stars at the same speed. They must therefore exist in space between the sphere of the stars and the central earth … each must be fixed in a special sphere of its own [Asimov at 25-27].”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The predominant view amongst the Greeks (and then the Romans – who embraced much of ancient Greek philosophy and astronomy) was that the order of the celestial spheres was determined by the apparent speed of each of the planets, with the apparently faster planets being thought to be closer to the earth. Hence, the closest of these spheres was that belonging to the moon, then Mercury, then Venus, then the sun, then Mars, then Jupiter, then Saturn, and then finally there were the fixed stars (the planets Uranus, Neptune and Pluto were unknown in the ancient world, due to the absence of telescopes which could detect them). </span><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Keep in mind here that to most Greeks and Romans the sun was considered to be one of the seven planets (they had no idea of the immense size of the sun and imagined it to be considerably smaller than we do today), as was the moon. The original meaning of the word “planet” was “wanderer” because the first five of what we call planets today (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn), the sun and the moon were the seven celestial bodies that noticeably moved across the sky, in contrast to the other stars which appeared to be fixed in place.*</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Philosophical approaches to cosmology<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Another thing to keep in mind is that although today Aristarchus of Samos (3rd<span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span>century BCE) is well known and well regarded (as he proposed that the moon orbits the earth, while the earth and the other planets orbit the sun, and that the sun was greatly larger than the earth) his views were most definitely not widely accepted in the ancient world. The Stoic philosopher Cleanthes went so far as to accuse Aristarchus of impiety for proposing to move the “hearth of the universe” (Plutarch). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Ovid explains the popular hearth-earth view of the cosmos in Augustan Rome, which was largely drawn from Stoicism:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“Vesta [Goddess of hearth-fire] equals earth. Sleepless fire underlies both; earth and hearth denote their own fixity. Earth, like a ball, resting on no prop, hangs with air beneath it, so heavy a weight. Its very rotation keeps the globe balanced; there are no corners to press any part. And since it’s located in the centre of everything, so that it touches no side more or less, if it weren’t convex, it would be nearer to one part, and the universe would lack earth’s central weight [Ovid, <i>Fasti</i>, 9 June].”</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Thus the primordial mythos of Atlas was replaced by the philosophical and quasi-scientific notion of a central fire lying at the centre of earth and thus also of the universe. This is at least half right – for scientists estimate that the metallic centre of the earth continually burns at circa 4500-6000 degrees Celsius.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">However, the Stoics did not regard the sun as unimportant:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“Cleanthes would have the sun to be the ruling power of the world, because it is the greatest of the heavenly bodies, and contributes most to the administration of the whole by making the day and the year and the other seasons [Eusebius of Caesarea].”</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">In the 1st<span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span>century BCE Cicero explored the position of Stoic thought on cosmology, and its relation to the divine:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“… there are … reasons why conceptions of the Gods are imprinted on human minds … The fourth reason advanced, and the greatest, is the uniform movement and undeviating rotation of the heavens, the individuality, usefulness, beauty and order of the sun and moon and stars, the very sight of which is sufficient proof that they are not the outcome of chance … can we not grasp that things which are higher are better, and that the earth is the lowest level of all, shrouded in an impenetrable band of air? … All parts of the universe … are supported and sustained by heat … since all motion has its origin in the heat within the universe, and such heat is achieved spontaneously and not by an external thrust, that fiery heat must be a living soul. In other words, the universe is alive … </span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Once we have recognised that the universe possesses this divinity, we must assign that same divinity to the stars, for they are sprung from the most fluid and pure sector which is the aether, with no admixture of any other element [in Greco-Roman thought the four sublunary elements were hot-dry fire, hot-wet air, cold-wet water and cold-dry earth, the aether belonged to those places above the level of the moon]. They are entirely translucent heat … they too are living beings with sensation and understanding … ‘Therefore’, says Cleanthes, ‘since the sun is made of fire and nurtured by moisture from the ocean (for no fire could continue to burn without some form of nourishment), it must be like the fire which we exploit for our own use and sustenance, or like that that which is contained in the bodies of living creatures. But whereas the fire which we need for daily living destroys and consumes everything, and causes chaos … the heat in our bodies is life-enhancing and health-giving; it preserves, nurtures, increases and sustains all things, and endows them with feeling’. He therefore concludes that there is no doubt which of these fires the sun resembles, since it too ensures that all things blossom and ripen, each according to its kind. So since the sun’s fire is similar to the fires which inhere in the bodies of living creatures, the sun too must be alive, and likewise the other celestial bodies, for they are sprung from that heat of the heavens which we call the aether or the sky.</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">… Now the region of the aether is occupied by the stars … So since the stars have their origin in the aether, the logical inference is that they possess feeling and understanding, which is why the stars must be numbered among the Gods … What especially denotes that the stars are conscious and intelligent is their consistent regularity and the absence of random or fortuitous variation, for no such rational, ordered movement can be conducted without planning …</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The person who observes these facts would display not merely ignorance but also impiety if he said that the Gods do not exist; and there is very little difference between denying that they exist and depriving them of any stewardship or activity … [Cicero at 52-62]”</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">This last paragraph is a hostile reference to Epicurean philosophy, which was one of the greatest rivals to Stoic thought at the time. According to the Epicurean school the universe is not fundamentally ordered, as the Stoics would have us believe, but rather born from chaos and without reason. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“… space lies in all directions infinite and seeds [ie, atoms] in number numberless forever fly around in countless different ways though an unfathomable universe perpetually driven by everlasting motion … nature made this world. The seed of things in random and spontaneous collision in countless ways clashed, heedless, purposeless, in vain until at last such particles combined as suddenly united could become the origin of things </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">… nature by herself all things performs by her own will without the aid of Gods … [Lucretius at 65-67]”</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">This sounds curiously modern until we realise that according to Epicurean philosophy:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“… earth rests in the centre …The sun’s heat and size can hardly be much greater or less than is perceived by our senses … The moon too, whether it shines with borrowed light illumining the world, or whether it sends its own light from its own body, whichever it is, its size, as it moves through the heavens, is no larger than it appears to our eyes as we see it … [Lucretius at 152-153]”</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span></blockquote>
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<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Celestial spheres with perfect motion <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">By the 3rd<span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span>to 6th<span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span>centuries CE Neoplatonist philosophy prevailed in the polytheistic Greco-Roman world** – it rejected the Epicurean approach to understanding the cosmos while absorbing some Stoic principles (such as the view that the universe is alive and divine), as well as the philosophy of Pythagoras (though seemingly not the views of one Pythagorean, Philolaus, who proposed that the earth and the seven planets alike circle around an unseen central fire), and of course Plato. However, Neoplatonism was a highly spiritual and mystical philosophy which gave little attention to practical approaches to the material cosmos, and perhaps it didn’t need to, for by this point the Ptolemaic system predominated in Greek and Roman minds, which returns us to the subject of the celestial spheres:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“Naturally, these spheres of the planets had to be perfectly transparent because the stars could be seen through all of them. They had to move with perfect regularity and with perfect lack of friction … If the planets were fixed in spheres that turned about the earth, the planets would have to move in perfect circles … Plato, about 300 BC, strongly argued that heavenly bodies simply had to move in circles because the circle was the most symmetrical curve and therefore the perfect curve. If the planets moved in circles, that was just an additional proof that all things in heaven were perfect … There was only one trouble with this beautiful logic. If the actual motions of the planets were studied, it would be found that the planets simply did not move in circles [Asimov at 29-31].”</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Thus for centuries leading Greco-Roman philosophers and mathematicians engaged in tortuous calculations that became ever more complicated to justify the prevailing view that the earth was at the centre of the cosmos and that perfectly circular spheres surrounded her. For some this involved adding new spheres, for example, Aristotle (4th<span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span>century BCE) proposed that there were 54 spheres in all. Apollonius of Perga (3rd<span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span>century BCE) argued for a return to the view of a single main sphere for each planet and suggested instead that the centre of the revolving sphere was eccentrically placed (ie, not at the centre of the earth) and that there were smaller spheres, set within the main spheres, moving in epicycles. By the Roman age this, more or less, was the dominant view, with finishing touches added by Claudius Ptolemaeus (2nd<span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span>century CE, also known as Ptolemy), who made the mathematics behind the theory so complicated that no-one dared seriously question it until the late renaissance, thus, the geocentric theory of the universe which dominated European thought until that time is also known as the Ptolemaic system. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Conclusion<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">This popular ancient notion that perfection exists and that it wraps itself around our earth in a way that is quite visible to the naked eye – merely by looking to the orderliness of the planets and the stars – is not especially concordant with contemporary attitudes to the universe. I do not look at the night sky and feel reassured by a divinely perfect cosmos. I see instead much cold and lifeless space, punctuated by deadly hot suns of unimaginable hugeness which parent inaccessible solar systems. I also see alien planets in our own solar system on which no human could likely ever survive – it’s not especially comforting ... and there is no doubt that this perspective contaminates my attitude to the divine. The heavens of the 21st century CE give me no reason to believe in perfection, only in the laws of cause and effect. I feel this is a good thing for it means I do not measure myself as imperfect by comparison to the aethereal heavens (which the ancient adherents of certain philosophical schools, such as Pythagoreanism, Stoicism and Neoplatonism, were wont to do), and I see that <i>this</i> gives rise to <i>that</i>, which gives rise to <i>another</i>, and so we have a fragile measure of causation and predictability </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">– t</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">his is not </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">perfect </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">order but it is a kind of order nonetheless, which is manifestly devoid of inherent perfection or imperfection, or right or wrong, it just is. It may be that the closest thing to the perfect heavens of the pre-renaissance is not up there, somewhere else, but down here, within our grasp on earth. Our existence is a kind of miracle, when compared with what else we now think we know of the universe, and so it is worthy of treasuring. Where are Gods? Where do the spirits of the dead go? I don't know for sure, but if science has taught me anything it has taught that we humans don't know a great many things and the greatest folly of all is to assume we've arrived at a place of complete understanding. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;">* Thus the number seven came to be imbued with a special significance, and so gave birth to the seven days of the week (Sunday = sun, Monday = moon, Tuesday = Mars, Wednesday = Mercury, Thursday = Jupiter, Friday = Venus, Saturday = Saturn), the seven heavens, the seven musical notes, the seven colours of the rainbow, and so on. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;">** It is customary to place 529 CE as the end of the era of Greco-Roman Pagan philosophy, as this is the date Emperor Justinian ordered the school of Plato (the Academy) closed: <i>The Concise Encyclopedia of Western Philosophy and Philosophers</i> at 220.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<o:p></o:p></span>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">---------</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;">Sources:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;">Asimov, <i>The Kingdom of the Sun</i>, Collier Books (1962)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;">Cicero, <i>The Nature of the Gods</i>, Oxford (2008) </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Encyclopedia Britannica</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;">Eusebius of Caesarea, <i>Preparation for the Gospel</i> (3rd/4th century CE), tertullian.org</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;">Lucretius, <i>On the Nature of the Universe</i>, Oxford (2008)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;">Meijer, <i>Stoic Theology: Proofs for the Existence of the Cosmic God and the Traditional Gods,</i> Eburon (2007)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;">Ovid, <i>Fasti</i>, Oxford (2011)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;">Ovid, <i>Fasti</i>, Penguin (2004)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;">Plutarch, <i>On the Face in the Moon</i>, penelope.uchicago.edu</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;">Remes, <i>Neoplatonism</i>, University of California Press (2008)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;">Urmson and Ree, <i>The Concise Encyclopaedia of Western Philosophy and Philosophers</i>, Routledge (1991)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i style="font-family: Times; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #274e13; font-size: x-small;">Written by M' Sentia Figula (aka Freki), find me at <a href="http://romanpagan.blogspot.com" target="_blank">neo polytheist</a> and <a href="https://romanpagan.wordpress.com" target="_blank">romanpagan.wordpress.com</a></span></i></span></div>
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M' Sentia Figula (aka Freki)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04898083473029906396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3579296986984067902.post-30986206639211063862019-01-10T14:25:00.002+11:002021-05-16T00:45:06.613+10:00Beggar Spirituality<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-41n1BiMsiuc/XDa5ydt-CWI/AAAAAAAAG-w/SyEKylVPHgoQBcvRdFb6O5eK-vHozabpQCLcBGAs/s1600/Beggar%2BSargent.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="559" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-41n1BiMsiuc/XDa5ydt-CWI/AAAAAAAAG-w/SyEKylVPHgoQBcvRdFb6O5eK-vHozabpQCLcBGAs/s320/Beggar%2BSargent.jpg" width="223" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"A Beggar Girl" by Sargent (c. 1877)</td></tr>
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When my husband died nearly two years ago it was as if in a thunderstruck moment I realised that the cosmos was not as I thought it to be – it was so much darker and more painful than I had imagined. I saw that the Gods had not kept me free from misfortune, and that my approach to worship had been absurd. I dismantled my beautiful shrine and even destroyed one of the statues in a state of bitterness and blank despair. But I did not stop believing in the Gods, nor did I hate them. Rather, I saw that on a very fundamental level *I* had got it wrong and that I needed a wiser and more realistic approach to the divine. Answers to difficult questions can never be finite – because the universe and the questions keep changing – but what I see now is that I was more of a spiritual beggar than a spiritual seeker. </div>
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When religious practice revolves around begging for blessings from the Gods why should the Gods not go silent? The best Gods surely don’t wish to surround themselves with emotional paupers, begging for this favour one day and that favour on another? Would they not rather take an interest in those with the fire to go out and seize the day, taking what they want based on their own hard work and determination? What God worth worshipping favours sycophants and beggars? The Gods don’t exist for us so that they can dole out all the things we are too weak to get for ourselves. They exist in their own right, with their own ambitions – just as we do. It may be that they influence events, but their powers are not infinite and they cannot change the fundamental realities of all life in the cosmos – which is that loss and death and the suffering these things bring is inevitable. We ourselves have more power to alleviate our suffering than any God. Even if there were a God or Gods who granted us every wish we would just keep asking for more, and growing evermore spiritually infantalised all the while. When finally those indulgent Gods become bored of their beggar-worshippers what despair and tantrum throwing begins! For some people atheism is the ultimate “f—k you for not answering my prayers!”<br />
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“When I observe carefully the state of the world today, I see people who give way to doubt because of the lack of understanding. They look up at the heavens and mouth their resentment, or gaze down at the earth and sink deep into despair [Nichiren, <i>On Establishing the Correct Teaching for the Peace of the Land</i>, <a href="https://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/wnd-1/Content/2#para-6">nichirenlibrary.org</a>]”.</blockquote>
I can live in a world saturated in a multiplicity of divinity without feeling the need to continually ask for favours from beings more powerful than me. I can focus instead on being the best person I can be and gently encouraging others to be the best person they can be. I can be inspired by the Gods, admire them and hope that they look kindly on me, if they can be bothered to look upon me at all. I can even hope to one day to dwell amongst the Gods, for as the Epicurean philosopher Lucretius wrote:</div>
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“He therefore who has mastered all these vices [such as lust, pride, filth, lack of restraint, luxury and sloth] and cast them from the mind ... will it not then be right to find him worthy to be counted in the number of the Gods? [Lucretius, <i>On the Nature of the Universe</i>, Oxford World's Classics at 138]”. </blockquote>
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And I don’t think making offerings is futile, or that shrines are pointless – a free person can respectfully pay homage to another for a wide variety of reasons.* All I mean to say is that if one approaches the Gods like a beggar then it should come as no surprise if the Gods fall silent and one’s prayers go unanswered.<br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">* To be perfectly honest I still regularly honour protective Gods (known as Shoten Zenjin)<i> </i></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">at my Buddhist shrine.</span></span><br />
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If you enjoyed this post you may also enjoy reading my post on <a href="https://romanpagan.blogspot.com/2015/05/superstition.html"><b>Superstition</b></a>.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VM12-Z_zPXs/XDbAMUWZJNI/AAAAAAAAG-8/Da2Ozh0lycMpjnCnEgvmkRMWbUuOAgnvgCLcBGAs/s1600/belisariusdavid.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="791" data-original-width="900" height="351" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VM12-Z_zPXs/XDbAMUWZJNI/AAAAAAAAG-8/Da2Ozh0lycMpjnCnEgvmkRMWbUuOAgnvgCLcBGAs/s400/belisariusdavid.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Belisarius Begging for Alms" by David (1781)</td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: right;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i><span style="color: #274e13; font-size: x-small;">Written by M' Sentia Figula (aka Freki), find me at <a href="http://romanpagan.blogspot.com" target="_blank">neo polytheist</a> and <a href="https://romanpagan.wordpress.com" target="_blank">romanpagan.wordpress.com</a></span></i> </div>
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M' Sentia Figula (aka Freki)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04898083473029906396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3579296986984067902.post-73346070960027993112018-10-27T11:32:00.003+11:002021-02-02T20:37:48.605+11:00Valkyries <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" QFormat="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" QFormat="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" QFormat="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" QFormat="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" SemiHidden="true"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="41" Name="Plain Table 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="42" Name="Plain Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="43" Name="Plain Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="44" Name="Plain Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="45" Name="Plain Table 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="40" Name="Grid Table Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46" Name="Grid Table 1 Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51" Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52" Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
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<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 1"/>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FLJt-0C30m4/W-TWnfeLOcI/AAAAAAAAG8I/2HhxwwQefRgot-D37cTnRwuxW1_wdJx0gCLcBGAs/s1600/Hughes_Dream_Idyll_%2528A_Valkyrie%2529.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1197" data-original-width="853" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FLJt-0C30m4/W-TWnfeLOcI/AAAAAAAAG8I/2HhxwwQefRgot-D37cTnRwuxW1_wdJx0gCLcBGAs/s400/Hughes_Dream_Idyll_%2528A_Valkyrie%2529.jpg" width="285" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Dream Idyll (A Valkyrie)" by Hughes c. 1902</td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
In the <i>Prose Edda</i> Snorri Sturluson describes Valkyries as women who “serve in Valhalla. They bring drink and see to the table and the ale cups … They are sent by Odin to every battle, where they choose which men are to die and they determine who has the victory” (at 44-45). In the Völuspá Valkyries are described as coming “from widely beyond, ready to ride to the people of the Gods. Shall-be wore one shield, Brandisher another, Battle, War, Wand-maid and Spear-brandisher: now are the War-lord’s ladies, ready to ride over earth, Valkyries” (<i>Elder Edda</i> at 9). In the Grímnismál Odin is said to speak of the Valkyries thus:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
“I want Wielder and Mist to bring me a horn; Axe-age and Brandisher, War and Strength, Clash and War-bonds, Smash and Spear-waver, Shield-truce and Counsel-truce and Power-trace: they bring the Einherjar ale [<i>Elder Edda</i> at 56]”.</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Renowned Old Norse scholar H R Ellis Davidson describes Valkyries as:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
“… fierce female spirits attendant on the war-God … Valkyries play a great part in the stories and poems about the exploits of the legendary heroes … They are said by Saxo to vary their appearance, and to be seen sometimes as fearsome beings and sometimes as beautiful maidens, who offer love to the warrior. Protective spirits of this kind were said to attach themselves to the kings and princes who worshipped Odin, giving them help and counsel and bringing them luck in battle, while at death they received them as their ‘husbands’ [<i>Scandinavian Mythology</i> at 41]”.<br />
<a name='more'></a></blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Odinic associations – death, victory, knowledge and wisdom</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
There is no getting away from the violence of Valkyries, nor their close association with <span style="color: #274e13;">Odin</span>, made doubly clear when they appear by Odin’s side at his son's cremation, along with his wife and his ravens (<i>Prose Edda</i> at 67). Odin is not just a God of death and violence though, he has many other powers and associations, and these aspects are (at least sometimes) shared with his Valkyries. Just as Odin is a wandering God so too are Valkyries adept at travel. Old Norse scholar Jackson Crawford notes that Valkyries seem to be able to fly, perhaps by putting on “swan-suits” (possibly in a manner similar to the Goddess <span style="color: #274e13;">Freyja</span> when she dons a falcon-shape) and seem to be able to make themselves invisible, or at least hard to detect. The Valkyrie Brynhild appears to share Odin’s association with magical knowledge and wisdom. In the Sigrdrífumál, in words reminiscent of the last part of the <span style="color: #274e13;">Hávamál</span>, Brynhild describes the benefits of understanding how to carve runes, so to grant victory, protection from ill-will, safety at sea, eloquence, strength of will and other good things (<i>Elder Edda</i> at 170-171). In the <i>Saga of the Volsungs</i> Sigurd asks Brynhild to teach him “the way of mighty things” (at 67) and after she does so he says “never can there be found a wiser woman in the world than you. Give me more wise counsel” (at 71). The advice she gives him is redolent of the Hávamál:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
“I advise you first, that towards your family you should be without fault; take no revenge, though they give you cause …</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
I advise you second, that you don’t swear an oath, unless that swearing turns out to be true; terrible threads bind the breaker of faith …</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
I advise you third, that at a meeting you don’t quarrel with a stupid man; for an unwise man often lets himself say worse words than he realises …</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
I advise you fourth, if there lives a witch, full of faults, upon your way: better go on than be her guest, even though nightfall catch you … often mischievous … women sit by the roads, who blunt both swords and spirits …</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
I advise you sixth, that it happens among men that speech over ale turns ugly: don’t argue with a warrior when you are drunk; wine steals from many their wits ... [Sigrdrífumál,<i> Elder Edda</i> at 173-175]”.</blockquote>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-prGAFZN0VDM/W-TWxTYpmHI/AAAAAAAAG8M/7Z62MKBDXNQ3OEvLJSwFnbf9TWTyJnmrwCLcBGAs/s1600/Brunhild_Bussiere_1897.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="426" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-prGAFZN0VDM/W-TWxTYpmHI/AAAAAAAAG8M/7Z62MKBDXNQ3OEvLJSwFnbf9TWTyJnmrwCLcBGAs/s320/Brunhild_Bussiere_1897.jpg" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Brunnhild" by Bossiere c. 1897</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Valkyries as instruments of fate</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Brynhild also has the gift of prophecy (<i>Saga of the Volsungs</i> at 75-78), but Valkyries do not necessarily just know the future, they can make it happen. In <i>Njal’s Saga</i> a group of Valkyries have a grisly resemblance to the Greco-Roman Fates, who spin and weave the fortunes of men:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
“… a man named Dorrud went outside and saw twelve riders approach a woman’s bower and disappear inside. He walked over to the bower and peered through a window; inside he could see women with a loom set up before them. Men’s heads were used in place of weights, and men’s intestines for the weft and warp; a sword served as the beater, and the shuttle was an arrow. And these were the verses they were chanting:</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
‘Blood rains from the cloudy web on the broad loom of slaughter. The web of man, grey as armour, is now being woven; the Valkyries will cross it with a crimson weft.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
‘The warp is made of human entrails; human heads are used as weights; the heddle-rods are blood-wet spears; the shafts are iron bound, and arrows are the shuttles. With swords we will weave this web of battle.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
‘The Valkyries go weaving with drawn swords … Spears will shatter, shields will splinter, swords will gnaw like wolves through armour.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
‘Let us now wind the web of war, where the warrior banners are forging forward. Let his life not be taken; only Valkyries can choose the slain.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
‘Lands will be ruled by new peoples … We pronounce a great king destined to die; now an earl is felled by spears.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
‘… The web is now woven and the battlefield reddened; the news of disaster will spread through lands.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
‘It is horrible now to look around, as a blood-red cloud darkens the sky. The heavens are stained with the blood of men, as the Valkyries sing their song.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
‘We sang well victory songs … Let him who listens to our Valkyrie song learn it well and tell it to others.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
‘Let us ride our horses hard on bare backs, with swords unsheathed away from here’.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
Then they tore the woven cloth from the loom and ripped it to pieces, each keeping the shred she held in her hands … The women mounted their horses and rode away, six to the south, six to the north [<i>Njal’s Saga </i>at 349-351]”.</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Saxo Grammaticus gives a somewhat similar, though less gruesome, description of Valkyries:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
“… Hother chanced, while hunting, to be led astray by a mist, and he came on a certain lodge in which were wood-maidens; and when they greeted him by his own name, he asked who they were. They declared that it was their guidance and government that mainly determined the fortunes of war. For they often invisibly took part in battles, and by their secret assistance won for their friends the coveted victories. They averted, indeed, that they could win triumphs and inflict defeats as they would … [<i>The Danish History,</i> bk III]”.</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Both descriptions aver to the agency of Valkyries, for though they are instructed by and serve Odin they have free will, as the story of the rebellious Brynhild demonstrates:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
“Brynhild said that two kings had fought. One, called Hjalmgunnar, was old and was a great warrior, and Odin had promised him the victory. The other was Agnar … [Brynhild said to Sigurd] ‘I struck down Hjalmgunnar in battle, and Odin stabbed me with a sleeping thorn in revenge. He said that I should never afterward have the victory. He also said that I must marry. And I made a countervow that I would marry no one who knew fear’ [<i>Saga of the Volsungs</i> at 67]”.</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
It may be that Valkyries are one and the same with the Disir, female supernatural beings, who “seem to be conflated with both Valkyries and Norns as fateful female figures of power” (<i>Elder Edda</i> at 284). However, as Brynhild herself is subject to the power of the Norns (<i>Elder Edda</i> at 183-184) it appears that Valkyries and Norns are distinctly different, for Norns determine certain fated events throughout the course of a being’s life, whereas the power of the Valkyries appears to be limited to those things over which Odin has power, such as the outcome of battles and whether individual warriors live or die – those who die fearlessly may be chosen by Valkyries to become the Einherjar of Valhalla.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>A transitory state?</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
For all their power, it seems that the state of being a Valkyrie may have a time limit. Crawford suggests that Valkyries are women who have taken on the role of a Valkyrie as an occupation, and that Valkyries are not a distinct species in their own right. For example, in the <i>Saga of the Volsungs </i>the human princess Brynhild loses her essential power as a Valkyrie when Odin takes away her power to determine the outcome of a battle. Earlier on in the same saga one man trades insults with another by suggesting that the other had previously been a witch, then his wife, then a “Valkyrie in Asgard”, and then a mare (at 49) – the heart of the put-down is an accusation of femininity, but the hint of a belief in reincarnation, and therefore transitory states of being (including being a Valkyrie) is there. As it says in the Frá dauða Sinfjötla “there was a belief in olden days that people were reborn” (<i>Elder Edda</i> at 145). </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Conclusion – a supernatural reality</b></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-47TJtwQ_ghs/W-TW8a6PFMI/AAAAAAAAG8U/GPf2xnu8yh885VZ_JuPLfSE5QhZ_EBVIQCLcBGAs/s1600/Walkyrien%2B2.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="438" data-original-width="371" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-47TJtwQ_ghs/W-TW8a6PFMI/AAAAAAAAG8U/GPf2xnu8yh885VZ_JuPLfSE5QhZ_EBVIQCLcBGAs/s320/Walkyrien%2B2.jpg" width="270" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Walkyrien" by Doepler c. 1905</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Valkyries are instruments of fate who are subject to both fate and Odin, even so, they are given a degree of autonomy in determining the fate of men. Their association with fate, magical knowledge and Valhalla places them in the supernatural sphere, but Davidson suggests that Valkyries may be based on:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
“… certain women who armed themselves and fought like men, for whom there is some historical evidence … There may be a memory also of the priestesses … who officiated at the sacrificial rites when captives were put to death after battle. The name Valkyrie means, literally, ‘chooser of the slain’, and in the eleventh century an Anglo-Saxon bishop, Wulfstan, included ‘choosers of the slain’ in a black list of sinners, witches and evil-doers in his famous Sermo Lupi. All the other classes who he mentions are human ones, and it seems unlikely that he has introduced mythological figures as well. In the tenth century ship-funeral on the Volga … the old woman who organises the killing of the slave-girl was called the Angel of Death, and had two other women, called her daughters, in attendance … It would be hardly surprising if strange legends grew up about such women … [<i>Gods and Myths of Northern Europe</i> at 61-62]”.</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
If this is true then the oldest description we have of Valkyries may date from circa 2000 years ago, in the writings of Strabo:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
“[Amongst the Germanic tribe of the Cimbri were] priestesses who were seers; these were grey-haired, clad in white, with flaxen cloaks fastened on with clasps, girt with girdles of bronze, and bare-footed; now sword in hand these priestesses would meet with the prisoners of war throughout the camp, and having first crowned them with wreaths would lead them to a brazen vessel of about twenty amphorae; and they had a raised platform which the priestess would mount, and then, bending over the kettle, would cut the throat of each prisoner after he had been lifted up; and from the blood that poured forth into the vessel some of the priestesses would draw a prophecy, while still others would split open the body and from an inspection of the entrails would utter a prophecy of victory for their own people; and during the battles they would beat on the hides that were stretched over the wicker-bodies of the wagons and in this way produce an unearthly noise [<i>The Geography of Strabo,</i> Bk VII, Ch 2]”.</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
__________ </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Sources:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: x-small;">Byock (trans), <i>The Saga of the Volsungs,</i> Penguin Classics</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: x-small;">Crawford, <i>Valkyries</i>, <span style="color: #274e13;">youtube.com</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: x-small;">Davidson, <i>Gods and Myths of Northern Europe</i>, Penguin</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: x-small;">Davidson, <i>Scandinavian Mythology</i>, Paul Hamlyn</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: x-small;">Jones (trans), <i>The Geography of Strabo</i>, <span style="color: #274e13;">penelope.uchicago.edu</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: x-small;">Larrington (trans), <i>The Poetic Edda</i>, Oxford World’s Classics (includes the Codex Regius)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: x-small;">Magnusson & Palsson (trans), <i>Njal's Saga</i>, Penguin Classics</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: x-small;">Orchard (trans), <i>The Elder Edda: Myths, Gods and Heroes from the Viking World</i>, Penguin (incl. Codex Regius)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: x-small;">Saxo Grammaticus, <i>The Danish History</i>, <span style="color: #274e13;">gutenberg.org</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: x-small;">Snorri Sturluson, <i>The Prose Edda</i>, Penguin Classics</span></li>
</ul>
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<div style="text-align: left;"><i style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #274e13; font-size: x-small;">Written by M' Sentia Figula (aka Freki), find me at <a href="http://romanpagan.blogspot.com" target="_blank">neo polytheist</a> and <a href="https://romanpagan.wordpress.com" target="_blank">romanpagan.wordpress.com</a></span></i></div><div style="text-align: right;"> </div>
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M' Sentia Figula (aka Freki)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04898083473029906396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3579296986984067902.post-45826885493207370462018-01-21T20:15:00.005+11:002021-05-16T00:47:04.280+10:00Fate in the Germanic Tradition<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Brynhild and Gudrun are bound by fate; by Rackham (1911) </span></td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
In the Hamdismál (a poem within the <i>Codex Regius</i>) a man who is about to die says to his brother: </div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
“30. ‘Great glory we have gained though we die now or tomorrow; no man survives a single dusk beyond the Norns’ decree’.”</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The brothers have won “great glory” because they have, at the urging of their mother Gudrun, avenged the death of their sister by slaughtering her murderer and in the doing of it showing themselves to be fearless warriors. They do not lament their imminent death; to do so would be futile, for the date is preordained. They cannot choose the hour of their death, but they can choose the manner in which they meet it, either boldly or otherwise. It is as if they fearlessly look into the eyes of death even as they succumb to his grip. Equally pointless as resisting the hour of one’s death is attempting to embrace death before the hour decreed by fate – just as Gudrun failed in her attempt at suicide by wading into a rough sea:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
“13. [Gudrun laments:] ‘I went to the sea-shore, I was angry with the Norns, I wanted to rid myself of their painful plans: high waves lifted me, didn’t drown me; I climbed up on to the land, since I had to live [Gudrúnarhvöt, <i>Codex Regius</i>].”</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
These lines suggest that in traditional Germanic polytheism fate is immutable, and we only have so much control over the things that happen to us. The disparity in the fortunes of men is explained through the workings of the Norns, who dwell by the Spring of Fate:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
“20. From there come maidens, knowing much, three from the lake that stands under the tree [Yggdrasil]: Destiny they called one [Urdr], Becoming the second [Verdrandi] – they carved on wood-tablets – Shall-be the third [Skuld]; laws they laid down, lives they chose for the children of mankind, the fates of men [Völuspá, <i>Codex Regius</i>].”<br />
<a name='more'></a></blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Fate is not necessarily just or kind </b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Though the Norns are hugely powerful and perform the praiseworthy task of nourishing Yggdrasil (<i>Prose Edda</i> at 27), there is a pragmatic acceptance that the laws laid down by them are not necessarily just or fair, as Snorri Sturluson records:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
“‘If the Norns decide the fates of men, then they do so in a terribly uneven manner. Some people enjoy a good and prosperous life, whereas others have little wealth or renown. Some have a long life, but others, a short one.’ … ‘The good Norns, the ones who are well born, shape a good life. When people experience misfortune, it is the bad Norns who are responsible’ [<i>Prose Edda</i> at 26].”</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Less than benevolent Norns are also referred to in the Reginsmál (in the <i>Codex Regius</i>) where the dwarf Andvari explains that:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
“2. … a Norn of misfortune shaped my fate in the early days, so that I have to spend my time in the water.”</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
In the <i>Saga of the Volsungs</i> the same passage is translated as:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
“… a wretched Norn destined in ancient days that I should wade in water [at 58].”</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
In the Sigurdarkvida in skamma (within the <i>Codex Regius</i>) Brynhild laments that her fate is to be married to Gudrun's brother Gunnar, whom she was tricked into marrying, instead of Gudrun's husband Sigurd, since Sigurd pledged himself to Brynhild first and only forgot his vow to her after drinking bespelled mead brewed by Gudrun's sorceress mother: “7. … the hateful Norns decreed this long torment for us”, says Brynhild. Another translation of the same verse is “contrary Norns have pitched us long yearning”. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>The Norns as birth deities</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Then there are more salutary Norns, as recorded in the <i>Saga of the Volsungs</i>:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
“… when Helgi was born, Norns came and set his destiny, saying that he would become the most famous of all kings [at 47].” </blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
More detail is provided in the Helgakvida Hundingsbana in fyrri (in the <i>Codex Regius</i>):</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
“1. … at that time Helgi the mighty-hearted was born to Borghild in Braland. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
2. It was night in the homestead; the Norns came, those who would shape fate for that noble; they said he’d become the most famed of war-lords, and be thought the best of princelings. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
3. They braided strongly the strands of fate, shook up the stronghold in Braland; they arranged the golden threads and fixed them in the middle under Moon’s hall [ie, in the sky]. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
4. East and West they hid the ends ...”</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
There appears to be a similarity between these Norse descriptions and a tale told by Saxo Grammaticus in his 12th/13th century description of a Heathen rite by a Danish king:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
“The ancients were wont to consult the oracles of the Fates concerning the destinies of their children. In this way Fridleif desired to search into the fate of his son Olaf; and, after solemnly offering up his vows, he went to the house of the Gods in entreaty; where, looking into the chapel, he saw three maidens, sitting on three seats. The first of them was of a benignant temper, and bestowed upon the boy abundant beauty and ample store of favour in the eyes of men. The second granted him the gift of surpassing generosity. But the third, a woman of more mischievous temper and malignant disposition, scorning the unanimous kindness of her sisters, and likewise wishing to mar their gifts, marked the future character of the boy with the slur of niggardliness. Thus the benefits of the others were spoilt by the poison of a lamentable doom; and hence, by virtue of the twofold nature of these gifts Olaf got his surname from the meanness which was mingled with his bounty. So it came about that this blemish which found its way into the gift marred the whole sweetness of its first benignity [<i>The Danish History</i> at omacl.org].”</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
This suggests that the Norns (aka the Fates) were ritually worshipped, and even had temples built in their honour wherein their priestesses could be found. However, as Saxo was hostile to traditional Germanic religion (unlike our Icelandic sources) and lived at least a century after its demise it may be that we should treat his description with caution.*</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Although the Völuspá and the <i>Prose Edda</i> specifically refer to the Norns as “three maidens”, it seems that there are numerous Norns who shape the destinies of individuals:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
“There are yet more Norns, those who come to each person at birth to decide the length of one’s life, and these are related to the Gods. Others are descended from the Elves, and a third group comes from the Dwarves [<i>Prose Edda</i> at 24-26].”</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
This passage appears to paraphrase the Fáfnismál (in the <i>Codex Regius</i>), in which it is written:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
“[Sigurd said:] 12. ‘Tell me, Fafnir, since they call you wise, and you know very much: who are the Norns, who come to those in need, and deliver mothers of children?’ </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
[Fafnir said:] 13. ‘Those Norns, I say, are born from different kin, they don’t share a common family; some are born of the Aesir, some of the Elves, some are the daughters of Dawdler [the Dwarf].’”</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>The Norns as death deities </b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Just as the Norns are strongly associated with birth and the assignment of individual fate, there is no getting away from the association of the Norns with death. In European polytheism Gods associated with death often seem to be associated with canines as well,** and so it is with the Norns; in the Hamdismál one brother says to the other:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
“29. I think it’s not for us, the wolves’ example, to fight among each other, like the Norns’ curs, reared ravenous, away in the wilderness.”</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
According to Snorri Sturluson the Norns even have an association with Valkyries, choosers of the slain:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
“There are still [other female deities] whose duty it is to serve in Valhalla … These women are called Valkyries. They are sent by Odin to every battle, where they choose which men are to die and they determine who has the victory. Gunn and Rota and the youngest Norn, named Skuld, always ride to choose the slain and to decide the outcome of a battle [<i>Prose Edda</i> at 44-45].”</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
If Skuld is not the only Norn on a battlefield it may be that numerous Norns, possibly going by the name of the Disir, guide the fate of men. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Conclusion</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
In the Germanic concept of fate there is a strong sense of inevitability, with the Norns determining significant life circumstances and events.</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
“44. ‘Young man, you shall see the girl under the helmet, who rode away from the battle on [her horse] Vingskornir. Sigrdrifa’s [ie, Brynhild's] sleep may not be broken by a princely youth, except by the Norns’ decree’ [Fáfnismál, <i>Codex Regius</i>].”</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
To what extent individuals can be said to have free will is uncertain. Among the religions of other Indo-Europeans there appear to be parallels to the Germanic idea of fate which may help us to understand it. In India the ancient Vedic religion had the important concept of rita (also known as rta; it means something like “cosmic order”) which evolved into the concept of karma – the law of cause and effect, whereby our past, present and future actions and circumstances are inexorably interconnected; we cannot escape our karma, though we can shape our response to it and thence the path it might take in the future (including in the life to come). Of obvious similarity to the Norns are the Greco-Roman Moirai/Parcae – three Goddesses of fate who spin and weave the order of things, including our individual destinies, the span of our lives and our allotment of fortune and misfortune. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
On balance it seems likely that the traditional Germanic approach is to accept that even though we are bound by fate in many things, we have a certain amount of limited free will – this must be so for why else is the Hávamál (said to contain the words of Odin) full of so much advice about the best way to live. The advice is almost always about choosing to conduct oneself in one way over another. Vikings did not sit around the fireplace waiting for fate to take its inevitable course, they went out to meet it, and even a futile struggle was thought to be better than no struggle at all (this is the lesson of Ragnarök). It may be that the order of things is set down by the Norns but how we respond to our circumstances is up to us. As that famous line in <i>Beowulf</i> goes:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
“For Wyrd [fate] oft saveth earl undoomed if he doughty [brave and persistent] be [poetryfoundation.org].”</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Odin’s warriors in Valhalla are not merely men who died in combat, for even cowards can die in battle, the Einherjar are distinguished by their fearlessness, which is to say by their state of mind. Perhaps we do not choose a great many of our life circumstances but we can choose courage over cowardice – that is on us.</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
“48. Generous and brave men live the best, seldom do they harbour anxiety; but the cowardly man is afraid of everything, the miser always sighs when he gets gifts [Hávamál, <i>Codex Regius</i>].” </blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
---------</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">* For example, Saxo proclaims his hostility to the old Gods in The Danish History (omacl.org/DanishHistory/book6.html) when he accuses them of “sorcery … cunning … sleights … winning the minds of the simple … imposture … deceit …”. Of interest though is that he does not deny their existence altogether, it is more that he denigrates and insults their divinity. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">** <a href="http://romanpagan.blogspot.com.au/2014/03/odin.html">Odin</a> (a God of death, inter alia) owns the wolves known as Freki and Geri, and within the Roman pantheon (which was certainly known to many Germanic people) <a href="http://romanpagan.blogspot.com.au/2017/09/dis-pater-and-proserpina.html">Dis Pater</a> (God of Hades and owner of the three-headed dog Cerberus), <a href="http://romanpagan.blogspot.com.au/2017/11/hecate-as-roman-goddess-trivia-of.html">Trivia</a> (Goddess of the crossroads) and <a href="https://romanpagan.wordpress.com/diana/">Diana</a> (Goddess of the hunt, thus the kill) are all strongly associated with dogs. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
_________</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i>If you enjoyed reading this you may also enjoy <a href="https://romanpagan.blogspot.com/2017/04/germanic-beliefs-regarding-afterlife.html">Germanic Beliefs Regarding the Afterlife</a>. </i></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Sources:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: x-small;">Byock (translator), The Prose Edda, Penguin Classics </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: x-small;">Byock (translator), The Saga of the Volsungs, Penguin Classics </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: x-small;">Elton (translator), The Danish History, omacl.org/DanishHistory</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: x-small;">Encyclopedia Britannica</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: x-small;">Grummere (translator), Beowulf, poetryfoundation.org</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: x-small;">Hasenfratz, Barbarian Rites: The Spiritual World of the Vikings and the Germanic Tribes, Inner Traditions </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: x-small;">Larrington (translator), The Poetic Edda, Oxford World’s Classics (includes the Codex Regius) </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: x-small;">Orchard (translator), The Elder Edda: Myths, Gods and Heroes from the Viking World, Penguin Books (includes the Codex Regius) </span></li>
</ul>
</div>
<i><span style="color: #274e13; font-size: x-small;">Written by M' Sentia Figula (aka Freki), find me at <a href="http://romanpagan.blogspot.com" target="_blank">neo polytheist</a> and <a href="https://romanpagan.wordpress.com" target="_blank">romanpagan.wordpress.com</a></span></i>
</div>
M' Sentia Figula (aka Freki)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04898083473029906396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3579296986984067902.post-19881153817415103612017-12-19T11:39:00.004+11:002021-02-02T20:38:21.528+11:00Germanic Values – Advice From the Havamal<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MmkuCK7TUbg/XLLAACRoNiI/AAAAAAAAHBM/LV4yy_SsSZUKaTY9Qa3ir_R89qo7uZElQCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_0203.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="977" data-original-width="902" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MmkuCK7TUbg/XLLAACRoNiI/AAAAAAAAHBM/LV4yy_SsSZUKaTY9Qa3ir_R89qo7uZElQCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_0203.jpg" width="294" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Depiction of Wotan by Breitkpod and Hartel (19th century)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">In the second half of the 13th century CE an
unknown Icelander copied a number of Pagan era poems into the Codex Regis
(literally meaning </span><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">“</span><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Royal Manuscript</span><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">”</span><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">), which makes up a large part of what is known as the Elder Edda or the Poetic Edda. Among them
is the <i>Havamal</i>, which means something like “Sayings of the High One”, the High
One being Odin. Theoretically Odin is the speaker throughout most of the <i>Havamal</i>,
if not the author. From a scholarly point of view the <i>Havamal</i> is thought to be
a composite of poems, written by up to six different authors hundreds of years
earlier, before Iceland adopted Christianity as the State religion in circa
1000 CE. Whoever the author, or authors, the <i>Havamal</i> is an invaluable record of
traditional Norse values; it is full of good advice and insight, much of which
is perfectly relevant to our own times. For this reason I attempt to summarise and extract those parts of the <i>Havamal</i> that I find particularly inspiring. In so doing I draw from two
translations: </span><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif; text-align: left;">Larrington
(translator), </span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif; text-align: left;">The Poetic Edda</i><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif; text-align: left;">, Oxford
World’s Classics, 2008, and </span><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif; text-align: left;">Orchard
(translator), </span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif; text-align: left;">The Elder Edda: Myths, Gods
and Heroes from the Viking World</i><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif; text-align: left;">, Penguin Books, 2013.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Death is coming
for you no matter what you do, so live fearlessly:</span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">“16. A senseless
man thinks to live for ever if he bewares a war; but old age won’t grant him a
truce, whatever spears may grant [Orchard].”</span></span> </div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">“16. The foolish
man thinks he will live forever, if he keeps away from fighting; but old age
won’t grant him a truce even if the spears do [Larrington].”</span></span></div>
</blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"></span></span></div>
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Don’t waste time
on anxious ruminations:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">“23. An unwise man
lies awake all night, brooding on everything; he’s quite worn out, when morning
comes, and it’s all just as bad as before [Orchard].”</span></span> </div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">“23. The foolish
man lies awake all night and worries about things; he’s tired out when the
morning comes and everything’s just as bad as it was [Larrington].”</span></span></div>
</blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">High intelligence
and too much knowledge may light the path to depression:</span></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">“54. Middling-wise
should each man be, never over-wise; for he lives the fairest life of folks who
know not over-much.</span></span> </div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">55. Middling-wise
should each man be, never over-wise; for a wise man’s heart is seldom glad, if
he is truly wise.</span></span> </div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">56. Middling-wise
should each man be, never over-wise; he never knows his fate before, whose
spirit is freest from sorrow [Orchard].”</span></span> </div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">“54. Averagely
wise a man ought to be, never too wise; for he lives the best sort of life, the
man who knows a fair amount.</span></span> </div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">55. Averagely wise
a man ought to be, never too wise; for a wise man’s heart is seldom cheerful,
if he who owns it is too wise.</span></span> </div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">56. Averagely wise
a man ought to be, never too wise; no one may know his fate beforehand, if he
wants a carefree spirit [Larrington].”</span></span></div>
</blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Despair not:</span></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">“69. No man is
wholly wretched, though he is not well: one man is blessed in sons, another in
friends, another with enough wealth, another well-blessed in his works
[Orchard].”</span></span> </div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">“69. No man is
completely wretched, even if he has bad luck; one man is blessed with sons,
another with kinsmen, another has enough money, another has done great deeds
[Larrington].”</span></span><span lang=""><o:p><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
</blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Don’t drink too
much alcohol:</span></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">“12. It’s not as
good as it’s said to be good, the ale of the sons of men: for the more a man
drinks, the less he know about his own intentions [Orchard].”</span></span> </div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">“12. It isn’t as
good as it’s said to be, ale, for the sons of men; for the more he drinks, the
less he knows about the nature of men [Larrington].”</span></span></div>
</blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Don’t be a
garrulous drunkard:</span></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">“19. A man
shouldn’t clutch at a cup, but moderately drink his mead; he should be sparing
of speech or shut up; no man will blame you for bad behaviour if you go early
to bed [Orchard].”</span></span> </div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">“19. A man
shouldn’t hold onto the cup but drink mead in moderation, it’s necessary to
speak or be silent; no man will blame you for impoliteness if you go early to
bed [Larrington].”</span></span></div>
</blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Don’t be a fatty:</span></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">“20. A greedy
bloke, unless he curbs his bent, will eat himself into lifelong grief: he’s
often derided when he comes across the wise, a man who’s a fool in the belly.</span></span> </div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">21. Herds and
flocks know, when they have to head home, and then they go from the grass; but
an unwise man never knows the measure of his own belly [Orchard].”</span></span> </div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">“20. The greedy
man, unless he guards against this tendency, will eat himself into lifelong
trouble; often he’s laughed at when he comes among the wise, the man who’s
foolish about his stomach.</span></span> </div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">21. Cattle know when
they ought to go home, and then they leave the pasture; but the foolish man
never knows the measure of his own stomach [Larrington].”</span></span><span lang=""><o:p><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
</blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Don’t take the
piss and belittle others too much:</span></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">“22. A wretched
man, with cruel character, laughs at everything; he doesn’t know what he ought
to know: that he’s not free from flaws [Orchard].”</span></span> </div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">“22. He’s a
wretched man, of an evil disposition, the one who makes fun of everything; he
doesn’t know the one thing he ought to know: that he himself is not devoid of
faults [Larrington].”</span></span></div>
</blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Don’t talk too
much, be mindful of what you say:</span></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">“29. Enough is
said by one never silent in nonsensical speech; a fast-talking tongue, unless
held by its owner, often gabbles itself into grief </span></span><span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">…</span></span> </div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">65. For those
words which one says to another, he often gets recompense [Orchard].”</span></span> </div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">“29. Quite enough
senseless words are spoken by the man never silent; a quick tongue, unless its
owner keeps watch on it, often talks itself into trouble </span></span><span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">…</span></span> </div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">65. For those
words which one man says to another, often he gets paid back [Larrington].”</span></span></div>
</blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Good friendships
are of high value:</span></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">“34. It’s a big
detour to a bad friend’s house, even if he lives on the way; but the way to a
good friend’s a direct route, even if he lives far away [Orchard].”</span></span> </div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">“34. It’s a great
detour to a bad friend’s house, even though he lives on the route; but to a
good friend’s the ways lie straight, even though he lives far off
[Larrington].”</span></span></div>
</blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Exchanging gifts
strengthens friendships:</span></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">“41. With weapons
and cloth one should gladden one’s friends that is quite clear of itself; those
who give and receive stay longest friends, if things last and all is well </span></span><span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">…</span></span> </div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">44. You know, if
you’ve a friend that you trust well, and from him want nothing but good: share
thoughts with him, and keep trading gifts, go and visit often [Orchard].”</span></span> </div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">“41. With weapons
and gifts friends should gladden one another, that is most obvious; mutual
givers and receivers are friends for longest, if the friendship is going to
work at all </span></span><span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">…</span></span> </div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">44. You know, if
you’ve a friend whom you really trust and from whom you want nothing but good,
you should mix your soul with his and exchange gifts, go and see him often
[Larrington].”</span></span><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif; text-align: justify;"> </span></div>
</blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Enjoy what wealth
you have, for wealth is not yours or your family’s forever, even though you
attempt to make it so:</span></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">“40. The goods
that a man has acquired, he ought not stint to spend; he often spares for the
loathed what he’d hoped for the loved: much turns out worse than we want </span></span><span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">…</span></span> </div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">78. I saw full
pens for Fitjung’s sons, now they bear a beggar’s staff; wealth is like the
twinkle of an eye: it’s the infirmest of friends [Orchard].”</span></span> </div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">“40. On account of
the property which he has amassed a man shouldn’t suffer need; often what was
meant for the lovable is saved for the hateful, much goes worse than is expected </span></span><span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">…</span></span> </div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">78. Fully stocked
folds I saw for Fitjung’s sons, now they carry beggars’ staffs; wealth is like
the twinkling of an eye, it is the most unreliable of friends [Larrington].”</span></span></div>
</blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">The happiest
people are generous and fearless:</span></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">“48. Liberal and
brave men live the best, they seldom foster sorrow; but a cowardly man fears
everything and a mean man grieves at gifts [Orchard].”</span></span> </div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">“48. Generous and
brave men live the best, seldom do they harbour anxiety; but the cowardly man
is afraid of everything, the miser always sighs when he gets gifts
[Larrington].”</span></span><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif; text-align: justify;"> </span></div>
</blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">We need the company
of people, and their love, to be happy and to prosper:</span></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">“47. Young was I
once, and I travelled alone; it turned out I’d wandered astray; I thought
myself rich when another I found; mankind is man’s delight </span></span><span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">… </span></span> </div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">50. The fir-tree
fades that stands in the grove; its bark and needles give no shelter: so it is
for a man whom nobody loves, how shall he live for long [Orchard]?”</span></span> </div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">“47. I was young
once, I travelled alone, then I found myself going astray; rich I thought
myself when I met someone else, for man is the joy of man </span></span><span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">…</span></span> </div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">50.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The withered fir-tree which stands in the
mound, neither bark nor needles protect it; so it is with the man whom no one
loves, why should he live for long [Larrington]?”</span></span></div>
</blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Dialogue with
others makes you smarter:</span></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">“57. Fire-brand
from fire-brand takes flame till it’s burnt out, blaze is kindled from blaze;
man from man becomes skilled of speech, but dumb from lack of words [Orchard].”</span></span> </div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">“57. One brand
takes fire from another, until it is consumed, a spark’s kindled by a spark;
one man becomes clever by talking with another, but foolish by taciturnity
[Larrington].”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
</blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Be wary of intense
friendships newly formed:</span></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">“51. Hotter than fire among bad friends burns
a friendship five days long; but it soon slackens when the six day comes, and
all the affection turns ill [Orchard].”</span></span> </div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">“51. Hotter than
fire between bad friends burns affection for five days; but it dies down when
the sixth day comes and all that friendship goes to the bad [Larrington].”</span></span></div>
</blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Earthly life is
fleeting but reputation is not (there may be an inference that we carry our
reputation, or our honour, with us to the afterlife):</span></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">“77. Cattle die,
kinsmen die, oneself dies just the same, I know one thing that never dies: the
judgment on each one dead [Orchard].”</span></span> </div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">“77. Cattle die,
kinsmen die, the self must also die; I know one thing which never dies: the
reputation of each dead man [Larrington].”</span></span></div>
</blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Don’t let your ego
get out of control:</span></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">“79. An unwise
man, if he manages to obtain money or a lady’s love: his pride swells, but not
his brains, he strides on firmly into folly [Orchard].”</span></span> </div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">“79. The foolish
man, if he manages to get money or the love of a woman, his arrogance
increases, but not his common sense; on he goes deeply sunk in delusion
[Larrington].”</span></span></div>
</blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">After this the
following verses, up to verse 110, are mostly concerned with matters of lust. The
fickleness of both men and women when it comes to sexual matters is emphasised
(especially in verses 84, 91 and 102), as is the power of libidinous desire:</span></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">“94. No one should
reproach in any way what comes to many a man; almighty love takes the sons of
men, and makes of wise men fools [Orchard].”</span></span> </div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">“94. Not at all
should one man reproach another for what is common among men; among the sons of
men the wise are made foolish by that mighty desire [Larrington].”</span></span><span lang=""><o:p><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
</blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Not even Odin gets
every woman he desires (verses 97-102), though he succeeds sometimes (verses
104-110). <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Verses 111-137 feel
like a discrete poem in their own right. They mostly concern advice given to a man
called Loddfafnir. The narrator appears to record advice given to Loddfafnir (by
Odin?) in Odin’s hall. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Avoid adultery:</span></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">“115. I advise
you, Loddfafnir, to take this advice: it’ll help, if you take it, do you good,
if you get it: never seduce another man’s wife and make her your much-trusted
girl [Orchard].”</span></span> </div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">“115. I advise
you, Loddfafnir, to take this advice, it will be useful if you learn it, do you
good, if you have it: never entice another’s wife to you as a close confidante
[Larrington].”</span></span></div>
</blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Cultivate
friendships with trustworthy people:</span></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">“119. I advise
you, Loddfafnir, to take this advice: it’ll help, if you take it, do you good,
if you get it: you know, if you’ve a friend that you trust well, go and visit
often; for brushwood grows, and tall grass, on a path than no one travels
[Orchard].”</span></span> </div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">“119. I advise
you, Loddfafnir, to take this advice, it will be useful if you learn it, do you
good, if you have it: you know, if you’ve a friend, one whom you trust, go and
see him often; for brushwood grows, and tall grass, on the road which no man
treads [Larrington].”</span></span></div>
</blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">If you want to win
a good woman keep your promises:</span></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">“130. I advise
you, Loddfafnir, to take this advice: it’ll help, if you take it, do you good,
if you get it: if you wish to talk in intimacy with a fine woman, and take
therefrom delight, you must make fair promises and keep them well: no one hates
a good thing, if they can get it [Orchard].”</span></span> </div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">“130. I advise
you, Loddfafnir, to take this advice, it will be useful if you learn it, do you
good, if you have it: if you want a good woman for yourself to talk to as a close
confidante, and to get pleasure from, make fair promises and keep them well, no
man tires of good if he can get it [Larrington].”</span></span></div>
</blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Be mindful and
cautious, but not over-cautious:</span></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">“131. I advise
you, Loddfafnir, to take this advice: it’ll help, if you take it, do you good,
if you get it: I tell you, be wary, but not too wary, be most wary of ale and
another man’s wife, and third, that no thieves fool you [Orchard].”</span></span> </div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">“131. I advise
you, Loddfafnir, to take this advice, it will be useful if you learn it, do you
good, if you have it: I tell you to be cautious but not over-cautious; be most
wary of ale, and of another man’s wife, and thirdly, watch out that thieves
don’t beguile you [Larrington].”</span></span></div>
</blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">There’s good and
bad in everyone:</span></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">“133. They’re
often not sure, those who sit in the hall, whose kin they are who’ve come; no
man is so good that he has no flaw, nor so bad that he’s good for nothing [Orchard].”</span></span> </div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">“133. Often those
who sit in the hall do not really know whose kin these newcomers are; no man is
so good that he has no blemish, nor so bad that he can’t succeed in something
[Larrington].”</span></span></div>
</blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">From verse 138
onwards the tone of the <i>Havamal</i> becomes very noticeably different again, the
verses have a magical and mystical feel to them; verses 138-145 establish Odin
as the founder of the runes and hint at the magic associated with them.</span></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">“138. I know that
I hung on that windy tree, spear-wounded, nine full nights, given to Odin,
myself to myself, on that tree that rose from roots that no man ever knows.</span></span> </div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">139. They gave me
neither bread nor drink from horn, I peered down below. I clutched the runes,
screaming I grabbed them, and then sank back [Orchard].” </span></span> </div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">“138. I know that
I hung on a windy tree nine long nights, wounded with a spear, dedicated to
Odin, myself to myself, on that tree of which no man knows from where its roots
run.</span></span> </div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">139. No bread did
they give me nor drink from a horn, downwards I peered; I took up the runes,
screaming I took them, then I feel back from there [Larrington].”</span></span></div>
</blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Verses 146-163
list the spells Odin knows, including spells that help against sorrow; to unshackle
fetters; divert the course of an arrow; slow down the speed of a destructive
fire; make peace between brothers; subdue high winds at sea; prevent shamans (or witches) in
soul-flight from being able to return to their bodies; make it possible to
converse with the dead, give protection in battle; success in love, as well as
others. Of course, we are not told how to cast these spells, nor are we told
how to interpret the runes or to make sacrificial rites pleasing to the Gods –
the Christian copier of these poems may have deliberately omitted this
information, or perhaps he did not know it himself because the knowledge had
been lost by the 13th century. </span></span><br />
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang=""><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">Thus ends my
exploration of my favourite passages from the <i>Havamal</i>. In concluding I note that
much of the <i>Havamal</i> concerns the way we relate to other people, recognising the
huge importance of these relationships to our happiness and well-being. Who we can and can't trust, the importance of cultivating trust, and being trustworthy, is another theme that is prevalent throughout</span></span><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">. </span><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">At the
same time the fleetingness of wealth, sexual pleasure and life itself are emphasised, in the face of which the battle-call for fearlessness is proclaimed</span><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">. The
advice is pragmatic, straightforward and honest,</span><span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"> representing the best of Germanic values.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><br /></span></div>
<i><span style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; font-size: x-small;">If you enjoyed reading this you may enjoy <a href="https://romanpagan.blogspot.com/2018/01/fate-in-germanic-tradition.html"><span style="color: blue;">Fate in Germanic Tradition</span></a>.</span></i><br />
<div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><i style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #274e13; font-size: x-small;">Written by M' Sentia Figula (aka Freki), find me at <a href="http://romanpagan.blogspot.com" target="_blank">neo polytheist</a> and <a href="https://romanpagan.wordpress.com" target="_blank">romanpagan.wordpress.com</a></span></i></div>
</div>
</div>
M' Sentia Figula (aka Freki)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04898083473029906396noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3579296986984067902.post-39301775216078340672017-11-01T00:32:00.003+11:002021-05-16T00:48:08.697+10:00Hecate in the Roman Tradition – Trivia of the Crossroads<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sUHh5857I1Y/XLLFmM0eH_I/AAAAAAAAHBk/62TW15d-37k-kVRXXkEdgLeW3SmRISPNwCLcBGAs/s1600/Hekate%2B2.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1183" data-original-width="1065" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sUHh5857I1Y/XLLFmM0eH_I/AAAAAAAAHBk/62TW15d-37k-kVRXXkEdgLeW3SmRISPNwCLcBGAs/s320/Hekate%2B2.jpg" width="288" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Hekate" by Blake (1795)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Hecate (or <i>Trivia</i>, to use
her Latin name – as this is now also an English word with a very different
association I will retain her Hellenic title) is an enigmatic Goddess of the triple crossroads, the stygian night and magic; </span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">though she walks through the dark she is not a Goddess </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">of darkness itself, for it is her torches which lit up the way for Ceres when she searched for her abducted daughter. Hecate is </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">associated </span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">with both
Diana,* who lights up the night, and Proserpina, who gives us hope that life can emerge from death. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Hecate's rites were not recorded on the official Roman calendar (Beard at 384), but her veneration was
well known in Rome. Cicero tells us that altars and shrines to her were commonplace
in Greece, though not apparently in Rome at this time, </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">however, she is referred to by a number of contemporaneous Roman poets, such as Horace and Catullus, which suggests that Hecate had already been successfully synchronised into Roman polytheism by the 1st century BCE</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">. B</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">y
the 4th century CE her worship was apparently prominent enough for
Roman senators to be counted among her priests. This was during the
last gasp of overt Paganism in Italy, when Christianity had become the religion of
emperors; Paganism was increasingly mocked as a set of superstitions befitting
peasants and barbarian Germans. Perhaps in an effort to assert greater
spiritual legitimacy, some affluent and well educated Pagans were embracing an increasingly
more sophisticated species of polytheism, by fusing it with mystery religions
and philosophies from the east (a process which had been ongoing for centuries
in any case). Roman veneration of Hecate appears to have gone hand-in-hand with
this, for she almost certainly featured prominently within the well known Eleusinian
Mysteries – a Pagan sect that was apparently so spiritually fulfilling that initiation into its secret rites brought about the apostasy of
Constantine I’s nephew <a href="http://romanpagan.blogspot.com.au/2012/11/julian-apostate-pagan-hero.html"><span style="color: #073763;">Julian</span></a>, who would later be known as the last Pagan
emperor of Rome.</span><br />
<a name='more'></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Hecate of the three way
crossroads <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">An important aspect of Hecate is her association with crossroads, in
particular those which go three ways. The very fact that her Roman name is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Trivia</i>, which in Latin means “three
ways”, indicates that this is the aspect of the Goddess most prominent in Roman worship. Ovid refers to:</span></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“Hecate's faces turned in three directions so she can protect the
triple crossroads."</span></span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span></span></blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Virgil describes her as:</span></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="text-align: left;">“Hecate, three in one … whose name is howled by night at the city
crossroads</span><span style="text-align: left;">!”</span></span></blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Thus Hecate’s presence is especially strong wherever
there are triple crossroads. For millennia crossroads have been associated with
the dead. During the Christian era they marked the location of burial for those
who had effectively, through sin or suicide, turned their backs on Christ. In
the 11th</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> century Wulfstan describes a Pagan tradition which goes
towards explaining the background for this practice:</span></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“The Pagans ... caused [Mercury] to be a famous God for themselves according to their reckoning and offered him gifts at crossroads frequently … This idol was also worshipped among all the Pagans in those days, and he is named Odin in his other name in the Danish custom [cited in Boenig and Emmerson at 136].”</span></span></blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Here the Roman <a href="http://romanpagan.blogspot.com.au/2013/01/the-nature-of-mercury.html"><span style="color: #073763;">Mercury</span></a> is conflated with the Germanic <a href="http://romanpagan.blogspot.com.au/2014/03/odin.html"><span style="color: #073763;">Odin</span></a>;
both are psychopomp Gods with strong associations with travel, death and the
Pagan afterlife, which likely explains the crossroad offerings. </span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">In his <i>Corrector</i>, Burchard of Worms describes crossroad rites that were apparently common in southern Germany in the early 11th century (Burchard's purpose was to set a standard form of penance for common sins):</span></span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“Have you tied knots, made incantations or other various enchantments that wicked men, swineherds, oxherds, and sometimes hunters do while they sing devilish chants over bread, herbs, and certain foul bandages, and ... throw them where crossroads meet in order to free their animals or dogs from pestilence or loss or to cause the loss of someone else's? ... Have you gone to any place to pray other than a church ... to springs, rocks, trees, or crossroads; and have you burned candles or small torches there to venerate that place, have you brought bread or some other offering there, have you eaten there, or sought anything there for the health of the body or the soul [cited in Shinners at 442-443]?</span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">”</span></blockquote>
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">It seems that three way crossroads may be considered to be a sort of magical entry
point from our world to other worlds, including that of the (non-Christian)
dead, and Gods associated with the dead. As Boyle and Woodard put it, Hecate, as Goddess of the crossroads, is “an infernal deity who guarded the gates of
Hades” (at 169). <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
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</div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Hecate’s worship and her
association with dogs<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">As a guardian Goddess Hecate is naturally associated with dogs, who have been guarding our doorways since prehistory</span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">; dogs also befit the Goddess because of their original nocturnal nature and their apparent tendency to howl at the moon. </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The association of dogs with Hades is already
familiar through myths describing Cerberus, who is said to be three
headed, like Hecate. The innards of dogs were apparently an offering that was pleasing to the Goddess (Ovid). These days it may be that baked
items made to look like dogs are suitable offerings to Hecate, especially
if they are left during the night during rites performed at three way
crossroads. The 1st century BCE poet Tibullus describes an offering he made to Hecate (so that his
sweetheart would stop having nightmares):</span></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“with loose robes and linen stole, [I] did sing nine prayers to
Hecate 'neath the midnight heaven.”</span></span></blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Hecate as a Goddess of magic
<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">It is difficult for us to really know what Hecate’s worship looked
like in ancient Rome. We know that Hecate has an association with magic. Depending on the individual, Roman attitudes to magic could be
ambivalent, fascinated, admiring, skeptical, dismissive, anxious, hostile,
fearful, and everything in between. While there was no one universal viewpoint,
Romans generally veered towards viewing magic as a means for acquiring mysterious,
though potentially dangerous, power and knowledge. What marked out a witch from
a priest, shaman or healer was the individual's desire to exert harmful control over
others through magical means, such as by engaging in rites which violate the
remains of the dead or seeking to maliciously control their spirits. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; text-align: left;">“The face of the witch is lean and loathsome with age, her
appearance has a hellish pallor that has never seen the light of day … She does not pray to the Gods of the
heavens, nor does she invoke divine help with a suppliant’s chant [as a decent
person would do], nor does she have knowledge of the entrails that propitiate
the Gods [ie, she is not a respectable Roman priest] … She snatches the smoking
ashes and burning bones of the young from the middle of the pyre … She collects
… grave-clothes as they melt into ashes, and the cinders that smell of the
corpse … when the dead are entombed … she eagerly savages their limbs … [Lucan,
cited by Warrior at 144-145].”</span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span></blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">As an infernal Goddess guarding entry points between the living and
the dead, Hecate’s appeal to witches is obvious, but clearly her
appeal stretched far beyond the ambitious or malevolent desires of a few
would-be witches. A fundamental difference between the Roman world and our own
is that theirs was so much more soaked in death than ours. Many ancient Romans were
repeatedly subjected to cycles of grief over the loss of family members and
loved ones to maladies that are today usually treatable; famine and wars
regularly took their toll too. Romans did not, like us, expect to live to an
average age of more than 70 years. When the world of the dead feels close a
Goddess like Hecate is naturally attractive. As the Goddess who guards entry
points between worlds, possibly she may help us to connect with our lost loved
ones, as she helped to find the lost Proserpina. Or she may guide us through
our disconsolate grief, as she guided Ceres through her grief for her lost
daughter. Or she might help us to find a way to work with the dead in
mysterious rites. And of course who better to protect us from harmful magic
than the Goddess of witchcraft herself. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Conclusion<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Hecate is the Goddess of the triple crossroads, which in a modern
city is just about everywhere, and they must have been common in Roman cities
as well. <a href="http://romanpagan.blogspot.com.au/2013/01/the-nature-of-mercury.html">Mercury</a> is associated with roads and travel generally, including
travel to the afterlife, but at the spot where three roads meet it
seems a particular magic reigns and it is Hecate who reigns over it. The
crossroads do not merely denote the path to alternate worldly locations, but also
to alternate </span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">states of existence and</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> otherworldly locations. In traditional
Paganism the entire journey of life and death is just that – a journey, with us
the travellers. Death is not a dead end from which there is nowhere left to go.
Mercury might guide us to the afterlife, but Hecate may allow us to hover
between multiple worlds, including that of the living and the dead, and the
dead are not in a state of non-existence, they are in a state of the next
existence, though it is unknown to us and difficult to comprehend – like magic,
Hecate’s domain.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;">* Cicero records that Hecate is Diana’s
cousin, being the daughter of Asteria, who was sister to Latona. Hecate was occasionally completely conflated with Diana: Boyle and
Woodard at 175, and Shelton at 367.</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6Gw5fFh3auI/Wfh5rQfR86I/AAAAAAAAG0s/n7BBSzlH2PQF6wv6mC85DZmPe-DWmtkwACLcBGAs/s1600/Hecatecrossroads-1878.jpg.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="768" data-original-width="1366" height="223" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6Gw5fFh3auI/Wfh5rQfR86I/AAAAAAAAG0s/n7BBSzlH2PQF6wv6mC85DZmPe-DWmtkwACLcBGAs/s400/Hecatecrossroads-1878.jpg.jpeg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">"A Knight at the Crossroads" by Vasnetsov (1878)</span></td></tr>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Sources:</b></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Beard, North and Price, <i>Religions of Rome: Volume 1</i>, Cambridge</span></span></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Boenig and Emmerson, <i>Anglo-Saxon Spirituality: Selected Writings</i>, Paulist Press </span></span></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Catullus, <i>The Poems</i>, poetryintranslation.com</span></span></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Cicero, <i>On the Nature of the Gods</i>, Oxford (translation and notes by Walsh)</span></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>Dictionary of Classical Mythology</i>, Penguin</span></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i style="color: #1a1a1a;">Encyclopedia Britannica</i><span style="color: #1a1a1a;">, </span>britannica.com</span></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Horace, <i>The Works of Horace</i>, gutenberg.org</span></span></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Ovid, <i>Fasti</i>, Penguin Classics (translation and notes by Boyle and Woodard)</span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Shelton, <i>As the Romans Did</i>, Oxford</span></span></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Shinners (ed), <i>Medieval Popular Religion</i>, University of Toronto Press</span></span></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Tibullus, <i>The Elegies,</i> gutenberg.org</span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Virgil, <i>The Aeneid</i>, Oxford (translation and notes by Lewis and Griffin)</span></span></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Warrior, <i>Roman Religion: A Sourcebook</i>, Focus Classical Sources</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><i style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="color: #274e13; font-size: x-small;">Written by M' Sentia Figula (aka Freki), find me at <a href="http://romanpagan.blogspot.com" target="_blank">neo polytheist</a> and <a href="https://romanpagan.wordpress.com" target="_blank">romanpagan.wordpress.com</a></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"> </div>
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M' Sentia Figula (aka Freki)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04898083473029906396noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3579296986984067902.post-29002211283613234572017-09-04T16:45:00.005+10:002021-05-16T00:48:33.635+10:00Dis Pater and Proserpina<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NBMU6J6cpTI/XLLG3PIWwqI/AAAAAAAAHBw/AbkTJswVaFER6HVq35j_qlVGWYgTwZOLQCLcBGAs/s1600/El_rapto_de_Proserpina.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1197" data-original-width="852" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NBMU6J6cpTI/XLLG3PIWwqI/AAAAAAAAHBw/AbkTJswVaFER6HVq35j_qlVGWYgTwZOLQCLcBGAs/s320/El_rapto_de_Proserpina.jpg" width="227" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">"The Rape of Proserpina" by Ulpiano Checa (1888)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">In Roman polytheism Dis Pater, Pluto and Orcus are all names for the
same God of the underworld and of death. His consort Proserpina is equally a
Goddess of death, but also of spring, and thus the possibility of renewed life.
Any discussion of one of these deities is incomplete without the other. Both deities
should be understood as being essentially the same as the Hellenic Hades and
Persephone. Although they are infernal Gods they are in no way like their
Christian usurper, Satan. They are not inherently evil and their <i>raison d'etre</i> is not to torture the
damned or tempt the weak. Nor is their domain a burning hell, but rather a
“gloomy palace” (Ovid) surrounded by water. Dis Pater is euphemistically called
the rich one – this title meaning, literally, <i>rich father</i>. As the foremost God of the underworld Dis Pater is
naturally associated with all the wealth that comes from it, including gold, precious
gems and, most importantly, the latent fertility of the earth. This latter
aspect of the God links him with the Goddess of the harvest (Ceres), and of
course her daughter who emerges from beneath the earth every spring, Proserpina. </span><br />
<a name='more'></a></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
</blockquote>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Their historical worship in
ancient Rome<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">According to traditional Greco-Roman mythology Jupiter rules the
heavens and Neptune rules the seas:</span></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“The entire range and element of earth has been consecrated to
father Dis; his name means rich (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">dives</i>)
… because all things dissolve into the earth and spring up from it. With Dis
they link Proserpina … they regard her as the seed of the harvest … kept out of
sight and sought by her mother Ceres [Cicero at 71].”</span></span></blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Not only is the magnitude of Dis Pater’s domain emphasised here but
so too is the link he and Proserpina have with emerging life. </span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Likewise, the most important Roman rites associated with Dis Pater
and Proserpina were also associated with new life, these were the </span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">ludi saeculares</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">, held to mark the
commencement of a new </span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">saeculum,</i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> being the amount of time it
took for an entire generation of Romans to renew themselves (calculated to be around 100-110
years – however, in practice it seems the dates of the games were not precisely
spaced). This was a major festival during which sacrifices were made to a
variety of deities for the health of a new cycle of Romans. Professor
Turcan describes the origin of the games, as ancient Romans took it to be:</span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“It was believed that the celebration of the secular games, which
had become a public liturgy, was due to the Valerii. Their function was
periodically to render to the Roman people the health inherent in the very name
(<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">valere</i>) of the family. It was
recounted that a certain Valesius , whose daughter and two sons were ill, had
placed hot water on his hearth at the same time entreating the Lares [family
deities] to divert the danger threatening his family on to himself. These Gods
advised<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>him to go and get some water at
the river Tiber as far as Tarentum (where … the secular games would be held).
Valesius carried the water from the river to a spot where the soil was smoking;
there, he heated it and gave it to his children to drink. Healed, they said
they had seen in a dream a God sponging their bodies, ordering the sacrifice to
Dis and Proserpina of black victims on the altar where the water had been
brought, and there to celebrate … nocturnal games. Returning to the place, the
father had the foundations of an altar dug out, but found one already there
precisely dedicated to the two underworld deities. This archeology legitimised
a gentilitial cult, and Valerius Publicola (consul with Brutus in 509 BC) was
supposed to have been the first to apply its benefits to the Roman people
[Turcan at 45-46].”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The story illustrates perfectly the Roman approach to the divine –
if you want to live you do not just make offerings to Gods of life but also
(even especially) to Gods of death, that they might not take life away.
Likewise, when Roman farmers wanted to protect their crops from wheat rust, they
propitiated Robigo, the deity of wheat rust, that she might stay away; they
understood too that Apollo, God of healing, is equally a God of disease and
pestilence. In the same way, Diana is the divine protector of wild animals, but
also the Goddess who grants success in the hunt of them. Understanding this
principle explains why Romans readily accepted that Dis Pater and Proserpina have associations with life, as well as death.
Principally, however, Proserpina and Dis Pater should be understood as Gods of
death, and with this understanding the Romans held games in their honour in 149
BCE, on the eve of major wars in Greece and north Africa, apparently with the
purpose of gifting the lives of their enemies to Dis Pater and his wife (Beard et
al, bk 1, at 111). <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Another Roman festival associated with Dis Pater and Proserpina is
the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ludi taurii</i>. The origin, nature
and timing of these games are the subject of scholarly debate, hence little may be said of them with certainty. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Rites honouring Dis Pater
and Proserpina<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">As to the nature of rites in honour of the Gods Dis Pater and
Proserpina – we know that dark coloured animals were sacrificed to them at
night in State offerings (Scheid at 80), which by their very nature were on a
large scale. In our own times black flowers and even black food (such as
licorice, black beans, black sesame, squid ink pasta, black rice and so on) and
black drinks (such as black coffee and tea) may be suitable offerings. As Dis
Pater and Proserpina are chthonic deities it is likely that offerings should be
placed or poured in the earth with the left hand while the right hand faces
palm down on the earth during the prayer. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Dis Pater and Proserpina’s
domain<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-al3BSQGD5iY/Waz9kZk_fOI/AAAAAAAAGzY/EufvHJKkLmUV7GLsOJlmGeKVFlZgw7pmQCLcBGAs/s1600/LeightonReturnPerspephone%25281891%2529.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="581" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-al3BSQGD5iY/Waz9kZk_fOI/AAAAAAAAGzY/EufvHJKkLmUV7GLsOJlmGeKVFlZgw7pmQCLcBGAs/s320/LeightonReturnPerspephone%25281891%2529.jpg" width="232" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">"The return of Persephone" by Leighton (1891)</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">As well as being the Hellenic name for the God, Hades is also a place. Hades is traditionally described as being surrounded
by various rivers, including the river Styx, which can only be crossed after
paying Charon the ferry-man, and the river Lethe, the drinking from which
causes the dead to forget their former lives. Apuleius vividly describes Hades
in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Golden Ass</i>, during a scene
when Venus sends Psyche to collect a gift from Proserpina:</span></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="EN-US">“</span>‘... you must look for Taenarus, which lies hidden in a trackless region.
Dis has his breathing-vent there, and a sign-post points through open gates to
a track which none should tread. Once you have crossed the threshold and
committed yourself to that path, the track will lead you to Orcus’ very palace.
But you are not to advance through that dark region empty handed, but carry in
both hands barley cakes baked in sweet wine, and have between your lips twin
coins. When you are well advanced on your infernal journey, you will meet a
lame ass carrying a load of logs with a driver likewise lame; he will ask you
to hand him some sticks which have slipped from his load, but you must pass by
in silence without uttering a word. Immediately after that you will reach the
lifeless river over which Charon presides. He peremptorily demands the fare,
and when he receives it he transports travellers on his stitched up craft over
to the further shore ... You must allow this squalid
elder to take for your fare one of the coins you are to carry, but he must
remove it from your mouth with his own hand. Then again, as you cross the
sluggish stream, an old man now dead will float up to you, and raising his
decaying hands will beg you to drag him into the boat; but you must not be
moved by a sense of pity, for that is not permitted.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span lang="EN-US">‘When you have crossed the river and have advanced a little further,
some aged women weaving at the loom [presumably the Fates] will beg you to lend
a hand for a short time. But you are not permitted to touch that either …
Posted there is a massive hound with a huge, triple-formed head [Cerberus].
This monstrous, fearsome brute confronts the dead with thunderous barking,
though his menaces are futile since he can do them no harm. He keeps constant
guard before the very threshold and the dark hall of Proserpina, protecting
that deserted abode … You must disarm him by offering him a cake … Then you can
easily pass him, and gain immediate access to Proserpina herself. She will
welcome you in genial and kindly fashion, and she will try to induce you to sit
on a cushioned seat beside her and enjoy a rich repast. But you must settle on
the ground, ask for coarse bread and eat it. Then you must tell her why you
have come. When you have obtained what she gives you, you must make your way
back, using the remaining cake to neutralise the dog’s savagery. Then you must
give the greedy mariner the one coin which you have held back, and once across
the river you must retrace your earlier steps and return …’</span><span style="text-align: justify;"> </span></span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Psyche immediately sped to Taenarus and having duly obtained the
coins and cakes she hastened down the path to Hades. She passed the lame ass
driver without a word, handed the fare to the ferryman for the river crossing,
ignored the entreaty of the dead man floating on the surface, disregarded the
crafty pleas of the weavers, fed the cake to the dog to quell his fearsome
rage, and gained access to the house of Proserpina. Psyche declined the soft
cushion and the rich food offered by her hostess; she perched on the ground at
her feet, and was content with plain bread. She then reported her mission from
Venus [requesting that Proserpina fill a box carried by Psyche] … The box was
at once filled … and Psyche took it. She quietened the dog’s barking by
disarming it with a second cake, offered her remaining coin to the ferryman,
and quite animatedly hastened out of Hades [Apuleius at 109-111].”</span></span></blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The idea seems to be don’t get too close to death (lest you die
yourself), but be respectful too, and make sufficient propitiatory offerings
when necessary – this was the essence of the attitude to death that was
mainstream in ancient Rome.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">There was not a uniform vision of Hades amongst Romans, </span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Apuleius' description is just one amongst a number, but most ancient writers were in agreement that it is not a place one should be too eager to go to, as Virgil describes:</span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">“In the very entrance gate of Hades, grief and vengeful care have
their couches. And there also abide pale diseases and sad old age, fear, hunger
and poverty … War, the bringer of death, is on the opposite threshold. There
are the iron chambers of the Furies, and wild Discord with bloody fillets
binding her snaky hair [cited in Hendricks at 259].”</span></span></blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Virgil then has us tour through various regions of Hades and its
surrounds, in a manner that somewhat foreshadows Dante’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Inferno</i>, except that the manner of death and subsequent funeral rites appear to be more important than personal virtue in determining the
afterlife experience of the dead. Though those who hated their brothers, beat
their parents, planned fraud or kept wealth for themselves without sharing it
with their relatives are said to end up in Tartarus, a fiery place of
punishment, which may have inspired the Christian concept of hell. Tartarus
does not appear to be part of Hades, however, but resides separately underneath
it. The closest thing to Roman heaven, Elysium, also appears to be separate
from Hades. Elysium is described as a happy and green place, which is “the home
of the blessed. Here ample air covers the fields with bright light, and they
have their own sun and stars” (cited in Hendricks at 263). In Virgil’s story a dead man
is brought back to our world, and there were a few others like it during the
Greco-Roman period. The most notable of these is the story of Proserpina
herself, which was the focus of a hugely popular mystery religion in Greece,
the Eleusinian mysteries, which may have offered initiates hope that, like
Proserpina, who resided in Hades through the winter and emerged from it every
spring, they too could enjoy the possibility of renewed life after death. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Conclusion</span></span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Just as Dis Pater is said to have abducted the beautiful Proserpina
from her happy life with her mother Ceres, so too does death take us,
oftentimes in similarly traumatic circumstances. Where we end up after that is full of
possibilities – ancient Romans had an unlimited number of beliefs
surrounding the afterlife. Hades was considered to be the main afterlife
destination, but it was not necessarily an eternal outcome. Epicureans denied
that Hades was a place at all, Stoics reserved judgment, and Neoplatonists argued that we reincarnated from one life to the next, similar to Hindus. Then there were the countless number of Romans who
adhered to one of the numerous mystery religions that flourished throughout the
empire, each of which would have had their own nuanced ideas about the
afterlife. Through all of this Dis Pater and Proserpina remain sovereigns of the
dead, but by emerging from Hades every spring Proserpina offers the hope that
death is not eternal, and this is the message that should most hold our
attention.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>If you enjoyed this post you may also enjoy my earlier post on <a href="http://romanpagan.blogspot.com.au/2014/02/roman-visions-of-afterlife.html"><span style="color: blue;">Roman Beliefs Regarding the Afterlife</span>.</a></i></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">___</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;">Sources: </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;">Apuleius, <i>The Golden Ass </i>(Oxford)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;">Beard, North and Price, </span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Religions of Rome: Vol 1</span> </i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;">(Cambridge) </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;">Beard, North and Price, <i>Religions of Rome: Vol 2</i> (Cambridge)
<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;"><span color="windowtext" style="text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Britannica.com</span> (Encyclopaedia
Britannica Online)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;">Cicero, <i>The Nature of the Gods</i> (Oxford)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Dictionary of Classical Mythology</i> (Penguin Reference)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;">Hendricks (trans), <i>Classical Gods and Heroes</i> (Quill)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;">Murgatroyd, Reeves and Parker, <i>Ovid's Heroides</i> (Routledge)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;">Scheid J, <i>An Introduction to Roman Religion</i> (Indiana
University Press)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;">Shelton, <i>As the Romans Did</i> (Oxford) <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;">Turcan, <i>The Gods of Ancient Rome</i> (Routledge)</span></span></div>
<!--EndFragment--><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><i style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #274e13; font-size: x-small;">Written by M' Sentia Figula (aka Freki), find me at <a href="http://romanpagan.blogspot.com" target="_blank">neo polytheist</a> and <a href="https://romanpagan.wordpress.com" target="_blank">romanpagan.wordpress.com</a></span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"> </div>
</div>
M' Sentia Figula (aka Freki)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04898083473029906396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3579296986984067902.post-85943664385224201542017-08-18T12:55:00.004+10:002021-05-16T00:48:57.095+10:00When Odin Recruits: On Becoming a Pagan Widow<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-97PUyUWzP6w/WZqiAJ9dgeI/AAAAAAAAGys/RFiOAsNHTCELlDX8goucNEQRCxclhKI3gCLcBGAs/s1600/Rochegrosse.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="482" data-original-width="379" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-97PUyUWzP6w/WZqiAJ9dgeI/AAAAAAAAGys/RFiOAsNHTCELlDX8goucNEQRCxclhKI3gCLcBGAs/s320/Rochegrosse.jpg" width="251" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Detail from <i>The Death of Messalina</i> by Rochegrosse (1916)</span></td></tr>
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<i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Note:
this is a cathartic narration of my experience.</span></span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Earlier this year my husband (W) died suddenly from pulmonary
embolism. He was in his early 40s. We first met at school, when he was 16 and I
was 14. We hooked up two years later. For almost the entirety of my adult life
we were together and for most of that time we were totally into each other (although
we did have problems, and break ups, here and there). I adored him, he was my
universe. Although I’m not sure I knew quite how much I adored him until he
died. He treated me (mostly) very well. He had a traditional approach to our
marriage; he was protective and loyal. He would not have left me for a younger
woman when I got into my 40s (like my sister’s husband did). He was not emotionally
abusive or violent (like my father). He was honourable and true. He didn’t care
for religion but, even so, he had personal values that he upheld and believed
in – he had integrity. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">It happened as follows.</span></span></div>
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The night it happened</span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I came home from work around 6pm on a Monday and everything was very
normal except that he had had the day off work because he didn’t feel right. He
had been taking a prescribed medication that he thought was causing intermittent
“shortness of breath” as a side effect. Even though he was fairly sure the medication
was the cause of his unwellness, he had booked a doctor’s appointment for the
morning of the following day, and he emailed the specialist who prescribed him
the drug (which was for dizzy migraine). <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">When I came home he mentioned that he had a pain in his leg but said
nothing more about it. We had dinner and did normal stuff. Around 9pm we
started watching Netflix in bed and he paused the TV, asking me if there was
any nice food in the kitchen. I told him there were some mince pies left over
from Christmas and they should be nice because they were <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mr Kipling</i> (which I got wrong, they were actually a cheaper brand).
He went out and then came back in the bedroom holding the packet of mince pies.
I think he may have intended to point out they were not <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mr Kipling</i>, but before he could he sort of fell onto the bed and
started breathing extremely loudly and rapidly, like really bad snoring but
sped up. For a moment it was comical and I thought he was joking, but I
realised quickly that this was f—ked up. I called an ambulance. The woman on
the phone seemed like a bitch and told me I was being hysterical. I was yelling
at him, trying to get him to lie on his side, because that is what she told me
I needed to get him to do. His face went a terrifyingly deep purple for a few
seconds. This was getting horribly and unbelievably serious; I’m panicking. Then
he became totally normal again for perhaps a minute or two. He told me off for
making a fuss over nothing when he realised I had called an ambulance. He
clearly didn’t have any consciousness of what had just happened. Then he passed
out again and the hideously strained breathing began once more. The ambulance
came, I let them in. He was normal once again. He was calm. They asked him if
he had any pain and he mentioned his leg. They said something about aspirin. Then
it got blurry for me as the gravity of the situation steamrolled on. They
called a second ambulance and told me to wait with my pre-teen son in his room
with the door shut. I called a friend to come and pick him up, to get him away
from this increasingly distressing situation. I called my parents-in-law and
told them they might want to drive down and meet me at the hospital. A
paramedic came in the room and told me W had gone into cardiac arrest.
Stupidly, I didn’t really know what that meant. W’s mother told me it was bad.
I think I was in a daze. I rode in the ambulance to the hospital but not in the
back, they wouldn’t let me see him. Then I was at the hospital on my own, it
was 10.30ish, then 11ish. His parents live over an hour away. I tried to call
his older brother, but he wouldn’t pick up. Someone from the hospital came in
and asked me if I wanted to see how hard they were trying to keep him alive,
which sounded bad. There was a weird conversation which had something to do
with whether or not he would want to be kept alive. I couldn’t believe what was
happening. I was totally calm, everything felt ghastly and unreal. I didn’t
know what to say except that he was a very nice person and that dignity was
important. A nurse was sitting next to me, telling me she thought I might be in
shock. I don’t remember anyone telling me he had died. They asked if I wanted
to be with him. I said yes. They took me into a room. He was lying on a bed
with a large plastic tube in his mouth and no blanket on him, just his pyjama-shorts
on. I sat next to him, staring at him. His eyes were so beautiful and blue. I
thought he was alive for some reason. Minutes went by and then I realised his
chest wasn’t moving. I felt nauseous and sort of blank. The door opened and his
parents came in. One of them made a brief, shocked sound I will never forget
and then I knew for sure W was dead. We sat in that room for what felt like hours.
The whole time I thought I might throw up. I remember saying we needed to take
his family signet ring off, for our son when he was older. W’s father took it
off. I couldn’t bear to touch W, I didn’t want him to feel cold. Slowly his
colour changed a little, he started to go a slightly purple around the neck and
look less alive. At some point a doctor came in and told us what he thought had
happened (a massive blood clot in his leg had travelled to his lungs and caused
his heart to stop and they were unable to restart it – the shortness of breath
W had experienced over the previous weeks may have been caused by small bits of
the clot breaking off and reaching his lungs). His parents and I were each
given a moment to be alone with him separately before leaving the hospital. I
told him I would cry a thousand tears for him but my eyes were dry, as they had
been the whole time. Then his parents and I took a desolate walk back to their
car in the dark and we drove back to my place.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The next day <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The sun rose the next day, which seemed almost incredible, or wrong.
Our son returned home and W’s mother explained what had happened. Sometimes suffering
has a beauty about it but this was nothing other than nightmarish – there are
no words. I honestly do not think I could convey what this was like. In any
case I don’t want to intrude on my son’s privacy or the privacy of other family
members, so I will minimise my comments on the experience and actions of them. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">W’s parents left for home by midday. Once they were gone I
dismantled my Roman oriented household shrine, which I had maintained and affectionately
added to for years. First, I picked up the statue of Venus and threw it in the
bin with enough force to break it. Then I dispersed all the other items. The
statues of Vesta and Mercury were hidden away in a cupboard. I had always had a
particular affection for the statue of Mercury, but now its reassuring smile
looked like a smirk. I thought I could make a pretty shrine and nicely scented
offerings and the Gods would give me what I wanted. It was an intensely bitter
way to realise the falsehood of my approach. It wasn’t that I didn’t believe in
the Roman Gods now, it was more that I felt mocked by them. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Night came and at last I was alone (my son now being asleep). I lay
down on the living-room floor where the paramedics had carried W so they could
work on him (the bedroom had been too cramped by our absurdly oversized king
sized bed). This was probably the real place of his death, not the hospital,
for his heart stopped at least half an hour before we got there. The tears
finally came. I was like a wounded animal, crawling around on the floor on all
four limbs, half whispering, half screaming “no” again and again. I was still
so disbelieving of what had happened. At 11pm the living-room light went out by
itself, because W had programmed it to. I lay on the floor in the way I
imagined he had laid on the floor when the paramedics worked on him, and he
felt close. In the weeks that followed lying on the living-room floor at 11pm
when the light went out became a ritual. I tried to figure out where he was,
and what he was doing. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Preparing for the funeral<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">It was weeks before we managed to sort out funeral arrangements. His
body had automatically gone to the Coroner’s Court, as he was relatively young
and his death was so fast and unexpected. I was trying to block an autopsy
because I couldn’t bear to think of some medical ghoul opening his body up (in
the end I agreed to a moderate autopsy because it was clear I had no other
choice). In the meantime I had to get my head around how to send him off. His
parents are non-religious, which meant they were very flexible and agreed to
everything I requested. I wanted him to be cremated. It was agreed that I could
place a number of items with him in the coffin to burn with him. I placed over $1000 worth of my jewellery in a tin for him to use as currency (to trade) in
the afterlife. I bought him two reproduction Viking axes shaped like that on
his signet ring. Our
son chose a lethal looking WW2 (reproduction) dagger for him. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We also chose a WW1 replica water bottle. I
think both of us had in our minds that perhaps the afterlife was like a
medieval inspired video game. We wanted him to have good weapons, a health
flask and of course gold and items to trade. I also bought him a card, and
wrote a message for him in the hope that he might remember something of his old
life and embrace the new without misgivings. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The weeks that followed –
atheists everywhere<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">As news of W’s death travelled far and wide I was inundated with
phone calls, texts and emails (including from people who I didn’t know very
well) that kept me strangely busy. Through these communications I became
dismayed at how prevalent atheism obviously is. The stereotype of the well
meaning but misguided Christian blathering on about heaven would have been a
welcome intermission (that never came) from the almost universal chorus of
horrible sentiments like “he will always live on in your heart”. No, f—k you,
he lives, he just doesn’t live here with me. Well this is what I wanted to say,
but of course I didn’t. I was far too polite. At one point, just a few days
after W died, in a desperate moment I rang up a local Buddhist temple, thinking
they might say something about rebirth at least, but no, the guy on the phone
was basically just an atheist too (ie, when you die, that’s pretty much it). At
one point I was speaking to a Buddhist friend about my conviction in the
reality of the afterlife (which is consistent with traditional Buddhism) and
she said something like “I’m glad this gives you comfort” – in other words,
you’re a delusional fool. This is the age we live in. Even religious people,
and good people, and smart people </span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">–</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> many of the best people </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">– </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">are unable to believe in anything other than
physical matter.</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The funeral and after the
funeral<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">W was an intensely private person and all who knew him well knew
that he would absolutely loathe having people spilling their private moments
with him onto a disparate crowd, so we dispensed with that style of funeral. We
had a family only viewing of his body, then a family only lunch when we
collected his ashes. A few days later there was a mass gathering at a pub. One
person after another sat by me and offered their condolences to me in person.
It was actually rather lovely. But I was careful not to drink much alcohol, I
felt that if I did it might unleash some unbearable and perhaps dangerous
emotional state. For the next few months I avoided both alcohol and music
almost completely – just to stay sane and keep a stiff upper lip, because the
alternative was unthinkable. Months later, I do listen to music but for some
reason the only music I want to listen to is apparently called melodic death
metal (which I never listened to before), especially <i>Swallow the Sun</i>; their music is the soundtrack to my grief. I’m
still pretty much keeping away from alcohol, but I can only handle so much
dourness … I wear mostly only black. My life-state is winter.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">How I make sense of W’s
death – Odin’s intervention<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">After W was cremated the line “he walks on green pastures” kept
coming to me, again and again, almost like a mantra. I imagined him waking up
by a forest stream with all the things we burnt him with,
reading the card and seeing the photos that were burnt with him, in a state of
some bewilderment. Did the stream have waters like Lethe, causing him to forget
those in his past life? I could see his massive frame moving through the forest
with the axes, the dagger, the water flask, and the gold, silver and amber
jewellery in his pocket. Finally he would see a door and knock on it. A demand
of payment or proof of wealth might be made. He would show the jewellery and
perhaps some animal skins he’d collected along the way. He’d be invited in. He
had always liked hanging out in pubs and bars, drinking heavily with a motley
crew – he’d have a great time. </span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">One of his best friends had made a reference to W being in Asgard
and honestly I tend to believe this. All the skeptics and rationalists can go
hang, they don’t know sh-t about the reality of death, their knowledge of it is at arm's length. Twice I read the runes and asked Odin if W was in a good place and twice I was assured that it is
so.</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">W is happy up there, and I am …
searching and still so dazed down here.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">W died fearlessly; he died while still of military age; he died, ultimately,
due to constriction of breath. Traditionally, it is recorded that Odin took his
sacrifices via deaths which involved asphyxiation, which is what happened to W
when the blood clot flooded his lungs, inducing cardiac arrest. He is a fine entrant
for Valhalla. A noble man. His death had the feel of fate about it. Looking
back there were a number of times it could have been prevented – apparently blood
clots are perfectly treatable if they are caught in time </span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">– but each time fate stepped in and the multiple opportunities to save his life, that I can only now perceive with hindsight, were thwarted</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">W never had much interest in religion of any kind, but I have felt
drawn to Odin since my 20s, so much so that my nickname for a time was Freki. Odin
was the first (Pagan) God I believed in and has always been the one I have believed in
the most. Am I some sort of dazed and confused Valkyrie who unwittingly groomed
my husband for Valhalla? Is that my purpose? To serve Odin for the fight at Ragnarök?
There is poetry in this thought but truthfully Valhalla feels far away, and w</span></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">hatever the case may be, whatever kind of being I am, for now I am stranded in Midgard. </span></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">I must accept my fate and make the best of it. Lamentation will get me nowhere. We cannot always choose how we die but we can choose how we live <o:p></o:p></span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">– either with honour or dishonour, either with courage or with unthinkable cowardice. </span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Why I wrote all of this<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">The highly personal and self-centred nature of his post means that
few people will have got this far in the reading of it, which is
understandable. I wrote it because I feel unable to share my experience fully
with anyone at all </span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">(that I know in the flesh)</span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">. They would</span></span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"> be
incredulous if I said too much, so I say very little. As well as the need for a
cathartic break from my usual British reserve I also want to be honest and not </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">mislead readers of this blog by somehow conveying the impression that I’ve got cosmic
truth and human happiness all figured out, because I don’t. I’m still a seeker, which I
guess befits a sectary of the wandering God.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><i style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #274e13; font-size: x-small;">Written by M' Sentia Figula (aka Freki), find me at <a href="http://romanpagan.blogspot.com" target="_blank">neo polytheist</a> </span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"> </div>
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M' Sentia Figula (aka Freki)http://www.blogger.com/profile/04898083473029906396noreply@blogger.com1