 |
| Contrary to what many religious conservatives might believe, the majority of neo -pagan adherents - including the Icelandic Astaru organization - do not carry out ritual violence or adhere to a literal view of their guiding mythologies. |
"We come from the land of the ice and snow,
From the midnight sun where the hot springs flow.
The hammer of the gods will drive our ships to new lands,
To fight the horde, singing and crying: Valhalla, I am coming!"
Who better than the mighty Zeppelin to herald the epic news! Earlier this week, it was announced that construction of Iceland's first major Norse temple since 1,000 A.D. (when the island nation officially adopted Christianity as the state religion) would begin this month, to serve as the main gathering place for the Astaru Association, Iceland's chief Norse neo - pagan group.
Let the torrent of frenzied comments begin: "Wait a second, MacCormack, I thought you said this was a FREE THINKER'S BLOG!!!!!!!!!! What are you addressing this inanity for? Everyone knows the only people who dabble in this nonsense are Dungeons and Dragons Nerds and Metal Head Hooligan misfits!"
You would be right, good people: And as a free thinking space - and my personal blog to boot - I am free (like what I did there?) to post and discuss whatever tickles my inquisitive fancy at any given moment. And, if all you angry bears can just settle down, I believe you'll appreciate where I'm going with this bad boy.
While steeped in the rich and vivid tales of old portraying the deeds of Odin, Thor, Balder, Loki, and the rest of the mythic Norse pantheon (as famously preserved by the Icelandic historian and poet Snorri Sturluson in the Prose Edda), the Astaru Association does not subscribe to a literal interpretation of those accounts. As Hilmar Orn Hilmarsson, the high priest of the Astaru Association, described it:
Certainly a far cry from the unflattering portrait painted of basement dwelling Cosplayers huddling over a game board, or the more insidious mass panic imagery of brain washed youths in revolt dabbling in satanic black masses, as the specter of Aleister Crowley looks from the shadowy nether, cackling in devious delight.
The sentiment expressed by Hilmarsson is in keeping with the ground breaking work of mythologist Joseph Campbell, author of the classic Hero with a Thousand Faces (which famously inspired George Lucas in crafting the Star Wars saga). Campbell, who was heavily influenced by Jungian psychology, and its Archetypal theory in particular, believed the characters, events, and places named throughout all the world's mythological traditions to be personifications and symbols of the states of the human psyche and the powers of the wider universe, not meant to be taken as literal, historical personages, places, or things. In this school of thought, the only demons and dragons to be conquered reside within the dark caverns of our subconscious depths, In Campbell's own words:
"It's only when a man tames his own demons that he becomes the king of himself if not of the world."
The picture entertained in the frenzied public consciousness of violent demon possessed pagans, lurking in the darkened peripheries of enlightened Godly civilization, looking for souls to corrupt and blood to spill, is in large part fueled by the Evangelical Christian principle of Scriptural inerrancy - also present in Orthodox Judaism and the Salafi and Zahiri strains of Sunni Islam - in which, as opposed to the allegorical/metaphorical interpretation, the contents of the above named faiths' holy books are accepted at face value, without question.
It is through the lens of this narrow world view that, upon watching films like the 1973 cult classic The Wicker Man (in which a devout Christian police detective uncovers acts of neo Celtic pagan sacrifice on a remote Scottish island), listening to the occult themed lyrics of heavy metal artists like Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and Ozzy Osbourne, or hearing David Berkowitz's unsubstantiated claims of Satanic cult involved in the Son of Sam murders, devout adherents of the "literalist" perspective come to believe in the physical existence of devils, wizards, and all manner of heathen seeking to pollute and undermine God's revealed truth.
Sadly as history has proven time and again, it is from this perverted spirit of "righteousness" that zealots - in a twist of tragic irony - visit cruel barbarity upon the "heathen", both real and imagined; the degraded practices laid at the feet of the heathen are given new life as justified methods of "cleansing" in the pure hands of the people of God. This blinding dogmatism - most prevalent in but not exclusive to religion - is the driving force behind Inquisitions, Crusades, Witch hunts, moral panics, jihads, tortures, book burnings, genocides, oppression and all manner of truly "devilish" activity down the ages.
Sadly as history has proven time and again, it is from this perverted spirit of "righteousness" that zealots - in a twist of tragic irony - visit cruel barbarity upon the "heathen", both real and imagined; the degraded practices laid at the feet of the heathen are given new life as justified methods of "cleansing" in the pure hands of the people of God. This blinding dogmatism - most prevalent in but not exclusive to religion - is the driving force behind Inquisitions, Crusades, Witch hunts, moral panics, jihads, tortures, book burnings, genocides, oppression and all manner of truly "devilish" activity down the ages.
And, allow me to spare you good folks the trouble of busting out your ace in the hole - the Hitler card - and informing me that the Nazi Party was peopled to the gills with Wagnerian Norse - Teutonic Pagan antisemites. It is a matter of historical fact that Nazism was met with wide spread acceptance by German Christians of all denominations. Hitler went to great lengths to connect his National Socialist philosophy with Christian tenants, helping to spearhead the Positive Christianity movement, as well as using charged Christian rhetoric in his speeches and writings:
"Hence today I believe that I am acting in accordance with the will of the Almighty Creator: by defending myself against the Jew, I am fighting for the work of the Lord." (Mein Kampf, p. 65)
"And the founder of Christianity made no secret indeed of his estimation of the Jewish people. When He found it necessary, He drove those enemies of the human race out of the Temple of God." (Mein Kampf, p. 165)
"The National Government will regard it as its first and foremost duty to revive in the nation the spirit of unity and cooperation. It will preserve and defend those basic principles on which our nation has been built. It regards Christianity as the foundation of our national morality, and the family as the basis of national life." (Speech delivered in Berlin upon becoming Chancellor of Germany, Feb. 1st 1933)
Yet I digress...
Perhaps none of this should come as a horrible surprise. After all, according to a 2011 Gallup poll, 3 out of every 10 Americans believe the Bible, as the "actual word of God," is to be "taken literally, word for word." And, to be fair, if that 30% of the American Christian population wishes to hold these views as their own personal system faith, it is unquestionably their right to do so, as ridiculous as it may appear to myself and others. If they wish to remain in a state of willful ignorance and rail against science, women, minorities, and humanity in general they're more than welcome to.
However, it is more often than not this segment of the population that is the most adamant in demanding that their world view be given preferential treatment via the law at the expense of, in their estimation, "lesser" or "blasphemous" philosophies. And, if any one speaks up and dares to cite the plain English of the 1st Amendment, the pastors of the bully pulpit claim "discrimination."
Just where am I going with all this? Let me answer that with a question of my own: If so many of the myriad pagan faiths, with origins dating back to farthest antiquity, can change their perspectives in light of our ever growing understanding and consciousness as a race, and still glean significant insight and meaning from their traditions, what is preventing Christianity, Judaism, and Islam en mass from doing likewise?
Let us ponder over that mystery in the spirit of profane questioning which the aforementioned Mr. Crowley was no stranger to:
.
Perhaps none of this should come as a horrible surprise. After all, according to a 2011 Gallup poll, 3 out of every 10 Americans believe the Bible, as the "actual word of God," is to be "taken literally, word for word." And, to be fair, if that 30% of the American Christian population wishes to hold these views as their own personal system faith, it is unquestionably their right to do so, as ridiculous as it may appear to myself and others. If they wish to remain in a state of willful ignorance and rail against science, women, minorities, and humanity in general they're more than welcome to.
However, it is more often than not this segment of the population that is the most adamant in demanding that their world view be given preferential treatment via the law at the expense of, in their estimation, "lesser" or "blasphemous" philosophies. And, if any one speaks up and dares to cite the plain English of the 1st Amendment, the pastors of the bully pulpit claim "discrimination."
Just where am I going with all this? Let me answer that with a question of my own: If so many of the myriad pagan faiths, with origins dating back to farthest antiquity, can change their perspectives in light of our ever growing understanding and consciousness as a race, and still glean significant insight and meaning from their traditions, what is preventing Christianity, Judaism, and Islam en mass from doing likewise?
Let us ponder over that mystery in the spirit of profane questioning which the aforementioned Mr. Crowley was no stranger to:
.
If you enjoyed the content of this post, check out my best-selling e-book, Dragon Heart, available in the Kindle Store on Amazon.com. As always, comments and feedback are encouraged.
No comments:
Post a Comment