1.20.2007
European Pagan Updates
Two quick news stories of European origin to convey. First off, Greek Pagans (who were recently given the right to officially exist in Greece) are pressing for access to the Temple of Olympian Zeus.
"A tiny group of worshipers plans a rare ceremony Sunday to honor the ancient Greek gods, at Athens' 1,800-year-old Temple of Olympian Zeus. Greece's Culture Ministry has declared the central Athens site off-limits, but worshipers say they will defy the decision. "These are our temples and they should be used by followers of our religion," said Doreta Peppa, head of the Athens-based Ellinais, a group campaigning to revive the ancient religion."
The article also notes an idealogical split within the Greek Pagan community.
"Those who seek to revive the ancient Greek religion are split into rival organizations which trade insults over the Internet. Peppa's group is at odds with ultra-nationalists who view a revival as a way to protect Greek identity from foreign influences. They can't even agree on a name for the religion: One camp calls it Ancient-Religion, another Hellenic Religion."
It would be interesting to hear more about this split, in some ways it mirrors similar splits within Asatru. Ellinais plans to push to register their offices as a place of worship so that they can perform official ceremonies like weddings.
Meanwhile in Iceland, there is controversy brewing over who is included in a traditional Winter festival.
"A house wife and anthropology student who lives in Bolungarvik in Iceland's Westfjords publicly criticized her town's winter feast traditions of Thorrablot this week. The feast takes place tonight. Only married or legally registered couples, widows and widowers are welcome to the feast, excluding singles and divorcees. The tradition was established decades ago, originally due to lack of space in the community center where the feast is held."
The feast is thought to be a hold-over from pagan times and includes some eye-opening traditions.
"Thorrablot ("winter sacrifice") is traditionally celebrated around Iceland and among Icelandic communities abroad at the beginning of the month Thorri, which begins on a Friday between January 19 and 25 and ends on a Saturday between February 18 and 24 according to the old Icelandic calendar. This midwinter feast is a pagan tradition that survived Christianity and is an occasion for eating old-fashioned food, such as pickled ram testicles and rotten shark, and for drinking to excess."
Rotten shark and binge-drinking? I can't see any potential problems there! There is no word if the Bolungarvik city council is considering changing the rules to allow singles into the festival. Though it does seem unusual for a festival to exclude singles, aren't traditional festivals supposed to encourage the finding of a partner?
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