5.05.2008
Zeus, by Jove!
Novelist and travel writer Tom Stone has released a new book entitled "Zeus: A Journey Through Greece in the Footsteps of a God" that traces the birth, death, rebirth, and eventual decline of the great Greek thunderer.
"Lusty, lightning-tempered, polyamorous Zeus was the most powerful and charismatic of the Greek gods, and the progenitor of some of the most enduring stories of world mythology. In Zeus, author Tom Stone takes readers on a 4,000-year journey through the god's tumultuous life, from his origins as a sky god in the Russian steppes and his scandalous reign on Mt. Olympus to his approaching end in a palace storeroom in Christian Constantinople. Crossing the length and breadth of Greece, Stone and his Iranian wife explore the most significant sites in Greek myth, from mountaintops to subterranean caves, Olympus to Crete, and Mycenae to Macedonia. Along the way, he reveals how Zeus's story grew from the soil of Greece and changed along with the country's history, all with a brilliant mix of erudition and bravura storytelling."
Some Pagans and Heathens, most notably Hrafknell at A Heathen's World, wondered at the content of the book. Was it simply a travelogue with Zeus as the hook? Were there any deeper religious impulses in writing a work about the life of Zeus? In response to these questions Tom Stone has started his own blog, and essentially outs himself as a (qualified) polytheist.
"I followed up my comments in the Foreward by dropping very heavy hints along the way that for me, personally, the presence of the Greek deities in the Greek landscape was quite palpable (can't say the same about LA!). And - more important - that a belief in them was not only preferable, but much more "realistic" than a belief in a single deity (except, perhaps, Mother Earth)."
Stone also unfavorably (to put it mildly) compares monotheism to polytheism.
"I believe that most monotheism is fundamentally 'evil' in the terrible ways that it attempts to impose its structures and strictures on great masses of people, espousing its glorious virtues with one hand and, with the other, attempting to eradicate all opposing beliefs (as the Christians tried to do with the Greek religion. - among others...). In contrast, polytheism and pantheism not only admit each individual's (and community's) personal relationship to the Ineffable, but their writings and oral traditions embrace not only the good but the bad in the way their deities manifest themselves."
Stone's religious mindset and opinions came about from twenty years of "rumination and research" after being being "haunted" by images and stories of Zeus at Crete. Opinions that Stone promises to further expand on at his new blog (which I look forward to reading). So "Zeus" is no mere travelogue, but a somewhat veiled religious pilgrimage, one that could open new doors of insight and discussion into the history and future of Western polytheism.
Labels: books, Greece, Paganism, Polytheism, Tom Stone, Zeus
3.29.2008
Robert Fagles 1933 - 2008
Professor, poet, and academic Robert Fagles passed on Wednesday, March 29th, from prostate cancer. Fagles is best known for his masterful translations of Homer's epics the Iliad and the Odyssey.
Robert Fagles
"He was a quiet man, diligent and decorous, yet one who was unexpectedly equal to the swagger and savagery of Homer's 'Iliad' and 'Odyssey' in a way no one had managed before him," - Princeton humanities professor and Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Paul Muldoon
Robert Fagles' contribution to translations of Greek and Roman classic literature and poetry can't be understated. His translations of Homer sold over 4 million copies worldwide, and helped re-introduce the greatness of pre-Christian epic poetry to a new generation.
"Homer gave me new modes of expression, but I wanted to capture as much of him as I could, making him available and, with luck, compelling to a modern audience. I set the same task for myself when I translated Aeschylus and Sophocles."
His most recent translation was Virgil's Aeneid, released in 2006, a project he wasn't sure he would be able to finish due to his cancer. When released, Fagles called it "unexpectedly timely and relevant".
"It says that if you depart from the civilized, then you become a murderer ... The price of empire is very steep, but Virgil shows how it is to be earned, if it's to be earned at all. The poem can be read as an exhortation for us to behave ourselves, which is a horse of relevance that ought to be ridden."
For any Pagan who has taken inspiration from the classics, Fagles performed a great service. May his virtuous soul find rest and joy on the Elysian fields.
Labels: classics, Greece, Homer, Passings, Robert Fagles, Rome
3.12.2008
(Pagan) News of Note
My semi-regular round-up of articles, essays, and opinions of note for discerning Pagans and Heathens.
A conference of indigenous leaders from Mexico, the United States, and Canada met in Palenque, Mexico to discuss traditional solutions to environmental problems. The event, 'Indigenous People to Heal Our Mother Earth', gathered 200 leaders from 71 American Indian nations, and was supported by Mexico's environment secretary, Juan Elvira Quesada.
"Our Mother Earth is being polluted at an alarming rate, and our elders say that she is dying," said Raymond Sensmeier, a Tlingit leader from Yakutat, Alaska. "The way the weather is around the world ... a cleansing is needed" ... "I sometimes talk to scientists," said Sensmeier, "and they compartmentalize things, put things in boxes and disconnect them, and doing so promotes disharmony and imbalance." Kuetlachtli Texotik, a Nahuatl healer from Mexico whose name means "Blue Wolf," agreed. "Our grandfathers taught us to have an integrated vision," he said. "The important thing is to look for balance. We should take care of what does not belong to us, for the future, because it is only ours temporarily."
Organizers hope that indigenous American leaders can become guides in "restoring balance and harmony in the world". To "wake up the world" to the environmental problems surrounding them.
Reuters interviews David Domke, co-author of the new book "The God Strategy: How Religion Became A Political Weapon In America," who explains just how entwined (predominately Christian) religion has become in our political process.
"The reality is that in American presidential politics not willing to publicly emphasize your faith will mean you will not be a serious candidate on either side of the partisan aisle ... the fusion of religion and politics is absolutely contrary to what the founders desired for the country. They fled religious sectarian violence, religious persecution and they set out build a new place where God would be part of the equation but there wouldn't be a state, a national religion."
A political atmosphere like this is decidedly hostile to religious minorities taking power, an exclusive "Christ-centered" politics that transcends the usual Republican party suspects to include Democratic presidential candidates as well. Can the wall of separation between Church and State remain strong when both political parties now "emphasize their faith" as a campaign tool?
The Boston Herald reports on Laurie "Official Witch of Salem" Cabot's 75th birthday-bash over the weekend. The extravagant affair included a dancing snake charmer, fire-spinning, and the attendance of Godsmack frontman Sully Erna.
"Godsmack frontman Sully Erna was among the 100 Wiccans who flew in from around the country over the weekend for a surprise 75th birthday party for Laurie Cabot, the Official Witch of Salem. "Before I met Laurie, I was in a really low point in my life," Sully told the crowd. "I owe Laurie everything. (She) changed my life around." Apparently, the headbanger and the high priestess of witchcraft have been tight for years ... Cabot's bewitching birthday bash was thrown by fun couple Tom Lang and Alexander Westerhoff at their Manchester-by-the-Sea stone villa."
A happy birthday to Ms. Cabot, may she enjoy happiness and good health.
Kathryn Price NicDhana brings us the latest in the ongoing struggles to halt the M3 motorway expansion through the Tara-Skryne valley, the spiritual heart of Ireland.
"As bulldozers and chainsaws cut into the forest and hill of Rath Lugh - one of a number of ancient tombs and holy wells in peril due to the road work in the Tara-Skryne Valley - protesters have announced that they have dug tunnels under the proposed roadway, and are willing to risk their lives in defense of the land."
While these new actions have succeeded in delaying construction, it remains to be seen if this expensive (and increasingly unpopular) project can ultimately be stopped. Irish Poet Laureate Seamus Heaney recently called the M3 construction a "ruthless desecration", and the site has been declared an "endangered monument" by the World Monuments Fund.
In a final note, two recent legal decisions affecting modern Pagans have come to my attention. First, Tropaion reports that the European Court of Human Rights has ruled that Greece can not require a statement of religious belief as part of the admission ceremony to the state bar.
"Legal Court rulings are one of the few forums where precedents are truly set. This landmark decision by the European Court of Human Rights in the case of Alexandrididis vs Greece (application number 19516/2006) will definitely make it much easier for others in the legal and other professions to follow suit. It will mean that people will not have to state their religious beliefs in what are clearly state matters."
This is an important precedent for the small groups of Hellenic polytheists (and other religious minorities) in the Orthodox Christian dominated State. Further updates to this story are expected to be posted, here.
Meanwhile, another prisoner free-exercise case involving a member of the Asatru faith has made the news. A judge has recommended the dismissal of a lawsuit brought by inmate Darrell Hoadley. Hoadley, who is serving a life sentence for a 2000 torture-killing, brought suit requesting items he says are necessary for his faith.
"The penitentiary has allowed several Asatru items since settling a 2000 lawsuit - including a ritual drinking horn, wooden wand and wooden hammer - but Hoadley wanted more, such as horse meat and a plastic sword. In a motion to dismiss, prison officials said some requests are 'too outrageous to merit serious consideration.' U.S. Magistrate Judge John Simko, who was taken off the case in favor of U.S. District Judge Lawrence Piersol, said in a report filed Wednesday that the case should be dismissed."
I can't think of any Asatru tradition that requires a sword and the partaking of horse meat in order to honor the gods. Considering Hoadley's security status (he is isolated from the general population), and the concessions already made, it doesn't look like he has much of a case. The judge looks on solid ground for recommending dismissal.
That is all I have for now, have a great day!
Labels: American Indian, Asatru, Christianity, Greece, Hill of Tara, indigenous, Laurie Cabot, law, litigation, Pagan News of Note, Paganism, politics, Prison, Salem
11.25.2007
(Pagan) News of Note
My semi-regular round-up of articles, essays, and opinions of note for discerning Pagans and Heathens.
If you have ever read any of Alan Moore's occult-tinged comics and wondered if he would ever come through on his promise to write a grimoire of his own, wonder no longer! Top Shelf Publishers have posted promotional information concerning Moore's forthcoming book on magickal theory.
"Splendid news for boys and girls, and guaranteed salvation for humanity! Messrs. Steve and Alan Moore, current proprietors of the celebrated Moon & Serpent Grand Egyptian Theatre of Marvels (sorcery by appointment since circa 150 AD) are presently engaged in producing a clear and practical grimoire of the occult sciences that offers endless necromantic fun for all the family. Exquisitely illuminated by a host of adepts including Kevin O'Neill, Melinda Gebbie, John Coulthart, Jose Villarrubia and other stellar talents (to be named shortly), this marvelous and unprecedented tome promises to provide all that the reader could conceivably need in order to commence a fulfilling new career as a diabolist."
The bad news? It isn't scheduled for release until 2010. In the meantime you'll have to content yourself with the recently released "The Black Dossier", which features all sorts of occult tidbits for the careful reader.
The Tropaion blog has dug up a well-regarded History Channel documentary about the ancient Greek gods and goddesses on Google Video.
"History Channel once again had produced a remarkable documentary presenting the ancient Greek gods and heroes. The narrator will guide you with an extreme sense of respect towards the Hellenic religion's believes and practices giving you just the recorded facts and letting eminent Classicists from US' Universities to add their opinion. It is, thus, this combination that makes this documentary a classic work on the ancient Greek gods and their most eminent rites and rituals in the Hellenic world."
You can find a direct link to the video, here.
The Religion Clause blog is documenting "War on Christmas" skirmishes so you don't have to. Of particular interest is a legal showdown brewing in Menominee, Michigan, where an atheist group is unhappy about the erection of a nativity scene in a public park.
"The co-president of Freedom From Religion Foundation, based in Madison, Wis., said in a Nov. 15 letter that the display would violate the separation of church and state. "It is unlawful for the city of Menominee to maintain, erect or host a display that consists solely of a Nativity scene, thus singling out, showing preference for and endorsing one religion, and commemorating its most holy day," Annie Laurie Gaylor wrote to Menominee city manager Eric Strahl."
The city of Menominee is trying to legally protect itself by having a provision stating that "non-Christians be allowed to add their symbols". I can only hope that this means an enterprising Pagan group or two are getting public displays ready to sit next to the nativity scene. What about a baby Mithras? A mini-temple to Saturn? How about a Yule Goat? Lets get creative here!
It isn't the holiday season without a visit from the ghost of Satanic Panic's past. A strange case involving a mayor in a small Arkansas town who claimed he was kidnapped by Satanists and brainwashed into his current identity made the national news recently. To make sense of it all, Bartholomew unravels all the "Satanic Panic" connections.
"LaRose claims that he only regained his original identity after being brainwashed when he was given a truth serum by Dr. Marvin DeHaan, brother of the radio evangelist Richard DeHaan. Richard W. DeHaan is the author of Satan, Satanism, and Witchcraft, published in 1972 by Zondervan. The book came out at a time when popular Christian paperbacks on Satanism were in their heyday: a year later, Mike Warnke (with the help of David Balsiger) produced The Satan Seller, a now thoroughly-debunked memoir of life as a Satanist. The momentum from books like these eventually led to the "Satanic panic" of the 1980s."
Looks like Satanists aren't just good for selling pulpy Christian books, they can also help you start a new life when things get rough. Is there anything imaginary Satanists can't do?
In a final note, check out esoteric author Erik Davis' write-up of "hard-core, shamanic, eco-metal" band Wolves in the Throne Room for Slate.com.
"The contours of this myth echo what my chat with the band after the Santa Cruz show confirmed: Wolves in the Throne Room are hard-core tree-huggers, with a Manichaean view of the environmental crisis and a pagan faith in the transformative powers of nature."
You can also read a (somewhat) longer commentary by me on this story at my music blog "A Sweeping Curve of Sound".
That is all I have for now, have a great day!
Labels: Alan Moore, Comics, Erik Davis, Greece, Magick, music, Pagan News of Note, Paganism, Satanic Panic, War on Christmas
3.08.2007
The Golden Rule
Philip Harland, Assistant Professor in the Humanities Division at York University, offers a corrective to those who still think ancient pagans were amoral hedonistic party-goers concerned solely with gladiator battles and orgies.
"Despite what you may have heard about the "pagan" Greeks or Romans (a friend of mine - perhaps representative - thought they were all about wild orgies), "pagans" too were very concerned with proper behaviour as they defined it, and sometimes they defined it in similar ways. Educated philosophers, in particular, focussed their attention on questions of what behaviors were most fitting, desirable, or appropriate in particular circumstances. Such philosophers were often very concerned with "family values", and so they spent considerable time thinking about what were the appropriate relationships among members of the household..."
As an example, Harland focuses on the ethic of reciprocity (aka "the golden rule") and quotes the work of 2nd century Stoic philosopher Hierocles.
"The first bit of advice, therefore, is very clear, easily obtained, and common to all people. For it is a sound word which everyone will recognize as clear: Treat anybody whatsoever as though you supposed that he were you and you he."
Hierocles the Stoic wasn't the only pagan philosopher to endorse the ethic of reciprocity, similar statements have been made by Seneca, Aristotle, Epictetus (also a Stoic), Socrates, and his student Plato.
"May I do to others as I would that they should do unto me." - Plato
In fact the earliest known written version of the golden rule is from an ancient Egyptian piece of literature entitled "The Tale of Sinuhe", written nearly two thousand years before the birth of Jesus.
"This is an ordinance: Act for the man who acts, to cause him to act. This is thanking him for what he does."
This is a far cry from some evangelical commentators who have claimed that ancient pagans existed in a fatalistic world view devoid of morality. In fact, Christianity would have had a very hard time taking root in such societies. The truth is that our modern world (and its advanced "ethics" and "morals") is more in debt to ancient paganism than many people realize. Something to remember the next time someone tells you how lost we would all be without the dominant monotheisms.
Labels: ethics, Greece, morals, Paganism, philosophy, Rome, The Golden Rule
1.22.2007
Covering the Greek Pagans
As hinted at two days ago, the Greek Pagan group Ellinais have defied the law and held a ceremony at the Temple of Olympian Zeus despite the lack of permission from Greece's Culture Ministry. Unexpectedly, this has been picked up by the Associated Press and the BBC and made international news.
Greek Pagans dressed as ancient warriors.
Photo: Reuters/Yannis Behrakis
Looking at the pull-quotes used in AP and BBC articles, many seem to parallel sentiments from the beginnings of the modern Pagan movement in England and America.
"I feel very emotional. We have been persecuted for 16-and-a-half centuries but now we are here. This is our human right. And we shall carry on worshiping at our temples. They have now been put to proper use...We want to be able to hold ceremonies at ancient temples ... This obsession of treating them as mere monuments must stop." - High Priestess Doretta Peppa
"If we really want to say that we are democratic and we have freedom, then we have to be allowed to practice our religion." - 12 Gods follower "Artemis"
"Our hymns stress the brotherhood of man and do not single out nations." - High Priest Giorgos Alexelis
"Our message is world peace and an ecological way of life in which everyone has the right to education. To the Greeks, ecological awareness was fundamental." - High Priest Kostas Stathopoulos
It should be interesting to track the future growth of the Greek Pagans, Greece's Culture Ministry wasn't happy at the outcome of this "illegal" meeting and has promised that they will crack down on future illegal meetings. Obviously, officials from the Greek Orthodox Church were apoplectic.
"They are a handful of miserable resuscitators of a degenerate dead religion who wish to return to the monstrous dark delusions of the past" - Father Efstathios Kollas, the President of Greek Clergymen.
So it won't be smooth sailing as Ellinais tries to obtain legal permission to perform marriages and other clergy functions. In a culture that is dominated by the Greek Orthodox Church, attitudes towards a growing Pagan religion could easily shift from scorn and ridicule to outright oppression.
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?
