For close to two millenia, Paganism in the west was obliterated. It was not relegated to secondary status (not that this is what it deserved had so happened), it did not die a natural death; but it lay forgotten and defamed, violently extinguished by Christianity.
Now, at the dawn of the New Age of Aquarius, Christians in the west have decided to do justice to the memory of their pagan ancestors; they are navigating upstream from the river of forgetfulness.
They refuse to be Letheans anymore.
I belatedly wish each of you a very happy New Year 2010.
This year is going to be ruled by the energies and forces of the king of the gods: Jupiter/Zeus/Thor/Ba'al/Indra.
I wanted to pass on my wishes to you all, before the month of January came to an end, which is just hours away according to Indian time.
May the remainder of this year of 2010, be a fruitful, prosperous, and happy time for each of you, and may you be blessed with good health throughout it.
January the 1st is a New Year date which is in keeping with the "Gregorian Calendar" (I have heard some people mistakenly calling it the "Georgian Calendar", when there is no calendar by this name), which came about to be accepted as the universal new year, after St. Gregory put the finishing touches to the "Julian Calendar", which was created by Julius Caesar.
Most communities around the world, will be celebrating their ethnic new years, on various dates during the year.
The Southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu (actually "Tamil Naad") celebrated its new year on the 14th of January this year. This celebration in known as "Pongal" and it is also a harvest festival.
Today I found another polytheist blogger by the name of "Cameron", who has made a follow-up post on Hraf's original article. It makes for an excellent read. In it, Cameron has examined the psychology of a monotheistic upbringing and indoctrination. Her conclusion reverberates with those of many other pagan bloggers, including myself. The following statement of Cameron, hit me the hardest. She has said "Hardened, limiting patterns of thinking give rise to limited or biased discourses and prejudices. A polytheist, that has a schema for varied views and multiple deities, has built into the very wiring of his or her schema a flexibility that a bred to the bone monotheist does not."
In a television programme, I saw former Pakistan cricket captain Imran Khan deliberating on the state of affairs in the Islamic republic of Pakistan; his home nation. He interviewed some Pakistani models, all female, who were heard saying that they were tired of seeing Pakistan being dictated to by the United States in the realm of politics, and they were also heard saying that Islam is a religion of peace and tolerance.
Imran Khan
I don’t know how often I’ve heard this line coming out of the mouths of muslims, but each time I’ve heard this flawed opinion mouthed I’ve wanted to correct these souls. The Prophet Mohammed’s first act after his conversion to Islam, was to smash the idols of the pagan Arabs into powder. When the founder of Islam began his ‘illustrious’ religious career with such an act of religious violence, may I know how Islam can be termed a religion of ‘peace’ and ‘tolerance’?
Mohammed’s insult thrown at pagan Arabs was not the last act of violence within Islam. When Islam began to increase its swathe beyond the Arab world, its kings and rulers resorted almost always to violence and pillage to conquer. Mohammed bin Qasim, the first Arab ruler to venture into India, came to the north-western region of Sindh, and punished its Hindu ruler by skinning him alive and sewing this human hide to a cow’s skin.
The western Indian state of Gujarat had a splendid temple made entirely from gold called the Somnath temple. Mohammed of Ghazni, razed it to the ground, not once, twice or even thrice, but a record seventeen times. The Hindus rebuild it every time it was destroyed. But why did Mohammed of Ghazni target this particular temple? Recent historical evidence states that he thought the Somnath temple was dedicated to the pagan Arab goddess “Su Manat”. It was the Muslim inside him which prompted him to attack a shrine of a pagan peoples because he found a connection between the object that fuelled his fury and a goddess of his own pagan ancestors. No example of tolerance, this.
The modern Somnath temple
India’s muslim rulers many a times offered goodies such as tax exemption to those of their Hindu subjects who would convert to Islam. Hindus in large numbers converted just so they could gain tax exemption. Those who didn’t, were considered to be “dzimmi”s and had to pay a special tax known as “Jaziya” or “faith tax”.
To the Pakistani models who told Imran Khan that they found Islam to be a religion of peace and tolerance, my question is: Well, if that is so, then what do you say of Islam’s attitude towards pagans? Doesn’t Islam say that all other gods apart from the almighty Allah are ‘false gods’ and that pagans have committed the sin of ‘shirk’ or denied the one true god?
Following from this, do you know what punishment awaits those who deny the existence of Allah?
“It was a high counsel that I once heard given to a young person, “Always do what you are afraid to do.”” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.” – Thomas Jefferson
“Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.” – Robert Collier
“The thing always happens that you really believe in; and the belief in a thing makes it happen.” – Frank Lloyd Wright
“Success does not consist in never making blunders, but in never makin the same one a second time.” – Josh Billings
“Do not wait to strike till the iron is hot; but make it hot by striking.” – William B. Sprague
“The only way of finding the limits of the possible is by going beyond them into the impossible.” – Arthur C. Clarke
The cake was a 3 and a 1/2 pound chocolate and vanilla cake. The knife has a red silk ribbon tied around its handle; it is to the right of the cake and is visible in the photo.There were 37 candles; one in the centre for good luck. The photos were all taken by my dad, except for one. The cake was ordered from "Nahoum and Sons", a reputed Jewish bakery for decades, in Calcutta.
I celebrated my 36th birthday at home in Howrah, West Bengal, with my parents; after a gap of 8 years. From now on, as my parents reminded me, I will be able to celebrate my birthday with them each year. This will be possible, as I will complete my Masters degree in "Defence and Strategic Studies" from Pune University next year in April, and return home permanently.
I want to pursue an M.Phil in the field of "International Relations", which I have decided to do from Jadavpur University in Calcutta. Let's see which University I get to go to, for my Ph.D in "International Relations".
Really, Junade ought to be informed that he's been featured on "Upstream From Lethe" twice. Yes, TWICE!!!
Before the commencement of the charity football match.
With a fan (1)
With a fan (2)
With fan Irkan.
The Roy family from "Hollyoaks", Channel 4's first British-Asian family. Junade is to the right, in a sky blue, full-sleeved tee. The actor who is standing first from left, wearing a brown jacket, is Steven Uppal, who plays Junade's younger sibling in "Hollyoaks".
Gosh, I never thought I'd become an expert on a soap I've never viewed even once!!
In the by now famous shirtless scene from "Hollyoaks".
Okay folks, he's back by popular demand! Junade Khan, who was the subject of my previous post, has been voted too hot to handle (need I say "I agree!!!!!"?) by my pagan friend and sister; Danielle aka 'Granamyr'. She asked for more of his snaps and so here I am posting about him once again.
Below is an extract from the website of the 'Salvation Army'. It has Junade's story in it, about how he came to believe in God.
When injury ruined his chances of making a name for himself in the world of football, he would live for the weekends and hung around with a group of football hooligans, getting into fights and loving it.
At one place it quotes Junade as saying, that he used to take 7 to 8 pills every night when he performed as a fire-breather and stilt walker at a club. It reached a point where he would take a pill just to feel happy. He continued resorting to drugs to help cope with depression resulting from loneliness, once he joined drama school, far away from his home in Liverpool. I'm copy pasting the Salvation Army link here. Hope you can get to it.
Alright, so here goes:
http://salvationarmy.org.uk/warcry
A good question is, why "warcry"? Does the Salvation Army really believe that they are god's 'Chosen One' who have been given the holy task of establishing his rule on earth, after wiping it clean of the 'undesirables' which would obviously include us, pagans?
As far as I know, a celebrity figure from the world of cricket, who donates to the Salvation Army, is Australian fast bowler Brett Lee.
Anyway, I won't dissect this post on the basis of the polytheism vs. monotheism debate, but leave it at that.
Junade is to the left. These two "Hollyoaks" stars show off their boxing skills!!
Junade Khan (to the extreme left, holding a glass).
Junade Khan at the British Telly awards. There's another photo below.
With a fan.
Preparing for the 26 mile London Marathon along with his mates from "Hollyoaks".
An attempt should be made to telecast this soap in India, by one of our prominent cable channels!
Shirtless in "Hollyoaks". It is mandatory for each male actor in this soap to appear in a shirtless scene and here, Junade gets his turn!
At a Charity football match. I've provided the link below.
With Kevin Fletcher. There's another photo below where there are two other actors along with these two. They were competing against each-other to raise money for charity.
Junade Khan and Juliet Aaltonen in "My Dangerous Loverboy".
At the British Television Awards function, red carpet party, with fellow cast members of "Hollyoaks". Junade plays the eldest sibling "Ash Roy" of the British-Indian family: the Roys, in this soap.
With John Pickard of "Hollyoaks". They participated in the London Marathon to raise funds for different Charities. Junade chose the "Leonard Cheshire Disability".
Less is more.
To Junade's immediate left is Kevin Fletcher (the one with a black tie and no coat). The stars of "Hollyoaks", "Emmerdale", "Coronation Street" and "The Bill" competed against each-other to raise money for "Claire House Children's Hospice" and the Alder Hey "Imagine Appeal". Photo dated: 16th May 2009.
I wanted to post on a rising television star in the UK who is of South Asian origin:Junade Khan. He goes by the nickname of "Jay".
I first noticed him in the programme “Jailed Abroad: Hostage to Terror” on the National Geographic channel, where he played the British born, half-Indian half-Pakistani terrorist Omar Saeed Sheikh. He was scaringly believable as the 21 year old Omar in 1994, when the incident of kidnapping 3 British and 1 American hostage had taken place! Junade's stunning good looks and sculpted physique made me think he was a professional model, but an internet search proved that he is in fact a very popular TV actor in the United Kingdom.
He has also acted in two films titled "My Dangerous Loverboy" where he plays a young Asian lad who deceptively leads his British girlfriend into the sex trade business, and"Trouble in Paradise". The film "My Dangerous Loverboy" was commissioned to be made by the UK Human Trafficking Centre, in order to educate Great Britain's public about the dangers of the sex trade which lure and trap teenaged girls. This is different from the issue of foreign women who are smuggled into England and sold into the flesh trade; "My Dangerous Loverboy" focuses on the problem of native British girls falling prey to/being led into, prostitution. Virginia Heath, an acclaimed lady director has directed this film.
The film was also backed by the Nation Film Board of Canada, Northern Film and Media.
He currently appears on the soap “Hollyoaks” and has previously appeared on “Coronation Street”, “Waking the Dead” (a BBC production) and "My Life as a Poppat" (the Poppats are a Punjabi, British-Indian family in the story, and the protagonist is Anand Poppat, the eldest child), apart from other television programmes. He’s also a veteran of theatre, having a Bachelors degree in acting, which he received in 2006 from the “East 15 Acting School” at the University of Essex. Junade is 1982 born; but I don’t know his sun sign, so please help me here.
The only hitch my dear friends, is that he is a believing Christian, OUCH!! But looks and talent can’t be dismissed on the basis of religious differences. I was reading his Curriculum Vitae – also posted somewhere on the web – and it said that he has work experience in a variety of jobs such as compering shows, event management, catering, etc.
His special skills have been listed as: Ex football trainee with Sheffield United, Motor Cycle license, Fire-breathing, Stilt walking, Snake charming, Angle grinding, Comedy sketches, Stuntperson, Grotowski Movement, Characters - Mask work. (Jerzy Grotowski is considered the father of 20th century theatre. He is to theatre what Lee Strasberg is to Method Acting. Grotowski's emphasis was on simple sets and costumes).
A photo gallery of a charity football match between the stars of "Hollyoaks" and those of another soap, whose name I can't remember at the moment:
His other experiences: "One Love" performer (the song, I guess), UK 2 year tour (most probably theatre), BADC Stage Combat Foundation.
The accents he has mastered are: RP, London, Liverpool, Standard American, British Asian.
Special interests: Painting, film, charity work, Television.
Roles during his training at the "East 15 Acting school" were:
Character: Hiawatha (Production: Hiawatha)
Peter Ollerenshawe (Fur Coat and No Knickers)
Macbeth (Macbeth. Incidentally, Shakespeare's "Othello" has a Bollywood version called "Omkara" which became a box office hit)
Evil Aunt Agatha (A Day in the Death of Henry Throttle)
Pepel (Lower Depths)
Trofimov (Cherry Orchard)
Tony Kirby (You can't Take it with You)
Reverand Eli Jenkins/Lord Cut Glass (Under Milk Wood. WOOOW!! It's a play by Dylan Thomas and was once featured on the BBC)
Junade is experienced in: Singing, Modelling (so I was right!), Auditing, Flyering and Hospitality.
He would like to get a taste of: Conferences, Costumed Characters, Exhibitions, Mystery Shopping (???), Presenting, Road shows and Sampling (does this mean he can cook?).
I'm guessing he just may turn out to be a Gemini, or a number 5 person, with such versatality in store!!
Junade wanted to be a football pro as a teenager, but this dream of his received a rude shock when injury brought it to an end. With no formal qualification he took up a job in a factory and turned to drugs. He even indulged in fights and remained a lonely man. It was shortly after this that he discovered God. And it was this that gave him the courage to believe that he could achieve anything.
While he was working at the factory, on a night out, he was fascinated by the performances of circus artists and asked them for a job. They called his home and invited him to come over. Thrilled, he joined them and learned many skills which he performed in a number of clubs in England. If you're wondering where he got to be a fire breather, stilt-walker, snake charmer and angle grinder; the circus is the place where.
His belief in the Christian God appeared when his aunt asked him to come to Church with her and lonely Junade accepted. He's close to his mum Janice, and visits her whenever possible.
If any of you are from the UK, then you must be familiar with the name: Junade Khan. He is born and bred in Liverpool, England. His online bio-data also names Sheffield as one of the places where he grew up.There is a feeling of pride I have when a South Asian does well abroad. Here’s wishing Junade all the very best with his future projects; he’s to leave the soap “Hollyoaks” in September this year, when the programme comes to an end. The other cast members will be saying goodbye too, from the show.
Here's a rare backstage video of Khan on the sets of "Hollyoaks" for a day:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4HpO1_Tj9I
I'd like to know if he's half-Pakistani or half-Indian, and if his paternal roots are in Kashmir. From his mother's name - Janice - I suspect he may be of hybrid Indo-European stock, probably half South Asian-Indo-European and half-British.
It seems his shirtless scenes have received a great deal of attention, given his well-toned body. I only hope all of it is au naturel and that he doesn’t have one or two implants in there (if you're not aware, these days men get implants too so that they can look muscular. This includes breast implants to make the chest muscles appear larger than what they are), but I’m quite sure that in his case, his shape didn’t need any artificial boosters.
My dear ladies and gay readers; ogle and droooool all you want at this gorgeous piece of South Asian meat (I’m sorry Junade if you’re reading this, but there could be no better words)!!
Sometimes I need to take a break from posting on topics related to paganism and write about something else, although Junade’s Christian belief system could well be reason to post about him here…..oh come on guys, I needed an excuse!!
The name “Junade” is actually spelled “Junaid” and “Junade” is an anglicization of the original. I’d be grateful if someone could tell me what it means. Once, Hrafnkell had posted an article on the speech of a professor and this professor had come round to participate in the discussion we were having on Hraf’s site regarding the post. It was a pleasant surprise and an honour to have the visitor. Similarly, it would be best if Junade Khan could come down here and tell us all directly, what his name means.
If you were thinking he is muslim, from his name, well I thought so too at first. But it turns out he is not one.
India may finally review its stand on gay rights. On June 28th 2009, hundreds of gay and lesbian men and women held a march in Delhi; the first parade of its kind where such large numbers participated.
Gays and lesbians at a gay parade in New Delhi on June 28th, 2009.
Homosexuality was put down as illegitimate fornication which goes against the laws of nature way back in 1863, by India’s British-Protestant rulers. India achieved independence in 1947, but the law remained to haunt the conscience of liberals and the world of gays and lesbians. Now, the homosexual community in India has come out in the open to pressurize the Indian government to accept them as individuals with equal rights as their heterosexual counterparts.
If the Indian government wants to do what is right, it will negate the law and make homosexuality legal. If it bows to pressure from minority Muslim and Christian groups and also from some far right Hindu extremist political parties, it will keep the law as it is. The ruling Congress coalition which is at power in the centre, may not want to erode its minority support base due to which it may not do a rethink on the homosexual position, but if it can maintain an objective posture on the issue, then it will immediately go ahead and change the law. The minority groups which oppose the legalization of homosexuality do not speak for the minority community as a whole. There are many Indian Muslims and Christians who are open minded about the issue and would not want to be represented by these fringe groups.
What is incredible is, that the Hindu political parties at the forefront of Indian politics, have this time showed no opposition to the gay pride parade as they had done before. I am quite happy. Hinduism does not theologically discriminate against the homosexual community and their stance has been correct. I hope they maintain it in future.
The only opposition from any Hindu group has come from the VHP (Vishwa Hindu Parishad) which is branded for its obscure, regressive politics which is as distant from early Vedic Hinduism as Islam.
Granamyr made a post on the issue of homosexual rights and I’m tagging her in this post. Her article deserves a read.
Dear Polytheistic friends and all my readers and visitors;
My computer will be leaving Pune about one hour from now. It will be packed and sent to my home in Howrah (Howrah is Calcutta's twin city).
This is the last time I am composing a post on my computer, here, in Pune.
Next time I post, it will be from my home in Howrah.
I pray that the Cosmos and the gods keep you well and that we meet again soon.
I will be leaving Pune with my parents (they have come here to stay with me in Pune till my second semester's final exams get over on the 29th of April), on the 3rd of May and will be reaching Howrah in the early morning of 5th of May.
According to Orphic Hellenism which I follow, the soul is a particulate matter, like all the forms of matter Physics recognizes.
In the ancient Chaldean Oracles, the soul was believed to be surrounded by seven layers or sheaths of electromagnetic energy. These seven layers or sheaths were imagined to survive on the energy which the soul drew from the respective human body. Since food provided energy to the body and the food people ate was converted to metabolic energy which the soul survived upon, death of the respective human body deprived the soul of the metabolic energy it needed and so it was forced to reincarnate inside another new body. During each lifetime spent inside a human being, the soul gathered experience and learnt about many human conditions. This way, it began accumulating wisdom. But after the end of each lifetime, mother Nature dropped a curtain over the memories of the lifetime just spent; as she did not want to burden the new individual with the memories of a past life.
If we could remember all the people and all the situations during each of our previous lives; wouldn’t it cause us trouble? If we could remember all situations in which we had hurt others and how others had hurt us, then how could we have concentrated on our present life? This is the reason why Nature makes us forget all our past lives, but sometimes – and there have been recorded true cases of these – the curtain does not drop fully, leaving a little gap and in such cases a person is able to recollect some part of his or her previous life.
The outermost sheath of the soul particle is the layer which records the memories of a person’s various lives. When a séance says that he or she has made contact with a soul and is able to bring back information from it, by “conversing” with it, he or she is merely making contact with the outermost layer of the soul and drawing information from it.
As time passes, an immature soul which is not able to sustain itself by drawing energy directly from the environment, is forced to enter a new body, whether plant, animal or human so that it can once again replenish itself by subsisting on the metabolic energy created by the respective living being’s body it is inhabiting. If the period between the soul’s leaving of a dead body and it’s entering of a new body is long, then the seven layers or sheaths of energy which encircles it, start falling off one by one and in such a state a medium will not be able to make contact with the first layer of the soul, which contains the memories of the life last lived.
A soul enters a human body at first breath when the newborn individual’s lungs and body start functioning on their own. Once the umbilical cord is cut, the newborn infant must start to breathe on its own and this is when the soul enters it, according to Hellenism.
Once the soul has become mature enough to sustain itself in the environment by drawing energy directly from the former, it has no use for base matter; meaning the living world, and so it becomes free and this stage is what is known in Sanskrit as “Moksha” and in English as “Salvation”.
Each soul particle is urged by the Cosmos to evolve to the highest level possible. Therefore the gods and goddesses of polytheism are soul particles who have achieved salvation. They have lived as all forms of living matter just as we are doing at present, and after acquiring enough empathy and knowledge about life in its myriad forms and stages, they have been set free and thus they can empathize with us when we pray to them for help.
Once the stage of salvation has been reached, mother Nature returns the memories of all past lifetimes to every emancipatd soul. It is in this way that a free soul after achieveing moksha is able to empathize with us humans. It has only to remember a past life it has lived in which it underwent a similar situation as the one in which the devotee is, and it does all it can to help the devotee, understanding how much the devotee is suffering.
After salvation from the living world, a soul is elevated to the position of Hero, Daimon and then a God/dess respectively. But at each of these stages, there is always the option of: regression. After acquiring wisdom about the living world, a God or Goddess must acquire knowledge about the Cosmos and continue its journey of acquiring more and more wisdom. It is an unending journey. At anytime during this endless (literally endless) journey, if the soul particle does not honour the laws of nature, it stands the chance of regression and being reincarnated into the living world once again, or being demoted from say, a Daimon to a Hero.
After Moksha/Salvation from the living world has been achieved, a soul is given extra powers and extra responsibilities by mother Nature. It is asked to take care of some part of the natural world, say a tree or a river or a hill, and so when polytheists say that unnecessarily harming nature through deforestation and other activities makes the gods angry, what is meant is that, the soul particles taking care of the natural world and the area sought for deforestation in particular will be very displeased with the act.
The extra abilities that Nature endows a soul with, are many. It is blessed with ESP (Extra Sensory Perception) and other powers as Nature has deemed it fit for such rewards. This is why when Zeus and the other gods and goddesses are etched with large eyes and ears giving them a somewhat grotesque appearance, it is only a way of indicating that being elevated soul particles, they have acquired ESP and other abilities not available to those in the living world. Not able to fathom this truth, the Christians and later the Muslims labelled polytheistic “Daimones” as evil “Demons” with extra large ears, eyes and grotesque shapes.
When Zeus is pictured as Pan and is shown as having a tail, it is simply a way of indicating that he has left the living/animal world and is a free soul particle. So on and so forth with other depictions of polytheistic gods and goddesses that monotheism finds scary and objectionable.
The Universe urges all of us to evolve into gods and goddesses. Being a divine being is not an unattainable idea; a suggestion that will unnerve any hardcore monotheist, because no matter how hard you try, the monotheistic God is unreachable and indeed the state of Godliness is too!
What is fascinating, is that the ancient world had knowledge of the journey of the soul, Orpheus and Empedokles wrote on this subject and the Chaldean Oracles held it as truth!
Since the ancients believed that the soul was a micro-organism, I guess we can call it a “quark”; the smallest particle recognized by Physics.
Now contrast the above information about the soul, with monotheism’s view of it. It is nothing short of depressing. There is no scientific explanation given about it and it is supposed to be a plaything which either belongs to God or his adversary the Devil’s camp. Moreover, monotheism opposes abortion because it believes that the soul enters an unborn infant sometime during pregnancy, without elaborating about the time of its entry. Which is why, monotheism’s thesis about soul “curry” is completely fictitious and is best ignored.
Pre-Islamic Arabia has been of abiding interest to me. I can’t help thinking about what Arabia has lost in terms of pagan learning, philosophy and art. Muslims around the world especially of Arab descent are taught lies about pre-Islamic, polytheistic Arabia. No one seems to be interested in detangling the past and letting pagan Arabia speak for itself.
The Kaaba at Mecca, Islam's holiest place. Prophet Mohammed shattered the idols which were worshipped here by pagan Arabs. He replaced them with a single black stone telling Arabs that the stone represented the one, true God: Allah. Arabs were then taught that all other gods are false.
After some searching I found a good article on the internet which shed some light on the life and times of pagan Arabia. I’m copy pasting the entire article here; my apologies to the author if he happens across his article here and minds. I request him to forgive me as I wanted it to be read by all my visitors. I have also put up links from wikipedia where pre-Islamic Arabia has been discussed.
Rise of paganism in the west is setting the record straight for western polytheism, but the mid-east remains wrapped in Islamic monotheism which still maintains a firm grip over its adherents. It is high time someone spoke up on behalf of lost, pagan Arabia.
"Muslim 'historians' present a dark picture of pre-Islamic Arabia. They tell us that its people were despicable idolaters that worshipped stones (authan) and statues (asnam). They had no Prophet (Rasul) and possessed no scripture (Kitab) of their own. They revelled in blood feuds and buried their female babies alive. Sons married their step-mothers, and the same man two or more sisters. The pre-Islamic Arabs however, cannot answer these accusations because almost nothing has survived to tell their side of the story. The muslims saw to it that no trace was left of native Arab culture, not even in the consciousness of the converts. Franz Babinger writes: “The new creed had the greatest interest in obliterating all recollection of the pagan period, not only in stone monuments which still survived the natural weathering, these were destroyed to provide material for new buildings, or burned for lime or sometimes out of sheer vandalism, but also in literature and even in consigning the ancient language to oblivion.” Whatever could not be wiped out was converted completely so as to look like an islamic contribution. The Ka’ba and the Hajj provide excellent examples. So does the Arabic language which, although it retains its ancient sounds and syntax, has been made to convey alien meanings and concepts.
But the greatest blow to pre-Islamic Arabia was the perversion of its history. A majority of the Arabs had never heard of Abraham (Ibrahim) before Muhammad. Those few who had, had no reason to like him. It was not long before the birth of Muhammad that the king of Yemen who had converted to Judaism had massacred thousands of christianised Arabs. Therefore, the Arabs who were otherwise tolerant could not but have felt uneasy at the very name of Abraham. Yet muslims believe that the Arabs were the progeny of Ibrahim through his elder son, Ismael! They believe that the foremost Arab temple, the Ka‘ba at Mecca, had been built by Adam, renovated by his son, Seth, and rebuilt by Ibrahim. Muhammad even accused the Arabs of having usurped, for polytheistic worship, a place which was originally meant to be a mosque! This Islamic version of Arab history would have continued to prevail if modern scholarship had not rescued the true version by painstaking research. “Our knowledge of the history,” writes F. Hommel, “we owe partly to inscriptions found in the country, partly in contemporary literature and monuments of other nations (Babylonians, Assyrians, Egyptians, Hebrews, Greeks and Romans) and partly to early Islamic tradition… As early as the 3rd millennium BC the old Babylonian inscriptions mention a king Manium of East Arabia; there is much to be said for the view that Magan was only a Sumerian rendering of an Arabic Ma’an and that from this centre was founded (at a date unknown to us) the South Arabian kingdom of Ma’an (later vocalisation Ma’in) or the Minaean state, which perhaps in the beginning embraced the whole of South Arabia… In addition, a district named Melukh is mentioned as lying further off, probably covering Central and North West Arabia from which, as well as from Magan, the Sumerians e.g., Gudea of Sirgulla (about 2350 BEV) imported a large quantity of products (wood, stone and metals) for their temples…” The same sources tell us about the Sabaeans who flourished in Southern Arabia (Arabia Felix) from 800 BEV onwards, till they were “swept away by the wave of Muhammadan conquest.” They practised an ancient natural religion in which the sun, the moon and the planets figured prominently. They built “massive temples” and “handsome gold and silver statues of their chief Gods.” The Greeks and the Romans knew Saba and three other South Arabian kingdoms "as the areas which produce frankincense, myrrh, cassia and cinnamon” and praised them as “brave soldiers, industrious tillers of the soil and traders and skilful sailors” who “sent out colonies or at least trading settlements into foreign lands, especially India.” Modern archaeology has exposed “sculptures and remains of colonnades, palaces, temples, city walls, towers, public works, especially water-works, which confirm the brilliant picture of Sabaean Arab culture…” The Nabataeans of Northern Arabia (Arabia Petraea), have a similar story. They extended their influence up to the frontiers of Hijaz. The Romans conquered a part of the Nabataean kingdom in 106 EV and named it Provincia Arabia. The Nabataeans too were great traders who “attained… the position of monopolists in Near Asia.” In their pantheon, which we know “mainly from tombs and votive inscriptions… the principal God was Dushara, the principal goddess Allat.” None of the Minaean or Sabaean or Nabataean inscriptions mentions Ibrahim or Ismael or any term indicative of Judeo-Christian religion, which will later be imposed on the Arabs in the form of Islam. It is only towards the end of the pagan period that a South Arabian inscription dated 542-543 EV mentions for the first time “the power and grace and mercy of the Merciful (Rahmanan), his Messiah and the Holy Spirit.” The inscription was set up by Abraha, the Governor of South Arabia, on behalf of the Christian king of Abyssinia. How Abraha became what he became is an interesting story which explains the repugnance felt by the pagan Arabs for both Judaism and Christianity. The Monophysite sect of Christianity had found refuge in Najran, a province of South Arabia, after it was expelled from Byzantium by Justinian (Upravda) I (527-565 EV). Around the same time, Dhu Nuwas, king of Yemen which included Najran, had embraced Judaism. He declared war on the Christians of Najran who were unwilling to convert to his new religion. Ibn Ishaq writes, “Dhu Nuwas came against them with his armies and invited them to accept Judaism, giving them the choice between that or death: they chose death. So he dug trenches for them; burnt some in fire, slew some with the sword, and mutilated them until he had killed nearly twenty thousand.” The Christians of Najran appealed for help to Negus, the Christian king of Abyssinia. An Abyssinian army under Aryat descended on Yemen, defeated and killed Dhu Nuwas, and occupied the land. Under orders from Negus, a third of Yemeni women and children were captured and sent to Abyssinia to be sold as slaves. The Arabs who had embraced Judaism were massacred. In due course, Abraha succeeded Aryat as the Abyssinian Governor of Yemen. He set up the aforementioned Christian inscription. Later on, he swore that he would destroy the Ka‘ba, the foremost temple of the pagan Arabs. He led an army to Mecca in 570 EV, the same year in which Muhammad was born. The Ka‘ba, however, escaped harm because of a miracle which turned away the Abyssinians, which the Arabs credited to Allah, the presiding deity of their pantheon. Meanwhile, the pagan Arabs had witnessed how Judaism and Christianity had combined to cause large-scale bloodshed and invasion, entailing enslavement of Arab women and children. The name of Ibrahim was associated with both the creeds, as also the word Rahman. Muslims mention Abraha’s march on Mecca, and his retreat in the face of a miracle. But they forget that the Ka‘ba at that time was a place of pagan worship. Instead, they credit the miracle to the god of Ibrahim. That god however, had not yet been converted into the exclusive god of Islam. In fact, it was the pagan character of the Ka‘ba which had invited the attack by the Christians in the first place. CHARACTER OF THE NATIVE ARABS The king of Persia had insulted a pagan Arab prince by telling him that his people were inferior to every other people. The prince had replied, “What nation could be put before the Arabs for strength or beauty or piety, courage, munificence, wisdom, pride, or fidelity?… So liberal is the Arab that he will slaughter the camel, which is his sole wealth, to give a meal to a stranger who comes to him at night. No other nation has poetry so elaborate or a language so expressive as theirs. Theirs are the noblest horses, the chastest women, the finest raiment… For their camels no distance is too far, no desert too wild to traverse. So faithful are they to the ordinances of their religion, that if a man meets his father’s murderer unarmed in one of the sacred months he will not harm him… If other nations obey a central government and a single ruler, the Arabs require no such institution, each of them being fit to be a king, and well able to protect himself.” The very fact that they had many Goddesses in their pantheon, made them give a place of pride to their women. Muhammad’s first wife, Khadijah, provides an excellent example of the independence which Arab women enjoyed. She was not only a wealthy merchant who managed her own business; she was also in a position to turn down proposals from powerful suitors and marry the man of her choice. Hind, the wife of Muhammad’s chief adversary, Abu Sufyan, was herself a firebrand who opposed Muhammad. She followed her husband to the battlefield and sustained his morale in peace. When Abu Sufyan surrendered Mecca to Muhammad without a fight, she caught hold of him in the market-place and cried, “Kill this fat greasy bladder of lard! What a rotten protector of the people!” The respect the pre-Islamic Arabs showed towards other religions was in keeping with their polytheistic tradition. Ibn Ishaq testifies, “When the apostle openly revealed Islam as God ordered him, his people did not withdraw or turn against him, so far as I have heard, until he spoke disparagingly of their Gods.” The Meccans made a very reasonable offer when Abu Talib, Muhammad’s uncle and protector, was on his death-bed. “You know,” they said, “the trouble that exists between us and your nephew. So call him and let us make an agreement, so that he will leave us alone and we will leave him alone. Let him have his religion and we will have ours.” It was Muhammad who remained adamant. “You must say,” he demanded, “There is no God but Allah and you must repudiate what you worship beside him.” Abu Talib himself stands out as an embodiment of the pagan virtue in this respect. He protected Muhammad to the end, without himself agreeing to renounce his ancestral religion. It slanderous to say that the pre-Islamic Arabs were savages devoid of religion and culture. INDIGENOUS RELIGION OF PAGAN ARABIA The muslim Shaikh Inayatullah writes: “The heavenly bodies and other powers of nature, venerated as deities, occupied an important place in the Arabian pantheon. The sun (shams, regarded as feminine) was worshipped by several Arab tribes and was honoured with a sanctuary and an idol. The name Abd Shams, ‘Servant of the Sun,’ was found in many parts of the country. The sun was referred to by descriptive tides also, such as shariq, ‘the brilliant one.’ The constellation of the Pleiades (al-Thurayya), which was believed to bestow rain, also appears as a deity in the name Abd al-Thurayya. The planet Venus, which shines with remarkable brilliance in the clear skies of Arabia, was revered as a great goddess under the name of al-Uzza, which may be translated as ‘the Most Mighty.’ It had a sanctuary at Nakhlah near Mecca. The name Abd al-Uzza was very common among the pre-Islamic Arabs. The Arabian cult of the planet Venus has been mentioned by several classical and Syriac authors.” Pre-Islamic Arab religion was however, far more profound. The Arabs perceived divinity in everything in their environment, terrestrial and celestial. The Minaeans, Sabaeans and the Nabataeans worshipped more or less the same divinities, mostly under the same, though sometimes differing names. The Arab homeland was honeycombed with temples and sanctuaries housing hundreds of divinities. Every household had its ancestral deities which were joined by those brought in by the brides. Every tribal territory had its own presiding deity. Finally, the national temple, the Ka‘ba at Mecca, had as many as three hundred and sixty deities, the names of which remain mostly unknown. The pagan Arabs were fully satisfied with their ancestral religion and felt no need for a replacement. In the pagan spiritual tradition people are expected to strive to improve their own morals by purifying their own consciousness. The prophetic tradition, on the other hand, harangues people to be busy with the others by saving them from sin, infidelity, and eternal hell. That is why the prophetic tradition abounds in missions, crusades and jihads. MONOTHEISTIC POISON SPREADS TO ARABIA Monotheism had infected the Jews some two millenia before Islam, after Moses had sold them into slavery to Yahweh. The disease later spread to West Asia, Europe and North Africa in the form of Christianity. It almost destroyed the Hellenic and Roman civilisations, spreading darkness wherever it went. The pagan Arabs, however, had remained unaware of the menace advancing on them from all sides. Abyssinia, their neighbour to the west was now a Christian stronghold. The Byzantines to the north were busy butchering pagans within their empire. The Sassanian Empire of Persia eastwards, was patronising a Zoroastrianism which had lost its ancient character. Under Judeo-Christian influence it had become a monotheistic creed, complete with its own prophet and holy book. Each of these neighbours aspired to invade Arabia. The peace which Arabia had enjoyed was a byproduct of this balance of power. Even so, several Arab tribes in North and South Arabia had embraced Judaism or Christianity and both Jews and Christians had settlements in the central heart of Arabia. The role which these communities played in the rise of Islam has been highlighted by Muslims scholars themselves. Most of the Jews and Christians that settled in Arabia were descendants of refugees who had fled persecution in the Byzantine and Persian empires. Arab paganism had provided them with protection and freedom. But the fact that the pagan Arabs were their protectors, was soon forgotten and it was not long before the Jews and the Christians started attacking Arab religion. Medina in particular had become a Jewish stronghold. Gibbon tells us that this city with its wealthy and vociferous Jewish tribes had become famous all over Arabia as the 'City of the Book'. Small wonder that it became Muhammad’s base of operations for imposing Islam on the rest of Arabia, after he left Mecca in despair. Monotheism is a cult of prophets and therefore its appearance in pagan Arabia was bound to produce some of its own. Muhammad was not the first of these. Prophets had arisen in Arabia before Muhammed. In Yemen, Samaifa had imitated the exploits of old Zamolaxis. He had hidden himself for a long time and then 'miraculously' reappeared, when a hundred thousand men prostrated themselves before their risen lord! Shortly before Muhammed, Khalid, the son of Sinan, had been sent to preach to the tribe of Abs, and Hanzalah, son of Safwan, to some other Arab tribes. In Yemamah, Maslamah had given a 'sign' that he was sent from god, when he introduced an egg through the neck of a bottle! Since Yemamah supplied Mecca with corn, the tradition that makes Muhammad a pupil of Maslamah has certainly some foundation. According to Ibn Ishaq, Muhammad’s enemies reproached him with having obtained his wisdom from a man of Yamama named Rahman. Musailima, who preached in the name of Rahman was himself called Rahman. It is also worthy of note that the prophetic utterances attributed to Musailima recall the earliest Meccan suras with their short rhyming sentences and curious oaths. According to Saif, he must have been considerably influenced by Christianity "... for he speaks of the kingdom of heaven…” Musailima had introduced Salat and maintained a muezzin. So there was nothing new about Muhammad proclaiming that he was a prophet sent by Allah. However, the other prophets had not aroused the fierce opposition which Muhammad faced at Mecca. This was because they did not disparage the Arab Gods, whilst preaching their monotheism. The pagan Arabs were not perturbed by prophets, so long as the latter left their Gods alone. It was Muhammad who made them sit up, when he spelled out the destruction of Arab religion.
POSTSCRIPT: Today the Ka'ba [from the Greek Kybos] is 'guarded' by the Saudi royal family, made up of inbred cowards and fat paedophiles. Fat Saudi princes can be seen around the world pouring out of brothels and strip-joints. So scandalous are the sex holidays of these 'virtuous muslims', that the king forbade his subjects from travelling to Thailand. They resort to bringing prostitutes for the night by plane into the kingdom, some of whom are famous 'supermodels' [just a cover for 'catalogue whores']. As in many muslim countries, young children are forcefully married to old men [we call that child rape]... Arabia Felix has become a land of misery.
"I summon my blue-eyed slaves anytime it pleases me. I command the Americans to send me their bravest soldiers to die for me. Anytime I clap my hands a stupid genie called the American ambassador appears to do my bidding. When the Americans die in my service their bodies are frozen in metal boxes by the US Embassy and American airplanes carry them away, as if they never existed. Truly, America is my favorite slave." -King Fahd Bin Abdul-Aziz, Jeddeh 1993" The above was an extract from "Victims of Yahweh: The Arabs" by Sita Ram Goel
My question was: would we want any future pagan majority countries to declare themselves as theocratic pagan states or would we want them to be secular?
Three votes were cast this time. Out of which two opted for a secular state and one for a declared pagan state.
Hrafnkell, and Brainwise were raised Lutherans. Benjamin's background is more diverse. They have written on a few occasions about the trying times they had to face when they were still Protestant Christians, especially Hrafnkell. So, I know exactly what they're talking about, because I was semi-Catholic myself during my school years.
Hundreds and thousands of Hindu children are sent to study in Catholic or Protestant run educational institutions in India. In these schools, the Hindu students who are in majority, are confronted with "sublime" proselytization; booklets and magazines are distributed about the greatness of Christ and Christianity and movies with Christian themes are screened every few months for the students. These films are meant for educating young minds about the ten commandments and about the origins and history of Christianity. I remember having to watch quite a few Charlton Heston starrers in which the blond actor appeared either as Moses, or some Christian good samaritan or someone else from the Biblical era. Short films and documentaries about the saints of Christianity were so frequently screened that I still remember the names of many of the saints and martyrs.
Before our winter vacations commenced, there would be a play in Sacred Heart's auditorium based on the Nativity and girls fought with each-other to enact the characters of Mary and Joseph. Selected students who could sing well were chosen to practice for the choir which was to accompany the play.
The school songbook had only one national anthem and one other song about the fraternity of all Sacred Heart Schools. It was otherwise full of Christian hymns and the Hindu students sung each of those songs with gusto.
There used to be an 8 page booklet circulated each Friday which was called "Soldiers of God" and which told us in gruesome detail, about how good Christians were martyred by professional gladiators for the entertainment of successive Roman emperors.
"Jesus is our Saviour" was printed on all official school documents including on official school photographs. Jesus was practically everywhere with his flaxen hair framing a long face and his right hand raised in blessing. Students were told to go to the school chapel and pray before our exams. The cult of Mary and Jesus had a profound effect on me and on the minds of other Hindu students. If you asked us what we thought of Christianity we would all agree that it was a religion of peace, tolerance and non-violence.
The above is a diabolical lie as I now know. Nothing could be farther from the truth.
I am proud of my school, let there be no doubt about this. Sacred Heart Convent situated in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand is one of the best private schools of India. It has its own websites and it is affiliated to the international brotherhood at Mount Carmel which has its branches all over the world. It even has an entry in wikipedia as I found out seconds ago: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacred_Heart_Convent_School_(Jamshedpur)
The standard of education is par excellence and the students (it's an all-girls school) are encouraged to pay as much attention to extra curricular activities and social work as much as their studies.
My only concern is the deliberate brainwashing even though it has never occurred to the parents of the students to complain and the Christian sisters who are responsible for the school's administration don't find anything wrong with this part of their agenda.
How many children and parents in India, whether their first language is English or not, have an understanding of what the term 'pagan' means? Do they know that Hinduism is a pagan religion? Do they tell their children that when episodes in the "Soldiers of God" portray Christians being put to death by "pagan" Roman emperors, the portrayal is of a faith which was analogous to Hinduism? Do they realize that as modern research on the origins of Christianity have unearthed and verified claims of early Christians interpolating their own history to justify their philosophical supremacy, what we knew all this time about Christianity has become redundant? In such circumstances, is it correct of Sacred Heart Convent School's authorities and those of other private Christian schools, to have lessons on Christianity in their schools, not only for Christian youngsters, but also for Hindu children?
I think the term "catholic" should be either stripped of its meaning or Catholic Christians must begin using some other name for themselves.
This time the topic for my poll was: the relevance of blood sacrifices.
Seven people cast their votes including myself. Results show that 2% find them anachronistic and want them to be replaced with other offerings to the gods, another 2% don't mind them if worshippers have the option to choose between blood sacrifices and sacrifice of plants, flowers and vegetables; in other words "green sacrifices" and the third 2% think blood sacrifices are intrinsic to pagan ritual and want them to be included during all worship. 1% disprove of sacrifice in any form and believe that praying to the gods in return for favours, or a Kharis consisting of libations, is enough.
Thank you for participating.
There is a new poll up, and I have enabled the multiple choice option.
Day before yesterday was Makar Sankranti (मकर संक्रांति)। Hindus all over the world including those in the south-east Asian island of Bali as well as monotheists in South-East Asia celebrate it as the season of harvest.
Makar Sankranti's agricultural significance has been celebrated since ancient times. Makar denotes the astrological sign of Capricorn and Sankranti denotes transition. The occasion follows soon after winter solstice when days begin to lengthen.
It is a time to celebrate new beginnings and throw away or burn old belongings from the past year. Young girls honour the animal kingdom, feed cattle and worship the sun. Tamils celebrate their new year 'Pongal' (पोंगल) on Makar Sankranti day. People restrict themselves from travelling on this day as it is considered a day for family reunions. Birds and fishes are fed to demonstrate our connection with the rest of the living world.
In India it is observed as a national holiday and the different states of this country celebrate the occasion in their own distinctive styles. Please note, as polytheistic cultures followed the lunar calendar more often than the solar one, the dates of our festivals did not coincide every year. Similarly, the dates of Makar Sankranti vary from year to year but always falls sometime in the middle of January.
Devotees taking a dip in the river
Worshippers chanting
Sweets
Tamil women from southern India celebrate Pongal
Kite flying in south-east Asia
Colourful kites on display in an Indian store
Plenty of sweets are distributed and eaten on this day and some states celebrate the occasion over a period of days. There are many mythological tales woven around the date and one of them goes like this: In the Purans (पुराण), important guidebooks of Hinduism, there is related a story of the relationship between the Sun: Surya (सूर्य) and his son who is Saturn: Shani (शनि)। Father and son donot usually get along well together, but on this particular day, the father himself comes over to pay a visit to his son; the ruler of the sign of Capricorn: Saturn. This legend is used to teach people the importance of the father-son relationship and to imply the son's role in carrying forward the legacy of his father.
In many states, the festival ends with a kite flying celebration.
In yet another myth, Lord Vishnu (विष्णु) put an end to the rule of demons by destroying them and burying their heads under the Mandar mountains (मंदार पर्वत)। This is another way of symbolizing the end of negativity and the beginning of new, positive thought and living.
I found the following in the scrapbook of a friend's friend. I've translated from the original Hindi and am putting it up for your reading.
A student from an affluent background was once asked to write an essay about poverty. The student wrote:
"There once was a poor family; the father was poor, the mother was poor and the children were poor too. There were four servants in the family and they too were poor. Even their car was an old, worn down Ford, Their chauffeur who was also poor, used to drive the poverty-stricken children to school. The kids had old, second hand mobile sets; all of them. They were allowed to enjoy different cuisines at restaurants, only three times per week. Their home had only four second hand air-conditioners. The whole family was able to enjoy luxury with great difficulty."
This is a conversation I had with Musab Ahmad in the December of 2008. Musab is a student from Iraq, studying for a Masters degree in Computer Science from a college affiliated to the University of Pune. When I had asked him whether he was a Shia* or a Sunni, he smiled apologetically and replied that he preferred to be called a Sufi. For those who don’t know, Sufism was a movement within Islam wherein Islamic beliefs were eroded by addition of tenets from pagan religions of the east, Hinduism being one of them. Sufi saints repeatedly called for harmony between muslims and non-muslims and were responsible for the growth of Sufi spiritual music.
During our conversation I asked Musab a few questions regarding Islam. He being a good-natured chap, I did not wish to argue with him and so even though his answers were unsatisfactory and he gave the impression of trying to wriggle his way out of having to state the truth, I digested all that my ears took in.
Now is the time to puke it out…to let my dissatisfaction out of my system; here, on my blog.
*Saddam Hussein belonged to the minority Sunni muslim community of Iraq. He is known to have persecuted the majority Shias during his tenure. Iraq has many sites of pilgrimage holy to the Shia community both within and without Iraq, including Iran. These sites are: Karbala and Najaf.
Musab Ahmad
Me: What do you feel about Osama and other jihadists? Musab: He calls himself a muslim, but he isn’t one. He is not an example of how a muslim should act.
Me: But doesn’t the Qu’ran mention the word ‘kaffir’? Doesn’t it say that the infidel must be put down at all cost? Musab: You must understand this: it is not just non-muslims who are infidels. The Qu’ran states that anyone NOT living his life according to to its rules, is an apostate. A muslim who doesn’t follow the Qu’ran is thus as much an apostate as a non-muslim.
Me: Your religion has much in common with Judaism and Christianity isn’t it? Musab: (Musab’s face was worth watching at the mention of the ‘big three’. He looked very happy that I had mentioned this fact) Yeeees! You see, all three of us believe in an almighty. There is practically no difference between Jehovah, God and Allah and between Moses, Jesus and Mohammed. Judaism, Christianity and Islam are really like members of a family! You can’t really blame us for using the term ‘kaffir’. I mean, you people (Hindus) just won’t believe in an almighty. How then can you expect that the term ‘infidel’ not be used? Its nothing to get angry about. It’s a fact you must accept.
Me: Then why do you three keep fighting among yourselves? Musab: Oh! But we shouldn’t. Being exact copies of each-other there is absolutely no reason why we must fight. We are so similar that it is only practical that we live together in peace.
(Hmmm…..interesting scenario. The big three will join forces to rule the world and will set up an action plan to decimate the infidels).
Me: Do you know anything about Arabia’s pre-Islamic history? Musab: They used to eat their gods!! Believe me!! Islam came and revolutionized Arab society (this it certainly did. Only, individuality was sacrificed at the altar of ‘herd mentality’. That’s how Islam won. HA!) Pagan Arabia had this funny, uncivilized religion which went for good.
(By the way, this ‘uncivilized religion’ produced worthy works of art. The art of stained glass comes from the near east and it comes from the time when Mohammed’s ancestors were still pagan. The Arab language and script were both well developed by the time Islam came along. As for the god’s being eaten, I will have to find out the truth. Eating of a deity’s flesh and drinking of its blood is one of the pagan beliefs which were incorporated into Christianity. Jesus asks his followers to eat his flesh and drink his blood so that they may become one with him; a ritual the followers of Dionysus, Attis, Adonis, Osiris and Mithra performed by consuming bread and wine which were first offered to the god. Bread represented the god’s body and wine, his blood. I didn’t find it odd that pagan Arabs may have had a similar notion).
Me: So you’re saying that Islamic terrorism or jihad as it is known, has nothing to do with Prophet Mohammed’s and Allah’s teachings? Musab: Of course not! Islam is a religion of peace.
After the conversation ended, Musab got up to spray himself generously with Indian and European manufactured perfumes. Content that he had successfully set Islam's image right in my eyes, he proceeded out of his apartment to meet some friends.
Gran, Once again I am pleasantly surprised at the commonality of our thought processes! Let me expand…
I used to be a vegetarian until sometime back. During that phase I was convinced of the right of others to be non-vegetarians, just as you are. My point of view then, and now remains the same. I think blood sacrifices should be ended; but like you, I keep my opinion to myself. I also do so, so as not to influence the voters into voting for an option out of fear of offending me. I want the voters to exercise their right without any prompting from me.
The first time I came to know how important blood sacrifices were to paganism (there are blood sacrifices in Judaism and Islam too) I was seriously put off. The text which informed me of this stated that “it is believed that the gods enjoy the smell of burning fat and bones”. I was disgusted and outraged at the opinion that elevated cosmic beings like gods and goddesses would find pleasure in inhaling the fumes wafting out of dead animal matter; innocent animals killed for the sake of pleasing them and perhaps in recognition of, or in anticipation of, a favour from the gods.
Soon after it also dawned on me that we were dealing with a different time here. During the days of our ancestors, poor people seldom had a chance of tasting meat unless it came from a sacrificed and donated animal, following a state or community organized religious ritual. In modern times, there is a ready availability of meat. This should reduce one point at least, in favour of blood sacrifices.
I used to think that when we seek favours from the gods we must be ready to sacrifice something that has an opinion. Only when the sacrificial being accepts the self-made choice of sacrifice can the sacrifice be legitimate. Do we ask animals if they want to die just because we would like one of our demands to be fulfilled by a god or do we ask them if they would like to be a replacement for a “Thank You Zeus for getting me a job” note? In other words I used to wonder if it is at all correct to kill an animal on any pretext. Sacrifice to me back then, was just another pretext. Why didn’t worshippers sacrifice their own hands, feet or their own children and kin? Just because our physiological appendages were of utmost importance to us and our blood relations would never agree?
And what about the holocaust sacrifices? Where, to celebrate the triumph of a king or emperor, the royal horse was sent to race its way through whichever territory it wanted to and once it returned, the area it had covered was forcefully brought under the king or emperor's control following which the horse was then allowed to be consumed by the flames of a 'holy' fire? To modern minds, the whole things sounds inhuman. Surely, something like this couldn't be allowed in modern times, not only because our kings are mere titular heads at the mercy of democratic governments, but also because animal rights groups would call for a ban on all pagan activity?
With my turning back to being a non-vegetarian I have downgraded my extremist position on animal sacrifice. I now think much in the same way as you do Gran.
Many pagans feel that instead of being killed in abbatoirs for general consumption it would be better if animals were sacrificed before being consumed. Others like us, would want that pagans opting for blood scrifices raise the animals themselves, treat them with respect and then use them for sacrifice. I am also of the opinion that old animals must be kept in old age homes for animals. Just as there are old age homes for humans, there must be ones for animals too. There, those animals which had spent their lives serving us by producing milk, wool and eggs and whose flesh could no longer be tender and thus palatable, should be kept till their last days. Forgive me if I sound too idealistic for my own good in this matter.
As for blood sacrifices, I wouldn’t sacrifice animals. But that’s only me.
Let us do only that which is in accordance with the pagan virtues of sensitivity and empathy. Only then, will Gaia be satisfied.
The results of my first poll shows that three people believe pagan deities from different cultures will mix and merge while another three think it is too early to predict. I'm happy none of the six voters thought that it is unlikely to happen.
I have a new poll question up for you to vote for. Looking forward to your response. Thank you.
Award given by 'Cosette', owner of the Pagan Reconstructionist blog 'Pandora's Bazaar'
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Cheeks
I am in the final year of my Masters degree in 'Defence & Strategic Studies' at Pune University. My religious denomination is Hindu-Hellene and I am part of the Pagan Reconstructionist movement in the west. I am a member of the SHA (Societas Hellenika Antiquariorum), in Athens, Greece.
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