Name and Form

In a prior post I wrote about how Neopagans share the concept of Immanence with the Mesopotamians. In this post, I want to continue this topic with the Mesopotamian practice of finding divine in name and form and how that continues today.

In the Epic of Gilgamesh we read, “Gilgamesh prayed to the Sun god for help. The Sun god heard the entreaty of Gilgamesh…” For the Sumerians, the sun in the sky as well as its divine presence were called Shamash. For them, immanent divinity had both name and form.

 

Neopagans follow similar practices. In Wicca, for example, the Triple Goddess of Maid, Mother, and Crone is associated with the Moon. She’s also evident in Wicca symbol of the full moon with the crescent moon on each side. This Wiccan practice is a modern form of recognizing immanent divinity in both name and form.

Year of the Wooden Snake

Wednesday January 29 was the Lunar New Year. According to the Chinese zodiac, 2025 is the year of the wooden snake. The year of the wooden snake is about introspection and renewal. It’s a year involving letting go of toxicity. Inner work and personal growth are favored.

 

For readers who don’t know, Dark Paganism is a self-centric philosophy that focuses on honoring and cultivating the Self. We find meaning by looking inward rather than outward. Therefore, from a Dark Pagan perspective, 2025 as the year of the wooden snake is obviously exciting for it ties closely in with Dark Paganism. 

2025, the year of the wooden snake, has the potential to be an auspicious year for self-cultivation and personal growth. Don’t miss out on the boost you may receive this year in your Dark Pagan efforts.

Immanence

We Neopagans sometimes refer to our faith as ‘The Old Religion.’ This term was initially used by the early Elders of Neopaganism, who believed that Neopaganism, especially Wicca, was a continuation of an ancient religion that had survived unbroken over the thousands of years of Christian domination. Their belief came from the writings of early twentieth-century anthropologists such as Margaret Murray.

The belief of an underground ‘witch cult’ is no longer supported by scholarship. However, the term ‘Old Religion’ is still valid. Rather than meaning an unbroken ancient religion, calling Neopagan the 'Old Religion' is appropriate because it shares many of its tropes, beliefs, and practices of pre-Abrahamic Western traditions.

Mesopotamian artwork of the goddess Inanna.

 

One Neopagan belief that makes it part of ‘The Old Religion’ is its view of the divine. The acclaimed Assyriologist Thorkild Jacobsen, in his book The Treasures of Darkness: A History of Mesopotamian Religion, compares the Mesopotamian view of the divine with the Abrahamic. In the Abrahamic view, the divine is transcendent, meaning it exists outside nature. Meanwhile, the Mesopotamians viewed the divine as immanent, something inside nature. 

Like the Mesopotamians, Neopagans see the divine in nature. We revere lakes, streams, mountains, forests, and the rest of the natural world. It’s because of this reverence that Neopaganism is often referred to as an Earth-Based Religion.

The Four Desires

Many people, myself included, have been shocked by events over the recent years. Along with the pandemic, there’s been war, violence, intolerance, and the rise of the political and cultural Far-Right. However, the philosopher Bertrand Russell wouldn’t have been surprised. 

Bertrand Russell

 

Bertrand Russell (May 18, 1872 – February 2, 1970) was a British philosopher, logician, and social reformer, a founding figure in the analytic movement in Anglo-American philosophy, and recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1950.

In his acceptance speech for the 1950 Nobel Prize, Bertrand Russell said, “All human activity is prompted by desire.” He lists what he saw to be the four infinite desires of humans. Russell believed these four infinite desires were unique to humans and not found in other animals. The four infinite desires are acquisitiveness, rivalry, vanity, and love of power.

According to Russell, the least powerful of these infinite desires is acquisitiveness. No matter how much we acquire, we always seem to want more. We see this in lottery winners who suddenly have everything they need and end up going bankrupt because, although they’re millionaires, they spend beyond their means. 

Acquisitiveness, although potent, ranks below rivalry, according to Russell. The most famous example of rivalry was the space race between the USA and the USSR. After the Americans landed a man on the moon, they abandoned future moon missions. They had beaten the “Reds” to the moon and, therefore, saw no reason to keep returning, which puts to rest the claim that the reason for the moon launches was purely scientific.

W. L. George wrote, “Vanity is as old as the mammoth.” Russell certainly agreed and made vanity the next great desire. Many will sacrifice everything they’ve built over a lifetime if it means fame. In the musical Chicago, one of my favorite plays, Roxy expresses frustration after her acquittal when the press’s attention shifts from her to another murderer. Her vanity was so extreme that she couldn’t rejoice that the jury spared her life. Instead, she sulked because she was no longer the center of attention.

Russell believed that the love of power was the most significant of these desires. Everything, including the acquisition of wealth, is a means to power. Power is a desire for its own sake. Orwell captured this understanding in his novel 1984 when he wrote, “The object of power is power.” A person will live in abject poverty if it means that they have a sense of power. In Milton’s Paradise Lost, Satan says, “It’s better to rule in Hell than to serve in Heaven.” According to Russell, even pursuing scientific knowledge is a pursuit of power.

So, when you watch the news here in 2025, remember these four desires. Doing so will help you make better sense of the events.

Disturbing Trends

“Violence is both unavoidable and unjustifiable.” - Albert Camus, philosopher.

People often reflect on the previous year’s events as we approach a new year. I’m not going to review the past year on this blog. Anyone interested can find numerous end-of-the-year reviews. However, there was a disturbing trend that I think deserves attention.

2024 was a violent year in the US. Gun violence continues to plague America, as it has seen more than 488 mass shootings across the US so far this year. A ‘mass shooting’ is defined as involving 4 or more victims. However, this definition hides the severity of the situation, for it fails to consider that there are so many more killings every day with fewer victims.

 

Americans seemed to have gotten numb to the violence. To make matters worse, American voters elected a Right-wing extremist for president who has a history of violent rhetoric and has even been convicted of sexual assault. It’s almost as though Americans now revel in violence.

This celebration of violence isn’t limited to the political Right. Some on the political Left are holding up the murderer of the health insurance CEO as a hero. The irony that many of these same Left-wing individuals celebrating the vigilante are also opposed to the death penalty, even for known killers, isn’t lost on me. 

I find myself wanting to say what I think needs to be done to change this trend. However, I will admit that at this time, I’m at a loss for words. I will simply say that I fear for the future.

Giving

December is traditionally the time of giving. Whether one celebrates Yule, Saturnalia, Sol Invictus, Winter Solstice, Christmas, Hanukkah, or a social tradition, chances are you’ll probably be giving and receiving gifts this month. 

Unfortunately, we tend to associate giving with retail in our Capitalist society. While material things can be nice, they’re not always the best gifts. I’m reminded of a quote by Steve Goodier, 

“Money is not the only commodity that is fun to give. We can give time, we can give our expertise, we can give our love, or simply give a smile. What does that cost? The point is, none of us can ever run out of something worthwhile to give.”

If you choose to buy retail items as gifts, nothing requires you to buy corporate. I strongly encourage you to seek out family-owned and sole proprietorships rather than corporations. Purchasing from a mom-and-pop shop, as they’re sometimes called, might be considered two gifts in one. One for the recipient of the gift and one for the shop owner whose livelihood depends on your purchase. 

Whether or not you celebrate a holiday, may this season bring you and your loved ones joy and happiness.
Frater Tenebris

The Moon and Serpent Bumper Book

This is a great age for books on Neopaganism and the occult. It used to be that good books on such topics were difficult to find. Today, readers have access to many great books, and more are always coming to the market.

There’s a new occult book on the market that I highly recommend: The Moon and Serpent Bumper Book by Alan Moore and Steven Moore.

 

The Moon and Serpent Bumper Book (I’ll call it from here on out MSBB because I’m lazy) is fantastic. 

The book gets its title ‘bumper book’ from popular children’s books. It’s a giant tome of a book; it weighs over 2 pounds with a page size of 9.25 x 12.38 inches, which allows for fantastic art. The MSBB is a visual feast. Some art is reminiscent of Mad Magazine, while others remind me of Heavy Metal (the illustrated magazine, not the music genre). Other art reminds me of retro children’s art reminiscent of the 50s and 60s.   

Don’t let the cover art and bumper book in the title fool you. The MSBB has a warning on the back that the book is for adults only. This is primarily due to nudity and sexual content.

The MSBB is more than art and storytelling. It’s a fantastic starter for new magic-users. It gives excellent information on the Kabbalah and the Tarot. It explores why and how magick works. The MSBB also has numerous small mini-biographies on the sorcerers and alchemists of history.

This is one of those occult books that everyone needs in their home library.