Disasters

The news has been full of horrifying stories in the last few months. Rampaging wildfires, devastating earthquakes, and catastrophic flooding, to name a few. A detail caught my attention on a report I was watching about the earthquake in Morocco. The reporter said that many people he had spoken to believed that when a natural disaster like this occurred, it was because God was angry with them.

The idea that Divine anger is the source of natural disasters isn’t new. Nor is it unique to monotheism. Some classic Pagans viewed rituals as appeasing the gods to ward off disasters.

So how should we, as contemporary Pagans, especially hard polytheists, view this matter? It’s also an issue for animists, which many contemporary Pagans are. Are natural disasters the result of angry gods or malicious nature spirits?

Disasters as Divine Wrath

Some insight may be found in the views of the Greek philosopher Epicurus (341–270 B.C.E.). He’s most famous for his view that the goal of human life was the absence of physical and mental disturbance. That included not being afraid of the gods.

It’s important to understand that Epicurus believed in the existence of gods. He wasn’t an atheist. However, he believed that the gods are indifferent to humans. Epicurus believed the gods are so above us that we don’t appear on their radar. 

For Epicurus, the indifference of the gods is a blessing. Epicurus said not having to fear the wrath of the gods should be one less source of anxiety for people.

As a Contemporary Pagan, I hold that while the gods are indifferent to humans, it doesn’t mean that we can’t seek them out and build relationships with them. Our rituals aren’t based on fear but on reciprocity. We perform rituals partially to aid us in building relationships with gods and other spirits. 

I’m not saying the Otherworld is all “love and light.” Far from it. Like the material world, some Otherworldly entities and forces can be very hazardous and should be cautiously approached. As in the natural world, the Otherworld deserves respect but not our fear. 

Disasters as a Result of Malicious Nature Spirits

Animism holds that all the material world is full of spirit. Spirits infuse every tree, every rock, and every blade of grass. Might these spirits be the cause of natural disasters? 

Just as many ancient Pagans feared the wrath of gods, many feared being attacked by hostile spirits or demons. Texts from Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt contain spells and rituals to ward off dangerous spirits. 

It was only natural that many ancient people saw hostile spirits as the source of disasters. The natural world was a dangerous place. Predators were everywhere. Life was fragile and usually brief. It must have felt like the world was out to get us.

Today, we understand the world differently. Even when human life is threatened by the natural world, we know it’s not personal. Natural disasters are, well, natural. When wildlife attacks, it’s just following instinct. Even a dangerous virus is just acting according to its nature.

Each nature spirit has its own domain. Like the gods, they’re indifferent to the affairs of humans. A river spirit cares about its river, while a tree spirit cares about the trees. 

Also, like the gods, humans can build positive relations with nature spirits. I’m pleased to see more and more authors of books about magick encouraging their readers to build relations with the indigenous nature spirits in their areas. 

A point of clarification is needed here. I’m generally indifferent to insects. However, if I find one in my house, they have my undivided attention. The presence of a cockroach, for example, means all-out war.

While nature spirits are indifferent to us, it doesn’t mean they will stay that way. Humans are the greatest threat to life since the asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs millions of years ago. Because of that, we run the risk of angering the spirits of nature.

We better hope we never get on the wrong side of nature spirits. It will not end well for us as a species.

Magick Circles

Occasionally, I will read someone claiming that magical practices aren’t old. The claim is that they only date back to the Order of the Golden Dawn or to medieval grimoires but no further. 

However, that’s not entirely true. Many of our practices have ancient roots. One of these ancient practices still used today is drawing a circle around the practitioner during a ritual. This practice has roots in the ancient Near East.

Gods, Demons and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia by Jeremy Black and Anthony Green is a classic resource for Mesopotamian practices. According to the authors, the Sumerians and other Mesopotamians would draw magic circles of flour around the sick. The purpose of the circle was to protect those suffering from demons.  

Magic circles were also used in ancient Egypt. Stephen Skinner is the author of Techniques of Graeco-Egyptian Magic. According to Skinner, the Greek Magical Papyri (PGM) includes an Egyptian practice of magicians drawing a circle clockwise, starting at the east, around themselves at the start of a magical ritual. As the magician drew the circle, they invoked the four cardinal points. For example, the magician was directed to say, “I call on you as the east,” along with chanting certain vowels as seed words.

When you practice your magic, remember that you are the heir to ancient and noble traditions.

Here Be Dragons

This is the third and final installment in a series on the Hebrew Creation Myths found in the Old Testament. In this post, I address a Hebrew Creation Myth that many aren’t aware of. Unfortunately, this myth hasn’t survived completely. Parts of it can be found in Psalm 74: 13 – 17 and Job 41, which can be read at the Bible Gateway.

To summarize Psalm 74:13-17, these passages reference God crushing the heads (note that it’s not singular) of a sea-serpent called Leviathan and distributing the body to those residing in the desert. It also states that God opened streams, dried up rivers, and created Day, Night, Sun, Moon, Earth, Summer, and Winter.  

In Job 41, Yahweh gives a long diatribe critical of Job and bragging about His dominance over Leviathan. In it, He describes Leviathan as having shields of armor on his body, powerful limbs, breathing fire and smoke from its mouth and nostrils, and lightning flashing from its eyes. (In Job 25: 13, Yahweh is described as piercing a “fleeing serpent,” which likely was Leviathan.)

Destruction of Leviathan by Gustave Doré

 

Both of these passages are remnants of a long-lost ancient Israelite Creation myth. This original Hebrew myth was a variant of a Canaanite myth, which should not be a surprise since the ancient Israelites were Canaanites. In the Ugaritic Canaanite myth, Leviathan is called Lotan and is defeated by another storm god, Baal. 

This 3rd Creation Myth resembles myths other than just the Ugaritic Baal myth. In the Babylonian Creation myth, Marduk battles and defeats the sea-serpent Tiamat and creates the universe from her body. We find similar elements in the Greek myth of Zeus versus Typhon. It’s not limited to the ancient Near East and the ancient Mediterranean. In Norse mythology, Thor battles the world serpent Jörmungandr. These myths likely indicate a common Proto-Indo-European source.

Series Conclusion
In my book The Philosophy of Dark Paganism, I define Contemporary Paganism as “an umbrella term for various contemporary spiritual paths of Western esotericism inspired by pre-Abrahamic concepts, tropes, and mythology.” In these three myths, we catch a glimpse of another pre-Abrahamic polytheist mythology.

Ghost Festival

I thought I would break my weekly posting pattern and upload a brief post about the Ghost Festival across Asia this month.

The 15th day of the 7th month of the Lunar calendar, August in the Solar, is a traditional festival day to honor the spirits of the dead held in many Asia countries. According to Taoist tradition, the spirits of the dead can roam among the living on this day. As Buddhism was introduced to Asia, this date became ominous as the concept of Hell and the suffering of the dead was introduced. Now, this festival is more than honoring the dead but also to appease them and help free those in Hell.

The Taoist name is the Zhongyuan Festival, while the Buddhists call it the Yulanpen Festival. In Indonesia, it’s called Sembahyang Rebutan. In Japan, it’s Obon. And in Vietnam, it’s called Tết Trung Nguyên. These are just a few of the different names given to this festival.

Gozan no Okuribi on a hillside in Kyoto, Japan, occurring on the final day of Obon.

During this festival, family members offer food and drink to the ghosts on altars. They burn hell bank notes in China to prevent wandering, hungry ghosts from causing misfortune. In nearly every country, large feasts are held for the spirit. In some Asian countries, live performances are held. In Taiwan, this includes holding burlesque shows in honor of ancestors. The front row is left open at these shows so the spirits can have the best seats.

One Bad Apple

This is the second of three posts concerning Hebrew Creation myths. In the previous post, I showed how the creation myth in Genesis 1 is pagan in origin and clearly polytheistic. It gets more complicated with the second Hebrew creation myth in Genesis 2:4b – 3:24.

For brevity, I won’t repeat the entire second Genesis myth because it’s quite long. However, while I suspect most know the myth’s essentials, I recommend you refresh yourself. A good source is the Bible Gateway, which has multiple translations. 

Whereas Genesis 1 is mainly intact with minor modifications, scholars have determined that Genesis 2, like most Hebrew texts, is an edited narrative resulting from various sources and multiple revisions. Scholars label one identified source for Genesis 2 as “J” for Jawist and another “P” for Priestly. We can even see the remnants of a pre-Abrahamic polytheistic thread found near the end of the myth when God states, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil.”

The most common portrayal of the forbidden fruit through the years has been the apple.

A central purpose of this myth is to explain human suffering in an imperfect world. The Greeks also have a myth for the same purpose. According to Greek mythology, in the beginning, humanity was completely male. In the myth of Pandora’s Box, Zeus becomes angry with men and plots a scheme to make them suffer. Zeus’s first step in his plan was to create a woman for the men. His next step was to give her a box and tell her not to open it. When curiosity got the best of her, she opened it, and out flew all of the sufferings of humanity. 

In both myths, Divinity creates an item that tempts humanity and brings suffering to humankind. In the Hebrew myth, it was a fruit tree; in the Greek myth, it was a box. Interestingly, in both cases, there’s a patriarchal element; the woman is portrayed as incapable of following directions and plays a central role in causing suffering.  

There is an important thing to understand about the myth of Pandora’s Box. Pandora’s Box was only one example of the crap Zeus was often portrayed as doing. If He wasn’t portrayed as raping someone, he was torturing them. Therefore, in the Pandora’s Box myth, human suffering is understood as being the fault of the gods, not ours.

The Hebrew myth itself really isn't different from the Greek myth. What's different is the Abrahamic interpretation. Remember, in Abrahamic radical monotheism, the One God is not only perfect but is all-knowing, all-loving, and all-powerful. The blame must, therefore, be placed on humans rather than the God of Abraham.

The Abrahamic spin on Genesis 2 blames the victim. God sets humanity up by placing the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden. Then, when the first humans fail, which God knew would happen, rather than placing the blame back on God for setting up the first couple, the story places the blame unfairly upon humanity.

We have been gaslighted by Abrahamic theology for thousands of years. It’s time we say no more by rejecting monotheism and its toxic message.

Seven Days

“In just seven days, I can make you a man.” – Rocky Horror Picture Show.

This is the first of three posts concerning Hebrew Creation myths. One might think it’s odd that, as a Pagan, I would write about this topic. But stay with me. I’ll make sense when I’m done.

There are three Creation myths given in the Bible. There is the Creation myth found in Genesis 1:1 – 2:4a, in which Elohim creates the world in seven days. Then there’s the second Creation myth involving Adam and Eve found in Genesis 2:4b – 3:24. Finally, there is the little-known third Creation myth found in Psalm 74:13 – 17 and Job 41, closely resembling other ancient Near Eastern creation myths.

In this post, I focus on the first Creation myth involving Elohim. For brevity, I won’t repeat the entire myth here. In summary, Elohim creates the Cosmos and all within it in six days and rests on the seventh. If you wish to read the entire myth, a good source is the Bible Gateway, which has multiple translations.

One of the most intriguing aspects of this myth is that there are clear indicators that it dates from the pre-Abrahamic Hebrew past. There are two indicators in the myth.

The first indicator is in the opening line, typically translated as “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” The Hebrew word translated as “God” is “Elohim.” Elohim is plural and not singular. It was the name used by Canaanites for their pantheon of gods, in the same way that the word “senate” denotes a collective body of senators. A literal translation would read, “In the beginning, the gods created the heavens and the earth.” 

There is a second indicator of a pagan origin to this myth. Later in verse 26, it reads, “Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness…” Please note the two words “us” and “our” in this passage. Once again, we have multiplicity in reference to the divine.

Apologetics over the ages have tried to rationalize these details. Some have claimed that God is talking to the angels. But this would mean that God didn’t create everything. Others have said it’s a “royal ‘we’” as we. However, this practice is unique to British royalty and only dates to the 1100s. Some Christian apologetics have tried to explain it, saying the different personalities of the Trinity were conversing among themselves. However, this portrays God as someone with a psychiatric disorder talking to himself rather than the Supreme Being.

The attempt at rationalization can even be found among some scholars. On the Britannica website, the writers state, “Elohim is monotheistic in connotation, though its grammatical structure seems polytheistic. The Israelites probably borrowed the Canaanite plural noun Elohim and made it singular in meaning in their cultic practices and theological reflections.” Notice that they admit that it’s polytheistic in grammatical structure and that the word is Canaanite in origin. They rationalize its monotheistic usage through its connotation and say that the Israelites “probably borrowed” the word from the Canaanites and changed its meaning.

Most contemporary scholars agree that the ancient Hebrews were originally polytheists who became monotheists over time. The early Israelites were originally Canaanite pagans.

The evidence is clear. Genesis 1 is not monotheistic. It’s a beautiful and very Pagan myth.

Hedonism and Divinity

Hedonism, the pursuit of pleasure as an end to itself, is controversial, to say the least. Whether discussing ethical or psychological hedonism, generally, hedonism is frowned upon by most mainstream philosophies and religions.    

Left-Hand Path (LHP) philosophies, which include Dark Paganism, being a heterodox system, view hedonism differently than the mainstream. Life is meant to be lived, and the physical pleasures of embodiment are to be enjoyed. Joseph Campbell’s famous recommendation to “Follow your bliss” may be described as a hedonistic statement.

The roots of hedonism may be ancient. In fact, they may date back to the oldest written story, the Epic of Gilgamesh. In the myth, the hero Gilgamesh, in his grief over the death of Enkidu, is on a quest for immortality. During his adventure, he comes upon a woman described as an “alewife” named Siduri. While there is some debate among scholars, according to one interpretation, Siduri was the goddess Ishtar. According to some later texts, Siduri is an epithet for the goddess Ishtar (Inanna in Sumerian). In the tale, Siduri tells Gilgamesh the following:

‘When the gods created humans
they allotted to them death,
but life they retained in their own keeping.
As for you, Gilgamesh,
fill your belly with good things;
day and night, night and day, dance and be merry,
feast and rejoice.
Let your clothes be fresh,
bathe yourself in water,
cherish the little child that holds your hand,
and make your wife happy in your embrace;
for this too is the lot of humans.’

Some have speculated that this is a hedonistic declaration. In this view of the myth, Ishtar, through Her manifestation as Siduri, is giving Gilgamesh the meaning of life. Death comes for us all, so life is to be enjoyed. 

 

I’m not a scholar and, therefore, not qualified to give an opinion on the academic debates about this scene in the Epic. I will say that, for various reasons, I believe Siduri is Ishtar/ Inanna in this myth. And I believe the message from the goddess is to enjoy life and the pleasures of this world.

Enjoy life.