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.

Lughnasadh

Last week was the festival of Lughnasadh, which celebrates the Irish god Lugh and is one of the festivals of the Wiccan Wheel of the Year. Lughnasadh, Samhain, Imbolc, and Beltane are historically documented ancient Celtic pagan festivals. 

Lughnasadh is not one of my regular festivals. Not because I have something against it. It’s just not on my festival radar. There are a variety of reasons for this. 

First, Lugh isn’t in my pantheon. Because my Patron Deity is Inanna, the gods of my pantheon are largely Near Eastern, primarily Mesopotamian, and Lugh is Celtic. I have several friends who follow contemporary Druidism. If I attended a Lughnasadh ritual with them, I would honor Lugh during the ritual out of respect for them. In addition, I have Welsh blood, and Lugh is the Irish equivalent of the Welsh god Lleu Llaw Gyfes, which would make honoring the god an option if I choose. 

Relief of a three-faced god from northeastern Gaul believed to be Lugus, the Gaulish equivalent of Lugh

Second, the Irish festival of Lughnasadh is historically an agricultural festival. Some Wiccans call this holiday Lammas, meaning “load mass,” the English name. While Lammas may have had a pagan origin, it is a Christian ritual. I find neither agricultural nor Christian festivals personally meaningful. 

Third, August 1st is a miserable day where I live. My city’s high temperature was 107f/ 42c on August 1st. It hasn’t rained for months and probably won’t for months to come. Climate change will only make this worse. There’s nothing about this date that inspires celebration for me.

I celebrate a variety of festivals. For example, I celebrate the four  seasons of Summer, Winter, Autumn, and Spring. While not a Autumn festival per se, my thoughts have already turned to Samhain. Not only am I anticipating the relief of Fall weather, but I also find the festival’s dark aspects, aesthetics and subject, very meaningful.

I also celebrate festivals such as Lupercalia, Sol Invictus, and Walpurgisnacht. Some modern festivals, such as Thanksgiving Day, May Day, and Labor Day, I include in my calendar. Of course, my highest festival is my own birthday.   

You, dear reader, may be wondering what this post’s point is. Why should you care what I celebrate? My point is that a person isn’t obligated to celebrate specific festivals regardless of their tradition. You can pick and choose what festivals, if any, you want to celebrate.

The choice is yours. 

Butterflies

“We are like butterflies who flutter for a day and think it is forever.” – Carl Sagan.

The universe is ancient. The scientific consensus is that it’s approximately 13.8 billion years. It may even be older. Recently, a scientist proposed, based on observations made by the James Webb telescope, that it might be 26.7 billion years old.

In comparison to the universe, a human life is a brief flash. The average lifespan for most in the developed world, depending on where you live, is between 76 and 80 years. Of course, being an average means that a large number of people won’t live that long.

Despite our relatively short lifespan, we go about our days as though we’re immortal. Of course, if asked, we’ll say we know we won’t live forever. Then we’ll shove the idea away and go back to blissfully ignoring our mortality.

If ignoring our mortality meant that we always lived in the moment and enjoyed every minute of life, that wouldn’t be so bad. However, it more often means that we spend most of our life on pursuits that waste what little precious time we have in this life. 

Don’t waste your short time in this life.

Memento Mori.

Different Dark Aesthetics

In a recent YouTube interview about my book The Philosophy of Dark Paganism, I mentioned that many Dark Pagans prefer dark or gothy aesthetics. Of course, as luck would have it, I was dressed in a Hawaiian shirt (hey, it was 100 degrees Fahrenheit where I live), which the interviewer pointed out. Still, it did give me a chance to talk about how a person should dress as they want and not follow the herd (a good save, if I do say so myself). But that didn’t change the fact that dark aesthetics are preferred by many Dark Pagans.

In this post, I’ll explore three dark aesthetic styles that interest me.

Dark Academia
Dark Academia is a subculture that began as a literary movement on Tumblr in 2015 but gained popularity during the Covid pandemic of 2020. The clothing style of Dark Academia builds on a romantic vision of ivy league academic fashion of the 1930s and 1940s. Fashion elements include tweed and wool fabrics, cardigans, blazers, Oxford shoes, and a color palette emphasizing black, brown, white, beige, and dark green.

Dark Academia interior design also looks back to the past. It’s a romantic vision of the Collegiate Gothic style with dark wooden furniture, books cases, classical era busts, and various nostalgia from the late 19th and early twentieth century. There’s a maximalist tendency to Dark Academia interior design. Dark Academia imagery emphasizes scenes of autumn and winter with a melancholic feel.

Gothic Academia is perfect for Dark Pagans who like Dark Academia but prefer a more Gothic or spooky style. Gothic Academia, also known as Darkest Academia, adds occult and gothic literature elements. The fashion style is essentially the same as Dark Academia; however, the color palette is generally darker, emphasizing black, dark red, dark brown, and gray with goth accessories. 

Dark Deco
Dark Deco is an animated style that Bruce Timm and Eric Radomski created for the Batman: The Animated Series production. It combined elements of film noir and art deco. Whereas art deco is bright and shiny, Dark Deco is dark, melancholy, and moody. Dark Deco draws upon German Expressionism and has been described as a sub-genre of dieselpunk for it blends Jazz Age with modern sensibilities.

A few years ago, a major craft supply chain rolled out a theme for Halloween that they called Dark and Deco that, put a spooky spin to Dark Deco. Rather than film noir, it combined Gothic with art deco. According to the musician Voltaire (and I’m paraphrasing based on memory), “It’s as though Jay Gatsby was raised by the Addams Family.”

Like Dark Academia, adding the spooky element to Dark Deco creates another variety. For the purpose of this post, I’m going to call it Gothic Deco. Gothic Deco combines the macabre and classic gothic literature elements from the late 19th and early 20th century to the Dark Deco style. In addition to the Gothic Academia imagery, Gothic Deco includes photography and art from German Expressionist films, the Universal Pictures monster movies, and the Gothic Academia art style.   

Dark Cottagecore
Cottagecore is a romanticized vision of 19th-century European farm life. Imagine the British cottage in the Welsh countryside. Dark Cottagecore reimagines this rural cottage motif into a dark world that Brother Grimm would recognize. There’s still respect for nature, but it’s less fresh flowers with bowls of fruit and more dried flowers and mushrooms. The colors are muted and dark. It’s black iron skillets rather than shiny copper pans. Less warm sunshine and more cold rain.

While the Cottagecore literary themes tend to be beings of light, Dark Cottagecore entities tend towards dark and sometimes ominous. In Dark Cottagecore, a character is less likely to meet a Mother goddess while taking a walk and more likely to meet a witch or a troll.  

Conclusion
I hope you’ve enjoyed this little stroll through some of the dark aesthetics available. I like to think that it might have sparked someone to create their own dark look.