Learning From and About Deities through Dreams

Dear Neophyte,

I vowed to try to find out more about my personal pantheon yesterday, starting again with Hecate. I think it's very important every once in a while to go back over the legends and such just to remember why you fell in love with Them in the first place. Hecate came into my life several time but I never understood the symbols till recently. As a child I had black dogs appearing in my dreams every now and again, which I now associate with Hecate, though Her dog is female and I get the distinct impression the one from my dream was male.

He smells Beggon-Strips!

I could just be wrong about either the gender or the association as well. One even told me it's name, though I won't repeat that hear for obvious reasons. The internet has nill to say about the name (it's a corporation name, but nothing in mythology). I still had all these pages pulled up when I shut down my computer yesterday (Ubuntu/firefox is wonderful that way!).

"It's called studying.  Trying it sometime!"

Thoth is the real reason for this resurgence in Deity research, as I promised Him an altar if certain circumstances are met and they were met so now I have an altar to a Neteru that I only know smatterings of lore about. Not to say I'm lazy but when praying for smarts one goes to a intelectual deity in the pantheon you are most familiar with so I went Egyptian > Brain Power > Thoth. He also helped come through on helping me get job in exchange for certain things which I am unable to provide at this time. I don't know if His role is temporary or permanent in my personal pantheon but once I get to learning about Him (and introducing myself formally) I intend to ask.

Fun dream to detail!

1st part:

I was at a New Seasons in Tennessee. An older homeless man (filling out every stereotype of the kind) had a pit bull puppy on a 2 foot long chain. In my mind I knew the puppy was going to spend the rest of it's life on the end of the chain unless someone got it away form the homeless man. I also though that the only reason the man wanted it was because it was a pit bull. Even though I was going to leave it alone I felt like I was being watched and judged for how I would react to seeing this obvious wrong.

Hecate loved your first, ingrate!

I go into the market and find a manager to inform of the situation. After telling her what is going on she acts like it's no big deal. So I detail the laws in Tennessee saying you can't chain a dog up unless it's on your own front lawn (which I don't know if I was making that up or believed it in the dream). The woman then walks outside to do something about the situation. As she walks away I hear a voice, which I don't know if it's my subconscious or the woman or the “narrator” say, “I'll go do what you should have done.”

Then the cat starts yowling outside my door, in reality.

It's 10:00 on the dot, feed meeEEEEEeeee!

As I'm waking up I hear a voice tell me, “Menet, the Everyday Woman's (tm) mouse goodess!” My immediate first semi-conscious though is, “I wonder what Renennutet has to say about that...” Seeing as Ren is the snake goddess of Egypt who is worshiped for protecting the harvest from mice. My second fully conscious though is to wonder if goddesses ever squabble because their earthly familiars eat each other.

Dream interpretation time!

Menet, Necklace Sacred to Hathor

So I looked up “menet”, “Mouse goddess of egypt” (and every variation of that phrase), “renenutet” and the like. From what I can see “menet” is not the name of a Goddess, but is the name of the necklace that is sacred to Hathor (who is a cow/lion headed goddess instead of a mouse). There is no internet information about any mouse-headed deities in Egypt, though I could have sworn I saw one mentioned somewhere and even remember seeing one pictured somewhere.

Honor me with wine, for I keep the harvest safe.

Renenutet is, of course, the snake goddess associated with protecting the harvest from mice. Her alternate form is also the Goddess Sakmet, who has a lion's head. Not sure what any of this has to do with each other but I'm still on the search.

Sakmet, Hathor when She's Pissed

Hathor, With Cow Ears

 

Dogs are Sacred to Hecate

While I was opening up loads of tabs for this search I started closing tabs from the previous days searching about Hecate and in doing so I remembered reading that She is the protector of those who live on the fringe of society... who's sacred animal are dogs. The realization that the first part of the dream, about the homeless man with a dog, may have been from Hecate shocked me. My judgmental attitude (even in my dream thinking this man fit the stereotype of homeless animal abuser too well) may have been being called into check. Perhaps Hecate was telling me that I cannot offer thanks to Her and insult those under Her protection in the same day. I've been encountering a lot of homeless people in Portalnd lately but I don't give them anything because even in Nashville they are able to take care of their entire homeless population so well that they now put out signs saying, “Don't feed the homeless, they already eat better than you!”

Don't look down on someone unless your helping them up.  Don't look back at someone unless you're guiding them.

Perhaps this is Hecate's call to me to be more charitable to those in need. I've been feeling rather greedy lately and I catch myself and though my greed doesn't escape outward, I do little to quell the feeling internally as well. This has lead to a greed deal of unbalance inside. I think but I don't say. I say what I don't believe. This has to stop. If I know something is imbalanced, and my job is to uphold Ma'at, then I need to internalize that understanding, not just have a superficial, outwardly showing. I think perhaps Hecate is telling me to reevaluate my greed and stereotypes. Like the voice said, “I'll go do what you should have done.” I should have done something for the old man, starting with giving him the benefit of the doubt. 

Volunteer Match, Website for Volunteers 

I still don't know what the Egyptian names in my dream mean but I'm pretty sure I have Hecate's partially figured out.  That, and all of them have snakes in common!

Salutations,

Sesh

P.S. All pictures except the meowdling cat are courtacy of google image search.  The cat in the picture is the exact cat who woke me up at 10 and interrupted my divine dreaming.

Amendment: Perhaps I heard wrong and the name that was said was Meret instead of Menet.  It's only a letter difference and Meret is actually a goddess, though not of mice. Still no mice goddess.  Meret is the counterpart of Hapy and is the one who recieves all His bounty.  She is a goddess of joy, rejoicing, celebration and dance.  If it was Her in my dream, well I can see how she could be the "everyday woman's [...] goddess".  Meret is depicted with the same lotus or papyrus of upper or lower Egypt and almost always shown with an offering bowl.  Maybe my dream is telling me to stop stalling on the offerings?

Alternately I got tired of trying to find specific Egyptian mouse goddesses so I just googled "Mouse deities" and Genesh popped up.  Mostly depicted with an elephant head, He ssometimes shows up with an mouse head instead, and there is a good chance that might be where I saw the mouse headed deity.  However, I am not Hindi so this is not a path I'm willing to try to walk.  Sometimes Deity calls to us and we are FORCED to answer.  Sometimes they wave a little "you-hOOO!" and we just wave back and keep going.

Gainful Employment

Dear Neophyte,

Thank you Auset(Isis), Hecate and Thoth for answering my prayers.  I'll keep my end of the bargain just as soon as I get caught up on my share of the bills.  Maybe even before.  Well, probably most definatly before.  At least part of it.

Till then, celebrating my first day on the  job with a libation of red wine to You and Yours.  Juice and wine in the Sabbat glasses seems a perfect way to toast the beginning of something wonderful.

And the volunteer opportunities?  Yes!!

Oh,and I"m  keeping tabs of the things You're asking for but it may be some time before I can get it all.  I'll start with what I promised and work my way back?

Love and light and kisses and some overly-long-jumpy-and-slightly-squeely hugs!


Salutations,
Sesh

Pagans Persecuting Pagans

Dear Neophyte,

I think I have a new favorite blog.  Each day Twilight and Fire perfectly words responses to situations every religious person faces on an almost daily basis:

"I also believe that people cannot be berated, shamed, or coerced into real faith. Devotion is meaningless if it’s only given out of fear or obligation or because “that’s the way it’s done according to so and so.”"

Faith has to be discovered for oneself and is deeply personal.  The trappings of religion are all just symbolism that makes sense to each individual person and is, in my opinion, why there are so many brands(tm) of religions in the world.

I'll admit this is the first I've heard of the "Pagan Pop Culture" scandal going on right now, though apparently it has something to do with people being flashy Pagans and not a whole lot of worshiping behind the scenes.  Something inside me wants to blame the human condition and another part wants me to thank Ravenwolf and Cunninham for their participation.

Years ago I was a member of Fluffy Hassenfeffer yahoo group who's purpose was to be a forum for venting at all the Fluffy Bunnies (white-lighter wiccan wannabees), sharing our Pagan facepalms and patting each other on the back for knowing the One True Pagan Path.  I'll admit that the part of me that likes it when I'm right enjoyed those days.  Now you'll find me on the fence about supporting campaigns like Pagan Enough and being partially glad that the Obsidian Mirror's author ran out of steam.  I miss the Mirror, I really do, but the adult in me understands that the wheel winds on and religious practice either changes or dies out.

On the subject of dying out, I do not have 10 fan bearers, nor 10 casks of honey beer, nor 10 bowls heaped high with grains and the best cuts of beef, nor lotus flowers of the sweetest fragrance, nor jars and jars of ointments of the most earthy scents, nor linen of finest quality and pleating, nor 5 naked girls playing sytrums, nor five men to kneel up and down as I go about giving praise to my Goddesses.  Nor do I have ornaments to adorn Their statue, nor oil to anoint it, nor a large enough naos to enclose it.  Heck, I don't even have a proper false door in the side of my house for others to come worship at, and leave their votive offerings.  Woe is me!  What is a priestess to do?

Evolve.

Either be a modern priestess in mordern times or return Isis and Hekate to their rest beneath the earth until such time as society is able to provide the proper garments and feasts and sacred pools as it did in the past.

Which have you chosen to do?  Think about that next time some fluffy bunny hops across your path, shits rainbows all over it and continues on to somewhere else.

Salutations,
Sesh

First Set of Exercises - Know Thyself

Dear Neophyte,

How can you expect to know the Divine if you don't know Yourself?  You are a part of the Divine and the Divine is part of you.  To know Them is to know Yourself and to know Yourself is to know Them.

"If though findest not withing

You will findest not without."

~ Paraphrased "Charge of the Goddess"

List of Exercises to Know Thyself

Your Good and Your Bad

List all good and bad qualities

Explain each quality, how it hurts AND helps you

Write about your life and how you can improve your life

Write a list of things you've learned and a plan to improve yourself

Questions of Faith

Think of questions you have about your religion and answer them

Define your beliefs

Personal Standards of Living

List your personal code of conduct

Read the Hopi Elder Words to Live By and write how to integrate them

Read the negative confessions- write about how you compare

Write your own negative confessions and plan to look them over regularly

Read about living in Ma'at and make a plan

Read over Random Acts of Kindness and write a list of 20

Mental Health

Why Mental Health is important when studying Magic and Religion

Anger and it's affects on magic and religion
Understanding victimization and how to let go

Starting the Day on a Positive Note

Getting What You Want

Make a list of 100 things that make you happy

Make a "green list" of 10 goals (2 lifelong, 5 intermediate and 2 immediate)

Goal achievements with affirmations

Mental Acuity

Develop a plan for developing Will and the importance of Experience

Practice Intuition

Read about releasing Karma

Practice the exercises for Getting to Know Nature

Choosing a Magical Name

Faith and Life

Read about Living Your Faith and journal the follow through

What is Sacred Hospitality and how do you practice it?

"What Women Should Have"

Define your "roots".  How can you strengthen and maintain them?  How can you put down more?

This list is not a be-all and end-all plan.  It isn't meant to be done in exactly like you see here - if mental health is more important to you then do that earlier in the list.  I started mine out by starting the list of 100 things that make me happy.  As of this writing I am on 49 and have continued further down the list; I add more as I think of them and will continue to do so even once I reach the 100 minimum.  The stiffness of creativity that comes with following lists in their exact order are what scares me off of most "101" courses.  I opted to build flexibility into mine so that I could work on this list while I worked on other parts of my studies.  That way I'm constantly working to better myself but also giving the lessons and changes time to sink in.

Salutations,

Sesh

Restarting Magical Studies

Dear Blacky,

Each time I go through a Dark Night I always fall off my wagon.  I understand what's going on and by now I know to take a step back.  Spiritual isolation is something that effects everyone:

Lonely

I give it my space and I take a break; I develop a new routine and when I do I find it very hard to get back into the swing of things once the Dark Night has passed.

Now, however I am getting back into things and I've come up with a new routine.  It's been so long that I'm starting over again just about from the beginning.  I'm picking up my Book of Shadows where it left off so I won't be copying down the Charge of the Goddess or other liturgy I've already taken down.

I have a LOT of information on my computer that I've amassed over the years.  I spread it out into folder labeled with sections.  At one point I had attempted to organize it all by degrees (as in a three degree system) that had me transitioning from Dedicant to Neophyte to Priestess/Witch and eventually developing my own tradition.  Since then my goals have changed and I destroyed the old system, but still kept a lot of the information.

First, never ever force yourself to learn something just because it's what everyone else is doing.  I don't care about things like divination or astral projection so I took these folders and put them at the end of the list.  I may get around to them someday but I know my foreseeable future so I don't need divination and I may be moving soon so I don't need astral projection.

How I Feel About Divination

I made a new list of only the things I wanted to learn: medication, medical herbalism, ritual components, magic scripts, and most importantly the religious aspect of this religion.  For the time being,and until further notice, I'm following an eclectic Wiccan way of going about things.  So far it's the most complete religious experience I have come across that resonates the most complete with me.

I Want an Altar Like This Someday

Latter on I can squeeze out what I don't like (as most eclectics are like to do and I'm currently doing anyway) and incorporate more of the Egyptian flare:

Kemeticism
Temple of Kemetic Wicca
Kemetic Reconstructionist FAQ
International Network of Kemetics

Most importantly are these links, which will take you to the Kemetic Orthodox Faith, led by Tamara L. Siuda (a trained Egyptologist).  The House of Netjer offers 101 classes in the tenants of their religious practice, the end of which entitles you to become an official member of the faith.  KO doesn't require you to give up previous religious affiliations, however if you wish to become a "card carrying member" (as some religions put it) you will be required to put KO first and promise to follow their leader's every word.  The second half of this is why I have not undergone the Rite of Parent Divination and been officially matched with the Names that created my soul and guide me in this life.

Kemetic Orthodoxy
House of Netjer Forums

So here I am starting again with my path, and during the last three weeks of school when I have so much else on  my plate!  In the next post I will outline my "Wicca 101" schedule.

Salutations,
Sesh

History of Witchcraft

Dear Neophyte,

I wrote this history of witchcraft about a year ago when I was starting my religious studies from the top.  If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to leave them after the essay.  You having the exact same history books I do is highly unlikely, so I sited only the online sources here :)

History of Witchcraft

By: Sesh

Gris Gris Bag 

Witchcraft is the craft of the Witch.  A Witch is a person who uses magic to bring about a desired change in the physical or metaphysical world.  Such magic includes health, wealth and money magic.  Folk magic is magic that is tied to a specific culture or area, and is generally local herbalism, charms and incantations to ensure good harvests and such.

Ancestor Shrine, Greece

When human conscious evolved to include a kind of religion, it’s thought that the first kind of ritual was for the dead.  Ancestor worship became the first religion.  Since the ancestors were real and able to effect change, it was believed that one could pray to ancestors for desired results.  Paleolithic humans deified what they did not understand in a process called animism.  Soon, nature and animal spirits were added to ancestors to create the first primitive pantheons.  What evolved into God/desses came to have power over the world around Neolithic humans and humans began attempting ritual and ceremony in order to curry the favor of the Devine.   Soon it was noted that some members of a tribe or family were better at getting results and they became the village Shaman or Witch doctor.  Thus is the beginning of Witchcraft.

Village Witch

In Neolithic times, early humans practiced what’s called sympathetic magic.  Sympathetic magic is the act of showing a deity what one needs in order to get the desired result.  This magic included rain dances and mock deer hunts to ensure the actual hunt would be fruitful. 

Hunter's Magic

Hunter-gather families became tribes, such as the Native Americans, that followed animal herds and would often act out hunts before they happened in order to achieve a successful hunt.  As tribes became communities and kingdoms, nomads settled down and began planting crops and domesticating animals.   Fertility rituals were some of the most common forms of magic used and ensured, not just human fertility, but also the fertility of food animals and crops

Heket

Early man took teachings and inspirations from nature, animals and the heavens.  There was no set of dogmatic beliefs at first and obviously no scripture.  Witches used Witchcraft to predict seasonal and weather changes and to find water and other essentials for nomadic tribes.  They were wise elders of the family.  When groups of primitive humans banded together, it was often the council of elders who lead the groups.  When chieftains and kings arose, the elders played a dominant role in the hierarchy as seers and mystics who used their craft for the betterment of the territory.

Elders

Shamanism is probably the oldest form of witchcraft.  Shamans, female and male, would use noxious concoctions and fumes to induce trances and visions.  These visions were called vision quests, where a practitioner would often leave their body and visit their tribe’s deities or ancestors on the astral plane.  These meetings would result in the parting of useful information that the shaman would take back to their chief. 

That's right: Magic Mushrooms, yo!

The earliest God/desses were a Mother Goddess and a God, who was a hunter figure, often portrayed with horns and other animal parts.  Aside from God/desses, there were many spirits of animals, plants and natural elements that were all deified latter.  To show respect for the sacrifice of animals, their unwearable or inedible parts were used as decoration around camps and homes.  Skulls, or instance, were hung on poles around the perimeter of a community to ward off possible attacks from other communities.

Rain Bringer

Symbolism is of great importance in the history of witchcraft.  Symbols of The Goddess were carved on cave walls and are the same ones used to this day.  In fact, the famous Goddess Position in ritual came from one such cave painting.  The God symbols, too, were on cave walls, often showing the animals He ruled over and who sacrificed themselves for food. 

Upper Left 

Life continued in tribes and communities for thousands of years, until more powerful weapons were devised and battle strategies were perfected.   Then chieftains united tribes and communities into clans, relying heavily on witchcraft to ensure success, and clans became a people and people became a kingdom with a name and one ruler.

King Author

Perhaps the most famous practicing group of witches was the Celts, who lived between 700 BC and 100 AD.  Descended from Indo-Europeans, the Celts were hunters, musicians, metalworkers, farmers and warriors.  Deeply spiritual, they worshiped a vast array of Deities, some adopted from conquered nations.

Celts, Celtic Burial

All pre-Abrahamic religions are Pagan.  Pagan rituals, in this area of the world, blended with Indo-European groups and spawned the practice of concocting potions, ointments, casting spells and magic in general.  These practices, which were held in high regard all over the world, were practiced by the Celts and became known as Witchcraft.

Druids

The Celtic form of witchcraft became blended with the Romans when they were conquered.  The Romans had their own way of practicing magic, which included the use of anti-fertility curses etched on lead for those who wanted to be promiscuous.  There were even laws distinguishing between good and bad forms of magic, bad magic being banned of course. 

Lead Curse Tablet

When the Christians began rising in power, the practice of witchcraft was accepted as being a practice of the ‘paganus’, or rural people and their non-Christian religions.  As Christians gained more power, and forced conversion became common in all conquered nations, the rural religion was banned, as was the practice of witchcraft, which not longer had a reputation of being usable for good.

Drove snakes, i.e. Druids, out of Ireland, forcing the Irish to convert to Christianity

In Europe, beginning about A.D. 700, witchcraft began to be associated with heresy.  That is, the rejection of church teachings.  Prior to this, some say as late as the 14^th century, witchcraft was thought to be a collection practices and beliefs that included healing through spell, ointments and concoctions.  It was also the act of dabbling in the supernatural, divination and clairvoyance.

Cause Reading palms is DANGEROUS!

Heresy was officially made a crime in about 1000 A.D.  religious leaders made an effort to end heresy and sentenced what they considered non-Christians to death.  The Inquisition, which was made famous in the Poe tale “The Pit and the Pendulum”, officially began about 1230 A.D. 

"Free thinking is bad for Church business, so STFU!"

The Inquisition was an attempt by the church to get the country folk to change their beliefs, but mostly did more damage to the church by burning it’s own followers, most off whom got on someone’s bad side before being accused.

Women were targeted in order to 'bring their gender to heel'. 

About this time North America was discovered.  Some went to America to escape the Inquisition and settlers practiced witchcraft for the same reason primitive man did- to grow crops and bring about a successful hunt.  Despite a decree that forbid witchcraft in the North American colonies, some colonists continued to do so.  Some of these rituals were said to help protect their settlements form hostile natives.

Witch Bottle, popular form of Colonial Witchcraft

Back in Europe, by the 1500’s the secular (nonreligious) court was doing most of the trials of witches, most of who were accused of human sacrifice and Devil worship.  Historians doubt Devil worship was widespread, though modern Satanists will agree that their religion came about partially as a result of the hardship of Christian doctrine.

15th Century Engraving of Devil Worhipers

The peak of the witch hunt came in the 1500s and early 1600.  Many said witches weren’t practitioners of any kind of Witch’s craft, but were tortured until they confessed.  Even if they confessed, they still faced torture, banishment and execution.  Even in New England, America, trials were being conducted into the early 1700s.

Salem Witch Trials

         As a result of the with hunt, which didn’t actually get many witches, witchcraft and the Pagan religions had to go underground or risk getting caught. Some formed secret societies, others died out.  Though there is little proof, it’s nice to think that those who claim hereditary descendant of an ancient branch of witchcraft might be telling the truth.  Perhaps they are, maybe not.  Folk magic, a form of witchcraft, has been practiced around the world as hearth craft for eons and is usually passed on from parent to offspring as family tradition.  Making soup for a sick loved one, for instance, could be considered witchcraft.

Magic in  Bowl, Mm-mm Good!

In modern times, the reemergence of witchcraft for the modern public began with Gerald Garner in 1954 when he started a new religion: Wicca.  Though Garner believed he had been initiated into a line of witches that went strait back to the ancient days, there is irrefutable evidence that most of his material was culled from different secret societies, brotherhoods and lodges.

Freemasons are a (not so) Secret Society that Practices 'Witchcraft' by Modern Definitions of the Term

Because of the need for a more interactive religion, as well as reverence for the Mother Earth (the concept as Gianims), Neo-Paganism and the practice of witchcraft quickly took off.  Garner’s book “The Meaning of Witchcraft” became the basis for the modern movement of religious witchcraft.  We’ve come full circle with our Neolithic forbearers. 

Gaia

The modern practice of witchcraft has spread from Britain to the US and Ireland and from the UK to the rest of Europe.  Even Canada, Australia and Asia.  In the past books have helped spread the word, but now the Internet is the most prolific instrument for the reemergence of this truly ancient practice.

The Witches Voice (Witchvox) Website

To this day we are seeing the reemergence of more and more varied traditions of witchcraft.  What in the past were only interesting snippets of folklore and family tradition are being given new and greater meaning by a new generation of Witches.

And I don't Care What they Come to Circle Wearing!

Sources
http://ca.essortment.com/historyofmagi_rsav.htm

http://www.angelfire.com/realm2/amethystbt/witchcrafthistory.html

http://www.satanic-kindred.org/history.htm

Salutations,

Sesh

This short essay was written a year or so ago after I did research to better understand the history of my religion.  I have an insatiable need to go digging about and figuring out how and why things turned out the way they did.  This is one of the many things that lead me to study anthropology in college. 

This history goes back threw the timeline that most Americans will find more useful.  America > Britain > Roman/Egyptian > Cro-Magnon > Primitive.  I left out most of the native spiritualities that are present around the world.  Attempting to write a history that detailed would be a lifetimes worth of research :)

History of Paganism

By: Sesh

          Paganism is an umbrella term that means any religion that didn’t come from Abraham – anything besides Christian, Islamic, Jewish or Muslim (which are all descended from the same teachings).  Paganism is the world’s oldest religious practice, dating back to the dawn of human conscious, and going forward into the present day and into the future.  Even though the Abrahamic religions did much to exterminate Paganism in their areas of the world, there are many religions that were never touched or influenced by them, such as Hinduism, Native American beliefs and Shintoism.

Ancient Burial Mounds

          Pagans are people whose practices are usually based around the primal and personal aspects of life.   These practices are used today as they have always been: to ensure plentiful food, wealth, safety, health and fertility.  

  

To ancient peoples, everything had a spirit and every spirit had a purpose.  Archeologists say even primitive humans had a concept of the afterlife that sprang up about the time the first recorded religious practice did. 

Ancestor worship is probably one of the first religions in the world.  Ancient cultures began to see death as a transition and sets of beliefs sprang up to theorize what happened to the human psyche when the body died.  From primitive cultures to ancient times humans believed in life after death and the ability of the dead to influence us today.  The Ancient Egyptians and Romans held such beliefs.  The latter of who borrowed heavily from the Greek and Etruscans.  Modern cultural religions that still follow this belief include the Japanese, Chinese, Native American and most of the indigenous African religions.

Shamanistic Medicine Man

          Another of the oldest forms of religion is animism and shamanism.  Humans were afraid and became reverent of the animals in their everyday world.  Traces of animism survived primitive times and were continued into ancient cultures and then onward into modern cultures.  Osiris and Jehovah were worshiped as Bulls; Jesus was the Lamb of God; most Egyptian gods had animal counterparts, and the Holy Spirit of Christianity was a Dove and Shamans work with and invoke animal spirits.

As humanity realized it could plan crops and grow food, rites and superstitions developed around agriculture.  This lead to the rising of the first Deity, a fertility Goddess.  Examples of early Goddesses include Venus of Willindworf and the Willendworf Goddess.  It was though that women alone held the power of fertility and so the first God to be worshiped was actually a Goddess.  It wasn’t till much later than men realized that *ahem* they had a hand in the process.

Venus of Willendorf

             The earliest religious symbols were found in Kalahari Dessert in Botswana and Willendorf Austria.  A famous image amongst modern pagans, the figure from Austria shows a woman who is obviously well fed and maybe pregnant.  This statue, thought to be an ancient fertility or crop Goddess, and is also though to be a magical talisman.  The shape of the statue, and the implications behind how someone could also look that way, is though to be a plea to the early Deity of Willendorf for as much food and fertility.

The carved head of a python found in the Kalahari Dessert dates to 70,000 years ago and has recently been discovered to be the oldest religious artifact in human history.  This supports the theory that animism and animal worship was the world’s first religion.

Sympathetic magic is probably the oldest magic known to date.  Examples, such as rain dances, are still used to this day.  The stamping of the feet symbolizes the rain batting the ground.  Great importance was put on using sympathetic magic in hunts, fertility rights and to make crops grown.  Anyone familiar with the Arthurian legends will recognize the last vestments of the ancient fertility and hunting rites in the way Author came to impregnate his half-sister.

As groups of people moved from being hunter-gatherer tribes and settled into agrarian cultures, people started making offerings and working religious rites in honor of the spirits who rules over crops and wealth.  This is the beginning of true religion.  These Deities were though to be separate entities, and not just archetypical stereotypes.   The names of early Gods and Goddesses are lost to us, but other ancient deities (i.e. Celtic, Egyptian and Roman) are well known and worshiped to this day. 

Deities became a part of everyday life for ancient cultures around the world.  Emphasis was put on appeasing and appealing to these Deities for everything from finding lost objects to getting a good mate.  As man-made occurrences such as war and marriage came to exist, more and more specialized Deities evolved. 

The evolution of Deities can be traced back for thousands of years, threw names and associations- even from one culture to another.  During the Hellenistic period in Egypt, for instance, swapped Deities quite often.  New names evolved from the combination of two cultures religions and Gods such as Serapis were created.

Makes this Guy... Somehow

This Guy

Plus This Guy

There was a Deity for everything and everything had a Deity.  Every house and family had their shrines to household guardians and ancestors.  Eventually, these God/desses began to take on other responsibility that was sympathetic to their original aspect.  The rain, for instance, came to clean not just the body but the spirit and soul.  God/desses were given names and personified.  Along with war and marriage, crafts and cooking and government came to have their own God/desses.

Selu, Corn Woman

Beliefs started to vary between groups of humans around the time the Deities started taking on names and specialized priesthoods.  Agro-tribes met other agro-tribes and settled into communities.  With their shared knowledge, helping hands and their religious practices, lifespan lengthened, disease took a back seat and language and writing developed.  Communities became towns and towns became races and races became kingdoms.

             Whenever one country would invade another they would do one of three things: Adopt the loosing countries God/desses (as in the previous Serapis example) and blend them with their own, quench the native religion or allow the current Deities to be worshiped, but erect temples to their Gods.  The Romans were such victors.  They would allow a current population to worship their own but demanded they pay homage to Roman Deities.

Egyptians, Not Christians, Invented Monotheism

            A notable major religious revolution happened around this time in history.  Ankanatan attempted to unite all of Egypt under one All-Powerful God – the Atan.  He at first though to gradually replace the traditional Deities with his One Deity.  Latter all the temples of other Deities were closed and their priesthoods disbanded.  However, after Atenatens death, the polytheism returned to Egypt. 

            Several theories suggest that the Christian religion is a continuation of the religion of the All Powerful Aten.  Latter it is though that Mary and Jesus were taken from Isis and Horus the Savior.  Since the Christians did not believe other Gods existed they refused to pay homage to Roman God/desses.  They weren’t persecuted, as so many believed, for being Christian; they were punished for disobeying the law. 

Can I have What's Behind Door Number 2?

              For a long time the Romans hesitated to do anything to Christians.  But for their insistence that there was only one God, the Romans would have left them along.  This threatened the stability of religion in the Roman’s vast empire.  One thing that kept native people placated was the right to worship their own Gods.  Christianity threatened to take that right away from the people.  Also, with their refusal to perform ruler worship to the current Emperor, they were being disloyal subjects and were punished thus.

               How the Christians became so powerful is a matter of study.  Without going into those details, one theory suggests it was the Christians willingness to become martyrs for their God that willingly converted enough followers that eventually rulers were converted.   Another is that the Christians did what the Romans before them had done and gradually took over the ancient spots of worship and either replaced those Dieties with the Christian pantheon or adopted those Deities and latter declared the old worship of those same Deities as against the new religion.

Celtic Goddess turned Christian Saint

              Constantine I (Emperor of Rome) was the first Roman ruler to convert to Christianity and lift the bans on that religion.  Shortly after Christianity was declaired the official state religoin of Rome.  As a result, Christianity spread threw the wold whiping out and persecuting Pagans as far as they were able to reach.  Only a few places excaped such forced conversion and millions of pepole died.  As a result, many religions went underground or moved to other locations.  America, for instance, seems to be a melting pot of folk religion from Germany, England, China and all over the world.  

            Most of these underground religions died, but enough of some of them survived.  Secred societies were able to take them up and use them to compliment already existing practices.  Freemasons, The Order of the Golden Dawn, Bavarian Order of Illuminati, Ordo Templi Orientis (Crowley’s Group) and many, many others.

Though there aren’t any proven links to ancient Celtic, Italian, etc relgions,  bits and pieces have survied in one form or another.

          In England in Elizabeth’s day John Dee, a phychic, practiced witchcraft openly and in the 16^th century Charles Leland claimed to have gotten “The Gospel of the Witch” from an Italian witch who’s practices, she claimed, survieved the Burning Times.

Colonel Sanders?
Nope, Try Again

          In the ‘50s the last of England’s witchcraft laws were repealed and Gerald Garner started Wicca.   This brought Paganism into the light again and thoes hungering for a religion that accepts our connection and oneness with nature quicly took the idea and ran with it.  Garner is the father of the moder Neo-Pagan movement and modern practitioners are still writing the history.

          In 1955 the last of the Witchcraft laws in England were repealed.  This allowed thoes who had been practicing these religions threw secret societies or in small clutters of folk religion to come forward into the light.  This allowed validation for thoes who have always felt that Abrahamic religions were not sufficient, to shop around for a religious experience that appeals to them. 

          In 1985 Wicca was given legal status in the United States.  America, being the land of consumerism, ate it up by the doses.  The earliest recorded non-Wiccan Pagan religion was the Neo-Pagan group called the Temple of Aphrodite in Rhode Island.  Structured Paganism filled a very real need for a more personal and deep spirituality amongs the Americans.  It also allowed us to connect with our non-American roots.  As a country that is a melting pot of all the countries of the world, we don’t have firmly established roots as a country and therefor are missing out own indiginous religion.

          Neo-Paganism differs from Paganism as one is a moder reconstruction of the ancient religions and the other is a continuation of the ancient religions.

Modern Paganism includes the following list:

Secret Societies – Bits and pieces of ancient religious parctice combined with information from modern sources.  Most are eclectic and borrow tradition from a variety of sources and are heavily reliant on symbolisn and internal alchemy.

Reconstructionists – Piecing together a true and acurate ancient religion and bringing thoes practices forth into the modern age.  Two kinds of reconstructionist types exists: One that is attempting to bring forth ancient religions without changing the religion or faith at all (example includes Kemetic Orthodox Faith).  The other is attempting to use ancient practices but change them to reflect changes to modern society (example includes the Isian faith).  Examples include debating animal sacrifice’s place in modern religion.

Buddhist Nuns Praying

Neo-Paganism – Constructing a very general religion based on bits and pieces of ancient relgions cobled together from various sources.  Neopaganism started with the Wiccan religion, but has since branched out to mean any modern-day reconstruction-type religion that is following ancient practices but not from any specific ancient religion.

Pagans – Religions which have not be influenced by the persecution of non-Abrahamic faith and have continued threw hundreds, if not thousands of years.  Native American spiritualities and Hinduism are amongst these. 

Sources

1. Paganism: Past and Present
2. Serapis
3. History of Ordo Templi Orientis
4. Aradia, or Gospel of the Witches
5. Constantine the Great (Constantine I)
6. Venus of Willendorf
7. Blunt use of Search Engines
8. Oldest Known Religious Object - Carved Python Head
9. Anhenaten and Atenism
10. Witchvox: History of Paganism in America