SC - Old Religion Documentation, Please?

[Siegfried Heydrich]

    Somehow, I find it rather amusing that folks who will demand sources and
documentation on almost every issue will accept without comment or question
that the "Old Religions' are still being practiced. My read of the whole
Occult / Pagan / Wiccan / New Age belief structures is that the whole thing
is only about a hundred years old.
    Most of Neo-Paganism (and related genres) is, as nearly as I can tell,
loosely based on the old 'Golden Dawn' ideas (which in turn were largely
derived from Rosicrucian and Masonic writings), which Gardner picked up and
developed, mixing it with the turn of the century back-to-nature romantic
poetry and celtic mysticism that was in vogue then. Toss in a strong dose of
Crowley, add a bit of Rousseau, stir it up with some newly discovered
grandmothers, sprinkle it with a light coating of ceremonial magik, and
you've got a mythostructure!
    And ever since then, it's been layered up and built upon by every New
Age writer and theorist, from Blavatsky to Lady Sheba. Sort of like TCP/IP
and NetBEUI code, which has got about as many holes in it, and crashes just
about as often. And demands about the same level of hopeful faith, I might
add . . . In short, its roots resemble those of Birnham Wood.
    I mean, every year, you see the obligatory coverage of the 'Druids'
doing their thing. Those aren't Druids. They CAN'T be; Druids died out well
over 1,500 years ago, and the total amount actually documented concerning
them wouldn't even fill up a pamphlet. They had an oral tradition, and
didn't write things down! Everything is speculation and wishful thinking.
But that doesn't stop these people from believing they're Druids.
Personally, I think that if there WERE any real Druids around, these others
would soon be taking up residency at the bottom of the nearest bog.
    I think the closest analogy I can think of is the modern idea of
Vampires. There's an incredibly complex mythostructure built around them,
which picks up elements of Stoker, Hammer films, Ann Rice, FRPGs, graphic
novels, and a strong desire to dark, mysterious, powerful, and tragic.
Anything new that strikes peoples imaginations is added to the mythos. As
such, you wind up with a Hollywood composite belief structure that would be
utterly incomprehensible to someone from even 100 years ago who actually
believed in vampires.
    I had a wiccan friend who once confided to me that she 'had learned her
craft' from her grandmother. Unfortunately for her, I knew her grandmother,
who was so Lutheran that her favorite spice was Cream of Mushroom soup. I
asked said old lady about this, and she was horrified at the mere thought,
and she and her granddaughter went seriously around on the matter. Later, I
was told by her that 'her grandmother just couldn't admit to it because of
her oaths'. Ahem.
    So if people are going to make assertions like 'oh, yes, the old
religions are still being practiced', I would reply 'Documentation,
please?'.

    Sieggy


> > << I wonder where else the older religions are still
> >  secretly practiced?
> >  Hej!
> >  Olaf  >>
> >
> > Here. In the USA.
> >
> > Ras
> > )a practitioner)
>
> Hmmm, I was vaguely under the impression that "secretly" implied a
> non-disclosure aspect!  *Grin @ Ras* - I am not sure that you fulfil the
> "secretly" aspect of the query.
>
> Gwynydd