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Traditional Greek Religion Survives?
I just got an email from one of the people, Jamil Said, who made a documentary called I Still Worship Zeus. It sounds interesting enough to mention. Apparently there is a growing movement of people in Greece who are returning to the old traditional religious practices (and some who claim to never have left). According to this though, the Greek government does not grant them the official right to practice this religion. I’m not sure what to call this movement, since there are a couple names being thrown around on these interlinked sites. It sounds very similar to a Greek version of Asatru, which is basically a revival of ancient Norse religious belief and practice. A lot of these revivalist religions crack me up because of how much they try to distance themselves from Wiccans and Neo-Pagans, seeing as they’re all doing very similar things, and trying to reclaim very similar traditions. Not sure if that’s the case with this Greek thing, but it seems at least worth looking into a bit more.
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June 10th, 2005 at 10:47 am
Greek & Norse Recon are probably the most well-known ones. As far as I know, there’s also Roman, and Celtic. The only Recon I’m truly familiar with is the Kemet/Egyptian one (www.kemet.org). I do however see a slight difference between Wiccan and Recon religion, but it is a subtle one. Wicca is a new movement entirely, Recon draws much on actual reconstruction of an ancient belief system.
June 10th, 2005 at 9:01 pm
my point is that both movements make liberal imaginative use of the old materials. sources on these things are largely incomplete. and no matter how hard you try or pure your intention, youre always going to distort it by looking with modern eyes. plus, a great many wiccans “believe” it comes from a continuous historical tradition
June 11th, 2005 at 2:18 pm
Oh yes, there I have to agree with you. We can’t use the information we have in the exact same contexts, it has to change a bit, to fit the world of today - a point which some people seem to miss. I believe Terry Pratchett once wrote, “This will become, in time, the axe of someone’s grandfather - no doubt over the years it will need a new handle or a new blade and over the centuries the shape will change in line with fashion, but it will always be, in every detail and respect, the axe I give to you today. And because it’ll change with the times, it’ll always be sharp.”
June 12th, 2005 at 8:07 pm
wicca,as with the new age,has always been with humans.as long as we`ve been able to cognise we`ve recognised shape and pattern in things outside of ourselves that match our internal state(desire.)it is of enormous comfort to have faith in big objects like 900 year old oaks and ancient hills and the movements of stars and suns and planets.if i was a person of faith i would choose to worship something as permenant and predictable and self-evident as the sun.it`s also an organiser,a photosynthesiser,and a clock.oh yeah,and it`s warm.
by comparison modern religion is a bureaucrat`s game.much like the game of lawyers and insurance salesmen.masters of selling bits of paper to the highest bidder.there is nothing substantial to any of it.the only substance is provided by us.