3 Jul 2023

THE KILLING OF THE EARL OF RONE AT COMBE MARTIN



The Hunting of the Earl of Rone is an ancient ceremony in the village of Combe Martin in England which resembles the film “The Wicker Man”. Although local legend has it that the ceremony derives from the capture of the Earl of Tyrone who fled from Ireland in 1607, Survive the Jive demonstrates that it has clear parallels in European pagan customs and in Hinduism, which proves that the procession, the hobby horse, the fool, and the drowning of the straw idol originate in pre-Christian seasonal Anglo-Saxon rites.

30 Jan 2023

The Pagan Sites of Europe Remembered (31): The Temple of Apollo, Taymouth Castle, Perthshire


Built in 1774, the Temple of Apollo at Taymouth Castle was part of the Neoclassical affectation that was then rife in much of Europe. Was it really a temple, we could well ask. Perhaps not in the sense of fanatical belief, but interest in Apollo, even in its 18th-century iteration, was something of a cult, with a focus on the intellect and the arts -- a more rarefied religion perhaps. 

5 Oct 2022

The Gods of Prehistoric Britain


According to the historian Ronald Hutton, Britain has the richest of all pagan heritages in Europe. In a wide-ranging and witty lecture, Hutton looks at what we know of prehistoric worship, focusing on Stonehenge and the bog body known as Lindow Man. He also deals with the negative image that Christians have given paganism and calls it into question.

1 Apr 2022

The Pagan Sites of Europe Remembered (30): The Acropolis of Lindos


Following the defeat of the Titans, the World was divided between the three brother gods Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades. In book XV of Homer’s epic poem The Iliad, Poseidon explains the division:

27 Dec 2021

El Tío and the Authenticity of Neo-Paganism


Neo-Paganism is usually assumed to be some LARPy middle class hipsters dressing up as Druids, carrying out some fake and over-elaborate, obviously concocted ceremony.

Needless to say, that is not real paganism, as there is almost nothing authentic about it, and there is no genuine faith in whatever Gods are mentioned or supposedly invoked. It is quite likely that true faith is not even possible in a modern society.

But, still, there is such a thing as Neo-Paganism. 

23 Sept 2020

Stonehenge was Built to Amplify Sound During Ancient Rituals


A new study by acoustics engineers at the University of Salford suggests that the ancient pagan religious site of Stonehenge may have been designed to amplify sound in very specific ways. 

Constructing a 1:12 scale model of the site, with missing stones also represented, the engineers tested the sound properties of the structure they called "Minihenge." Speakers and microphones were placed in and around it, and then ultrasonic sounds 12 times their normal frequency were used to account for the difference in scale.

26 Aug 2020

The Remnants of Armenia's Pagan Past

Garni Temple 2014 (Photo: Pandukht/Wikimedia Commons)
Originally published at Armenian Weekly, this is an edited version of an article written by Knarik O. Meneshian:

[snip]

Armenians were initially nature worshipers. They worshiped eagles, lions, the sun and heaven. They called themselves Arevortik (Children of the Sun). The sun-god was called Ar (Arev, meaning sun in Armenian). Later, nature worship was replaced with national gods, among them Vanatur, the supreme god of the Armenian pantheon; Nar, the goddess of fertility; Nane, the goddess of motherhood, wisdom and family protection (Nane’s influence is still a part of Armenian traditions, for the people usually call their grandmothers Nane, Nani or Nan); Tir, the god of writing and science, which shows that Armenia had a written language before their Christian alphabet was invented in the 5th century (“a type of hieroglyphics called Mehenagir [Pagan Temple Script]”); Tsovinar, goddess of the sea; followed by Zoroastrianism and Mithraism, and finally Christianity, which inspired a flood of literary works, art, architecture, (though some features of pre-Christian architecture can be found, such as the ancient monastery of Geghard), and an assortment of other works in various fields. “Art historians have always singled out Armenian architecture for its uniqueness.”

17 Jul 2020

Pagan Art: "Thor's battle against the Jötunns" by Carl Johan Bonnesen


In this iconoclastic age, when statues are being toppled by people who have little understanding of history, it is interesting that this sculpture, which problematically features several swastikas, is still standing atop the Carlsberg building in Copenhagen.

18 May 2020

THE THUNDER GOD OF LEWIS?


Due to the cultural genocide of our pagan traditions by the Dark Age totalitarianism of the Christian Church, we have only been left with a few scraps and remnants of our ancient beliefs. There are vast yawning gaps in our knowledge, and to have any sense of our ancestral faiths we must spin out the little we can be sure of, with much conjecture and occasionally a little archaeology. 

Such is the case of the Callanish Stone Circle on the Island of Lewis.