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| Witchvox Chapter: Wren's Nest News | Chapter Page Views: 54,881,331 |
 'Europe's Last Pagans' Worship In Marii-El Grove Author: Nikolaus von Twickel Source: The Moscow Times Title: 'EUROPE'S LAST PAGANS' WORSHIP IN MARII-EL GROVE More than 50 worshippers gathered in a sacred grove on a hot June afternoon outside the village of Marisola. The crowd, mostly women dressed in national costumes and colorful headscarves, stood on a glade opposite a spruce where men were busy conducting prayers. They prayed to Osh Kughu Yumo -- Mari for "Great White God" -- who was being revered that day as Agavairem, which means both deity of creative energy and the feast marking the end of spring labor. The women lined up in the grass in front of piles of thick homemade pancakes, white cheese, dumplings and brown kvas, the fermented rye drink. Pots and kitchenware were adorned with burning candles, as was a makeshift table in front of the spruce. The extraordinary ceremony testified to the little-known fact that an animist faith has survived centuries of Christian and Muslim hegemony in this obscure region 800 kilometers east of Moscow. | |
| Community Thoughts: There are 3 comments posted | Reverse Sort |
| Hmm | Jun 30th. at 5:19:12 pm EDT |
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Dynnys Derwydd (Lubbock, Texas) - Email Me Interesting article and it does go to show that pagan beliefs have survived down through the centuries. " 'We are not pagans. We call our faith the Mari Traditional Religion, and we are registered officially in the republic,' said Vyacheslav Mamayev, who oversaw the ceremony as the chief kart of the local Sernur district." Now I find that interesting considering most Christian churches would consider them pagan simply because they're an animist religion and don't accept the Christian Trinity. Hel, even I would consider them pagan. Just goes to show how Christianity has taken a word simple meaning "rural folk" and demonized into meaning "godless." I'm not Godless. . .he's right beside the Goddess where he belongs. Gnothi Seauton honi soit qui mal y pense, Dynnys Derwydd |
| What I Find Interesting | Jun 30th. at 12:08:37 pm EDT |
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Ursyl (Murrysville, Pennsylvania) - Email Me is that they reject the classification of "Pagan," having apparently bought into the idea of that being a pejorative term instead of a classification category. I've seen this in discussions with Native American Traditionalists, as well as with Celtic Reconstructionists. They have accepted the Christian missionary view of the world that Pagan equals BAD. |
| Paganism Survived, Get Over It!!! | Jun 30th. at 11:38:18 am EDT |
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MacMorrighan (Menlo, Iowa) - Email Me Okay, I'm not really commenting on the article. But, what Pagans must deal with is that *all* scholars do not agree with the extremist assumptions mandated by the likes of Prof. Ronald Hurtton in his earlier works. The medieval Witch Trials, according to most European scholars and their agreed-upon consensus, have found that the medieval trials recounted by the peasants retain faithfully the Pagan belief-systems and preserve the worship and beliefd-in the Old Gods. Among these scholars who adopt this vioew are: Carlo Ginzburg; Eva Pocs; David Lederer; Katheryne A. Edwards; Claude Lecauteaux; Anne Barstow; and Gabor Klaniczay, to name very few of these Profs. Even Kieth Thomas [Religion and the Decline of Magic], as well as Prof. Jean Seznec [The Survival of the Pagan Gods], adopt the view that the worship of the Gods was maintained thrpoughout the Renaissance period. Sadly, however, I was shocked to find that Prof. Hutton iugnored this view by Thomas, portraying such a view as though no one took it seriously, let alone advocated it throughout his "Triumph of the Moon". Of course, it is also important to note that Norman Cohn demonstrably lied about the writings of Margaret Murray in order to discreedit her. When Hutton was made aware of this, he refused to admit that his good faith had been misplaced. But, surprisingly, Hutton now accepts the European consensus, according to an article he wrote pertaining to the Scottish witchcraft trials (he merely differs on the method for diffusion) , despite having previously mitigated the importance of Prof. Ginzburg's work so drastically that it's not even funny! Unfortunaterly, this mnew view of Hutton's was not addressed in his most recent work on Witchcraft and Paganism where it would have had a far greater impact: "Witches, Druids and King Arthur"! |
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