An excerpt from a book in progress.

Water sprites, Faeries, the Green Man, and Bacchus, are all gods and supernatural beings closely associated with nature. They represent the spirits of all—including plants, animals, stones, trees, the winds and all other aspects of this world and the Otherworld. Earlier cultures expressed their traditions and beliefs orally in mythic form. Today these myths are regarded as fantasy tales and, even though some of them undoubtedly were the basis for the Judeo-Christian accounts, they were relegated to a “primitive” category. Simply said this is incorrect and ethnocentric. The dominant culture or leadership always discredits the traditions of others. These “myths” are as solid in their respectability and profound meaning as the Biblical versions and should not be denigrated. These early stories are the basis for modern day religious constructions and there is little difference between them other than the change in the names of the heroes and gods.

The contemporary dominate religions today regard animism as a primitive form of ancestral worship, worth little more than a footnote in the history of religion. Religious historians and scholars, such as Fred Skinner, take the view that “primitive people, ancient or modern, make no distinction between the natural and the supernatural…They have no knowledge of natural laws or natural causation. Speculation among the ancients could not take an intellectual or rational form; it had to be poetic or imaginative.” (1)

I disagree with this analysis. To have ”knowledge of natural laws or causation” does not take away from the feelings of awe that anyone has of the forces of nature, the “behind-the-scenes” forces that cause massive storms or earthquakes or volcanoes. It doesn’t matter that a scientist can “explain” why something happens; the event is still caused by forces beyond our scope of existence or control. To know that something exists or happens “because” of certain forces does not displace the wonder felt toward these forces—nor should it. Nor do those explanations detract from the truly supernatural occurrences outside of scientific theory. The dominant theory that “cults” are simply less than a true religion is a continuation of that ethnocentric mind-set dating to the early Christian era. At one time the Eleusinian Mysteries were the dominate religious force in the Mediterranean. For over 2000 years the Mystery Rites of Dionysus inspired philosophers and ordinary people from Egypt, Rome, Greece and other Mediterranean countries until the early Christian church ruled it a “cult” and set out to destroy it. Likewise the followers of Mithras met with the same fate. Today we know that Mithraism was the basis for much of our Christian faith. Mithras had twelve followers, had a last supper, performed baptisms (in blood) and was resurrected from the dead—promising eternal life. Constantine too declared it a “cult”. Mithraism almost surpassed the new Christian religion and would have if Christianity had not been proclaimed the official religion of Rome.

Some scholars are blatant in their attacks upon other religions, which are not messianic, such as Christianity and Islam—although they all seem to “excuse” Judaism. Harvard anthropologist William Howells wrote, “it is quite true that we know their gods do not exist and their magic is hollow…” (2) What is missing in this assumption is that no one can prove if any god or gods exist, nor is it the right of anyone to say that they do not exist for a particular individual or group of people. The dominant religion normally espouses the view that only their religion is the true one and that the proof rests in some ancient record. Unfortunately these ancient records are normally compiled from the lore and mythology of older religions, which had suffered conquest and, at times, annihilation at the hands of the invading and dominant religion and culture.

The annihilation of the Goddess centered, and the life espousing nature- oriented cultures was at the hands of nomadic warrior societies that replaced the Earth Goddess, that created life from within, with a Sky God that created life from without. These nomads not only dealt physical devastation but also cultural impoverishment. (3) “Now everywhere”, wrote Riane Eisler, “the men with the greatest power to destroy—the physically strongest, most insensitive, most brutal—rise to the top, as everywhere the social structure becomes more hierarchic and authoritarian. Women—who as a group…are most closely identified with the old view of power symbolized by the life-giving and sustaining chalice—are now gradually reduced to the status they are to hold hereafter: male-controlled technologies of production and reproduction.

“At the same time the Goddess herself gradually becomes merely the wife or consort of male deities, who…are now supreme.” (4) Nature has become the enemy of man to be used and abused—not nurtured and respected. The ancient Hebrews continued this attack as they entered the Land of Milk and Honey. Not simply shepherds, the Hebrews did not just wonder into a vacant paradise but took it by force from the Canaanites, killing all living thing, including plant, animal, man, woman and child. The Canaanites were followers of the Goddess Asherah, also known as the Queen of Heaven, and many of the Hebrews also worshipped her. Over time the Hebrew priestclass could not abide with a Goddess, even though the Goddess and the Hebrew Yahweh had been worshipped side by side for hundreds of years. Those who refused to convert to the pure male-god system were slaughtered. (5)

The old myths were rewritten, as is done by all victorious armies and governments, to reflect the male dominated hierarchy. References to the Goddess were stricken from the religious texts, modified or accidentally left in tact, which has added much confusion to future religious teachings of the Jewish and Christian theologies for centuries.

The Gods of Nature, even though they are still with us, have been relegated to cartoon status because of the continued, albeit subconscious, rewriting of history and ridicule of the Old Religion. Perhaps the most successful mind control in history has been accomplished by the male dominated religions over the centuries—accentuated by torture, murder, slavery and cultural subjugation. However you can’t keep a good idea down! The nature gods continue to rear their heads in the subtlest way. Christian churches were adorned with images of nature spirits, new mythologies grew out of the old and were added to the cultural library. These mythologies created links to the Old Religion and still survive as folklore. Contemporary writers such as Charles De Lint continue to add to these mythologies and keep them alive.

The Green Man can be found world-wide in contemporary jewelry and “garden décor”. The faery can be found in every gift shop and their popularity only continues to grow. What is happening? Because the Old Religion has been part of the world and the human spirit since the beginning it continues to resurface and to insinuate its vines of power into the human existence—to keep the message flowing that only through the cooperation and respect and love of humans with nature can any of us survive.

CHAPTER NOTES
1. Skinner, Fred Gladstone. Myths and Legends of the Ancient Near East. New York: Barnes and Noble Books 1970, 8

2. Howells, William. The Heathens: Primitive Man and His Religions. Garden City: Anchor Books 1962, 6

3. Eisler, Riane. The Chalice & The Blade: Our History, Our Future. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco 1987, 52

4. Ibid, 53

5. Patai, Raphael. The Hebrew Goddess. New York: Avon Books 1978