The Chad Pastoralist: History

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Having a family tree that extends beyond the 18th and 19th centuries helps to establish a sense of continuity back into prehistory, because we garner a sense of where we would be in any given generation. Some modern Pagans choose to ignore their entire heritage from the Middle Ages simply because they don't have a family tree. It's easier to identify with projected, mysterious Pagan ancestors than it is with Christian ancestors from the Middle Ages if one lacks a family tree.

However, if you know your real ancestors—your family lineage from the 1800s going back to the 1500s, 1400s, 1300s, and earlier—you know yourself. It is perfectly acceptable to identify with our culture and ancestors from the colonial era, the medieval era, or the Victorian era and still be a Pagan. It is perfectly acceptable to practice the habits and customs, and to take a liking to our ancestors from any century, and still be a Pagan. For context, historical Germanic Pagans depicted the Gods in the cultural context of their day and were—for the most part—men and women of their time. They were completely connected to their ancestral heritage, knew their ancestors, and had established forms of worship without having to think about it—whereas today, many people don't have that. This is why it is so important to formulate these things.

A notable example comes from Adam of Bremen's 11th-century Gesta Hammaburgensis Ecclesiae Pontificum. In it, Bremen describes the way in which the idols of the Gods were adorned at the temple at Uppsala. Óðinn is described as wearing armour and wielding weapons (which Bremen likens to portrayals of Mars). This shows that historical Pagan Swedes depicted the Gods in armour and with weapons that were modern to them in their day. The same is true for the Lindby idol of Óðinn, the Rällinge statuette of Freyr, and the Eyrarland statuette of Þórr, all of which show the Gods wearing a conical hat that was common across Scandinavia in the Viking Age.

Rather than viewing our history as "Paganism -> gap -> revivalism," we should be viewing our history as a continuum. The Gods have always existed, and the functional structure and nature of the universe has not changed. Objective reality (i.e., that the Gods exist) does not—and therefore has not—changed due to shifts in consensus or changes in cultural context. We should strive to live in the now and cultivate the revitalisation of Paganism: enjoy and appreciate all of our history and all of our ancestors; use the sources on Germanic Paganism as a framework to establish our own authentic forms of worship; form real groups; and revitalise our worship of the Gods and the veneration of our ancestors.

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To continue...

Having a family tree that extends beyond the 18th and 19th centuries helps to establish a sense of continuity back into prehistory, because we garner a sense of where we would be in any given generation. Some modern Pagans choose to ignore their entire heritage from the Middle Ages simply because they don't have a family tree. It's easier to identify with projected, mysterious Pagan ancestors than it is with Christian ancestors from the Middle Ages if one lacks a family tree.

However, if you know your real ancestors—your family lineage from the 1800s going back to the 1500s, 1400s, 1300s, and earlier—you know yourself. It is perfectly acceptable to identify with our culture and ancestors from the colonial era, the medieval era, or the Victorian era and still be a Pagan. It is perfectly acceptable to practice the habits and customs, and to take a liking to our ancestors from any century, and still be a Pagan. For context, historical Germanic Pagans depicted the Gods in the cultural context of their day and were—for the most part—men and women of their time. They were completely connected to their ancestral heritage, knew their ancestors, and had established forms of worship without having to think about it—whereas today, many people don't have that. This is why it is so important to formulate these things.

A notable example comes from Adam of Bremen's 11th-century Gesta Hammaburgensis Ecclesiae Pontificum. In it, Bremen describes the way in which the idols of the Gods were adorned at the temple at Uppsala. Óðinn is described as wearing armour and wielding weapons (which Bremen likens to portrayals of Mars). This shows that historical Pagan Swedes depicted the Gods in armour and with weapons that were modern to them in their day. The same is true for the Lindby idol of Óðinn, the Rällinge statuette of Freyr, and the Eyrarland statuette of Þórr, all of which show the Gods wearing a conical hat that was common across Scandinavia in the Viking Age.

Rather than viewing our history as "Paganism -> gap -> revivalism," we should be viewing our history as a continuum. The Gods have always existed, and the functional structure and nature of the universe has not changed. Objective reality (i.e., that the Gods exist) does not—and therefore has not—changed due to shifts in consensus or changes in cultural context. We should strive to live in the now and cultivate the revitalisation of Paganism: enjoy and appreciate all of our history and all of our ancestors; use the sources on Germanic Paganism as a framework to establish our own authentic forms of worship; form real groups; and revitalise our worship of the Gods and the veneration of our ancestors.

BY The Chad Pastoralist: History