Looking at the tapestry of time as it were, following Pagan history from way back in the mythic times, when allegedly everyone was a God or Goddess, or a near relative thereof, up to the influence these myths have had on our cultures today has been an interesting experience for me this week.
These Mythic times house the origins of the Celtic Tales of Ireland, and the Tuatha de Dannon, sometimes expressed through the book of conquests, or the Welsh tales of the Mabinogion, the tales of The Iliad, or the Icelandic Eddas. If you look into the right parts of the world, not only are these stories carried over from these mythic times but they comprise a notable portion of entire pantheons of belief systems people still exercise their faith through today.
When I chose to be specific to the mythic times of the Celts and Messopotamians, I saw a pattern emerge. There was a mythic, idealistic, perhaps romanticized time long ago, with people following the precepts of the cultures that grew out of this time, finding themselves suppressed by the Christian Church, killed or destroyed through war or the murderers of the Inquisition, who were acting under the orders of those who used the new church to claim power over others.
Soon, these other belief systems were believed to be stamped out. Though they had really just gone undercover, or out of the spotlight, like a seed deep in the earth. Eventually though, these seeds of belief, bloomed once again, hence the new spiritualist and neo pagan movement.
The picture above is an illustration from National Geographic about what the hanging gardens of Babylon may have looked like.
It occurred to me that the arc of the pagan belief system; idyllic, jeopardized, perhaps destroyed, only to return again once these beliefs were needed again are very similar to the arc of the Human life. We are born innocent, our world is idyllic, then someday, events occur, or people come into our life which can make us cynical, which can kill that innocent joy. All too often it seems, our spirit suffers and we forget that we as humans are more than our paychecks, schedules, and normal 9 to 5 days. Then we find something hopeful, inspiring, or really really interesting, and that spark of spirit and desire to move on with our lives is kindled, re-ignited awe and wonder can begin to grow again. The interesting thing about this of course, is that our souls, our spirits, our desire to live fully were never really killed! We just felt we had to push them out of the spotlight to get through our challenges, to survive, all the while they were just waiting to bloom again. So don't lose hope, it does all have a meaning!
Through an arc of song I'll try and illustrate that experience this week, Sunday February 15th, on Wheel of Wonder. Also this week, I'll share new music, ELECTRONIC music from an independent artist out of Seattle I just heard of known as Aradia. Aradia will also be a guest on Wheel of Wonder soon, live in studio, as will a lightworker and shamanic healer I've met. All coming soon on Wheel of Wonder.
One of the ideas expressed in Macy and Hart's documentary that I found worthy of note was the idea that wisdom for the good of people should be given freely to help other people, other souls, not made into a commodity that can be bought or sold, because that cheapens it, and takes its magic away. Another idea is that money is just a material exchange of one's energy and effort, or a form of gratitude for help that was offered. Understandably, there are expenses that need to be met in a culture that is built on currency exchange, but is being a spiritual leader really something a person should get rich for doing? Think about the cost, the insult, doled out to others who did not get rich or famous in the process referred to above, then decide.
