Scattered Thoughts on Paganism

Paganism may have some value.

The Old Testament and New are a chronicle of a struggle between paganism (nature-based deities rather than one God over all and unbound by nature), idolatry (worshiping before statues, pictures, and figures as if the god is in the idol) and polytheism (multiple lesser gods) and a a monotheistic narrative about a Father God who sends His Son to redeem us. There are many descriptive lines in the monotheistic narrative. In my life, everything that is non-monotheistic or non-Judeo-Christian is evil. It leads to horrible treatment of others and children, for example.

I am not saying the non-monotheistic is good, but that there may be good that comes from it. One, it has rich narratives in the mythologies. Two, those narratives explain human conditions. Three, we can appreciate nature if we keep the occult parts paganism (tied into nature) in check.

And we can see the limitations of it and how Judeo-Christianity fulfills it. This is not new; C S Lewis talked about it a lot. For example, in Til We Have Faces, which has many pagan and occult elements.

Paganism reminds us of a time when humankind was closer to the soil, the sky, the sun, the rain the cold and heat. Just like the Jews were, although their arid climate probably affected their temperament and view of the world differently from the forested Northern Europeans or sea coast Greeks.

I am reflecting on this because this morning I looked out the window toward my bird feeder and saw a strange bird. It had bold black and white sections, somewhat like a zebra, and a scarlet head. The best I can tell from the Merlin app and Internet is that it’s a type of woodpecker—red-bellied, perhaps? The boldness of the black and white doesn’t seem to match, but Merlin says he was hanging around and calling from up in the trees in my yard.

I really recommend the Merlin App, by the way, created by the Cornell Ornithology Labs. It’s a lot of fun and educational; plus, anything that reminds us of the natural world is a benefit to us in this AI-infiltrated world.

I read an interesting essay in the Free Press about Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, comparing his spiritual significance to Emerson. I think Heschel wins over Emerson’s transcendent new age-ism. Heschel said, later in life: “Our goal should be to live life in radical amazement.’ I did that today as I took my dog for a walk at Rocky Face Ride Park in Whitfield County, GA. If you do not know it, it’s a joy to walk there. Here are some photos.

These show the starkness of winter although today was 65-70 degrees. My dog loves this place, but he would love it more if I would let him roam free.