Pagan’s don’t exist.
Pagan is a term placed upon something that didn’t bother to really call itself anything because it was the default state of how people lived their life. You weren’t Pagan you were Athenian, You were Frankish, You were Rus, You w… you get my point.
No one from the time would’ve thought of their beliefs as such. It was just what they were, who they were, who their community was. The Gods were something else.
-For shorthand I will use the term “Pagan”, for Pre/non-Christian beliefs of various peoples for the duration of this article because typing “Pre/non-Christian Beliefs of insert group” is going to get old fast.-
One could be what we call a “Greek Pagan” and functionally venerate no Gods. The Cult of Poseidon, of Apollo, of Artemis, was something else.
This is the fundamental flaw of all modern pagan revivals. Because the function of Paganism is not the veneration of the Norse Gods, Hindu Gods, Shinto Gods, Greco-Roman Gods. Those were and are aspects of incredibly complex and varied cultures. Who had/have a “Way of Being” that was distinct to them.
Most modern pagan faiths skip this entirely, they have none of the foundation that allows one to be pagan, they only wear the skin of doing so.
This is where the grand third element of the culture comes into play. That of Secularization, Modernization and Deracination. After immense advancements, great movements of population, the splitting up of families by geography, work, school etc. What was once a default way of being is now comprised not of a shared life or cultural inheritance but of Pop Culture, Dogmas Dictated from the Classroom Slideshow and an arrangement of beliefs ranging from the pseudo-religious to downright anti-religious.
People of substance are often made up of two major components: knowing where they came from (Heritage) and knowing what they’re capable of (Experience). People who have never been challenged or have always defined themselves by what other people think of them are simply wearing religion as a ready made personality, no different from the likes of Harry Potter Fanboys or Crypto-bros. A deracinated individual can make up for their lack of a strong foundation by dealing with experiences that force them to come into their own, but this too is less common in the modern world.
So is hope lost for any sort of “Pagan” Revival?
Yes.
Because as I said at the beginning “Pagan” isn’t a thing. An “Irish Pagan” Revival is just an “Irish Revival” with or without Jesus Christ in tow. Most people are Christian for the same reason most people were once Pagan Cultists, it was just what you do. It is the normal, the same mentality that perpetuated tradition in Ancient Greece, Alpine Tribes and Irish Warbands is the same mentality that keeps Christians practicing. Keeping the flame of tradition lit, or less poetically habit.
As this ceases to be the Norm, as the One True God’s Will becomes “The Universe has a Plan for Me” and that too shall pass and the extra bits will shed like leaves on a tree and things will return to mean. As they always have. I guess you could call that a “Pagan Revival” if you wish. I’m sure at least some of the Gods will be along for the ride.
Roth Note: Jesus taught his followers a way of being – The Way. He wasn’t building a religion. This default state of how people lived their lives that he was encouraging was no different than the way the Germanic people lived theirs – shared life and cultural inheritance. The point I get from this post is that perhaps we should be more intent on living our lives as traditional Americans (what we were, who we were, who our community was – say early 20th Century?) than worrying about what each other believes about religion.
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