Category: Paganism

Spinning’s Symbolic Meaning in European Myth

10/1/2017

*This article is an excerpt from "Habitrot and The Wood Maiden: Spinning Goddesses and Imagery in European Tradition ," European Fairy Tales Series Vol VII.

Frigga Spinning the Clouds, by John Charles Dollman, 1909

We have discussed the role of the Fates in European folk tradition and briefly mentioned that they are typically depicted as three female spinners. However, as it has been discussed in previous volumes of this series, definitions can be somewhat blurry, and representations of figures tend to bleed into one another.

There is certainly an association with spinning and weaving with the conception of fate and destiny. In fact, the concept of our fate, called Wyrd in the Anglo-Saxon tradition, is conceptualized as a great web made up of strands that are spun by the three spinners (the Fates, called the Norns in Germanic tradition). Wyrd can be seen as a cosmic tapestry of your life that exists in the spiritual plane.

Europe's Roots in Ancient Indo-European Culture

9/11/2017

*This article is an excerpt from "The Star Money: And a European View of Karma," European Fairy Tales Series Vol IV.

Indo-European migrations from ca. 4000 to 1000 BCE according to the Kurgan hypothesis, image by Joshua Jonathan

When reading this tale ("The Star Money," in European Fairy Tales Series, Vol IV), the main theme that I was struck with is that it is literally a lesson in Karma. Now, it might be instinctual to recoil at that word in an ancient European context as we consider it a foreign word native to Indian Hinduism. Of course, this is very true. However, an historical truth that many Westerners are oblivious to is that Europeans and Indian Hindus share a common linguistic and mytho-cultural heritage.

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Dvoeverie – The Slavic Double Faith

9/9/2017

*This article is an excerpt from "The Three Golden Hairs: Slavic & Germanic Myth in Czech Folklore," European Fairy Tales Series Vol VI.

"Firebird and Princess Vasilisa" artist unknown

I argue quite strongly that the phenomenon of holding a hybrid form of religion occurred clear across Northern Europe, from Britain clear to Russia. However, the manifestation of it occurred much more strongly in Slavic lands than elsewhere. In fact, the ancient faith of the Slavs was so overtly prominently practiced by the peasantry that the Slavs began to be referred to as the people of two faiths. Dvoeverie is a Russian word that is typically translated as “dual belief” or “double faith.”

Fate, Destiny, & Guardian Spirits in European Fairy Tales

9/8/2017

Art by Galileo Chini

Since starting the European Fairy Tales Series, I've been struck with just how much of the ancient native European worldview is embedded within our folk and fairy tale tradition. There are several ways that this appears, but one important theme found in a majority of fairy tales is the concept of fate and destiny.

Recalibrating Our Worldview to Understand the Past

7/23/2017

*This article is an excerpt from "Aschenputtel: Animism and Ancestor Veneration in Grimms' Cinderella," European Fairy Tales Series Vol V.

"Spirit of the Night" by John Atkinson Grimshaw

Understanding our lost native beliefs can be difficult for modern minds to wrap their heads around. We are so cut off from our deep roots that, today, our own indigenous belief system feels foreign to those who are unfamiliar with it.

Furthermore, both Abrahamic religion and science based rationalism (which tends to be atheistic) view the world in a linear and literal way that is incompatible with the flexible and more free flow understandings of organic ethnic-spirituality (which was the native spirituality of all indigenous peoples in the world before adopting “revealed religions”).

Indigenous European Spirituality Encoded in the Folk Tradition

6/13/2017

A Fairy Tale by Arthur Wardle

Over several years of studying indigenous European belief (paganism, mythology), and then studying the folk tradition (folklore, folk customs, holiday traditions, witch trial records), I began to realize that the idea that paganism died out after conversion to Christianity was simply preposterous. Native European spirituality remained an incredibly powerful force in the consciousness of the European people well into the modern era.

How Fairy Tales Helped Me Cope with Devastating Loss

4/30/2017

"Once Upon A Time," by Henry Meynell Rheam, 1908

Fairy tales have been written off as simple stories for children. And, while children do become absorbed in the tales of the land of Faerie, these stories have layers of deep meaning that are applicable to people of all ages. We tend to think of "mythology" as somehow a higher status of literature than fairy tales. Maybe that's due to the conception of their antiquity, and the complex worlds with pantheons that represent a cast of characters whose exploits we can follow.

But, what we don't realize is that fairy tales exist within the lexicon of myth. Many fairy tales have origins that extend back into the murky haze of pre-history. Others build off of patterns and influences from those very ancient tales, and still others were formed during eras when indigenous spirituality was suppressed by the authorities, and so elements of the old religion were preserved in coded form.

By peeling back the layers, we can find deep spiritual insight and guidance in fairy tales that can give us comfort, direction, hope, and other psychological-emotional support.

Poland's Witchy Whisperers: Living European Folk Tradition

4/20/2017

Myth & Culture Together Live on in Folk Custom

"The Princess in the Forest" by John Bauer

When people think of mythology, they tend to think of the great gods and epic heroes whose exploits passed on into myth and leg end. However, scholars such as Jacqueline Simpson, renowned folklorist, have pointed out that ancient indigenous beliefs lingered on in folklore and traditions in Europe which often have roots connecting back to mythological figures and beliefs.

The phenomenon of indigenous beliefs lingering on with the common people after the population has been converted to a new religion is known as “folk religion.” We see it plainly today in Central and South America. The most well known custom that merges indigenous belief with Christianity is the Mexican Day of the Dead. There are other examples in other parts of the world where ancient animist and shamanic beliefs have carried on under the newer religions of Buddhism and Islam.

Shamanic Meanderings: Discovering Our Lost Folkways

4/18/2017

Searching for the European Shaman

Here's a little something I learned while searching for the European Shaman :-)

First some background. Europe's shamanic tradition, in my opinion, mostly evolved into other forms before it was lost, and this makes it a bit obscure... To the degree that some scholars have insisted that Europe was never a shamanic culture. I disagree, and I explain in detail in the fully researched article on this subject.

Not to mention that this statement does not apply to all European cultures, as we know that shamanic practices continued strongly among the Saami of Lapland, the Magyars of Hungary, and among pockets of ethnic minority groups in rural areas of the Slavic lands, such as the Mari of Russia.