You may recall that a pan-European pagan revival was something I predicted a few years ago ago. Secularism is not an option because it has nothing to offer philosophically or spiritually; that’s precisely why the humanists are always producing manifestos as well as books attempting to explain why it is possible for someone to square a circle even though no one has managed it yet. This petty Greek paganism is insignificant today, but if they are successful in marrying it to the powerful nationalist revival represented by Golden Dawn, it could prove surprisingly popular.
In the last few years, though, some have come to
distrust that prism, and to say so in public. While Church membership
is still extremely high (more than 95% of all Greeks are at least
nominally Orthodox) and the leadership is still highly involved in
state affairs, there has been a resurgence of popular interest in the pre-Christian
past. With it has come a small explosion of pagan groups, philosophical
societies, Spartan schools, “Hellenist” magazines and
performances of classical theater….One of the most visible facets of the revivalist movement has
been the campaign for recognition for the Dodecatheon, or “Religion
of the Twelve Gods.” The campaign has hardly been successful: polytheists have twice applied to the
Greek religion ministry for official status, and twice they have
been ignored. Coverage of the movement in the popular press has
not been flattering. (The word many Greeks use when asked about
the pagans is “funny.”) But the movement has been attracting attention.
Paganism looks funny from the perspective of the post-Christian, who has the benefit of more than a thousand years of Christian civilization. It’s not quite so funny if you happen to be sufficiently well-educated about historical paganism; there is a reason why “the Dark Ages” historically refers to the time before the coming of Jesus Christ, The Light of the World.
(The so-called “Enlightenment”, like all Satanic inspirations, is nothing more than a cheap and perverted knock-off of the original concept.)
In any event, the history of the 20th century should demonstrate that pagan nationalists, particularly those with pan-European ambitions, are no laughing matter.