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The original religion of Western Europe
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The original religion of Western Europe
The question about the original religion of
Europe
has new answers since the life work of Marijah
Gimbutas.
She is the archeologist of the Goddess.
Throughout Middle and Easten Europe she has
proven that the Goddess
religion goes back to 9000 BC!!!
She has brought back into the light
the existence of an great civilization that has
no name.
She even found artifacts with apparently
written messages and she was the first to try
to give a meaning to some of the wtirren
characters.
The influx of the Indo-German tribes changed
the map of Europe.
In the North and the Middle of Europe
settled the well known religion of the German
tribes
with their holy book of the Edda until about
1100 AD.
In the South developed the Roman and Greek
religions
until at least the year 650 of our time.
But the original religion of Western Europe
was still there.
Believers were found in:
Ireland, England, Scotland, France,
Italy, Portugal, Spain,
Hungary, Sweden, Norway, Greenland,
Belgium, Netherlands, Germany.
Outside Europe:
USA, Mexico, Peru.
From 597 AD until 1481 AD more and more local
laws
were written against this religion,
punishing the believers with death.
After those 900 years of persecution the
Christian church
was still afraid of these competitors.
Pope Innocent VIII then in 1481
came with his Bull to concentrate
all Inquisition power and all government power
against this persistent religion.
Everywhere in Western Europe members of this
religion
were tortured and burned to death
at least for a period of 300 years.
Killings are known in the year 1781 AD.
The Cathars, Waldensis, Albengensis and
the Bohemians were killed between
1200 AD and 1500 AD.
Governments, Prostestants and Roman Catholics
all participated in the erasure of this
religion.
All together more then a million people
were violently killed.
Many of the names of the martyrs are known
and they
should have their monument of honor.
Together with the believers also the much of
the knowledge
about this religion died away.
Chirstian misinformation has spread the most
weird
and threatening stories about the people
who participated in this nature religion.
Still we know a lot about the
ancient religion.
The work of Marijah Gimbutas has to be studied
much more.
Holy animals were the cat, the hare and the
raven,
maybe also the crow and the frog.
Were there any holy places or temples?
Much of this is forgotten and destroyed.
We know that the original religion was focused
on nature and the undisturbed equilibrium
of the forces of nature.
The believers were organised in local groups
with a hierarchy not unlike
modern local Protestant communities.
The head of the local group was female with a
male assistant.
The title of the head of the local organization
was
Queen of Elfhame
Elfin Queen
Queen of Faerie.
This reminds us of the Midsummer Nights Dream
of Sheakespeare.
There were several ranks of helpers or
Familiars.
This religion had relations
with the Faeries,
the ancient little folk living a hidden life
in the jungles of that time.
This indicates a very old and ancient religion!
Also there were relations with the religion
of the Druids.
The presence of holy buildings or temples
is very probable, because there was
a well organised religious mass or prayer
service.
Main elements were wine, bread and dance.
The dance of the prayer service
at the festival of May Day (May 1)
around the May pole is still in existence.
Also February 2 was a big festival with
the Sundance, circling around with fiery
torches.
Also Raindances are known from testimonies.
It seems very probable that the Roman Catholic
church
assimilated this religious prayer service into
the
Latin way of having mass (Latin rite).
Certainly the Christian church assimilated
the important Eastre festival in April
as one of the main Christian feasts of Easter.
There is an intense relation between the
ancient religion
and the animal world, which indicates
the shaman aspect of this religion.
The male head of the local organization
was often dressed in attributes of the animal
world
and was apparently the shaman.
Although the female head of the local group
was apparently the herbal healer.
The Christians used the way of clothing of the
shaman
to propagate that this man was the Devil.
Very probable the female and male heads of the group
were
the healers, because deep knowledge of herbs
and animal life
is many times confirmed by witnesses.
Who was the divinity they were
proud of?
1200 years of torture and burning alive could
not
take away the proud of these believers.
My grandmother and my great grand mother
often told me what they knew of this original
religion
and these believers.
Even then my grannies were proud of their
ancient religion.
The female divinity is the Goddess called Jana,
Goddess of fertility and nature.
Jana is seen two and sometimes three headed.
Even today many women in Western Europe
have the name of Jana.
Read also about the mysterious Saint
Nicolas
The male aspect of the goddess is the god
Janus.
Also Janus is seen as two headed.
Also here the confusion with the Roman god
Janus
is clear.
Many men still have the name of Janus,
in fact the name Janus was a few generations
ago
the name of almost every man in Western Europe.
13 is the holy number of this religion,
the Goddess Jana is also the Moon goddess.
Some experts say that the original goddess
was named Diana, but they are confused
with the name of the Roman goddess.
The Roman goddess was not seen as two headed.
Many incorrect statements come
from this misunderstanding.
It seems very sure, that this ancient Goddess
religion
had no aspects of a sun related calendar.
The Goddess festivals were not sun related,
like December 21 or March 21.
This is a clear difference with the Druid
religion.
The festivals were moon, animal and fertility
related.
Festivals:
August 1 Lammas
February 2 Candlemas
May 1
November 1
During April the Eastre Festival
There was a relation with the animal world
and fertility, but not crop related.
This again indicates the ancient origins of
this religion, before agricultural settlements
cane into existence.
Because this ancient religion is so thoroughly
persecuted,
much knowledge is deformed by misinformation,
much has been hidden, to avoid of torture and
death.
Nowadays many good people have brought in their
fantasies,
trying to revive the ancient religion.
It has great value to study the ancient roots,
because this ancient spirituality is able
to inspire us again and
to give us choices that the sword
and torture to death have taken from us.
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Updated July 23, 2011
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CopyrightŠ2002-2011 by Robert and Susan
