Today's christian church is not remotely close to that one
Yeshua bar Yosef established. So, by the very same logic they use to call us as "neo-pagans", christians of today could be called as "neo-christians". Most of this religious evolution is because when christianity came in contact with the different forms and ceremonies of European traditions, paganism gradually crept into the christian worship. Some of the old heathen feasts, as Winter Solstice or Summer Solstice, became church festivals with change of name and of worship. In about 405 A.D. images of saints and martyrs, (something that was strictly forbidden to make by the iconoclastic Bible and early christianity), began to appear in the churches, at first as memorials, then in succession revered, adored, and worshiped, as if
something within our European blood called us to make these images to satisfy our spiritual need. Also, many catholic churches were built on ancient sacred-pagan sites. Catholic architecture also tended to mimic pagan architecture. Sun domes, obelisks, and even crosses have pagan origins. In pagan cultures, mother goddesses were worshiped in grottoes and groves. In Catholicism, Mary veneration is associated with caves and groves. For a religion so opposed to Paganism, it sure stole a lot of our stuff!
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Art of a Roman Catholic Cathedral in southern Germany
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Gothic architecture is intrinsically Pagan. In the walls and windows of some of Europe’s most renowned religious buildings dwells evidence of a still-beating Pagan heart underneath the opulent Christian facade. Even one of the most treasured monuments of devoutly Catholic Poland, Wawel Cathedral, has faint hints of it in its rose window, leafy gargoyles and, uniquely, three giant bones chained to a wall next to the main entrance, supposedly belonging to a fire-breathing dragon that had been slain there,
a prolific motif of Indo-European origin which was later plagiarized by christianity. As we can see, Paganism did not die with the advent of christianity, but it survived despite it.
Despite being funded by the Church to explicitly market its power and Christian theology, Gothic architecture reflects pre-christian elements. Consider the following stylistic elements, clear indicators of the Pagan undercurrent still flowing through a supposedly converted Europe:
Green Man. The
Green Man motif is a human face comprised of, surrounded by and/or seemingly sprouting from foliage, who in Pagan culture symbolized the cycle of regrowth each spring. The Green Man is often related to natural vegetative deities. It is primarily interpreted as a symbol of rebirth, representing the cycle of growth each spring. Usually referred to in works on architecture as foliate heads or foliate masks, carvings of the Green Man may take many forms, naturalistic or decorative. The simplest depict a man's face peering out of dense foliage. Some may have leaves for hair, perhaps with a leafy beard. Often leaves or leafy shoots are shown growing from his open mouth and sometimes even from the nose and eyes as well. In the most abstract examples, the carving at first glance appears to be merely stylised foliage, with the facial element only becoming apparent on closer examination.
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| One of four Green Men in the Cathedral of Bayeux, Normandy, France
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Rose windows. These circular, kaleidoscope-style windows – usually located at the rear of the nave, facing the altar – are a staple of Gothic churches/cathedrals the world over, including St Ignatius. While their visual content is not always floral itself, their shape and composition clearly imitates that beautiful, basic reproductive instrument of Mother Nature – the blooming flower.
Spires/steeples. One of the most characteristic and venerated objects in Pagan society is the phallus, used to symbolize male power and fertility as well as associated deities. Phallic towers were common in pre-Christian societies around the world, from stone obelisks in Egypt, believed to house the regenerative sun god Ra, to wooden totem poles in Slavic Europe, representing warrior-gods such as Perun and Triglav. During the Middle Ages, as the Romanesque style of architecture evolved into the Gothic, the Christian Church also began adorning its buildings with phallic towers to imbue them with a sense of spiritual potency, and inspire awe at the all-seeing, on-high position of the vengeful god they supposedly housed.
Gargoyles. These statues look like they belong on the helms of Pagan Viking ships – yet they adorn many of the Gothic churches built throughout the Middle Ages. They generally depict strange, animalistic creatures very similar to the demons and sprites of Germanic, Celtic and Slavic folklore. Full-body gargoyles often take the form of horned, winged creatures – a belittled representation of deities relating to woodlands, animals and hunting, in whose image Christianity also fashioned its Devil.
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| Notre Dame gargoyles |
Astrological symbols. Chartres Cathedral in Paris, France, has many pagan symbols. The West Portal contain the signs of the zodiac and the labours of the months – standard references to the cyclical nature of time which appear in many gothic portals. Also, there is a stained glass window which contains the twelve signs of the zodiac.
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| Chartres Cathedral-west portal-Zodiac and Monthly Labours
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| Some of the Zodiac signs represented in a stained glass of Chartres |
Labyrinths. The Labyrinth is a symbol of the Earth.
Chartres Cathedral, which is dedicated to the Virgin Mary (the mother figure in christian mythology), was built on a much-revered Pagan site dedicated to a Celtic Mother/Earth Goddess. Before christianity, there was an altar (or according to some authors, a cave) dedicated to this Goddess, this place was an important religious center for the Celtic tribe of the Carnutes. A vestige of this ancient cult is in its famous labyrinth which dates back to 1205. It has 13 meters in diameter which makes it the largest preserved for the Gothic period. It offers one possible route through a continuous line running 262 meters, forming concentric circles around 11 to the center which has a hexagonal rosette design, which appeared mythological figures of Theseus and the Minotaur, who according to the Myth, lived in a Labyrinth, now missing figures.
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| Chartres Cathedral's Labyrinth |
