Christianisation, a point of view

Citation :: Its practically irrefutable that Roman Christianity, the Trojan horse of the Israel, was responsible for perverting European spirituality and destroying it's culture, but it would be foolish to disregard the Christian Tradition as utterly worthless just out of hand. I have always been fond of Dionysus ever since reading Nietzsche, Dionysus is often compared to Odin and Shiva, but personally I think (mythic and symbolic) Jesus is a better comparison. I think the early Celtic 'church' is a good example of perennial wisdom surviving subversion and decay.

I need not comment on how the Roman Church was urban and severed Man from everything that makes him a human-being within the world and an Aryan. Bishop Ninian (c. 360 - 432) recognised this and set-up a monastery in Scotland and began practicing a more mystical faith, soon a new form of Christianity spread throughout Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Cornwall and Northumbria (thanks to Irish-Celtic Iona and Lindisfarne).
The emphasis was on meditation (practiced outside, often in the sky-roofed horizon-walled henges of the pagans) and a symbolically ascetic life, at the same time, surrounding themselves with works of art and composing poetry –Bishop Ninian himself best sums up Celtic Christianity’s aims; “to perceive the Eternal God in every plant and insect and every bird and animal and every man and woman”.

Salvation was achieved through mystical contemplation upon the Eternal in nature, which is why so many priest became hermits living in wild mountainous regions, much has the Druids had done before. These priests almost definitely performed “magic” and sung the pagan folk-songs passed down from Druidism.

Anti-Christians often see the Christianisation of pagan Gods, mythologies and temples as a way the Church made native Pagans accept the new faith more easily, and in almost all cases this is true, but in the Celtic regions it was a conscious attempt by the mystical priests to preserve the old ways unbeknownst to the Romans: Festivals and rites were often simply re-named. Bride (Bree, Brig, Brizo) the pan-European triple Goddess of Fire and Fertility simply became St. Brigit and all her rites, mythology and iconography (‘St. Brigit’s cross’ is the Swastika or Tryfuss) remained. Christ (Issu Grist to the Celts) was “recognised” as being Mabon (Eros and the Helios) God of Love, Youth and the Sun.

Celtic paganism worshipped the Mother Goddess in all her many forms, and kingship was often matrilineal and so in the early Celtic Church both men and women held power and nuns and monks were permitted to marry! In stark contrast to the bureaucracy of Rome, the common people chose Saints from local folk-heroes.

All of this was utterly appalling to the Roman Church who saw the priests as blasphemous pagans and the Celtic Church as little more than disguised Druidism. However, the Celtic Church cared little for Rome and never opposed Roman Christianity as did other sects such as Arianism – they probably didn’t know what they were doing wrong. But the Romans could do nothing anyway, as the Roman Empire was turning to dust around them (I wonder why).

It seems that Celtic “Roman Catholicism” was actually closer to mystical Gnosticism. Perhaps the Knights Templars were continuing this tradition, perhaps not.

You could say that such a mystical Christianity, although much better than Roman Catholicism, is still only a half-way measure, and that people like Bishop Ninian are still responsible for perverting and destroying the old ways – yet Christianity seems to me almost inevitable, and was at the time an unstoppable tidal wave from the east. So anyone who kept mysticism alive should be praised. I certainly respect Ninian more than other traitors I could name. These people couldn’t see what Christianity truly was, or what it would do to humanity. The reign of Akhenaten is but a footnote in Egyptian religious history because it was so short, and so after only 2,000 years, hopefully Christianity will be just a footnote in Pagan history.

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