Cultural Backlash: An Open Post

[causticus]

There were some interesting discussions on yesterday's Magic Monday post and on the past month's or so posts on the Ecosophia blog regarding the collapse of alternative spirituality in the West and a likely impending cultural backlash against decades of general rot and grubbiness that is decaying our civilization from within.

Some of us here in the US are afraid that a sudden cultural jolt in the other direction, away from leftism/progressivism, will result in any type of spirituality that doesn't fit a narrow, literalist Christian/Abrahamic format as being seen by the reaction mob as "part of the problem." Anything the people leading and directing this backlash deem to be adjacent to the aforementioned cultural rot will be lazily lumped together into one big, bad conspiracy against what they believe they are trying to save and preserve. This likely means anything occult/esoteric, overtly pagan, or too foreign will be included, with very little nuance. As we know, the moral collapse of both Neopaganism and the postmodern occult scene hasn't helped matters at all in this respect, especially in light of recent tragic events.

Anyway, I want to know what anyone else here thinks of this and anything in your own area (US or somewhere else) you have seen indicative of a new cultural direction that may or or may not involve the condemnation of the things I listed above (or anything else that comes to mind). Also, we could use this space to think up ideas on how to preserve and carry on various spiritual teachings and practices if/when an intolerant religious climate becomes reality.

This is an open post that will stay open for quite a long time.

Comments

[brenainn]

A very interesting discussion, and I'm glad it is still ongoing. Much like alexanderthered, I am not very active online and tend to miss out on these great discussions.

I have a few thoughts to offer. These days, I am first and foremost a Mithraist. I've considered possible labels to make my practice a little clearer. "Mithraist Revivalist" seems tempting; much like the DR, we've got only bits and pieces of historical information to include as part of the effort. The rest is really just being guided by Lord Mithras as I proceed. I've also been developing a strong spiritual connection to a long deceased friend, my spirit guide (aka, tamanous). I do, however, continue to honor (to the extent possible) my earlier commitment to the Christian god by attending the Roman Catholic Mass. I have the benefit of being able to hide in plain sight for the time being, thanks to my continued participation in Roman Catholicism.

That benefit is likely to disappear soon, as I'm feeling a strong desire to further develop the initiation rituals I've used and begin offering them to others. I'm not really worried about local backlash. I live in a relatively conservative area, and the local reaction to things like CK's assassination have been mostly reasonable and understandable. I've noticed an influx of mostly young men into more conservative religious options, especially the local Catholic parishes. But no one seems interested in hunting down witches, or retaliatory actions against the insane antics of leftists. They seem more inclined to pray for their enemies and win in the ballot box (made fairly easy these days, with how insane and directionless the Democratic Party now is).

In the next few decades, I suspect the area I live in will become even more conservative (socially and politically) but relatively tolerant of those outside the mainstream provided they're not the obnoxious "in your face" types and don't do stupid things like practice evil magic.

[causticus]

Brenainn, thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts!

I actually remember that some number of MMs back (maybe about a year ago?), I was the one who asked you about your Mithraic practices, and that you provided a very informative and fascinating response. This topic interests me greatly because I have an amateur background in researching Iranic religions (at one point years back I wrote my own version of the Gathas of Zarathustra), in addition to being quite familiar with Greco-Roman traditions.

I'm glad to hear that religious people in your area have little interest in hunting down witches or crazy leftists (I certainly think they should be shunned though). One question though. When you say the benefit you enjoy from attending Roman Catholic Mass is about to disappear soon, do you mean that you will be going public about your Mithraism and this will likely involve you being no longer welcome at church? Or do you mean you will be leaving the church when you further develop your rituals?

On the "Mithraist Revivalist" but, yeah I agree that we likely won't ever be able to decode the symbolism of the old mystery religion, much less reconstruct any of the original ritualism. IMHO that would be boring and pointless anyway (Pagan Reonscturctionists really miss the boat on a lot of important things, IMO), since Mithras is indeed a living God, a religion devoted to Him could be re-constituted if He so chooses to do so, which seems like a distinct possibility from what reported on your experiences with Him.

[brenainn]

You're certainly welcome! I do remember that question a while back during one of the MMs. My daily practice remains pretty much the same, though I've done a lot more work on developing full blown initiation rituals. I agree with Manfred Clauss that there was basic initiation in addition to the seven named grades (likely the various degrees of the priesthood). My goal is to have the basic initiation plus a program of initiation/ordination into a seven-tiered priesthood. Ambitious, I suppose, but if Mithras is with me, then the victory is already won.

As far as what happens once I go public about being a Mithraist, well, we have a new and relatively young priest at my family's parish. I've already butted heads with him over my mother, who has a severe cognitive impairment now. Our two previous pastors accommodated her inability to remember the proper method of receiving communion but he's publicly admonished her in the communion line (which confused her even more, even scared her) despite being aware of her cognitive impairment. I don't really like the guy, and once I've made it known that I not only worship a "pagan god" but have been working toward becoming one of his priests, well, I can't imagine Fr. Hard Heart will continue to allow me to receive communion. The other angle, of course, is that word will spread that good old Brenainn is a worshipper of a different god. If a witch hunt/moral panic did occur, well, my name will be known to the loons leading it.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on reconstructionism. I've had similar thoughts over the last few years. The gods are living beings and are perfectly capable of communicating to us the old praxis and beliefs, if they felt it was that important. That they don't seem to do that leads me to conclude that an accurate reconstruction isn't important to them. I'm not even surprised by that. The gods seem to meet us where we are at, with our particular cultural forms and concerns.

BTW, I'd be interested in reading your version of the Gathas.

[jprussell]

Just figured I'd tag in lukedodson here, in case he misses this thread, as he has also been developing a relationship with Mithras and might be very interested to hear what you've been working on.

I am also a big fan of taking cues from the Druid Revival. I think a lot of what it has done has contributed to it being long-term stable and reasonable, and a while back I wrote a blog post analyzing some of what I think has contributed to that, with the idea of how other religious movements (in my case, Heathenry) might borrow some of those approaches (in very brief form: have a clear, but fairly broad, idea of what makes X an X - for Druids, it's connecting with the sacred through nature, allow for lots of heterodoxy and heteropraxy around that core, but have a minimal set of practices and symbols in common, and make the focus individual spiritual development, with allowances for group rituals/activities).

Cheers,
Jeff

[lukedodson]

Thanks, Jeff. I am hopeful that someday my talk from the Ecosophian Convention will be uploaded, because it might be of interest here. To summarise, I experienced a set of synchronicities from 2023-2025 (beginning with a trip to the reconstructed Mithraeum in London in late 2023) that led me to the conclusion that Mithras/Mitra, Lugh/Lleu/Lugos, Jupiter (especially in his early Roman aspect as Jupiter Fidius), and Tyr/Baldr are all interconnected in a very close manner, very possibly being the same god under different names. As such, I have been developing a relationship with all of these gods to varying degrees, including Mithras. It gets a little complex and hazy sometimes, and I have floated the question with them as to whether they mind me blurring the boundaries between them in my prayers, but they don't seem to mind too much! Certainly, such syncretism was quite common in the ancient world.

The archetype that links them all is what Dumezil (taking his cue from another comparatist whose name escapes me right now) called the Lawful Sovereign. What is particularly striking about this figure in myth is that he seems to have an eschatological function - that is to say, he comes at the *end* of a cycle, to complete a cosmic struggle, clear away the old world, and restore order. The Buddhist Maitreya is etymologically linked to Mithras, for example, while the Iranian version, the Saoshyant, is also known as 'airyaman', recalling Mitra's attendant (and possible double) Aryaman in the Vedas.

What I find even more interesting is that this mythic association with the end-times seems to be reflected in the history of religion; Mithras seemed to take a little bit of a backseat in Iranian religion with the rise of Zoroastrianism, but then he reappears, totally unexpectedly, in the later days of the Roman Empire - towards the end of the historical cycle in which Rome was born, flourished, and ultimately perished.

With tensions flaring up in *Iran*, of all places, I would not be surprised if this isn't the last we hear from Mithras...

[brenainn]

My experience of Mithras points me toward the conclusion that he is part of a pluriform deity. Also, in addition to the deities you've mentioned, my experiences point toward the possibility that Jesus and this pluriform god have a closer connection than normally assumed. At any rate, I think Mithras will have a fair amount to say in the decades and centuries ahead.

[lukedodson]

I'd strongly concur with that - Christ's story fits into the 'Lawful Sovereign' pattern very well (betrayed, pierced with a spear, comes at the end of a cycle to 'fulfil the law' and be reborn).

[lukedodson]

And synchronistically enough, this video from Taliesin's Map popped up on my YouTube feed just now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLkxR26VHG0

[brenainn]

I didn't know that about Luke. I'm happy to compare notes, if he's interested. As far as the DR and MR, I've been trying to flesh out some kind of approach to common practices and symbols. Being solitary, that ain't so easy! But I have been thinking about a sort of "congregationalist" approach. The ancient Mithraic Mysteries seem to have followed what we would today called congregationalism. Each Mithraeum appears to have been (by design) a small group of men largely governing themselves as part of a large but loose network of initiates throughout the ancient Greco-Roman world. I suppose what I'm doing now is determining what common beliefs and practices I'd want a hypothetical congregation of worshipers to share with my hypothetical congregation. Does that make sense?

[lukedodson]

Brenainn, I'd be very happy to keep in touch and compare notes. My email is (sans spaces): lukesdodson at protonmail dot com.