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Stag and Earth Mother: Pagan Beliefs in Ancient Britain
| Article
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13833 |
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Section : |
CULTURE
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| Issue
Date : |
12 / 1988 |
5,673 Words |
| Author
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Robert W. Nicholls
Robert W. Nicholls is a media specialist with the Howard
University Research and Training Center in Washington, D.C. |
The British Isles were polytheistic prior to the introduction of Christianity, and the days of the week reflect the forgotten gods of the Anglo-Saxon past. Sunday and Monday (Sunday and Moon Day) are self-explanatory. Tiu of Tuesday is a mythical Germanic sky god. Woden (Othin) of Wednesday is the principal god and progenitor of the Saxon people. Thor (Thunor) of Thursday is a Norse god of thunder. Frigga of Friday is wife to Woden and is the spirit of fertility, marriage, and the home. Saturn of Saturday is a Roman god of agriculture whose festival "Saturnalia," with its exchange of gifts, has been incorporated into our celebration of Christmas.
In London, during the Roman period, temples were dedicated not only to Roman gods, but also to Isis, the Egyptian goddess, and Mithras, the Persian sun god. The former was worshiped in Hellenistic Greece and Rome; the latter, the soldiers' god of light, was a widespread cult throughout the Roman Empire. Christianity in Britain developed both as a reaction against, and in accommodation to, the paganism of the inhabitants, and its final form was conditioned by the old religion. That is why today, our holy day is the Sun Day and our most celebrated festival, Christmas, is timed to coincide with the winter solstice.
The pagan gods that are presently best known were introduced during the terminal phases of British paganism and were documented because their appearance coincided with the beginning of literacy. Woden was a recent god, introduced by the incoming Anglo-Saxons as a special protector of kings and the military classes, while Thor was known as the protector of lesser folk. The cults of Woden and Thor were superimposed on far older and better-rooted beliefs related to the sun and the earth, the crops and the animals, and the rotation of the seasons between the light and warmth of summer and the cold and dark of winter. These ancient beliefs were so well established that whatever the name of the great god who for the moment was favored by the state rulers, whether Mithras or Woden—or Christ—the old practices, so essential for the fertility of the crops and for good luck in life, were maintained in farming communities until Christian decrees and the feudal system led to their final attrition.
Little is known about the religious beliefs that sustained the rural population of pre-Christian Britain. But some idea can be deduced from the injunctions to shun heathen practices made by King Canute (c. 1016), who enumerates them specifically: "namely, the worship of idols, heathen gods, and the sun or the moon, fire or water, springs or stones or any kind of forest trees, or
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