Apparently pagans (I am going to be careful what I say here aren't I OC !!) are furious with "fashion gurus" Trinny and Suannah. The "gurus" decided to do a temprary sex change on the Long Man of Wilmington.
Twenty-two pagans gathered in protest at the Long Man where ITV was filming. The show had invited 100 women to decorate the "sacred" site by giving the man temporary pigtails, breasts and hips.
Arthur Pendragon, a Druid battle chieftain (whatever one of them is), said: "We are very angry because this is so disrespectful. We, the pagans, would not in our wildest dreams consider putting female breasts and clothing on effigies of any Holy Prophets, be it Jesus Christ, Buddha or any other revered figure of another faith. Why then, does ITV commission Trinny and Susannah to do so at the Long Man of Wilmington?"
Now hold on a moment here Arthur. I admit that Trinny and Susannah are as irritating as hell but will someone please explain to me the druidic/pagan tradition that is being insulted?
The druid tradition died out in most parts of western Europe by the 8th century. There was a revival in the 18th century, a gap of over 900 years. Given that there is no written tradition modern Druids are "making it up". Is there any evidence that Stonehenge was a druidic temple? I believe that the first person to link the megaliths with Druidsim was John Aubrey 1626-1697.
I am not saying there is anything wrong with many of the core beliefs, keeping the earth in balance and respecting the planet make sense to me. In North America Native American traditions come from a continuous unbroken source but European Paganism does not.
I have no problem with people wanting a different sort of religion and as I say there is much in Paganism that makes sense. Any Christian readers please note Paganism does not equal Devil Worship. I just find it laughable when they claim objects without any evidence and claim a tradition that was glamourised and reinvented. We know very little about Celtic Druidism and what little we do know is biased reporting by the Romans.
5 comments:
Something about this post makes me wonder if you are confessing to having cross-dressing tendencies.
We'd still like you, Pete, even in drag.
pardon me CP?
Regardless of whether or not This is a Druid or Neo-Druid site, the Wilmington Man has been designated an archeological site. This in itself should be enough to warrant its' preservation. At the same time, I think neo-druids, upset over this, should ask themselves why this site is of religious importance and is there an actual motive to offend a religion in the using of this area for TV. At the same time Pete, I would have to say, your idea that they claim objects without any evidence and claim a tradition that was glamourised and reinvented holds true for the evolution of many religions. The Christianity that started so long ago has been reclaimed, reinvented, reglamourised. People have been stealing from eachothers' religions forever and making up new ones so Druidism should not be devalued because it is popular again. As for Paganism, it is not a religion but a way of living.
Ah OC !! well agree with you about the archaeological bit
I would agree with you over Christianity to an extent but it could be argued that Christianity has evolved.
Druidism stopped, we have no real knowledge of what it was about. At least with a religion like Christianity we can get close to source documents.
Paganism has come to be seen as a religious belief hasn't it? at least to some extent. As used in Western civilisation it is akin to gentile.
It may not be what you mean but that would be the common usage.
Well said OC.
My two cents: Just because we know very little about the religion/beliefs that the statue is based on, does not mean that the statue should be fair game for "decoration"- more like vandalism. It should at the very least be respected as a historical/archaeological site and left in peace.
It would be like someone deciding to go pretty up the sphinx, or painting those boring old stones at stonehenge bright pink- its disrespect, regardless of what religion is involved.
Ok, rant over! :D
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