Before anybody gets angry consider this:
The picture we see of the Christian devil looks eerily similar to Cernunnos.
I am not to sure on this but doesn't Wiccan have a lot of influence on Celtic Paganism which uses a lot of
similarities between Celtic Paganism such as names and the Pentagram.
There is even less records of the Celts than Nordic Paganism, I do believe they saw us Heathens as Satanic but I believe they went to Britian prior to that, in which is where their view of the devil came from as they see false idols as being "Satanic".
The image of the Christian devil or Satan was "give" the image of Cernunnos in order to dissuade people from worshipping him and try to convert and keep people Christian. The early church would "Satanize" the pagan beliefs in order to convert. When that would not work they would "Christianize" them, taking the places, people, things, etc as Christian, changing some names etc so that the people could still do what they wanted but they could also be Christian. Many things in the Christian culture has pagan origins. Even the idea of a virgin birth is pagan.
Quote from: WalkerInTheWoods on October 05, 2006, 06:56:11
The image of the Christian devil or Satan was "give" the image of Cernunnos in order to dissuade people from worshipping him and try to convert and keep people Christian. The early church would "Satanize" the pagan beliefs in order to convert. When that would not work they would "Christianize" them, taking the places, people, things, etc as Christian, changing some names etc so that the people could still do what they wanted but they could also be Christian. Many things in the Christian culture has pagan origins. Even the idea of a virgin birth is pagan.
WHAT?! :-o is that true?
Quote from: WalkerInTheWoods on October 05, 2006, 06:56:11
Even the idea of a virgin birth is pagan.
Elaborate more on this idea, please?
unfortaintly most christians go and label everything as devil, satanic and evil
that they don't undestand or are differant from their beliefs.
its very easy to do that rather to find out truth for oneself.
Quote from: slernach on October 07, 2006, 16:53:40
Elaborate more on this idea, please?
An example, in Roman and Greek mythology male gods were going around inpregnating women all the time. Granted some times this involved sexual intercourse but a god is still inpregnating a human.
Also, the idea of the virgin birth as 'godly' has precursors in a few cults: The first one that comes to mind is the way Isis impregnated herself to get Horus (Osiris was already dead, cut into pieces, and she found his privates in the reeds (sound familiar to a biblical story? lol ) and used them to get herself in the family way. (Everyone knows, this is ancient Egyptian)
Another source would be the worship of the Vestal Virgins, in pagan Rome.
I'm sure there's more, but that's what I could remember.
Actually, if one examines closely the Expansion of the Catholic Church in Western Europe, Britain and Ireland, one is more impressed by the Celtic and Druidic Influences that came into Roman Catholicism, which then differentiated Roman Catholicism from its Eastern Rival, the Orthodox Greek Catholic Church.
Consider the Primary and Central Influence of the Blessed Virgin Mary as representing a continuity with the original Goddess Religions and Spiritualities of the Region.
Then we can see that in many cases Population Centers applied to the Church for Conversion after having reported Mass Sightings of Marian Apparitions. For instance, outside of Paris there was a huge Oak Tree, sacred to the Druids. Well, during a Druid Ceremony, the Blessed Virgin appeared in a aura of Light and asked that a Chapel be built on the Site and be consecrated to Her. And Her wish was complied with.
and typically it was the same Druid Priests that were quickly trained up and made the New Priests for the New Catholics. While the Catholic Sacraments would be instigated, still there would be something of the flavor left from the Druids. They were, afterall, the same people.
We can see this in Ireland. Patrick showed up and with the support of a local King issued a challenge to every Druid Priest on the Island, for a 'Debate'. Well, Patrick had an interesting strategy. When he became offended by any of the arguments, then he would wish his opponent dead, and they would instantly drop dead. Well, naturally enough, discretion became the better part of intellectual valor, and they en mass conceded the Victory in the debate to Patrick. And then by converting so readily, they assured themselves of plenty of influence as Catholicism was institutionalized on the Island. Certainly nobody can say that the Irish still aren't distinctly Celtic. And tenaciously Catholic. Starting with the reign of Henry the VIII Protestantism was introduced at the same time to both England and Ireland, along with the persecutions for being Catholic. Within a hundred years almost every Englishman knuckled under and bowed to the pressure and converted to the State Religion. Ireland, even under the harshest disabilities, remained almost entirely Catholic. This was because in Ireland Catholicism was allowed to fold more completely into the Character and Customs of the native people. In Ireland, Catholicism became Celtic.
Indeed, in one of the recently reported Marian Apparitions in Ireland, it was said that Our Lady, who always appears fashionably, wore a White Dress trimmed in Green Shamrocks.