Life After Death

The Romans had many different ideas about life after death. The traditional view was that the soul separated from the body, then traveled to the realm of the dead, the world ruled by Pluto (Hades in Greek). The various philosophical schools had other ideas.

"The Roman emperor and Stoic philosopher, Marcus Aurelius, offered three possibilities, 'extinction, dispersal, or survival (Med. 11.3).' The first possibility is that the Mind, cut off from the brain that produced it, is extinguished forever. The second possibility offers some consolation but amounts to the same thing. The body dissolves and its component parts are recycled by Nature to create new life. . . . The third possibility is that the mind and other component parts of the human form survive death."

The Stoics were vague about life after death. They emphasize the Good Life here and now, and that's been my default position as well. I fell in love with Marcus Aurelius in high school, and never quite got over him. For most of my adult life I've had a copy of Meditations on my bedside table.

Even so, for all practical purposes I'm a Neoplatonist. Although it's not obvious, Neoplatonism is the philosophy behind astrology, and other traditional occult sciences. So, the soul survives death and continues its journey toward ascent and eventual reunification with the One.

It's well worth exploring the different philosophical schools, here. There's a lot more nuance than just Heaven / Hell / Reincarnation.

More Information

• M. Horatius Piscinus, "We Are Not Forgiven" at Patheos <patheos.com> (June 28, 2013).
• M. Horatius Piscinus, "What Really Happens When We Die?" at Patheos <patheos.com> (June 29, 2013).
• M. Sentia Figula, "The afterlife" at Neo Polytheist <romanpagan.blogspot.com> (May 20, 2016).

Viking Sunstone

"For centuries, it has been a crystal of legend locked in the verses of Norse myth with little or no evidence that it was ever real. Now it seems scientists at last have grounds for believing that the Viking 'sunstone' used to navigate the seas did indeed exist."

• Cahal Milmo, "Not just the stuff of legend: Famed Viking 'sunstone' did exist, believe scientists", Independent (Mar. 6, 2013).

I need to do some more reading here. I've been under the impression we understood exactly what the sunstone was; no mystery here.

Five Myths About Vikings

The five myths are:

1. Vikings were dirty and unkempt
2. Vikings wore horned helmets
3. Vikings looked like we do today
4. Vikings’ clothing style was admired throughout the world
5. Vikings’ appearance was marked by battle wounds

Do we need to elaborate? I don't think so, but if you want to read more:

Petersen , Irene Berg. "What Vikings really looked like". ScienceNordic, July 29, 2012. Retrieved July 30, 2012.

Morning Prayers

Salve Lar Familiaris!
Salvete Di Penates!

I'm fascinated by the different ways people think about and create home altars.

"The first task for a new cultor Deorum is to establish a lararium. There is a process to it, in ritually cleansing the house and inviting your ancestors to visit your lararium. Usually it starts out simple. An image of the Lar familiaris or that of one’s Genius is flanked by two Lares offering food and drink.  Oil lamps and candles, an incense holder, a bowl to receive libations or other offerings. Over the years the offerings can build. On the birthday of every family member, as one example, a pebble is added to the lararium and relics of various kinds may be stored there, as well as articles  used in our rituals." (Piscinus, 2013)

More Information

• M. Horatius Piscinus, "Morning Prayer", Patheos <patheos.com> (July 13, 2013).
• M. Horatius Piscinus, "Life in Ritual Context", Patheos <patheos.com> (June 5, 2013).
• Robin Mastro & Michael Mastro, Altars of Power and Grace: Create the Life You Desire--Achieve Harmony, Health, Fulfillment and Prosperity with Personal Altars Based on Vastu Shastra (2004).
• Member # 709, "Religio Romano: Simple Daily Home Rites and Prayers", Ár nDraíocht Féin <ADF.org>.
• Tom Rowsell, "Indo-European Prayer and Ritual", Survive the Jive, YouTube <youtube.com> (Jan. 6, 2018).
• M. Sentia Figula, "The Lararium", Neo Polytheist <romanpagan.blogspot.com> (May 20, 2016).
• M. Sentia Figula, "Pagan Offerings to the Gods", New Polytheist <romanpagan.blogspot.com> (Mar. 3, 2012).
• Timothevs, "How to Design Your Own Roman Votive Altar + How to Read Latin Inscriptions on Roman Altars in Museums", Remembering the Gods <timothevs.blogspot.com>

Updated to add links.

Last Pagans

The Last Pagans of Rome

Interesting new book: The Last Pagans of Rome by Alan Cameron.

This online reviews says, "Cameron’s mission here is to topple once and for all the “myth” of a concerted resistance movement coordinated by a select group of late fourth-century pagan aristocrats to oppose Christianity’s infiltration of state and society. For more than four decades Cameron’s scholarship has been edging that romantic vision of the religious, literary, and social history of late fourth-century Rome to the brink of destruction. With the publication of this book the classic formulation of paganism’s fourth-century “revival” lies well beyond reconstitution."

The 4th century pagan revival is so much a part of how we think about this period of Roman history, it's a disappointment -- although not a surprise -- to find out that it has little foundation. 

Foreign Religions

My dad believed and taught that America as a continent has its own guardian spirits. Christianity and other "foreign religions" could never take root here. Not permanently, anyway.

Those of us descended from the European diaspora are living in a time of transition. The ancestral gods we brought with us are native to Europe, not America. In fact, that's why America has so many fanatic Christian Fundamentalists -- they are fighting an inner battle against their natural environment.

Over time, we will adopt and adapt the local gods, but we are only a few generations into something that will be an extended evolution. In the meantime, those of us who were born here, in America, are truly "Native American". We belong here, even though we haven't yet learned how to be here comfortably.

We can learn how to be here in part by looking at the culture of the local tribes our ancestors displaced. One thing we should not do is appropriate their culture in any way that would pretend it is our own culture.

As I get older, I find myself more and more interested in that idea.

A cave that might have been the inspiration for Hades, the Greek underworld.

A cave that might have been the inspiration for Hades, the Greek underworld. It’s an interesting spin, but I have to think that it is just a nice hook to drum up some publicity for a site that’s important in its own right.

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/columnist/vergano/story/2012-02-25/Alepotrypa-Cave-Hades/53237894/1

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/columnist/vergano/story/2012-02-25/Alepotrypa-Cave-Hades/53237894/1//cdn.embedly.com/widgets/platform.js