CHRISTIAN AGENDAS
A STUDY IN SOCIAL CONTROLby Willow Moon
copyright 2000History is a story that outlines the roots of belief and the deeds of a people. In some cultures, history is viewed realistically as a myth, which describes not only physical events in a romantic manner but also the longings and psychology of a particular people. Sometimes, however, a people so believe their historical mythos that it appears to them as a series of facts. There is an old saying that history doesnt like losers, which means that history is written by the victors. This being well known doesnt stop some from erroneously assuming that their story of past events is absolutely accurate while others are completely wrong. Myths are a necessary part of a culture, they pass on information from one generation to the next. Interweaving the divine with the ordinary, myths speak to us on many levels of our existence. They inform our beliefs, hence they influence our feelings and actions. The importance of history, whether seen as myth or as fact, is that it gives the individuals of a culture a basis for action and sets limits on what is possible. Reclaiming our Pagan history is an important step to broadening our social possibilities and giving us a firm path to tread into the future. The first volume of the Cambridge Medieval History (1911) says that with the foundation of Constantinople as a Christian capital in 312 AD the ancient Pagan world was finished and the Christian Middle Ages had begun. Suddenly, the triumph of the new religion appeared fully manifest and irreversible. It has only been since the 1980s that a more realistic story has emerged, as hesitant doubts of historians and contrary hints found their way into print. It is now possible to see that Paganism and Christianity interacted to a much greater degree and much longer in time than had been previously admitted. This is not to dispute the fact that the Roman emperor Constantines conversion to Christianity in 312 had almost immediate consequences. Great favors, privileges and legitimacy were bestowed on the Christian church while an increasingly explicit disapproval was directed at the old religious cults and institutions. Constantines son Theodosius created harsh anti-Pagan laws and ordered the destruction of the immense, world-famous temple of Serapis in Alexandria. The rejection of Symmachus passionate appeal for religious tolerance to Saint Ambrose in 384 and other factors gave great publicity to the rise of the Christian faith in Italy. According to histories, in a single day the Counts Gaudentius and Jovius overthrew the temples of the Gods and broke up all the images in Africa. However, there remained contradictory practices and events noticed by chroniclers for many centuries thereafter.1 Ramsay Macmullen, Dunham Professor Emeritus of History and Classics at Yale University, says these events are not easily noticed in literary sources, for the truth was deliberately distorted by church historians. Christians misrepresented the true proportions of Pagan and Christian historical interaction not only by their well known exaggerations of events, but also by the disproportionate bulk of Christian written material. One can measure this disproportion by holding the only surviving volume of the Pagan historian Zosimus in one hand while standing in front of the hundred imposing volumes of history written by Christians during the fifth to seventh centuries.2 What was written in the past had to be passed from one generation to the next. Church attitudes allowed the writings of Christianity to be transmitted but not the writings of non-Christians. Both secular and ecclesiastical authorities repeatedly destroyed non-Christian and heretical texts in huge bonfires in public ceremonies in town squares throughout the empire. Thousands of Origens and Porphyrys works, as well as Manichaen and Nestorian texts were forever destroyed along with countless other writings. People who could write were afraid to have their hands cut off if they dared to copy forbidden texts.3Church leaders did not merely attack non-Christians. It was common for ecclesiastical rivals to declare each other heterodox and therefore heretical. The victors tried to insure no trace of their rivals existence remained, except as victorious disproofs and rejoinders. The father of ecclesiastical history, Eusebius, denied telling the whole truth. He admitted to limiting his account of history to what may be of profit. His successors found this tactic to be useful, and willfully distorted or passed over all sorts of details of the times. They deliberately forgot important church councils and entirely suppressed knowledge of historical events, to the extent that even the im-proper saint or pope might vanish from the record. As the upper ranks of the church became richer and more influential, the chances improved for their version of history to be recorded and circulated. Augustine, like most church officials, could afford to have slaves to help him write. The Pagan authors of the time were increasingly economically restrained and thus had a harder time producing written texts. After texts had been written, it was Christians who were in the position to determine if it should be preserved. So, it is no surprise that the surviving record suggests that Pagans were not only defeated by the end of the fourth century, but that they had in fact all been converted. Historians consensus on these events, up until the 1980s, rested upon a corrupt foundation.4 During the 1980s, historians began to recognize the real continued vitality of Paganism, and to question the long held assumption that the eradication of Paganism really required no effort. Prior to this time historians were wont to parrot the opinion of Dr. Johnson who said on April 15th, 1778, The heathens were easily converted because they had nothing to give up. For example, Meer wrote in 1961, the whole of the ancient cult was nothing but a vast growth upon what had been for centuries a stagnant pool. Dodds wrote in 1965, one reason for the success of Christianity was simply the weakness and wear-iness of the opposition. Although, this is no longer an accepted interpretation of the events at the beginning of the Middle Ages nowadays, a few individuals still held to outworn attitudes as late as 1995. P. Karmel, art reviewer in the New York Times wrote on December 29: paganism had by late antiquity become little more than a hollow husk.5 Since the 400s, it has been conventional wisdom among the leadership of the church that fear constituted an essential element in the mix of motives that could bring an audience around to its point of view. This message was codified in the 470s by bishop Martin of Braga to his diocese in northern Spain. He presented sermons that were a basic outline of beliefs intended as a model for the other bishops to imitate. They were designed not to convert those already converted but as a reminder for the audience to behave. Church leaders knew that conversion by the sword did not change the Pagan heart of individuals; that is why they needed to continue preaching about the dangers of disobedience. He speaks at great length about the sufferings of the damned, all of whom in their flesh and for all time to come are dispatched to Hell, where dwells that inextinguishable fire forever, and where the flesh, regained through the resurrection, groaning, is eternally tormented - wishing to die once more so as not to feel its punishments but not all-owed to die, thus that it may endure unceasing tortures.6 Persuasion by fear of torture after death was not enough. The bishops had to show the populace that indeed they and their God had some clout, that their damnations werent just showy words to frighten children. Some element of fear, some sense of the Christian Gods awful strength needed to surround the bearers of the churchs message as well. Bishops and ascetics cloaked themselves with fear by claiming responsibility when those who disrespected them died suddenly.7 For example Paulinus Nolensis, who was later sainted and considered to be perhaps the most beautiful personality among the great figures of the transition from the ancient world to the Christian world, gave credit to the martyr Felix when the homes of uncooperative neighbors were burned to the ground. Saint Paulinus wanted to have a wider vista in front of the martyrium he had built for Felix, and the homes and workplaces of his neighbors stood in the way. His neighbors resisted his plans and talked back to the saint until the martyr Felix himself from his tomb miraculously removed them by burning down their obnoxious buildings. The gracious favor of Felix had us in mind, declares the bishop, with this gift.8 In a story from V. Wulfric, the cellarer (wine/food stewart) of the Cluniac house of Montacute refused to send food to the anchorite Wulfric, so Wulfric proclaimed, May God today take away from him his sustenance, as he has taken away mine. The cellarer drowned during a journey that same day.9 This holy mans curse was not limited merely to humans. The holy anchorite Wulfric of Haselbury killed a mouse that had gnawed his cape by cursing it. Perish the mouse that has damaged my cape! he said and the mouse fell dead at his feet, so great was the force of his word. By its death, comments Wulfrics Cistercian biographer J. Ford, it gave glory to God and peace to the holy man.10 The biographer Eyns wrote about when St. Hugh, bishop of Lincoln (1186-1200) was attempting to reconcile an estranged couple, and the irate woman spat in his face. He said to her, Since you have wanted my blessing but have desired my curse, lo! a curse shall take hold of you. He excommunicated her and within a few days the woman was dead.11 Excommunication, segregating an in-dividual from the Christian community, was a regulated and legal form of the curse. It was intended to be an awe-some act, pronounced publicly, with lighted candles and church bells sounding. Its effects were to remove the victim from Gods protection and thus allow the Devil to rage furiously against their body and soul.12 The emerging agents of Christianity enhanced their impression of power by aggressively reporting what happened to the churchs enemies. While in the non-Christian world there was virtually no testing of the merits of one God against another, in Christianity such testing went on constantly, continually defining approved worship against its opposite. The wrong was to be swept away by any means necessary.13 Why was it necessary to hasten the process of complete conversion by anything beyond gentle persuasion? The Christians were given an imperative which allowed no rest as long as unbelievers clung to their old ways. Good believers must fulfill the divine command: Ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves;...for the Lord, whose name is Jealousy, is a jealous God. (Exodus. 34:13) Saint Augustine declares that God who speaks truth has both predicted that the images of the many false gods, are to be overthrown, and commands that it be done.14 There was talk of peace between the Christians and the Pagans during the second and third centuries and there were many expressions of acceptance of the one toward the other. However, when the pagan Symmachus directed his appeal to Saint Ambrose in 384, it was too late to speak of religious tolerance. By then the Christian church had the upper hand and was in such a position of political power as to allow the free expression of their deeply held imperative.15 In the first 300 years of Christianity ten percent of the empires population were converted in response to positive inducements such as the advertising of miracles, debate and the worldly advantages of prestige, money and political power. With only positive inducements however, progress was so slow that complete victory seemed impossible. Anyone whose particular needs were satisfied by an alternative religion and who did not respond to the social and economical inducements held out by the Christian empire, or respond to the arguments and demonstrations proving the rightness of Christianity, must be persuaded by other means.16 The church chose not to undertake an organized missionary effort in order to accelerate the rate of conversions. Instead they chose to focus on negative inducements such as public ridicule, destruction and murder because these were more dramatic. These triumphs could be traced through dates and popular stories which grew more and more frequent as the third century turned into the fourth, fifth and sixth.17 In the foreground of the mission to convert all the people to Christianity were specific demands by zealots such as Firmicus Maternus for aggressive action. He adjured the emperors in 346, Little remains, before the Devil shall lie utterly prostrate, overthrown by Your laws, and the lethal infection of a vanquished idolatry shall be no more...The favoring numen of Christ has reserved for Your hands the annihilation of idolatry and the destruction of profane temples. He continues on to remind the emperors of Deuteronomy. 13:6-9, If thy brother, son, daughter, or wife entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods,...thou shalt surely kill them.18 Most Christians, like most good hearted people, had no taste for violence. The violence that broke out was mostly instigated by agitators, professionals and specialists or it arose from the authorities who commanded it.19 The model of the ideal evangelical efforts held up for imitation is an indication of the degree of urgency felt within the church. Evangelical heroes were the sort that would lock up for life an old man in their private dungeon or burn a Pagan priest to death. Bishops would urge the government to threaten, fine, confiscate, exile, imprison, flog, torture, behead and crucify the unbelievers. Thus, over the course of centuries, compliance of the populace was eventually secured.20 Long before it could be expressed in actions, this urgency was clear in the way Christian writers described Paganism. From the beginning of Christian literature some trace of denigration was almost always added to their descriptions of ancient customs. Such words as laughable, loathsome, wicked, disgusting, ignorant, and contaminating were freely applied by Christians to everything religious that was not Christian.21 Ridicule was seen as an appropriate response to the different beliefs and customs of non-Christians. This was to embarrass and belittle the people who revered such practices to encourage them to convert. This method of using ridicule to shape social norms is still in use today in most modern peoples reaction to what they consider superstitious. Ridicule is designed to suppress the opinions of people who subscribe to non-dominant paradigms. This tactic, however effective, only works if the person (who may have low self-esteem) becomes embarrassed and is thus forced by social pressure to conform. The pressure to conform is well documented in modern psychology. We know scientifically that people can be blinded to the most simple observations by the desire to fit in. For example prior to 250 AD, the intellectual elite were familiar with empiricist elements in ancient Pagan thought. Descriptions of natural phenomena in natural terms were accepted by the upper classes as pragmatic models of reality. It was only after 250 that analytical thought lost favor among the elite. During this time it became popular among intellectuals to explain natural phenomena in terms of supernatural agencies. This was a view of the world that most of the uneducated masses held to. Consequently the elite and the masses came into broad agreement about how the universe worked. Thus society as a whole became more gullible which opened the way to the acceptance of novel rites and beliefs such as those of Christianity.22 Despite the religious imperative for intolerance, the cultivated atmosphere of fear surrounding the message bearers and the boasting of accomplished miracles, this was not enough to convert the masses as quickly as the church leaders wanted. Rising from the status of a minority at the beginning of the 300s to comprising half of the population of the empire by 400 AD was just too slow of a rate of conversion for the church fathers. Due to the urgency of their imperative, the process of conversion had to go beyond the compulsion of both words and the use of sticks and stones by monks. It had to pro-gress to the application of the ultimate force of the sword. Only the emperors agents were allowed to wear and use a sword and so the conversion of the emperor Constantine was given top priority by the church leaders.23 The domination of secular society developed quite rapidly in the wake of Constantines conversion. Although the senators of Italy tended to be religiously conservative and thus were some of the most powerful staunch Pagans in office, with the conversion of Constantine the senate suddenly became evenly divided between the Pagans and the Christians. Later, during Julians reign, the Pagans regained a temporary domination of the senate. Although both Pagan and Christian senators were few in number, they wielded tremendous political power on behalf of their co-religionists.24 However, by 400 both Eastern and Western governments had become overwhelmingly Christian, it is clear that Christianity made no clean sweep of the summits of power and authority. There was Romes Pagan prefect Pompeianus, who in 408 performed rites to the old Gods on the Capitol, in hopes of stopping the invader Alaric. Several North African municipal senates remained in the hands of Pagans up until about the same time. The emperors Pagan personal physician, who had been honored by the senate with statutes of himself, helped many of his Pagan friends escape harsh punishments. For instance, he helped his friend Isocasius, the Quaestor of the Imperial Palace, to be released in 467 from charges of religious disloyalty with only a compulsory baptism.25 Asclepiodotus, a leader in the municipal council, and Pytheas were two prominent, rich, influential Pagans who were honored in the Christian city of Aphrodisias in the late fifth century. In remote regions, Pagans more often leave traces in history past the date of mass conversion of 400.26 According to the historian Trombley, non-Christian acts continued to be reported on into the ninth and tenth centuries, at Harran in the old province of Osrhoene or at Giza at the point of the Nile Delta.27 Pagan customs survived for many centuries afterwards in the more outlying areas. Even as late as the 12th Century it was very difficult to prevent people from venerating persons, places, or times that had not been sanctioned by the Church. The Council of Westminster of 1102 ruled, Let no one, through unheard-of boldness, treat as holy any bodies of the dead, or springs, or other things (as we have known has happened), without permission of the bishop.28 There are stories of St. Hugh of Lincoln, who had a bitter struggle up until 1200 to stop the veneration of springs at Berkhamstead in Hertfordshire, High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, and other places in his diocese.29 The peoples continued yearnings for Paganism left its traces in history. We can be assured there were reasons that the 12th Century writer Herbert Losinga wrote it is not seemly for the same mouth to preach Christ and recite Ovid and that William of Malmesbury, whose classical learning was immense, had to defend himself against the charge of reading and copying so many pagan books. These forbidden studies continued later on in the 12th century when Peter of Blois faced similar charges of saying things that smacked more of the pagan philosopher than of one who professes the Christian faith. Even early in the 13th century Alexander of Ashby, in his treatise on preaching, De artificioso modo predicandi on page 903 excused his use of precepts of the pagans.30 With the support of the emperor who could decree laws, the bishops tapped a power of persuasion which was the most extreme act of barbarity, the power to kill. The Theodosian Code, presented to the empire as a Christmas gift in 438, outlawed the nefarious rites of their sacrifices and the false doctrines of their deadly super-stition of the Manichees, Jews and Pagans, since with their natural insanity and stubborn insolence they depart from the path of the true religion. This legal document became the basis for further secular persecution of heretics and non-Christians of all faiths.31 What had been words became reality. Laws and arms were turned against any and all who did not follow the prevailing ecclesiastical truth. During the century which ushered in the Peace of the Church, more Christians died at the hands of fellow Christians than were killed by Pagans in all previous centuries. The Christian readiness for extreme action has been downplayed by modern historians even as late as 1993, when R.M. Price praises the church for converting the ancient empire without society tearing itself apart ... the fourth century said goodbye to bloody religious strife.32 The willingness of Christian leaders to resort to political subterfuge and murder is demonstrated by the fate of the Alexandrian priestess Hypatia in 415 AD. The patriarch Cyril was in conflict with the provincial governor for pol-itical strength and numbers of followers. To win the contest between them, Cyril called on his muscled parabalani or church workers along with hundreds of even stronger monks from the Nitrian wilds to shout down and stone the governor. The governor barely escaped with his life. The patriarch then focused on his resentment toward the outspoken Pagan priestess Hypatia. He had a lot of angry monks on hand and saw an opportunity to silence another rival. She was snatched from the street, hacked to death and then burned, purposefully desecrating her body to prevent any rebirth in the afterlife.33This type of behavior had its precedence with Honorius directive to bishops in the west to employ whatever numbers of servants they had in the suppression of Pagan cult meals. Bishops played a major role in directing the dismantling of Pagan culture. By the 500s they were often called on as informants and spies to report on the enforcement of the emperors laws which defined correct religion. By 681 AD in Toledo they were quoting vengeful verses from Deuteronomy like Firmicus, calling upon the civil authorities to seize and behead all those guilty of non-Christian practices of whatever sort. As in Alexandria, bishops might on occasion bring monks to bear as a physical force in support of their objectives, in Constantinople and all throughout the eastern provinces. This did not occur in the west because the monks were not as numerous and had a different character.34 The Eastern emperors were aware of the many crimes committed by monks and in 398 ordered the local authorities to boldly confront any monk who attempted to snatch accused persons from custody. The church itself had doubts about the reign of terror perpetrated by the monks, when in 451 at Chalcedon, the monks were ordered to respect the authority of the bishops and involve themselves in none of the business of the church nor of the secular world.35 However, men who were more used to asserting their religious convictions with a big stick rather than words were useful to the churchs purposes. These men were especially effective in rural parishes because, according to Trombley, they grew up in the local area, spoke the dialect, had friends among the Pagans and understood the yearnings which lay behind the cults.36 Merely by making himself acceptable, an ascetic might induce others to join him in his worship. However, a man accustomed to violent behavior, who was able to make friends and instill fear in enemies was considered a valuable asset.37 Authorities evidently judged that conversions could only be made through intimidation and physical force. However, this was not so easy; 250 years after Constantine began the long campaign of official temple destruction, Justinian was still engaged in the war upon dissent. He used his wealth and armies to demonstrate his power to mutilate or crucify, exile or bankrupt, coerce and bribe.38 The patriarch of the Eastern capital, Saint John Chrysostom, assembled early in the fifth century zealous ascetics, armed them with imperial laws on idolatrous shrines and sent them forth. Wealthy women provided the money for the workmen who destroyed temples while monks were used as shock troops. Using monk shock troops in Syria and Palestine in the early decades of the 400s was preceded by the destruction of the Alexandrian Serapeum and other shrines in the 390s.39Sometimes, the Pagan population did attempt to defend themselves. When ridiculed, they answered indirectly through comic theater. It was a common ancient practice to poke fun at the Olympian Deities and this was adapted to the new religion. Pagan villagers were given a voice in reply to the preaching of a bishop much like many other people throughout history have done in response to the repression of free speech by dictatorial forces.40 Once the church had assumed political and social power and had the backing of the emperor, councils were convened to define the limits of Christian belief and worship. Constantine thought that it would be wonderful if there was one authorized creed, one world government, one universal religion, one holy scripture with one emperor (God) to rule over it all. Of course the most appropriate emperor was himself and Christianity gave him the philosophy to make it happen. During the reign of the first three Christian emperors, the church fathers conveniently ignored the required worship of the emperor as a God because he was so useful to their plan.41 Control of the world could only work if everyone believed and thought in the same manner. So the councils of the bishops were created to regulate how people thought about themselves and Christianity, by defining what was and was not Christian. The definitions of Christian were enforced by the destruction of those heretics who did not agree with authorized beliefs and practices. Despite the autocracy of the laws, at the local level they were tempered with considerable accommodation, compromise, and just plain kindness shown to hapless victims by Pagan sympathizers in official posts. Persecution reflected the balance of beliefs in the community, where neighbor must confront neighbor. Thus, progress toward the extermination of religious error could only be slow. A full two centuries after the conversion of Constantine, the old cults lingered. Frustrated emperors, echoing the imperatives of frustrated bishops, enacted a string of decrees aimed at threatening those officials down through the ranks even to the most obscure city fathers. They were compelled to respond with zeal to the laws forbidding the showing of mercy toward Pagans. The problem of corruptible law enforcement, such as the governors of Sardinia accepting bribes to permit Pagan sacrifices, continued to be a thorn in the bishops side until they were forced to turn their attention elsewhere in the 450s with the advance of the Vndals and Huns.42 It would seem from the historical record available to us today that the triumph of Christianity over Paganism was not sudden and complete by the dawn of the fifth century. Paganism continued to linger, particularly as superstitious customs which were not recognized as religious piety by the church leaders. This was because the Pagan world was dismantled from the top down. In the process of eradicating Paganism, the most provocative, accessible and vulnerable aspects were attacked in sequence. The cults of the Great Gods fell first as the public rites and temples were so accessible. The public blood sacrifices made an easy target against which to turn the horror of decent citizens, but was merely the beginning. Within two centuries the emperor would outlaw simply making a racket at the moon. The acts of community leaders were criticized and controlled through intimidation before the church leaders focused on controlling the actions of the poor, rural and socially unacceptable folk. It took centuries for the church leaders to focus their attention on the destruction of private rituals performed in the home. As a consequence, the Pagan aspects that survived longest were those closest to the rural masses, closest to home, closest to superstition.43 The church developed a plan to destroy the power of the ancient priesthoods by a process of sequential attacks which involved the use of individual zealots, monks, bishops, civil officialdom and the emperor. Due to their imperative they accumulated wealth and political power to lend prestige to their rhetoric. They progressed from the use of rhetoric to the use of force by sticks and stones. After converting the emperor, they made sure laws were enacted with the backing of the ultimate level of coercion - the sword. Despite these measures, the triumph of the church was neither quick nor tidy. Modern historians have now demonstrated that Pagan beliefs and practices were not eclipsed or displaced by Christianity but that they persisted or were transformed. The victory of the Christian church was not one of obliteration but of assimilation. Christianity itself changed considerably due to its contact with Pagans and absorbed many Pagan customs such as the cults of the Saints and martyrs which were originally the cults of the Gods and heroes, holy day celebrations, artistic piety, burial customs and the date of the birth of their Savior. The cathedrals, icons and sacred music all mimic the ancient Pagan Roman temples in architecture, style and cadence. Even the burial rites of pope Pius IX in 1878 equipped him with the coins to pay Charon to cross the river of the dead.44 What Eusebius and Augustine had ridiculed as Pagan practices continued unchanged, except in the Gods addressed. The burning of candles and incense, the ringing of bells, the marking of sacred objects with special signs or the kiss bestowed to propitiate and bless are all borrowed from Paganism. Not only did the language of actions with which humans communicated with the divine remain the same, so did the language used by the divine to teach humans. The bishops as well as most of their congregation believed in the divine origins of dreams and visions as well as the importance of such signs as where thunder was heard or how the flame flickered on the altar. These, as well as what children are heard to say or which page falls open in revered texts, have been known from the oldest traditions as intelligible signs of superhuman communication.45 All the devices used by Christians to protect themselves from supernatural malevolent beings, except signing with the cross, were derived from Pagan practices. Holy water and holy dust, the blood and bones of holy persons and magical charms were commonly used. Wonder-workers were relied upon to control the weather for good crops, especially after access to temples had been forbidden. The church forbade resorting to wonder-workers, the throwing of coins, little lamps or other offerings into lakes and wells, but it did little good. Everyones life de-pended upon the season, and the realities of life demanded relief from uncertainty. The ecclesiastical teachings did not suffice to fill the peoples demand for protection and the reduction of lifes anxieties. The abundant continuation of ancient practices within Christianity after many centuries was partly reduced, partly reluctantly allowed and partly heartily embraced. The huge influx of Pagans reshaped Christianity to accommodate the religious needs of people who related to the divine in a magical way.46 If one were to rely merely upon the surviving histories or define religion as a creed, one might conclude that indeed Christianity triumphed over Paganism. However, if one were to define the bulk of any religious system as consisting of what the masses do and believe, then one can only conclude that Paganism was never completely stamped out. Into the 16th century, the herbarius Bock declared the clergy to be greater practitioners of magic than the laity in rites not greatly changed since Plinys day (23-79 AD). Since the 17th century, healing water has flowed from the breasts of a Mother-Goddess-made-Mary near a spring in Savoie. Up to the 1600s, petitioners for health scratched a pinch of dust from the walls of churches and drank it down, much like their Pagan ancestors did at temples. In the 19th century the inhabitants of Eleusis still attributed the fertility of the fields to Saint Demetra, hung garlands on Her kanephoros statue, and lit lamps to Her on festival days. In the traditions of Caristia, animal sacrifices have continued on holy days with churchyard feasts and graveside lamps on into the 20th century. Sacred dancing (another Pagan invention) still persists inside churches in Egypt, Spain, Germany, Switzerland and France. The grand scheme of the Christian church did not and could not conclude in any sort of a total eclipse or displacement of the past.47 Reclaiming our history from biased literary sources is not an easy task. It is my hope that this article will provide you with a stimulus to know more about our lost history. Perhaps, in the future the blinders imposed on historians and society by religious intolerance will be removed and we will have cause to celebrate our survival.

Notes 1 MacMullen, Ramsay. Christianity and Paganism in the Fourth to Eighth Centuries. New Haven: Yale University, 1997. 2,3.
2 Ibid.3.
3 Ibid.4.
4 Ibid. 4,5.
5 Ibid. 12.
6 Ibid. 11.
7 Ibid. 11.
8 Ibid. 11.
9 Bartlett, Robert. England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings, 1075-1225. New York: Oxford University, 2000. 440-441.
10 Ibid. 447-448.
11 Ibid. 448.
12 Ibid. 448.
13 Macmullen. 12.
14 Ibid. 12.
15 Ibid. 12.
16 Ibid. 72.
17 Ibid. 33.
18 Ibid. 14.
19 Ibid. note 44. 170.
20 Ibid. 72.
21 Ibid. 13.
22 Ibid. 153.
23 Ibid. 20.
24 Ibid. 22.
25 Ibid. 22, 23.
26 Ibid. 23.
27 Ibid. 152.
28 Bartlett. 472.
29 Ibid. 472.
30 Ibid. 518.
31 Macmullen. 14, note 43. 170.
32 Ibid. 14,15.
33 Ibid. 15.
34 Ibid. 16.
35 Ibid. 16.
36 Ibid. 17.
37 Ibid. 18.
38 Ibid. 151.
39 Ibid. 17.
40 Ibid. 18.
41 Ibid. 34, 35.
42 Ibid. 24.
43 Ibid. 72, 73.
44 Ibid. 110.
45 Ibid. 157.
46 Ibid. 157, 158.
47 Ibid. 159.