From Far Beyond
By Staff Writer: Paganus Greybeard
Paganus ‘turns’ and ‘faces’ the Readership:
We are Mortal. We are not Gods, Guides, Guardians, Elements or Spirits.
We are humble Mortals made from the clay, twigs and water of the Ground.
Made from the Ground we live through the ‘Breath of Life’ from the Gods.
We Mortals are not Gods. We are the created Children of the Gods.
Creation ‘Myths’ abound. There are many tellings and re-tellings of
our Creations and Development. The Navajo - through their Chants -
see the story starting with the marching upward from the lowest of
realms of the Red Ants. We Mortals came along much later. In certain Hindu
mythologies we are the product of a dreamer. All we see and know is but
a dream of some unknown dreamer. And even that dreamer might be but a
dream of yet another dreamer. In the Judeo/Christian ‘faith’ we Mortals were
‘Created’ by the “Hand and Word of God".
From whatever ‘original’ source is selected one thing is clear -
We Mortals were Created and Developed and Owe all that We have to
the ALL - one of the many multitudinous names of the Original Primal
Creator Being. The ALL is God. God is the ALL. They are the same
Deity. Just different names. The Judeo/Christians see God as an
Outsider who steps into our mortal lives. Pagans, Wiccans and even
Druids - so far as I can determine from my Readings and my Understanding
of those Readings - see the ALL not as an Outsider but as part of us.
In the Judeo/Christian version we were Created and send on our way
with God as an Benevolent Overseer keeping watch over us.
Pagans - including Wiccans and Druids - see the Creation somewhat differently.
Pagans see the ALL and the Creation as a single event/entity.
For them - and this may be a bit of a difficult mental image - the
Creator and the Created are identical - they are the Same.
Yet again - the Navajo tell yet a third version of this with Creation
stemming from the Red Ants marching upwards from the Lowest Realm.
Are we but a Dream of a Dreamer dreamed by a Dreamer dreamed by a
Dreamer dreamed by a Dreamer into the far mists of eternal infinity?
Paganus ‘holds up’ a mirror:
Are we but a Dream dreamed by an infinite series of Dreamers?
Perhaps.
Paganus ‘holds up’ a picture of Red Ants - marching:
Did our Creation begin with Red Ants marching upward through other
realms till they reached this realm?
Possibly.
Paganus ‘holds up’ a photo of the Sistine Chapel fresco of the the
Hand of God reached out towards the Hand of Man:
Were we - and all We see and know - ‘Created’ by the ‘Hand & Word of God’?
Could be.
All of these scenarios are possible. And oddly enough - both the
the Navajo and the ‘Hand & Word of God’ versions are supported by Genesis.
Paganus ‘holds up’ a Bible:
In Genesis we read that -
“….a Flood used to rise out of the Earth and water all the
surface of the Ground…."(1)
In the Navajo Chants there is a “Song of the Flood” that says - in
part:
“….the waters that extend upwards; I came up with them;
when my spiritual power was strong; I came up with them;
when it was holy; I came up with them."(2)
We are all Children of the ALL.
We all ‘worship’ the same Deity/Divinity.
There is even some indirect evidence of that in the Introduction to
the ‘New English Bible’. In that Introduction we read of how the many
varied and variant versions of the Bible came down through the generations to
us. It was translated into many languages. According to that Introduction -
“….As the knowledge of Hebrew died out amoungst the Jews, the readings
of the Scriptures in the Synagogue had to be followed by a translation of the
passages into Aramaic, the language which had supplanted Hebrew. Such renderings,
known as Targums (Aramaic targum ‘translation’), tended to become traditional and
streotyped and finally were written down. Some of them contain pre-Christian material…."(3)
This is very consistent with anthropological and archeological
analysis and record. For thousands of years the ‘Word of God’ was literally that -
the Spoken Word. Nothing was written down. Only many thousands of
years later - not just hundreds but thousands of years later - were these ‘Holy
Sacraments’ written down. They were learned by rote from one generation to another.
This is the same pattern the Ancient Druids followed. Little - if any - of the ‘original’
Druids remain. What little does remain is from the writings of the newly arrived
Christians and with them their scribes.
“In the Beginning was the Word - and the Word was God….”
Just how different - and differing - are the Myths of Creation?
When we consider that in all of the ’sources’ examined here all of the Myths
were orignally oral traditions and that the writing down of them came later -
hundreds if not thousands of years later - and that there are striking
similarities in the texts - we are left with the not so suprizing
inevitable conclusion that there may not be any real difference. Any differences
may be only differences in viewpoint and interpretation. And that may mean
that there is no real difference at all….
Paganus ‘holds up’ a ‘bowl’ of Water:
This is Water.
Paganus ‘holds up’ a ‘handful’ of Earth:
This is Earth.
Paganus ‘holds up’ a Lighted Candle’:
This is Fire.
Paganus ‘holds up’ empty hands:
This is Air.
This is also Spirit.
Five elements.
Elements of Creation from which we - and that was Created - Was
Created.
Paganus ‘turns slowly’ in a ‘clockwise circle’:
Four Directions -
East of the Dawn and the Day.
West of the Evening and the Night.
South and North to keep the Balance.
‘Spirit’ to connect and hold Everything together.
Paganus again ‘faces’ the Readership and ‘holds up’ a Pentacle:
Five Elements.
Five Directions.
It’s the Pentacle.
It’s your Key to the Kingdom.
It’s your Seal of Authority.
It is not an ‘evil’ symbol.
It is the symbolic represetation of Earth, Air, Fire, Water and
Spirit.
There is no ‘evil’ there.
There is Life and Healing there.
Paganus ‘holds up’ a Celtic Shield/Cross:
This is the Celtic Shield.
It is also known as the Celtic Cross.
It represents the Four Directions - East, West, South, North.
It also represents Spirit that is in and with us always.
Two symbols.
One Pagan.
One Celtic and Early Christian.
Two symbols.
One Speaks -
Both Speak.
One speaks of the ‘elder gods’ and their ways of Life and Healing.
One speaks of the ’sacrificed god’ and Salvation and Redemption.
Both speak.
Do we listen?
Do we hear?
I wear both.
I listen - as best this Paganus can.
I hear - as best this Paganus can.
Do you?
What do you listen to?
What do you hear?
I do both beacause for this Paganus there is No Difference. They
speak in different way of the same thing. Mortal Cultures and Histories may
be different. The message is not different. the messages have never
really been different. They only appeared to be differetn because of CUltural and
Sociological ‘differences’. There is only one (1) message….
Hug a tree. The Tree will understand. In time - so will you..