Synopsis
"Pagan Resurrection" puts forward a fascinating and controversial idea - namely that it is the pagan god Odin and not Christ who is the single most important spiritual influence in western civilisation. Far from being just a New Age fad, paganism is fast becoming a major spiritual, intellectual, ecological and political force across the globe. Rudgely is an Oxford trained anthropologist and critically acclaimed author of "Lost Civilisations of the Stone Age", who has since presented three series on Channel 4. He takes the reader through the strange world of modern pagan cuts, the pagan beliefs that underpin important parts of modern culture, such as "Lord of the Rings" and the highly pagan counter culture that sprang up in the sixties and now offers an attractive alternative spiritual vision to millions alienated from Christianity. He explains the ancient idea of the Web - a cosmic field of energies that encompasses time, space and the hidden potentials of the human organism, and shows that this is a pagan equivalent to the eastern tradition of Tao. Our civilisation, our belief systems and attitudes indeed our psyche have been formed by Odin. The influence of Christ, he says, has been relatively recent and shallow. Paganism, like Christianity, can be a force for good or evil. At this turning point in history we need to choose between the dark and destructive paganism that gave rise to Nazism and modern right-wing movements in American and, on he other hand, the green paganism of ecology and alternative spirituality. Every decade or so a new generation is inspired by a controversial classic of alternative history/spirituality - The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail, Fingerprints of the Gods... The time now is just right for Pagan Resurrection!
From the Publisher
Controversial study of the rise of paganism suggesting that the pagan god Odin and not Christ is the single most important spiritual influence in western civilisation
From the Inside Flap
Pagan Resurrection is the biography of a god. The old pagan deity Odin, dethroned by Christ, has rised again to play a powerful role in human affairs in the modern era.
The pagan myths and gods are ancient blueprints that are still very much alive in the modern mind, influencing both thought and action. The author explores this revival in its various manifestations - from Victorian science-fiction, to the proto-hippies of early twentieth century Germany, from the Nazis to the ideas of the psychologist Carl Jung.
After the Second World War, paganism spread across the English-speaking world. Its diverse power and influence can be found in the writings of Tolkien, the hippie movement of the sixties, the actions of serial killers in the US, in neo-Nazi terrorism, and in occult circles.
The new paganism is an increasing power in modern culture not only in Europe and America but across the globe. It has manifested in both creative and destructive ways and, if the positive an conscious power of the Odin myth is drawn upon, then our civilisation can be transformed for the better. The new paganism provides a living philosophy for the twenty-first century. Pagan Resurrection is not just about the modern crisis in western spirituality, it also suggests a way forward
About the Author
Richard Rudgley:
Richard Rudgley was born in 1961. He completed a BA in Social Anthropology and Religious Studies and went on to do a M. St. and M. Phil. in Ethnology and Museum Ethnography at Oxford. He is currently doing a D. Phil. and specialising in historical and contemporary uses of psychoactive substances by the native peoples of Canada and Alaska. He has done much field work in China and Canada, and written and lectured on the usage of hallucinogens and intoxicants. He is married and lives in London.
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