Truth vs. Flame War Propaganda

VH Frater SR, HOGD® Scandinavia Imperator

by Guest Blogger, Tomas Stacewicz, VH Frater SR, 6=5

I am VH Frater S.'.R.'., Tomas Stacewicz, Imperator of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn® in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Finland. Many of you know me already or have read my Gyllene Gryningen blog. 

"I do not usually speak out on this blog, but I am deeply concerned by the direction that the Golden Dawn community appears presently to be moving in."

It's a great shame that our community is being dragged back to a state that preceded our Golden Dawn Harmony initiative in spring 2009, where instead of reasonable arguments based on fact and backed up with evidence, ugly rumours and outright lies are once again being used by a leader of a Golden Dawn organization.


For the last few weeks Robert Zink, the Chief of the "Esoteric Order of the Golden Dawn", has on his "Golden Dawn Blog" been spreading false allegations and accusations against the H.O.G.D./A+O, which I feel must be addressed as it involves my native country and personal domestic affairs. I only reluctantly have decided to address this latest debate which is quickly being dragged back into the sort of feud that has nearly destroyed the reputation of the entire Golden Dawn tradition over the past two decades, being one who tries to shun this truly ugly aspect of the modern Golden Dawn community and culture. 

Most of the contents of the latest blogs by Mr. Zink aren't even worthy of any serious attention at all, as most readers are able to see through the stereotypic rhetoric of propaganda which infest them. Our order has already refuted the myriad "flame war" talking points Mr. Zink in recent weeks appears to be attempting to resurrect together with the flame war itself. The interested reader need only read our on order's website our trademark and lineage pages (including regarding Desmond Bourke), the factual biography (instead of propaganda) of Mr. David Griffin (our International Imperator), or the actual court documents that are a matter of public record.

But there is, however, one important point that I feel compelled to address here as it concerns the Order in Sweden and its history. Being a Swede, and the Imperator of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn® in Scandinavia, as well as the author of a mainly Swedish Golden Dawn blog (even if events and debates outside of my country often compel me to write in English), I must address the issue of certain Swedish affairs being aired in that blog by Mr. Zink. Robert Zink writes thus:

"Tommy Westlund. left his [David Griffin's] Order and took the entire Swedish temple with him after allegedly discovering Griffin was doing rites with the Nazi Flag draped over the altar."

Being a member of the Swedish jurisdiction of the H.O.G.D./A+O, and also an initiate of the same Temple as that of Tommy Westlund, for as almost as long as the latter, I believe that I probably am the person most qualified to address this issue. 

"I will not even dignify with a response the false and hateful Nazi rumors that Mr. Zink has been inventing and spreading for nearly two decades now as ammunition for Golden Dawn Flame War. "

Let me instead bring some real facts into this discussion.

Regarding Tommy Westlund, Tommy was a personal friend of mine and I still regard him to be a dear Frater. He now heads his own order, the Sodalitas Rosae Crucis (S.R+C), which has taken the Golden Dawn tradition and other Rosicrucian currents into a unique direction, that however doesn't reflect the vision of the H.O.G.D./A+O, even if we both pursue the Ars Royale, this being the actual reason for us going separate ways. There is no feud at all in Sweden between the H.O.G.D./A+O and S.R+C, or any other Order for that matter. The true state of matters in Sweden is that there is no need for any Golden Dawn Harmony initiative here, as there is no disharmony in Sweden or Scandinavia to address in the first place.

This newly alleged reason for Tommy's departure from our Order, clearly invented by Robert Zink for his "Golden Dawn Flame War" certainly isn't any protocol of Temple procedures that I have ever seen or heard about in my 15 years of active Temple work in several Swedish and European Temples. In reality, Tommy Westlund left the H.O.G.D./A+O because he wanted to found his own Order, according to his own personal preferences and research. 

Tommy Westlund certainly did not take the "entire Swedish temple with him", that being the Temple in Stockholm. Besides, referring to the "entire Swedish temple" falsely gives the impression that there only existed one Temple in Sweden at that time and thus that it no longer exists any Order in Sweden. This is outright propaganda-style disinformation. In fact there existed several Temples of our order in Sweden at the time of Tommy Westlund's departure, one of which one has been under my personal supervision and leadership since early 1997. None of these Temples "followed" Tommy Westlund when he left to found his new organization. In fact, only a couple of individuals followed Tommy into his new project. The Stockholm Temple to which Tommy belonged remained intact and proceeded with its operation as usual. 

Let there also be no doubt that the H.O.G.D./A+O continues to have a real presence in Sweden today and that it's College of Adepti oversees students from entire Scandinavia. After Mr. Griffin decided to leave Sweden permanently to pursue his study and training with his Alchemical Masters, he left the charge of the Scandinavian Jurisdiction over to me as Scandinavian Imperator.

Furthermore, I am sure that Tommy and his Order are doing a splendid work in furthering the spiritual process of their initiates, and I truly acknowledge him for that. Therefore, it feels disheartening to see Mr. Zink trying to drag the name of Tommy Westlund and that of my native country into this latest "flame war" barrage against the H.O.G.D./A+O. Therefore I urge Mr. Zink to stay away from dragging Sweden and Swedish initiates into these types of dirty games and underhanded tactics in the future. We don't want to have any part of it.

I do not believe that the hard working Fratres and Sorores of the EOGD are happy that our community is being dragged back into feuding and flame war either. I can assure you that your brothers and sisters in the HOGD/AO do not want this any more than you do. Let us all speak out for peace now before it is too late. Our orders not have to agree about everything. We do not even have to always like what one another does. Let us indeed keep our discussions and debates civil, however. Even if we need to point out something ugly in ourselves to one another, let us do even this in a fraternal manner. And above all, let us present reasoned arguments backed up by factual evidence, not just destructive talking points and flame war propaganda.

Let there be no doubt that the H.O.G.D./A+O still remains firmly committed to the Golden Dawn Harmony initiative, we launched two years ago. We repeat our offer to remove on a reciprocal basis all objectionable materials from our respective fora, websites, and blogs. However, this initiative has fallen on deaf ears up until now and reading the latest blog by Mr. Zink, I fail to see that there actually is any real, common interest in maintaining harmony in the Golden Dawn community on his part.

"I call therefore on our brothers and sisters in the EOGD to let Mr. Zink know that you too have had enough of flame war long ago."

Mr. Zink may think that by trying to drag us all back into flame war, he is only hurting Mr. Griffin or only the members of the HOGD/AO, but he is actually hurting all of you in the EOGD as well as our entire beloved Golden Dawn tradition.


Let us not only end this flame war before it gets started. Let us finally roll up our sleeves together and clean up the really old garbage and attacks off or our websites as well. Let this not be the beginning of a new flame war. Let this instead be the beginning of true fraternity between our two orders.


Sub Umbra Alarum Tuarum, Yeheshua,

VH Frater S.'.R.'.

Imperator for Scandinavia

Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn®

Golden Dawn Abuse (Rebuttal to Robert Zink)

Robert Zink

Robert Zink last week wrote another long blog full of misrepresentations, unsupported allegations, and outright lies about the HOGD/AO and myself. In this new blog, entitled "Beyond Name calling and the Golden Dawn," Robert Zink wrote:

"Now recently David Griffin of the A.O. (Alpha et Omega, Rosicrucian Order etc)  (Not to be confused with the A.O. under the lineage of MacGregor Mathers) has been throwing more spaghetti up against the wall,  which is directed at myself and the body of adepts in the Esoteric Order of the Golden Dawn."

There is no need even to address again Robert Zink's same unsupported allegations about the lineages held by our order, the HOGD/AO. Bob Zink has floated these same misrepresentations on a regular basis ... So often, in fact, that the interested reader need merely refer to the trademark and lineage pages on our website to get actual, factual information.

Robert Zink's ex-wife, Sonya Neiman Zink, is nothing less than the Mother of the order today known as the Esoteric Order of the Golden Dawn, even though she has never been given the credit she is due. Sonya Zink wanted to stick to the classical Golden Dawn. She therefore opposed Robert Zink's schemes and abuse of th e Golden Dawn. For this loyalty to the traditiona Golden Dawn, Sonya Zink ended ended up a divorced wife,  and excommunicated from the order she co-founded.

Sonya Neiman Zink

Sonya Zink recently let the cat out of the bag about how she and Robert REALLY co-founded their order - originally called the Eternal Circle of Light - now doing business as the Esoteric Order of the Golden Dawn. First off, according to Sonya Zink, she and Robert WERE NEVER THEMSELVES INITIATED into any grade of the Golden Dawn and Robert Zink is still (not even today) a Golden Dawn initiate. 

For years, Robert Zink spread rumors about some mysterious "Mentor" he claims came from a former American temple of the Rosicrucian Order of Alpha et Omega. According to Sonya Zink,  this is a total fabrication made up for faked credibililty. According to Sonya, she and Robert founded their Golden Dawn order using only two sources: Israel Regardie's Golden Dawn book - and a Ouija board!

In other words, Robert Zink has no Golden Dawn lineage whatsoever and is not even really a Golden Dawn initiate. This is the true reason why Robert Zink so frequently attacks the substantial Golden Dawn, Hermetic, and Rosicrucian lineages held by the HOGD/AO, even though he never provides any evidence at all supporting his wild proclamations.

In his new blog, Robert Zink now claims I am somehow attacking "the body of adepts in the Esoteric Order of the Golden Dawn." Nothing could be farther from the truth. One bad apple does not spoil the barrel. EOGD Adepts and Initiates are, by and large, hard working people that are extremely dedicated to the Golden Dawn system. It is certainly not their fault, they are being lied to and misled by Robert Zink. In truth, I do not criticize the Adepti or Initiates of the EOGD at all - but only the terrible way that Robert Zink has been misleading and exploiting them.

I certainly never said that the EOGD is "nothing but New Age rubbish" as Robert Zink has falsely and repeatedly alleged. What I actually HAVE said is that Robert Zink EXPLOITS the good members of the EOGD by trying to sell them Psychic Readings, CD Seminars, Teleseminars, Miracle Mentoring, "Goldfire" groups, 24 Strand DNA Activations, and any other money scam he can think of. All of this is thoroughly documented in Robert Zink's own words, in letters to his order republished in comments on my blog here.

Again, I really do not mind if Robert Zink wants to become the Tony Robbins of the Golden Dawn. That is his own business. Heck, I don't mind even Robert Zink taking his Golden Dawn order in a decidedly New Age direction. 

What I do object to is all of this flim-flam. All of these confidence schemes have NOTHING to do with the traditional, classical Golden Dawn. And there is no other Golden Dawn leader or order anywhere that is hawking such schemes either. Not only is Robert Zink exploiting EOGD members. He is giving the entire Golden Dawn tradition a bad name with all of these scams. 

There are far too many people in the greater esoteric community who already, primarily because of Robert Zink's scamming, have sadly come to believe that the entire Golden Dawn tradition is nothing but a commercial money scheme. On his Miracle Mentoring website, Robert Zink recently wrote:

You can learn the secrets of inner alchemy to begin turning any area of your life from lead to gold. The results are incredible for the sincere seeker of alchemical transformation who craves a life filled with miracles...

•  Build a profitable business

•  Become a millionaire

What? Become a millionaire with Inner Alchemy?! In other words, Robert Zink is claiming that the Golden Dawn is primarily motivated by how to...

...get rich quick!

Is it any wonder that people are starting to believe that the entire Golden Dawn tradition is nothing but one big money scam?

Robert Zink accuses me of "name calling," I admit I gave Robert the nickname "Sideshow Bob" after Bob's own letters proved how he threatened EOGD members with expulsion unless they "block" spammed me to get my Facebook account cancelled, also evidenced in Robert Zink's own letters written to his order.

"Sideshow Bob" Zink

On the other hand, however, when an anonymous commenter on my blog suggested that Robert Zink's trying to control the social networks of EOGD members is tantamount to "cult-leader-like" behavior, I actually defended Mr. Zink, because I do not support the word "cult" associated with the Golden Dawn in any way. My defending Robert Zink from this "Cult Leader" monniker resulted in my being chided not only by Morgan Drake Eckstein but even by Donald Michael Kraig, who wrote on his Llewellyn blog:

"There are lots of groups that claim to be...the Golden Dawn. I know of one where the leader used supposed spiritual concepts to justify his sexual abuse of a minor."

Don Kraig here refers to the incident when Robert Zink impregnated the underaged child of one of his EOGD (then HOMSI) order members. When HOMSI/EOGD leaders denied this allegation, the victim's Mother broke her silence and set the record straight, as follows:

Posted by Rita P., 2002.07.28 03:51  

R. (The victim) was only 16 when her relationship with Robert began.  Let me set that straight.  And if you want to contest her mother, go right ahead. I did not give Robert any consent to sleep with my daughter. He just took it on himself. Robert did a Bowl of Desire on R. so he could take her -- she was still attending Rosary High School.  So it was not okay.  She had to drop out of high school because of the pregnancy, and to this day has never been allowed to finish her schooling. 

Rita

When the Mother was accused by HOMSI/EOGD leaders of lying about the sexual abuse of her underaged daughter by EOGD leader, Robert Zink, she reluctantly published the birth certificate of the child Zink had sired during one of the assaults on her daughter - as incontrovertible proof! 

Both the HOGD/AO and I remain firmly committed to harmony in the Golden Dawn community. This, however, does not mean that I approve of Robert Zink's confidence schemes. It also does not mean that Robert Zink's history of sexual abuse of minors should simply be swept under the carpet either.

So, Robert Zink, I agree that the Golden Dawn community needs to move beyond name calling. Instead of simply pointing fingers at me, however, how about instead finally beginning to...

... Clean up YOUR act ...

- Once and for ALL?!?!

The Roots of Modern Paganism Debate II

This new article continues the debate regarding the antiquity of the roots of modern Paganism from the comments section of my previous article. I am replying to Peregrin with this new article as the issues raised by Peregrin require a somewhat lengthy reply.

Peregrin writes:

Hello again,

Sorry if I do not have the energy or time to really go into this. I have done all this before and do not wish to go over it too much. Some stuff is on MOTO, most was years back and not on-line. This is why I ask folk to do their own research.

Just a few points then.

As Pallas says (thank you) I am referring to some not all.

Of course Pagan does not equal Wicca. However, there is no physical EVIDENCE to suggest paganism remained a viable RELIGIOUS path in Europe up to the 20th century.

Of course there were and are pagan survivals; customs, deity prayers, conflation with Christian saints etc. No one disputes this. What I am saying is that there is no evidence that these survivals existed as a religious alternative to Christianity as a full religious tradition. Sadly Christianity subsumed or killed most of these traditions. Folk magical practices, awareness of deities at wells etc do not a religion make, especially when most of the folk doing this named themselves Christians and would attend Christian churches.

Hutton never asserts beyond England and I speculate based on physical evidence.

The leaders of most neo-pagan traditions that became visible in the 60s and 70s had some contact or training with Wicca. Whilst not Wiccan, many from that time drew from Wicca. It is only from the 80s and 90s that we see Pagan reconstructionism consciously forming itself apart from (and sometimes in opposition to) Wicca.

As for your suggestion that unknown pagan activity may have been happening, it really matters little. We can only judge by the evidence. There may have been a secret cult of the Easter Bunny or the Intestine of Judas…if we cannot see evidence of it, we do not know.

To assert or believe something without evidence requires a level of base faith. This I think is inappropriate in mature religion and certainly has no place, to my mind, in the esoteric traditions. We do not accept literal interpretations of scripture without evidence. I see no reason to accept interpretations of Europe’s pagan past without evidence also.

And while my ego appreciates being described as a Christian apologetic, this is really beyond my field of expertise.

Thanks :)

I frankly don't see how this discussion can continue with any seriousness as long as Peregrin  merely ignores all presented evidence (like about Hutton's proclamations on Leland and Italy covered in my previous comments) and instead merely repeats his talking points over and over, propaganda style. Peregrin's new assertion that "Hutton never asserts beyond England" is so factually inaccurate as to beg the question whether Peregrin has actually even read Hutton himself.

Admittedly, Hutton's evidence is rather convincing that today’s Wicca is largely a reinvention. Numerous of Hutton’s subsidiary claims are not nearly as convincing, however. This may suit true Neopagans, who feel no strong ties to the past, but it disenfranchises many other Pagans who feel kinship and connection with antiquity.

Peregrin writes:

"What I am saying is that there is no evidence that these survivals existed as a religious alternative to Christianity as a full religious tradition. Sadly Christianity subsumed or killed most of these traditions. Folk magical practices, awareness of deities at wells etc do not a religion make, especially when most of the folk doing this named themselves Christians and would attend Christian churches."

In this assertion, Peregrin yet once again parrots Hutton. For Hutton, "these people had signalled their conversion to Christianity by the adoption of Christian worship and customs, and Hutton maintains that in so doing, they necessarily abandoned the old gods: one cannot be both Christian and Pagan. Such an assumption of mutual exclusivity is a very important one, as it underpins many of Hutton's arguments and effectively circumvents whole areas of inquiry. It is also a simplistic idea locked in a monotheistic mindset: from a more polytheistic and syncretic paradigm such as that of our European ancestors it was quite feasible to accommodate the new Christian God into an existing pantheon without invalidating the older deities."

Peregrin follows Hutton as well here in defining "religion" in such a narrow manner as to render any possible evidence as moot, although neither Peregrin nor Hutton provide any real evidence to the contrary either. I am not claiming the existence of a massive, organized Pagan resistance movement like Margaret Murray suggested. But for Peregrin and Hutton to deny the existence of ANY evidence of the survival of pagan religious practice is a much bolder claim not born out by the relevant facts.

On the contrary:

"the survival of pre-Christian belief systems and their contribution to the diabolized stereotype of witchcraft in the Early Modern era has become widely accepted in the field of witchcraft history. It has been amply demonstrated by a whole school of well respected historians, including Éva Pócs, Gustav Henningsen, Carlo Ginzburg, Gábor Klaniczay, Wolfgang Behringer and Juhan Kahk (studying witchcraft in Hungary, Sicily, Italy, Eastern Europe, Bavaria and Estonia, respectively), and other luminaries. What these authors have established is that beliefs about magic followed remarkably consistent, well-developed patterns throughout Europe, and that while they operated within the social framework of Christianity they were anything but Christian in origin."

Moreover, Ethnologist João de Pina-Cabral has also examined the problem of Pagan religious survival in detail and concluded that certain ancient Pagan beliefs and practices have had an “uncanny capacity for survival.” The survival of ancient Pagan beliefs and practices are additionally substantiated in Carlo Ginzburg’s Ecstasies: Deciphering the Witches’ Sabbath.

In an earlier comment, I questioned what the underlying, personal motivations could possibly for Dr. Ronald Hutton to go to such extremes. Large sections of Triumph of the Moon — entire chapters, even — are one-sided, misleading, or plain wrong. Many of Hutton's sources are misrepresented, and for a surprising number of his claims he provides no evidence at all.

Dr. Ronald Hutton

Ronald Hutton was born at Ootacamund in India to a colonial family of Russian ancestry. His mother considered herself to be a "Pagan." Could it be that the vehemence with which Hutton approaches the roots of Paganism in antiquity arises from little more than Hutton's misplaced feelings about his Mother and her religion?

Peregrin next argues that occulted Pagan activity "does not matter," since we can only judge by evidence we can see. This argument betrays the inappropriateness of applying historical method to matters occult or esoteric, wherein the only admissible evidence is the extremely limited written information available to the profane historian - themselves not privy to the initiatic mysteries. By this narrow definition, no initiatic tradition nor secret mystery school may today even be said to exist, due to their very nature as rooted in secrecy!

According to such narrow standards, the esoteric teachings of the Cromlech temple, for example, could not have been said to exist as long as they remained occulted behind initiatic secrecy.

Peregrin's Act of Desecration

Peregrin himself changed this, however, by personally desecrating the Aura papers of the Golden Dawn spin-off, Cromlech Temple's Sun Order, by publishing them without the permission of the surviving Chiefs of that temple.

It is therefore unsurprising to witness Peregrin today apply this same "profanation standard" to initiatic mysteries of Pagan religion as well!

I am certainly not an advocate of blind faith, as Peregrin would like to paint me as. I do however, believe that neither Pagans nor Neo-Pagans should allow academic historians to define our faith for us, especially in light of the depth of lack of academic integrity we have already witnessed ...

... And certainly we should not desecrate initiatic mysteries, merely to satisfy demands for evidence in arenas in which the only evidence acceptable to the historical method is by its very nature precluded for the profane historian as well as for the desecrator of mysteries.

- David Griffin

Urban Legends: Neo-Pagans & Golden Dawn Forgeries - Answer to Ronald Hutton and Ellic Howe

by DAVID GRIFFIN

I am saddened at the way certain historical notions are so easily swallowed by the esoteric community and so effortlessly give birth to harmful and enduring urban legends. All too often, such fables are engendered merely because someone considered to be an academic authority publishes a text based on personal bias, substantiated with what scant evidence they, as non-initiates, are permitted access.

One example of such a harmful myth created by an uncritical reliance on academic authority is the prevalent belief that the Golden Dawn is based on a "forgery." This urban legend arose due to an credulous reliance on the authority of Ellic Howe, whose otherwise fine history of the Golden Dawn is marred by Howe's intense personal dislike of the order. The destructive myth arising from Howe's biased theory that the foundational "Sprengel" letters written to W.Wynn Wescott were forgeries, in reality has been substantiated by nothing more than the so-called, "expert" testimony of Oscar Schlag, a Swiss Thelemite who, like Crowley himself, was out to destroy the Golden Dawn.

Golden Dawn Senior Adept, Dr. Robert Word (of the August Order of the Mystic Rose), recently submitted the Sprengel-Wescott letters for independent examination to a truly objective, professional Germanist. Her results verify the Sprengel-Wescott letters not to have been forged by a native English speaker as both Howe and Schag erroneously and misleadingly claim. The letters instead appear written in completely correct Sutterline German entirely consistent with the period. As a trained Germanist myself, I subsequently submitted these letters to personal scrutiny as well. Admittedly, my personal findings can in no way be considered unbiased, due to the key leadership role I play in the contemporary Golden Dawn. Nonetheless, I have been trained as Germanist for over 30 years and - contrary to the enduring urban legend - I also judge these letters to be authentic.

And yet, the myth that the Golden Dawn is based on a "forgery" tenaciously persists until today, among all but those who have actually bothered to investigate the matter for themselves!

Another such urban legend is the prevalent belief in the modern Pagan movement that no Western Pagan religion has survived from antiquity, and consequently that ALL contemporary Pagan religion is but modern revival, with no historical roots. This belief has resulted in many contemporary Pagans mistakingly identifying themselves as "Neo"-Pagans, and has tragically cut off the modern Pagan movement from its historical roots in antiquity.

This destructive myth has become entrenched in the Pagan community in large part due to an uncritical reliance on the authority of Dr. Ronald Hutton's book, "The Triumph of the Moon," an examination of the historical roots of Wicca. In this well-researched work, tenured historian Dr. Hutton presents a rather convincing argument that Wicca is a synthetic religion pieced together from bits of Gerald Gardner's personal experiences in India with Goddess worship, anthropological data from Dr. Margaret Murray, Sir James Fraizer and Charles G. Leland, and the Golden Dawn, with membership drawn in part from the Naturist (Nudist) movement in England.

Even in regard to Wicca, the evidence presented by Dr. Hutton, while difficult to ignore, a decade later does not remain undisputed. For example, Philip Heselton has provided compelling data that G.B. Gardner was indeed initiated into the pre-existing New Forrest Coven. Consequently, contrary to Hutton's premise, it is unlikely that Gardner completely made up his witchcraft tradition.

Nonetheless, the urban legend tenaciously endures that no European Pagan religion has survived from antiquity. This myth survives not based on factual evidence presented by Dr. Hutton on the origins of Wicca, but merely based on sweeping pronouncements Dr. Hutton makes on the antiquity of Pagan traditions in Continental Europe.

There remain gaping holes in these proclamations. Firstly, Dr. Hutton's historical inquiry is limited to southern England, as he readily admits in the opening of his investigation. Moreover, Hutton presents no solid historical evidence to substantiate his decrees on Italy and the rest of the world. Hutton spends five pages merely parroting the opinions of others on the trustworthiness of Leland’s informant, for example.

Finally and most importantly, such matters are better the province of anthropologists rather than a historian. Hutton inappropriately does not limit himself to the examination of the written word as is properly the province of the historian, but frequently relies on personal reports he gathered himself, which Hutton presents according to his personal bias, rather than as the results of intense scrutiny by the rigors of ethnographic method.

Despite these gaping holes in Dr. Hutton's underlying conclusions, the urban legend that no European Pagan religion has survived from antiquity, has tragically deprived much of the modern Pagan movement of its historical roots, and has led to the audacious conclusion that ALL Pagan religion today is but Neo-Pagan revival.

This audacity arises directly from the erroneous presumption that the historical roots of all modern Paganism stand or fall with Wicca. This is an extremely Anglo-centered vision, as though no European Pagan traditions have ever existed outside of England, Ireland, and Wales!

Such an Anglo-centered Pagan vision negates, for example, the possibility that vestiges of ancient Greek or Roman Paganism might have secretly survived intact. This is as mistaken a notion as the myopic vision I have encountered again and again in the Golden Dawn community, as though the Golden Dawn arose as an exclusively British affair, completely separate from its Continental European context and Hermetic and Rosicrucian roots.

In the decade following Dr. Hutton's study, new anthropological evidence has surfaced, for example, that casts serious doubt on these urban legends. For example, the polytheistic Kalash Kafir religion, still practiced today by about 3,000 people in Chitral, has a strong resemblance to ancient Greek Paganism. This has led some to theorize that the Kalash religion arose directly from the invading Greeks.

When the great hero and general, Alexander, reputed as great as the gods Apollo and Zeus, left troops on the mountainsides of the great Hindu Kush, he asked them to stay there without changing their beliefs and traditions, their laws and culture until he returned from the battles in the East.

The Kalash people living until today in a village in Pakistan, proclaim with pride that they are the direct descendents of Alexander the Great. In fact, there are many similarities between them and the Hellenes of Alexander the Great’s time. Similarities such as religion, culture, and language reinforce their claims to Hellenic ancestry.

The Kalash are a polytheistic people and the gods goddesses they believe in closely resemble the twelve gods of Ancient Greece. Shrines are found in every Kalash village reminding us of religious sanctuaries we would stumble across in ancient Greece. These serve as houses of worship where prayers and sacrifices are offered. Oracles who played a major role in acting as mediators and spokespeople between the gods and the mortals still hold a position of importance in the social structure of the Kalash. Every question or prayer towards the gods is customarily followed by a sacrifice of an animal. This is reminiscent of the sacrifices the Hellenes gave to the gods to assure them a victory over the city of Troy.

The Kalash also practice a ritual that is celebrated on August 6, named the Day of the Transfiguration. This is the day where grapes are brought out to the god to be blessed and to guarantee them of a plentiful crop. This ritual can be traced back to Ancient Greece where it was practiced by the cult of Dionysus who paid their respect to the god of fertility and wine. An active member of the cult of Dionysus was Olympia, mother of Alexander the Great, said to have recruited many of her son’s soldiers and who in return practiced it throughout their expedition (Alexandrou, pg. 184).

The Kalash also live a lifestyle that can be positively compared to that of the Ancient Greeks. For example, the Kalash are the only people in the East who make and use accessories such as chairs and stools that cannot be found anywhere else in the surrounding regions. Their chairs are decorated with drawings such as the ram’s horns which symbolize the horns that decorated Alexander the Great’s helmet. Battle scenes depicting Greek soldiers are also observed. In the recent archaeological discoveries in Vergina, Greek archaeologists found the exact same replicas as the ones the Kalash use in their homes today (National Herald, pg. 7).

Certain scientists and anthropologists dispute, however, the notion of the Kalash being direct descendants of the ancient Greeks. Significantly, no genetic ties between Kalasha and Greeks has as yet been discovered. Moreover, the Greeks merely passed through in 327 B.C., probably within 50 miles of Chitral, but did not enter Chitral itself and did not stop or stay for long.

Even more skeptical anthropologists, however, agree that the polytheistic Kalash religion and the Greek religion at least appear to have a common origin. One prevalent theory is that the Kalasha are Indo-Aryans whose religion has commonalities with pre-Zorastrian Iranians. The strongest anthropological evidence, however, indicates that both ancient Greek Paganism and contemporary Kalash polytheism came from a proto-Indo European religion which was carried along with the Indo European language when the Chitralis first got there some 3,000 to 4,000 years ago. No matter which of these theories ultimately prove true, the bulk of this anthropological evidence nonetheless casts serious doubt on the urban legend that no ancient European Pagan religion today survives intact.

Clearly, such a conclusion may not reasonably be drawn merely based on the work of Ronald Hutton. From an academic point of view, Hutton's work is dismissible on three counts. Firstly, Hutton's research is over a decade old and as I have shown in this article, new evidence has meanwhile come to light refuting Hutton's remarks about Paganism outside of England. Secondly, Hutton's attempt at the anthropological method is outside his field of expertise. Thirdly, the statements Hutton makes about Paganism outside of his stated research area are perfunctory, and as such should not be taken as gospel. 

The scope of Hutton's actual research was limited to Wicca and Paganism in southern England, whereas ancient Pagan religion flourished across a far broader region. Clearly any remarks Hutton makes regarding Paganism outside of Southern England should be taken - not with pinches - but with BUCKETS of salt. Thus the conclusion, based on Hutton's research, that the entire contemporary Pagan movement is but Neo-Pagan revival is revealed as fatally flawed.