Ancient Polytheism

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Maximilian75

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Are there any groups out there who still follow Egyptian or Sumerian polytheism? I know of the classic Norse pagans, but have never heard of any groups going way back into the religious closet, so to speak.
 
There are pagan groups that use the Egyptian pantheon.
There are small pagan groups in the Middle East that are seeking to reconstruct ancient Caananite pantheons.
 
I’ve lost touch, but twenty years ago, there was a group in the city where I lived who called themselves Sumerians.

Threw great parties, very festive.
 
Yep,…the reconstructed pagan religion of ancient Egypt is often called Kemetism.
 
Yes. Unfortunately I’ve been among these people for some time. And there are powerful ones who use their money and influence to push their pagan religions through music and tv.
 
Egypt and Sumeria? Maybe not, but the Hindu faith is considering polytheistic, and is very ancient and is still growing.
 
But Hinduism never really died out like some of these religions did. The neo-pagans are reconstructing these faiths. The old ancient pagan religions developed organically within each community they served. Egypt’s pantheon of gods and goddesses were slightly different than say, the Norse religion. But today in the US, there are a growing number of self-identified Heathens who follow Odin. They often pick and choose what parts of the religion they like.
 
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I personally know these egyptian (“kemetic”) polytheist circles, based in the US, with some strains in europe. A friend of mine is an egyptologist and checked them out out of interest and he tooked an online corse with their priestess.
Basically, nonsense, as they didn´t even used the correct calendars the old egyptians used for terminating feats and offerings. The priestess sees herself as a new pharao and is parallel also ordained in a mambo cult.
Well, yeah.
To the neo-pagan nodic groups: there are many here in germany. Mostly nerds with interest in medieval fantasy, some “serious” people with a far right political view (which means in germany neo-nazism, just to make this clear) and all have one in common- they fill the lack of written sources we have about the heathen norse religions with 19th century stuff (Richard Wagner sends his greetings, here).
 
probably all neo nazis, given how nordic pagans are usually nazis
 
alice24 said:
A friend of mine is an egyptologist and checked them out out of interest and he tooked an online corse with their priestess.
Basically, nonsense, as they didn´t even used the correct calendars the old egyptians used for terminating feats and offerings.
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I find that interesting, especially given how it’s been observed that when Westerners try what they think is Far Eastern spirituality, they come up with a caricature if what Eastern spirituality really is because they’re too influenced by the Western view to actually get it. Add in the inability of authentic believers to say “Hey, you’re getting our beliefs wrong” and it makes a lot of sense that such things happen.
 
Most Nordic groups are not nazis. The Asatru are conservatives and do discourage non-white members, not because they are racist but they believe each ethnicity should follow their own ethnic spiritual path. As the Asatru seek the assistance of their ancestors. An person of Asian or African descent would not be able to “connect” with the Ancestors as the Ancestors are Nordic.
White supremacists have appropriated Asatru symbols , myth, and practice but have twisted Asatru belief and promote racism.
 
Childoftheday said:
As the Asatru seek the assistance of their ancestors. An person of Asian or African descent would not be able to “connect” with the Ancestors as the Ancestors are Nordic.
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…and there nonsense starts. Their ancestors are christians for +500 years and as the majority of them don´t live in the same danish area than 1000 years before, there is not much “connection” left.
And yes, I experienced most of the groups as racist. My husband once was close with them and left because of this, thank the lord.
 
The Old Ones the Asatru connect to are ancestors long distant past…Xianity is a recent development in their belief.
As I said, many racist groups have aris3n using Asatru words, beliefs but they are not Asatru…Protestants hold many Catholic beliefs, axnd use Catholic words…but aren’t Catholic.
Using a “catholicised” Protestant group to prove Catholic beliefs is never a good idea. Using non Asatru sources to discuss non Asatru beliefs seems counter productive as using Protestant sources concerning Catholic belief is as well.
 
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As some have mentioned, you’ll find people on the “fringes” in almost any spiritual path. And then there are some who are very serious about it.

I have never heard of a group using the Sumerian pantheon, but the Egyptian pantheon, yes. Kemetism. From ‘kemet’, the Ancient Egyptian word for Egypt as pronounced in the ‘Egyptospeech’ of archaeologists and Egyptologists. Kami or Kemi is the modern Coptic word for Egypt (depending on dialect).

With regard to Ásatrú - there are many ‘groups’/‘splinters’, so to speak; just as in any spiritual path; some conservative, some more “out there” and ‘radical’. There is, by the way, an Ásatrú temple (the first in 1,000 years) is in the process of being constructed in Öskjuhlíð in Reykjavik.

Druidry uses the pantheon of the Celts.

The pantheons of Egypt and Sumeria aren’t any older than any other - just a different geographical location.
 
I’m not about to watch 330 minutes of YouTube. Could you summarize? Since right now I’m expecting it to be: Disney, Marvel, and DC are trying to make fictional characters worshipped as gods. Then throw in a couple examples of people going too far and trying out super powers they don’t have.
 
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Yes, I think this way, too.
I can go back 500 years on my grandma’s side, too, but even in Ireland this was a christianized era, so no, the strain to ancient polytheism is definately dead in most areas. It’s new age stuff.
 
I am catholic but have some unorthodox clinging to Arthurian myth and Cherokee faith that I think is very valid and part of my religion but in no way invalidates my faith in Catholicism.

I had a girlfriend a decade ago that was a firm pagan in the Egyptian pantheon who had a religious experience that made her believe in Horus. She accepted me and defended my Christian faith when challenged by her pagan friends disdain of Christianity. It was nice for a while.

I think there is more to God than we can possibly understand by looking at him through a single lense but I know who I serve and that is what matters to me and if it wasn’t for Mary I’d probably be dead or in hell a long time ago.

Trouble with a lot of Celtic things is we don’t know for sure everything they believed when it come to the druids.

Thank you Irish guy for this myth I quite enjoyed it. I’d like to hear more things like this once in a while.
 
PaladinSword said:
I am catholic but have some unorthodox clinging to Arthurian myth and Cherokee faith that I think is very valid and part of my religion but in no way invalidates my faith in Catholicism.
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I appreciate your post and your perspective. It makes a great deal of sense to me that some people want to return to the faith of their ancestors and reconnect with that heritage. The fact that modern versions of old religions aren’t exactly the same isn’t a problem for me. Religions are aspects of culture and cultures change, understandings of our relationship with the cosmos change, and sensibilities change. We are no longer primarily agrarian, so animal sacrifice is no longer a major part of religious practice the way it once was.

Some people also find a connection to a faith that is not of their ancestors, converts. I know people of a wide variety of ethnic backrounds that follow Kemeticism, and other faiths that were once associated only with people of a specific locality. They resonate with that religions pantheon, perspective and metaphors.

Generally I have found non pagans to consider pagans to be people who are play acting and who don’t take their faith seriously, but being part of the pagan community, I have found that description to be no more accurate than saying the same of folks of any faith. There are always those who dabble, play and are in it for the holidays and community, rather than taking the faith seriously. That’s just human nature. Then there are those that are very orthodox, serious and to whom the faith is the core of their life. That is just as true of pagan faiths as any other.

Recon pagans, who seek to experience the beauty and power that their ancestors did in a faith that is part of the history of their culture, are like Catholics who enjoy Gregorian Chant, Latin Mass and various other practices and traditions from the past. Those came from a culture that is largely lost, but they are a part of the Catholic heritage and are still meaningful, even when they are used outside of their original context.

One doesn’t have to recreate and observe every aspect of Catholicism from the old days to be deeply, truly and spiritually moved by Gregorian chant. The same applies to other faiths with a long history.
 
There are Kemetic reconstructionists out there, but I’m not sure how valid their scholarship is. As for Sumerian, I’ve never heard of a recon or revivalist tradition for those religions, but chances are good that someone is out there doing it. Most of the recon movements I know of are based around Northern European and Mediterranean faiths, but there are so many more of them now than when I was a kid. I do know of a lot of people trying to recreate Neolithic practices even older than the Egyptians and Sumerians, though.
probably all neo nazis, given how nordic pagans are usually nazis
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Most of us are in fact the opposite of Nazis, thanks. We have our share of loud idiots and they’re a constant embarrassment, but they’re not representative of the faith.
Most Nordic groups are not nazis. The Asatru are conservatives and do discourage non-white members, not because they are racist but they believe each ethnicity should follow their own ethnic spiritual path. As the Asatru seek the assistance of their ancestors. An person of Asian or African descent would not be able to “connect” with the Ancestors as the Ancestors are Nordic.
White supremacists have appropriated Asatru symbols , myth, and practice but have twisted Asatru belief and promote racism.
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The AFA and similar folkish groups are not the representatives of the Asatru religion even though they like to pretend to be. There is no barrier to anyone of any ethnicity or heritage practicing Asatru and inclusive heathenry is the majority among practitioners these days. We’re constantly having to repair damage done by bigots like McNallen and friends, but they don’t speak for us.
 
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