Hellenic Pagan Jedi?

Am I the only one hereabouts? I'm a Hellenic Polytheist reconstructionist but would be interested to find any Hellenic pagan Jedi (recon or not). I see a lot of more eclectic and "earth-based" traditions around but not many obvious Hellenes.

I feel that Hellenismos, especially in re: Greek philosophy, meshes very coherently with Jediism and would love to hear opinions on the subject! Even if you are not Hellenic, I'd be happy to hear from you!

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to take some Hellenic parables and work them to fit the Path.

That being said, Prometheus has a special place in my heart and future altar, as I love the story and the imagery.

Williamkaede wrote: Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to take some Hellenic parables and work them to fit the Path.

That being said, Prometheus has a special place in my heart and future altar, as I love the story and the imagery.

Challenge accepted! The first one that comes to mind is the "creation" according to Hesiod and his Theogeny. I love this creation myth and its really more of a "Big Bang" myth than anything!

In the start there was only Khaos (energy, Force, potential, Tao). Khaos spawned Erebos (the place of darkness and death) and Night. Then, Love was generated out of this Force/Khaos and Love gave birth to Light, Day, and Gaea, the earth. It goes on from there, but this reminds me a lot of the Force and the scientific Big Bang theory. We start with nothing but chaos and emptiness and then, out of nowhere, we have things. These things are still disorganized and chaotic until finally, there are orders and laws set down by the Titans. Then, the Titans are overthrown by the Gods who rule over the cosmos and humanity both justly and somewhat tyrannically. The beginning always makes me think of the Force/Tao. Its name is different (Khaos) but its the same primordial potential energy that flows through us all to this day.

I could think of other ones, but that's the first one that came to mind!

Also, Prometheos is awesome! He was chained to a rock for centuries with eagles and vultures eating his regenerative liver and still wanted to help humanity. How epic is that?

please stop saying pagan... you're hellenic, you're a polytheist, you hold to a structured belief. You aren't pagan. The word meant not of said belief, just not. Not christian for christians. Not muslim for muslims or jew for jew. Kermetic etc etc.

You aren't saying anything when you say "pagan".

sidvkili wrote: please stop saying pagan... you're hellenic, you're a polytheist, you hold to a structured belief. You aren't pagan. The word meant not of said belief, just not. Not christian for christians. Not muslim for muslims or jew for jew. Kermetic etc etc.

You aren't saying anything when you say "pagan".

And you quit trying to tell people how to identify themselves...

You can debate the topic, via post or PM all you like...

But you have the right to your opinion, but not tell people they are wrong...

MAybe ask for clarification, and afterwards, you might agree with there self definition... Then again, you may not....

Lykeios, thanks for starting a forum thread topic that is close to my heart.

Without proper development, I suggest several Jedi/Presocratic themes:

Psyche : this concept is not uniform across various ancient Greek authors, but in Heraclitus, for example, to know the psyche is relevant to knowing the structure of the cosmos. Some ancient Greek philosophers posit the psyche as composed of the same ‘material’ as the cosmos, that is, aither (aether).

While aether and The Force may share some similarities worthy of further investigation, it is Herclitus' concept of the logos that is integral to my personal understanding and practice of Jediism. Logos is the structure of the cosmos, how it does what it does, and so it follows that its structure informs our moral attitude, that is, the logos is the wisdom that informs how we think and act in our daily lives. My Jediism is syncretic, and so, at the confluence of logos and aether I find a striking resonance with the Dao.

Tangent: it is helpful to remember that Greek myth has literary similarities to other near eastern sources including Babylonian, Hittite and Egyptian. All these source materials found their way into Greek myth and they also influenced the myths of the ancient Hebrews and so found their way into the Hebrew Bible (Christian Old Testament).

Digression: perhaps those attracted to the Sith side of Jediism might find something of value in the personification of Night in Homer and Hesiod. Night and Aither are said to be the generative matrix from which all things come.

In Aristophanes', Birds, it is from Night and Chaos that all things are born; but it is Eros, as the primordial force that compels all these disparate originary forces to bring forth all things from their copulating. This most ancient Eros is the Titanic force that gives structure to the formless cosmos compelling all primordial forces to mingle and so generate everything that is. From this it could be conjectured that the power of Eros is what structures the logos (The Force).

quote]

And you quit trying to tell people how to identify themselves...

You can debate the topic, via post or PM all you like...

But you have the right to your opinion, but not tell people they are wrong...

MAybe ask for clarification, and afterwards, you might agree with there self definition... Then again, you may not....[/quote]

Thank You!

We all have our own direction with our view of what is Jedi, or even remotely Jedi related. I don't believe young Sid truly meant offence. It is the nature of our community to be individual...

Sid appears to use shock and drama to get attention? He does seem to have mellowed out a bit. He certainly has a sharp and dynamic brain.

He has...

Now, lets keep this thread on topic..

Jestor wrote:

sidvkili wrote: please stop saying pagan... you're hellenic, you're a polytheist, you hold to a structured belief. You aren't pagan. The word meant not of said belief, just not. Not christian for christians. Not muslim for muslims or jew for jew. Kermetic etc etc.

You aren't saying anything when you say "pagan".

And you quit trying to tell people how to identify themselves...

You can debate the topic, via post or PM all you like...

But you have the right to your opinion, but not tell people they are wrong...

MAybe ask for clarification, and afterwards, you might agree with there self definition... Then again, you may not....

I wasn't refering to opinion or self understanding. I was refering to history and practice. I really like what Lykeios writes... hellenic shit is awesome.

The word pagan basically means "I'm an stupid murderer and rapist and I'm always wrong". Something seen in plenty of... ah screw it..

sidvkili wrote: The word pagan basically means "I'm an stupid murderer and rapist and I'm always wrong". Something seen in plenty of... ah screw it..

LOL please tell me you're joking.

Kamizu wrote:

sidvkili wrote: The word pagan basically means "I'm an stupid murderer and rapist and I'm always wrong". Something seen in plenty of... ah screw it..

LOL please tell me you're joking.

it's in hellenic writings for crying out loud. The quran and the bible associate the practice in a similar manner.

What people seem to think paganism is, it's polytheism or just spirituality lol. And I ain't getting into italic and kermetic roots right now but if you asked an italic of hellene what a pagan was or if they were pagan, they would probably tell you "nope".

Oh and I know you've done some research into paganism but you yourself said it was wicca.... and who am I to argue with such an obvious expert?

sidvkili wrote: it's in hellenic writings for crying out loud. The quran and the bible associate the practice in a similar manner.

What people seem to think paganism is, it's polytheism or just spirituality lol. And I ain't getting into italic and kermetic roots right now but if you asked an italic of hellene what a pagan was or if they were pagan, they would probably tell you "nope".

Oh and I know you've done some research into paganism but you yourself said it was wicca.... and who am I to argue with such an obvious expert?

I have found that other religions' views of religions not of their own to be quite unreliable. I'm hardly an expert LOL there's little I can claim as being an expert on, however I've been looking into both Wicca and and even more into Shamanism, both fall under the Pagan hierarchy. Just as in all other religions, people make up the body of Paganism. And when people do bad things and they are associated with a group, the whole group gets a bad name. I'm sure there were and are bad Pagans out there who practice the dark arts. Just as there are bad Christians who give Christianity a bad name. When Christianity tried to take over, they turned the word "Pagan" into a curse, and the word "Heathen" into 'non believer'. They also adapted many many Pagan holidays and traditions into Christianity to convert more people. So it's never a good idea to believe a religion from the word of another So far, I've found Paganism to be a worship of the life and the Force around you.

I know a few Pagans who worship Greek deities. Now what would make a person Hellenic, I have no idea. I just know it's associated with Greece.

But all that aside, there's nothing wrong with taking pieces of 'warring' religions, associating yourself with them, and holding close what you find sacred. It may be a little bit of an oxymoron title but it is what it is!

Jestor wrote: He has...

Now, lets keep this thread on topic..

Sorry! I missed this....shutting up :silly:

Kamizu wrote:

sidvkili wrote: it's in hellenic writings for crying out loud. The quran and the bible associate the practice in a similar manner.

What people seem to think paganism is, it's polytheism or just spirituality lol. And I ain't getting into italic and kermetic roots right now but if you asked an italic of hellene what a pagan was or if they were pagan, they would probably tell you "nope".

Oh and I know you've done some research into paganism but you yourself said it was wicca.... and who am I to argue with such an obvious expert?

I have found that other religions' views of religions not of their own to be quite unreliable. I'm hardly an expert LOL there's little I can claim as being an expert on, however I've been looking into both Wicca and and even more into Shamanism, both fall under the Pagan hierarchy. Just as in all other religions, people make up the body of Paganism. And when people do bad things and they are associated with a group, the whole group gets a bad name. I'm sure there were and are bad Pagans out there who practice the dark arts. Just as there are bad Christians who give Christianity a bad name. When Christianity tried to take over, they turned the word "Pagan" into a curse, and the word "Heathen" into 'non believer'. They also adapted many many Pagan holidays and traditions into Christianity to convert more people. So it's never a good idea to believe a religion from the word of another So far, I've found Paganism to be a worship of the life and the Force around you.

I know a few Pagans who worship Greek deities. Now what would make a person Hellenic, I have no idea. I just know it's associated with Greece.

But all that aside, there's nothing wrong with taking pieces of 'warring' religions, associating yourself with them, and holding close what you find sacred. It may be a little bit of an oxymoron title but it is what it is!

this is usually the common view but pagan was a curse before christianity lol. Again it's in both hebrew and hellenic writings.

Paganism isn't the worship of life. Paganism isn't the sacred reverence of a greek tradition, egyptian, roman etc etc.
Paganism is not that.. It isn't nothing per se ( it has something) but it's not hellenic or Kermetic. It's just "not"...

When I said the line on rapists it was a joke yes lol. that was the view of the hebrews and persians on what they deemed "pagan". To make it a tad bit softer, pagan meant "stranger".

Oh an there is no pagan body. My point is paganism is different to anything people here seem to associate themselves with.

The only "religion" that can make a claim "we're pagan" is wicca.....and... well yeah... wicca

https://soundcloud.com/jayden-daniels/follow-your-bliss

sidvkili wrote:

Kamizu wrote:

sidvkili wrote: The word pagan basically means "I'm an stupid murderer and rapist and I'm always wrong". Something seen in plenty of... ah screw it..

LOL please tell me you're joking.

it's in hellenic writings for crying out loud. The quran and the bible associate the practice in a similar manner.

What people seem to think paganism is, it's polytheism or just spirituality lol. And I ain't getting into italic and kermetic roots right now but if you asked an italic of hellene what a pagan was or if they were pagan, they would probably tell you "nope".

Oh and I know you've done some research into paganism but you yourself said it was wicca.... and who am I to argue with such an obvious expert?

Nah...in the ancient Greek sense (not specifically that of the "Hellenic" period after or during Alexandros of Makedon's rule) of the word "paganos" it just means a somewhat backwards country/rural bumpkin that is content to remain out in the boonies as long as he and his family can keep their farmlands and be left in peace.

It didn't become a serious insult (as far as I am aware from my own studies) until the Romans made it such and really not until the Christians took control and started subjugating and stamping out the old ways that threatened Roman control in general. Constantine's conversion condemned polytheists in general to centuries and millenia of bloodshed and hate crimes and genocides.

I think the word you're more thinking of is "heathen." Heathen is a more northern and Roman Catholic word as I understand it.

So, to sum up: I can't abide the bullshit pussy footing around the word "pagan" because I am NOT a neopagan. I am a Hellenic Polytheistic Reconstructionist. Since that is more than I am willing to say in general conversation using a mobile device for a communications medium...I keep it simple and say Hellenic pagan or that I believe in and practice Hellenismos.

AFAIK, rural worshippers who took Zeus and Hera as their main household deities were just as much "pagan" as those that romped around naked with Dionysos and Pan under the New Moon to general city-dwelling Greeks. I think the connotation was more of "you crazy backwards redneck" than anything very deeply sinister or demeaning.

*shrug* I could be wrong...and I understand why the word is such a button pusher for many modern non-Abrahamics...but I respectfully disagree and choose to identify by that label in a general sense. If it causes some people that don't understand yhe origins of the word to misunderstand...well, those kind of people probably aren't going to really understand my religious beliefs much anyway.

NOTE: This is all from a Greek standpoint. I know much less about the Hebrew, Egyptian, and Persian attitude toward or use of the word.

no... it comes from latin roots... hellenic writings adopted paganos yes but it was in similar context. The " peasant" was in context of a servant or stranger. The threat was of origin in western development usually through the pauline works. But in Rome and Greece when somebody was refered to as a pagan their beliefs were also looked down upon too.


Also it wasn't the christians who started killing pagans, it was technically pagans and paulines ( who were christian... technically but had in all reality had less of a voice than marcionites)


Also to go further with your logic. You identify because people associate pagan with hellenic beliefs. Wicca suffered a similar problem with satanism. Wiccans were... actually I'm not gonna go there.... lol

point is they didn't accept being grouped with satanism. Which actually helped establish their ground. Wouldn't that benefit hellenes the same way?

Definition of Paganism:

Paganism is not a single religion, but an umbrella term for all those religions other than the Abrahamic faiths of Christianity, Judaism and Islam. A Pagan is a person who follows one of those other faiths. Many Witches, Wiccans, Reconstructionists, and other Neo-Pagans simply identify themselves as Pagan or Neo-pagans when talking with others who may not be familiar with the complexity of the different belief systems.

This can make it sound like "Paganism" is a religion instead of a collection of religions. Neo-paganism should also not be confused with the "New Age" movement, as Pagans are almost exclusively involved in distinctive religions while New Age spirituality draws from many sources and esoteric spiritual techniques which are generally added as an extra layer on top of whatever religion one normally follows.

Edit: So what I am saying is that Lykeios you are a Pagan. Question I have is does Jediism fall under Pagan or New Age. That's a hard one to answer. I'm leaning towards New Age. I can't really say the Jedi worship the Force or can I? And I would imagine the Jedi do not view The Force as a God but more an energy.