Are You Truly Socratic? It Can Change Your Life

Socrates taught to think for yourself. But I have found that many of us, even as we grasp that concept, don't do it in the way Socrates did. The mere fact that several of us are persuaded by the opinions of others, or have a crisis of faith at times, proves this. Last month, as I was going through my routine of scouring the used bookstore in Freeport, Illinois for lost ancient Greek treasures to house and preserve in my private library, I had the privilege of stumbling upon a title called "Socrates' Way" by Ronald Gross. It's not an antique publication by any means, as it was published in 2002, but the writer of it has helped even someone as studious as me. In a nutshell, the book teaches the reader how to think like Socrates in a way that will not only change their life, but help them build confidence in their own beliefs and judgement. While Socrates was always committed to learning something new, he held firm to the things he truly believed or found to be accurate. Such was the case during his trial, when he refused to denounce the validity of his mission, or that he had been sent on it by Apollon.

I think too many of us allow others to determine how we think and feel about something, even things we hold deeply dear to our lives and worldviews. In other words, I think people have a bad habit of letting other people think for them. The Oracle of Delphi told people that it was up to them to make their own personal judgement regarding the advice she gave. Even the world's most renowned Oracle did not try to make people follow a particular line of reasoning, and yet her predictions and teachings were still true to their core. A good example of this was the legendary response she gave to Croesus, who inquired about invading Persia at that time. She stated that if he did, he would destroy a great empire. She was right, but it was his own empire that he destroyed, even though he interpreted it to mean the Persian, which came to be known as the Battle of Pteria. She was correct, he just made the wrong judgement for himself. Another was when she told Socrates that he was the wisest of all men. He did not interpret it to mean himself personally, but rather, that the wisest of men, like Socrates, understand that their wisdom is little to nothing. It was up to the receiver to ultimately decide the meaning of her words for their lives, or even to reject it.

Part of being Socratic, and really being Hellenic, is not to have arrogance in your beliefs, but confidence. Even in liberal groups like the Pagan community, you can find people who will tell you that you are doing things wrong with your religion or spirituality. When I was a Neo-Pagan, I had people left and right telling me I was wrong, sometimes calling me a heretic. There are even rare times as a Reconstructionist when I encounter an individual I don't agree with. For example, I have read some Hellenists who don't pray to Greek Heroes outside of Herakles, because they believe it to be a localized custom and not relevant or appropriate for someone outside of that locality. Many years back, I even met a guy who didn't believe that humans can talk to the Gods directly, but that we have to ask lower spirits for intercession, essentially. While these people may be a minority in the community, they still exist. Of course, I disagree with all of their views. One might call be a "PanHellene," because I incorporate ancient Greek spirituality from everywhere in the religion. I pray to all and firmly believe that we can talk directly to any level of Divinity, but if I allowed their opinions to tell me how to think about the Gods and my religion, I'd never feel spiritual or anything like myself. I have enough confidence in my own beliefs and views that I'm never thrown off my course. For the longest time, I allowed myself to be disrupted through a lack of confidence, and eventually, grew sick to death of it. I became tired of letting other people, even those close to me, tell me what to think or how to feel. You'll notice that you feel depressed, enslaved, even hopeless when you allow this to happen, but when you finally become an individual, you feel liberated. There's a reason for that, the reason being that you were always meant to be your own person.

This doesn't just go for religion and spirituality either, but all things that make you an individual. If we allow other people to tell us what to think, or how to feel, we will have a change in our minds and emotions every single day of our lives, because there's always going to be someone with a difference or disagreement. When you let someone put their own mind inside your head, you've lost all.

In the Goodness of the Gods,
Chris Aldridge.

Why Society Hates Boobs, Even Milky Ones

Have you ever noticed that if a beautiful woman displays her gorgeous breasts, she is reviled? In some states, she's even charged with a felony if she does so for sexual purposes. 

This is probably most widely shown today in our society that often resents women who breast feed in public, although the female breasts and sexual organs are also generally hated just for existing in the first place if they are not kept under tight lock and key. But rest assured, it is legal everywhere in the world for a man to walk around topless. 

A man running down the beach wouldn't be given a second thought, even if his body was unattractive, but a beautiful woman would be arrested before she took her first step. Why is all of this the case? Why does the female body insight such hatred and resentment, even in the minds of many women themselves who are in government and vote for these oppressive laws?

Well, when you've spent as many years in ancient, non-Abrahamic religion as I have, and have studied history like I do, it's not hard to realize the truth. It doesn't take a genius, because I am certainly not one, yet it also requires more than just a surface explanation. It takes much study and deep thought into the philosophies and mentalities of our present society.

It all has to do with the Abrahamic take over of the world, namely Christianity and Islam. Before that happened, human sexuality was loved and celebrated among the Polytheists, because Polytheism embraces the Natural World and the life therein. 

The Polytheistic religions literally gave freedom of mind and body, and there was nothing threatening about the sexual powers of either men or women. In the ancient Greek world, the beautiful bodies of both sexes were wonderfully conceived, revered as perfections, and turned into sculptures to be admired. 

Why should anyone have been offended by any of it? The feeling of threat did not come until the religions of mind and body control started to gain prominence, which we know primarily today as Christianity and Islam, both of which have a deep distrust of women. 

These religions also rely heavily on human male dominated power alone, giving absolutely none to the female who is viewed as the tempter and destruction of man. It becomes terrifying to think of female power because, one, if you allow the woman to have power, what claim do you have to sole authority, and two, what will she do with that power? For the sake of the entire religion, she must be oppressed and repressed.

One of the central missions of the two new religions that arrived on the world stage, was to control human sexuality, because that makes it easier to control people themselves. When you have your foot on the throat of humanity's basic makeup, you have them completely enslaved. 

That's why the central things that make you human, are condemned by these religions. Everything becomes a sin, even the mere fact that you were born human. So by making your humanity a sin, you are controlled, and additionally important, you are always dependent on the religion and the religious authority who claims they can save you from it.

At this point, one might ask, what does all this have to do with female breasts and breast feeding being resented? Because the precise reason they are resented is because they are the representation, embodiment and action of female power that the ruling religions have conditioned everyone, even women themselves, to hate and cover up. 

Her breasts are her power in sexuality, and breast feeding shows how she also has the power to give life itself. Woman cannot be allowed to freely know and express her inherent powers, because if she does, she might just come out from under the oppression that Christianity and Islam need in order to maintain their rule over her. 

It would also encourage men to come out from under the sexual oppression they have faced. This is the last thing that the present ruling powers want. Once they lose control of the basic humanity that they have kept in check for centuries, they lose control of the world.

In the Goodness of the Gods,
Chris Aldridge.

Catholic Schoolboy Sees Artemis

The year was 1984 or 1985 when John of Freeport, Illinois saw something that would alter the course of his life. He was not Catholic, or really any particular religion, but attended the local St. Thomas institution because he had no other choice, and found himself on a school retreat to the local Oakland Nature Preserve with his class on this occasion.

John is an adult now with his own house and family in Freeport. He's also a good friend of mine and invited me to his family cookout today where he told me what happened to him as a child during this time. With his permission and approval, this story has been told here, and I thank him greatly for being kind enough to give me such a treasure to share on my blog. However, he also requested that I don't reveal his last name or picture at this time due to his family issues. Things are too stressful right now for them to have to deal with any direct or abundant publicity.  

The night it happened, the hour was around 10 when John realized that, unlike his classmates, he couldn't fall asleep, so he decided to go for a walk in the woods even though it was against the rules at that particular time. Everyone was supposed to be in bed and locked down for the night. John didn't care, and he knew well enough how to work the door lock so he could get in and out, a talent that seems to be natural because, still today, John is a magnificent inventor and engineer. The moon was full and bright enough to where he could see his way around in the dark and he eventually came to rest near a creek, listening to the owls and watching the bats catch insects.

At some point, everything went dead silent, not a sound of anything. As John described, it was something that happens when a predator approaches, and he knew enough about survival to know that you don't run or make sudden movements at that point, so he remained still and observed. The first sound he heard that broke the silence was that of what was clearly a deer approaching from the nearby trail. When it came into view, John saw that it was a large buck, and stranger, it appeared to be ghostly. As John described, he could see the trees behind it. The beast looked at him for a moment. Then a falling branch echoed. The buck looked behind, looked forward again, and dashed off, leaping a great distance over the creek and heading through the woods.

Then on the same trail, came the sound of someone running. "Who the hell is out here at this time of night running through the woods?" John wondered. As the two stampeding feet came into view, he saw that they were attached to a beautiful woman in a white tunic-like gown, with long black hair, a quiver of arrows on her back, and a silver bow in her hand. She caught sight of John, stopped, and said to him, "You're not supposed to be out here." In his childhood attitude, he replied, "Yeah, but neither are you." She smiled, "I figured you'd say that." Then, she asked John where the deer went. He pointed her in the right direction and she was off, never to be seen again.

When the next day came, there was a time when John thought he had simply dreamed up the encounter while asleep in his bed, but then, he explained, he went back to the creek and the trail to see the footprints of the stag exactly where they had been, both on the trail and on the banks of the water. "I knew I didn't dream it," he said. John would eventually come to realize that he had encountered Artemis with his own eyes and talked to Her with his own voice, and She to him. "That was the first and only time I've ever physically encountered a God," he finished. 

What makes John's story even more interesting for me is the fact that I have also seen Artemis in my dreams, and we both describe the same appearance and features, without ever having disclosed them to one another beforehand. We also had the same feelings in Her presence. The fact that there is an immense peace and calmness, and equally that, while admiring her beauty, we never became sexually interested or thought sexual things. Artemis is a Virgin Goddess who doesn't like sex and doesn't want to be sexualized, and both John and I had a revelation together today when we described our encounters, because we realized that it's actually not possible to sexualize Artemis in Her presence. It never occurs to you. Sex simply doesn't exist there. It's not possible to go against a God. A mortal is completely subject to their will. During the entire time that he and I saw and interacted with Her, we admired Her beauty, but nothing sexual ever ran through our heads at all. We knew we were in the presence of a Divine Virgin at that point.

I have known John for many years, and equally know that he has absolutely no reason to lie to me about such a story. He had never even told it publicly until I posted a Facebook thread asking my Pagan friends about childhood encounters with Pagan Gods. He decided he would wait to tell me in person, but he also didn't even ask me to publish the story. I asked him if I could do so. John had no reason to tell me a falsehood, and nothing to gain from it.

I certainly thank him once again for allowing me to talk about such magnificent experiences with Olympos, and hope that Artemis visits him again.

In the Goodness of the Gods,

Chris Aldridge.

Why Is "Evil" Controversial In Paganism?

Evil may be a bad word depending on your Pagan or Polytheistic tradition. Many people in the modern Pagan community don't like using it because they don't believe in absolutes or an inherent value, believing that good and bad, positive and negative, are both possible from anyone or anything, while some Reconstructionist religions like mine talk about evil many times in their myths and morals. You don't have to look far at all to find the word in Hellenism. Delphic Maxim 31 explicitly and simply says, "Shun Evil." But many Pagans, I would imagine, do not think that things are as simple as good and evil. 

In many ways, they are correct. Absolute evil means that nothing good can come from it, but any being with free will can choose to do good, and if they can make that choice, then they are not absolutely evil, because they have the capacity for the opposite. However, I can certainly say from experience that there are people and things that prefer to act on their hostile and evil sides, at least toward certain people anyway, and that person may unfortunately end up being yourself. 

I think that we are quick to reject the word evil out of existence simply because we don't actually understand what it means. We're so used to being conditioned by the mainstream to think that evil is a Christian concept of ultimate inherent character, but it's not. Evil is simply the opposite of good, or the absence of good. So therefore, we have to ask, is it possible that someone or something can do the opposite of good, or that a thing cannot possess any good qualities? Most certainly. Someone or something who tries to murder you or destroy your family, isn't good or creating any good. It may cause you to do something that results in good for yourself, but they and their act themselves are not good in any capacity. Or perhaps a more common example, if you have a severe mental disorder, like depression, that drives you to want to commit suicide, it is also something that carries no good, and in fact, is in direct opposition to what a "good" brain or mind would be.

In my view, the only Ultimate Good in the Universe, that has no capability or desire of evil, is the Gods and the Higher Powers, like the Spirits and Heroes. Because the Gods were made from all that is good in the first place, and because they are the most powerful of all things and are never able to be conquered, evil can never consume or impact them in any form. In fact, the Gods exist explicitly in opposition of evil, chaos and disorder. This is why evil or negativity runs away when the Gods and Heroes are invoked successfully. It becomes vanquished immediately. 

In the Goodness of the Gods,

Chris Aldridge.

Life Lesson From A 9 Year Old

My son has a very special story, as many know. But his premature birth isn't really the topic of this discussion as much as his attitude about his life and circumstances. Most people are aware that he was born severely premature with the worst chances of survival and overcame it all; there's no need, at this point, to recount that. What's equally astounding is my son's view on life and how he decides to live each day, and I think the Gods, in part, gave him to us so that he could be an inspiration to the world. 

Many of us complain about more than we should from day to day. We don't like the weather, our jobs, our home life, whatever it may be. We might even let the traffic lights or the jerk tailgating us send our mind and emotions into rage and frustration. The First World, especially, has no lack of complainers. But people like my son, I think, are unique for two reasons. One, if anyone has a legitimate reason to be angry and sad, it's him. Life did not give him an easy start. He has lifelong problems and has been through painful surgery in the past. He also, for the most part, can't talk physically (although he has found other ways of communication), and at this point, we don't know if he'll ever have the typical life that normal people do. Of course, that's not to say he isn't a very smart boy, he is. But he is still special needs.

However, for two, my son is unique because he doesn't complain about it. He doesn't let anything slow him down. He doesn't care that he was born premature or that he has issues. In fact, on the surface, it appears as if he has no problems at all. He still runs in the open, laughs joyously at the sunlight, plays with his toys, and generally enjoys his life every day. He doesn't even demand anything from others except the food and drink he needs. All he wants is the energy to keep living. You won't find my son sitting his room lamenting and pouting over the cards life has dealt him, no. He finds the good wherever it is. He's the freest and happiest person I myself have ever known.

We should all be more like my son, who is brave enough to not let his circumstances define him. Who takes this life every day and makes it a happy one without letting anything stand in the way of that happiness, no matter how big or troublesome. He just loves life, and delights in all the wonderful things around him. Most importantly, he does this by choice. He could decide to not be joyful very easily, but I think that somewhere inside him, he knows life wasn't meant to be dismal.

In the Goodness of the Gods,

Chris Aldridge.

"Ancient Aliens" - Nonsense & Book Peddling

For those of us who following one or more of the ancient religions, we are no strangers to modern "historians" perpetuating the so called "ancient aliens theory," to explain our Gods and the great structures that were built by early man who, presumably, could not have had the required equipment to do so. The basic premise is that our Gods and/or the people who built the ancient buildings were actually aliens. It's one reason I don't watch the History Channel anymore, or as I like to call it, the Shitstory Channel. The last time I watched a segment, they were talking about time traveling as a serious possibility. Yes, you read right. The History Channel propagating time machines as a legitimate theory. Since then, I stopped watching, but the Channel isn't the only source for the ancient aliens nonsense. It can be found in numerous books and on several websites. Basically, what it amounts to is a scapegoat for anything that they can't explain, and/or people who are trying to sell said books written by themselves. Aliens and ufology are hot topics in the paranormal reading community. Which is perfectly fine. I myself am very interested in anything paranormal, but I also don't believe in presenting something as truth when it's not, and there are several ways that we can debunk this theory by just using our common sense and reasoning.

Firstly, if advanced alien life visited us heavily in the ancient past, why aren't they doing it now? You honestly believe that fantastic alien life would have helped ancient man stack stones, but not come back to help us build spaceships, space stations, and travel to other planets and galaxies so we could discover and create more? If aliens cared so much about us in the past, they should care more about us now that we can do so much more. And while were on the subject, why would advanced alien life even care to build ancient structures that would clearly be thousands of years behind them in development? Don't you think they would have shown us how to build things far greater, more elaborate and more technologically advanced? 

Secondly, the Gods were said, in the myths of many cultures, to have had love affairs with humans that resulted in children. We will ignore the question of how could physical non-human alien life and Earth human life be biologically compatible for reproduction in the first place, and ask a far more compelling inquiry. If aliens intermingled with humanity so often sexually, and had children by them, why isn't there DNA somewhere in the human line that clearly shows disruption which we cannot trace back to humans? Every bit of human DNA we have all comes from our species. We can track human DNA all the way back to the Bronze Age. Where are the signs of non-human life within the human timeline?

Third, why are the Gods never depicted in spaceships or clothing that is clearly beyond human comprehension? If the Greek Gods, for example, rode down from the sky in anything, it was a chariot and horses or some other animal associated with that God. Not one time were they ever depicted in something alien to Earth, not ONE TIME. Which you would think strange if we are to believe the theorists and think that aliens were routinely landing their crafts on Earth and walking out in outstanding clothes and instruments, but there's not even a single probing device anywhere. If it were really true, we should see a plethora of things which are foreign to this planet. For that matter, why do humans and Gods even have physical resemblance in the depictions? If the Gods are aliens, they shouldn't look like humans. All of the alleged alien sightings of modern time I have ever heard of involve tiny men with big heads and oval shaped eyes. While humanoid, they are far from being mistaken for Earth humans. 

Fourth, consider that today we do know how many of the ancient structures were built. Things are becoming less and less of a mystery as we discover more. For example, we have found that the large stones used to build the pyramids of Egypt could have been easily moved across the desert by a simple pulling device and wet sand. There are even ancient Egyptian drawings which show the Egyptians moving incredibly heavy statues of several tons. These were men, not aliens, putting it in its destination. So we now know that ancient man could, and did, have ways to move massive objects and place them. 

I do not doubt that there are other forms of life out there somewhere, but I do not believe they helped us build ancient structures, and I certainly do not believe they were ever mistaken for Gods.

In the Goodness of the Gods,

Chris Aldridge.

Riding The Fence of Devotee and Defacer

Most Pagans and Polytheists love and are extremely reverent of the Gods, but I have noticed a trend that seems to be growing at a somewhat alarming rate online, and that's the people who like to not only make fun of the Gods, but sometimes horribly disrespect them in the name of good humor, but for the Pagan or Polytheist, there should be nothing good about dishonoring your Gods. One of the most common examples I have seen is people making fun of Zeus' love affairs, calling and depicting Him horribly and dishonorably, sometimes even making the story out to be something it wasn't. I even had the misfortune of reading one Pagan writer long ago who directly insulted one of the Pagan Gods, calling Him a scoundrel on the simple basis of some of the myths that have surrounded Him over the centuries. This person, interestingly, would have also considered themselves a devout Pagan, but the thing is, you can't flip the Gods off today and serve them tomorrow. If you're a servant or devotee of the Gods, that position demands seriousness and respect, not lollygagging and affronting. Just as you can't say you respect your parents if you curse at them, you can't say you are devoted to the Gods if you hate or disregard their position of respect. That position of respect, by the way, is Godhood. 

Some people have responded to my critique of this kind of Pagan humor by bringing up ancient Greek playwrights who made fun of the Gods at times, but what we have to realize is that these people were not mainstream citizens. Most people were not playwrights, and in fact, Euripides of Athens was scrutinized for the heresy, if you will, that sometimes found its ways into his work, and he spent his last days in voluntary exile in Macedonia. The normal Greek or Hellene would have never even uttered a disrespectful word about the Gods, let alone make defamatory banners or public posts. Someone who did those things would have likely been considered to have entered into a state of miasma (pollution), and that would have to be purified before they could return to sanctuaries or other grounds upon which religious functions were held.

I'm not saying it's wrong to have a sense of humor. I love to joke and laugh about things, but my motto is also this: Don't say anything about the Gods that you wouldn't paint on the side of their temples. If someone declared themselves to be your friend, and then painted something defamatory or that made fun of you on your house, or posted it on the community board at the library or school, would you consider that person to be a true friend? If not, then why should the Gods consider you to be a true devotee if you treat them the same way? If you ride the fence between devotee and defacer, you're eventually gonna get really back jock itch.

In the Goodness of the Gods,

Chris Aldridge.