The Rise of STDs Under Monotheism

Since human beings have had intercourse, there has always been a risk of disease transmission, because sex is the most common exchange of bodily fluids. However, the most serious and life-threatening STDs have surfaced among humans in the modern eras, such as AIDS which was discovered only about 40 years ago. Progressively, STDs have gotten worse with the progression from ancient times and into modern monotheistic cultures. It's very humorous to hear people blame HIV and AIDS on the gay community, or on the fact that humans are having more sex, when there has been rampant homosexuality and heterosexuality since ancient times but the disease didn't surface until the 20th Century. So what has caused the rise of deadlier and deadlier STDs even though we live under a more sexually restrictive culture?

To begin, we have to acknowledge the fact that sexual restriction and sexual shaming doesn't work. Our culture has been forced into drilling an abstinence mentality into every new generation, but it hasn't stopped pregnancies or STD growths. Humans are naturally sexual creatures. Our sex drives are too strong to simply ignore, and so what happens is you have more and more people who are still having sex, but without knowledge about sex, or the tools to do it safely at their disposal, because their culture keeps them ignorant and ashamed about sexuality. Thus, the chance for disease and unwanted pregnancy has increased greatly. Holding humans back from their natural states also builds up a craze for what their mind and body has been deprived of. It's like if you starve someone for a week and then show them a table full of food. Chances are, they're going to dive in and eat it all. It's the same way with sex. The more people deprive themselves of it, the more they desire more and more of it, and this also increases risk. It's true that the best way to avoid STDs or unwanted pregnancies is to not have sex, but it's also true that the best way to avoid food poisoning is to not eat. The problem is that both expectations are unrealistic. Pretending they are possible is naive at best, and socially capsizing at worst.

The LGBT community has been hit very hard in modern time with HIV and AIDS, not because their lifestyle creates it, but because sexually oppressive, anti-gay culture has driven them underground. There have basically been no healthy teachings or outlets for the LGBT community for mostly all of US history. This has resulted in the increased spread of disease among the community. Whenever something is basically put on the black market, it's going to carry more dangers than something that is accepted and kept healthy by society. Monothestic, anti-sex societies have allowed STDs to freely spread because of their refusal to accept the truth about human sexuality, and their refusal to embrace it in a healthy and productive way.

What modern culture just doesn't get is that sex, whether heterosexual or homosexual, whether marital or premarital, does not create STDs. Healthy people can engage in sex all day long and there will be no STDs that magically spring into action. What has caused a sexual calamity among humans today is a culture that makes sex as unhealthy as possible by trying to stop it, shame it, ignore it, and/or drive it under ground; by keeping every new generation completely ignorant about sexuality. You should never have to ask a sexually active person if they are using protection or birth control, or if they have been regularly tested for STDs. That knowledge and ability should have already been given to them by society. You should never have to see consensual adults going into unhealthy places for sex because they fear fascist government, as was the case with the LGBT community for so long. They should have been free and supported by society to have a healthy and knowledgeable sex life all along. In short, they all deserve to live in a culture that isn't afraid of the truth, and that is prepared to do the responsible thing by creating a healthy sexual environment for humans. Every kind of sexual problem our society has is a result of a society that isn't comfortable with human sexuality.

In the Goodness of the Gods,

Chris Aldridge.

Ephesus Enthusiasm

The Roman Christians feared no cult more than that of Artemis of Ephesus, it is said. Resting on the southwestern coast of Asia Minor in what is now modern Turkey, Her shining temple was one of the greatest wonders of the ancient world, taking over 100 years to complete, the Shrine of Artemis itself going all the way back to 800 BCE. The temple was twice as big as the Parthenon. Without a doubt, it was one of the hardest architectural projects that ancient Greeks ever faced. Nevertheless, they did it. In fact, Antipater of Sidon, an ancient Greek poet, declared that the temple was more beautiful than any other Wonder, whether built by Greeks or barbarians. He didn't even consider the pyramids to be of greater stature. The temple went through two periods of destruction, one by flooding and the other by an arsonist who sought publicity for himself. He was apprehended and executed for the offense. The temple was rebuilt each time, but in 401 CE, the temple met its final destruction at the hands of local Christian radicals. Today, all that remains of the once glorious house of the Goddess is a sad, singular, ruined column in the middle of a marshy vacant lot. It makes me want to cry when I look at it. 

The depiction of Artemis at this temple was not your usual, however. We are used to seeing Her as a hunting Maiden, bow and arrows in hand as She sprints about the forests and wild areas of the Earth, usually accompanied by deer or Her hunting hounds. But at Ephesus, She was depicted as a Goddess highly adorned, Her robes decked with animal images, standing straight with Her feet together, hands out in a welcoming gesture, and Her upper body covered with an object that people still debate. Some say they are eggs or breasts, others even say they may represent testicles, although I highly doubt the latter. Why would a female fertility Goddess possess male fertility symbols? Whatever they are, these objects depict Her in the realm of fertility and nurturing. While some historians argue that this sets Her as an opposite of the Artemis of the Greek mainlands, I disagree. Artemis is the protector of children and wild creatures. Even though She's not a conceiving mother, She is still a caretaker. Both images, therefore, can make sense. But the cult of Artemis of Ephesus was not a universal one. Even though Ephesus was a Greek city, they considered this Artemis to be specifically the Artemis of Ephesus. They were not too kind to foreign influence.

The worship of Artemis here is significant because it extended beyond the mainland Greek world, even before Alexander conquered the East. Even though my own sanctuaries and shrines of Artemis have never depicted Artemis of Ephesus, I actually very much love Her temple of the ancient area. I would like to get statues of the Ephesus Goddess for my present Artemis shrine to go with the bronze center piece that I call the Huntress.

In recent times, the temple at Ephesus has fortunately been given another reconstruction. There exists today in the Turkish Park of Miniaturk, a replica of the temple, but it probably does not do the original justice, and is rumored to be under threat from radical Muslims in the region. I am not surprised that such is the case in Turkey. Even here in the United States, the Parthenon replica in Nashville received threats of destruction from a local pastor a year or so ago. Fortunately, he was dumb enough to record himself and was reported to the Parthenon administration. Greek temples, in some places, are still seeking to live freely and peacefully in the world. But as Hellenic Polytheists or Pagan servants of Artemis, we should also think about what Artemis of Ephesus means to us today.

For starters, to my mind, She's a shining example of perseverance. Her cult was one of the strongest of the ancient world, continuing until it was literally forced into extinction by the new Christian authorities. Beforehand, however, the temple went through natural and man-made destruction. Nevertheless, it bounced back to its glory each time. Nothing was able to hold Her people down. Even today when we think of Her worshipers as being long gone, there are still droves of Hellenists and Pagans who continue to pray to Her. In the end, not even religious persecution was successful in driving Her image, name and veneration from the Earth. By the Gods, may the same kind of spirit forever reside in us who worship the old Gods still today. We may be freer today in certain parts of the world, but there still exists religious intolerance all over the globe and the threat of persecution in one form or another. Let us be as fearless and dedicated as Ephesus.

Secondly, think of the immense patience, planning, timing and execution that it took to not only build such a colossus as the Temple of Ephesus, but also to maintain it. Everything in our lives that is worth doing takes the same. We build many forms of temples in everything we do, whether we're talking about our religious and spiritual devotion, or mundane things like our careers, education and relationships. The ancient Greeks were determined to perfect to the best of their ability, no matter how long or hard. The worshipers at the temple as well certainly gave consistent devotion, just as we should give to our lives each day.

Prayer to the Goddess

O' holy Artemis of Ephesus,

Lady of the wild,
Mistress of animals,
fertile and nurturing,
Divine caretaker,
loyal Goddess of Greek cities,
come now across the vast universe,
transcending continents,
to be Goddess of the natural world,
and the protector of your worshipers all over the Earth once again.
Declare by your Divine ordinance,
that we who now recite this prayer,
are your people now and forever,
that our devotion be as eternal as your being,
and our lives as glorious as your ancient temples.

In the Goodness of the Gods,

Chris Aldridge.

The Controversial Subject of Animal Sacrifice

It's no secret to history, and no doubt to any logical mind, that the ancient Polytheists (not just Greeks) participated in the practice of animal sacrifice to their Gods, and not in small amounts. At the Panathenaia, for example, Athena received a sacrifice of 100 oxen, which were then used in a great banquet to feed the worshipers. There are also vase paintings from around 500 BCE that show bulls being led to the altar of Athena for sacrifice, with the Goddess lording over the procession. While people in mainstream society, and even many modern Pagans, may find the act to be cruel at best, what does animal sacrifice really entail? What is the reality of it all? Are we really appalled by it, or are we just being reactionaries to something that has been made taboo? Is our condemnation of it real, or manufactured?

I think I am first safe to say that most Pagans, and Hellenic Polytheists like myself, do not practice animal sacrifice today for a number of reasons. One, the expense. Two, many of us don't feel the need or the desire to go through such pains. And three, there's no need to sacrifice an animal when any meat you like can be picked up fresh at the grocery store and placed on the altar of the God you wish to offer to. It is far cheaper, far less burdensome, and far less messy. We are just as, if not more content, by pouring libations, burning incense, and giving general foods and goods to our Gods. On the other hand, there is also no law in the United States that forbids the sacrifice of livestock for religious purposes. The US Supreme Court ruled, by all 9 Justices, that animal sacrifice for religious purpose is protected under the 1st amendment during a case involving the Floridian city of Hialeah and resident worshipers who preformed animal sacrifice.

So let's break the subject down simply. Mostly no one becomes offended or repulsed if I tell them that I am going hunting. They have no problem with me loading a rifle and putting a bullet through a deer's heart, and afterward, breaking his body apart and using it for meat. They don't think twice about it even if I decide to stuff and put his head on my wall when all is said and done. However, if I put a religious meaning onto it, then all of a sudden, the exact same act becomes an offense. Why? Why is it more wrong to chop up a chicken for my family while praying to a God, than it is to simply chop it up without prayer? It's ridiculous to suddenly make killing an animal a horrid offense the minute it becomes religious, but totally fine if there's no religion attached. The animal dies either way. The only difference in the actual act of killing is that the Pagan may offer the animal to a God as well.

Animal sacrifice, in my view, actually gives the animal more respect and honor than simply putting them through a conveyor belt in a killing house. With the religious aspect, the animal is made sacred and treated with the utmost respect because it is being given to the God. Even more honor is bestowed by the fact that the animal will likely be used for good purpose once the sacrifice is over, such as the oxen at the Panathenaia, instead of being killed for mere sport like many hunters do these days, or being massively killed on farms for mere profit. These are the people and places that truly do dishonor to the animal and commit the horrid acts. They exploit the animal in every way imaginable, and could not care less how close they bring the creatures to extinction. The Pagan or the Polytheist who gives the animal to the God cares for the creature far more than your average, mainstream butcher or hunter. The animal is seen as a sacred gift to the Divine, and a salvation to the people by the food and service that its body gives.

In the Goodness of the Gods,

Chris Aldridge.

Why the Gods Aren't Subject to Natural Law or Fate

The Gods rule over things. For example, Zeus rules lightning. If He were the subject of the lightning and dictated by it, He wouldn't be its God. Instead, He would be its servant. However, He hurls the bolt where He chooses, and therefore the roles are the exact opposite. The natural order of things bears no dictation over Him, or any other God. Otherwise, they wouldn't be Gods. The entire idea behind Divinity is that it rules over the things which directs us and the universe. They can't rule over that direction if they are dictated by that direction; the direction would be ruling over them. 

Not only did the Gods, in their stories, rule over the natural order of things, they also changed it at their own will. It is not the natural order that a woman be turned into a spider, but Athena did it without lifting a finger. It is also not the natural order that time and space be broken and shifted in order to bring someone into a different realm so they can help fight an aggressor, but Zeus did it to Herakles in the Giantomachy. Natural Law, time and space mean nothing to the Gods. They don't even have to fight or work to break it open and change or direct it to their liking. They merely decide that it will be done, and it is.

The Gods are also not subject to fate, given what one even considers to be fate. Some may not even believe it exists at all in the sense that every single thing has already been written for us. But fate means you have no control over what happens, that it's already preordained and there's nothing you can do about it. To say that the Gods have no control over something, is to say again that they are not Gods. We can go back to the lightning example. If the bolt is preordained and there's nothing Zeus can do about it, it means He is powerless over the lightning, and thus not its God. The fate of the universe and this world also dictates that all things eventually die. The Gods, however, are deathless. They never die.

But perhaps someone means to say that nothing can stop the inevitable. Such as the fact that, one day, I will die, and that cannot be stopped. Maybe this is what they mean by saying that the Gods are subject to Natural Law and Fate. However, this was also created by the Gods themselves. My time was established when the Fates spun my thread. My life did not start, and is not drifting, haphazardly. The reason the Gods won't interfere when it is my time to die, is because that time is also made so by their own will. When the thread is spun, it is done so by the hands of Goddesses. The Divine Ones are therefore mapping out my life. They are creating for it what they choose, and thus, have complete control over the fate. While one may argue that not everything upon that thread has been preordained, it still shows the massive amount of dictation the Gods have over Natural Law and fate itself. You cannot be subjected to fate when you are fate. And the thread does not break on its own either. Remember, it is a Goddess who cuts it, and thus brings my life to an end. In short, things are started, directed, and ended by the hands of Gods.

In the Goodness of the Gods,

Chris Aldridge.

Plato's Cave Is Not An Atheist Revelation, It's A Longing For The Gods

The Analogy of Plato's Cave has fascinated many different kinds of people and groups, and continues to influence our imaginations and philosophies to this day. Everyone seems to draw their own interpretation based on whatever area of interest they want to insert into the opening. Atheists in particular enjoy using it as an argument against theism, suggesting that the shadows on the walls are illusions of Gods made by men for the sake of holding people in control, and that to break out into the light of the day is to become atheistic. This has grown to be a dominant interpretation, or at least one used among the most often. However, this is not the case at all. 

In our examination, we must first begin with the clear fact that Plato was no atheist, and neither was Socrates. And secondly, that they also clearly believed in the Greek Gods. Not only were they theists, but polytheists. This makes Plato's Cave a little more revealing because caves were sometimes considered precincts of Gods themselves; starting points of holy and sacred places of worship and wisdom. People who went into these caves did not go there to be chained or shown illusions, but rather, to connect with the Gods.

When Plato talks about the shadows and illusions of the cave being all that men are shown, what he's saying is that there is only so much that the human mind can perceive about life and this world, that it's not possible for humans to know everything. Our capacity is limited in many respects. However, to come out into the light, or into the Sun which was considered a God that touched all things and descends from the realm of the Divine, is to be able to see more through the wisdom and guidance of the Higher Powers of the world, aka the Gods. Plato's Cave is actually something which suggests that, without the Gods, without the guidance of the Higher Powers above, man is bound to nothing more than what his own eyes can see, which is sometimes shadows at best. Humans are extremely bound to a limited perception, and it is by the light of the Gods that we see more. 

Plato and Socrates were men who not only understood man's lack of knowledge when relying entirely on himself, but also, as Socrates put it, I know that I know nothing. The Cave is a reflection of this unknowing that man still possesses in many ways to this very day. We come out of the darkness and into the light through the Gods who know all things, and it is this natural light from above that allows us to not only be free of our chains, but to actually see where we are going. It gives direction to our lives, and therefore meaning and purpose. The biggest problem, which is also elaborated on in the Cave, is that there are some in the Cave who are content with the ignorance and don't want to move, even becoming hostile toward those who try to set them free. The reason for this is because, even today, in many subjects, men are content with what they want to believe and how they want to see the world. This is especially revealed in things like politics, where millions of people will support their candidate no matter what they do, or what surrounds them. The facts are irrelevant, and therefore, they are content with the images they are shown. They simply don't want their worldview to be upset, as is the case with some of the Cave inhabitants. This isn't a slap at spirituality, it's simply an acknowledgement of the sloth and confirmation bias of the human mind. We would often rather be comfortable in our beliefs, than working for the truth.

To come out of the darkness and into the light of the Gods, is to gain the capacity for philosophy, personal examination, free thought, and a liberated life. The Gods wish for no one to be chained. They gave us a mind so we could think and live. To be a philosopher is to love wisdom, and as Plato said, "Love is the joy of the good, the wonder of the wise, the amazement of the Gods." To love wisdom is to seek truth, and as Plato also said, "Truth is the beginning of every good to the Gods, and of every good to man."

In the Goodness of the Gods,

Chris Aldridge.

Deluge of Deukalion & The Noah Myth

My family and I have been living in South Beloit for about a month now. When we lived in Elizabeth, we attended the Stockton Universalist Church for a while, but eventually rescinded our membership because we didn't like the direction that the new minister was taking the church. But last week, we decided to give the Rockton church a try, because it was the closest to our new home. Unfortunately, however, you never get a second chance to make a first impression. I did not like the atmosphere at all. They were all good people, but this particular church just wasn't my vibe. But something that struck me as interesting during this visit was the old biblical Noah story, as it was a topic of discussion in the program that day. It's like what Oberon Zell once said about Jesus. Oberon had spent many years learning about different savior Gods, and so when he heard about Jesus, he said, "Well that's just one more." That's kind of how I felt when I heard the detailed story of Noah. It was just baffling how remarkably similar it is to the ancient Greek story of Deukalion and the flood of the Bronze Age. If there's one thing you'll learn from studying ancient religion, it's that the bible is rarely original in its myths.

In the story of Deukalion, Zeus becomes outraged at the Bronze Age because of the barbarity of its humans. His judgement was ignited by the disgusting actions of an Arcadian king named Lycaon, who murdered a child, dismembered his body, and tried to give the remains to Zeus as an offering. Zeus, the King of the Gods, decided to wipe out the entire race of mankind by a flood. Now, if you'll remember the story of Noah, Yahweh was also disgusted with the evils of man and decided to flood them out and start over. Deukalion is approached by the God Prometheus, who finds Him and His wife to be of noble rank, and instructs them to build a chest to keep them afloat. The same basically happens in Noah. Noah and his family are found to be righteous by Yahweh and told to build an ark. The only difference is that Noah is instructed to put all the animals of the Earth on it (which would have been an outright impossibility, by the way). Once the flood waters recede, the chest of Deukalion lands on a mountain, and like Noah, He reestablishes the worship of the Divine (the Gods). It is Deukalion's hope that mankind can recover from its horrid past, just as it's Noah's hope. 

The biggest differences in the stories is, of course, Polytheism and Monotheism, and the scale of the flood. The Greek story seems to suggest that only one region and civilization was flooded, while the bible states that the entire world drowned. Common sense also tells us that there is no possible way that Noah could have put all the world's animals on one boat. One species of animal alone can have hundreds of different breeds. Then there's the problem of geography. How did the animals from North, Central, and South America get over there? Did they swim 3,000 some miles across an ocean mass? The likelihood of that happening is just as likely as the story of Noah, not very. The only way to establish any validity to Noah is to argue that it was the world as it was known back then, and not the larger world we know of today. However, even in so doing, the biblical scholars will have to acknowledge that their book is fallible, which turns the ideal of the bible on its head. And, even if such acknowledgement is admitted, there's still no way that all the animals of Africa, Europe, the Middle East and Asia could have all gathered on one boat. It just didn't happen. I'm not trying to bash Jews and Christians. I'm just saying that their story is what it is, a myth.

The story of Deukalion is far more likely; a comparatively small, particular region of the world suffers a massive flood, and its civilization is uprooted by it. We know that ancient civilizations sometimes came to an end by natural disasters, such as the Thera eruption. The flotation device carried only a few passengers, who managed to survive the catastrophe by using it. Once over, the area would have had ample time to repopulate, given that another, already existing civilization didn't just move in and set up shop once the land was dry, which may be a more likely conclusion. We might also conclude from this that the flood destroyed a particular culture or city, and not an entire time period itself. We know that, sometimes in history, one culture came to an abrupt end, while the one next to it kept going. So it's very well possible that this could also be the case. In short, the story of Deukalion is not a massive impossibility like the story of Noah. 

A Disturbing Trend of Monotheism

The first Monotheist on human record is Akhenaten, an infamous Egyptian pharaoh who ruled the 18th Dynasty. He turned ancient Egyptian religion on its ears when he abolished the Polytheistic system by force, and turned the god Aten into a radical Monotheistic Cult, mostly centered around the adoration of Akhenaten himself. By the force of the state, everyone turned Monotheist during his reign, only being allowed to worship the one god Aten. Once the king died, the traditional religion of Egypt was reinstated. Not only that, but the Egyptians did everything they could to remove him from their history, including destroying his statues and erasing all records of his reign. Clearly, he was hated and considered a shame upon his culture. Interestingly, the religion he founded, called Atenism, is still practiced today by some modern Egyptian worshipers. Of course, modern practitioners of the religion are not of the mind that everyone should believe as they do, or that Polytheism should be abolished. In this way, they immensely differ from their founder. In fact, to my knowledge, Egyptian Polytheistic groups today have no issue being friends with Atenists. This post is not meant to be a stab at modern Atenists at all. It's to examine the history of Monotheistic oppression. Secondly, I simply love writing about religious history.

As Monotheism continued down through the centuries, turning into systems such as Christianity and Islam, this radicalism continued, and still reigns in terror throughout many parts of the human world today. The ancient Greek religion vanished only under the intense pressure of the state government after it was taken over by the Christians. The coming of Monotheism to the Greek lands saw the old religion outlawed, temples closed and followers murdered, tortured and coerced. This line of persecution really got its rabbit start under the Roman Emperor Theodosius I. Modern Christian historians would have you believe that it was the Pagans who persecuted the Christians mostly, and while certainly this happened, it's not the grand scale that is implied. The 313 CE Edict of Milan gave freedom of religion to everyone in the Roman Empire, including Christianity. There would no longer be any laws prohibiting it from existing. The problem was that the Christians didn't want simple religious freedom. They wanted religious superiority. The idea of Jesus being recognized alongside all the other Gods instead of above them, was not something the Christians were willing to accept. They could not stand the fact that they didn't have control of all things. When the Christian emperor Theodosius I later came along from 379 to 395 CE, the genocide of the Pagan cultures was fully implemented.

In our modern time, there are still leaders, elected officials and governments, even in our own country, who try to use legislative power to enforce Christian belief on their entire population. Islam also sees the mass persecution of entire nations in places like the Middle East where it's illegal to be any other religion but Muslim. Dissenters in these countries are routinely jailed, banished or executed. Extremely radical Monotheists like the Islamic State, a terrorist organization, also routinely smash ancient Pagan religious relics, using force to remove them from the human consciousness and awareness. And I don't want to actually put separation between the Islamic State and said Islamic governments, because when you get to the core, they're all terrorist organizations. It's just that one has a UN license to persecute and murder, and the other doesn't.

Of course, this is not to say that every Christian or every Muslim believes in persecution. Indeed, there are many who love freedom just as much as anyone else, and it's always important to judge people as individuals, not groups. Judging people by groups has also led to unspeakable acts against the innocent. I think of good humanitarians like Barack Obama, who is Christian and supports religious freedom for all faiths. But historically speaking, Monotheism itself has been, and is being, used on massive levels of persecution and crimes against humanity. 

The larger picture here is a continuous trend in Monotheism. Since its inception as far back as Akhenaten, it has had to be implemented by force. When the Egyptians were free to choose their religion again, they returned to Polytheism. When freedom of religion finally found its way back into Greece after centuries of persecution, Polytheism began to regrow. In the Free World itself today, Pagan and Polytheistic religion and spirituality is rapidly growing and thriving. When freedom of religion is allowed to flourish, Polytheism reclaims the land and the people. Monotheism has always been given by force of sword and blood, and in my view, it always will have to be if it is to remain, because the natural structure of the human theological mind is geared toward Polytheism. It is literally our natural state, which is why it has always taken force and fear to silence and change it.

Why, one might ask, has Monotheism been so inherently tyrannical? The answer is simple. When you believe there is only one way to live and believe correctly, and that you yourself have that way, you cannot leave any room for those who disagree or want to live differently, lest you be forced to question the validity of your own notions. If Monotheism had allowed freedom of religion, it would have had no grounds to proclaim itself as the one true way that everyone should follow, and it would therefore lose its power and control over the masses. While on the other hand, Polytheism does not need force to exist.

Here in America, we don't believe in telling anyone that they can't practice the religion they want. Monotheists should always have the same rights as everyone else. But there should never be any mistake that the same rights belong to others as well. If we do not learn from history, and beware of its lessons, we may be doomed to take the classes over again. As James Madison said, the purpose of the separation between church and state is to not repeat Europe's bloody past. I certainly do believe that Monotheists have the right to their religion. Freedom of religion is a human right, it is NOT negotiable. But I also think that the Pagans and Polytheists should have some their rightful things returned to them, and be able to live freely anywhere in the world without fear of being harmed because they choose to believe in the old Gods.

In the Goodness of the Gods,

Chris Aldridge.