Saturday 21 May 2016

Nature Personified

Pagan gods are personifications of nature. When the British Christian Budic cries out that the Ysan Gods bring only horror, the traditionalist Maeloch replies:

"'True, they're ofttimes stern, even grim, but so's the world. 'Tis for us to endure without whining. They give us life.'"
-Poul and Karen Anderson, Dahut, Chapter XII, section 1, p. 281.

Nothing supernatural or everlasting, just nature and life. Maeloch is all for live and let live between Gods and men but, when Budic preaches, he retorts:

"'...when Lir sends fair winds and shoals o' fish, Taranis pours down sunlight and summer rain, Belisama brings love and bairns and hope - ask yourself, boy, what's this Christ o' yours ever done for ye?'" (p. 282)

Maeloch accepts the ancient round of life. In paganism, natural forces are personified. In Biblical monotheism, natural and social forces have been personified and unified. Civilization, dependent on agriculture, has moved away from direct involvement in hunting and fishing, from Lir's winds and Taranis' rain.

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