Aum Gung Ganapathaye NamahNamo tassa bhagavato arahato samma-sambuddhassa

Homage to The Blessed One, Accomplished and Fully EnlightenedIn the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Web Surfing TrackerA Collection of Articles, Notes and References

References(January 28, 2011)

(Revised: Sunday, November 06, 2011)References Edited by

A Mad SchizophrenicWhat’s in a name? That which we call a rose

By any other name would smell as sweet.- William Shakespeare

Copyright © 2011-2020 A Mad SchizophrenicThe following educational writings are STRICTLY for academic research

purposes ONLY.Should NOT be used for commercial, political or any other purposes.

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You may print copies of this work for free distribution.You may re-format and redistribute this work for use on computers and computer

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8 "... Freely you received, freely give”.- Matthew 10:8 :: New American Standard Bible (NASB)

The attempt to make God just in the eyes of sinful men will always lead to error.- Pastor William L. Brown.

1 “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them. 6 They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over weak-willed women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, 7 always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth. 8 Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these men oppose the truth--men of depraved minds, who, as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected. 9 But they will not get very far because, as in the case of those men, their folly will be clear to everyone.”

- 2 Timothy 3:1-9 :: New International Version (NIV)

The right to be left alone – the most comprehensive of rights, and the right most valued by a free people

- Justice Louis Brandeis, Olmstead v. U.S., 1928.

15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.

- Revelation 3:15-16 :: King James Version (KJV)

6 As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.

- Hebrews 5:6 :: King James Version (KJV)

3 Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually.

- Hebrews 7:3 :: King James Version (KJV)

Therefore, I say: Know your enemy and know yourself; in a hundred battles, you will never be defeated. When you are ignorant of the enemy but know yourself, your chances of winning or losing are equal. If ignorant both of your enemy and of yourself, you are sure to be defeated in every battle.

-- Sun Tzu, The Art of War, c. 500bc

There are two ends not to be served by a wanderer. What are these two? The pursuit of desires and of the pleasure which springs from desire, which is base, common, leading to rebirth, ignoble, and unprofitable; and the pursuit of pain and hardship, which is grievous, ignoble, and unprofitable.

- The Blessed One, Lord Buddha

3 Neither let the son of the stranger, that hath joined himself to the LORD, speak, saying, The LORD hath utterly separated me from his people: neither let the eunuch say, Behold, I am a dry tree.

- Isaiah 56:3 :: King James Version (KJV)

19:12 For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother's womb: and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men: and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it.

- Matthew 19:12 :: King James Version (KJV)

21 But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.- Matthew 17:21 :: Amplified Bible (AMP)

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I came across the articles “freely”. So I publish them freely with added student notes and review with due referencing to the parent link, without any personal monetary gain. My purpose is only to educate other children of the Lord on certain concepts, which I believe are beneficial for “Oneness”.

ReferencesSome of the links may not be active (de-activated) due to various reasons, like removal of the concerned information from the source database. So an educational copy is also provided, along with the link. If the link is active, do cross-check/validate/confirm the educational copy of the article provided along.

1. If the link is not active, then try to procure a hard copy of the article, if possible, based on the reference citation provided, from a nearest library or where-ever, for cross-checking/validation/confirmation.

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XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXDecline of Greco-Roman polytheismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecution_of_ancient_Greek_religion

Decline of Greco-Roman polytheismFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (Redirected from Persecution of ancient Greek religion)Jump to: navigation, search The Greco-Roman religion at the time of the Constantinian shift mostly consisted of three main currents,

Greco-Roman Polytheism, the official Roman imperial cult, various Mystery religions. Early Christianity grew gradually in Rome and the Roman empire over the 1st to 4th centuries, until it became the official state religion with the Theodosian decrees of 389-391. Hellenistic polytheistic traditions survived in some pockets of Greece into the 9th century. The Neoplatonic Academy was shut down by Justinian I in 529, a date sometimes taken to mark the end of Classical Antiquity.

Contents [hide]1 Rome 1.1 Before Constantine's Edict of Milan 1.1.1 The rise of Esoteric Philosophy 1.1.2 Eastern sun-worship 1.1.3 Judaism and Christianity 1.2 Toleration and Constantine 1.3 Persecution of paganism

1.4 Julian 1.5 Jovian, Valentinian and Valens 1.6 Gratian and Theodosius I 1.7 Polytheism revival 1.8 Final decline 2 Timeline 3 See also 4 References

[edit] Rome[edit] Before Constantine's Edict of MilanThe Romans tended towards syncretism, seeing the same Gods under different names in different places of the Empire, accommodating Indo-Europeans such as the Hellenes, Germans, and Celts, and Semitic and other groups in the Middle East. Under Roman authority, the various national myths most similar to Rome were adopted by analogue into the overall Roman mythos, further cementing Imperial control. Consequently, the Romans were generally tolerant and accommodating towards new deities and the religious experiences of other peoples who formed part of their wider Empire.[1]

[edit] The rise of Esoteric PhilosophyThe more philosophical outlook of the Hellenic parts of the Roman empire led to a renaissance of intellectual religious thought around the turn of the 2nd century. Writings pseudepigraphically attributed to Hermes Trismegistus, and discussing esoteric philosophy, magic, and alchemy, began to spread from Roman Egypt throughout the empire; while they are difficult to date with precision, these texts are likely to have been redacted between the first and third centuries. The henotheistic panentheism of the much of the emergent movement responsible for the texts - Hermetism (not to be confused with Hermitism) - was somewhat at odds with traditional religious views,

and the texts themselves exhibited clear anti-Greek and anti-Roman sentiment. Although such hermetica was generally written with the theological aim of spiritual improvement, each text had an anonymous, eclectic, and spontaneous origin, rather than being part of an organised movement.

A more organised form of alatrist henotheistic panentheism emerged in parallel to Hermetism. In the 1st century BCE Cicero's friend Nigidius Figulus made an attempt to revive Pythagorean doctrines, an effort that was particularly successful under Apollonius of Tyana in the 1st century; within a century, supernatural powers were being ascribed to Apollonius, and accounts of his life had similarities to those of Jesus. At least one major meeting place for followers of this neopythagoreanism was built in Rome itself, near Porta Maggiore, to a design similar to later Christian churches, though subterranean.

In the 2nd century, Numenius of Apamea sought to fuse additional elements of Platonism into Neopythagoreanism, a direction which Plotinus continued, forming neoplatonism, a religion of theistic monism. Neoplatonism began to be adopted by prominent scholars such as the Christian theologian Origen and the anti-Christian Porphyry. During the rule of Gallienus, the imperial family themselves gave patronage to Plotinus, and encouraged his philosophical activities. Neoplatonism was further developed by Iamblichus, who believed that physical invocations would be able to produce soteriological results, and therefore added religious ritual to the philosophy. Emperor Julian tried to unify traditional Roman religion by mixing it with Iamblichus' form of neoplatonism; the influential Christian thinker Augustine of Hippo lived during this period, and

his subsequent writings show heavy neoplatonic influence.

[edit] Eastern sun-worshipAt some time around the first century, the members of the Roman military began to adopt the mystery cult of Mithraism; this sun-god related cult arose from obscure non-Roman origins, and the first surviving reference dates to Plutarch's mention of a 67 BC observation of certain Mediterranean pirates practising it. As the Roman legions gradually moved around, so too Mithraism spread throughout the Roman Empire; in the beginning it was mainly soldiers who followed its precepts, but it was also adopted by freedmen, slaves, and merchants, in the locations where the legions rested, particularly in frontier areas.

Mithraism wasn't exclusive - it was possible and common to follow Mithraism and other cults simultaneously. It eventually became popular within Rome itself, gradually gaining members among the more aristocratic classes, and eventually counting some of the Roman senators as adherents; according to the Augustan History, even the emperor Commodus was a member. Although, for reasons currently unknown, Mithraism completely excluded women, by the third century it had gained a wide following; there are over 100 surviving remains of temples to Mithras, 8 in Rome itself, and 18 in Ostia (Rome's main port), with Rome having over 300 associated Mithraic monuments.

From the reign of Septimus Severus, other, less gender-specific, forms of sun-worship also increased in popularity throughout the Roman Empire.[2]

Elagabalus used his authority to install El-Gabal as the chief deity of the Roman Pantheon, merging

the god with the Roman sun gods to form Deus Sol Invictus, meaning God - the Undefeated Sun, and making him superior to Jupiter,[3] and assigning either Astarte, Minerva, Urania, or some combination of the three, as El-Gabal's wife.[4] He rode roughshod over other elements of traditional religion, marrying a Vestal Virgin[5] (who were legally required to remain unmarried virgins during their service),[6] and moved the most sacred relics of roman religion (including the fire of Vesta, the Shields of the Salii, and the Palladium) to a new temple dedicated exclusively to El-Gabal.[7] As much as the religiously conservative senators may have disapproved, the lavish annual public festivals held in El-Gabal's honour found favour among the popular masses, partly on account of the festivals involving the wide distribution of food.[4]

Nearly half a century after Elagabalus, Aurelian came to power. He was a reformer, strengthening the position of the sun-god as the main divinity of the Roman pantheon; he even built a brand new temple, in Rome, dedicated to the deity. Its also thought likely that he may have been responsible for establishing the festival of the day of the birth of the unconquered sun (Dies Natalis Solis Invicti), which was celebrated on December 25, the day when the sun appears to start rising again - four days after having previously reached its lowest point,[8] though the earliest surviving reference to the festival is in the Chronography of 354. He followed the principle of one god, one empire; his intention was to give to all the peoples of the Empire, civilian or soldiers, easterners or westerners, a single god they could believe in without betraying their own gods. Lactantius argued that Aurelian would have outlawed all the other gods if he had had enough time, but

Aurelian only managed to hold on to the position of Emperor for five years.

[edit] Judaism and ChristianitySee also: Split of early Christianity and JudaismHowever, this inclusive tolerance only extended to religions which did not resist Roman authority and would respect Roman gods. Religions that were hostile to the state nor any that claimed exclusive rights to religious beliefs and practice were not included and some exclusive Eastern cults were persecuted. Jews were given special privileges owing to their dominance in economy, numbers and dispersal, but this tolerance was balanced unevenly on a thin veneer of Jewish submission. Tolerance of Judaism turned to persecution when collaboration was perceived as ending. Intolerant sects could also persecute each other; Jewish sects like the early Christians were denounced by the Jewish establishment as dangerous provocateurs. The results included massacres of Christian communities and Jewish nationalist groups.[1]

Whereas the masoretic text, of which the earliest surviving copy dates from the 9th century AD, teaches that "the Gods of the gentiles are nothing", the corresponding passage in the Greek Septuagint, used by the early Christian Church, asserted that "all the Gods of the heathens are devils."[9] The same Gods whom the Romans believed had protected and blessed their city and its wider empire during the many centuries they had been worshipped were now demonized by the early Christian Church.[10]

The early Christian community was perceived at times to be an intrinsically destabilising influence[11] and threat to the peace of Rome, a religio illicita.[1] The pagans who attributed the misfortunes of Rome and its wider Empire to the

rise of Christianity, and who could only see a restoration by a return to the old ways,[12] were faced by the Christian Church that had set itself apart from that faith and was unwilling to dilute what it held to be the religion of the "One True God".[13]

[edit] Toleration and ConstantineAfter the initial conflicts between the state and the new emerging religion, Gallienus (ruled 253 to 260) was the first emperor to issue an edict of toleration for all religious creeds including Christianity. According to Christian polemicists writing after his death, Constantine I was baptized as a Christian on his deathbed, which would make him the first emperor to be; no contemporary references exist to him ever having been a Christian during his lifetime.[14][15] Eusebius, a contemporary Christian historian, also praises him for having some pagan temples torn down.[16] Nevertheless, whatever the imperial edicts said, the effects of policy under the Christian emperors down to Valentinian I and Valens were enough to cause a widespread trend to Christian conversion, but not enough to make paganism extinct. Actual persecution was sporadic and generally the result of local initiative, for example Martin of Tours' destructions of holy sites in Gaul in the later fourth century.[17] Official orders may have established an understanding that actual persecution would be tolerated, but in the first century of official Christianity did not generally organize it.

By the Edict of Milan (313 CE), Constantine continued the policy of toleration, which Galerius had established.[18] His legislation against magic and private divination were driven out of a fear that others might gain power through those means.[19] Nonetheless, this did not mean he or other

Roman rulers disfavored divination. Instead, his belief in Roman divination is confirmed by legislation calling for the consultation of augurs after an amphitheatre had been struck by lightning in the year 320.[20] Constantine explicitly allowed public divination as a practice of State ceremony as well as public pagan practices to continue.[21] Constantine also issued laws confirming the rights of flamens, priests and duumvirs.[22]

Ivory diptych of a priestess of Ceres, still in fully classical style, ca 400: the "idol" was defaced and thrown in a well at Montier-en-Der (later an abbey) where it was found. (Musée de Cluny)[edit] Persecution of paganismThe first emperor to put restrictions on the practice of Paganism was Constantine’s son, Constantius II. According to Libanius Constantius was effectively under the control of others who inspired him to end pagan sacrifices.[23] In the year 353 Constantius ordered the ending of public taxes for Roman temples and the abolishment of sacrifices by non-state Pagan cults under penalty of death,[24] but these edicts were not strictly enforced.[25][26] Due to the disturbances caused by Christians who were attempting to destroy ancient Pagan temples in the countryside, Constantius and his brother Constans were forced to issue a law for the preservation of the temples that were situated outside of city walls.[27] However, with the collapse of official government sanctioned pagan rites, private cults attempted to infiltrate the temples. Thus, later the same year another law declared that all Pagan temples were to be closed and access to them forbidden.[28] The desecration of Pagan tombs and monuments by Christians, however, apparently forced Constantius to enact another law that exacted a fine from those who were guilty of vandalizing them and placed the care of

these monuments and tombs under the Pagan priests.[29] Magnentius rebelled against and killed Constans. Although he used Christian symbols on his coins, he revoked the anti-pagan legislation of Constans and even permitted the celebration of nocturnal sacrifices. Three years later, in the year 353, Constantius defeated Magnentius and once again forbade the performance of the rituals.[30] This law seems to have had little effect as we find Constantius once again legislating against Paganism in 356. Constantius now declared that anyone found guilty of attending sacrifices or of worshipping idols would be executed.[31] It appears the magistrates were uncomfortable with carrying out this law; it was largely ignored.

In the year 357, Constantius celebrated his Vicennalia by visiting the city of Rome. Acting as the Pontifex Maximus, Constantius apparently conferred priesthoods on worthy individuals and confirmed privileges to the Vestal Virgins as well as subsidies to the Pagan cults.[32] Constantius also enacted a law confirming the prerogatives of the Pagan priests.[33] In spite of Pagan protests, however, Constantius removed the altar from the statue of Victory that stood in the Senate house because of the complaints of some Christian Senators. This was the altar where Romans had traditionally offered prayers for the welfare of the Empire and had pledged their allegiance to the Emperor for generations. Each Senator had traditionally made a sacrifice upon the altar before entering the Senate house. This altar was later restored, either silently, soon after Constantius’ departure, or by the emperor Julian the Apostate.[34] Constantius, sensing that he was now hated by many of his subjects, became suspicious and fearful and carried on an active campaign against magicians, astrologers and other diviners who might use their power to make someone

else emperor.[35] Constantius did not, apparently, attempt to stop the Christians from destroying and pillaging many of the ancient temples.[36]

[edit] JulianJulian was a nephew of Constantine and received a Christian training but the murder of his father, brother and two uncles, in the aftermath of Constantine's death, he attributed to Constantius and by association to Christians in general.[citation needed] This antipathy was deepened when Constantius executed Julian's only remaining brother in 354AD.[1][37] After childhood Julian was educated by hellenists and was attracted to the teachings of neoplatonists and the old religions.

Julian’s religious beliefs were syncretic and he was an initiate of at least three mystery religions. But Julian’s religious open-mindedness did not extend to Christianity due to its belief that it had an exclusive perspective on religious truth. Seeing itself as the only true religion, Christianity was opposed to, and fundamentally incompatible with, the more inclusive syncretism of paganism—see introduction.[11]

As Emperor, Julian sought to turn the tide in the attempted suppression of non-Christian religions. As his first task he sought to reestablish the old Roman Pagan practice of incorporation of other religions. But now instead of allowing different cults using different names for the same or similar deities, Julian's training in Christianity and Imperial government influenced him to develop a single pagan religion. Thus, his ideas concerning the revival and organization of the old religion, shaping it into a coherent body of doctrine, ritual and liturgy [1] with a hierarchy under the supervision of the emperor was the hallmark of his reign.[37] Julian organized elaborate rituals and

attempted to set forth a clarified philosophy of Neo-Platonism that might unite all Pagans.[38]

Julian allowed religious freedom and avoided any form of actual compulsion. The Christian Sozomen acknowledges that Julian did not compel Christians to offer sacrifice nor did he allow the people to commit any act of injustice towards the Christians or insult them.[39] However, no Christian was allowed to teach or study the ancient classical authors, "Let them keep to Matthew and Luke", thus ending any chance they had of a professional career.[1][40]

He withdrew the privileges of the Christian clergy, bestowed on them by Constantine, and ordered them to make restitution. Those who had demolished temples during the reign of Constantine and Constantius, were made to rebuild them, or to defray the expenses of their re-erection. Only pagans were allowed to teach in law, rhetoric, philosophy, or practice any form of state sanctioned religious liturgy. Julian required those who had abandoned the deities to purify themselves before they were allowed the privilege of taking part in their worship once again. He was devoted to divination and allowed his subjects to freely practice this art.[41] In general the privileges and immunities given to the Christians were now replaced with those given to pagan philosophers and priests who subscribed to his neo-platonic pagan religion.[39]

[edit] Jovian, Valentinian and Valens A cult statue of the divinized Augustus, disfigured by a Christian cross carved into the emperor's forehead.After the death of Julian, Jovian seems to have instituted a policy of religious toleration which avoided the relative extremes of Constantius

and Julian.[42] Under Valentinian I and Valens this period of religious toleration continued. Pagan writers praise both of these emperors for their liberal religious policies.[43]

Valentinian and Valens granted complete toleration for all cults at the beginning of their reign in 364.[44] Valentinian, who ruled in the west, even allowed the performance of nocturnal sacrifices, which had been previously prohibited due to the attempt of some people to practice unlawful divination under the cover of the night, after the proconsul of Greece appealed to him.[45] Valentinian also confirmed the rights and privileges of the Pagan priests and confirmed the right of Pagans to be the exclusive caretakers of their temples.[46] Valens, who was ruling in the east, was an Arian and was too engaged with fighting against the Orthodox Christians to bother much with the Pagans. In both the west and east severe laws were once again passed prohibiting private divination.[47] Due to the over zealousness of the populace to stop harmful divination, the haruspices and augurs began to be afraid to show themselves in public. This led the emperors to formally authorize the practice of official and lawful divination by law in 371.[44] Despite the official policy, anti-pagan laws remained in force, and unofficial destruction of pagan holy sites was also tolerated.

[edit] Gratian and Theodosius IUpon the death of his father (Valentinian I) in the year 375, Gratian began his actual reign at the age of sixteen. Six days after the death of Valentinian I, Gratian’s half brother, Valentinian II, who was only four years old, was also declared emperor. After the death of Valens, at the battle of Adrianople in 378, Gratian chose a Spaniard named Theodosius I to succeed his uncle. Gratian had been

educated by Ausonius who had praised his pupil for his tolerance. Upon the death of his father, Gratian came under the influence of Ambrose, who became his chief advisor.[48][49] Under the influence of Ambrose, active steps to repress Paganism were taken.[50]

The influence of Ambrose was a significant force that brought to an end a period of widespread, if unofficial, religious tolerance that had existed since the time of Julian.[51] Gratian dealt Paganism several blows in 382.[52] In this year, Gratian appropriated the income of the Pagan priests and Vestal Virgins, confiscated the personal possessions of the priestly colleges and ordered the removal of the Altar of Victory.[53] The colleges of Pagan priests also lost all their privileges and immunities. Gratian declared that all of the Pagan temples and shrines were to be confiscated by the government and that their revenues were to be joined to the property of the royal treasury.[54]

Pagan Senators responded by sending an appeal to Gratian, reminding him that he was still the Pontifex Maximus and that it was his duty to see that the Pagan rites were properly performed. They appealed to Gratian to restore the altar of Victory and the rights and privileges of the Vestal Virgins and priestly colleges. Gratian, at the urging of Ambrose, did not grant an audience to the Pagan Senators. In response to being reminded by the Pagans that he was still the head of the ancestral religion, Gratian renounced the title and office of Pontifex Maximus under the influence of Ambrose, declaring that it was unsuitable for a Christian to hold this office. Gratian was quickly faced with a revolt from the outraged Pagans who raised a Spaniard named Maximus to the throne because he was more sympathetic to the Pagan cause.

Theodosius I, who was reigning in the East, made no attacks upon Paganism during the lifetime of Gratian. Both Theodosius and Valentinian II formally recognized Maximus in the year 384. For a time, the Pagans enjoyed religious liberty once again and many distinguished Pagans rose to important offices in the state.[55] The fact that the temples continued to be cared for and that Pagan festivals continued to be celebrated is indicated by a law of 386, which declared that care for the temples and festivals were the exclusive prerogative of the Pagans.[56] This law also confirms the right of the priests to perform the traditional Pagan rites of the temples. In the year 387, Theodosius declared war on Maximus after Maximus had driven Valentinian II out of Italy. Maximus was defeated and executed and the anti-Pagan regulations of Gratian were apparently reinstated by Valentinian II. The emperor Theodosius, who had been reigning in the East, had been relatively tolerant towards Pagans in the early part of his reign.[57] He is known to have appointed various Pagans to office in the earlier part of his reign. For example, he appointed the Pagan Tatianus as the praetorian prefect of Egypt.[58] His tolerance for other religions is indicated by his order (in 388) for the reconstruction of a Jewish synagogue at Callicinum in Mesopotamia[59]

Only after what is commonly known as the “massacre” of Thessalonica (in 390) was Ambrose able to gain influence with Theodosius. Ambrose accomplished this by excommunicating Theodosius and thereby forcing him to obey him.[citation needed] After the death of Maximus, Valentinian II, under the aegis of Theodosius, once again assumed the office of emperor in the West. Valentinian II, advised by Ambrose, and in spite of pleas from the Pagans, refused to restore the altar of the statue of

Victory and the income to the priesthoods and Vestal Virgins.[60] In the year 391, Valentinian II issued a law that not only prohibited sacrifices but also forbade anyone from visiting the temples.[61] This again caused turbulence in the West. Valentinian II quickly followed this law with a second one, which declared that Pagan temples were to be closed, a law that was viewed as practically outlawing Paganism.[62] Valentinian was murdered, possibly by agents of Arbogast whom he had tried to dismiss, and Eugenius, a professor of rhetoric, was proclaimed emperor.[63] The ancestral religious rites were once again performed openly and the altar of Victory was restored.[64] Meanwhile, in the East, Theodosius ordered the massacre of seven thousand at Thessalonica in the year 390. Ambrose had a council of the Church condemn this act. Theodosius submitted himself to Ambrose and agreed to do penance. Theodosius’ penance apparently included his promise to adopt a new role as the champion of the Christian faith.[citation needed]

In the year 392, Theodosius officially began to proscribe the practice of Paganism. This is apparently the time in which he authorized the destruction of many temples throughout the empire.[65] Theodosius issued a comprehensive law that prohibited the performance of any type of Pagan sacrifice or worship in any place or any city.[66] Theodosius prohibited men from privately honoring their Lares with fire, their Genius with wine or their Penates with incense. Men were prohibited from such traditions as burning candles or incense and suspending wreaths in honor of the deities. Theodosius also prohibited the practice of all forms of divination, even those forms of divination that were not considered harmful to the welfare of the Emperor, with this wide-ranging law.

In 393, Theodosius was ready to begin his war against Eugenius and Arbogastes. The battle that ensued became, in essence, a battle for the survival of Paganism.[67] The defeat of Eugenius by Theodosius in 394 led to the final separation of Paganism from the state. The majority of the people were now either nominal or devout Christians. Most of the Germanic tribesmen settling in the Empire as laeti, federates, or as former members of the regular army were also Christian. The military stood as the core of the Empire, and it was wholly Christian. Therefore, when Theodosius visited Rome he attempted to convert the Pagan members of the Senate thereby ending any remaining vestigial artifacts of pagan state religion. Being unsuccessful in this, he withdrew all state funds that had been set aside for the public performance of Pagan rites.[68] From this point forward, state funds would never again be made available for the public performance of Pagan rites nor for the maintenance of the Pagan temples. Despite this setback on their religion, the Pagans remained outspoken in their demands for toleration.[69]

[edit] Polytheism revivalUpon the death of Theodosius I 395, a political crisis ensued, which the barbarians were quick to take advantage of by invading the empire on an unprecedented scale. Since most of the Germanic tribes infiltrating, settling, or invading the Empire were Arian Christian, many nominal Orthodox Christians became less certain of their religion. Some in a sense of superstition or ancient Roman pagan patriotism, felt the invasions were the result of abandoning the old ways. Others believed the success of the Germans was because the Orthodox Church was corrupt. Consequently, many nominal Christians converted back to Paganism.[citation needed] Pagans, in their turn, became more aggressive and began to blame the Christians for

the disasters affecting the empire.[70] Despite the pleas of many Pagans for tolerance, Honorius and Arcadius continued the work of their father by enacting even more anti-Pagan laws in an attempt to stop this revival of Paganism. The fact that they had to keep repeating their threats by the enactment of numerous laws against the practice of Paganism indicates that their efforts did not succeed in stamping out the traditional Pagan rites, which continued to be practiced discreetly.[71]

During the early part of the reign of Honorius, Stilicho was able to exercise unlimited power over the west. Stilicho exercised moderation in his religious policies and enacted laws that were favorable to the Pagans. Consequently, during the time in which Stilicho held power, the Pagans enjoyed a brief respite from persecution. In the year 395, Arcadius declared that the solemn days of the Pagans were no longer to be included in the number of holidays.[72] In the same year, another law was passed by Arcadius that prohibited anyone from going to a Pagan sanctuary or temple or of celebrating any kind of Pagan sacrifice.[73] This law seems to have been targeted at those Christians who were converting back to Paganism as it specifically mentions “those who are trying to stray from the dogma of the Catholic faith.” In the year 396, the privileges of Pagan priests and other clerics were officially revoked.[74] In the same year, Arcadius ordered that Pagan temples standing in the countryside were to be destroyed without disorder or riot.[75] This law seems to indicate that the number of Pagans in the countryside was still too large for the Christians to openly destroy the temples that were located there. As a result, zealous Christians had to be content with destroying the Pagan temples that were located in mostly municipal areas where they could easily

outnumber the Pagan inhabitants. The large number of Pagans in the east also seems to have forced Arcadius into allowing the ancient festivals and public games to continue.[76]

Meanwhile three laws were enacted in the west in the year 399, under the influence of Stilicho, which were relatively favorable to the Pagans. Due to the riots caused by fanatical Christians in their attempts to destroy the temples, the first of these laws protected the Pagan temples from the destruction of zealous Christians who pretended that they had been authorized by the government to destroy them.[77] The second of these laws acknowledged the right of the people to continue to participate in the traditional banquets, shows, gatherings and amusements associated with the old Pagan religion; it did, however, forbid the public performance of any Pagan rites or sacrifice.[78] The third law forbade the destruction of Pagan temples that had been cleared of forbidden things and ordered that they were to be kept in good repair.[79] After the death of Stilicho, Honorius and his party in the state gained control and harsh laws against Paganism were once again enacted. In the year 408, Honorius enacted a new law which ordered that all statues and altars in the temples were to be removed and that the temple buildings and their income were to be appropriated by the government.[80] This law also forbade the holding of any Pagan banquet or celebration in vicinity of the temples. The execution of this law was placed in the hands of the bishops. Two other laws decreed that buildings belonging to known Pagans and heretics were to be appropriated by the churches.[81]

Arcadius died in 408 and his eight-year-old son, Theodosius, was thereupon proclaimed emperor in the East. In the same year, Honorius enacted a law that

prohibited anyone who was not Catholic from performing imperial service within the palace.[82] Zosimus reports that Honorius was forced to repeal this law after one of his best officers, who happened to be a Pagan, resigned in protest.[83] At the beginning of the year 409, Honorius enacted a law that punished judges and officials who did not enforce the laws against the Pagans.[84] This law even punished men of rank who simply kept silent over any Pagan rite performed in their own city or district. The hopes of the Pagans were revived with the elevation of Priscus Attalus, at Rome, in the year 409. Alaric, an Arian Christian, soon tired of his puppet, however, and Attalus was deposed in the summer of 410 when Honorius promised to negotiate a peace treaty. When these negotiations failed, Alaric took and sacked the city of Rome. This catastrophe shocked the entire Roman world. Both Christians and Pagans quickly began to blame each other for something that had hitherto been thought impossible. In this heated atmosphere, Honorius once again reiterated his anti-Pagan legislation.[85]

There are numerous fragments extant of several Pagan historical works, such as the works of Eunapius and Olympiodorus, which indicate that Pagans were now openly voicing their resentment in writing. Even after the sack of Rome, in the year 410, pagans believed that the recent decline of Rome had been caused by the neglect of the ancestral traditions.

In the year 415, Honorius enacted yet another law that appropriated the Pagan temples throughout the Roman Empire to the government and ordered that all objects that had been consecrated for Pagan sacrifices were to be removed from public places.[86] A prominent example of the anti-pagan climate

at the time is the case of the philosopher Hypatia of Alexandria, killed by a mob in 415.

In 416, Honorius and Theodosius II ordered that Pagans would no longer be admitted to imperial service nor would they be allowed to receive the rank of administrator or judge.[87] In 423, Theodosius II reiterated the previous laws against Pagans and declared that all Pagans who were caught performing the ancient rites would now have all their goods confiscated and be exiled.[88] In August of the year 423, Honorius died and power was seized in the west by John, who had held the office of Primicerius Notariorum. John appears to have ushered in a period of religious toleration. John seems to have attempted to curb the power of ecclesiastics and the privileges of the church in an attempt to treat all people equally.[89] In the year 423, Theodosius II published a law that demanded that Christians (whether they were really such or pretended to be so) were not to disturb Pagans who were living peaceably and doing nothing contrary to the law.[90] In 425, Theodosius II sent an expedition to the west to depose John and establish Valentinian III as emperor of the west. After John was captured and executed, Valentinian III was proclaimed emperor in the city of Rome. While in the west, Theodosius II enacted two anti-Pagan laws in the year 425. The first of these stipulated that all Pagan superstition was to be rooted out.[91] The second law barred Pagans from pleading a case in court and also disqualified them from serving as soldiers.[92] Theodosius II then left Valentinian III to rule the west and returned to Constantinople.

The numerous laws against apostasy, that had been continuously promulgated since the time of Gratian and Theodosius, is evidence that the emperors were having a hard time even keeping Christians from

going astray.[93] In the year 426, Theodosius passed yet another law against Christian apostates, who converted to Paganism, and those who pretended to become Christian but in reality continued to perform Pagan sacrifices.[94] All this legislation proved so ineffective that Theodosius II found it necessary to reiterate his prohibition against Pagan rites and sacrifices in 435, this time increasing the penalty to death.[95] This law also ordered that all Pagan shrines, temples and sanctuaries that still existed were to be destroyed by the magistrates. Magistrates who failed to carry out this order were ordered to be punished with death. Even the threat of death, however, failed to eradicate Paganism as we find Theodosius legislating again, in 438, against Paganism and forbidding Pagan sacrifice once more.[96] Theodosius threatens those who fail to comply with death and the confiscation of their property. It will be of interest to quote some of this law, as the Emperor explicitly admits that Pagan sacrifices were still being openly celebrated. It reads as:

Hence our clemency perceives the need of keeping watch over the Pagans and their heathen enormities, since by natural depravity and stubborn lawlessness, they forsake the path of true religion. They disdain in any way to perform the nefarious rites of sacrifice and the false errors of their baleful superstition by some means or other in the hidden solitudes, unless their crimes are made public by the profession of their crimes to insult divine majesty and to show scorn to our age. Not the thousand terrors of laws already promulgated nor the penalty of exile pronounced upon them deter these men, whereby, if they cannot reform, at least they might learn to abstain from their mass of their crimes and the multitude of their sacrifices. But their insane audacity transgresses continually; our patience is exhausted

by their wicked behavior so that if we desired to forget them, we could not disregard them.[96]

[edit] Final declineThe continued vitality of Paganism led Marcian, who became emperor of the east in 450 upon the death of Theodosius II, to repeat earlier prohibitions against Pagan rites. Marcian decreed, in the year 451, that those who continued to perform the Pagan rites would suffer the confiscation of their property and be condemned to death. Marcian also prohibited any attempt to re-open the temples and ordered that they were to remain closed. In addition to this, in order to encourage strict enforcement of the law a fine of fifty pounds of gold was imposed on any judge or governor, as well as the officials under him, who did not enforce this law.[97] However, not even this had the desired affect, as we find Leo I, who succeeded Marcian in 457, publishing a new law in 472 which imposed severe penalties for the owner of any property who was aware that Pagan rites were performed on his property. If the property owner was of high rank he was punished by the loss of his rank or office and by the confiscation of his property. If the property owner was of lower status he would be physically tortured and then condemned to labor in the mines for the rest of his life.[98]

Two more laws against Paganism, which may be from this period, are preserved in the Justinian Code.[99] After the deposition of Avitus, who ruled as emperor of the West from 455 to 456, there seems to have been a conspiracy among the Roman nobles to place the Pagan general Marcellinus on the throne to restore Paganism; but it came to nothing.[100]

In the year 457, Leo I became the first emperor to be crowned by the Patriarch of Constantinople. Anthemius (467-472), one of the last Western Roman

emperors, seems to have planned a Pagan revival at Rome.[101] He was a descendant of Procopius, the relative of Julian. Anthemius gave Messius Phoebus Severus, a Pagan philosopher who was a close friend of his, the important offices of Praefectus urbi of Rome, Consul and Patrician. Anthemius placed the image of Hercules, in the act of vanquishing the Nemean lion, on his coins. The murder of Anthemius (by Ricimer) destroyed the hopes of those Pagans who believed that the traditional rites would now be restored.[102] Shortly thereafter, in 476, the western emperor was deposed by Odoacer, who became the first barbarian king of Italy. In spite of this disaster, the Pagans made one last attempt to revive the Pagan rites. In 484, the Magister militum per Orientem, Illus, revolted against Zeno and raised his own candidate, Leontius, to the throne. Leontius hoped to reopen the temples and restore the ancient ceremonies and because of this many Pagans joined in his revolt against Zeno.[101] Illus and Leontius were compelled, however, to flee to a remote Isaurian fortress, where Zeno besieged them for four years. Zeno finally captured them in 488 and promptly had them executed.[103]

As a result of the revolt, Zeno instituted a harsh persecution of Pagan intellectuals. With the failure of the revolt of Leontius, some Pagans became disillusioned and many simply became Christian, or simply pretended to, in order to avoid persecution.[104] The failure of their efforts to restore the traditional rites led many Pagans to completely lose confidence in Rome’s future. These men believed that the Roman Empire was now gone and irretrievable. The Christianization of the Roman Empire became complete when the emperor Anastasius, who came to the throne in 491, was forced to sign a written declaration of orthodoxy before his coronation.

[edit] Timeline313 By Edict of Milan Constantine and Licinius establish toleration of Christianity. 329-335 Constantine orders destruction of Hellenic temples at Didyma, Mt. Athos, Aigeai, Baalbek etc. According to pagan rhetor Libanius (Address to Theodosius, Pro Templis, 6 and 37), Constantine I "did not bring any change to the traditional [=pagan] worship... one could notice that [during the reign of Constantine] all rituals were performed properly" and "he [Constantine] did not prohibit [pagan] sacrifices". According to Zosimus (book 2 of his "History"), Constantine erected two pagan temples in his capital, Constantinople. 361-363 Emperor Julian, the last pagan Emperor, proclaims restoration of Hellenic worship. 389-391 Theodosian decrees, Christianity becomes official state religion of the Roman Empire. 415 Mob-killing of Hypatia. 440 to 450 All Hellenic monuments, altars and Temples of Athens, Olympia, and other Greek cities are destroyed. As German historian Gregorovius, in his "History of Athens" says, the pagan monuments of Athens and Greece were the best preserved among other monuments in the late Roman Empire. 529 Emperor Justinian closes the Academy of Athens. Some of the remaining Academy members--"whose occupation was gone" according to J.B. Bury[105]--flee to Ctesiphon, the capital of the Sassanid emperor Khosrau I. Modern historians such as Blumental[106] and A. Cameron[107] claim that the Academy continued to exist for almost 50–60 years after 529. 651 Harran conquered by the Arabs. Sabians, to some degree descendants of Hellenic tradition, are considered monotheists and as such are permitted to survive. The Nabatean Agriculture was said by Maimonides to have been an accurate record of the beliefs of the Sabians in the Harranian area.

804 Hellenes of Laconia, Greece, resist the attempt of Tarasius, Patriarch of Constantinople, to convert them to Christianity.[108] [edit] See alsoHellenistic religion Roman imperial cult Mithraism Hellenistic Judaism Christianity and paganism Neoplatonism and Christianity Pseudo-Dionysius Damascius Early Christianity Constantinian shift Late Antiquity Christianization Historical persecution by Christians [edit] References^ a b c d e f "A History of the Church", Philip Hughes, Sheed & Ward, rev ed 1949, vol I chapter 6.[1] ^ Halsberghe, Gaston H. (1972). The Cult of Sol Invictus. Leiden: Brill. pp. p36. ^ Cassius Dio, Roman History LXXX.11 ^ a b Herodian, Roman History V.6 ^ Cassius Dio, Roman History LXXX.9 ^ Plutarch, Parallel Lives, Life of Numa Pompilius, 10 ^ Augustan History, Life of Elagabalus 3 ^ the sun's declination remains the same (to two decimal places) from december 21st to december 24th, inclusive ^ "The Greek Septuagint translated into English", psalm 95:5, translated by Sir Lancelot Charles Lee Brenton, 1851. Jerome would follow the Greek text rather than the Hebrew when he translated the Latin Vulgate edition of the bible. The "devils" epithet would still appear in bibles up until the end of the 20th century when the consensus reverted back to the original Hebrew text for modern translations

^ "Devil Worship", Catholic Encyclopedia, 1908 Edition. [2] The modern Church takes a much less belligerent stance to non-Abrahamic faiths. see Dignitatis Humanae and Nostra Aetate ^ a b "Julian the Apostate and His Plan to Rebuild the Jerusalem Temple", Jeffrey Brodd, Biblical Archaeology Society, Bible Review, Oct 1995. ^ "The Memorial of Symmachus" ^ "Letter of Ambrose to the Emperor Valentinian", The Letters of Ambrose Bishop of Milan, 384AD, retrieved 5th May 2007.[3] ^ "Constantine The Great", Catholic Encyclopedia, 1908 ^ "The Codex Theodosianus On Religion", XVI.v.1, 4 CE ^ "he razed to their foundations those of them which had been the chief objects of superstitious reverence" http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf201.txt Book III Chapter 1 ^ Life of St. Martin ^ [4] ^ Zosimus 2.29.1-2.29.4, Theodosian Code 16.10.1. Laws against the private practice of divination by Roman citizens had been enacted ever since the time of the emperor Tiberius. It was his fear that Roman citizens would fall outside of the official public Roman religion, accept foreign cults in their private family practices, and in turn corrupt the general Roman state. ^ Theodosian Code 16.10.1 ^ Theodosian Code 9.16.1-9.16.3. ^ Theodosian Code 12.1.21, 12.5.2 ^ "Libanius Oration" 30.7, For the Temples ^ "The Codex Theodosianus On Religion", XVI.x.4, 4 CE ^ "Flavius Julius Constantius", Catholic Encyclopedia, 1914 ^ Ammianus (Res Gestae 9.10, 19.12) describes Pagan sacrifices and worship taking place openly in

Alexandria and Rome. The Roman Calendar of 354 cites many Pagan festivals as though they were still being openly observed. Clearly, what occurred was the cessation of public expenditures for Pagan Roman public religion. See also the descriptions of Pagan worship in the following works: Firmicius Maternus, De Errore Profanorum Religionum; Vetus Orbis Descriptio Graeci Scriptoris sub Constantio. ^ Theodosian Code 16.10.3 ^ Theodosian Code 16.10.4 ^ Theodosian Code 9.17.2 ^ Theodosian Code 16.10.5 ^ Theodosian Code 16.10.6 ^ Symmachus Epistle 10 ^ Theodosian Code 12.1.46 ^ Sheridan, J.J., “The Altar of Victor – Paganism’s Last Battle.” L’Antiquite Classique 35 (1966): 186-187. ^ Theodosian Code 9.16.4, 9.16.5, 9.16.6 ^ Ammianus Marcellinus Res Gestae 22.4.3; Sozomen Ecclesiastical History 3.18. ^ a b "FLAVIUS CLAUDIUS JULIANUS", Karl Hoeber, Catholic Encyclopedia 1910, retrieved 13 May 2007.[5] ^ Ammianus Res Gestae 22.12 ^ a b Sozomen Ecclesiastical History 5.5 ^ Ammianus Res Gestae 25.4.20 ^ Ammianus Res Gestae 25.4 ^ Themistius Oration 5; Photius, Epitome of the Ecclesiastical History of Philostorgius, 8.5 ^ Ammianus Res Gestae 20.9; Themistius Oration 12. ^ a b Theodosian Code 9.16.9 ^ Zosimus 4.3 ^ Theodosian Code 17.1.60, 17.1.75, 16.1.1 ^ Theodosian Code 9.16.7, 9.16.8, 9.16.10, 9.38.3, 9.38.4 ^ "Gratian", Catholic Encyclopedia, 1909 ^ "Letter of Gratian to Ambrose", The Letters of Ambrose Bishop of Milan, 379AD.[6] ^ Theodosian Code 2.8.18-2.8.25, 16.7.1-16.7.5

^ Zosimus (4.35) indicated that change occurred in Gratian’s character when he fell under the influence of evil courtiers. ^ Ambrose Epistles 17-18; Symmachus Relationes 1-3. ^ Sheridan, J.J., “The Altar of Victor – Paganism’s Last Battle.” L’Antiquite Classique 35 (1966): 187. ^ Theodosian Code 16.10.20; Symmachus Relationes 1-3; Ambrose Epistles 17-18. ^ For example, in the year 384 Quintus Aurelius Symmachus was Urban Prefect and Vettius Agorius Praetextatus held the post of Praefectus Praetorio Italiae Illyrici et Africae Iterum. These men were distinguished Pagans. ^ Theodosian Code 12.1.112 ^ Theodosian Code 12.1.112. Theodosius dealt harshly with Arians, heretics and Christian apostates. A number of harsh laws were directed against apostates, indicated that many Christians may have been converting back to Paganism at this time, q.v. Theodosian Code (16.7.1, 1.7.2, 16.7.2, 16.7.3, 16.7.4, 16.7.5). Theodosius also legislated against private divination, q.v. Theodosian Code 16.10.7, 16.10.9, 9.16.11, 9.38.7, 9.38.8; Constitutiones Sirmondianae 8. ^ Zosimus 4.45 ^ Ambrose was opposed to this reconstruction and paints a picture of all the dire consequences that he felt would result from this edict, q.v. Ambrose Epistles 40, 41.27. ^ Ambrose Epistles 17, 18, 57. ^ Theodosian Code 16.10.10 ^ Theodosian Code 16.10.11 ^ "Valentian II", Encyclopedia Britannica, Ultimate DVD edition, 2003. ^ "St. Ambrose of Milan, Letters (1881). pp. 324-354. Letters 51-60., Letter 57: To the emperor Eugenius, retrieved 5th May 2007.[7] ^ For example, Theodosius ordered Cynegius (Zosimus 4.37), the praetorian prefect of the East, to permanently close down the temples and forbade the

worship of the deities throughout Egypt and the East. Most of the destruction was perpetrated by Christian monks and bishops, q.v. Grindle, Gilbert. The Destruction of Paganism in the Roman Empire. (1892): 29-30. ^ Theodosian Code 16.10.12 ^ Zosimus 4.53-4.55, 4.58. ^ Zosimus 4.59 ^ Symmachus Relatio 3. ^ Eunapius reflects some of the Pagan attitudes of this period in his writings. His attitude, however, represents the most fanatical element of the Pagan reaction. ^ Theodosian Code 16.5.41, 16.5.42, 16.5.51, 16,10.15, 16.10.17, 16.10.19 ^ Theodosian Code 2.8.22 ^ Theodosian Code 16.10.13 ^ Theodosian Code 16.10.14 ^ Theodosian Code 16.10.16, 15.1.36 ^ Theodosian Code 15.6.1, 15.6.2 ^ Theodosian Code 16.10.15 ^ Theodosian Code 16.10.17 ^ Theodosian Code 16.10.18 ^ Theodosian Code 16.10.19 ^ Theodosian Code 16.5.43; Constitutiones Sirmondianae 12. ^ Theodosian Code 16.5.42 ^ Zosimus 5.46; Theodosian Code 16.5.42. ^ Theodosian Code 16.5.46 ^ Theodosian Code 16.5.51 ^ Theodosian Code 16.10.20 ^ Theodosian Code 16.10.21 ^ Theodosian Code 16.10.22, 16.10.23, 16.8.26. ^ A law in the Theodosian Code (16.2.47) refers to a tyrant who issued edicts in opposition to the church. This tyrant (i.e. usurper) is most likely to be identified with John the Primicerius. ^ This law (Theodosian Code 16.10.24) is interesting because it officially recognizes the

fact they were many people who only pretended to be Christian. ^ Theodosian Code 16.5.63 ^ Constitutiones Sirmondianae 6 ^ Theodosian Code 16.7.1, 16.7.2, 16.7.3, 16.7.4, 16.7.5, 16.7.6; Justinian Code 1.7.2. ^ Theodosian Code 16.7.7 ^ Theodosian Code 16.10.25. Theodosius II married Eudocia, the daughter of a Pagan sophist named Leontius, who herself patronized various Pagans including Cyrus of Panopolis and the poet Nonnus. ^ a b Corpus Legum Novellarum Theodosii 2.3 ^ Justinian Code 1.11.7 ^ Justinian Code 1.11.8 ^ These laws (Justinian Code 1.11.9, 1.11.10) do not give any date nor do they mention the emperors who promulgated them. ^ Sidonius Epistle 1.11.6 ^ a b Photius Bibliotheca cod. 242 ^ Marcellinus Chronicle s.a. 468 ^ Theophanes Chronographia s.a. A.M. 5976-5980; John Malalas Chronicle 15.12-15.14. ^ There continued to be a sufficient number of Pagans during the reign of Justinian for a law to be published, in 527 (Justinian Code 1.5.12), which barred Pagans from office and confiscated their property. ^ "Chapter XXII, ECCLESIASTICAL POLICY, § 3. The Suppression of Paganism". University of Chicago. http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/BURLAT/22*.html#3. ^ “529 and its Sequell: What happened to the Academy?” Revue Internationale des Etudes Byzantines t. XLVIII [1978], Bruxelles 1979, 370-385 ^ “The Last Days of the Academy of Athens”, Proceedings of the Cambridge Philological Society 195 [1969], 8, 25 ^ Greenhalgh and Eliopoulos, Deep into Mani: Journey into the Southern Tip of Greece", 22

Ramsay MacMullen, Christianizing the Roman Empire: AD 100-400 (1989) ——, Christianity and Paganism in the Fourth to Eighth Centuries (1997) ISBN 0-3000-8077-8 Athanassiadi, P., "Persecution and Response in Late Paganism: the Evidence of Damascius", Journal of Hellenic Studies 113 (1993), 1-29. K. W. Harl, Sacrifice and Pagan Belief in Fifth- and Sixth-Century Byzantium, Past and Present (1990). [hide]v · d · eRoman mythology and religion Deities Apollo · Bona Dea · Castor and Pollux · Ceres · Cupid · Diana · Dis Pater · Faunus · Genius · Hercules · Janus · Juno · Jupiter · Lares · Liber · Mars · Mercury · Minerva · Orcus · Neptune · Penates · Pluto · Priapus · Proserpina · Quirinus · Saturn · Silvanus · Sol · Venus · Vesta · VulcanSee also List of Roman deities Abstract deities Concordia · Fides · Fortuna · Pietas · Spes · Roma · Terra Legendary founders Aeneas · Romulus and Remus · Numa Pompilius · Servius Tullius · Ancus Marcius Texts Vergil, Aeneid · Ovid, Metamorphoses and Fasti · Propertius, Elegies Book 4 · Apuleius, Metamorphoses (The Golden Ass) Concepts and practices Religion in ancient Rome · Festivals · interpretatio graeca · Imperial cult · Temples See also Glossary of ancient Roman religion · Greek mythology · myth and ritual

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decline_of_Greco-Roman_polytheism"Categories: Hellenistic philosophy and religion | Ancient Roman religion | Religious persecution | Ancient Greek religion | Paganism and Christianity | Greco-Roman worldXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXPersecution of African Religionshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecution_of_African_Religions

African traditional religionFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (Redirected from Persecution of African Religions)Jump to: navigation, search Main article: Religion in Africa An early 20th century Igbo 'medicine man' in present day Nigeria, West Africa.African traditional religions is a term referring to a variety of religions indigenous to the continent of Africa.

Contents [hide]1 Religious traditions of Africa 1.1 Afro-Asiatic (Afrasan) religious tradition 1.1.1 General description 1.1.2 Egyptian religion 1.1.3 Cushitic religion 1.1.4 Omotic religion 1.2 Nilo-Saharan religious traditions I - Koman religious tradition 1.2.1 General description 1.2.2 Uduk religion 1.2.3 Koman religion among the Central Luo

1.3 Nilo-Saharan religious traditions II - Sudanic religious tradition 1.3.1 General description 1.3.2 Maasai religion 1.3.3 Meroitic religion 1.4 Niger-Congo religious tradition 1.4.1 General description 1.4.2 Akan religion 1.4.3 Odinani 1.4.4 Niger-Congo ceremonies 1.5 Khoisan religious tradition 1.5.1 General description 1.6 Typological classification 2 Classification and statistics 3 Deities 4 Practices and rituals 4.1 Divination 5 Duality of self and gods 6 Virtue and vice 7 Religious offices 7.1 Priest 7.2 Healer 7.3 Rainmaker 8 Holy places and headquarters of religious activities 9 Liturgy and rituals 9.1 Individuality 9.2 Patronage 9.3 Libation 9.4 Magic, witchcraft, and sorcery 9.5 Secret societies 9.6 Possession 10 Mythology 11 Religious persecution 12 Traditions by region 13 Notes 14 References 15 External links 16 Further reading

[edit] Religious traditions of AfricaMost traditional African religions have, for most of their existence, been orally/spiritually (rather than scripturally) transmitted or practiced.[1] Thus, linguistic experts such as Christopher Ehret[2] and Placide Tempels have applied their knowledge of languages towards reconstructing the original core beliefs of the followers of these traditions. The four linguistic phylums spoken in Africa are: Afro-Asiatic, Nilo-Saharan, Niger-Congo, and Khoi-San.[2]

[edit] Afro-Asiatic (Afrasan) religious tradition[edit] General descriptionAccording to linguist Christopher Ehret, traditional religion among Afro-Asiatic-speaking peoples was originally henotheistic in nature.[3] In this sense, each clan gave allegiance to the community's own god while still accepting that other gods exist.[3] Each Afrasan clan community was headed by a hereditary ritual leader.[4] With regard to major groupings of the Erythraite peoples and the Cushites, Ehret refers to this ritual priest as the '*wap'er'. The '*wap'er' carried out the traditional spiritual rites for each group, but was by no means a political chief or accorded significant political authority.[4] Rather, the role of the clan *wap'er was to preside over the community rituals directed toward that deity and to act for the community as the intercessor and interpreter of the deity.[4] Ehret states that in the founding Afro-Asiatic spiritual tradition, evil was seen as being caused by petty or demonic 'spirits' that dwelled among humans.[3]

[edit] Egyptian religionAncient Egyptian religion developed as a branch of the Afro-Asiatic religious tradition with some influences from the Sudanic religion. The ancestors

of the Egyptians, who came from the direction of the beginning of the Nile in Kenya[citation needed] well before 10.000 BC and spoke an Afro-Asiatic language directly ancestral to ancient Egyptian brought with them the belief in Clan deities. When the clan territories were later merged into Egypt, these clan deities were merged into a pantheon of a new polytheistic religion. A contribution came from the Sudanic inhabitants of what became the sothernmost province of Egypt, [Ta-Seti]. The concept of a sacral King and the sending of servants into the grave alongside the King, a custom only stopped during the 3rd dynasty, are of Sudanic origin (see below section on Sudanic religion).[5] The Sun god as creation god and the divine law [Maat] connected to the sun god and justifying the rule of the King also show Sudanic influence.

[edit] Cushitic religionAccording to Ehret, the religious beliefs of the proto-Cushites were a mixture of two distinct religious traditions. Probably as early as the seventh millennium BCE, the Cushites in parts of eastern Africa blended their traditional Afro-Asiatic religion with aspects of the religious tradition of their Sudanic neighbours. Specifically, they exchanged their belief in a clan deity with the Sudanic concept of "Divinity", expanding the use of the old Cushitic root for "sky" (waak'a) to also extend to "Divinity". However, they retained their older institution of a clan priest-chief (or *wap'er), with the *wap'er's religious duties now re-directed toward Divinity. The Cushites also retained the old Afrasan practice of ascribing unfortunate occurrences to maleficent spirits, but also sometimes viewed evil as Divine retribution.[6]

[edit] Omotic religion

Among the Omotic peoples of southwestern Ethiopia (whom Ehret and many other linguists consider to be Afrasan-speaking) Afrasan henotheism has been preserved relatively unchanged.[3]

[edit] Nilo-Saharan religious traditions I - Koman religious tradition[edit] General descriptionEhret characterizes Nilo-Saharan proto-religion as follows:

The early Nilo-Saharan communities, it is thought, held to a nontheistic belief system, similar to that known among a few modern-day Nilo-Saharan peoples, such as the Uduk, whose languages belong to the Koman branch of that family. In this religion spiritual power and spiritual danger do not reside in a deity but are expressed by an animating force. In the modern Uduk language, this force is called 'arum'. It is a force, concentrating in their livers, that makes us and animals alive; it is also the source of our anger, our fears, and our affections. Human beings restrain the 'arum' within themselves through their receptive consciousness, called by the Uduk 'kashira', which is understood to reside in the stomachs. In the modern-day Uduk version of this belief system, there also exists disembodied 'arum.' the residue of lives, animal and human, that have been lived in the past. The 'arum' of people properly buried is reconstituted safely in communities underground. But there are also wandering 'arum', the residuum of people lost in the wild and never properly buried, and of animals killed by hunters. This animating force in its disembodied aspect, when not dealt with through ritual and religious observances, can be the source of danger and harm to people. Its effects, in other words, explain the problem of evil.[7]

[edit] Uduk religionA contemporary example of a religion belonging to the Koman tradition is the religion of the Uduk.

[edit] Koman religion among the Central LuoIn his book "African Religions and Western Scholarship", Okot P'Bitek describes the belief system of the central Luo,[8] extensively cited by Wiredu.[9] Although the Luo belong to the Sudanic peoples who generally belong to the monotheistic Sudanic religion (see below), the belief system described here is nontheistic and seems to belong to the Koman tradition.

Ehret states in [10] That the ancestors of the Luo, a people called the Jii, migrated into an area previously inhabited by Koman speaking peoples from the late second millennium BCE and gradually assimilated the earlier Koman population. This can be concluded from the linguistic evidence like the presence of many words of Koman origin in the Luo language. Obviously, the Koman people who where assimilated into the Jii society retained their older religion and did not adopt the Sudanic religion of the Jii.

[edit] Nilo-Saharan religious traditions II - Sudanic religious tradition[edit] General descriptionAccording to Ehret, there was a marked change in the religion of one part of Nilo-Saharan peoples to what he calls the Sudanic Religion.

The Northern Sudanians developed religious ideas strikingly different from the nontheistic beliefs we attributed (in chapter 2) to their ancestors in the earlier Middle Nile Tradition. Their Sudanic religion, as we will term it here, was monotheistic. At the core of the belief system was a single Divinity, or God. Divinity was identified

metaphorically with the sky, and the power of Divinity was often symolized by lightning. There was no other category of spirits or deities. (...) The sudanic belief viewd evil as a Divine judgment or retribution for the wrong that a person, or a person's forebears, had done in life. The ancestors passed after death into some kind of vaguely conceived afterlife, but they had no functional role in religious observances or rituals.[11]

In part of the Sudanic peoples, a tradition of sacral kingship or chiefship developed in which the position of the king was justified by a divine law given by Divinity. This aspect of the Sudanic religion entailed the sending of servants into the afterlife along with the deceased chief. This aspect of Sudanic civilization had a strong influence on Egypt. The roots of the later Egyptian "divine" kingship lay in this Sudanic innovation.[12]

According to Ehret, the Sudanic religion also began having a strong influence on the original Afrasan religion of the Cushites after the seventh millennium BCE.[6]

[edit] Maasai religionA contemporary example for a variety of the Sudanic religious tradition is the monotheistic religion of the Maasai.

[edit] Meroitic religionThe religion of ancient Meroe is a variety of the Sudanic religion with some Egyptian influence.[13]

[edit] Niger-Congo religious tradition[edit] General descriptionEhret's analysis of the original Niger-Congo spiritual tradition indicates that it centered around 'spirit' as manifested in various aspects of

nature, deities and/or ancestors.[14] This is evident in the following quote:

Niger-Congo religion recognized a series of levels of spirit. At the apex of the system, but of little direct consequence in everyday religion, there was God as a distant figure, who was the First Cause or Creator...A second kind of spirit dwelled within a particular territory and was believed able to influence events there...But the really crucial spirits for religious observance and ritual belonged to a third category. These were the ancestors.[14]

The oldest term for the Niger-Congo creation god that can be reconstructed is "*Nyambe" (cognate with the Akan word Nyame). This can be derived from a verbal root "*-amb-" meaning to begin.[15][16]

Evil in this tradition, Ehret states, originated with "witchcraft" executed upon targeted people by other individuals.[17] Tempels supports Ehret's analysis in his assertions (which are also based upon linguistic analysis) that the unifying ideological characteristic of the Bantu language subgroup of Niger-Congo, is the concept of 'force'. This 'force', he asserts, is identical to 'spirit,' 'being,' and/or 'existence' such that it comprises all human-perceived reality.

An intra-cultural analyzis of the Akan version of the Niger-Congo religion can be found in.[18] Wiredu's analyzis shows that the Niger-Congo religion is monotheistic, a view supported by Ehret.[19] Both the ancestral spirits and the local spirits are part of the created world and do not have the status of gods.

The concept of 'force' or 'spirit' is also iterated by Karade [20] and Doumbia and Doumbia [21] in

reference to the Sudanic (i.e. areas west of Cameroon and south of the Sahara) Niger-Congo peoples. Karade holds that, in the Yoruba tradition of Nigeria, 'force' is called 'ashe'. He asserts that the task of a Yoruba practitioner is to contemplate and/or ceremonially embody the various deities and/or ancestral energies in ways analogous to how chakras are contemplated in kundalini yoga.[22] In other words, the deities represent energies, attitudes, or potential ways to approach life. The goal is to elevate awareness while either in or contemplating any of these states of mind such that one can transmute negative or wasteful aspects of their energy into conduct and mindsets that serve as wholesome, virtuous examples for oneself and the greater community. Doumbia and Doumbia [21] echo this sentiment for the Mande tradition of Senegal, Mali, and many other regions of westernmost Africa.[23] Here however, the 'force' concept is represented by the term 'nyama' rather than 'ashe'.[21]

Divination also tends to play a major role in the process of transmuting negative or confused feelings/thoughts into more ordered and productive ones.[24][25] Specifically, this process serves as a way to provide frames of reference such that those who are uncertain as to how to begin an undertaking and/or solve a problem can get their bearings and open a dialectic with their highest selves concerning their options on their paths.

[edit] Akan religionThe Akan people of Ghana and Ivory Coast believe in a supreme god who takes on various names depending upon the region of worship. Akan mythology claims that at one time the god interacted with man, but that after being continually struck by the pestle of an old woman pounding fufu,a traditional Ghanaian food, he moved far up into the sky. There

are no priests that serve him directly, and people believe that they may make direct contact with him. There are also numerous spirits(abosom), who receive their power from the supreme god and are most often connected to the world as it appears in its natural state. These include ocean and riverine spirits and various local deities. Priests serve individual spirits and act as mediators between the gods and mankind. Nearly everyone participates in daily prayer, which includes the pouring of libations as an offering to both the ancestors who are buried in the land and to the spirits who are everywhere. The earth is seen as a female deity and is directly connected to fertility and fecundity. The religion of the Akan, as described by Wiredu, is an example for a contemporary manifestation of the Niger-Congo religion.

[edit] OdinaniMain article: OdinaniOdinani encompasses the traditional religious and spiritual concepts and practices of the Igbo. It is a panentheistic faith. In Odinani, there is one supreme God called Chukwu (Igbo: Great spirit) who was before all things and heads over smaller deities called Alusi. There are different Alusi for different purposes, the most important of them is Ala the earth goddess. A traditional herbalist/priest among the Igbo is called Dibia.[26]

[edit] Niger-Congo ceremoniesNiger-Congo religious practices generally manifest themselves in communal ceremonies and/or divinatory rites in which members of the community, overcome by 'force' (or 'ashe', 'nyama', etc.), are excited to the point of going into meditative trance in response to rhythmic/mantric drumming and/or singing. In this state, depending upon the types of drumming or instrumental rhythms played by

respected musicians (each of which is unique to a given deity/ancestor), participants embody a deity/ancestor, energy and/or state of mind by performing distinct ritual movements/dances that further enhance their elevated consciousness, or, in Eastern terms, excite the kundalini to a specific level of awareness and/or circulate chi in a specific way within the body.[22] When this trance-like state is witnessed and understood, culturally educated observers are privy to a way of contemplating the pure/symbolic embodiment of a particular mindset or frame of reference. This builds skills at separating the feelings elicited by this mindset from their situational manifestations in daily life. Such separation and subsequent contemplation of the nature and sources of pure energy/feelings serves to help participants manage and accept them when they arise in mundane contexts. This facilitates better control and transformation of these energies into positive, culturally appropriate behavior, thought, and speech. Further, this practice can also give rise to those in these trances uttering words that, when interpreted by a culturally educated initiate/diviner, can provide insight into appropriate directions that the community (or individual) might take in accomplishing its goals.

[edit] Khoisan religious tradition[edit] General descriptionIn reference to Khoisan spirituality, Ehret asserts that:

The Khoisan, like the earliest Nilo-Saharans, adhered to a nontheistic religious outlook. Their beliefs recognized the existence of an impersonal condition of spirit, a force that existed outside human beings as well as in some animals. In the thought of the particular Khoisan peoples who have lived in southern Africa since 5,000 BCE, this

force could be tapped by means of the trance-dance and used to heal sickness and to relieve social and individual stress and conflict. In this procedure, a person recognized for special religious talents, a kind of shaman whom we may call a trance-healer, dances until he or she goes into a state of trance, which might last for many hours. The trance healers were not full-time specialists... If no trance dance was being performed, and that means the great majority of the time, the healer held no special position and engaged in the usual pursuits like anyone else.[27]

[edit] Typological classificationOf the five religious traditions of Africa, two (Koman and Khoisan) are nontheistic.

One of the traditions (Afrasan) is henotheistic, which means that people worship only one (clan) deity although they don't deny the existence of other deities belonging to other clans.

Two of the religious traditions (Sudanic and Niger-Congo) are monotheistic. The sudanic religion spread to the Cushites and was there mixed with concepts from the Afrasan religion, leading to another monotheistic religion.[citation needed] . A Sudanic (especially Nubian) influence on Akhenaten is possible but speculative.[28]

Polytheism has developed twice independently and in very different ways. In the case of ancient Egypt, it developed by merging the henotheistic clan gods of several Afrasan clans, together with the Sudanic creator god, into a pantheon.

The term "Animism" originally developed to describe African religions and still used a lot in official statistics and by journalists, does not fit any of them.[citation needed]

[edit] Classification and statisticsAdherents.com (as of 2007) lists "African Traditional & Diasporic" as a "major religious group", estimating some 100 million adherents. They justify this combined listing of traditional African and African diasporic religions, and the separation from the generic "primal-indigenous" category by pointing out that

the "primal-indigenous" religions are primarily tribal and composed of pre-colonization peoples. While there is certainly overlap between this category and non-African primal-indigenous religious adherents, there are reasons for separating the two, best illustrated by focusing specifically on Yoruba, which is probably the largest African traditional religious/tribal complex. Yoruba was the religion of the vast Yoruba nation states which existed before European colonialism and its practitioners today; certainly those in the Caribbean, South America and the U.S.; are integrated into a technological, industrial society, yet still proclaim affiliation to this African-based religious system. Cohesive rituals, beliefs and organization were spread throughout the world of Yoruba (and other major African religious/tribal groups such as Fon), to an extent characteristic of nations and many organized religions, not simply tribes. (Major Religions Ranked by Size)

Practitioners of traditional religions in sub-Saharan Africa are distributed among 43 countries, and are estimated to number about 70 million, or 12% of African population, while the largest religions in Africa are Christianity and Islam, accounting for 45% and 40%, respectively. As everywhere, adherence to an organized religion does not preclude a residue of folk religion in which

traditions predating Christianization or Islamisation survive.

[edit] DeitiesMain article: African deitiesFollowers of traditional African religions pray to various secondary deities (Ogoun, Da, Agwu, Esu, Mbari, etc.) as well as to their ancestors. These secondary gods serve as intermediaries between humans and the God creator. Most indigenous African societies believe in a single God creator (Chukwu, Nyame, Olodumare, Ngai etc.). Some recognize a dual or complementary twin God such as Mawu-Lisa. For example, in one of the Yoruba creation myth, Olodumare, the supreme God, is said to have created Obatala, a secondary deity, who then created humans on earth. Olodumare then infused those human creations with life. Some societies also deify entities like the earth, the sun, the sea, lightning, or Nature. Each deity has its own priest or priestess.[citation needed]

[edit] Practices and rituals This section may contain original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding references. Statements consisting only of original research may be removed. More details may be available on the talk page. (March 2008)

Usually, all African traditional religions are considered to be similar by Western people, and are often described as not unlike traditional (pre-Vedic, Vedic, and pre-Abrahamic) religions in most cultures (e.g., Indian, Greek, etc.). Often, God is worshiped through consultation or communion with lesser deities and ancestral spirits. The deities and spirits are honored through libation, sacrifice (of animals, vegetables, or precious metals) and, in some cases, trokosi. The will of God is sought

by the believer also through consultation of oracular deities, or divination. In many African traditional religions, there is a belief in a cyclical nature of reality. The living stand between their ancestors and the unborn. Like various other traditional religions, African traditional religions embrace natural phenomena - ebb and tide, waxing and waning moon, rain and drought - and the rhythmic pattern of agriculture. These religions are also not static, not even within their consciousness of natural rhythms. They incorporate the ever-changing actual experience. For example, Sango, the Yoruba god of lightning, assumes responsibility for modern electrical processes. However, in truth, the commonalities of African religions are as follows:

Belief in a Supreme Being, or Creator, which is referred to by a myriad of names in various languages No written scripture (holy texts are oral) Correspondence with the higher being in times of great need (i.e. natural calamities, unexplained deaths) Having a devout connection with their ancestors [edit] DivinationFurther information: DivinationOne of the most traditional methods of telling fortunes in Africa is called casting (or throwing) the bones. Because Africa is a large continent with many tribes and cultures, there is not one single technique. Not all of the "bones" are actually bones, small objects may include cowrie shells, stones, strips of leather, or flat pieces of wood. In general, most casting or throwing methods are performed on the ground (often within a circle) and they fall into one of two categories:

Casting marked bones, flat pieces of wood, shells, or leather strips and numerically counting up how

they fall—either according to their markings or whether they do or do not touch one another—with mathematically-based readings delivered as memorized results based on the chosen criteria. Casting a special set of symbolic bones or an array of selected symbolic articles—as, for instance, using a bird's wing bone to symbolize travel, a round stone to symbolize a pregnant womb, and a bird foot to symbolize feeling. In African society, many people seek out diviners on a regular basis. There are no prohibitions against the practice. Those who tell fortunes for a living are also sought out for their wisdom as counselors and for their knowledge of herbal medicine.

[edit] Duality of self and godsMost indigenous African religions have a dualistic concept of the person. In the Igbo language, a person is said to be composed of a body and a soul. In the Yoruba language, however, there seems to be a tripartite concept: in addition to body and soul, there is said to exist a "spirit" or an ori, an independent entity that mediates or otherwise interacts between the body and the soul.

Some religious systems have a specific devil-like figure (for example, Ekwensu) who is believed to be the opposite of god.

[edit] Virtue and viceVirtue in African traditional religion is often connected with the communal aspect of life. Examples include social behaviors such as the respect for parents and elders, appropriately raising children, providing hospitality, and being honest, trustworthy and courageous.

In some ATRs, morality is associated with obedience or disobedience to God regarding the way a person

or a community lives. For the Kikuyu, according to Mbiti, God, acting through the lesser deities, is believed to speak to and be capable of guiding the virtuous person as one's "conscience." But so could the Devil and the messengers. In indigenous African religions, such as the Azande religion, a person is said to have a good or bad conscience depending on whether he does the bidding of the God or the Devil.

[edit] Religious officesAfrican indigenous religions, like most indigenous religions, do not have a named and known founder, nor a sacred scripture. Often, such religions are oral traditions.

[edit] PriestIn some societies, there are intermediaries between individuals or whole communities and specific deities. Variously called Dibia, Babalawo, etc., the priest usually presides at the altar of a particular deity.

[edit] HealerPractice of medicine is an important part of indigenous religion. Priests are reputed to have professional knowledge of illness (pathology), surgery, and pharmacology (roots, barks, leaves and herbs). Some of them are also reputed to diagnose and treat mental and psychological problems.

The role of a traditional healer is broader in some respects than that of a contemporary medical doctor. The healer advises in all aspects of life, including physical, psychological, spiritual, moral, and legal matters. He also understands the significance of ancestral spirits and the reality of witches.

[edit] Rainmaker

They are believed to be capable of bringing about or stopping rain, by manipulating the environment meteorologically (e.g., by burning particular kinds of woods or otherwise attempting to influence movement of clouds).

[edit] Holy places and headquarters of religious activitiesWhile there are human made places (altars, shrines, temples, tombs), very often sacred space is located in nature (trees, groves, rocks, hills, mountains, caves, etc.).

These are some of the important centers of religious life: Nri-Igbo, Ile-Ife, Oyo, Dahomey, Benin City, Ouidah, Nsukka, Akan, Kanem-Bornu, Mali, and Igbo-Ukwu.

[edit] Liturgy and ritualsRituals often occur according to the life cycle of the year. There are herding and hunting rituals as well as those marking the rhythm of agriculture and of human life. There are craft rituals, such as in smithing. There are rituals on building new homes, on the assumption of leadership, etc.

[edit] IndividualityEach deity has an its own rituals, including choice objects of sacrifice; preference for male or female priest-officer; time of day, week, month, or year to make required sacrifice; or specific costumes for priest and supplicant on ritual occasions.

[edit] PatronageSome deities are perpetual patrons of specific trades and guilds. For example, in Haitian Vodou, Ogoun (Ogun among the Yorubas of Nigeria), the deity of metal, is patron of all professions that use metals as primary material of craft.

[edit] LibationThe living often honor ancestors by pouring a libation (paying homage), and thus giving them the first "taste" of a drink before the living consume it.

[edit] Magic, witchcraft, and sorceryThese are important, different but related, parts of beliefs about interactions between the natural and the supernatural, seen and unseen, worlds. Magicians, witches, shamans and sorcerers are said to have the skills to bring about or manipulate the relations between the two worlds. Abuse of this ability is widely condemned. Magic, witchcraft, and sorcery are parts of many indigenous religions.

[edit] Secret societiesThey are important part of indigenous religion. Among traditional secret societies are hunting societies whose members are taught not only the physical methods, but also respect for the spiritual aspect of the hunt and use of honorable magical means to obtain important co-operation from the animal hunted.

Members are supposed to have been initiated into, and thus have access to, occultic powers hidden to non-members. Well known secret societies are Egbo, Nsibidi, Ngbe, Mau Mau, Ogboni, Sangbeto, etc.

[edit] PossessionSome spirits and deities are believed to "mount" some of their priests during special rituals. The possessed goes into a trance-like state, sometimes accompanied by speaking in "tongues" (i.e., uttering messages from the spirit that need to be interpreted to the audience). Possession is usually induced by drumming and dancing.

[edit] Mythology

Many indigenous religions, like most religions, have elaborate stories that explain how the world was created, how culture and civilization came about, or what happens when a person dies, (e.g. Kalunga Line). Other mythologies are meant to explain or enforce social conventions on issues relating to age, gender, class, or religious rituals. Myths are popular methods of education: they communicate religious knowledge and morality while amusing or frightening those who hear or read them. Examples of religions with elaborate mythologies include the native religion of the Yoruba people, see Yoruba mythology.

[edit] Religious persecutionAdherents of African traditional religions had been persecuted, e.g. practitioners of the Bwiti religion by Christian missionaries and French colonial authorities, as well as some members of the present Gabon government.[29]

[edit] Traditions by regionNorth Africa Berber mythology Egyptian mythology (Pre-Christian) West Africa Akan mythology (Ghana) Ashanti mythology (Ghana) Dahomey (Fon) mythology Efik mythology (Nigeria, Cameroon) Odinani of the Igbo people (Nigeria, Cameroon) Isoko mythology (Nigeria) Yoruba mythology (Nigeria, Benin) Central Africa Bushongo mythology (Congo) Bambuti (Pygmy) mythology (Congo) Lugbara mythology (Congo) East Africa Akamba mythology (East Kenya) Dinka mythology (Sudan)

Lotuko mythology (Sudan) Masai mythology (Kenya,Tanzania) Southern Africa Khoikhoi mythology Lozi mythology (Zambia) Tumbuka mythology (Malawi) Zulu mythology (South Africa) [edit] Notes^ Princetonline, Early History of Africa http://www.princetonol.com/groups/iad/lessons/middle/history1.htm ^ a b Ehret, C. The Civilizations of Africa: a History to 1800, University Press of Virginia. 2002. ^ a b c d Ehret, C. The Civilizations of Africa: a History to 1800, page 41. University Press of Virginia. 2002. ^ a b c Ehret, C. The Civilizations of Africa: a History to 1800, page 40. University Press of Virginia. 2002. ^ Ehret, C. The Civilizations of Africa: a History to 1800, page 92-94. University Press of Virginia. 2002. ^ a b Ehret, C. The Civilizations of Africa: a History to 1800, page 79. University Press of Virginia. 2002. ^ Ehret, C. The Civilizations of Africa: a History to 1800, page 43. University Press of Virginia. 2002. ^ P’Bitek, Okot. African Religions and Western Scholarship, Kampala: East African Literature Bureau, 1970. ^ Wiredu, Kwasi: Toward Decolonizing African Philosophy And Religion In: African Studies Quarterly, The Online Journal for African Studies, Volume 1, Issue 4, 1998 http://web.africa.ufl.edu/asq/v1/4/3.htm] ^ Ehret, C. The Civilizations of Africa: a History to 1800, page 220. University Press of Virginia. 2002.

^ Ehret, C. The Civilizations of Africa: a History to 1800, page 66. University Press of Virginia. 2002. ^ Ehret, C. The Civilizations of Africa: a History to 1800, pages 92-94. University Press of Virginia. 2002. ^ Ehret, C. The Civilizations of Africa: a History to 1800, page 207. University Press of Virginia. 2002. ^ a b Ehret, C. The Civilizations of Africa: a History to 1800, page 50. University Press of Virginia. 2002. ^ Ehret, Christopher, A Conversation with Christopher Ehret. World History Connected 2.1 (2004): 41 pars. 29 Nov. 2009 [1]. ^ Ehret, Christopher, An African Classical Age: Eastern and Southern Africa in World History, 1000 B.C. to A.D. 400, page 159, University of Virginia Press, ISBN 0-8139-2057-4 ^ Ehret, C. The Civilizations of Africa: a History to 1800, page 50-51. University Press of Virginia. 2002. ^ Wiredu, Kwasi: Toward Decolonizing African Philosophy And Religion In: African Studies Quarterly, The Online Journal for African Studies, Volume 1, Issue 4, 1998http://web.africa.ufl.edu/asq/v1/4/3.htm][ ^ Ehret, C. The Civilizations of Africa: a History to 1800, page 15. University Press of Virginia. 2002. ^ Karade, B. The Handbook of Yoruba Religious Concepts, page 21. Samuel Weiser Inc, 1994 ^ a b c Doumbia, A & Doumbia, N The Way of the Elders: West African Spirituality & Tradition, pages 5-6. Llewellyn Publications, 2004 ^ a b Karade, B. The Handbook of Yoruba Religious Concepts, pages 39-46. Samuel Weiser Inc, 1994 ^ Doumbia, A & Doumbia, N The Way of the Elders: West African Spirituality & Tradition, pages xv. Llewellyn Publications, 2004

^ Doumbia, A & Doumbia, N The Way of the Elders: West African Spirituality & Tradition, page 26-27. Llewellyn Publications, 2004 ^ Karade, B. The Handbook of Yoruba Religious Concepts, page 81. Samuel Weiser Inc, 1994 ^ Fighting for honor: the history of African martial art traditions in the Atlantic world. Univ of South Carolina Press. 2008. p. 58. ISBN 1-570-03718-3. http://books.google.com/books?id=HNYwa1VeLIIC&pg=PA58. ^ Ehret, C. The Civilizations of Africa: a History to 1800, page 54. University Press of Virginia. 2002. ^ Ehret, C. The Civilizations of Africa: a History to 1800, page 149. University Press of Virginia. 2002. ^ Swiderski, Stanislaw. La religion bouiti, Volumes 1 à 2. http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=bwiti+missionaries+persecution&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&client=firefox-a#q=bwiti+missionaries+persecution&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbo=u&tbs=bks:1&source=og&sa=N&hl=fr&tab=wp&fp=3ce5ee54462f00fd. "The persecutions of the Bwiti, organized by the Catholic Church and th colonial government, or even by certain members of the present government, have reinforced the "racial" and religious consciousness of the Bwiti," [edit] ReferencesInformation presented here was gleaned from World Eras Encyclopaedia, Volume 10, edited by Pierre-Damien Mvuyekure (New York: Thomson-Gale, 2003), in particular pp. 275–314. Baldick, J (1997) Black God: The Afroasiatic Roots of the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Religions New York: Syracuse University Press.

Doumbia, A. & Doumbia, N (2004) The Way of the Elders: West African Spirituality & Tradition. Saint Paul, MN: Llewellyn Publications. Ehret, Christopher, (2002) The Civilizations of Africa: a History to 1800. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia. Ehret, Christopher, (2002) A Conversation with Christopher Ehret. World History Connected 2.1 (2004): 41 pars. 29 Nov. 2009. Ehret, Christopher, An African Classical Age: Eastern and Southern Africa in World History, 1000 B.C. to A.D. 400, page 159, University of Virginia Press, ISBN 0-8139-2057-4 Karade, B (1994) The Handbook of Yoruba Religious Concepts. York Beach, MA: Samuel Weiser Inc. P’Bitek, Okot. African Religions and Western Scholarship, Kampala: East African Literature Bureau, 1970. Princetonline, Early History of Africa. http://www.princetonol.com/groups/iad/lessons/middle/history1.htm Wiredu, Kwasi Toward Decolonizing African Philosophy And Religion In: African Studies Quarterly, The Online Journal for African Studies, Volume 1, Issue 4, 1998 [edit] External linksTheology in Africa: ATR Specialized articles on African Traditional Religion Afrika world.com A website with extensive links and information about traditional African religions Asomdwee Fie, Shrine of the Abosom and Nsamanafo A Traditional Akan Spiritual Shrine Baba Alawoye.com Baba'Awo Awoyinfa Ifaloju, showcasing Ifa using web media 2.0 (blogs, podcasting, video & photocasting) Oyotunji Village Roots and Rooted For those that love traditional African Religion [edit] Further reading

Julian Baldick (1997). Black God: the Afroasiatic roots of the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim religions. Syracuse University Press:ISBN 0-8156-0522-6 John Mbiti African Religions and Philosophy (1969) African Writers Series, Heinemann ISBN 0-435-89591-5 Wade Abimbola, ed. and trans. Ifa Divination Poetry (New York: NOK, 1977). Ulli Beier, ed. The Origins of Life and Death: African Creation Myths (London: Heinemann, 1966). Herbert Cole, Mbari: Art and Life among the Owerri Igbo (Bloomington: Indiana University press, 1982). J. B. Danquah, The Akan Doctrine of God: A Fragment of Gold Coast Ethics and Religion, second edition (London: Cass, 1968). Marcel Griaule and Germaine Dietterlen, Le Mythe Cosmogonique (Paris: Institut d'Ethnologie, 1965). Rems Nna Umeasigbu, The Way We Lived: Ibo Customs and Stories (London: Heinemann, 1969). Sandra Barnes, Africa's Ogun: Old World and New (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1989). Segun Gbadagesin, African Philosophy: Traditional Yoruba Philosophy and Contemporary African Realities (New York: Peter Lang, 1999). Judith Gleason, Oya, in Praise of an African Goddess (Harper Collins, 1992). Bolaji Idowu, God in Yoruba Belief (Plainview: Original Publications, rev. and enlarged ed., 1995) Wole Soyinka, Myth, Literature and the African World (Cambridge University Press, 1976). S. Solagbade Popoola, Ikunle Abiyamo: It is on Bent Knees that I gave Birth (2007 Asefin Media Publication) David Chidester, "Religions of South Africa" pp. 17–19 [hide]v · d · eReligion in Africa Christianity · Hinduism · Islam · Judaism · Traditional religions

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XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXThe Temple at Thatchhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Temple_at_Thatch

The Temple at ThatchFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaJump to: navigation, search Evelyn Waugh, at the height of his career as a novelistThe Temple at Thatch is an unpublished novel by the British author Evelyn Waugh, his first adult attempt at full-length fiction. He began writing it in 1924 at the end of his final year as an undergraduate at Hertford College, Oxford, and continued to work on it intermittently in the following 12 months. After his friend Harold Acton commented unfavourably on the novel in June 1925, Waugh burned the manuscript. In a fit of despondency from this and other personal disappointments, he then made a half-hearted suicide bid before returning to his senses.

In the absence of a manuscript or printed text, the only information as to the novel's subject comes from Waugh's diary entries and later reminiscences. The story was evidently semi-autobiographical, based around Waugh's Oxford experiences. The protagonist was an undergraduate and the work's main themes were madness and black magic. Some of the novel's ideas were incorporated into Waugh's first commercially published work of fiction, the 1925 short story "The Balance", which includes several references to a country house called "Thatch" and, like the novel, is partly structured as a film script. "The Balance" contains characters, perhaps carried over from The Temple at Thatch, who appear by name in Waugh's later fiction.

Acton's severe judgement did not deter Waugh from his intention to be a writer, but it affected his belief that he could succeed as a novelist. For a

time he turned his attention away from fiction, but with the gradual recovery of his self-confidence he was able to complete his first novel, Decline and Fall, which was published with great success in 1928.

Contents [hide]1 Background 2 Composition 3 Rejection 4 "The Balance" 5 Aftereffects 6 Notes and references 7 Sources

Background Hertford College, Oxford, where Evelyn Waugh conceived the idea of The Temple at Thatch in 1924Evelyn Waugh's literary pedigree was strong. His father, the publisher Arthur Waugh (1866–1943), was a respected literary critic for the Daily Telegraph;[1] his elder brother Alec (1899–1981) was a successful novelist whose first book The Loom of Youth became a controversial best seller in 1917.[2] Evelyn wrote his first extant story "The Curse of the Horse Race" in 1910, when he was seven years old. In the years before the First World War he helped to edit and produce a handwritten publication called The Pistol Troop Magazine, and also wrote poems.[3] Later, as a schoolboy at Lancing College, he produced a parody of Katherine Mansfield's style, entitled "The Twilight of Language".[4] He also tried to write a novel,[n 1] but soon gave this up to concentrate on a school-themed play, Conversion, which was performed before the whole school in the summer of 1921.[6]

At Hertford College, Oxford, where Waugh arrived in January 1922 to study history, he became part of a circle that included a number of future writers and critics of eminence—Harold Acton, Christopher Hollis, Anthony Powell and Cyril Connolly, among others.[7] He also formed close personal friendships with aristocratic and near-aristocratic contemporaries such as Hugh Lygon and Alastair Graham, either of whom may have been models for Sebastian Flyte in Waugh's later novel Brideshead Revisited.[8] From such companions Waugh acquired the fascination with the aristocracy and country houses that would embellish much of his fictional work. At Oxford Waugh did little work, in a life largely dedicated to social pleasures: "The record of my life there is essentially a catalogue of friendships".[9] However, he developed a reputation as a skilful graphic artist, and contributed articles, reviews and short stories to both the main university magazines, The Isis and The Cherwell.[7] One of the Isis stories, "Unacademic Exercise: A Nature Story", describes the performance of a magical ceremony by which an undergraduate is transformed by his fellows into a werewolf. Waugh's interest in the occult is further demonstrated by his involvement, in the summer of 1924, in an amateur film entitled 666, in which he certainly appeared and may have written.[10] He appears to have been in a state of some mental confusion or turmoil; analyst Simon Whitechapel cites a letter to a friend, written at this time: "I have been living very intensely the last three weeks. For the past fortnight I have been nearly insane. I am a little saner now."[10][11]

CompositionThe earliest record of Waugh's intention to attempt a novel appears in a letter dated May 1924, to his schoolfriend Dudley Carew. Waugh writes: "Quite soon I am going to write a little book. It is going

to be called The Temple at Thatch and will be all about magic and madness".[12] This writing project may have been a reaction to Waugh's immediate circumstances; he was in the last weeks of his Oxford career, contemplating failure in his examinations and irritated by the fact that most of his contemporaries appeared to be on the verge of brilliant careers.[13] On 22 June 1924 he spent time working out the plot, a continuation of the supernatural theme explored in "Unacademic Exercise". The basic premise was an undergraduate inheriting a country house of which nothing was left except an 18th-century folly, where he set up house and practised black magic.[14]

Waugh's diary indicates that he began writing the story on 21 July when he completed a dozen pages of the first chapter; he thought it was "quite good".[15] He appears to have done no more work on the project until early September, when he confides to his diary that it is "in serious danger of becoming dull", and expresses doubts that it will ever be finished.[16] However, Waugh apparently found fresh inspiration after reading The Cypresse Grove, by the 17th-century Scots poet William Drummond of Hawthornden, and considered retitling his story The Fabulous Paladins after a passage in Drummond's essay:

Death is the sade estranger of acquantance, the eternall diuorcer of mariage, the rauisher of the children from their parentes, the stealer of parents from the children, the interrer of fame, the sole cause of forgetfulnesse, by which the liuing talke of those gone away as of so manie shadowes, or fabulous paladines.[17] The autumn of 1924 was spent largely in the pursuit of pleasure until, shortly before Christmas, the pressing need to earn money led Waugh to apply for teaching jobs in private schools. His diary entry

for 17 December 1924 records: "Still writing out letters in praise of myself to obscure private schools, and still attempting to rewrite The Temple".[18] He eventually secured a job as assistant master at Arnold House Preparatory School in Denbighshire, North Wales, at a salary of £160 a year, and left London on 22 January to take up his post, carrying with him the manuscript of The Temple.[19][20]

During his first term at Arnold House Waugh found few opportunities to continue his writing. He was tired by the end of the day, his interest in The Temple flagged, and from time to time his attention wandered to other subjects; he contemplated a book on Silenus, but he admitted that it "may or may not ... be written".[21] After the Easter holidays he felt more positively about The Temple: "I am making the first chapter a cinema film, and have been writing furiously ever since. I honestly think that it is going to be rather good".[22] He sometimes worked on the book during classes, telling any boys who dared to ask what he was doing that he was writing a history of the Eskimos.[23] By June he felt confident enough to send the first few chapters to his Oxford friend Harold Acton, "asking for criticism and hoping for praise".[14] Earlier that year Waugh had commented warmly on Acton's book of poems, An Indian Ass, "which brought back memories of a life [at Oxford] infinitely remote".[24]

RejectionWhile waiting for Acton's reply, Waugh heard that his brother Alec had arranged a job for him based in Pisa, Italy, as secretary to the Scottish writer Charles Kenneth Scott Moncrieff who was working on the first English translation of Marcel Proust's novel sequence À la recherche du temps perdu. Waugh promptly resigned his position at Arnold House, in

anticipation of "a year abroad drinking Chianti under olive trees."[25] Then came Acton's "polite but chilling" response to The Temple at Thatch. This letter has not survived; its wording was recalled by Waugh 40 years later, in his biography A Little Learning.[10] Acton wrote that the story was "too English for my exotic taste ... too much nid-nodding over port."[26] He recommended, facetiously, that the book be printed "in a few elegant copies for the friends who love you", and gave a list of the least elegant of their mutual acquaintances.[14] Many years later Acton wrote of the story: "It was an airy Firbankian trifle, totally unworthy of Evelyn, and I brutally told him so. It was a misfired jeu d'esprit."[27][n 2]

Waugh did not query his friend's judgement, but took his manuscript to the school's furnaces and unceremoniously burnt it.[26] Immediately afterwards he received the news that the job with Scott Moncrieff had fallen through. The double blow affected Waugh severely; he wrote in his diary in July: "The phrase 'the end of the tether' besets me with unshakeable persistence".[29] In his biography Waugh writes: "I went down alone to the beach with my thoughts full of death. I took off my clothes and began swimming out to sea. Did I really intend to drown myself? That was certainly in my mind".[14] He left a note with his clothes, a quotation from Euripides about the sea washing away all human ills. A short way out, after an attack by jellyfish, he abandoned the attempt, turned round and swam back to the shore.[14] He did not, however, withdraw his resignation from the school, returning instead to London.[30]

"The Balance"Although he had destroyed his novel, Waugh retained his intention to be a writer, and in the late summer of 1925 completed a short story, called "The

Balance". This became his first commercially published work when Chapman and Hall, where his father was managing director, included it in a short stories collection the following year.[31][n 3] "The Balance" has no magical themes, but in other respects has clear relationships to The Temple at Thatch. Both works have Oxford settings, and the short story is written in the film script format that Waugh devised for the first chapter of the novel.[33] There are several references in "The Balance" to a country house called "Thatch", though this is a fully functioning establishment in the manner of Brideshead rather than a ruined folly. Imogen Quest, the protagonist Adam's girlfriend, lives at Thatch; a watercolour of the house is displayed in Adam's undergraduate's rooms; the end of the story describes a house party at Thatch, during which the guests gossip maliciously about Adam. The names "Imogen Quest" and "Adam" were used by Waugh several years later in his novel Vile Bodies, leading to speculation as to whether these names, like that of the house, originated in The Temple at Thatch.[10]

AftereffectsActon's dismissal of The Temple at Thatch had made Waugh nervous of his potential as an imaginative writer—he deferred to Acton's judgement on all literary issues—and he did not for the time being attempt to write another novel.[34] After "The Balance" he wrote a humorous article, "Noah, or the Future of Intoxication", which was first accepted and then rejected by the publishers Kegan Paul.[35] However, a short story called "A House of Gentle Folks", was published in The New Decameron: The Fifth Day, edited by Hugh Chesterman (Oxford: Basil. Blackwell, 1927).[36] Thereafter, for a time, Waugh devoted himself to non-fictional work. An essay on the Pre-Raphaelites was published in a limited edition by Waugh's friend Alastair Graham;

this led to the production of a full-length book, Rossetti, His Life and Works, published in 1928.[37]

The desire to write fiction persisted, however, and in the autumn of 1927 Waugh began a comic novel which he entitled Picaresque: or the Making of an Englishman.[34] The first pages were read to another friend, the future novelist Anthony Powell, who found them very amusing, and was surprised when Waugh told him, just before Christmas, that the manuscript had been burned.[38] This was not in fact the case; Waugh had merely put the work aside. Early in 1928 he wrote to Harold Acton, asking whether or not he should finish it. On this occasion Acton was full of praise; work was resumed and the novel completed by April.[39] It was published later that year under a new title, Decline and Fall. According to his recent biographer Paula Byrne, Waugh had "found his vocation as a writer, and over the next few years his career would rise spectacularly."[40] The Temple of Thatch was quickly forgotten, and as Whitechapel points out, has failed to arouse much subsequent interest from scholars. Whitechapel, however, considers it a loss to literature, and adds: "Whether or not it matched the quality of his second novel, Decline and Fall, if it were still extant it could not fail to be of interest to both scholars and general readers."[10]

Notes and referencesNotes ^ A fragment of the Lancing novel survived, and was eventually published in The Complete Short Stories (1998).[5] ^ Acton's reference is to Ronald Firbank (1886–1926), a British novelist and short story writer whose "witty, high-camp, modernist fabulations mock the late-Victorian world of bourgeois materialism

and 'hearty' moral earnestness".[28] Jeu d'esprit, literally "game of spirit", is defined as "a light-hearted display of wit or cleverness" in Collins English Dictionary 7th edition (2005), Glasgow. HarperCollins, ISBN 0-00-719153-7. ^ "The Balance" had earlier been rejected by several other publishers, including The Hogarth Press and Chatto & Windus.[32] References ^ Hastings, p. 45 ^ Stannard (1993), pp. 43–45 ^ Stannard (1993), pp. 37–40 ^ Stannard (1993), p. 70 ^ Slater, pp. 536–47 ^ Stannard (1993), pp. 62–63 ^ a b Stannard, Martin (2004). "Evelyn Arthur St John Waugh". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. http://www.oxforddnb.com/index/101036788/. Retrieved 9 June 2010 (subscription required). ^ Hastings, p. 484 ^ Waugh (A Little Learning), p. 290 ^ a b c d e Whitechapel, Simon (2002). "Adam and Evelyn: The Balance, The Temple at Thatch and 666". Evelyn Waugh Newsletter and Studies (Lock Haven, Pa.: Lock Haven University) 33 (2). http://www.lhup.edu/jwilson3/Newsletter_33.2.htm. Retrieved 9 June 2010. ^ Amory, p. 12 ^ Hastings, p. 114 ^ Stannard (1993), pp. 93 and 98 ^ a b c d e Waugh (A Little Learning), pp. 228–30 ^ Davie, p. 169 ^ Davie, pp. 176–77 ^ p 213 of "The Cypresse Grove"; The Poems of William Drummond of Hawthornden, 2md edition, Edinburgh, 1616, pp. 211-256 ^ Hastings, p. 122 ^ Stannard (1993), p. 105 ^ Davie, p. 199

^ Garnett, pp. 30–33 ^ Byrne, pp. 79–80 ^ Sykes, p. 61 ^ Amory, p. 23 ^ Davie, p. 212 ^ a b Stannard (1993), p. 112 ^ Hastings, p. 135 (note) ^ "Firbank, Ronald (1886–1926) in glbtq.com: an encyclopedia of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer culture". New England Publishing Associates. http://www.glbtq.com/literature/firbank_r.html. Retrieved 17 June 2010. ^ Davie, p. 213 ^ Stannard, pp. 114–15 ^ Hastings, p. 145 ^ Stannard (1993), p. 127; Hastings, p. 144 ^ Byrne, p. 82 ^ a b Stannard (1993), p. 148 ^ Stannard (1993), pp. 129–31 ^ Slater, p. 593 ^ Sykes, pp. 80–83 ^ Powell, p. 22 ^ Hastings, pp. 167 and 170 ^ Byrne, p. 103 SourcesAmory, Mark (ed.) (1995). The Letters of Evelyn Waugh. London: Orion Books Ltd. ISBN 1-85799-245-8. Byrne, Paula (2010). Mad World: Evelyn Waugh and the Secrets of Brideshead. London: Harper Press. ISBN 978-0-00-724377-8. Davie, Michael (ed.) (1976). The Diaries of Evelyn Waugh. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson. ISBN 0-297-77126-4. "Firbank, Ronald (1886–1926)". glbtq.com: an encyclopedia of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer culture. New England Publishing Associates. http://www.glbtq.com/literature/firbank_r.html. Retrieved 17 June 2010.

Hastings, Selena (1994). Evelyn Waugh: A Biography. London: Sinclair-Stevenson. ISBN 1-85619-223-7. Powell, Anthony (1978). To Keep the Ball Rolling, Vol. II: Messengers of Day. London: Heinemann. ISBN 0-434-59923-9. Slater, Ann Pasternak (ed. and introduction) (1998). Evelyn Waugh: The Complete Short Stories. London: David Campbell Publishers (Everyman's Library). ISBN 1-85715-190-9. Stannard, Martin (1993). Evelyn Waugh Volume 1: The Early Years 1903–39. London: Flamingo. ISBN 0-586-08678-1. Stannard, Martin (2004). "Evelyn Arthur St John Waugh". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. http://www.oxforddnb.com/index/101036788/. Retrieved 9 June 2010. (subscription required) Sykes, Christopher (1975). Evelyn Waugh: A Biography. London: Collins. ISBN 0-00-211202-7. Waugh, Evelyn (1983). A Little Learning. Harmondsworth, UK: Penguin Books. ISBN 0-1400-6604-7. Whitechapel, Simon (2002). "Adam and Evelyn: The Balance, The Temple at Thatch and 666". Evelyn Waugh Newsletter and Studies (Lock Haven, Pa.: Lock Haven University) 33 (2). http://www.lhup.edu/jwilson3/Newsletter_33.2.htm. Retrieved 9 June 2010. [hide]v · d · eEvelyn Waugh Novels Decline and Fall (1928) • Vile Bodies (1930) • Black Mischief (1932) • A Handful of Dust (1934) • Scoop (1938) • Put Out More Flags (1942) • Brideshead Revisited (1945) • The Loved One (1948) • Scott-King's Modern Europe (1947) • Helena • Love Among the Ruins. A Romance of the Near Future (1953) • Sword of Honour: Men at Arms (1952) • Sword of Honour: Officers and Gentlemen (1955) • Sword of Honour: Unconditional Surrender (1961) • The Ordeal of Gilbert Pinfold (1957)

Short stories Mr Loveday's Little Outing: And Other Sad Stories (1936) • Work Suspended: And Other Stories (1943) • Selected Works (1977) • Charles Ryder's Schooldays: And Other Stories (1982) • The Complete Short Stories (1997) • The Complete Stories of Evelyn Waugh (1998) Travel writing Labels (1930) • Remote People (1931) • Ninety-Two Days (1934) • Waugh In Abyssinia (1936) • Robbery Under Law (1939) • When The Going Was Good (1946) • A Tourist In Africa (1960) Biographies Rossetti: His Life and Works (1928) • Saint Edmund Campion: Priest and Martyr (1935) • The Life of the Right Reverend Ronald Knox (1959) Other books The Temple at Thatch (unpublished) • A Little Learning (1964) See also Auberon Waugh Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Temple_at_Thatch"Categories: Novels by Evelyn Waugh | 1925 novels | Lost books | Unfinished novelsXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXhttp://www.fileserve.com/file/xsvZYGE/101idiot9.part53.rar

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Published on internet: Sunday, November 06, 2011Revised: Sunday, November 06, 2011

Information on the web site is given in good faith about a certain spiritual way of life, irrespective of any specific religion, in the belief that the information is not misused, misjudged or misunderstood. Persons using this information for whatever purpose must rely on their own skill, intelligence and judgment in its application. The webmaster does not

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XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX“Thou belongest to That Which Is Undying, and not merely to time alone,” murmured the Sphinx, breaking its muteness at last. “Thou art eternal, and not merely of the vanishing flesh. The soul in man cannot be killed, cannot die. It waits, shroud-wrapped, in thy heart, as I waited, sand-wrapped, in thy world. Know thyself, O mortal! For there is One within thee, as in all men, that comes and stands at the bar and bears witness that there IS a God!”(Reference: Brunton, Paul. (1962) A Search in Secret Egypt. (17 th Impression) London, UK: Rider & Company. Page: 35.)

Amen