At the outset, I seek the prayers and forgiveness of all who read this; it is easy when writing to utilize vicious rhetoric. To the extent that I am able, I have written out of love for the Church.
-Brother Caedmon
The contemporary world is overwhelmed by crises; economic uncertainty, conflict at home, conflict abroad, social unrest unprecedented in most of our lifetimes, and most importantly, the rise of paganism. Awareness of this last and greatest crisis is, as far as I can tell, barely extant; or, if it is known, it is looked on with a benign paternalistic smile, accompanied by some aphorism about “the real world” or “growing up”. Is the Church filled with fools? The young men and women who, for a variety of reasons, have fallen into the brazen arms of Odin, Thor, Aphrodite, Athena, Ares, Freyr, and Loki are not in the midst of a childish fad. They are enchanted by the fallen gods that shed the blood of many thousands of our mothers and fathers in the faith!
Estimates of Pagans in the US range north of 1.5 million. There are more active Pagans than Presbyterians, and probably more than Orthodox Christians as well. Paganism is thought to be the fastest growing religion in the US.
Their hatred of mankind has not diminished since Hades’ Harrowing. Rather, it has increased. Misanthropes roaming, as St Peter reminds us, seeking to devour the unwary. And who, I ask, could be more unwary than the youth of the contemporary West? The soft, sola mentes Christian religion handed down by the morally bankrupt proponents of “enlightenment” have nurtured a generation notorious only for its catastrophic naïveté and unrivalled love of comfort. In spite of this wretched state, that impulse native to all formed in God’s image still weakly flickers, hungering for something, anything that will restore its dying soul-fire. So, they rise from hedonistic stupor, seeking the fulfillment denied by lavish, petty living hoping to find order and meaning; but when they scan the horizon, they are greeted by chaos.
Scattered and leaderless, the scions of the Reformers have little enough coherence. Their primary offering is little more than sound and fury at “sin” and “the world”, or else an opiate haze of hippy maxims about “love” and “come as you are”. The Latins are no better. Overcome by self-conscious shame (mostly undeserved), they have, to no small degree, bound themselves to the petty doctrines of lesser men, offering liturgical masquerades to the hoi polloi, and carefully walling the sacraments behind theological battlements.
Paganism is usually mystical and ritualistic. Two characteristics of worship that, among Christians, only the Orthodox Church has managed to fully preserve in the modern world. Unlike Roman Catholicism, many of whose priests seem to have lost all supernatural belief.
Little wonder then that these lost ones seize upon the gods of the mist-bound past. Of course, this is not often done consciously, as yet there are few enough who knowingly confess allegiance to the demons who once dominated the world. However, only a fool will observe the intoxicated, orgiastic lifestyle of so many university students and not perceive the hand of Dionysus guiding the debauchery. In like manner, is not the increased social breakdown in the United States and Europe a result of Loki’s caprice? And the ensuing violence? Who else could stand behind it but bloody handed Tyr and Ares, brothers in strife!
We Orthodox know this, but as yet, we have done nothing to oppose it. Instead, our hierarchs are either enmeshed in political gamesmanship, or, as in the case of Archbishop Elpidophoros, have actually publicly honored pagan gods because they were part of his cultural heritage! Brothers, sisters, this may not continue. Pride in one’s heritage is a fine thing indeed, but we do not honour our ancestors by bowing the knee to the demons who ground them into the bloody earth, generation by generation, until Christ’s resurrection broke their power.
Archbishop Elpidophoros at the replica Parthenon in Nashville, TN posing in front of the replica of the statue of Greek goddess Athena Parthenos. She is holding a lesser goddess, Nike.
For though the demonic powers are broken and consigned to death, they are not dead yet; the new pagans rally behind their heroes, Thor, Ares, Odin, Aphrodite, Freyr, Kali, and Loki, believing that, should they triumph, their fealty will be honored. They would do well instead to recall the only law respected by demons is power:
“…By majority vote the Greeks have decreed as follows: your daughter, Polyxena, must die as a victim and prize of honour for the grave of Achilles. The army has delegated me to act as escort. Achilles’ son will supervise the rite and officiate as priest.
There matters rest. You understand your position? You must not attempt to hold your daughter here by force, nor, I might add, presume to match your strength with mine. Remember your weakness and accept this tragic loss as best you can.
Nothing you do or say can change the facts. Under the circumstances, the logical course is resignation.”
-Odysseus, king of Ithaca, speaking to Hecuba, queen of shattered Troy
A frightening prospect, at least it would be if we really were what the pitiful pagans believe us to be, servants of a dead god. But we serve the Living God, and the saints bear witness to this; Caradoc thought to force himself on St Gwenfrewi and got only death as a reward for his use of power while she received life again; St Guthlac repented of a life of violence and became a scourge of demons.
Today’s little pagans are weary of meaninglessness, but the women still abandon their virtue, and the men still savour petty cruelty. This will only remain the status quo if we, whom God has placed in the world at this dark hour, do not live as our fathers and mothers, the great Saints of the Church. We cannot ignore their example. We must be St Boniface, striking down Woden’s oak before the very eyes of his acolytes; but we must also echo the Theotokos saying, “May it be unto me according to thy will”, for the experience of the Church and her saints is not one of ease.
In closing then, I humbly suggest that it is well past the time that the jurisdictional struggles over the West be put to death. If we cared less about these pathetic struggles, the rotten oak of paganism would not have dared to sprout in our lands. It does not seem a stretch to say that competing jurisdictions are among the root causes of our problems; and it is not just the hierarchs who are to blame. Need it be said that it is not they alone, but also the laity, who keep the holy traditions? What are you waiting for? Defend them!
The tools to do so are at your disposal, withhold funds from diocese whose bishops insist on courting these demons, refuse their blessings, do not allow them into the temples, remind them that they have rendered themselves anaxios, pray that God will have mercy on us and them. Maybe then our lampstand will not be removed. May the Holy Trinity have mercy upon us all.
-Brother Caedmon of Midgard
Regarding the photo above, can someone please tell me what the golden statue of the goddess with the serpent represents, its location and why Orthodox clergy are present? Creepy indeed.
The picture was taken in Nashville at the replica of the Parthenon on 2021. Archbishop Elpidophoros spoke there in the Greek Bicentennial. So, Elpidophoros being who he is, various cringe worthy quotes and photos came out of the event.
https://ahepa.org/nashville-parthenon-monument-and-museum-next-on-greek-bicentennial-tour/
Thank you for the information. I always enjoy reading your website.
The picture was taken in the Nashville Parthenon, a full-size replica of the original (but in reinforced concrete, stone, aggregate, and brick, not marble.) The statue was produced by a local sculptor from about 1982 to 1990. The gold leaf was added in 2002. The Parthenon is the centerpiece of Centennial Park, a few miles from downtown and near Vanderbilt University. Nashville’s nicknames, in addition to Music City, include Athens of the South and The Protestant Vatican.
I am sorry; I answered your question without answering your question. The statue is of the Greek goddess Athena Parthenos and she is holding a lesser goddess, Nike.
David, I am indebted to you for the additional details you provided and it prompted me to follow up with some searches and reading. It’s as if the old gods, in abeyance for centuries, have been unleashed on humanity again.
Former pagan from the US here. I couldn’t have described this better. It wasn’t until I was introduced to the Orthodox Church that I converted to Christianity. I realized that all of the things that drew me to paganism were a dim reflection of the Truth of the Church.
Hi Jena,
I really appreciate your life experiences. You came to the rite place in your search for truth.
That Orthodoxy and not various forms of Protestantism drew you is worth noting for all Orthodox. Truth be told, Satan/pagan/FM invent nothing but steal and pervert truth. Heterodox don’t realize this and label Orthodox as pagan. But, near universally; it’s the other way around.
Your insight into the pagan world equips you to see the truth in Orthodoxy, and you responded to the call to “come up here”.[1]
Here is the base reality of the world now and ever before: Satan only offers you a counterfeit of everything you already have in God. It was true in the Garden and this has never changed, never will change. Sin is ALWAYS to take the bogus over the genuine, but both offer the same thing on the surface but toward different destinations.
As they say, “The devil (or the Holy Spirit) is in the details” consider: Satan said, “Ye shall be *Like* gods”[2] Notice: the operative word here is “like” in KJV “as”. This word defines everything in the train of thought.
Not only did Satan not lie—he told a huge truth—, but God also echoed these words, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us (v. 22). “Like” is the operative word defining the whole train of thought. ”Like” is not so much a connection but a distinction. To be “like”, is to be something totally different but only an appearance of, not the reality of, it only looks like it.
(Let us attend!) Jesus quoting St David said, “ye are [already] gods [in infancy, ever growing]”[3]
Here, the “like” does not appear. God not only offered godhood to them, He already made them gods. Taking the bait, they stepped down from/off of what they already were by the Creation Covenant. Redemption was to recapitulate the creation.[4] And the Fathers taught us, we are by grace what Christ is by nature—God, in substance (a substantiation of), not in identity. We are Partakers of the Divine nature, but not partakers of the Divine Identity.
Here is what sends the Protestants ballistic: they confuse substance with identity; that we claim to be Jehovah (God’s proper name as opposed to title, or description of substance), but we are God (as substance/substantiation or Eucharist)—His offspring, Jesus our older brother (firstborn of many). When you see Christ in the Eucharist that is the first step, but when you see yourself there, you have come full circle and Christ is, again, Alpha and Omega.
Addendum: that Eve was deceived was obvious, when she added to God’s commandment adding, “Neither shall ye touch it.”
Adding to, is just as damning as taking away from God’s requirement. We think there is safety in overdoing it, not true. If a little is good, then a lot is better, not good. This is the meaning of salvation by faith through grace.
Here is the fallacy and dilemma, that if we try harder we’ll get more approval of God. If God says, “Do 10 pushups” that doing 15 will be better. No, that’s not rite. But, where does it stop? At 20, or 30, or a thousand. It’s all fleshly works and the flesh is at enmity with the Holy Spirit, even when applied to the praxis.
If God said to do 10, don’t do 11. Otherwise it is performance orientation (that we have foisted on our girls, in particular), and only works of the flesh/law, and not grace.
[1] Rev. 4:1
[2] Genesis 3:5 the OSB is spot on with “like” kjv-“as”.
[3] John 10:34, Ps. 81:6
[4] Hello, St Irenaeus
Until 2015, I believed in what you would call Paganism.
It’s slightly different in England, as it’s well known that the current Church of England Christian festivals are just usurped pagan feast days & festivals, carried over from the early medieval period as a way to subdue paganism.
Modern paganism is on the up in England & other Western nations because people who need the hope that religion brings, just aren’t getting what they require from the modern day churches in their respective countries.
Ancient traditions are being abandoned in favour of “wokeness”. This doesn’t sit well with a lot of people & paganism fills this void to a certain extent.
Call it with the right name: stupidity and ignorance. But also the Christian Churches are responsible of the growth of paganism, satanism, and all this rubbish, having abandoned people and due to the “pagan” way of living of many of their priests and bishops. I see everyday that people seek a sheperd, ask for moral and material assistance, and often they can’t find it.
Thanks for reporting on this issue, Brother Caedmon
Honestly, I am not trying to be contrary, or bogart the conversation. But, when it comes to the demonic realm, that’s sort of my wheelhouse, my mother—although Pentecostal—spent a good thirty years as an exorcist. Her closest friend was a recovering SRA—ritual, sexual abuse as a child. She was one of the very few who lived to tell about it, most do not. Where do you think those 8 million children that are reported missing each year go?[1] SRA. And that’s just the reported, some women sell their children. Don’t believe it?? It just parallels the millions aborted each year.
Then when somebody near you is taken by SRA, it hits close to home and you find yourself toe to toe with evil. With what is unfolding now, I find myself behind the learning curve and I panic because I know a lot of innocent, ignorant Orthodox faithful will be blown away by what is coming down the pike and by how close it is to them. COVID follies is just the beginning.
“Return of the Pagans”?
Fact of the matter, they have never left. They have always been here but go underground, more or less. While it’s all the same slime as what Moses encounter in Egypt, in the underground state, it goes respectable with suit and tie or a nice set of Orthodox vestments as a membership in a secret society.
It’s woven into the fabric of America and if you have the stomach for the truth take a look:
https://www.bitchute.com/video/nQepSUAE9uoe/
I have been following this Dr. Thomas Horn for a few years now, and he is about as accurate and honest as they come. If you want the bare knuckle facts, that’s a good place to start.
If you want to know what makes the world go round, this is a start.
https://www.bitchute.com/video/dhndXF3KMvk9/
Rings of Power?
In the mid 90s a lady from our Charismatic Church called me. Going through her father’s things—in a nursing home, he had dementia—she found all his Free Masonry paraphilia. This was on Thursday, maybe Friday. I told her it had to all be destroyed. On Saturday, we went over to the nursing home, took all the stuff out behind the building by the dumpster and cut it all to pieces with box cutters and tossed it in the dumpster (it would have been better to burn it, hind sight is better now). What was left over were his two masonic gold rings. Rather than toss them, she gave them to me so I could cash them in as a payment for help—I was underemployed with children.
Bringing the rings home, I left them in a box on the table. That night at about midnight, I was jolted wide eyed awake with an unmistakable vision in my mind of two demons standing on the front porch right at the front door. Sensing the evil, I went to warfare prayer mode and prayed every way I knew how and the demons would not leave. While I did not see them with the physical eye their image was chiseled into my brain—one was tall, one was short; like Mutt and Jeff. With the next day being Sunday, I did not want them standing there trying to get in, I had children in the house and I had several other encounters with demons coming for my kids—one was a Mormon baby sitter. Not knowing what to do, I asked God show me what to do: instantly, I knew what to do. I grabbed the little box with the rings, took them outside and locked them in the trunk of my car. Going back to bed the demons left and were gone Sunday as well. First thing Monday, I took the rings to the gold buyers and sold them.
The Mormon baby sitter
After our first was born, we lived in Mormon country. With the wife pregnant with the second we went to child birth classes (back then, get to go to school to learn how to have a baby). The teacher recommended a certain baby sitter—even though she was in a Mormon family—to us as we knew no body around. Taking the advice we left our toddler with the sitter. Coming home, we paid the sitter and she left.
Our little one ran over to me and clutched onto me for dear life with a frightened look on her face. I picked her up and held her for a while. Putter her down she let out a blood curdling scream. I held her some more. Then again, trying to put her down she screamed again. After a while, not only was I totally befuddled, it was getting annoyed. There was no way I was going to hold her all night and this was totally out of character for her. In Mormonism, pedo/incest is the norm. I shudder to think…..
Then it dawned on me… a demon was inflicting her. I put her down, cast out the demon with a one sentence prayer and her demeanor instantly changed, she turn around and tootled off her normal self again.
Becoming Orthodox, I had gotten away from all that, but now its back. As I understand it, the early Church, they ate demons for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Jesus said, casting out demons is breakfast of champions—did He not?: “it’s the children bread” (It’s what baby Christians do for food, yum, yum), that they keep pushing off the table only to be pickup up my Protestants who cast out demons.
Are you week in your faith? Maybe you are under nourished. Try casting demons as spiritual food. If you have no subject for that endeavor start with your bishop. No wonder our clergy is so messed up, nobody is feeding the kids!!
[1] https://safeatlast.co/blog/child-abduction-statistics/