I think both your writing and your purpose/intentions are wonderful I read the ‘voces’article 4am one morning and listening to the video clips was aa amazing trip back to my Cypriot childhood . I will definitely pledge when I get to my laptop and look forward to walking some of this journey with you
Huge thanks for this - this is fascinating material, and I'm glad that someone is writing online on it in English.
One of the problems in acknowledging cultural continuity of this sort is a neurosis that exists in Western European scholarship (this is aside from the straightforward racism that Alexiou refers to - the idea that post-classical Greeks aren't "real" Greeks).
Western European scholarship on continuity between pagan and Christian culture headed down a blind alley in the later 19th century and remained there for much of the 20th century. Following scholars like Wilhelm Mannhardt and James Frazer, it became fashionable to see pagan survivals *everywhere*. If you were a middle-class Londoner, you just needed to make a 30 minute train journey into the countryside and you'd see simple peasants practising folk customs that were unchanged from pagan times - allegedly. Morris dancing was a pagan fertility rite. The Green Man was a pagan god. And so on.
This fantasy was very, very popular and very widely believed (it resurfaced recently when King Charles used the Green Man on his coronation invitations). But it has been discredited since at least the 1970s. And not only discredited but *toxic*. If you believe in significant pagan/Christian cultural continuity at the level of folk religion, you must be a moron. That's on old idea that was debunked decades ago. Do you still believe in James Frazer and Margaret Murray? Are you misinformed or just stupid?
So if you get into this subject in Western Europe, you learn very early on that one thing that you must *not* on any account do is argue for substantial pagan/Christian continuities in popular customs. Because people will think that you are an idiot who doesn't know anything.
Transplant that to the study of Greece - on top of the racist prejudice already referred to - and you have a strong incentive for denial that ancient paganism survived in any form into Orthodox culture.
Thank you so much - it’s taken me years to move past these many roadblocks and only just start to make sense of how to handle this material. Back in the day my supervisors also felt it was too toxic an area to go digging in, and I let it fall by the wayside for years. I’m so grateful new research has emerged (yours included!) to justify my shot in the dark now that I’m in a better position to focus on it. And I’m even more grateful for the vocabulary and the precedent set- your use of “persistence” vs “continuity” is a valuable tool ! Much nuance is needed, and yes, I’m also up against the embedded prejudices where Modern Greece is concerned, but have been in the game long enough to finally feel able to face it up. Or maybe circumstances have also matured. Thank you so much for stopping by and also for your work!!
Every bit of this sounds absolutely fascinating to me. I followed the link to your site too, and your art is incredible - you have experimented with so many different styles. I am looking forward to reading your content and going on an educational journey through the history of my adopted land (or rather, the land that adopted me).
Sasha I love the Greek myths… the subjects of my drawings over many years… and I love any kind of folklore, folk magic and healing herbs of all countries. Thank you for appearing here. I look forward to your discourses and studies. …
I think both your writing and your purpose/intentions are wonderful I read the ‘voces’article 4am one morning and listening to the video clips was aa amazing trip back to my Cypriot childhood . I will definitely pledge when I get to my laptop and look forward to walking some of this journey with you
Thank you so much for reading , welcome on the journey 🙏🙏🙏❤️❤️❤️
Huge thanks for this - this is fascinating material, and I'm glad that someone is writing online on it in English.
One of the problems in acknowledging cultural continuity of this sort is a neurosis that exists in Western European scholarship (this is aside from the straightforward racism that Alexiou refers to - the idea that post-classical Greeks aren't "real" Greeks).
Western European scholarship on continuity between pagan and Christian culture headed down a blind alley in the later 19th century and remained there for much of the 20th century. Following scholars like Wilhelm Mannhardt and James Frazer, it became fashionable to see pagan survivals *everywhere*. If you were a middle-class Londoner, you just needed to make a 30 minute train journey into the countryside and you'd see simple peasants practising folk customs that were unchanged from pagan times - allegedly. Morris dancing was a pagan fertility rite. The Green Man was a pagan god. And so on.
This fantasy was very, very popular and very widely believed (it resurfaced recently when King Charles used the Green Man on his coronation invitations). But it has been discredited since at least the 1970s. And not only discredited but *toxic*. If you believe in significant pagan/Christian cultural continuity at the level of folk religion, you must be a moron. That's on old idea that was debunked decades ago. Do you still believe in James Frazer and Margaret Murray? Are you misinformed or just stupid?
So if you get into this subject in Western Europe, you learn very early on that one thing that you must *not* on any account do is argue for substantial pagan/Christian continuities in popular customs. Because people will think that you are an idiot who doesn't know anything.
Transplant that to the study of Greece - on top of the racist prejudice already referred to - and you have a strong incentive for denial that ancient paganism survived in any form into Orthodox culture.
Thank you so much - it’s taken me years to move past these many roadblocks and only just start to make sense of how to handle this material. Back in the day my supervisors also felt it was too toxic an area to go digging in, and I let it fall by the wayside for years. I’m so grateful new research has emerged (yours included!) to justify my shot in the dark now that I’m in a better position to focus on it. And I’m even more grateful for the vocabulary and the precedent set- your use of “persistence” vs “continuity” is a valuable tool ! Much nuance is needed, and yes, I’m also up against the embedded prejudices where Modern Greece is concerned, but have been in the game long enough to finally feel able to face it up. Or maybe circumstances have also matured. Thank you so much for stopping by and also for your work!!
I’ll be pledging as soon as I can get onto Substack on the web. The app which is what I most often use wouldn’t let me.
🙏🙏🙏 Thank you!!
Every bit of this sounds absolutely fascinating to me. I followed the link to your site too, and your art is incredible - you have experimented with so many different styles. I am looking forward to reading your content and going on an educational journey through the history of my adopted land (or rather, the land that adopted me).
I’ll do my best!! Thanks so much, it’s lovely to know folks out there are really getting something out of all this!
Sasha I love the Greek myths… the subjects of my drawings over many years… and I love any kind of folklore, folk magic and healing herbs of all countries. Thank you for appearing here. I look forward to your discourses and studies. …
Thank you Dwina and well-met!!