"The general imprecise way of observing sees everywhere in nature opposites
where there are, not opposites, but differences of degree. This bad habit has
led us into wanting to comprehend and analyse the inner world, too, the
spiritual-moral world, in terms of such opposites. An unspeakable amount of
painfulness, arrogance, harshness, estrangement, frigidity has entered into
human feelings because we think we see opposites instead of transitions."
- Nietzsche
The moral dogma that has infected Civilisation since its beginning is a Judaic DUALISM inherited from Zoroastrianism and brought in by the virus of Christianity.
Dualism states that there is a battle being fought in both the spiritual and earthly realms (and even within every individual) between two opposites: "good & evil."
Not only has this Dualism subverted our Culture, it has turned the individual into a split personality: This is the result of repressing what is considered "evil" about one's nature by moral and religious dogmas.
CYCLES OF TIME
Before this Dualism was implanted, pagan societies didn't label
natural forces with such absolute moral attributes. There were creative and
destructive forces in Nature, often symbolized as gods. But even the
destructive aspects has creative purposes, and were part of a transcendent
cosmic unity.
For e.g. in what moral context can we place Indo-Aryan deities such as Shiva & Kali? To the Western dualized mind they would be considered "evil" because of their primal destructiveness. But to the Hindus, retaining the ancient Aryan wisdom, they are "beyond good & evil." They comprise both the creative & destructive aspects of Nature in their various forms and roles. Even their destructive roles are a vital part of a cosmic CYCLIC process of creation-destruction-renewal: Shiva in his Cosmic Dance of Destruction clears the way for another round of history's endless Cycles.
RAGNAROK
The Germanics & Norse, like their Indo-Aryan kinsfolk, also had this
cyclic cosmology. The destruction brought by Ragnarok is the prelude to a new
earth, new humanity, new heaven & even a new pantheon of gods. The Gods
themselves cannot avoid their Fate, for without the destruction by Ragnarok
there would be stagnation and decay.
The Dark forces of Loki, Fenrir, Surt, Garm and Iormungandr are Catalysts for Change; thus the Cycle continues: creation-destruction-renewal. This is the inexorable process that can be observed in both History & Nature.
The Aryan Persians before Zoroastrianism had a conception of this interplay between the Light & Dark forces which were seen as two aspects of Zervan, Lord of Time. The Light of Ahura Mazda & the Dark of Ahriman were both emanation of Zervan. Zoroastrianism divided these two into moral opposites separated from the Time Lord. It is from here that Judaism & ultimately Christianity got their DUALISM, which has afflicted the West.
Some of the Gnostic sects rejected Dualism and restored the ancient wisdom in the deity Abraxas, who united all polarities within himself. The psychologist Carl Jung turned to Abraxas when considering the inter-relationship that exists between polarities in Nature.
INDIVIDUATION
Jung revived the ancient wisdom with modern scientific methods and
terms, but drawing from pre- and non-Christian cultures and Medieval Alchemy.
He sought to unify the polarities within the individual to create the whole
person (called "Individuation") no longer cut off from his repressed so-called
"evil" SHADOW SELF. This "Individuation" of Jungian psychology is also akin to
the occultist's quest for Adeptship.
Jung was concerned with how a neurotic christian civilization could be brought back to the completeness of pagan times. He saw the need to allow the repressed barbarian lurking within modern man to resurface and find a modern expression. Thus his support for National Socialist Germany as an expression of the repressed Shadow Self of the Germans, symbolized as Wotan.
CHRISTIANIZED NEO-PAGANS
Judaeo-Christian moral dualism is now so deep-seated within the
Western psyche that even those pagans who think they are outside the Christian
context are as dualized as any Christling.
These "neo-pagans" (sic) have made internationalists & pacifists out of tribal war gods! Where warrior attributes cannot be ignored, they have been transformed into "the way of the peaceful warrior" (puke!). Tyr, Thor & Odin have been castrated. The neo-pagans have simply made the Old Gods reflections of their own dualized, half-selves. They have repressed as "evil" the Dark aspects. These neo-pagans are worse than useless; they are another aspect of the dualism that is driving the European folk to self-destruction.
Even many (most?) of the harder-line "Odinists", have a cosmology that is essentially Christian. They have dualized the Aesir & the Jotuns into contending moral forces of "good vs. evil" - ODIN (OR BALDER) IS THEIR JESUS. LOKI IS THEIR SATAN. RAGNAROK IS THEIR ARMAGEDDON. The whole significance of Indo-European cyclic cosmology has been rendered null and void. The pagan heritage has been Dualized.......... Christianized!
There are some pagans, however, who continue to honour the ancient wisdom. They see the cosmos as an interplay of polarities, not as a battlefield of moral dualities. It is this that is the basis of EVOLUTION. Without this catalyst mankind slips back into the nebulous mass from which he evolved. It is just such a degraded state that the religions and moralities of decay are dragging us towards. Let our path be starbound. HAIL ODIN! HAIL LOKI!