Brief Thoughts on Ram Swarup

"Pagan renaissance is overdue. It is necessary for Europe to heal its psyche. Under Christianity, Europe learned to reject its ancestors, its past, which cannot be good for its future also. Europe became sick because it tore apart from its own heritage, it had to deny its very roots. If Europe is to be healed spiritually, it must recover its spiritual past--at least, it should not hold it in such dishonor.

"There is a lot for European thinkers to do. The task won't be easy, and it will require decades of fervent dedication and a lot of introspection as well. Europe has been subjected for centuries to a systematic spiritual Semitization. It will be no small task to change this situation. Europe shall have to rediscover its ancient sensibilities about its people, environment, animals, nature. Earlier, the European Renaissance of the 17th century was incomplete. It was revival of Greek and Roman literature and art-forms without Greek and Roman gods. If the Renaissance had taken its full course, it would also have become aware of its Eastern, its Hindu, links, but it was soon aborted. In fact, an opposite movement started, an anti-renaissance movement, in the shape of Protestantism, a movement of 'back to the Bible,' 'back to the Apostles.'

"I hope that the Neopagan movement will understand the importance and the immensity of the task. In certain Western milieux, Paganism has been welcomed because it was supposed to usher in sensuality and hedonism, sexual freedom. But those Pagans must understand that the ancient Pagan philosophers were great mystics and great moralists, and the European Pagan movement will have to understand Paganism in this way.

"I believe that Hinduism has a very important role in the religious self-recovery of humanity, particularly of Europe. The reason is simple. Hinduism represents the most ancient tradition which is still alive. It has preserved in its bosom the whole spiritual past of humanity. For self-recovery, these countries have to revive their old gods. But this is a task which cannot be done mechanically. They have to recapture the consciousness which expressed itself in the language of many gods. Here, India can help them with its tradition of yoga. In my book, The Word as Revelation: Names of Gods, I spoke of a new kind of pilgrimage: a return to the time of the Gods. Meanwhile, European scholars can do a lot. They should write a history of Europe from the Pagan point of view, which would show how profoundly persecuted Paganism was. They should compile a directory of Pagan temples destroyed, Pagan groves and sacred spots desecrated. European Pagans should also revive some of these sites as their places of pilgrimage."

-Antaios, June 1996

The most boring sort of post is one in which the author agrees fervently with a position without having much to add. This may be one of those boring posts.

Years before I read this, I had mused on the idea of cooperation between Hindus and Pagans of various stripes (although, being me, the musing was primarily about Hindus and Reconstructionists). When I read the above interview about a year or so ago my jaw dropped. Here was someone who got it, who understood. The last two sentences about Pagan holy places spoke directly to work I was doing at the time (a work which is still underway), the compilation of an atlas of Germanic holy places.

I agree wholeheartedly with Mr. Swarup's position that the rejection of the native religions of Europe damaged the psyche of European cultures, an idea that I think should be further examined. In fact, I've long been of the opinion that certain aberrations or pathologies of behavior in the history of Europeans are related to the rootlessness, anomie, and consequent desperation caused by the conversion.

At some point, I'd like to go to the Hindu temple near my town, and see if I can strike up a conversation with a brahman on Ram Swarup, Reconstructionism in general, and Theodism in particular. Also, I'd just like to see the temple up close: the pictures I've seen look impressive.