Our Pagan World

Most of the Pagan community has read many articles“open”, because the spring flowers did
regarding the “borrowing” of certainjust that in this month. June is appropriately the most
holidays and yearly traditions by modern society. Wecommon month for weddings given that its name
have heard that the December 25th birthday of Jesuscomes from Juno, goddess of marriage. The remaining
was taken from Mithras, and we know that Eastermonths have names that stem from Latin, mostly
was originally Eostar or Ostara, a spring fertility festival.based on numbers such as “octo”, but it is
Groundhog’s Day falls on Imbolc, and botheasy to see that our calendar as we know it in
holidays involve an animal predicting the coming spring.modern times is most certainly influenced by our
Even our modern secular traditions of grilling out andPagan past.
shooting off fireworks could be linked to the ancientSo we can see that our language has some Pagan
fire festivals held in summer. It is our natural humaninfluence, but what about our government? So many in
tendency to give thanks for the harvest in the fall, be itour society claim that America was formed on
with Thanksgiving turkey or Lammas bread. But is thatChristian values and ideas. If that is so, where are the
it? Do our Pagan roots extend only to the days wemonuments in Washington depicting Jesus Christ? The
celebrate?simple fact is that there are none. There are however,
To Pagans, it may seem that we live in a world that isseveral examples of Pagan influence to be found.
not accepting of our religion, and in many cases seemsTake for instance the U.S. Capital Building itself.
to be at odds with our beliefs. Certain groups in societyProminently displayed to the right of the main entrance,
denounce the pagan origins of celebrating Halloween,you will find a statue of Mars, Roman god of
and may even go so far as to ban their children fromagriculture and war. The Great Hall of the Justice
dying Easter eggs. While that is of course their right toDepartment Building is home to a statue of the Spirit of
make that choice, the Pagan influences on every dayJustice, based on the goddess of Justice herself,
life go a bit deeper than most people realize. This isJustitia. (Here we also find another word in our
especially obvious when looking at the origin of somelanguage with pagan origins: justice.) Even in the military
of our common words. Few people realize that in theirwe can see the presence of the ancient divine. The
every day speech, they may use words of PaganArmy’s Medal Of Honor features the Roman
origin and not even know it. Take this simple sentencegoddess of wisdom and martial prowess, Minerva.
for example: “This morning I woke up after aHowever, the largest and most obvious example of
night of insomnia and had a bowl of cereal.“Pagan influence in our capital has to be the
There are two words in this sentence that haveWashington Monument, which is, without a doubt, an
Pagan origin. If you had a bowl of cereal this morning,Egyptian Obelisk.
thank the Goddess! “Cereal” comes fromEven in the realm of corporate America there is an
Ceres, Roman counterpart of Demeter, Goddess ofinfluence of our Pagan past. Look closely at the glossy
agriculture, harvest and grains. “Insomnia”magazine ads and the slick television commercials and
comes from Somnus, the Roman counterpart ofyou may find the touch of a goddess. Disposable
Hypnos, god of sleep.razors blades for women are named for the Goddess
Pagan etymology includes our calendar. Take forof Beauty, none other than Venus. Cars are named
example the days of the week. The connectionsSaturn, Taurus, Equinox, and Solstice. Do a search on
between Sunday and the sun, between Monday andthe internet for Osiris and you will find not only much
the moon, and between Saturn and Saturday are theinformation about the Egyptian god, but also a line of
more obvious references. But what about theskateboarding shoes, an IT company, and a medical
etymology of the other days? A lesser known fact isresearch company all named for him. In fact, one of
that every one of the seven days of the week has athe most successful and well-known brand names of
name firmly rooted in Paganism. The Germanic god ofour time is named after a Pagan deity. Modern society
war was Tiu, whose name became part of Tuesday.may think of athletic shoes when they hear her name,
Wednesday is a modification of Woden's Day, beingbut the ancient Greeks knew her as Nike, Goddess of
named for the Anglo-Saxon god of the wild hunt.Victory.
Norse god Thor is the basis of the name Thursday,The influence of ancient Paganism is found in every
and Friday is named for the Norse mother goddessculture throughout the farthest reaches of the world,
Frigg, wife of Odin. When looking further, we can seeeven right here in the United States. When we as
that the names of the months also have PaganPagans acknowledge and embrace this cultural
etymology. The Roman god Janus was ruler ofheritage, it is sure to bring us a deepened sense of
gateways and new beginnings, hence we celebratebelonging in a world that often struggles with our
the new year by honoring him through the name ofacceptance. While it is easy for us to feel a little
January. In ancient Rome, a festival of purification anddisconnected from modern society, looking back on
cleansing was called Februs. Since it was held at thisthe past and the influence the ancient deities have had
time every year, the month was given the nameon our everyday, mundane lives can indeed strengthen
February. March comes from the Roman god of war,our connection to them, to each other, and to the
Mars. April was derived from the Roman word forworld we live in.