Post BA6XImkr7elHDFBO3k by druid@diclonius.princess.wedding
 (DIR) More posts by druid@diclonius.princess.wedding
 (DIR) Post #BA6RTSzULTadNNjkgq by druid@diclonius.princess.wedding
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       The modern world has "unrealistic standards." The Pagan world has "aspirational figures."
       
 (DIR) Post #BA6RTT9PkZWtsANgA4 by druid@diclonius.princess.wedding
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       The difference is that the Pagans knew they couldn't live up to their gods and heroes, yet knew it was healthy to try. Modern people are "temporarily embarrassed millionaires" when it comes to living up to impossible standards.
       
 (DIR) Post #BA6RTTKP5iJuQFWSI4 by druid@diclonius.princess.wedding
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       Taken to its unhealthiest extremes, this results in either a desperation to be something you can never be or a complete rejection of beauty itself as some kind of hollow construct. But note that both of these extremes are about aesthetics, not actual qualities. At best it becomes about metrics of success (e.g. How much you earn.) In a Pagan society, gods and heroes had actual qualities for their followers to live up to.
       
 (DIR) Post #BA6SNF05Y2kkCcc3iS by sathariel@diclonius.princess.wedding
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       @druid I like to see them as fields that one can tune in looking for the desired qualities. That's why we tell their stories and that's why we consecrate cities and places to certain patrons. The aim should be to develop one very own story, one very own personality but we the help and qualities of these figures. And gods bless those who look for it.
       
 (DIR) Post #BA6XImkr7elHDFBO3k by druid@diclonius.princess.wedding
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       @sathariel Exactly. So what happens when all of that is removed, because of monotheism? When Jesus Christ becomes the only aspirational figure allowed, and everyone is told to be like him?Well, it's impossible, of course. Consider how a warrior for example is supposed to be Christ-like. It's nonsense. He lives by violating the commandments anyway. So the warrior, who once had strong examples in the Pagan gods and heroes, now has nobody - and no compass - and before we know it, we end up with warriors marauding the countryside, raping and pillaging.Of course, you can't keep the Pagan instinct down even with Jesus, so new figures arise anyway. (E.g. King Arthur becomes a beacon of chivalry that helps to keep knightly behaviour in check.) But the effect is muted and weaker the more time passes, and particularly the deeper we get into capitalist-industrial society (itself an inevitable result of Protestantism, itself an inevitable result of the quest for a "pure" Christianity with all the Pagan bits cut out.)It pains me to say it because it shows how far things have degraded, but superheroes might be the closest thing we generally have now - at least insofar as their influence on children.
       
 (DIR) Post #BA6XTAiesTeoQv6j2m by druid@diclonius.princess.wedding
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       @sathariel Anyway my original post here was actually inspired not by the warrior's plight but by the plight of women. It makes me sad to see women who are so afraid of being objectified that they can't see the power of being deified - and how one requires the other.