It can clearly be stated and defended that Christian Eschatology has borrowed from Pagan civilizations, but what can be said of modern Pagan Eschatology? Many of the reconstructionist faiths have their own series of myths about the end and post-life. The New Age craze has the Age of Aquarius going for them - a supposed time when the Age of Pisces/the Era of Christianity meets its end.  What about the rest of us? Is an individual's view any less valid than the views of larger Pagan denominations? Many people discuss the influence of magic upon the ethereal structure we so lovingly call 'the vale'.  I don't know exactly where the vale ideology came from, but realize that it is a huge part of the belief systems of many in the Pagan community. And what about  2012 and the Mayan Prophecies? Do we really understand them well enough that we may definitively suggest that they pertain to an Eschatological view, and not just an ancient Y2K?  Are these not just different ways in which we may perceive a single event horizon?

I found a unique reference in the following link, and here is the attached quote:

"In pagan eschatology the world, or parts of it, comes under threat, even. threat of annihilation, and it is the gods who can either provoke it or prevent it..."

Neil Gaiman, in Good Omens, the Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch, explores this concept through the Christian realms of angelic and demonic choirs. At this he proposes that the ineffable plan runs so deep that not even the prominent players really know why they believe as they do, only that 'that's the way its always been' or 'that's simply the way it is'. Everyone is expected to play a role in making, destroying, and remaking the world. This point has also been emphasized by the character of The Architect, in The Wachowski Bros' Matrix Reloaded. Unfortunately for Morpheus, his prophecy of deliverance from the war with the machines would only have lead to a reinitializing of a sequence never meant to give humanity a chance.

This turned out a bit longer than I had expected. I am looking for feedback on the questions posed in the first paragraph. Curious what people think.

Tags: afterlife, death, myth, pagan eschatology
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