Hellas futebol

[Festivus]

One of my facebook friends posted this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBpNu4_TP9w

Do you pray to Zeus, Faliro?

[Faliro]

I don't pray to Zeus, lol. But I respect the ancient religion of my ancestors as holding more truth to humanity than the Desert God of the ChrisMusJews.

I am upset the Greek Government sees the ancient religion as below Islam and Judaism and refuses them permission to pray at temples. However, I understand it to. Greeks are fully indoctrinated, like most the Mediterranean, to the Hebrew Desert God. They see the ancient religion of the twelve gods as a threat because they know its power was once very great - however they see Islam and Judaism as sister religions to Christianity.

What is interesting is there were a few famous Byzantine figures who argued to go back to the 12 Gods, but I doubt not even one percent of Greeks know that.

[H]

I don't pray to Zeus, lol. But I respect the ancient religion of my ancestors as holding more truth to humanity than the Desert God of the ChrisMusJews.

Faliro... 

I would sooner pray to Zeus, than to Jesus or Mohammed.

We Portuguese did have as well our own pagan beliefs, with Celtic origins and later obviously influenced by Greek/Roman mythology, before they infected us with that highly noxious religion, called Christianism. And much like you, I'm very proud of those beliefs and deities.

[HJDK]

You don't pray for Jesus, you pray for his father.

Btw, for me, sooner or later, all religions are doomed to be mythology. So I rather like the cool ones, like Greek, Egyptian, and Nordic tales. I'm also a lot into the Japanese Shinto and all their folclore and legends.

Christianism is so lame. For you it's probably ordinary but you can't imagine how cool is to say names like Andromeda, Prometheus, Perseus, Artemis, Achilles, Heracles and so on. Talkin' about the twelve Olympians, Centaurs, Argonauts? All ladies would be stunned.

[H]

Bitch, I pray to whomever I want! If I say that I pray to the scurvy lad that took a bite of the multiplied bread and fish, you can't stop me!

[Faliro]

I am not surprised there are so many enlightened members on here. 

One thing usually follows another in my experience and the fact you guys have such an open mind to football from other countries and are so welcoming to me and others, it follows you are also advanced spiritually.

Greeks are funny people. I suspect many are secretly fascinated with the Gods that dominated their ancient culture but many stay quiet most the time not to annoy more traditional Greeks who may be superstitious anything pagan is sinful.

What is interesting is many Greeks still have pagan names. Many Greeks today are called Achilleos, Heracles, Perikles, Sokratis, Themistokles (my middle name), Dionysos, Orestes, Stefanos, Nestoras, Minas etc etc

Many football clubs are named after pagan gods or ideals: Iraklis (Hercules), Aris (Ares), Atromitos (fearless), Apollon Athens (Apollo Athens), etc etc Some even have bizarre pagan slogans, like Panaitolikos in the Super League. On their emblem it reads: Titormos the Etolian is another Hercules:





Sometimes when people ask me if I am religious, I say, 'I worship the Dodekatheon' - just to see their reactions! 

Are there many pagans in portugal?

[Festivus]

This reminds me of a conversation I had with a Norwegian friend of mine once. He told me that they barely learn about the Viking age and the Vikings' spiritual beliefs in school at all.

I find Celtic and Norse to be the most interesting mythologies. Also a fan of some of the Japanese an Greek mythologies. In the Japanese case, I like how the Japanese know how to mix beliefs and traditions from several religions and make them able to co-exist peacefully. Shinto deals with "pure" stuff like births, while Buddhism deals with "impure" stuff such as death. As for weddings, Japanese people like Western-themed weddings. Hell, if you're a white guy living in Japan, you can do that for a living. Act like a priest, pick and get money for acting in a wedding . Indian mythology and religions like Hinduism raise a lot of interest in young people but I personally never cared much about it.

Greek gods were a bunch of perverts. I remember us tlakign about Odysseus/Ulisses in history class and my desk mate cracking jokes about Odysseus/Ulisses' wife cheating on him while he was away... and him cheating on her as well: with men, women and even goats. Sounds retarded now, but as a 14 year old I laughed my ass off the whole class.

[HJDK]

You have a nice middle name, Faliro. Nowadays, Sokratis is a cursed named in Portugal.

Most portuguese(84,6%, based on the 2011 census) follow Catholicism. But I would say that half of these are non active in religious terms(myself included). It's a normal result for almost 40 years of dictatorship and repression. Education was very restricted, only rich people or via The Church(funny, ain't it?) could study.

Paganism is not a thing in Portugal, even despite the fact that we have tradition in that matter. We have an association though:

http://pt.paganfederation.org/

[Cloughie]

You have a nice middle name, Faliro. Nowadays, Sokratis is a cursed named in Portugal.

Most portuguese(84,6%, based on the 2011 census) follow Catholicism. But I would say that half of these are non active in religious terms(myself included). It's a normal result for almost 40 years of dictatorship and repression. Education was very restricted, only rich people or via The Church(funny, ain't it?) could study.

Paganism is not a thing in Portugal, even despite the fact that we have tradition in that matter. We have an association though:

http://pt.paganfederation.org/

And Angelos... Charisteas. THAT BASTARD!!!!

[H]

Are there many pagans in portugal?

Unfortunately I would say there are close to none. I personally know only a handful of people that might fit into that criteria but I wouldn't say they practice it on traditional standards. I myself fit to a point, but my poor knowledge (in comparison) on subject keeps me from calling myself that. For instance, I have never heard about any sort of pagan rites happening inside the country, clandestine or not, but it is something I would like to get to know better and have felt increasingly curious about it over the years.

Personally, I would very much appreciate to witness or participate for example in a Yule like the old days or any sort of pagan ritual evoked by our Lusitanian ancestors but it's a shame that this Historical and Cultural part of us, Portuguese, is slowly fading away and getting forgotten. They don't teach us anything from the Lusitanian mythology on our schools and although I am extremely proud and deeply respect our "more recent" History, coming from when we became a recognized independent country (1143), it's a shame that we only get to know that a thousand years before that, we were lead by this mighty warrior and strategist called Viriato (Viriathus), who fiercely repelled and consecutevely defeated the Romans on the battlefield, until he got betrayed and killed by one of them.

But that's a good one mate, next time people ask me beliefs I'll just answer that "I worship Endovélico and Ataegina", the two most important deities of Lusitanian mythology, haha!

[Faliro]

This reminds me of a conversation I had with a Norwegian friend of mine once. He told me that they barely learn about the Viking age and the Vikings' spiritual beliefs in school at all.

I find Celtic and Norse to be the most interesting mythologies. Also a fan of some of the Japanese an Greek mythologies. In the Japanese case, I like how the Japanese know how to mix beliefs and traditions from several religions and make them able to co-exist peacefully. Shinto deals with "pure" stuff like births, while Buddhism deals with "impure" stuff such as death. As for weddings, Japanese people like Western-themed weddings. Hell, if you're a white guy living in Japan, you can do that for a living. Act like a priest, pick and get money for acting in a wedding . Indian mythology and religions like Hinduism raise a lot of interest in young people but I personally never cared much about it.

Greek gods were a bunch of perverts. I remember us tlakign about Odysseus/Ulisses in history class and my desk mate cracking jokes about Odysseus/Ulisses' wife cheating on him while he was away... and him cheating on her as well: with men, women and even goats. Sounds retarded now, but as a 14 year old I laughed my ass off the whole class.

I agree about the Norse beliefs, they are immensely cool. I am also fascinated by Japan from an early age and still read manga and have some good anime collections (Elfen Lied probably being my favorite).

Interesting point you made about modern Norwegians not being taught to much about their ancient religions. It does seem a bit odd how the education systems of many European cultures mask big parts of their past. My wife knew some Norweigens and the mother constantly reminded her kids they were once Vikings to the point her kids would tell people they were descended from Vikings when they met other kids. 

I was forced to read Homer's Iliad at university in London as part of my literature course and was amazed at how much violence and bloodshed there was intermixed with honour and disenchantment. The image of Ares coming down to the battlefield and chopping up Greeks with ease was one of my abiding images. It was a very hard poem to read but it did remind me a lot of something Japanese. Unashamed violence and questioning of the soul. The Odyssey was also really weird, but wonderful at the same time - and slightly easier to read. I especially liked Book 11 (Book of the Dead).

The real mythologies of ancient Greece are super violent and usually end in murder. There is also lots of interference from Gods and marriage problems. Quite entertaining really.

[H]

http://pt.paganfederation.org/

Damn HJDK, this is great, been looking for a site like this for some time, thanks a bunch. I'll buy you a mead mug when I'll meet you man!

[HJDK]

@H

http://www.dn.pt/inicio/portugal/interior.aspx?content_id=1609456

[Faliro]

You have a nice middle name, Faliro. Nowadays, Sokratis is a cursed named in Portugal.

Most portuguese(84,6%, based on the 2011 census) follow Catholicism. But I would say that half of these are non active in religious terms(myself included). It's a normal result for almost 40 years of dictatorship and repression. Education was very restricted, only rich people or via The Church(funny, ain't it?) could study.

Paganism is not a thing in Portugal, even despite the fact that we have tradition in that matter. We have an association though:

http://pt.paganfederation.org/

Interesting. Christianity has had quite a history of elitism in general. For about 300 years, the only degree on offer at Oxford and Cambridge were 'Christian studies.' 

[H]

This reminds me of a conversation I had with a Norwegian friend of mine once. He told me that they barely learn about the Viking age and the Vikings' spiritual beliefs in school at all.

That's curious. I am currently sharing a flat with other four people and one of them it's a Norwegian girl and she is quite an enthusiastic fan of the Norse mythology, but I think she learned all about it on school, if I remember correctly.