A path riddled with fiction

          The new budding pagan depending on path chosen and deity, will have a herculean effort before them to separate fact from fiction.  There are a few books now especially if one is following a more popular path say like Wicca, or just plain witchcraft, Buckland has books out there thou I am not overly fond of him as a teacher he is an excellent encyclopedia type medium.  Scott Cunningham is also an excellent source though I have found some people to consider him only a work for beginners that while it was okay to start with him, one should, “graduate” to deeper teachings /rolls eyes sarcastically….

          Many practices or paths have fallen into obscurity I am afraid being of the type passed down from teacher to student only by word of mouth, some indeed are lost to us and the only reference material we find is from the accounts of others who observed them, and most regrettable their opinion is often bias.  For instance the early Druids from Gaul what is now modern day France, were nearly tramped out by the Roman invasion.  They passed their knowledge by word of mouth and most was lost.  A great deal of the records we have concerning them comes from the Romans and Greeks.   I have lived long enough to see history modified, also I know that the History books are always written by the victor, he who won the war.  I am sure the early Gaul’s see the, “glorious” invasion of the Romans from quite a different view point.  One must do what one can, in the way of gleaning facts from whatever material they can find. I do not work with the Greek pantheon for instance, but as all should know between the authors of fiction, and Hollywood their story has been twisted, added to and completely made up in some cases.  What I find most alarming is that some will take these purely fictional works as being a guide or gospel if you will, not able or not willing to glean the truth if any can still be found.  Many pagan gods and goddess if their tail lent itself to a great story has been exploited this way, and while I like a good novel just as much as the next person I do not consider it a divine source of inspiration.  I am reminded of a group of people that I met once who, had run into a young eclectic witch friend of mine, and once they found out she was leading a circle of her own with one or two friends her age, they chastised her most vehemently.  They were new comers just moved into the area, but claimed to be, “High Priest of Avalon” and were toting the fictional work, “Mist of Avalon” as a holy writ upon which they base all their authority and knowledge and no one can practice in their area without their guidance and blessing.  First of all the mythical place called Avalon was a work of fiction from the author of the tales of King Author, though there is some debate upon if such a king existed named Author and there may have been one of Roman lineage, he was by no means the representation of the fictional character.  Little is known about the possible figure who inspired the story of King Arthur, a heroic monarch who has been a popular mythological and literary character for some time. It has been suggested that the real-life "Arthur" may have been a warrior/officer of Roman affiliation who led a British military force against incoming Saxon forces during the 5th to 6th centuries A.D. Still, Celtic monk Gildas wrote of the Saxon invasion in his work The Ruin and Conquest of Britain, citing the conflict at Badon Hills, and no warrior named Arthur is mentioned.
In contrast, the 6th century bard Aneirin crafted the Welsh collection of poems The Gododdin in which a heroic Arthur is spoken of. Yet with the work originally shared orally as opposed to being written down, it is impossible to ascertain if Arthur was part of the original story. Another poet, Teliesin, mentions a valiant Arthur in his work as well.
There has also been another suggestion circulated that references to Arthur were actually a way of honoring via myth a Celtic bear deity with a similar name. 

          This is just one example of which I speak, I could go on, but with the fear of putting you to sleep or worse yet glazing your eyes over with information overload I will refrain from indulging my passion.  I have worked with several deities since becoming pagan some easy to find decent information on some so obscure as to be questionable at best.  But a deity that wishes to work with you will make themselves known, I have worked with the Morrigan for quite a few years, she is a Celtic Goddess of which some is known but it is quite hard to find a great deal of information on her.  What I have been unable to pick up from books though I have gotten from her, she is not shy about telling you what you should do and how.  I have gotten the vapors a few times though, when people mistakenly take her; and the again fictional person Morgan Le Fay as being the same person.  They are not, Morgan Le Fay was a person of literary make believe put into the Author tails as sometimes his sister or what have you, for one thing this story was based on the merry old country of England.  The Morrigan was a goddess of the green country of Ireland not even remotely connected, the mistake in identity was being broadcast by a site admin from a Facebook Pagan site.  Please if you are going to be an admin and going to portray yourself as someone with knowledge do your homework..
If you wish to find out more about the Morrigan there is a priesthood of hers that has cropped back up I have read their site and it is quite a work they are doing.  Here is a great reference site on her, https://inanna.virtualave.net/morrigan.html enjoy perhaps she will call you also.
          A friend of mine discussed with me once their frustration now, of trying to follow a Norse path, she can never meditate on Thor now without picturing him from the Avengers marvel story line now, I sympathized with her but also found it quite facetious though I did not let on to her since she seem sincerely upset about it.  So in our efforts to learn new paths and new deities let us strive with our best effort to sift through fact and fiction as best we may, I know it is not easy, but to teach what is obviously a Hollywood fictional representation as knowledge handed down from the ages is not fair to you or your students. 

Blessed Be
PD