Balder Ex-Libris

Author : Hutton Ronald
Title : Pagan Britain
Year : 2013

Link download : Hutton_Ronald_-_Pagan_Britain.zip

A note on definitions. It may be wise to define from the beginning the key words employed in this book. At no point will the term ‘art’ be used of the many images painted and carved during British prehistory, even though it is both convenient and sanctioned by long scholarly tradition, viz. ‘Palaeolithic cave art’, ‘megalithic art’, ‘rock art’, etc. This is because of the modern connotations of the word, as something intended to be decorative and inspirational, giving pleasure to those who see it, rather than functional. The prehistoric imagery may indeed have had exactly that purpose, but some or all of it may have operated as well or instead as a form of language, providing information to the observer in the form of directions, lessons, blessings, prayers, curses, prohibitions or declarations; and to use the conventional word obscures that possibility. That is why more neutral terms such as ‘images’, ‘figures’ or ‘designs’ will be preferred. Next come those two old lexical friends, ‘religion’ and ‘magic’. Both have been fought over extensively by professional colleagues in recent years, and merely to use the latter, or to use the former in the context of prehistory, may arouse the ire of some, while others may be as severely provoked by the implication that the latter has a separate identity from the former. I have argued at length in a previous publication (Witches, Druids and King Arthur) that they can indeed be distinguished, and have a different essence, even though they can easily overlap or blend and magic can form a category inside religion. The definitions offered and explained there will be retained here. Religion is characterized as belief in the existence of spiritual beings or forces which are in some measure responsible for the cosmos, and in the need of human beings to form relationships with them in which they are accorded some respect. When a group of people operates it in the same way, it becomes ‘a’ religion. ...