Product Description

Reveals how Christian mythology of the Middle Ages had more to do with paganism than the Bible

• Identifies pagan deities that were incorporated into each of the saints

• Shows how all the major holidays on the Christian calendar are modeled on long-standing pagan traditions

This extensive study of the Christian mythology that animated medieval Europe shows that this mythology is primarily of pagan inspiration and that very little of it comes from the Bible. The fact that Christianity grafted itself onto earlier pagan worship was no mystery to the Church Fathers, Philippe Walter explains. Pagan elements were incorporated into the Christian faith on the advice of Pope Gregory the Great, who told Saint Augustine of Canterbury that rather than tear down the pagan temples in Britain, he should instead add the pagan rituals into the mix of Christian practices, thus providing an easy transition to the new religion. It was simply a matter of convincing the populace to slightly redirect their focus to include Jesus.

In this highly documented work Walter shows which major calendar days of the Christian year are founded on pagan rituals and myths, including the high holidays of Easter and Christmas, a time when many pagans prepared for the coming of spirits who would leave gifts for those who honored their coming. Indeed, the identities of saints and pagan figures were so intermingled that some saints were even transformed into pagan incarnations. Mary Magdalene, for instance, became one of the ladies of the lake of Celtic legend. He also explores how the hagiographic accounts of the saints in the scriptures reveal the origin of these symbolic figures to be the deities worshiped in pagan Europe for centuries.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #314193 in Books
• Published on: 2006-06-27
• Released on: 2006-07-09
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 224 pages

From Publishers Weekly
It is generally understood that Christianity strengthened its position early on in the popular mind by usurping and bending pagan rituals and sacred locales. In this ambitious scholarly treatise, professor of medieval French literature Walter marries the pagan and Christian calendars in great detail by examining ancient myths, saints and celebrations. He visits All Saints Day, the Twelve Days of Christmas, Candlemas, Easter, Ascension, St. John's Day of Summer, St. Peter's Chains Day and St. Michael's Day to find that these yearly rounds, roughly 40 days apart, share a mythical realm with the dates of Carnival, best understood as "a religion-it was even the religion preceding Christianity." Walter's sources include acts of councils, confessors' manuals, literary texts such as Arthurian romances, hagiographic works and medieval iconography. While he doesn't attack Christianity on its spiritual merits, he concludes boldly that "Christianity would have had no chance of imposing itself in the West if, on certain points of dogma and rites, it had not responded to the religious needs of the converted pagans." While not for general readership, this volume makes a strong scholarly contribution to understanding the evolution of belief, where "it is important to understand that nothing has been lost or created."
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
*Starred Review* All those millions of Da Vinci Code fans will probably not flock to this book, which utterly lacks car chases, sadomasochism, and albinos. Those seriously interested, however, in the survival of pagan beliefs under the cloak of Christianity will find in these pages the most comprehensive and scholarly work on the subject to date. Walter, professor of medieval French literature at the University of Grenoble, works his way through the "Christian" calendar to reveal the pagan gods and goddesses rooted in it. For instance, he convincingly shows that Carnival was originally the feast of Carna, goddess of carnality. He restores those "Easter" eggs and bunnies, such obvious fertility symbols, to their places in the calendar of agricultural feasts. He argues that the fires of St. John's Day derive from the solstice celebrations that mark the turning of the solar year, and that Halloween unquestionably is based on the Celtic feast of Samhain, when the dead, or the fairies, come back to haunt the living. Meticulously documented yet propounded in an easy conversational style, Walter's achievement should fascinate especially the many who want to acknowledge the pre-Christian symbols still found in Christian churches. Of course, it may also enthrall the fearful, who may use it to remove all such symbols from their places of worship. Patricia Monaghan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
". . . Walter marries the pagan and Christian calendars in great detail by examining ancient myths, saints and celebrations. . . . this volume makes a strong scholarly contribution to understanding the evolution of belief."
(Publisher's Weekly, Aug 2006 )

"Those seriously interested in the survival of pagan beliefs under the cloak of Christianity will find in these pages the most comprehensive and scholarly work on the subject to date."
(Patricia Monaghan, Booklist, Aug 2006 )

"This amazing little book is a must for any serious student of paganism, witchcraft, and the more mystical strains of Christianity. . . . There is simply too much to say about this excellent work and its truly well-researched basis. This book should be in your library and be read with interest and delight."
(Cauldron Brasil, May 2007 )

"Anyone with an open, curious mind will cherish this book."
(Galina Pembroke, publisher of New View )

Customer Reviews

Finally!
Thank you, thank you Philippe Walter, for releasing this book! I know it hasn't gotten that much attention, but I really hope it does. Walter examines historically and accurately the origins of Christian holidays (Pagan, Pagan, Pagan) and analyzes them in such a way that it is easy and non-threatening for anyone to read. It is well-organized, well-written and accurate. A very good addition to the religious scholar's library, or even a great read checked out from the library.