jack
Newbie
Posts: 42 
Pronouns: he/him/his
Religion: fictional reconstruction
|
Post by jack on Mar 19, 2015 4:07:30 GMT -6
I'm curious if anyone practices, or knows of anyone who practices, any kind of Narnian polytheism? I know the books as written are intended as Christian allegory, but I'm a gnostic Narnian (I believe Lewis was a talented author but by no means a Narnian historian) and primarily work with the travelers across dimensions known as the Sons of Adam and Daughters of Eve. I honor them on what I refer to kind of glibly as Narnian saints' days. I started with the four Pevensie siblings and then broadened my practice to include Eustace, Diggory and Polly. I would like to add Jill as well but I haven't had a chance to sit down and to the work to start that relationship. Next year I'd also like to consider Christmas as a Narnian holiday, but I'm not sure yet how I'd like to approach that. I've written about this a bit on my blog, if you're interested. My spouse is an orthodox Narnian and works with Aslan, but I get on with Aslan only slightly better than I do with Jesus, so I'm better off sticking to the saints, I think. Anybody else? |
|
leithincluan
Junior Member
Posts: 85
Pronouns: she/her
Religion: Gaelic Polytheism and modern British druidry
|
Post by leithincluan on Mar 19, 2015 5:14:15 GMT -6
I'm curious if anyone practices, or knows of anyone who practices, any kind of Narnian polytheism? Jack already knows that I do - but for everyone else: I have recently started honouring Jadis, the White Witch, as a deity - or possibly as a modern avatar of the winter Cailleach. This is massively problematic in terms of the books themselves, and means taking Gnostic Narnianism to a whole other level. It becomes literary criticism, looking at the way Lewis writes about her and how his view of her colours her representation in the books, then taking it back to a UPG level. (This is an approach which is really useful to me for other types of work with texts, particularly Irish myth written in the Christian era.) I have studied and taught English literature and linguistics, so I enjoy this approach. Always keen to hear from others who've either worked with Narnia, or with other books, in a similar way. |
|
Liadine
Newbie
Posts: 7
Pronouns: She/her
Religion: eclectic polytheist & fire worker
|
Post by Liadine on Mar 24, 2015 3:14:24 GMT -6
I'm curious if anyone practices, or knows of anyone who practices, any kind of Narnian polytheism? I know the books as written are intended as Christian allegory, but I'm a gnostic Narnian (I believe Lewis was a talented author but by no means a Narnian historian) and primarily work with the travelers across dimensions known as the Sons of Adam and Daughters of Eve. I honor them on what I refer to kind of glibly as Narnian saints' days. I started with the four Pevensie siblings and then broadened my practice to include Eustace, Diggory and Polly. I would like to add Jill as well but I haven't had a chance to sit down and to the work to start that relationship. Next year I'd also like to consider Christmas as a Narnian holiday, but I'm not sure yet how I'd like to approach that. I've written about this a bit on my blog, if you're interested. My spouse is an orthodox Narnian and works with Aslan, but I get on with Aslan only slightly better than I do with Jesus, so I'm better off sticking to the saints, I think. Anybody else? I definitely need to poke at your blog more - about this, and in general too. I wish I wasn't so crap at following blogs. Aslan was more or less the first anything (I don't know if 'deity' is the right word to use here, exactly) I had a relationship with, and that's followed through till now (although it's been more of a 'I have that relationship, but I'm not doing anything about it' thing for way too long); I've also had a general pull towards the Pevensies, but that's been in the past decade or so, and I still haven't gotten around to doing anything about it. There's kind of a theme here, obviously, but I'm finally starting to put things into practice rather than just having deep emotions about it all. |
|
jack
Newbie
Posts: 42
Pronouns: he/him/his
Religion: fictional reconstruction
|
Post by jack on Mar 24, 2015 3:21:11 GMT -6
Knowing there are other Narnian pagans makes me indescribably happy.  I was attracted to Narnia despite disliking aspects of the books for years and years before I took the step to do something about it, too. I'm pretty sure deep emotional reactions are the basis of a lot of pop culture paganism. I look forward to hearing more when you're able! |
|
Caelesti
Junior Member
Posts: 50 
Pronouns: She/Her
Religion: ADF/UU, Modern American Polytheist
|
Post by Caelesti on Mar 25, 2015 21:48:54 GMT -6
Didn't know their were different denominations of Narnian pagans! (orthodox, gnostic, Jadis cultus) I haven't gotten into this myself, but I'm a fan of the books, in spite of their flaws. I have some various links that might be of use, like fanfiction- I recommend the Carpetbaggers, which is set after the Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe. Here's a couple of posts about the White Witch/Jadis- one comparing her to Skadi, Norse goddess of winter, and another about her in general. Leithin Cluan, in particular might like this feminist/social justice deconstruction of the Chronicles- it goes thru the first 3 books, and also discusses some films and miniseries. |
|
leithincluan
Junior Member
Posts: 85
Pronouns: she/her
Religion: Gaelic Polytheism and modern British druidry
|
Post by leithincluan on Mar 26, 2015 1:55:33 GMT -6
Oooh thank you so much for the links! I have read a couple of things by Jadis fans, but not much. I wouldn't say there are denominations (they'd be small I guess *grin*) but the first thing I found with Narnia people is how much variation there is. I love the idea of Jadis cultus. I guess that is what I'm interested in doing. |
|
jack
Newbie
Posts: 42
Pronouns: he/him/his
Religion: fictional reconstruction
|
Post by jack on Mar 26, 2015 2:29:34 GMT -6
I started calling what I did gnostic Narnianism as a joke, and then in response my spouse declared orthodoxy, so yeah, please don't feel like you have to pick a denomination or something. XD
I've seen the Ana Mardoll deconstruction but not the other links, thanks! I particularly like fanfiction explorations of Susan post-Last Battle, personally.
|
|
