Paganism, once obscure and almost forgotten, has clearly influenced many creative thinkers such as Tolkien and the famous Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung.
     Despite this enormous influence, few of us know the myths, let alone have any real understanding of the centre-piece of northern European Paganism, the great deity, Odin.
     According to Jung, pagan myths and gods are ancient blueprints that are still very much alive in the modern mind. These myths lie deep within the subconscious mind and we are unknowingly driven by them in thought and action.
     Author Richard Rudgley, in his book Pagan Resurrection, explores this revival in its various manifestations particularly the influence on the Nazis, and then takes us on an insightful journey to modern times.
     Richard Rudgley is an author and a TV presenter on Britain’s Channel 4. He has written six other books and presented a four part series called “The Pagans” for British television.
     It is clear that paganism has been revived and has spread across the English-speaking world. Its diverse power and influence is easily found in Tolkien’s masterpiece, The Lord of the Rings, and Jules Verne’s Journey to the Centre of the Earth.
     Rudgley begins this book with the statement that Pagan Resurrection is a biography of a deity who was once the king of pagan gods of northern Europe before he was usurped by Christ. Odin still exists, says Rudgley, in our collective thoughts and he has “profoundly influenced the course of the modern world.”
     Carl Jung describes Odin as an archetype – a psychic complex that subconsciously influences our thoughts and actions. Even if we do not believe in “Gods” or supernatural entities, they have an existence external to the minds and perceptions of human beings, insists Rudgley.
     In 1936 Jung wrote of his prophecies on the return of Odin in his essay “Wotan.” Odin was seen by Jung as an ancient god who had suddenly, and inexplicably awoken from a thousand years of slumber and taken over the collective psyche of the German nation under the Nazi party. This, as we all know, lead them into a disastrous war.
     The old god, often described as the epitome of frenzy, arose, almost over night, in a nation of rational and civilised people and plunged their land, and in the end most of the world, into catastrophe. The war finally came to an end with the suicide of Hitler and several of his generals, yet it was not the end of the phenomenon. In a letter written shortly before his death in 1961 Jung felt the archetype was far from dead but would rise again.
     As more and more people look back to the old religions that governed their ancestors before the invasion of Christianity, it is perhaps inevitable that this God, this archetype, will again be stirred into action in the subconscious. Yet it is important to remember that not all paganism is influenced by Odin.
     In both American and British pagan circles, practitioners generally divide themselves into three basic groups: Wiccans, Druids, and Heathens, who follow Germanic and Norse traditions. Heathens call themselves by this name because it is derived from the word heath, a wild part of the landscape, rather than the word pagan which is derived from the Latin. It also distinguishes them from other pagan ideas, beliefs and practices which might be very different, particularly the northern Germanic Odinic cults, says Rudgley.
     The realms of the imagination are vast and unlimited, and Jung identified the Odinic archetype as the single most influential force at work in the collective unconscious of the northern European mind. This influence, states Rudgley, has been transplanted to the United States and neo-Nazi groups.
     Rudgley believes the crisis in the collective mind has erupted again, and “we have seen foreshadowed a second, this time worldwide, Odinic experiment in the Anglo-American world.”
     According to Jung, the only way to avoid the second Odinic experiment turning into yet another psychotic episode in the history of humanity is to harmonise the conscious mind with the deeper levels of the psyche. For those of us of European background this is to be found in the mythology of paganism.
     In this sense Jung is calling for a return to paganism in a balanced and holistic way. Modern paganism is not about imitating the art and magic of ancient time through form, but rather through the spiritual essence of the old.
     This book is filled with hard facts, some of which are disturbing, and a must for any serious student or follower of paganism. It is vital that we have the courage to look at the modern journey of paganism, including, what many people believe was the distortion of its wisdom by the Nazis.
     Rudgley offers an insightful vision of the Odin myths and asks us to recognise the legends, as Jung would ask us to, as the story of our psyche. Odin is a war god and eventually he dies, but he is survived by Vidar, his son. Perhaps Vidar is the new man outlined by Nietzsche or perhaps he is the transformed man suggested by Jung, either way, we have a choice and that choice is to become more conscious.
     We are all influenced by archetypes. However, it only becomes dangerous when we refuse to bring this information into the conscious mind.
     As Rudgley so rightly puts it, we believe we are coherent, rational human beings, but in fact we are governed by all kinds of deep interior energies. The deeper aspects of paganism clearly states that there is a “Web of Wyrd” which teaches that even though we think we are free and separate agents, we are neither, but rather part of a web of creativity.
     It is also important to remember that Odin was only one of a series of Gods. If we study the whole pantheon we gain a holistic vision of the world as each deity is connected with the others through the web.
     As a whole they offer us a complete map of the mind and its capacities.
     These ancient blueprints are still active in our modern minds and the exploration of this is our deeper journey.