Freeday 24 March 2000

Pic of the day: This picture is not arranged. On the other hand, it is not exactly typical of my kitchen floor, either. I accidentally touched my stack of empty "Jaffa Cakes" paper boxes, and most of them fell to the floor in an avalanche. Luckily there were no Jaffa Cakes within them. I took this picture before I threw the boxes in the recycling bin. I had originally thought to stack them up to visualize my consumption of Jaffa Cakes (chocolate covered cookies with orange sponge center). But after the boxes did their own performance art, I consider them sufficiently promoted.

Nothing else interesting happened, that I can remember, so instead I will comment on a book I am currently reading. Well, I read it on the bus. At home I have my computers, so reading here is very limited. Anyway, the book is GUENEVERE - Queen of the Summer Country by Rosalind Miles. It's yet another take on the Arthur legend, which it seems that English-speaking people are returning to again and again. This book however is focused on Arthur's famous wife, and is rather obviously feminist and pro-pagan.

Much can be said about the Church in the dark ages, especially since we don't know much about it (in marked contrast to the middle ages, where the church was a dominant political factor and ripe with corruption). I'd say it is a main weakness of the book that it is rabid anti-church. Even if you happen to think that monotheism is not a good idea, the portrayal of the christians in this book is way over the top. It goes beyond stereotyping to parody, and makes the reader needlessly aware that we are reading a work of fiction. It's more or less like having Mickey Mouse as a co-star in a contemporary novel.

I can see how feminists in general will be sceptical to Christianity, the way it has been practiced for most of its time. And it doesn't help when it is compared to a fantasy paganism that never was, and which is probably based more than anything on a New-Age version of Wicca.

No actual pagan religions were centered almost exclusively on a mother goddess. Iron age religions usually had their deities married in lasting marriages, just like humans. Nor were these religions havens of free love, empowering women to call to their bed who they wanted. Marriage was the norm in all vaguely civilized tribes that we know of, and actually also in many stone-age tribes of hunters and gatherers. And then as now, marriage meant that as a rule women had to stick with one man. Which is not a bad thing if you think about it.

One might imagine that it would be a great idea that a woman could choose any man she might want to bed her. Even the man would probably accept such a fate. But the moment you imagine this in practice, you run into the fact that there are more than one woman who wants the same man. Contemporary evidence indicates that they tend to forget any high ideals of sisterhood and sharing, and we would have a country full of catfights on our hands.

The practice of (mainly monogamous) marriage makes sure that most men and women in fertile age have a sex partner available at least, and that most children have two parents. Until recently, this was pretty essential to survival and success, and widows and orphans were in serious trouble until they were integrated into a new family.

What did exist in the Bronze Age religions were fertility rituals, in which copious copulation on particular holidays were thought to ensure a rich harvest later. The Bronze Age religions often held a very special pair of deities: The dying god and the resurrecting goddess. Each year the god would die and go into the earth; but each year he would be resurrected or born again, typically after intervention from his beloved. And there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth, and correspondingly much jubilation and elation at the return of the god. If this seems familiar to some readers, I am sorry. But such is the story. Baal and Tammuz are examples of such cyclical gods.

The yearly "holy marriage" of the god and goddess were typically enacted by the high priestess or some such, and followed by ritual intercourse also among the commoners. It is however undocumented that these intercourses among the general populace were largely extramarital. The accusations of fornication from the prophets in the Old Testament do carry some weight, but these people would also refer to idolatry as adultery in their often poetic language. Then again, contemporary evidence indicates that public excitement and a steady supply of wine or beer will dramatically increase the chance of extramarital or premarital affairs. So there may be something in it - for a couple days each year.

I could happily go on and on about the reasons for the rise and fall of the Bronze Age fertility religions. But I suspect that without JPG backup, my esteemed readership would lose interest after a while. Suffice it for now to say that the novel GUENEVERE is solid fantasy and should be read as such, rather than a historical novel. If you feel that the Arthurian novels are starting to get all very alike to you, this is a break from the mould. Not recommended for small children.