Exploring Pagan America
Posted in Pagan America on March 5th, 2007 by JennyIs it possible to be a practicing pagan and not even know it? Can you be a religious Catholic or Lutheran and still worship the gods of your ancestors? Could your immigrant ancestors have done such a great job hiding their worship from others that it was passed down without you, your parents or maybe even your grandparents being aware of the spiritual significance? Or are these outpourings of “faith” just part of our genetic make-up as human beings?
On first glance these questions seem absurd; but once you start traveling the United States, especially rural America, the doubts begin to creep in. Consider:
- A statue of corn erected in a rural Minnesota town whose economy is largely based on agriculture celebrates in true pagan fashion with a yearly summer festival called Corn Capital Days. Mythology and annual celebrations of corn are nothing new - they are embedded throughout the mythologies of the Americas and Europe - such Sif (the wife of Thor) who was a Nordic corn goddess - and continue all they way back to the ancient Egyptians;
- A massive statue of a cow atop a large hill in rural North Dakota farming country - with a population of second and third generation German-Russians and Norwegians - whose pre-Christian beliefs in the “old” country included the worship of a cow as part of their creation myth. This rural town hosts rodeos every summer at the base of the hill where the statue sits;
- The incredible popularity and staying power of the symbols of pagan worship in our culture, such as the abundance of cow merchandise available ranging from potholders to car seat covers. It’s hard to explain the popularity of Holstein cow car seat covers or salt and pepper shakers if not through their spiritual pull on the purchaser.
This series, Pagan America, will examine some of these statues, festivals and communities in a spirit of fun and adventure rather like archaeologists three hundred years from now trying to piece together a picture of religion in America.
Related Posts:
The World’s Largest Ear of Corn
Salem Sue, a Genesis Story
Pagan America category
March 7th, 2007 at 5:56 pm
I wouldn’t argue with you on any point concerning ancient pagan beliefs because that is an area I have no knowledge of; however, many of the present day larger than life symbols exist for their economic value to the communities they are located close to or in. I don’t believe there would be “cow” merchandise, for example, is there wasn’t a profit to be made by selling it.
March 7th, 2007 at 6:30 pm
Hey Dennis,
Thanks for the feedback. I can’t say I disagree with you. I just think there is the possibility that part of the reason why things like cow merchandise are so popular is it appeals to us in some deep, not so logical, way.
Hope you keep reading as we explore this topic a bit more in future posts.
March 7th, 2007 at 11:49 pm
Hi Jenny,
The story that I’ve heard about the ‘Salem Sue’ cow is that many years ago a graduating senior class had lots of money at the end of their school year. They wanted to do something for the community of New Salem and so this is the reason for the black and white cow.
I feel that it has really turned out wonderful for tourism which North Dakota is always striving to do better in. Possibly even more than New Salem ever expected.
This is awesome, keep up the great writing!
March 9th, 2007 at 9:23 pm
Nancy,
Thanks for the story about the orgin of “Salem Sue.” It’s intriguing to me because as I’ve asked around I’ve gotten different stories, one of them being a wealthy (single) dairy farmer didn’t have any family to leave his wealth to in his will so instead he decided to pay for this statue to be constructed to give homage to dairy farmers in the region.
Kind of feels like a there might be some “rural” myths surrounding Salem Sue rather like the more common “urban” myths that are reported all the time in various forms.
If anyone else has heard of the orgins of Salem Sue please drop a comment.
Thanks!
March 28th, 2007 at 8:34 am
[…] Hmmm, maybe there is more to these statues than we’re aware of. As I look, I find more matches between “tourist” statues and the beliefs of the pre-Christian European pagans such as the Celts and Druids. Although it would be easy to expand the search to look for cows in world mythologies, I want to go deeper, not broader, to find answers to the looming questions first posed in Exploring Pagan America. Click here to read the post. […]