On Mon, Mar 31, 2003 at 10:15:46AM +0100, Steve Mynott wrote: > Harmon Seaver wrote: > >On Sun, Mar 30, 2003 at 01:25:47PM -0500, stuart wrote: > > [..] > > >>Apparently you know nothing of the history of Britain and Ireland. > > > > > > No, I do. > > No you don't. > > > But of course, the problems really pre-date all that, going back to > > when the > >christer Romans came and killed off the Druids and Wiccans who wouldn't > >bend the > >knee to conversion, as they did in the rest of Europe. > > Three problems with that:- > > 1. The Romans never invaded Ireland
Yes, I was mixing up the Roman church with the original Roman invasion of the Isles. The invasion of the Roman church was later, but they did, in fact, persecute the Druids and Wiccans as well. > > 2. The Romans which invaded mainland Britain weren't Christian (if > that's what you mean by "christer"). They worshiped many Gods with the > cult of Mithras being popular with the army. You're right, they weren't christers at that point, however they most certainly did try to eradicate the Druids: Dealing with the druids. Part of this mopping up took the form of eradicating the Druids. As a rule the Romans were very tolerant of the religions of the peoples they conquered (hurrah for the Romans!). However, the Druids represented not just a religious hierarchy, but real political and administrative authority among the Celts. And to give the Romans their due, they seem to have been genuinely horrified by what they considered the grisly and uncivilized practices of the Druids. http://www.britainexpress.com/History/Roman_invasion.htm > > 3. "Wicca" is a modern invention. Hardly. WEIK- [2]. In words connectid with magic and religious notions (in Germanic and Latin). 1. Germanic suffixed form *WIH-L- in Old English WIGLE, divination, sorcery, akin to the Germanic source of Old French GUILE, cunning trickery: GUILE. 2. Germanic expressive form *WIKK- in: a. Old English WICCA, wizard, and WICCE, witch: WITCH; b. Old English WICCIAN, to cast a spell: BEWITCH. -- Harmon Seaver CyberShamanix http://www.cybershamanix.com We are now in America's Darkest Hour. http://www.oshkoshbygosh.org hoka hey!
