TPW: "Since the time of Jesus"? Try long before his time (give or take a thousand years). But truth being told you shouldn't be surprised that it survived. If you look at history, you will note that certain cultures that were under the boot of the priesthood learned to go underground. Only the lesser successful and loud individuals were caught, judged and burned at the stake, branded heretics and so on and so forth.
And in many regions of Europe, it survived also into the form of folk-tales and the oral tradition. In remote areas, the priesthood couldn't be everywhere and so there was always a pocket of us that kept certain traditions alive. The Roman Catholic church is full of such that survive as "festivals".
Izzy: I'm trying to figure out if you really believe that these "gods" are real or ever were. OR are they just exercises in modeling behavior based upon the attributes that those mythical creatures supposedly had?
TPW: A little bit of both. I believe that there are the elder gods, the Aesir and the Vanir. That there are Gods and Goddesses. I also believe that from the lessons given by the tales of these gods that they reflect the good and the evil in all men and women.
Izzy: And at what age did you discover and adopt these beliefs? Are there many like you?
TPW: You could say I had adopted the old ways into the fullest in my early teens, like most young people whatever faith they chose, they chose it around that age. As for how many we are, it's safe to say there is a fair number, but we are obviously not the majority.
Izzy:You sound like you have your mind made up to me. (But one can always hope against hope, anyway--right? )
TPW: I must apologize for my knee-jerk reaction, most Christians of the evangelical persuasion ask usually about my beliefs only to ridicule them or "rebuke" them. Hence, after such arrogant behaviour, you can't expect us to be happy to see people coming to speak of the "good news" without feeling a bit defensive or be reluctant at all if not evasive.
TPW
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