APOSTLES & SAINTS (MUSES)

 

No, not the usual apostles and saints, the apostles and saints of Christianity, particularly as exemplified by Roman Catholicism (although ironically there is some overlap) – these are my apostles of the goddess and saints of pagan catholicism.

These are the apostles and saints that I have playfully canonized for the mythos I call home – which I also playfully refer to as my pagan catholicism.

Also the ethos I call home – that classical Greek pagan ethos encapsulated by Weston La Barre as “live valiantly, gloriously and joyously in the world”.

So what are my apostles of the goddess and saints of pagan catholicism?

They are the cultural or literary figures – writers in other words for the latter, predominantly drawn from the authors of my favorite books or literary works – that embody or exemplify the mythos or ethos of paganism, consciously or otherwise (as well as seriously or otherwise – I’m joking and I’m serious!).

I’ve borrowed the playful canonization of saints from Discordianism, the joke disguised as a religion or religion disguised as a joke that is sometimes identified as within neo-paganism.

“There are five classes of saints within Discordianism, who are those who best act as exemplars and are closer to perfection. Only the first of these classes ‘Saint Second Class’ contains real human beings (deceased and alive), with higher classes reserved for fictional beings who, by virtue of being fictional, are better able to reach the Discordian view of perfection. An example of a second-class saint is Emperor Norton…honoured as a saint within Discordianism for living his life according to truth as he saw it and a disregard for reality as others would perceive it.”

I don’t quite go as far as five classes of saints – primarily, I have the two categories of apostles of the goddess and saints of pagan catholicism. The former are those saints that spread the gospel of the goddess – that is, that embody or exemplify the mythos or ethos of paganism with particular emphasis on the goddess or goddesses – and like the apostles of Christianity, I rank them as the higher class of saint.

As for the more general saints of pagan catholicism, I’ve already explained them – although I do divide them into greater and lesser saints. Otherwise, poets and writers of fantasy tend by their nature to be saints of pagan catholicism, as do students of mythology. However, my apostles of the goddess and saints of pagan catholicism can be found across the board of my tastes – and hence, I follow the same listing of categories for them as I do for my top tens lists in general.

Finally, I use the opportunity of my lists for my apostles and saints to also include my muses – that is, the female cultural or literary figures that appeal to or inspire me, again predominantly drawn from the authors of my favorite books or literary works. Of course, most of them rank among my apostles or saints, particularly the former.

 

1 MYTHOLOGY – APOSTLES & SAINTS (MUSES)

2 HISTORY – APOSTLES & SAINTS (MUSES)

3 SCIENCE & PHILOSOPHY – APOSTLES & SAINTS (MUSES)

4 POETRY & LITERATURE – APOSTLES & SAINTS (MUSES)

5 FANTASY & SF – APOSTLES & SAINTS (MUSES)

6 COMICS – APOSTLES & SAINTS (MUSES)

7 FILM – APOSTLES & SAINTS (MUSES)

8 TV (YOUTUBE) – APOSTLES & SAINTS (MUSES)

9 MUSIC (MOJO & FUNK) – APOSTLES & SAINTS (MUSES)