First published on hellenismos org on September 28, 2021.
It has been
repeatedly shown that Wikipedia is spreading false information about
Hellenismos. Both the English entry on Hellenismos and the German one on
neopaganism are characterised by the lack of unbiased evaluation, lack of
respectable sources, and pagan propaganda. But the French version took the
cake.
In their
entry «Hellénisme (religion),» they claim that Hellenismos is the «revival of
ancient Greek religion» («résurgence contemporaine de la religion grecque»),
which, of course, is wrong, since Hellenismos is not the «revival» of some
undefined «ancient religion,» but the Hellenic ethnic identity and culture,
including our ethos, language, history, alphabet, music, dances, customs and,
yes, religion.Then they claim that Hellenismos is part of the neopagan movement
(«Il s'intègre dans la mouvance du néopaganisme»)! Again, they claim that
Hellenismos, the indigenous Hellenic culture, language and religion, is part of
the neopagan movement. Well noticed: we are talking about a movement that
engages in cultural appropriation and counter-enlightenment at the expense of
ethnic religions, and whose AngloAmerican branch is infamous for its anti-Hellenism.
There's not much more to say about the quality of this entry.
The authors
even go as far as to claim that our divination system includes the tarot and
that there are groups that «try to reconstruct the mystery cults» («Quelques
individus ou groupes s'essaient à reconstruire les cultes à mystères [Mystères
d'Éleusis...]»). But there is no such attempt, as it would go against the
Hellenic tradition to copy or imitate the Mysteries of Eleusis. And as if that
was not enough, we «borrow [elements] from the Rosicrucian cult, freemasonry
and the Golden Dawn or the Ordo Templi Orientis» to fill the gap left by the
fragmentary documentation of the mysteries («Mais la faiblesse de la
documentation fiable rend l'entreprise hasardeuse et souvent on emprunte plus
au culte Rose-Croix, à la franc-maçonnerie et à la Golden Dawn ou à l'Ordo
Templi Orientis, qu'à la Grèce proprement dite»). Are you serious? This is
nuts. Sorry but there is no other word to describe it. It's just nuts.
The authors
divide the Hellenic community into factions: a) Reconstructionists («attached
to the recreation of ancient rites and practices») b) Hellenic Wiccans («who
work with Greek deities and who follow some Hellenic customs») and c)
Modernists («worship the Greek gods according to their inspiration … They can
occasionally borrow rites and practices from other traditions»). This means
that our community is composed of factions of whom most Hellenes have never
heard of. And to cap it all, they claim that most «Neo-Hellenists (outside of
Greece)» («néohellénistes») «are liberals in the American sense or even
libertarians (libéraux au sens américain du terme voire des libertaires),»
while the majority of their «Greek co-religionists» are rather socialists or
nationalists or both («Cela les différencie profondément de leurs
coreligionnaires grecs, plutôt proches soit du socialisme, soit du
nationalisme, soit des deux»). Assuming this is not a propaganda campaign, it
must be one of the silliest texts ever written about Hellenismos. The authors
are obviously not even aware of the difference between Hellenists and Hellenes,
which are disregarded in the entry as «Greek co-religionists.» Hellenists are
people of no Greek origin but Greek in language, culture and religion. Hellenes
are an ethnocultural group of people with a common language, ancestry and
ethos. Pagans, Wiccans, occultists are not and cannot be Hellenists, they
participate in a different culture, follow a different path, have a different
mindset and value system. The whole entry is a disaster. But given the general
quality of the text, we should consider ourselves lucky that they did not
incorporate a passage on UFO cult or satanism into it.
Now, I cannot
speak on behalf of the Hellenists, but Hellenes are neither socialists nor nationalists.
To put it mildly, we have not the warmest feelings for political monotheism
(conservatism, liberalism, nationalism, internationalism). The late Vlassis G.
Rassias, co-founder and General Secretary of the Supreme Council of ethnic
Hellenes (YSEE), wrote the first Hellenic book against nationalism in 1996*,
where he also documented the usurpation of the term «ethnos» by nationalism and
explained the difference between the real ethnos (that is based on a common
ethos) and the «pseudo-ethnos» of nationalism, the real ethnic identity (based
on common ethos, language, religion) and the one constructed by nationalism in
order to homogenize the populations within the boundaries of the then newly
founded «nation states.» There are plenty Hellenic articles against nationalism
free available on the internet that paint a completely different picture than
you have here.**
Greek-speaking
nationalism is historically interwoven with orthodox Christianity. The regimes
of Metaxas (1936-1941) and Papadopoulos (1967-1974) were radical Orthodox, both
regimes had publicly burned Hellenic books, such as «Antigone» by Sophocles and
«Epitaph» by Pericles.*** The fascist parties LA.O.S. and Chrysi Avgi shared
the same ideology with the regimes of Metaxas and Papadopoulos, and also
promoted the so-called «Hellenic-Christian ideals» and the nationalist
narrative of «Hellenic-Christian civilization.»**** Greek-speaking nationalists
and nazis consider orthodox Christianity the core of Hellenic identity or
rather what they consider «Hellenic identity.» They don't even recognize the
Hellenic cultural genocide. On the contrary, they claim that Hellenes are
«instruments of the New world order,» aiming to destroy «Hellenic identity.»
It's the familiar story of orthodox Christianity: we are the continuation of
Hellenism (by this they actually mean Romiosyni), they are miserable idolaters.
Their credo is simple: if it is not Christian, it is not Hellenic.*****
Therefore, calling us nationalists is ignorant. The Kolonaki Press described
YSEE even as «anti-fascist.» But that is not quite correct, YSEE is simply
anti-totalitarian.
What about
socialism? Hellenism might appear as «socialist» to outsiders, but it is not.
Hellenism is a collectivistic culture. Today, many people confuse collectivism
with socialism or communism, therefore we should clarify this point, so let us
take a look at the meaning of this term. Collectivism describes a «social
organization in which the individual is seen as being subordinate to a social
collectivity» (Encyclopedia Britannica: Collectivism). The whole Hellenic ethos
is centered around the Polis (state, polity), which represents civilization per
se. All essential terms regarding polity originate from «Polis»: polites
(citizen, «the one who engages in public affairs»), politismos
(administration), politike (politics, «dealing with the public affairs») and
many more. The polis is the embodiment of civilization, autonomy and thus
freedom. The community is superordinate to the individual Hellene, who is not a
«person,» but a social entity defined by his relations with others, primarily
his family, clan and tribe. As a result, Hellenismos may appear as «socialist»
— if perceived through the lens of the modern ideologies of the Western world.
Obviously we are not interested in the various derivations of political
monotheism and the associated artificial divisions such as right / left, market
/ state, patriotism / globalism, and so on and so forth. We have our very own
political imagination and categories, and would be very grateful if people
could stop projecting their culturally conditioned perspective and cherished
stereotypes onto us.
Last but not
least, we would be also very grateful if people read one or two articles about
Hellenic culture, short: spent considerable time researching and learning
before writing entries. Notice: do your homework before you write something,
evaluate before you publish it. Learn your subject before unleashing such
embarrassing texts on the world.
Wikipedia:
«Hellénisme (religion)»: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hell%C3%A9nisme_(religion)
* Ethnos,
Ethnism, Nation state, Nationalism [Έθνος, Εθνισμός, Εθνοκράτος, Εθνικισμός],
2nd ed., Athens 2006 [org. 1996], ISBN 960-7748-37-9
** Ελληνική
απάντηση στον εθνικισμό [Hellenic response to nationalism]:
https://hellenismos.org/2013/04/22/elliniki-apantisi-ethnikismo/
***
https://metaxas-project.com/book-burnings-under-metaxas-rule/
**** http://diipetes.ysee.gr/html/dx_30.html
[Greek]
*****
https://www.impantokratoros.gr/3ACAF97B.en.aspx
