Udvada Town And The Holiest Parsi Fire temple of India

 

Parsis’ Holiest Fire Temple in India at Udvada	Udvada Town Entrance	Udvada Railway Station	Jadi Rana High School, Sanjan. (Picture of School-courtesy wikimapia.org)

Holiest Parsi Fire temple of India is situated in a small town of Udvada, about 185 km north of Mumbai. The last leg of my trip to India, in January 2025, took me to this small town of Gujarat on the coast of Arabian Sea. The Parsis are a tiny community in India. They are followers of an ancient faith, known as Zoroastrianism. Parsis are progressive and are generally loved and admired by Indians.

In their long history of more than a thousand years in India, the Parsi community has kept alive their distinct identity and yet have seamlessly merged with mainstream society. So much so that, never ever was any instance of quarrel between Parsi community and any other community.

Parsi are known in India for their jovial, friendly and helpful nature. They have built many successful business enterprises. Tata, Godrej, Wadia, Shapoorji, etc are some of the well known groups of Parsee owned businesses. They have also built many philanthropic organizations to undertake welfare of the society.

Some of the several Indian and International Businesses and Brands owned by Parsi Businessmen

 The holiest Parsi fire temple in Udvada is a beautiful looking building with traditional Zoroastrian imagery and architecture. The town also has a well maintained Museum showing Zoroastrian heritage and traditions. Interestingly I found small cards hung on the branches of the trees in the compound of the museum. At first glance, the hanging white cards looked like some decoration or perhaps a tiny equivalent of the Buddhist prayer banners that one finds around Buddhist shrines. However this was different. Each card had one of the following three quotes. “Good Thoughts”, “Good Words” and “Good Deeds” in English language on one side and its Avestan language equivalent (In English Script) on the other side “Humata”, “Hukhta” and “Hvarshta”.  A visitor to the museum can pluck card/s from there and retain them as souvenirs. The Zoroastrian religious books were written in the ancient Avestan language, an offshoot of Sanskrit, and are said to be built around those easy to remember, three tenets. Humata, Hukhta and Hvarshta. Tree-hanging cards, I thought, was a very good idea and a very apt souvenir. (Fun Fact: Sanskrit “S” becomes “H” in Avesta and with some distortions over a period of time and distance, it made, Sindhu-सिन्धु to Hindu, Sumati-सुमति (Good thoughts) to Humata, Sukti-सुक्ति (Good words) to Huktha and Srushti-सृष्टि (Good deed that creates good society/world) to Hvarashta).

Udvada is a typical small town of Gujarat. Most of its original Parsi inhabitants have moved to larger cities, however they maintain lively contact with their holiest shrine. Most Parsis, wherever they may be in the world, do not fail to make a pilgrimage to the Udvada Fire Temple. Indeed there does exist a sizable Parsi community in the town and serve the community by providing religious services at the Holy Fire Temple, providing lodging and boarding to the Parsi pilgrims. In their language, Parsis call the Fire Temple “Atash Behram”. As the fire at Udvada was originally brought from the original Fire Temple in Iran, the Udvada Fire Temple is also known as “Iranshah Atash Behram” (“Atash” is “Fire” in Iranian Farsi language, “Behram” has meanings like winning, victorious, etc )

In the Parsi chronicles, they have recorded their stories of flight from Persia (Iran), voyage to Sanjan and interactions with the hosts. In a remarkable poem, “Qissa-e-Sanjan”, famously known as “Sixteen Shloka”, the leader of the refugees narrates his conversation with the King, Jadi Rana. It encapsulates their discussion in Sanskrit language. The first fifteen shlokas cover submission of the visitor and the sixteenth shloka is the reply of the King, granting them asylum.

King Jadi Rana was certainly a remarkable ruler. He had that foresight, often missing in other rulers. He knew what bonds two communities without compelling them to change their religion and yet to let both communities flourish and freely keep their independent identities. He was unique. Modern day rulers can learn something from him. I was therefore curious to find if the town of Udvada had maintained any relics, edicts or memorials to commemorate King Jadi Rana, or had built any monument or memorial for the wise King. Strangely, I could not find it. May be it was not so prominent and I missed it.

"Pola" is a Unique festival of Farmers of Maharashtra. It celebrates Farm Animals. મહારાષ્ટ્રમાંઉજવાતો પશુ-પ્રેમને દર્શાવતો, અતી વિશિષ્ટ ઉત્સવ - “પોળા” (बैल-पोळा)

Just a few days back on the last New-Moon-Day, we celebrated "Pola". The festival is celebrated on the day of Amavasya of the month of Shravan/BhadraPada* in the Maharashtra State in India. We thank and show our gratitude and love for the farm animals represented by the Oxen who ploughs the fields and pulls the bullock-Carts. This festival is known as "Bail-Pola" (बैल-पोळा) or simply "Pola" or "पोळा", alluding to the feast dish being served to the Farm-Bullock. 

The Chapter 9 of a Gujarati "Umodi" ("ઊમોદી"), contains an interesting description of how this festival was actually celebrated since ancient times. It is an excerpt from the diary of Urmila, who had witnessed many Polas in her lifetime in the early twentieth century i.e. around 1940s in the area around Nagpur city, a city of India in a province then known as the "Central Province"**. Following is translated from her amateur narrative.

Excerpt:

Quote from the Diary....."Pola Utsav is a special festival celebrated by all but mainly by Farmers of the village. It is celebrated on the new-moon-day of the month of Shravan/Bhadra Pada This day is dedicated to the farm animals like oxen. To celebrate, the bulls are decorated and worshipped with red kumkum tilak, and garlands of freshly picked flowers. Their Horns are painted in bold colours. Some paint only the tip of the horn but more often than not, the entire horn is painted. The back of the Bullock is adorned with multi-colour thick-cotton rug. Their necks are covered with beautiful necklaces made from colourful beads and tiny tinkling bells.............On the day of "Pola", no farmer would yoke or shackle their oxen. It is like Bulls' "Double-Pay-Official-Fun-Holiday". In addition to no-work, Bullock is fed a special celebratory dish, namely "Puran-Poli". Most herbivorous animals such as Cows, Horses, Mules etc, are known to relish lentils and jaggery. Therefore huge sized Roties or "Polas"*** are prepared on this day and these Polas are filled with cooked stuffing made from split lentils in Ghee and Jaggery......... 

... This prized dish is lovingly served to the bulls working hard throughout the year, rain or shine. These farm bulls are farmer's reliable and constant companions. It is not unusual even to hear the farmer lovingly talking and singing to the bull while they are working with them on the farm as if they are talking to a friend. They have a special bond. Even the poorest farmer too gives these treats to Bulls on this day.''...   

.................On the morning of this day, the festivities begin with bringing the Bullock and their carts in a huge open field on the outskirts of the village. Village Headman (Patel) and other big and small chiefs too are present on the field. They sit on the chairs, whereas others are busy in their activities while onlookers either stand or squat and await the unfolding of events, usually a Bullock-Cart Race, or just a bullock Race. Children, curious and full of awe and excitement look at the arrangements and decoration of the make-shift decorated shelter and the decorated bullock carts with farmers in their newly stitched dresses and Safas (head dress).......

......The Bullock-Carts are lined up and on the cue from the Headman, the race begins. The crowd that was simply chatting or singing or playing some music, suddenly gets into a frenzy with cheering, clapping, shouting and running with the carts. The children too join their friends and dads into the same frenzy and the whole atmosphere is filled with joy, excitement and of course a lot of dust from the stomping feet of bulls and people on the field. If it is a rainy day, the shower and liberal spray of mud  can also add to the fun. No one minds shouting, cheering, dust or mud. People just enjoy the fun and games, have some sweets, feed the Bullock and go home cheerful with a well spent day. .....

Nowadays, such races have more or less disappeared and can only be seen in movies......However, these days, in some films, I see that the farmers taking part in such cart races are shown to be dishonest and cheating. But those farmers, I have seen, were honest, loving and as innocent as a small child.......

......After returning home for lunch and some rest, Bulls are taken to meet and greet. They are led to neighbouring farmers' homes, to relatives and friends. At every home the bulls are again given the treats of "Puran-Poli". The occasion is as gracefully celebrated as what we do on Diwali day when we, with our family, visit our friends, relatives and elders. So do these farmers; they take bulls, as their own family members and go to greet the friends, family and elders on "Pola" day....

.....On the next day, it is the turn of Children to celebrate their own "Small-Pola" or "लहान पोळा" also called "तान्हा-पोळा". This day is for little boys. With joy and passion, farmer dads play "Pola" with their children. Before the festival, either they make a bull from wood or mud and place it on wheels. This toy bull is for real as far as the boys go. Is up to about a foot or two in height and can be towed by hand using a rope tied to the toy. Some farmers buy it from the market if unable to make it at home. The toy is fully decorated as if it is a real bull. Children pull the bull and bring them out on a playground for Bull-Race.....It is a great fun to watch these children excitedly pulling the bull. At the cue of their local elder, children would start running with a hand holding the rope pulling the bull behind them, some do it fast, some slow, some stall some toys fall flat, some being dragged, some broken on the way, with ongoing cheering shouting and screaming, even by the onlookers, the race comes to end. Some contestants win and some lose and after a joyful chaos, everyone goes home cheerfully.......Either before or after the toy-bull race, they take their toy-bull, just as what their dads did on the previous day with real bull, to the homes of their friends and neighbours. At every home, the host would treat children with sweets, toffees and other goodies......Thus the children too would have fun and inadvertently begin the journey of love and gratefulness for the farm animals. These are quintessential Hindu way of life that see divinity everywhere........" End of  Quote

Trivia:

1-*Amavasya of Shravan month in Vikram Samvant is the same day as BhadraPada month of Saka Samvant and is same as 2nd September of Gregorian Calendar this 2024. Indeed while the Gregorian date of the Pola festival may vary with the year, the Indian Dates do not change.

2-**After 1947 Indian independence, the states in India were reorganised for better administration on the basis of language. Thereby the province of Central India was subsumed into three newly reorganized states of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.

3-***Pola is masculine for Poli-Typical celebratory dish for humans is called "Puran-Poli" (feminine gender) and consider what you need for a huge bull ten times as heavy as a human? - Not a dainty "Poli" the big "Pola" i.e. "Puran-Pola" a masculine gender word!!

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गणानां त्वा गणपतिं हवामहे (Rigveda 2-23-1) Ancient Hymn Sung by a Mongolian Girl

 A remarkable young woman was melodiously singing an obscure hymn of ancient origin. Had she been an older person or someone of Indian origin, or if it was any other more popular mantra it would not have been that startling. But she appeared very young, probably in early twenties and unmistakably of non-Indian stalk. 

Although it was little past the sunrise, clouds had successfully prevented the sun's attempts to appear in the eastern sky. On that cold snowy morning of March in Vancouver BC, a small milieu of various ethnicities had congregated in a small hall. Neither the convergence of disparate ethnicities nor singing of Hindu hymns is unusual when it comes to Yoga or Meditation gatherings. Therefore, in such a setting even if someone bearing a typical non-Indian-appearing-face is seen singing a Hindu hymn, it does not surprise people anymore. However, this time around, it was out of the ordinary; the hymn happened to be from an antiquity of more than 5 millenia. 

Later, when introduced, I came to understand her name was Sue and that she originally came from Mongolia, now settled here in Vancouver BC, Canada. Parents had brought her up in their native Buddhist traditions and that Hinduism fascinated her from an early age. What she sang was the first Shloka (Verse) of Sukta (Chapter)-23 from the 2nd Mandala (Book) of Rig Veda; RV 2-23-1. It is addressed to a deity Brahmanaspati, aka Brihaspati aka “Father of Gods” (Ref: RV 2-26-3).

Notwithstanding its obscurity and archaism, the verse is extremely revealing at many levels; its content, both said and unsaid, activism behind the invocation, petitioner’s mindset, characteristic of request and objectives sought by those motley activists youngsters who have gathered perhaps on a seashore or a clearing in a forest, 3000 BCE or even in a still older era, seeking help and blessings of Lord Brahamanaspati. 

The verse is a petition. They are making a passionate plea: 

Sanskrit: “गणानां त्वा  गणपतिं  हवामहे कविं कवीनामुपमश्रवस्तमम् । ज्येष्ठराजं ब्रह्मणां ब्रह्मणस्पत आ न:

शृण्वन्नूतिभि: सीद सादनम् ॥” ( Transliterated in English: Gaṇaanam tvaa ganapatim havamahe Kavim kavinaam upamasravastamam, Jyestharaajam brahmanam brahmana spata aa nah srunvannutibhih sida saadanam.) RV-2-23-1

Its simple translation without contextual tweaking would read: “We invoke the Brahmanaspati, chief leader of the leaders; a sage of sages abound in beyond measure in every kind of food; best lord of prayer, hearing our invocations, please come with your protections, and sit down in the place of sacrifice.”

But its interpretation with contextual input would be an essay in itself: 

The petition ceremony is likely to be set around a fire-pit (yagna-kunda or homa-kunda) where a group of learned, eager looking activists have gathered around leaping flames to make a fervent appeal, a passionate request, imploring Lord Brahamanaspati to assist them in their mission, just before embarking upon a pursuit of non-combative, non-coveting efforts for upliftment of scattered groups of humans living in isolated existence in far-flung areas of deep forests, valleys and islands.

O, Supremely Knowledgeable (supremely knowledgeable among the knowledgeables),

O, Greatest leader (leader of the great leaders),

O, Greatest Philosopher (Philosopher of the Philosophers),

O, the one who is worthy of being described with similes and metaphors of adulation, (Unsaid content: who is  worthy of considered exemplary to be a role model who inspires us to inculcate qualities He possesses.)   

O, Ideal (Very Best) King of the Kings,

We all gathered here are making a fervent appeal to you,

Along with all power of defence at your command, (Unsaid content: ‘the tiny group of exploiters, dictators, capitalists, communists etc power-mongers are ultimately humans and has a potential within them for becoming reformed, hence the prayer does not seek their destruction or elimination but just seeks merely defence from them.),

knowing our thoughts, intention and mind (Unsaid content: “we are not seeking anything for us, no wealth, power or territory), 

Please establish yourself in our hearts. (Be our friend, Philosopher, Guide and Protector) 

Thanks to these unsung heroes of the distant past that ancient Indian civilizational footprint is visible all around the globe. Largely owing to this non-domineering, respectful civilizing efforts of those activists who left towns, ashrams, gurukuls and shores of India to distant and unknown territories, infested with wild animals, poisonous plants, shrubs and ivies, extreme climates, deserts, marshes, hunting cannibals and every kind of mortal danger lurking around. With no guarantee of returning to see their loved ones left behind in India, they kept on the mission of lifelong pursuit single mindedly. Not to claim territories, not to seek fortune, not to proselyte  but to learn, teach and inspire strangers to lead a vitreous life.  

They had to guard not only against the dangers, but also to not fall to any enticements on the way. In one of the speeches delivered by well known ancient rishi (seer), Kaundilya, has forewarned similar aspirants: “you are brilliant and energetic young people, you may easily find precious treasures in those distant lands, Humbled with your knowledge and abilities they may willingly and gratefully become ready to share their gold, precious stones, other treasures and even beautiful women. But remain alert not to succumb and not to be diverted from the important life-long mission of making the whole mankind noble- “Krunvantu Vishwam Aryam”, that they have undertaken. This speech was delivered to a group of volunteering activists who had gathered presumably on a sea shore to board a ship to Southeast Asia, perhaps, Bali. The very names Jawa, Sumatra, Malaya, Bali, Singapore  Brahmdesh (Burma), Siam, Mekong, etc unmistakably bear Sanskrit fingerprint.

Contrast the Sanskritization (Making of a nobler mankind) efforts made by Indians to the other historical campaigns undertaken by other groups who also were set forth on a ‘civilising’ mission with a book in one hand and sword or gun in the other.

An ambassador of the Republic of China (China of Pre-communist revolution era) to the U.S. (1938-1942), Mr. Hu Shih famously said  "India conquered and dominated China culturally for 20 centuries without ever having to send a single soldier across her border." A British Historian D G E Halls, Professor of History in the University of London summed up in his 1955 book, “The History of SouthEast Asia'' that the deep impression of Indian culture in  Southeast Asia was without any trace of signs of war, aggression, trade or any other generally known method but seems to be due to the willing acceptance by its people who had witnessed Indian ways of life via intellectuals visiting their country and returning students who had graduated from Indian universities of Nalanda, Takshashila etc. These assertions from leading scholars seem to reiterate and vindicate the aim, objective and SOP of those unsung, self-effacing activist heroes who had prayed to Lord Brahamanaspati. Sitting around Agni-Kund and performing Homa (Yagna) around the flames. Etymology of the word Yagna indicates that its root root syllabuses signify 3 attributes- 1 befriending, 2 uniting and 3 God worshipping. 

Sanskrit Grammarian Panini of 6th Century BCE is credited with recodifying Sanskrit Grammar. Language reformed in 6th Century BCE is the standard Sanskrit that we learn today. However, the Rig Veda text is written in pre-Panini ancient Sanskrit language. That makes it slightly more difficult to interpret even by current Sanskrit Scholars. The Rig Veda consists of 10 Mandals (Books), every book has several chapters (Sukta), more than 1,000 if put together. And every chapter has several Shlokas (Verses), more than 10,000 collectively.    

 

Some people mistakenly assume that the hymn is addressed to a well known deity Lord Ganapati because a word in the hymn happens to be “Ganapati”,  not realizing that the word is used not as a proper noun but is meant to be signifying the roleplay of the deity as a leader of states. (“Gana” means a group or a state. And “Ganapati” signifies a Leader or a President of the republic. “Gana-Tantra” is a word commonly used even today as a type of Nation that is made up of an association of States or a Republic. For instance, India is popularly defined as a “Gana-Tantra” in the local languages). 

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Oscars: Tale of Two ‘Best Pictures’; Oppenheimer-Gandhi: Love and Disdain Shared by Both Individuals -- By Nilesh M Shukla

 Oscar Awards for 2024 were announced on 10th March. ‘Oppenheimer’ won 7 Oscars including the ‘Best Picture’ award. It certainly deserved it. 41 years ago, on 11th April 1983, ‘Gandhi’ won 11 Oscars including the ‘Best Picture’. And certainly it too deserved it.

Curiously  contrasted personalities they both were! One “Father of Atomic Bomb '' and another “Apostle of Non-Violence and Peace”! And yet, their stories made it to earn ‘Best Picture’ Oscar. However unusual it may appear, when you deep dive into the real life of these two seemingly opposite poles, they stand out in sharing exactly the same object of love and exactly the same class of people who disliked them. A duo, otherwise so vastly diverse that bracketing them together is nothing short of blatant oxymoronic pairing.

Posters of Blockbuster Oscar ‘Best Picture’ winners and images of books on the Bhagavad Gita. Its  text is considered a holy scripture by about a Billion Hindus of the world. It is even considered by many thinkers as a Bible of humankind because it does not profess any religious rituals but merely consists of a dialogue about life, about way to  think and conduct. It is just a small book consisting of 700 verses in Sanskrit language and takes less than 180 minutes to chant/read them. It has charmed and captivated many brilliant minds; Ralph W Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Annie Beasant, Carl Jung, Aldous Huxley, T S Eliot, Romain Roland etc to name a few.

Among the most celebrated scenes of the film 'Oppenheimer' the two are prominent; the bedroom scene and other, the detonation scene. In both, the father of the atomic bomb, J Robert Oppenheimer is seen quoting from the Bhagavad Gita. The same Bhagavad Gita, something in which the apostle of peace, aka the champion of nonviolence, Mahatma Gandhi is equally invested. He is in fact famous for commentary on it (The Gospel of Selfless Action or The Gita According to Gandhi, By Mahatma Gandhi, compilation of his 1926 discourses, published by Navajivan Publication House). The sacred Sanskrit language scripture, the Bhagavad Gita, unites an American scientist and an Indian lawyer! 

These both remarkable individuals did share exactly the same suspicion from their respective governments. The Government of America headed by president Harry Truman suspected Oppenheimer to be a communist and at worst, a suspected traitor who shared classified info. His disdain for the physicist becomes apparent when he not only calls him a “crybaby” but also instructs staff to keep him away from the White House. On their part, the British colonial government of India, headed by Queen Elizabeth II was deeply suspicious of Gandhi due his agenda for freedom of India. Her Prime Minister, Winston Churchill never hid his disdain for him. In a file related to reports on the Bengal Famine, he penned down his disappointment in his own handwriting, “Gandhi is still alive” dismissing that there was a famine, thus exhibiting guttural disdain for the Indian Freedom Fighter and utter disregard to 3 million Indians who died of starvation due to British administrative order that had created 1943 Bengal Famine, bearing a uniquely dubious distinction of being the only one known in history as the “man-made famine”. (Order of the British government to ship away 100% of all grains produced in the fertile lands of India, not leaving anything for Indians to eat. Churchill was so recklessly indifferent to crippling famine that when an Australian ship with relief supplies docked at Kolkata port, it was blatantly ordered not to unload and was diverted to Europe)

Besides suffering suspicion and hatred from their governments, they both also stand out together in suffering the very same rejections by the one very same organization, the Nobel Prize Foundation of Sweden and its member organizations that select Nobel laureates. The Physicist Oppenheimer was nominated 3 times for the Nobel, in 1945, 1951 and 1967 but was rejected every time. The Leader of the Non-Violent Freedom Struggle, Gandhi was nominated 5 times, in 1937, 1938, 1939, 1947 and in 1948 and rejected each time. (However, to be fair to the Nobel committee, much later in 1999, the Nobel Prize Organization did realize their error of judgment and published an apologetic admission under the title of “Mahatma Gandhi, the missing laureate” at:  https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/themes/mahatma-gandhi-the-missing-laureate/  )

Oppenheimer deployed atomic energy as a weapon. Mahatma Gandhi deployed the peace instinct of humans as a weapon. Stark opposites. That this unusual duo could still merge at several places does transform a true oxymoronic into a curious non-oxymoronic pair, with shared admirers and haters in equal measures and makes it a curious tale of two films. 

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Canadian First Nation Peoples, Gazing into Future, Paganism is Way Forward 4-Part Essay by Nilesh M Shukla

 Part 1 

The government of Canada has taken many steps to reassure and encourage communities of the First Nations. This has been widely acknowledged by the indigenous community. Any average Canadian, who may not be a member of the First Nations,is also sympathetic and happy to help out. This is indicative of a mature, emphatic and understanding society. It helps a violated and a disadvantaged community to feel wanted and move from despair to a future of hope, achievements and fulfilment. 

Indeed, some measures of hand holding, out-of-turn opportunities at education, employment, housing, business etc can and should be fine, until the First Nations gain enough confidence to feel that they no longer need. But in the long run, what seemed welcome at one stage has a potential to turn toxic and damaging. In the long run the handouts and freebies end up harming that very same community. However, going forward, The First Nations people would need to rediscover the unique life force that they once possessed before they were rudely disturbed upon arrival of not-so-friendly sailors, soldiers, settlers and merchants onboard modern ships from the other end of the Atlantic since the early sixteenth Century. 

The Canadian First Nations became the victims of the overseas settlers. A large number  of unsuspecting innocent First Nations people were mowed down by gunpowder and the rest were ‘eliminated’ using every other dark trick. Settlers proved to be insensitive and cruel exploiters. However what is different for the First Nations as compared to indigenous folks of  the world is that some of the Canadian indigenous communities have still survived somehow. In part, thanks to the European merchants who collaborated with them in harvesting fur and the lack of appetite of Europeans in acquiring the frozen inhospitable lands of Canada.

Therefore, the surviving First Nations could still tell us the tale that Vikings, Celts, Pagans, Heathens, Polytheists, Germanic Tribes etc in Europe could not. Those ancient Europeans had completely and totally perished along with their language, history, gods, rituals and culture. What has remained of them are some archaeological ruins in the form of Stonehenge, some artefacts in the museums and caricatured Santa Claus and Halloween. Probably the same fate awaited First Nations in Canada too. 

However, just when everything was about to be lost, the wheels of fortune turned and a few members of the First Nations could survive, albeit just a bit. As a consequence of general progress in transport, communications and education levels, the world over, and especially the renaissance in Europe gave birth to a whole new kind of thinking generation. They were liberal and open minded elites who did not share pride in an inherited aristocracy but in liberal art, culture and fresh thinking. This development saved some of the First Nations people.

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Part 2 

Come the nineteenth and twentieth century, some of the Europeans and Americans became a little disillusioned by what they saw happening in the name of religion in the churches around them. Apart from dogmatic dictates and the moral and financial corruption, they discovered the ugly history of systematic annihilation of Pagans, everywhere in the world. They saw how the innocent word ‘Pagan’ was made into a derogatory term and made to mean “Devil worshippers”. It was beyond them to reconcile the reverence for nature and for one's own ancestors with an evil term as “Devil-worship”. Europeans were cleverly gaslighting the divinity of paganism as devilishness. They soon discovered deceit and moral degradation of so-called ‘civilised’ under the cloak of their make-believe ‘love’ and ‘empathy’.  These modern men, whose conscience was stirred up, went ahead to discover roots and religions of the pagans. Many of those began their own churches with their own Pagan Gods, Deities, Symbols and rituals, taking cue from still-alive practices. This movement is still in a budding stage but surely, it has aroused a fresh thinking.

Not so much in the twentieth century, but currently in the twenty first century, these ‘new’ Pagan religions suddenly became more relevant as the world witnessed the consequences of thoughtless destruction and exploitation of nature, what is popularly known as “Global Warming” and “Climate Change”.

The First Nations of Canada, just like every other indigenous ancient people of the world, worshipped nature. The Rain, Shine, Spring, Sowing, Harvest, Forays into Seas, Solstices and Equinoxes were celebration times. The Earth, Lands, Mountains, Seas, Rivers, Ponds, Trees,Forests, Sun, Moon etc were respectfully considered their objects of reverence, they were gods, friends, brothers, sisters, mother or father. They spoke with respect to them and gratefully thanked them for the bounties they bestowed. The nature-deities responded kindly to them. So called shamans, interpreted them. Misuse of natural resources was immoral, an insult or a sin. 

The, Celts, Vikings, Germanic Pagans, Red Indians, Mayans, Incas, Slav Pagans, Russian Pagans, South-East-Asian Forest dwellers, etc. either disappeared completely or just barely survived, accepting what crumbs of bread were thrown to them by the conquerors and survived by submitting to them, even aping their tormentor’s customs and languages, hoping to garnish their reluctant sympathy. In Canada, the First Nations too were brutalised. It was beyond the trusting-type   innocent indigenous communities to even comprehend the minds of settlers who apparently had no mercy. It was physically impossible to defeat them using the elementary weaponry that they had. They were completely helpless.

They, who studied histories and anthropology of the First Nations in Canada wrote their impressions, some perhaps even inadvertently, with biases and languages that they had brought with them from Europe. Their biases and languages could not truely express the history, folklore, religious prayers and the spirituality behind invoking the nature-deities. However unfortunate as it is, we have to depend today on those ill-translated European-language “scholarly researched” documents and books. 

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Part 3 

Current anthropologies, histories, geographies and folklores concerning the Canadian First Nations have indeed been written after a painstaking study of still surviving as well as long dead First Nation communities. 

Notwithstanding its immense value, a keen reader with an analytical eye, would not miss that none is seriously appreciative of the life force that kept the community alive and kicking for centuries before the arrival of ‘civilised’ Europeans. In addition, due to limitations of their language and biases inherent to their cultural, their ‘scholarship’ has given rise to make-belief anthropology, poorly translated prayers, watered-down importance of what is otherwise a worship that treasures nature, promotes vital relationships between people, family-members, reinforces belongingness to nature etc. That the people can actually ‘listen’ to or ‘talk’ to lakes, rivers, seas, mountains, trees, fish, birds etc was just a silly joke to them. Communicating with ancestors is just some mumbo-jumbo to them. Everything related to Pagan is myth, their living experience as superstition or silly. 

As hardly any account is written from a perspective of a practising Pagan, the current literature has given rise to a twisted understanding of the indigenous culture. The potential benefit the world was to accrue from the First Nations is lost in ‘civilising’ them. In fact there are many things that the First Nations can teach us, the so-called ‘modern men’. That, if encouraged, the First Nations can be an influential, powerful ally in our current conundrum of fight against Climate Disasters, Forest Fires, Flash Floods and melting of Glaciers in the North, is but overlooked.

Most of the available literature on the Canadian First Nations gives a sense of utter despondency. Yes, it does arouse sympathy for loss suffered by the First Nations as a community but, significantly, it does not evoke the respect that they deserve as a nature-loving, nature-worshipping, sensitive civilization. In addition to the despondency filled literature, another set of literature has recently come up that celebrates success of some members of the First Nations, who could ‘succeed’ by aping the ways of erstwhile tormentors. Thus, in a nutshell, even the newer genre of books encourages abandoning ancestral practices. 

The blame-game is usually an exercise in futility and even counter-productive. Therefore, those who wish to uplift the community may look at interesting options. Studies of factors that help the healthy development of societies suggest what is needed by  the one who wants not only to survive, but meaningfully progress and be happy and fulfilled.

Generous handouts or obligatory-courtesy-job and education is certainly needed in the beginning, but that is half the solution. What is really needed is a sense of purpose, an objective, before that person, not just ‘an’ objective but a ‘glorious’ one. It can not be synthetic but should be something organically inherent to them.

Is there a grand objective for the First Nations even possible? 

 

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Part 4 

There does exist a glorious objective as natural as what water is to a fish, hidden in plain sight, that could transform the First Nations society and maintain their unique identity.

It is simple, natural and it works. Return to the roots. Reclaim that potent ancestral nature worship, lead the green movement and embrace that profoundly far-reaching Paganism. 

The First Nations could perhaps take a path which some European and American brethren have taken. They began to develop an understanding of nature-worship of forefathers and became proud inheritors of ancestral Paganism.

Like a Phoenix, the Canadian First Nations could rise to a live and kicking community shored up by clasping ancestral wisdom. Recently, the Prime Minister of Greece, Mr. Kyriakos Mitsotakis, was spotted coining the term for it, The “Ancestral Intelligence” during Raisina Dialogues, an international platform of discussions, mimicking a more popular term “Artificial Intelligence”. No mainstream thinkers have given any consideration to rebuilding the indigenous culture based on the fundamentals of the innate culture of indigenous people.

The First Nations community, standing on their own feet, proudly facing the modern world can become a major contributor to the multi-cultural society of Canada instead of getting remembered in the literature as random creators of totem-poles, Inukshuks and  perhaps in the museums across the world with their artefacts as pieces days of bygone cultures or as pieces of decoration on the fireplaces of the homes of wealthy.

The current religious thought prevalent among the majority population is sworn against “Paganism”. Head-wind can be anticipated from them while reclaiming paganism. But they can not be faulted as they were roped into Paganism-hating-clubs, well before they even learnt to walk. They take it as their religious duty to destroy paganism and to ‘save’ the people from going to ‘hell’ and enduring ‘suffering’. Same is true for “Loyalists” elks.

Pride in going back to basics, going back to nature, reverently worshipping nature and the ancestors, could make a positive contribution to the First Nations psychology and wellbeing and consequently to the Canadian Society as a whole. Anthropologists, and other specialists in the matter of First Nations have defined the problems and solutions of the indigenous communities by “their” lens, “their” bias and in “their” language. A relook is necessary to understand the First Nations through their indigenous Pagan lens.

While European neo-paganism followers had to create their own new ways of rituals, the First Nations of Canada are lucky that they still know some of their rituals and therefore it is easier for them to reclaim their heritage. Indeed they can exchange notes with American and European new Pagans, such as Heathenry, Asatru, Wicca, Feraferia, Odinic Rite, Nova Roma, etc.or other Pagans of Orient, the still active and alive Hindus, Zoarastrians, Kurds, Droids etc. Pagan cultures have found profound learning from Nature. Nature knows only to give. It does not take. It gives everyone, the Sun does not discriminate between people. My Gods, treat everyone equally. Let's show some reverence.

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