Δευτέρα 29 Ιανουαρίου 2018

ABOUT MACEDONIA: HISTORY, PRESENT AND FUTURE

The Supreme Council of Ethnic Hellenes (YSEE) has written a very good presentation of the problem the Former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) causes to Greece. FYROM is called Skopje by the Greeks after its capital. Their language, which they call "Macedonian" is a Bulgarian dialect, which the Yugoslavians tried to make look Serbian as much as possible.
ABOUT MACEDONIA: HISTORY, PRESENT AND FUTURE
Press Release 345/15-1-2018
It is by now well known that the Supreme Council of Ethnic Hellenes (YSEE) is the organization representing the Hellenic Ethnic Religion and not a political organization or party. For this reason it doesn't get involved in political arguments nor does it partake in public debates stemming from pseudo-ideological polarities such as left - right wing politics, communism - fascism, nationalism - internationalism.
In matters of major national importance, though, like the one about the name of our neighboring country of Skopje, we are obligated to present the historical aspects of the issue, calmly and prudently, contributing in a solution that will not harm our national interests nor will it undermine our territorial integrity and the welfare of our future generations.
There can be no debate about the Hellenic identity of the Macedonians simply because the widespread Hellenization of the known world for at least two centuries after the death of Alexander the Great had the Macedonians at the forefront. This fact is well documented by numerous historical sources as well as innumerable archaeological finds. Thus any attempt to discuss the national character of the Macedonians under any pretenses and by anyone is by default at least suspicious.
The geographic area, that the whole debate is about, was named by the Romans as Macedonia Secunda, after their conquest; in the same way they named the entire Peloponnese as Achaea despite the fact that this was especially insulting to the Spartans. This was done as a purely administrative choice of a name for the wider area of modern day Skopje, in a time when the Slavs were nowhere near the Balkan Peninsula.
In the 19th century CE, while the Ottoman Empire was collapsing the Orthodox Russians after the treaty of San Stefano in 1878, provocatively pushed the creation of a Greater Bulgaria aiming to control the entire Balkan Peninsula and the temperate waters of the Mediterranean. In this Greater Bulgaria they incorporated areas of Macedonia that belong today to Greece as well as areas that belong to Skopje and Bulgaria. In all of these newly annexed areas preexisted strong and vibrant Greek communities. With the consent of the Turks they created the Bulgarian Exarchate in opposition to the Patriarchate and caused strife in the population of the area, because those that followed the Exarchate were considered automatically Bulgarian while those that remained with the Patriarchate were thought to be Greeks. The Patriarchate of New Rome and more so the Church of Greece which had its own shortsighted interests, equated Hellenic identity to Orthodoxy, in an effort to retain its influence on the populations of the area, managed to intensify the conflicts by considering as Greeks only those that followed the Patriarchate.
It was during this time that the ideological construct of "Macedonianism" which posits that the Macedonians are not Greeks, first appeared and the dialect of the bilingual Macedonians was dubbed "Macedonian" language.
Even after the Macedonian guerrilla clashes (1904-1908), the Balkan Wars and the final border agreement with the Treaty of Bucharest in 1913, the issue is continuously brought up at various times.
Before the Second World War, when the powerless Communist Party of Greece decided to become a member of the Communist International their Bulgarian and Yugoslavian counterparts demanded as requirement for its inclusion, to declare its agreement for the creation of an independent communist state with the name Macedonia which it would had incorporated the entire Northern Greece.
At the end of the Second World War the communist Yugoslavia was formed and Tito gave the name Macedonia to the southern part of his country that until then it was known as Vardaska. Tito was hoping that in the future a chance will present itself for the borders of his country to reach all the way to the Aegean Sea.
Unfortunately at the same time, Greece was embroiled in a bloody civil war, during which all governments were besieging the western powers for their support in the conflict. These western powers were unwilling to displease Tito and Yugoslavia in expectation that he will break his relations with Moscow that were not as cordial as other communist states. For this reason the Greek governments never officially complained while the international community was well aware that Tito by using the name Macedonia was aiming at the creation of a "Macedonia of the Aegean".
It was during this period that the myth of the ancestry of the people of Skopje from Alexander the Great was first created together with irredentist ideas that have unfortunately become the prevailing ideology with which several generations have been brought up. During the 1990's when Yugoslavia was being partitioned the rhetoric from Skopje, with support from the United States, developed a very aggressive character. The United States saw Skopje and the geopolitical space as a chance for further strategic control of the Balkans.
On the Greek side, the all-powerful Orthodox Church, still trapped in the mentality that Greeks are only those that identify as Orthodox, became part of the problem and further blurred the issue by organizing massive protests. Having wide coverage and unlimited access to the Greek media it supplanted the Greek state in the eyes of the Greek people. This is the same church for which the Roman Catholic Greeks of southern Italy, the Muslim Pontians of the Black sea and the Kalash of Pakistan are not part of the Greek Nation. Its rhetoric on the subject has nothing to do with any sensibility for the promotion and protection of Hellenism (which was always hostile to) but rather it is wasted in shows aimed for internal consumption and the creation of a wider political sphere of influence.
As for the Greek State, its government and most of its political parties, the sediment is that even a solution with a geographical qualifier that includes the name Macedonia will suffice as long as the matter is settled in a timely manner. This dismisses people of Hellenic ancestry that still inhabit Skopje and more blatantly ignores the anti-Hellenic propaganda and irredentist attitudes that certain circles coordinate that ceaselessly claim that the capital of Skopje is Thessalonica.
If the people of Skopje feel Macedonians they are automatically Hellenes and the only realistic solution to the issue will be the bilateral and peaceful unification of Skopje to Greece. If on the other hand they do not want to be Greeks and do not wish to be part of a unified state then let them chose a name that does not insult History, logic, and the aesthetic sensibilities of educated people around the world.
Considering the present circumstances the acceptance of any name with the geographical, temporal, or any other prefix that uses the name Macedonia (Northern, Upper, New , Slavo- etc) does not solve the problem but rather complicates it and postpones for the future any real solution with many negative consequences.
SUPREME COUNCIL OF ETHNIKOI HELLENES

Πέμπτη 4 Ιανουαρίου 2018

Greece's Gods and reporters' mistakes!

https://theoutline.com/post/2843/hellenism-legalized-greece

GREECE’S OLD GODS ARE READY FOR YOUR SACRIFICE
(There are no sacrifices taking place. Just offerings and libations. )
Hellenism — the ancient religion built around Zeus and his pantheon — was finally recognized by the Greek government in 2017. Here’s what its followers have been up to.

Sarah Souli
(Well there are some inaccuracies in the text.)
JAN—04—2018 09:09AM EST

It all started with some genitals. Specifically Poseidon's facsimile, plaster ones.
In April 1976, Augoustinos Kantiotes, a monk from the Greek Orthodox Christian sect in Mount Athos, penned a furious article “concerning the genitals of the pagan God and the shame of Athens.” Particularly incensed by a replica of the sea god Poseidon residing erect and nude at the entrance of the Ministry of Education, Kantiotes drove across Greece to take a sledgehammer to the statue. Guards were unable to control the single-minded frenzy of an Orthodox hell-bent on protecting Christianity, and Kantiotes succeeded in smashing the statue’s extremities.
(The monk's name who destroyed the genitals of a statue of Zeus at the entrance of the Ministry was Nestor Tsoukalas. Augustinos Kantiotis was a leader of a Christian fraternity that was so powerful that as a mere preacher he forced the newly elected Archbishop of Athens and whole of Greece to resign. The Archbishop was against Christian fraternities, because they immitated Protestant entities. Kantiotis was elected as an Archbishop of Florina five years later. )
“Why do they have the idol in the Ministry?” one reporter asked the monk after police apprehended him. “Do they want to restore paganism, as did Julian the Apostate?”
“No,” the monk retorted. “They will not succeed in that.”
Vlassis Rassias was a teenager when Kantiotes’ (Tsoukalas') act of vandalism hit the Greek news. “I got a hint that Christianity was something bad,” he told me. Now the Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Ethnikoi Hellenes (commonly referred to by its Greek acronym, YSEE), he is one of 2,000 active followers of the polytheistic Hellenistic religion Kantiotes (Tsoukalas) was so afraid of.
Ancient Greek religion, on which modern Hellenism is based, was a thousand-year polytheistic theology void of clergies and sacred texts. Devotees believed in 12 anthropomorphic gods — you remember Aphrodite, Hades, and their peers — under one almighty god, Zeus. Their sacred home was Mount Olympus. While proselytizing was completely unknown, atheism was rare, as the only requirement for ancient Greeks was to believe in the gods’ existence, and to perform in ritual ceremonies and sacrifices. They did not concentrate on the afterlife, as they did not believe in rewards or punishments post-mortem. Instead, they believed their dues would come in this life, and the relationship between deities and mortals was based on gift-giving.
(If one counts the Gods together, they are more than 12. 12 is the number of wholeness. They represented them as perfect humans, because humans cannot perceive something higher than an ideal representation of themselves. Mount Olympus is the highest Greek mountain so it was sacred for all Greeks as many other places, but all mountains and hills were sacred for the local Greeks. Priests are the representantives of the society towards the Gods and not the other way round as in Christianity. Proselytizing didn't make any sense. Philosophy is thinking over the afterlife.)
“Hellenism is something that supports life, and puts order to the beauty,” Vlassis said. Aside from having an encyclopedic knowledge of paganism, his duties as Secretary General include publicly representing the YSEE and coordinating any legal administration. “We have a different perception of gods. Whatever gives power to life is god, even death is god. Our perception of god is not an immortal person that does things to us.” He delivered this last statement with a chuckle.
(Gods do not need our food, drink, fragrances, etc. It is part of human nature to want to give presents.)
As Christianity began to forcefully spread in Greece, Hellenism declined. Historians point to the reign of Constantine II in the fourth century A.D. when Christianity became spread more earnestly, and prosecution against paganism began.
(Constantine II died three years after Constantine I and the latter was doing everything he could to preveledge the Christian Church and to harm the Ethnic Religions.)
In the centuries that followed, pagans were effectively wiped out from Greece. Today, Christian Orthodoxy is the official religion of Greece, enshrined in the constitution, and a fundamental aspect of Greek identity. But still, many of the things that are a source of pride and national identity for modern Greeks — architecture, literature, the Olympics, theater, philosophy, the very concept of democracy — comes from the ancient Greeks. But until this past April, worshippers were still, in a sense, discriminated against.
The YSEE was unofficially established in 1997, and is often presented as a totally modern representation of ancient Hellenism. While there were brief moments when Hellenistic believers did publicly worship, for most of Greece’s history the Orthodox Church has had a firm hold on the country’s religious identity. A firmly entrenched conservative and traditional institution, it has furiously spoken out against any pagans. “We are the modern point of a very long chain,” Yannis, a fifty-three year old geologist and modern Hellenistic believer told me. “There was no interruption to our religion, it just wasn’t on the surface of society. It went underground.”
Now, they are firmly — or at least, legally — in Greek society. On April 9, 2017, the Greek government officially recognized YSEE as a “known” religion, granting it the right to openly worship, build temples, perform marriages and funerals, and write their religious beliefs on birth certificates. It’s a huge legal step for the religion — until recently, the Greek state did not recognize any non-monotheistic religion, and even non-Orthodox Christian religions, like Protestantism and Roman Catholicism faced challenges. Greek Muslims are still struggling to build a mosque.
(Greek Muslims do have plenty of mosques in Thrace. Muslims in Athens are foreigners with no official status. As long as they have a job they are allowed to stay, but their status is not that clear.)

Modern Hellenism is often presented in today’s Greece as a kooky revival of an ancient, dead religion.
(Not only in modern Greece. There are many kooky professors in western universities that say the same crap.)
“Careful they don’t cut out your liver for sacrifice,” a friend half-jokingly told me before I went to the YSEE headquarters.
(How funny. Probably he heard somewhere that Prometheus was tied on a mountain and an eagle sent by Zeus ate his liver everyday. Well the eagle was killed by Heracles, so there is no need for human liver, funny guy. Prometheus is a God anyway and the reporter Mrs. Souli is a mortal, even if that fellow might think she is divine. A Greek renowned writer, philologist and literary critic Renos Apostolidis once published a book with the title "What the modern Greeks know about Ancient Greece". The book had only blank pages. The even funnier thing is that Christian Orthodox worship slippers, chestnuts and whatever was touched by some monks. Communists worship the mummy of Lenin and believe that it is possible that an earthly Messiah will fulfill all their needs and modern atheists believe technology will grant immortality to the human race. However if one tells them that, they will say one should respect other persons beliefs.)
The group has faced some harassment — in the 1990s, a bookstore was burned to the ground — and for years, the Greek Church decried the “satanic” modern Hellenists. But with their new legal status, they feel more secure, though some members do face problems in Greek society.
“A lot of people call me names, or they don’t accept me as their friend. Sometimes my teachers call me crazy,” fourteen year-old Aristomohos told me.
(The lad's name is probably Aristomachos, Aristomohos makes no sense. Well the priests tell the parents with whom their children should have relations and the teachers usually do not know more than there is in the coursebook. The teachers have professors who are not scientists or scholars, but just acquire their PhD somehow and then they continue earning money otherwise, making use of their titles. To become a professor one has to be approved by Church and a party; and both need obedient followers not competent professionals.)
His whole family are worshippers, and he loves his community, but navigating through high school with any small variation from “normal” is bound to be a difficult experience. Still, Aristomohos said, summoning the wisdom of his ancestors, “that’s their problem, not mine.”
(Aristomachos is right about them. Their problem is that they feel they live in an alien, evil world. So everybody is against everybody. Like the Beduin proverb with oneself vs. his brothers, him and his brothers vs. his cousins, him with his brothers and cousins vs. the world. )
Hellenism also remains a misunderstood religion. A few years ago, Greek fascists wildly missed the mark and were drawn to what they perceived as YSEE’s nationalistic identity.
(The Greeks hated tyranny and did everything to avoid it. Fascists and Communists want to follow a leader. )
“We don’t have the place to embrace totalitarianism,” Vlassis said. “The philosophy of ancient Greek religion is not compatible with fascism,” Peter, a 21-year-old economics student told me. He came to the YSEE headquarters to change the religion on his birth certificate — not because he necessarily believes in Hellenism, but because he doesn’t want to support the Christian Orthodoxy, which he views as “hypocritical… All the Nazis and nationalists I’ve seen are Christian.”
(Yes, totally true.)
This year, the Winter Solstice coincided with the Birth of Hercules on December 23. I was invited to witness the two-for-one ceremony, which celebrated both Hercules’ birthday and the slow return to summer. It took place in YSEE’s state-recognized temple, housed in a nondescript apartment building in Athens’ Museo neighborhood. Inside, a very normal-looking group of devotees milled about: a bodybuilder in a button-down, a lipsticked grandmother, a ten year-old girl adjusting her flower crown. The wine flowed freely, amongst plates of savory cheese pies and cookies. The curtains were decorated with garlands and crimson bows. “These are winter decorations,” Vlassis corrected me when I mentioned something about Christmas. “Jesus was born in the Middle East, he didn’t have wreaths.”

For the uninitiated, the visual packed less weight inside a low-ceilinged apartment then it would in the Temple of Delphi. As Vlassis pointed out, this was a religion created under the burning Mediterranean sun — fluorescent lights don’t do it justice. “Of course we prefer to worship in nature, but this is our temple. It’s more practical here,” Sophia, a 22-year-old priestess and criminology student told me. There are no plans to relocate — they’re just happy to finally have a state-recognized temple.
The half-hour long ceremony started with a slow procession of 12 priests dressed in flowing white (“the color that brings us closest to the gods,” Vlassis explained), carrying bouquets of flowers, dried nuts, and dishes of wine — all offerings for Hercules. One priest plucked away at a small harp; another beat a drum. The offerings were placed on one side of the altar, as a priestess unsheathed a knife and pointed it in four directions, while reciting a prayer in ancient Greek. “Onmyomen,” she said solemnly. (The phrase translates to “we promise before the eyes of god.”) In a synchronized movement, all the devotees placed their right hand on their heart and loudly repeated after her, nearly everyone in the room looking radiantly happy.
It felt a bit like stumbling upon a group of happily tipsy, open-minded people in really nice robes. There was a profound respect for other religions and cultures. Many of the members I met came to Hellenism through other “ethnic” religions — Vlassis studied Mayan and Native American religions, and Yannis practiced Chinese martial arts. Since they don’t believe in proselytizing, they couldn’t care less about indoctrinating new members. Instead, curious people show up voluntarily to the ceremonies, like an Australian PhD student interested in paganism who came for the Birth of Hercules.
But while the religion’s legalized status and increasingly mainstream place in society means there are more people peripherally connected to YSEE, paid membership dues have actually gone down in the last few years. Like every other facet of Greek society, the economic crisis has also touched the Hellenists, making it impossible for some devotees to afford the 60 euro yearly fee to become official members — though in the true spirit of Hellenism (and Greek hospitality), they don’t turn anyone away at the door.
“It’s a very beautiful feeling, being connected to the deities, to the aura of the world. We worship the order of the universe, and the world itself makes you feel like you are part of something bigger,” Sophia told me after the ceremony. She had taken off her priestess outfit, and was back in jeans. “It makes me want to be a better person. With Christianity I always felt like it was humans first and then the world. Now I feel like I am truly a part of this Earth.”