Pagan Resurrection

'Pagan Resurrection' puts forward a fascinating and controversial idea--namely that it is the pagan god Odin and not Christ who is the single most important spiritual influence in western civilisation. Far from being just a New Age fad, paganism is fast becoming a major spiritual, intellectual, ecological and political force across the globe. Rudgley is an Oxford trained anthropologist and critically acclaimed author of 'Lost Civilisations of the Stone Age', who has since presented three series on UK Channel 4. He takes the reader through the strange world of modern pagan cults, the beliefs that underpin important parts of modern culture, such as 'Lord of the Rings' and the highly pagan counter culture that sprang up in the sixties and now offers an attractive alternative spiritual vision to millions alienated from Christianity.

He explains the ancient idea of the Web--a cosmic field of energies that encompasses time, space, and the hidden potentials of the human organic, and shows that this is a pagan equivalent to the aster tradition of the Tao.

Our civilisation, our belief systems and attitudes, indeed our psyche have been formed by Odin. The influence of Christ, he says, has been relatively recent and shallow.

Paganism, like Christianity, can be forced for good or evil. At this turning point in history we need to choose between the dark and destructive paganism that gave rise to Nazism and modern right-wing movements in America and, on the other hand, the green paganism of ecology and alternative spirituality.