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Author Topic: Sacred Texts Site  (Read 3287 times)

Wulffwynne

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Sacred Texts Site
« on: December 29, 2011, 06:44:14 pm »
Just found this and wanted to share! It seems fairly comprehensive -

http://www.sacred-texts.com

and the section on Paganism -

http://www.sacred-texts.com/pag/index.htm

RandallS

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Re: Sacred Texts Site
« Reply #1 on: December 29, 2011, 06:51:17 pm »
Quote from: Wulffwynne;36880
Just found this and wanted to share! It seems fairly comprehensive -

www.sacred-texts.com

There's a lot of interesting material there. however, it is important to remember that much of it was published in the 1800s or early 1900s. It's especially important to remember this when dealing with folklore or anthropology, a lot of it is no longer consider accurate. The methodology was often not very good so the conclusions aren't much better.
Randall
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catja6

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Re: Sacred Texts Site
« Reply #2 on: December 30, 2011, 01:17:36 pm »
Quote from: Wulffwynne;36880
Just found this and wanted to share! It seems fairly comprehensive -

http://www.sacred-texts.com

and the section on Paganism -

http://www.sacred-texts.com/pag/index.htm

 

My general advice with ST is absorb the data, ignore the conclusions.  The texts available on ST are, as Randall said, mostly 19th-early 20th century, and they reflect extremely outdated approaches to folklore and anthropology.  The problem for newbie Pagans is that a LOT of popular Pagan press books repeat these Victorian attitudes, so you're getting a lot of reinforcement for some very problematic stuff.

My standard recommendation for people who are interested in the material on ST, but lack the context to understand how to best use it, is the website Foamy Custard.  It's a fantastic overview of many of the bugaboos of folklore/anthropology in the early days, and the ways those attitudes got picked up by creative writers and Pagans:

http://www.indigogroup.co.uk/foamycustard/

RandallS

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Re: Sacred Texts Site
« Reply #3 on: December 30, 2011, 06:39:58 pm »
Quote from: catja6;36949
The problem for newbie Pagans is that a LOT of popular Pagan press books repeat these Victorian attitudes, so you're getting a lot of reinforcement for some very problematic stuff.

This reminds me of another issue with older texts of myths. I lot of mythology books published in this time period had things rewritten so not to offend Victorian era sensibilities.
Randall
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Fireof9

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Re: Sacred Texts Site
« Reply #4 on: December 30, 2011, 08:38:43 pm »
Quote from: RandallS;36976
This reminds me of another issue with older texts of myths. I lot of mythology books published in this time period had things rewritten so not to offend Victorian era sensibilities.

 
LOL I think you might really be onto something there.

A good possibility as well is that a great deal of them were copied into print by Catholic Monks. That is not a shot at the monks or Christians, its just that it would be natural to put a twist on the myths.
Really?  So, hey, want to go fishing?  I\'ve got a telescope, and it\'s going to be a dark night, so we should see the fish really well.
...what, I\'m not talking about fishing?  That\'s stargazing?  It\'s all doing-stuff, so it\'s the same thing, right?
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RandallS

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Re: Sacred Texts Site
« Reply #5 on: December 30, 2011, 10:21:23 pm »
Quote from: Fireof9;36982
A good possibility as well is that a great deal of them were copied into print by Catholic Monks. That is not a shot at the monks or Christians, its just that it would be natural to put a twist on the myths.

The Victorian era sensibilities "self-censorship" is another issue completely. The monks who recorded some of the material originally certainty saw it though their own worldview, but the Victorians often changed things out of simple prudishness or the like.
Randall
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Fireof9

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Re: Sacred Texts Site
« Reply #6 on: December 30, 2011, 11:41:10 pm »
Quote from: RandallS;36991
The Victorian era sensibilities "self-censorship" is another issue completely. The monks who recorded some of the material originally certainty saw it though their own worldview, but the Victorians often changed things out of simple prudishness or the like.


Oh yeah I agree - I was throwing the monk thing out there as an additional bit.
Really?  So, hey, want to go fishing?  I\'ve got a telescope, and it\'s going to be a dark night, so we should see the fish really well.
...what, I\'m not talking about fishing?  That\'s stargazing?  It\'s all doing-stuff, so it\'s the same thing, right?
-HeartShadow
 
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The Gwyddonic Order

catja6

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Re: Sacred Texts Site
« Reply #7 on: December 31, 2011, 10:39:19 pm »
Quote from: RandallS;36991
The Victorian era sensibilities "self-censorship" is another issue completely. The monks who recorded some of the material originally certainty saw it though their own worldview, but the Victorians often changed things out of simple prudishness or the like.


*nods*  Oh yes.  Especially as, as the 19th century wore on and cultural evolutionary theories took hold, the equation of "primitive" peoples with children was strengthened, and the subsequent censorship of their stories to reflect that happened.  This is why it's absurd to treat Victorian-era folklore/mythology collections as neutral direct recordings of folklore/myth.  

(A few years ago, some "evolutionary psychologist" used Victorian-era folklore and mythology collections to "prove"... something about how an emphasis on women's beauty, as opposed to men's, is ~hard-wired~ into our ~lizard brains~.  He did this by using Microsoft Word's "Find" function to find adjectives applied to appearance, because reading all those folktales would have been too hard.  The only thing this little exercise proved was that evolutionary psychology is a pseudoscience full of intellectually bankrupt morons.)

RandallS

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Re: Sacred Texts Site
« Reply #8 on: January 01, 2012, 08:12:58 am »
Quote from: catja6;37091
(A few years ago, some "evolutionary psychologist" used Victorian-era folklore and mythology collections to "prove"... something about how an emphasis on women's beauty, as opposed to men's, is ~hard-wired~ into our ~lizard brains~.  He did this by using Microsoft Word's "Find" function to find adjectives applied to appearance, because reading all those folktales would have been too hard.

Did this actually manage to get published? In something peer-reviewed?
Randall
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catja6

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Re: Sacred Texts Site
« Reply #9 on: January 01, 2012, 01:29:35 pm »
Quote from: RandallS;37106
Did this actually manage to get published? In something peer-reviewed?

 
Evolutionary psychologists have their own "academic journals," to get around the fact that real psychologists, evolutionary biologists, and folklorists laugh at them.

SunflowerP

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Re: Sacred Texts Site
« Reply #10 on: January 02, 2012, 09:52:39 am »
Quote from: catja6;37123
Evolutionary psychologists have their own "academic journals," to get around the fact that real psychologists, evolutionary biologists, and folklorists laugh at them.

 
Peer reviewed, because no one but their peers will take them seriously.  Not unlike creation "science" (and oh would the evpsych crew hate that comparison!  Must remember it next time I encounter one).

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Asch

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Re: Sacred Texts Site
« Reply #11 on: January 02, 2012, 11:02:01 am »
Quote from: catja6;37123
Evolutionary psychologists have their own "academic journals," to get around the fact that real psychologists, evolutionary biologists, and folklorists laugh at them.

 
Wow I thought that entire field had vanished into embarrassed obscurity, ahh the staying power of self righteous idiocy...

RandallS

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Re: Sacred Texts Site
« Reply #12 on: January 02, 2012, 05:58:37 pm »
Quote from: SunflowerP;37208
Peer reviewed, because no one but their peers will take them seriously.  Not unlike creation "science" (and oh would the evpsych crew hate that comparison!  Must remember it next time I encounter one).

While I've encountered actual Creation scientists before, I've never had the misfortune to encounter an Evolutionary psychologist.
Randall
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