[Uzurpimi i krishtere i koncepteve pagane -

Christian usurpation of pagan principles] English|Page 6

1 eren e fundit diskutuam uzurpimet dhe shkaterrimet e Islamit ndaj vendeve te shenjta etnike shqiptare. Krishterimi ka metoden H vetjake ne kete pike: shume perendi pagane i ka kthyer ne shenjtore ne menyre qe te terheqe paganet drejt Kishes. Nje shembull eshte Shen Kristofer Cinikofali (nga greqishtja: Kokeqeni), i pikturuar ketu nga ikonografi shqiptar David Selenica. Shen Kristoferi thuhet te kete ndihmuar Krishtin te kaloje nje lume duke e ngritur dhe duke e mbajtur ne krahe. Te njejten histori e gjejme tek veprat e Plutarkut, vetem se eshte per Pirron e Epirit kur ishte i ri, i cili u ndihmua nga nje burre i quajtur Akil Molosi te kaloje nje lume. Te krishteret e ngaterruan kete Molosin me qenin molos te Epirit, dhe zevendesuan Pirron me Krishtin. Pra, nje legjende lokale iliro-epirote u kthue ne historine e nje shenjtori. Kjo ndodhi edhe me te pakten dy shenjtore te tjere: Shen Prende dhe Shen Gjini. Prende, perendesha e dashurise dhe bukurise, kishte nje kult goxha te perhapur. Ajo njihej si Zoja e Bukuris', ylberi ishte nje nga karakteristikat e saj, dhe i dha emrin dites se Premte, qe eshte dhe dita e saj e shenjte. Ajo u zevendesua nga Shen Prende (emri i shqiptohej edhe Prenne ose Perende) apo Shen Veneranda (nga Venus ose Venera, ekuivalentja romake). Eshte e qarte qe keto ishin thjesht zota qe u bene ne shenjtore ne menyre qe ta benin konvertimin me te lehte. Prende identifikohej edhe me Shenjtoren Ana, mamane e Virgjereshes Mari. Ne 26 korrik, ne diten e festes se Shen Anes, vajzat shqiptare vishnin

2 rrobat e tyre me te mira, dhe vinin tek pragu i shtepise nje havan me nje pistil, simbol i qarte erotik, dhe ky zakon nje zakon pagan. Rasti i Gjinit eshte me kompleks. Kleri katolik e identifikon Shen Gjinin si te njejtin person me Shen Gjonin, bazuar tek ngjashmeria e emrave, por kleri ortodoks thote qe jane shenjtore te ndryshem. Ama emri Gjin nuk ka lidhje etimologjike me emrin Gjon. Gjon eshte shqiptarizimi i emrit hebraik John, kurse emri Gjin ka lidhje me Gens ose Genrius, emri i nje mbreti te vjeter ilir. Ka lidhje edhe me fjalen shqipe gjini; kjo e fundit ka lidhje me fjalen latine gens. Gens ne latinisht do te thote 'grup etnik' ose 'popull', kurse gjini ne shqip mund te perdoret si nje sinonim per seksin biologjik apo per nje njesi klanore qe eshte me e ulet se fisi, po me e larte se familja. Disa kane propozuar se Gjini mund te kete qene nje hyjni i kthyer ne shenjtor. Tjeterkund kemi shpjeguar se si mbreterit e Epirit antik, Maqedonise dhe Ilirise shiheshin si misherimi i hyjnise me brire Indo-Evropiane *Pausan. Kjo hyjni blegtorale kishte pergjegjesi per dhente, dhe i mbronte kunder armiqve ashtu si dhe i udhehiqte mes maleve dhe luginave. Roli i mbretit ishte metaforikisht i njejti, pasi keto civilizime rrotulloheshin rreth jetes blegtorale. Mbreterit, duke qene perfaqesues te kesaj hyjnie, mbanin kurora dhe helmeta me brire. Mbreti maqedon Antigoni II paraqitej ne monedha si perendia Pan, hyjnia greke me brire qe ka edhe nje karakter luftarak (thuhet t'i kete ndihmuar greket ne luften kunder perseve), por ne pergjithesi eshte perendi e blegtorise. A mund te jete pra Gjini ekoja e fundit e nje perendie shqiptare?

3 Ketu duhet permendur edhe nje karakter i cuditshem shqiptar i quajtur Bariu i Shejt. Ky shenjtor thuhet qe mbron bagetite nga ujqerit, por edhe edhe ne gjendje t'i jape urdhera ujqerve. Ndonjehere identifikohet me Shen Martinin, por pertej siperfaqes, akademiket shohin zotin antik Pan, ose te pakten nje ekuivalent shqiptar te tij. Njihet me shume emra, njeri prej tyre Gjindi. Kjo nomenklature mund te jete vetem nje shqiptarizim i demonit arab Xhind, por pershkrimi qe i jepet Bariut te Shejt e ben me te ngjashem me perendine Indo-Evropiane *Pausan, ekuivalent i Panit grek, funksioni i tij si udheheqes dhe mbrojtes i kopese. Identifikimi i tij me Shen Martinin dhe fuqia e tij mbi ujqerit jane karakteristika luftarake (emri Martin vjen nga fjala Mars, zot romak i luftes kafsha e shenjte e te cilit eshte ujku). Karakteristikat e perbashketa midis perendise se kopese dhe atij te luftes tregojne si konceptohej fuqia mbreterore e mbreterve te Ilirise, Epirit dhe Maqedonise. Keta mbreter i udhehiqnin popujt e tyre ne beteje nga fronti, ashtu si perendia me brire, dhe fitorja mbi armikun ishte deshmi e favorit te zotave, ose te pakten te atij me brire. Breiret e helmetes ishin shenja e nje lideri fitimtar, nje qe ka favorin e zotave, dhe kjo tradite u mbajt tek populli une, dhe lidhet pergjithmone me helmeten e Skenderbeut. Pra Shen Gjini eshte ekoja e fundit e zotit antik me brire, qe ndoshta quhej Gjin apo Gent. Shen Prende dhe Shen Gjini jane vetem dy shembuj te uzurpimit te Krishtere te perendive pagane. U fokusuam vetem tek dy prej tyre, por mund te kishim shtuar edhe Shen Iliazin apo Eliasin, qe perdorej si

4 ekuivalent i perendive diellore, te bubullimes apo te qiellit, apo venerimi ortodoks i Shen Archelaosit, pas te cilit gjejme nje kult shume popullor ne Epir, ate te Akilit, heroit te Iliades. Per me teper, venerimi i shenjtoreve mes fiseve Gege te maleve (si Virgjeresha per fisin Berisha) na kujton antikiteti, kur cdo familje dhe fis kishte nje perendi te preferuar. Cka folem siper eshte nje shembull tjeter i uzurpimeve abrahamike ne Evrope. Por me pak perpjekje investigative, zotat e vjeter duken perseri, pasi nuk ndaluam kurre se i nderuari, edhe si te krishtere e si muslimane.

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ast time we focused on Islam’s habit of destruction of our culture’s sacred site to replace them with mosques and its L usurpation of our sacred mount Tomorr. Christianity had its own method of this: it has turned many pagan divinities into saints of the Church to attract pagans. One example of this is Saint Christopher Cynocephalus (dog-headed), pictured here by Albanian icon painter David Selenica. Saint Christopher is said to have helped Christ cross a river by lifting him. We find the same story in Plutarch’s works except that it is about the young king Pyrrhus of Epirus being helped by a man called Achilles the Molossian to cross a river. Christians mistook this Molossian for a dog and replaced Pyrrhus with Christ in their plagiarised version. Thus, a local legend of Epiro-Illyrian flavour has become a saint’s background story. This happened with at least two other Albanian saints: Saint Prende and Saint Gjin. Prende, the goddess of love and beauty, was a widely venerated deity. She was also known as the lady of Beauty, the rainbow was one of her attributes and she gave her name to the Albanian day of Friday, which is her sacred day. She was replaced by Saint Prende (known in Gegh dialect as Prenne or Perende) or Saint Veneranda (from Venus or Venera, her Roman equivalent). It is clear that these were merely gods made into saints

6 in order to make the conversion easier. Prende was also sometimes identified with Saint Anne, Virgin Mary's mother. On July 26th, day of the feast of Saint Anne, the women would dress up in their finest clothes and put out a mortar and pestle, the erotic symbolism here evident, and the custom a pagan one. The case of Gjin is more complex. Albania's Catholic clergy identifies Saint Gjin as merely an alternate spelling of Saint Gjon (St. John), but the Orthodox Church claims they are two different saints. The name Gjin is not etymologically related to the name Gjon, however. While Gjon is the Albanisation of the Hebrew name John, the name Gjin is in fact related to Gens or Gentius, name of an old Illyrian king. It is also related to the Albanian word gjini, this one in turn cognate with the Latin gens. Gens in Latin means 'ethnicity' or 'a people', whereas gjini in Albanian is the name of a family unit that is larger than the nuclear family, but smaller than a proper clan (in addition to being translated as 'gender'). Some have suggested that Gjin may have been a deity which was made into a saint as well. Elsewhere we have described how the kings of ancient Epirus, Macedon and Illyria were regarded as the incarnations of the forgotten Indo-European horned god, called *Pausan. This was a pastoral deity that was in charge of the flock, defending it against enemies and leading them through mountains and valleys. The king's role was metaphorically the same, since these societies revolved around pastoral life. The kings, being representatives of this horned god, wore crowns

7 and helmets with horns. Macedonia’s king Antigonus II Gonatas was depicted on his coins as the god Pan, the Greek horned god which had sometimes a warlike character (He was thought to have helped the Greeks against the Persians) but overall presides over the pastoral domain. Therefore, could Gjin be the last echo of this old Indo- European horned deity among Albanians? It is worth focusing on a strange character of Albanian mythology called the Good Shepherd (Bariu i shenjt). This saint is said to protect flocks from wolves, but he also has power over wolves (he is able to silence them, to command them etc). Sometimes identified with Saint Martin, beneath him scholars recognize the ancient god Pan, or at least an Albanian counterpart of it. He is called by many names, and sometimes referred to as Gjindi. Even though this last nomenclature could be an albaniasation of the arabic demon Djin, the Good Shepherd’s description point to him as the old Indo-European horned god *Pausan: his identification with the horned Greek god Pan, his function of protector and leader of the flock. Furthermore, his identification with Saint Martin and his power over wolves point to warrior attributes (Martin is cognate with Mars, the Roman deity of war whose sacred animal was the wolf). The shared characteristics of a deity of the flock and a warrior god point to the conception of royal power among the kings of ancient Illyria, Epirus and Macedon. These kings were known to lead their peoples to battle, just like the horned God would do, and victory over

8 one’s enemies was a direct testimony of the Gods' favour, or at least of the horned God’s. Horns on a helmet would thus distinguish a victorious leader, one that enjoys the favour of the Gods, and this tradition was carried on among our people and is forever connect to us through Skanderbeg’s famous helmet. Therefore Saint Gjin could be the last echo of our ancient horned God, perhaps called Gjin or Gent. Saint Prende and Saint Gjin are just two examples of Christianity’s usurpation of our pagan deities. We focused only upon two of them, but we could have added Saint Elias which has been used as an equivalent of solar, thunder and sky deities, or the orthodox veneration of Saint Archelaos behind whom we find one of Epirus’ most popular cults: that of Achilles, Iliad’s hero. Furthermore, the veneration of saints among Gheg tribes of the mountains (like the Virgin for Berisha tribe) is very reminiscent to the way that families and tribes in Antiquity had a favourite divinity among the pantheon to honour. What we spoke of above is a good example of Abrahamic usurpations in Europe. But with a little bit of investigation, we can meet again our old Gods again, for our people never stopped honouring them, even as Christians or as Muslims.

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