The Place of the Earth-Goddess Cult in English Pagan Religion By Gary G. Stanfield Kansas City, Missouri, USA. Copyright 2014 (USA Copyright Office). Page 1 Table of Contents Table of Contents ....................................................................................................................... 2 Chapter 1: Introduction .............................................................................................................. 5 A) Purposes and Objectives ...................................................................................................... 5 B) Vocabulary, Grammar, and Spelling ....................................................................................... 5 C) The Concept of Theological Diversity ...................................................................................... 6 D) The Unified Theology Model in Previous Studies ...................................................................... 7 E) Lack of Importance of an Earth Goddess in Prior Studies .......................................................... 8 F) Advice On How Works are Cited ............................................................................................ 9 G) Preview of the Substantive Chapters ................................................................................... 11 Chapter 2: Cultic Practice and Formal Lore .................................................................................. 13 A) Folk Religion ..................................................................................................................... 13 B) Cult and Myth ................................................................................................................... 15 C) Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 18 Chapter 3: Kwoth — Holy Spirit and a Supreme Deity ................................................................... 19 A) The Nuer as a People ......................................................................................................... 19 B) Holy Spirit in Nuer Religion ................................................................................................. 19 C) Example of the Refraction Principle ...................................................................................... 21 D) Kwoth and Doctrinal Flexibility ............................................................................................ 23 E) Application to English Polytheism ......................................................................................... 23 Chapter 4: Neoplatonic Theology ................................................................................................ 24 A) Summary of the Case to This Point ...................................................................................... 24 B) Objectives of This Chapter .................................................................................................. 24 C) Introductory Remarks ........................................................................................................ 24 D) Polytheism with a Supreme Deity ........................................................................................ 27 E) Immortal Mental Executives ................................................................................................ 28 F) Evaluations Not Friendly to Earth Religion ............................................................................. 32 G) Epistemology .................................................................................................................... 32 H) Critique ............................................................................................................................ 32 Chapter 5: An Earth-Goddess Cult in a Bifurcated Religion ............................................................ 34 A) Summary of the Case to This Point ...................................................................................... 34 B) Sources of Data ................................................................................................................ 34 C) Cultural Context of Tallensi Religion ..................................................................................... 34 D) Overview of the Cult Structure ............................................................................................ 35 E) The Ancestor-God Cult ....................................................................................................... 35 F) The Earth Goddess Cult ...................................................................................................... 36 G) Teng Cult Organization ...................................................................................................... 40 H) Some Conclusions ............................................................................................................. 41 Chapter 6: Norse Theologies ...................................................................................................... 43 A) Major Documentary Sources ............................................................................................... 43 B) Earth Religion ................................................................................................................... 45 C) Cosmic Super-Deity Theology ............................................................................................. 47 D) Polycentric Theology: The Borrson Brothers Partnership ......................................................... 50 E) Óðin as Pinnacle Deity of Deity-Compound (Ásgarð) .............................................................. 54 F) Polycentrism: More Wights and Other Objects Emerge ........................................................... 57 G) Summary and Conclusions ................................................................................................. 62 Chapter 7: Two Roman Earth Goddesses ..................................................................................... 65 A) Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 65 B) General Description of Roman Earth Goddess Religion ........................................................... 65 C) Earth Mother, the Soil Goddess ........................................................................................... 68 D) Mother of Deities............................................................................................................... 72 E) Conclusions ...................................................................................................................... 81 Chapter 8: Earth Religion in Proto-Germanic Times ...................................................................... 83 Page 2 A) Ancient Geographies .......................................................................................................... 83 B) Cultural Turbulence ........................................................................................................... 84 C) Earth Goddesses ............................................................................................................... 85 D) Major Conclusions ............................................................................................................. 88 Chapter 9: Documented Earþ Belief and Practice after 650 CE ....................................................... 89 A) Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 89 B) Documented Prayers and Magic .......................................................................................... 90 C) Omissions in Other Evidence ............................................................................................... 98 D) Conclusions .................................................................................................................... 100 Chapter 10: Circumstantial Evidence from after 650 CE .............................................................. 102 A) Importance of Nonverbal Clues ......................................................................................... 102 B) Venues .......................................................................................................................... 102 C) Buried Objects as Offerings .............................................................................................. 110 D) Artistic Images ............................................................................................................... 111 E) Conclusions from Circumstantial Evidence .......................................................................... 129 Chapter 11: The Earþ Cult Per Se ............................................................................................. 130 A) Overview of Previous Content ........................................................................................... 130 B) A People’s Cult ................................................................................................................ 130 C) Intellectual and Emotional Basis of Earþ-Cult Theology ........................................................ 131 D) Alternatives Regarding Ultimate Creation ........................................................................... 133 E) Natural Species of Deity 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