Pagan Resurrection

This controversial study of the rise of paganism suggests that the pagan god Odin and not Christ is the single most important spiritual influence in western civilization.
The author, an anthropologist, makes the claim that paganism, far from being a New Age fad, is fast becoming a major spiritual, intellectual, ecological and political force across the globe. Our civilization, our belief systems and indeed our psyche have been formed by the pagan god Odin. The influence of Christ, he says, has been relatively recent and shallow.
Rudgley takes the reader through the strange world of modern pagan cults, the beliefs that underpin important parts of modern culture, such as The Lord of the Rings and the highly pagan counterculture that sprang up in the sixties and which now offers an attractive alternative spiritual vision to the millions who feel alienated from Christianity.
Paganism, like Christianity, can be a force for good or evil. At this turning point in history, he says, 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. As with other controversial works of alternative history/spirituality such as The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail, the time is now just right for Pagan Resurrection.

"From the Hardcover edition."