pagan horn god vs Christian devil

[DaiBach]

It wasn't illiterate during the invasion of the English either, otherwise we wouldn't have the writings of, er, Gildas and Nennius,

[Jenny Crow]

Thanks goldentimes, I love British history.

Actually, DaiBach I believe it was only the priests etc. who were able to read and write the general populace was pretty well illiterate.

[DaiBach]

You are I'm quite right JC; I'm sure that the British priests, lawmakers and nobs etc were literate, which makes the statement "Illiteracy overtook post-Roman Britain after the Anglo-Saxon invasions of the fifth century" incorrect.

[Jenny Crow]

Sorry DaiBach - it was goldentimes who said Britain was illiterate, wasn't it - my apologies. I guess we're all right, lol,

[norseman]

@Goldentimes - the "conversion" of Northumbria [largest of the kingdoms] was due to the pagan king marrying a christian Sussex lady [ he was hen-pecked !]. The conversion came through the monks of Iona/Lindisfarne. These monks were not of Rome but of the Celtic Church which had animist/pagan tendencies - oral histories say that this Celtic Church subsumed the Druids who escaped the genocide by the Roman Army.
The Northumbrian Thanes probably "converted" under threat from the king but the general population [Celts] would have remained with their old gods. Conversion was only skin-deep. This was demonstrated when the Norse conquered most of Northumbria which promptly reverted to paganism.

Originally Posted by Jenny Crow

Sorry DaiBach - it was goldentimes who said Britain was illiterate, wasn't it - my apologies. I guess we're all right, lol,

Sorry but I have to have a lol as it wasn't me who said nor written this, See below and take a look: http://www.medievalhistory.net/page0003.htm

[DaiBach]

Good morning Golden T. I was aware that an English historian had written that article. If it had been written by a Welsh historian, he or she would have said that literacy had continued in Britain after the Romans had left.

Anyway going back to the heading and what I 1st written, I do think that Christian's did/could had worshiped a horn god who wasn't an evil devil but rather was a god of Protection and helped to Banish Negativity just like we do with the horn gods today-(which ever one's you worship). After all why would the 'Devil' who's meant to be evil want to take/watching evil spirited people/people who meant have done wrong or want to make Negativity things?
Think carefully before you rush to answer this.

After all wouldn't an 'evil spirit'(Early Christian's horn god) which today's Christianity calls the Devil would enjoy watching someone doing wrong things and wouldn't bother taking them?
So, the summary is that Christian's (before the bible and the Testaments was written) could have easily worshiped a horn god; question is, which one.
Just like you said Norseman there are so many horn gods; it could have been any one out of many.

The other theory I have is that today's paganism worry about Christian's taking our Sabbats/festivals or did they?
real Facts-for an example taking 21st Dec.yule/Winter Solstice 20-23rd Dec.
Christian's did Festivals for the midwinter which was 20-23rd (in England uk) just like pagan's, but then There was a time come to the calender started to change (the months, weeks, days, years and the timing around the calender all changed) and it carried on right up to 1700's. So the Christians didn't think to put the festivals back to the original dates (people didn't think like that back then in the uk) so what was the 21st Dec. became 25th Dec and it is the same for all Sabbets. (so Christianity holds the kay secret of what happened to them) When the Vikings 1st came who was old pagan's they put some of the festivals back in to the 'modern calender' and left christian's with the 25th Dec. But then Christian's relies that they had nothing to worship on the date. So they change root by putting Jesus Birthday on 25th Dec. and by the time of the norman's came, Christianity changed and become their own religion, by then Bibles and Testaments had been written and changed over and over again as time moved on.
I do not believe in the Bible or the testaments but if you take these basic things from the Bible and throwing the rest of the Bible away you can see that Christianity could have been another form of paganism.

I am not saying that you have to follow Christianity (more so today's Chistianity), but what I am saying is, before the modern Bible and the Testaments was written; Christianity could have been some form of Paganism.

[DaiBach]

The early British Christian saints weren't pagans, they were Christians. But, rather than destroying all pagan beliefs and sacred sites they adopted them to Christianity - just like the Catholic church did in South America in the 16th and 17th centuries.

Many British saints don't half sound like pagan deities (St. Non with her holy wells and lightning, or David and his connection to animals and wild places). Also, many ancient British churches are built in old, sacred enclosures, thereby taking over pagan sites for Christian worship. Old church sites in the west are still called prefixed with the word 'llan' meaning enclosure.

[Lilyth Von Gore]

Originally Posted by norseman

The Horned god - Cernunnos aka Kern aka Herne is the masculine principle of Nature and consort of the goddess, the feminine principle of Nature - Yin and Yang, each essential to the other.
Take another horned god, Pan aka Lucifer - honorifics Lord of Darkness and Lord of Light - Yin and Yang combined in a single being. It was Pan that the christian faith perverted into meaning Satan [aka Lucifer, the devil].

Lucifer was an Angel cast out of Heaven for refusing to help us mortals. His name means Light Bringer. The Horned God of Wicca was brought into existence to be the consort of the Goddess, to bring life to our world. Ergo, not the same being.