Located between Dortmund and Paderborn, this town escaped destruction during the war, and thank goodness, because this town is absolutely incredible! These pics are from a trip at the end of 2012, which was rather interesting. If you really look at old churches, you can still see what the religion used to be prior to Christianity. In this part of Germany, we had a variety of Gods. A large brown man which in Ireland would have been called Dagda, as well as the Stone-Age Triple God. This is seen in our own Bible in terms of the three wize men, who 'bless' baby Jesus, almost as if they were a pregrancy/birthing god, but also a triple goddess which appeared over Jesus' manger, at least in terms of a Medieval relief, which amazingly survives at a church in Soest...(See below!)
OR... To read about my theory about how the Giza Complex is in fact the home of the Stone-age Triple God, please click the orange button:
The town is full of large German houses, many of them look like they are about to fall over.
Houses
me!
"This house was built in blah blah blah, 1661"
There dont seem to be many foreign tourists---in fact there dont seem to be many tourists at all compared to many historic towns in England! The tourists there are mainly German tourists.
Old St Peters---a replacement for Charlemagne's old church
Unlike the rest of this page, this church is located in DORTMUND. When Charlemagne incorporated the Saxon states into his empire, he felt he had to Christianize them as rapidly as possible. Churches sprang up on primordial pagan sites.
For starters, the sign tells us what we need to know. A typical medieval church....or is it?
Looking at the entryway, we see evidence of a former Roman-style portico, typical of Saxon churches in England. This church has elements of both Gothic and Roman style.
As one enters, one sees pillars with various curious capitals. Firstly one passes some kind of celtic knots, meaning the secrets are protected from the outside by a sacred seal. Then one passes flowers, then crescent moons.
The `Celtic' religion was strong in Soest. Perhaps Celtic, evidently deriving from `Gaulic', is the wrong word to use to describe the primordial religion of half of Europe, as it existed when the Christians came. Maybe this is what the Gordion knot looked like!
The church has Roman-style red paint all over the place! Pillars like a Latin temple! This is one of the clues that this place was built in imitation of the imperial church which Charlemagne placed here when he conquered the area. By the end of the warm and fertile period of the high Middle Ages the population had swelled and people simply demanded a new church, but like the one they had grown accustomed to which unfortunately had to go. The same seems to have happened in England in the town of Bradford upon Avon except they put the new Norman church next to the old small Saxon one and left the old one standing. In other places, like the Helwig in the middle of Dortmund we see two churches next to each other. One may have been a replacement, and the original may have been replaced eventually as well, with a new one built in its place. Alternately they were covering old saxon memorials, as Silvia suggested to me.
The church is covered with crumbling old artwork. Here the three kings offer gifts to Christ.
Not sure what this is all about!
Old St Maries--definitely an old pagan church!
This video is dedicated to this church!
What an amazing old church this is! This is the best old church in Soest and one of the best in Europe! The artwork is amazing!
A baptismal shrine of some sort. Silvia called me over, 'Charles, who are these women?'
Three women look over Jesus. They stand on his right hand side and watch over him! They are the three women, celtic goddesses as well as Roman. They are also found at the Roman Bath museum in England!
There is more `british' stuff in the Church--the best celtic cross on the continent! Above it are Cain and Abel! They are found on the right hand side of the altar, in the church.
Towards the right of the altar we see a shrine to the Holy Couple. Mary, Joseph and Jesus? OR Jesus and his wife and child?
Note that 'Mary' is represented as the solar deity by her aura. Also, why is 'Joseph' putting a crown on Mary's head? This painting is definitely older than Leonardo's Last Supper!!
This is the most pagan church I have ever seen! I have been in dozens of ancient churches in England but many have suffered excessive refurbishment across the centuries, particularly in the 16th-19th centuries it seems. The result is not much original stuff is left on the inside, merely some old gargoyles and grotesques on the outside, along with the obviously Norman architecture. This place is so different! Germans appear to have preserved their church interiors down the centuries! But look at the ceiling!
It seems that the people at this church envisaged a world tree in heaven! This church is definitely one of the most 'pagan' we have yet seen!
