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Can Traditional Paganism Lead To Strong Nationalism? (case Study: Egypt) - Religion - Nairaland

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Can Traditional Paganism Lead To Strong Nationalism? (case Study: Egypt) by PAGAN9JA(m): 12:49pm On Jul 02, 2013
Paganism cuts across tribal lines. Paganism can unite all our ethnic groups on religious grounds yet maintain our separate independence and diversity. To be Pagan is to be loyal to your identity. A strong sense of identity implies a stronger Nationalistic feeling and a reason and will to die for our Nation and therefore, our identity. With this note in mind, let us look at the Egyptian example. .

Egypt as you know, is a Nation with very strong Pagan roots. Infact Egypts economy survives on its Pagan history and tourism.
Today, Egypt is divided between a majority muslim and a minority Coptic christian groups. Violence between the two is a long-standing disposition and is not uncommon.

Yet there is one day on which Egyptians of all backrounds, religions and classes unite. That day is on the Ancient Pagan Springtime Festival of Sham El Nessim. All Egyptians celebrate it and it is like a National Holiday.
The festival has survived since the days of the Pharaohs.


[size=16pt]Egypt's spring tradition stands the test of time[/size]

Neither health advisories, nor declarations by conservative islamic clerics, deter people from eating feseekh --- the speciality dish of Sham Al Nessim




CAIRO — Every year, Egyptians mark the arrival of spring by flocking to the rare patches of green in this sprawling, crowded megalopolis to celebrate a holiday believed to be passed down from the pharaohs. Sham el-Nessim, the holiday’s Arabic name, means literally “smelling the breeze.”

That’s not always advisable in the case of the holiday’s trademark dish: a heavily salted, aged fish called feseekh that even admirers acknowledge smells more like garbage than food.

“It’s terrible!” said Muhammad Shaaban, 54, who lounged with his extended family under a tree in a Cairo park during the holiday on Monday.

But he still eats the fish. “It’s an Egyptian tradition that’s been with us for 7,000 years,” he said. “We’re used to it.”

These are turbulent times for Egypt as its people deal with recurrent street violence, political polarization and increasing economic distress.

Recent news reflects the gloom. The government has so far failed to reach a loan agreement with the International Monetary Fund that could help prop up the economy, and disagreements rage between the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt’s strongest political power, and its opponents over the direction of the country.

A discussion about whether Muslims were permitted to wish their Christian neighbors a happy holiday on the Coptic Christian Easter this past Sunday was taken by some as an indication of how much society has frayed since the revolution that toppled President Hosni Mubarak more than two years ago.

But those worries were largely set aside on Monday as Egyptians of all classes and religions held picnics, took boat rides on the Nile and celebrated a holiday whose roots most believe date back to this land’s ancient inhabitants.

They also stood by their faith fish.



“Feseekh is Egyptian, and the ancients taught us how to make it,” said Maher Dahab, a clothing merchant standing in line at a fish shop downtown. “They built the pyramids, and they made feseekh.”

[size=32pt]Both the holiday and its stinky meal have proved resistant to attack, highlighting the long history that gives Egyptians one of the strongest senses of national identity in the Arab world.[/size]

While most Arab countries were created by colonial powers drawing arbitrary lines on maps, Egypt has been Egypt for millenniums. Pride in that inheritance is something most Egyptians share, even when they disagree on much else.

Despite declarations from a few conservative television preachers branding Sham el-Nessim a Pagan holiday that Muslims are forbidden to celebrate, the country’s most prominent Islamist parties do not oppose it.

“It’s an Egyptian tradition that we’ve all become accustomed to,” said Gehad el-Haddad, a senior official with the Muslim Brotherhood, whose political party dominates the Parliament.



Muhammad Emara, a member of the executive council of the ultraconservative Nour Party , said, “We don’t get involved in Egyptian traditions.”

Nor have government warnings about the dangers of eating old, raw fish dried up demand.

Two days before the holiday, the Egyptian Health Ministry released statistics for food poisoning and deaths from bad feseekh in recent years: 49 poisoned and 9 dead in 2007; 26 poisoned and 4 dead in 2008; and more than a dozen poisoned and 2 dead in both 2009 and 2010. That’s better than 1991, when bad fish poisoned 90 people and killed 18.

While the ministry reported no confirmed cases of feseekh poisoning in the last two years, it warned Egyptians not to eat it, deeming it a health risk that can cause “complete paralysis or death.”

One of Cairo’s most storied feseekh sellers, Abdel-Nabi Shahin, shrugged when asked about the warnings.

“There are cheaters who give us a bad image,” he said, adding that the trick is clean preparation. “Some have dirty fingernails or don’t wash their hands before they work with the fish.”

The job, he said, requires “cleanliness and vigilance.”

Mr. Shahin, 58, is the third-generation owner of the family business, which now has two stores that draw customers from far away seeking fish they can trust.

The process has changed little over the years, Mr. Shahin said. He starts with fresh mullet caught in the Mediterranean, which is washed but left intact, guts and all.

It is packed in salt in wood barrels and left to sit for 45 days. After that, it is good to eat for six months, Mr. Shahin said.

A kilogram of Shahin’s feseekh (about 2.2 pounds) goes for about $13, nearly twice what it cost last year because of a fish shortage, he said.

He also sells a smoked fish called ringa that is imported fresh from the Netherlands and processed in a Cairo factory. It costs less than half as much, and you can’t smell it across the street as you can feseekh.

The greatest threat to his business is not religious zealotry or government warnings but less vigilant fishmongers who seek to profit from his name, Mr. Shahin said.

A fake Shahin shop opened up across the Nile last year, and he has heard of others, too.

Sitting at a desk in his downtown shop recently while two of his sons sold piles of feseekh to a line of customers that stretched into the street, he fielded calls from people making sure his was the right shop.

“There is only one Shahin!” he shouted into the phone. “All the others are fakes!”

Customers waiting in line disputed the idea that feseekh stinks, or at least tried to.

“It’s psychological,” said Muhammad Abdullah, 26. “If you smell this smell from a pile of garbage in the street you get grossed out. But if you smell it from feseekh, you don’t.”

Historians say Sham el-Nessim’s genesis remains unclear.

Fayza Haikal, professor of Egyptology at the American University in Cairo, said the holiday could be linked to the ancient Egyptian Festival of the Valley, which was celebrated around April and sought to revive the ancestors. This resembles the modern holiday’s focus on the revival of nature after winter, and could explain its association with the Coptic Easter and the resurrection.

Even the celebrations appear similar.

“They shared a meal, they had banquets, they went out, they took boats on the river; it was in some ways very close to what you see now,” Dr. Haikal said. “This is why it may relate. But I underline ‘may.’ ”

The holiday has long been observed on the Monday after Coptic Easter, a merger that most likely happened during the early centuries A.D. when many ancient Egyptian practices existed alongside Christianity.

The arrival of Islam in Egypt in 640 apparently did not affect the holiday.

Dr. Haikal said Sham el-Nessim is now a national holiday, not a religious one, and she doubted anyone could strike it from the calendar.

“Festivals are here to cheer people up, and they need something to cheer them up,” she said. “They will not give up their holidays easily.”

Nor will many give up their feseekh.




On Monday, large families with bags of food staked out patches of grass in the shade of scattered trees at a hilltop Cairo park named after the nearby Al-Azhar mosque and university, Egypt’s historic seat of Muslim scholarship.

Some said the government’s warnings and recent reports of the police confiscating bad feseekh had made them opt out. But many still indulged, the smell of their meals wafting over the footpaths.

Seated on a blanket in the shade with his wife and three daughters, Mohammed Hassan lifted a yellow-gray fish from a plate, tore it open and drizzled lime juice over its pink flesh.

He said he had heard the warnings, but only bought feseekh from people he knew and trusted.

“It’s excellent,” Mr. Hassan said, tearing bits of meat from the fish’s spine and popping them in his mouth. “There’s nothing to be afraid of.”




source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/07/world/middleeast/a-taste-of-spring-that-reeks-of-tradition.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0


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Though the Egyptians maybe consciously ignorant of the true reason that unites them all as people, can't we Nigerians learn a thing or two from this example

The rifts crated between the two foreign religion has turned the different tribes against each other, in a more personal level.

In the past, the different tribes never hated each other. THe wars were fought over mutual necessity. over land , food, expansion of Empires, etc.

However now, the different tribes of our nation are pitted against each other on religious grounds.

Today, a muslim Hausaman won't hesitate to kill his own christian brother from his very own tribe. talk less of other tribes.

and vice versa.


these foreign religions have done more evil, than good.

If we all were to revert to traditional religion, then atleast we will have a common cause for unity. That of our religion. We will be able to save our cultures and learn to appreciate each others beliefs and traditions.

We can become ONE STRONG UNITED PAGAN TRIBAL NATION & CONFEDERATION.



With religious unity, we can further unite ourselves and work towards achieving better goals, as is exemplified from the above example.

Who says Nigeria can't become the Best Nation in the world

We just need to believe in our selves and in our sacred land, to work that out.

If the beliefs of the Egyptians forefathers can unite them as one, even now. Then why won't that work out for us?

This is the beliefs of our land.

It is high time we think and act over this matter. .

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Re: Can Traditional Paganism Lead To Strong Nationalism? (case Study: Egypt) by plaetton: 1:28pm On Jul 02, 2013
Absolutely ,brother.
That is the missing ingredient in our fragmented lives and nationhood.
Colonialism and its impact on our traditional culture and values is what I call the GREAT MIND ROBBERY of the African people.

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Re: Can Traditional Paganism Lead To Strong Nationalism? (case Study: Egypt) by TerryCarr(m): 2:25pm On Jul 02, 2013
Egypt is probably the only nation in Africa with a national holiday that has "pagan" influence/origin
Re: Can Traditional Paganism Lead To Strong Nationalism? (case Study: Egypt) by TerryCarr(m): 2:33pm On Jul 02, 2013
Re: Can Traditional Paganism Lead To Strong Nationalism? (case Study: Egypt) by PAGAN9JA(m): 3:16pm On Jul 02, 2013
TerryCarr: Egypt is probably the only nation in Africa with a national holiday that has "pagan" influence/origin

TWO holidays in fact. The other one being : Wafaa El-Nil (The flooding of the Nile)

It is celebrated in honour of Goddess Isis shedding her tears.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flooding_of_the_Nile



Its funny how Nigeria, which has a significant Pagan population and a very recent Pagan heritage, does not have ANY Pagan holiday.

shameful. angry
Re: Can Traditional Paganism Lead To Strong Nationalism? (case Study: Egypt) by EvilBrain1(m): 3:24pm On Jul 02, 2013
That ship has sailed a long time ago. The imported religions are here and they aren't going anywhere. Traditionalism is going to be nothing more than a fringe religion for the foreseeable future. And that's only if we're lucky.

There's a good chance that they'll be wiped out entirely if the Christian fundamentalists and Muslim fanatics get their way. Traditionalists and atheists are about the only groups in Nigeria that it's socially acceptable to openly discriminate against. And the campaign of intolerance is working.
Re: Can Traditional Paganism Lead To Strong Nationalism? (case Study: Egypt) by PAGAN9JA(m): 3:31pm On Jul 02, 2013
HECK NO!

We must not let that happen. we will do something about it. Can't wait anymore.
I need to think. for now atheists must side with us atleast for the preservation of our common tribal culture.

we need to call up a conference.
Re: Can Traditional Paganism Lead To Strong Nationalism? (case Study: Egypt) by TerryCarr(m): 4:15pm On Jul 02, 2013
Evil Brain: That ship has sailed a long time ago. The imported religions are here and they aren't going anywhere. Traditionalism is going to be nothing more than a fringe religion for the foreseeable future. And that's only if we're lucky.

There's a good chance that they'll be wiped out entirely if the Christian fundamentalists and Muslim fanatics get their way. Traditionalists and atheists are about the only groups in Nigeria that it's socially acceptable to openly discriminate against. And the campaign of intolerance is working.
and gays which people advocate genocide up on.
Re: Can Traditional Paganism Lead To Strong Nationalism? (case Study: Egypt) by MamiWata: 7:26pm On Jul 02, 2013
TerryCarr: Egypt is probably the only nation in Africa with a national holiday that has "pagan" influence/origin

Benin has a national day of vodun every January 10. It's a great example to follow.

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Re: Can Traditional Paganism Lead To Strong Nationalism? (case Study: Egypt) by MamiWata: 7:46pm On Jul 02, 2013
Evil Brain: That ship has sailed a long time ago. The imported religions are here and they aren't going anywhere. Traditionalism is going to be nothing more than a fringe religion for the foreseeable future. And that's only if we're lucky.

There's a good chance that they'll be wiped out entirely if the Christian fundamentalists and Muslim fanatics get their way. Traditionalists and atheists are about the only groups in Nigeria that it's socially acceptable to openly discriminate against. And the campaign of intolerance is working.

I wouldn't be so negative largely because westerners are now investigating traditional religions. There has been a recent surge in non-Africans becoming interested in our traditions. European traditional religions are essentially dead as living bodies of knowledge. Wicca and others have been reconstructed but African ATR's have been practiced continuously. People like Malidoma and Sobonfu Some are "training" a lot of non-blacks in ATR's. Perhaps when white people show the interest those blacks who've cast our own traditions aside will be more encouraged to stop hating what we have. After all we both know that some black people ask little more than "how high" when whites tell them to jump.


Re: Can Traditional Paganism Lead To Strong Nationalism? (case Study: Egypt) by PAGAN9JA(m): 4:38pm On Jul 06, 2013
MamiWata:

Benin has a national day of vodun every January 10. It's a great example to follow.

Yes true. Vodun was officially recognized as a Religion in Benin on 1996. People from all over the world come to see the celebrations.

Its truley great.

the day is called Traditional Day.

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Re: Can Traditional Paganism Lead To Strong Nationalism? (case Study: Egypt) by AbuMikey(m): 8:29am On Jul 11, 2013
Pagan 9ja at it again!!!
Re: Can Traditional Paganism Lead To Strong Nationalism? (case Study: Egypt) by CATCHYBLOGGER: 1:51pm On Jul 11, 2013
PAGAN 9JA:
HECK NO!

We must not let that happen. we will do something about it. Can't wait anymore.
I need to think. for now atheists must side with us atleast for the preservation of our common tribal culture.

we need to call up a conference.




grin grin grin Atheists partying with Paganists grin grin grin ; Can't wait to witness that collabo!
Re: Can Traditional Paganism Lead To Strong Nationalism? (case Study: Egypt) by EvilBrain1(m): 2:49pm On Jul 11, 2013
CATCHYBLOGGER:




grin grin grin Atheists partying with Paganists grin grin grin ; Can't wait to witness that collabo!

Atheists have generally been more sympathetic towards traditional religions because they are our heritage and are intertwined with our culture, unlike Christianity and Islam which are completely alien and destroy local traditions wherever they go.
For examples, see Fela, Wole Soyinka, and co.

Also, WTF is a paganist?!?

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Re: Can Traditional Paganism Lead To Strong Nationalism? (case Study: Egypt) by PAGAN9JA(m): 4:09pm On Jul 11, 2013
^he means Pagan. tongue
Re: Can Traditional Paganism Lead To Strong Nationalism? (case Study: Egypt) by ababda: 5:44am On Jan 06, 2014
TerryCarr: Egypt is probably the only nation in Africa with a national holiday that has "pagan" influence/origin

Actually, not only in Egypt, but this holiday is practiced in Sudan as well. It is part of the national holiday. As i remembered people usually take a break and some go to the parks and basically have family gathering.

http://sudan.usembassy.gov/holidays2.html

Sham Al Nassim (Spring Holiday) is the first Monday following Easter. The origin of the holiday is obscure but is believed to be descended from one of the ancient Egyptian festivals in connection with the beginning of spring. This is a non-religious non-national general public holiday, designed mainly to give a welcome break to the tedium of work. It is very much a family holiday and many families pack picnic lunches and spend a day in shaded areas by the river. It is also referred to as the day to “sniff the breezes”.
The information on holidays was taken from Maria Baba’s CROSS CULTURAL STUDY OF KHARTOUM, April 1981 mimeograph
Re: Can Traditional Paganism Lead To Strong Nationalism? (case Study: Egypt) by FOLYKAZE(m): 9:29am On Jan 06, 2014
CATCHYBLOGGER:




grin grin grin Atheists partying with Paganists grin grin grin ; Can't wait to witness that collabo!

We are sealed with the signature which read 'the enemy of my enemy is my best friend'.

Naturalistic pantheism and spiritual atheism is the same thing. What is essential is tolerance and cultural growth.

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