Pagan Culture

Pagan culture is one of the religious practices that dominated the classical world. Its complexion has evolved for centuries to accommodate various practices whose early followers did not espouse. Fundamentally, Paganism encompasses the worship or belief in several deities that constitute of gods and goddesses. Unlike Islam, Judaism and Christianity, the religion is not tied to particular doctrines and customs that regulate its religious activities. Mostly, the adherents venerate nature and worship many deities depending on the location of the people being involved in the worship. Reverence of the spirits, gods, and goddesses of the landscape such as water courses, wells, soils of fields and mountains is a very common feature of the pagan culture. The religious practices of pagans are premised on polytheism and the veneration of individual deities that are deemed unique depending on the geographical settings of the involved followers. For pagans, Cupid, Psyche, and Venus occupy a crucial position in an individuals quest to connect with the divine.

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The relationship between Cupid and Psyche is a representation on the inseparability of the Love and Soul. These aspects of a mortal play a significant role in keeping a relationship together. When there are a lot of tribulations, Cupid and Psyche would always come together so as to create an atmosphere that guarantees the continuity of the relationship. The soul is so beautiful that love cannot separate with it (Apuleius & Relihan, 2009). Psyche is so lovely that all men in the land pay attention to her at the expense of the goddess of love, Venus. These developments annoy the goddess of love and as a result, she plots to destroy Psyche through her son Cupid. The love the son has for Psyche makes him reconsider the instructions of the goddess by taking Psyche as a wife. The relationship between Cupid and Psyche progress smoothly until the husband informed the wife that older sisters were yearning to see her. In spite of the spouses resistance, Psyche desires their visit. The turn of events upon their visit portray a contemporary world where close members of the family can play a role in ruining ones marriage. For one, the presence of the sisters invokes a sense of disbelief that makes Psyche ascertain the existence of the husband. This is a sign of lack of faith. In effect, Psyche undergoes a lot of challenges that were occasioned by people she knows and loves (Apuleius & Relihan, 2009). The relationship between these individuals demonstrates the importance of listening to the soul so as to conquer challenges that may threaten love relationships.

Faith and respect to the gods and goddesses contribute to the success of the relationship between Psyche and Cupid. It is evident that the instructions from Apollo through the intercession of Psyches father are strictly adhered to since it is a direction from the gods. The respect of gods and goddess makes Psyche obey the instruction to go on top of a hill so that a serpent could marry her. Here, faith plays a significant part of to guide the soul to the future and its possible benefits to those who seek love and peace (Apuleius & Relihan, 2009). Conversely, the relationship depicts the ability of love to defy instructions of the gods. Cupid is instructed to go and prick Psyche but disobeys the directive for his emotions. The action is a rare disregard of the mystical relationship that existed between mortals and gods during the classical times (Moreira & Toscano, 2013). In the same breadth, the level of faith and respect to the gods vary depending on the individual. The sisters to Psyche express doubts about the existence of the husband. They show little regard to the instructions of Apollo that their sister would get a husband on top of the hill. Such a response shows little faith in the god, leading to the demand for the sister to ascertain the presence and existence of Cupid (Moreira & Toscano, 2013). Similarly, in the pagan culture, individuals profess varying strengths of beliefs to the various deities that they give their spiritual allegiance. The religion does not have a monotheistic form any established following. In the end, the instructions of the gods triumph over the mortal judgments, reaffirming the superiority of gods and goddesses in the classical period in influencing the lives of humans.

Humanitys quest to connect with the divine is evident between Cupid and Psyche. It is a manifestation of love affairs that existed between the gods and mortals in the classical period of the history of humanity. The connection of the lovers with the divine is shown in the fluidity with which they juggle between the natures. There is movement from sexual to chaste, divine to human, from the love between unrelated individuals to love between equals. Psyche starts life as a mortal but ends in divinity. She becomes a bride of death, undergoes numerous trials and much suffering to reemerge from the underworld, giving hope for immortality to those who knew her (Moreira & Toscano, 2013). The soul is presented as neither of the earth nor of the heavens. The immortality of the soul offers hope to mortals in the face of earthly realities such as death. Cupid also begins as a product of a goddess, who later assumes divine presence upon becoming the husband of Psyche. However, he shows earthly behaviors of immorality and disruptiveness. Curiously, this is the person in whom Psyche finds real love after an extended period during which men ostracized her. The mythology represents a case of equality of lovers and the amount of sacrifice each offers to rescue the other from the trappings of nature. The divine reaches down for the immortal and the mortal reaches up for the divine in mutual desire (Moreira & Toscano, 2013)

The resolution of the conflict between Psyche and Venus is achieved when both assume their divinity positions. The jealousy of the goddess of love makes her devise ways that will reduce the attention of men to Psyche. It is a contention between two divine beings over earthly desires. Venus is not impressed with the loss of her sons love to the Psyche. Also, the enchanting beauty of the daughter-in-law has snatched the attention of people from Venus, and this makes her determined to revenge for the loss she has suffered as a goddess of beauty. It is because of the antipathy towards Psyche that makes subject the lady to suffering as a way of avenging herself. The battle of gods is evident in the series of hard tasks that Venus requires Psyche to perform so that she could see her husband. The challenge to go underworld and hide some of the beauty looks impossible to Psyche but the gods intervene, demonstrating a battle of gods in improving the lives of mortals. The conversion of Psyche into a goddess leaves room for Venus to regain her position as the goddess of beauty (Moreira & Toscano, 2013). These developments illustrate how the god and goddesses in the classical times solved issues of mortals with great divine interventions.

In conclusion, the mythology demonstrates the significant role Cupid, Psyche and Venus play in the lives of religious groupings such as pagans in the antiquity times. The gods and goddesses were a common feature and influenced the happiness or suffering of individuals. It is clear that the gods and goddesses clashed over various issues that were affecting mortals. Love is one of the issues that are depicted as a cause for divisions among humans, therefore, requiring the intervention of the gods. And the resolution of these differences must involve mortals with divine capabilities, the gods and goddesses.

References

Apuleius, & Relihan, J. C. (2009). The tale of Cupid and Psyche. Indianapolis: Hackett.

Moreira, I., & Toscano, M. M. (2013). Hell and its afterlife: Historical and contemporary perspectives. Farnham, Surrey: Ashgate.