Haase_UZ_x007E_DTh (2).pdf - South African Theological Seminary

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Chapter VII
Postmodern Spirituality
The trait of the postmodern cultural wave that fascinates me the most is the resurgence
of spirituality and animism in the West -- though it is really nothing new at all. The pre-
Christian West was rooted in animism, much like the rest of the world. With the coming
of Judaism and Christianity, animism gave way, but certainly never disappeared: more
often, it went ‘underground.’ With the Enlightenment came new intellectual freedoms,
and a resurgence of animism. Then, with postmodernity came an even more substantial
resurgence, or renaissance of paganism -- animism given fresh license to flourish. “For
the first time in centuries, the biblical condemnation of the worship of Baal and Ashtaroth
is beginning to have direct reference to contemporary culture” (Lovelace, in Montgomery,
1976:86).
Across early Medieval Christendom, came the warring and migratory influx of
barbarians from other European regions -- Ireland, Scandinavia, and Germany -- and with
them, a fresh surge of animism. Rooted in the barbarian worldview were things like
elves, giants, fairies, goblins, gnomes, ogres, banshees, dragons, vampires and more.
“Dead men walked the air as ghosts; men who had sold themselves to the Devil roamed
woods and fields as werewolves; the souls of children dead before baptism haunted the
marshes as will-o’-the-wisps” (Durant, 1950:984).
People of the period wore all manner of objects to ward off evil and devils and bring
good luck (e.g., rings, amulets, gems). Numbers had great significance. Three was the
holiest number, representing the Holy Trinity of the Godhead; seven represented
complete man and his seven most deadly sins. A sneeze could be a bad omen and was
believed disarmed by a ‘God bless you.’ The Church condemned and punished such
practices, by a graduation of penances, but they continued virtually unabated. The
Church especially denounced ‘black magic’ which resorted to demons to obtain command
University of Zululand, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa