Revelation and Ragnarök

One of the most misunderstood books in history, Revelation (or that third-rate misinterpretation of it, Left Behind) is often used to scare small children, and it is currently being used as a reason to attack Iran. So it seemed like a good moment to inquire into what it actually means.

Revelation frightened me as a child because I was surrounded by dispensationalists who read it as prophecy. And since I stopped being a Christian, I never bothered to find out what it was really about.

I don’t normally comment on Christian theological matters on this blog, but since the misinterpretation of Revelation is causing people to go and kill other people, it seemed like a good idea.

This article from Benjamin Cremer is a timely reminder of what Revelation is really about:

There is no battle of Armageddon in the book of Revelation – Benjamin Cremer.

If you’re one of those people who was given dispensationalist, evangelical, and/or fundamentalist interpretations of Revelation, then I highly recommend reading his article. Here’s an excerpt:

Revelation is not a coded forecast of 21st-century geopolitics. As John writes in verse one, the entire letter is the revelation of Jesus Christ. … It is written in the prophetic genre of apocalyptic resistance literature. It pulls back the curtain on earthly empires and names them for what they are: beastly. … John is offering a theological critique of imperialism in contrast to the way of the crucified Lamb (Jesus Christ). He is telling persecuted Christians that while the empire looks invincible is not ultimate. Its violence is not divine. Its claims to eternal rule are a parody. They will not have the last word.

If this sounds like the Trump regime, that’s because all empires follow the same pattern.

A Jungian perspective

From the perspective of Jungian psychology, the Beast is an archetype. When a person’s entire personality starts to resemble an archetype, they are said to be overshadowed by the archetype, and the person behaves like the archetype.

Another archetype that Revelation taps into is that of the followers of the Beast, who also start behaving in archetypal ways. (Like bandaging their ears when Trump had a bandaged ear from allegedly being shot.)

Events look like they’re “fulfilling the prophecy” because they fit the archetype. This shit has happened before, and it will happen again.

Please note that I am not qualified as a Jungian therapist, this is just my interpretation of Jung’s ideas.

A Pagan perspective

In Pagan mythology, there is a similar concept to the Apocalypse, which is Ragnarök. This has often been regarded as a prophecy of the end of the world. I wonder if the concept of Ragnarök influenced Northern European interpretations of Revelation.

The best interpretation I’ve seen of Ragnarök recently is The Witch’s Heart, a novel by Geneviève Gornichec. It’s not really a spoiler to mention that Ragnarök happens at the end of the book, and that’s how Angrboda, Loki, Hella, Oðinn, Freyja, and the rest become gods.

It’s also possible that Ragnarök became a prominent myth at the start of the Little Ice Age (circa 1300 to 1850). Although most of Europe was Christianized by 1300, Pagan stories were still told. And the Prose Edda (the primary source for the story of Ragnarök) was written in the early 13th century in Iceland, which has an apocalyptic landscape and climate.

Anders Hultgård writes that:

Christian medieval texts in the vernacular reveal an influence of ancient Scandinavian concepts. Conversely, Christianity has left some imprints on the myth during its medieval transmission.

If my Little Ice Age theory is correct, then although the story of Ragnarök is ancient, the prominence of Ragnarök in the Edda is also a commentary on contemporary events when it was written down, and not a prophecy of the future.