“Where there are no gods, ghosts reign….” Novalis, 1798 We have a myth in Western society. It is that the world was once magic and religious and that now it has become (with a few hold outs) largely secular and atheistic. But some historians have pointed out that this narrative doesn’t exactly hold. Poll after poll shows that populations, even in supposedly secular societies, tend to hold views in direct contrast with scientific materialism. If those populations don’t explicitly affirm belief in an organized religion or theology (such as Christianity) the people nonetheless tend to believe in ghosts, spirits, the...
