• 48:51 - 52:53
Ronnie Pontiac | Remembering Manly P. Hall, American Metaphysical Religion, & The Pagan Pilgrim
Thomas Morton and the Pagan Pilgrim of Merrymount
Ronnie Pontiac introduces Thomas Morton, whom he calls the "pagan pilgrim," a lawyer and Cavalier who founded the Merrymount colony in the 1620s. Unlike the ascetic and fearful Puritans of Boston, Morton embraced Elizabethan culture, Shakespeare, and indigenous traditions. He established a trading post that welcomed outlaws and indigenous tribes, directly challenging the religious and social hegemony of the neighboring Plymouth and Boston colonies.