Well, if we understand what exactly the pagans were referring to, ( in a non conscious bicameral way...which was the meme of the times), then Yes, appreciating "Existence" and the philosophy of Rand is not a contradiction at all...in fact, they kind of depend upon each other. Rand's premise starts at the cellular level does it not?...so does existence.
It's not mystical, it's quantum physical.

A WSJ article today posed this question.
The writer made 2 errors in the first paragraph:
1. She pointed to a contradiction between AR's philosophy and religion; then falsely believed that that refuted her axiom that contradictions do not exist. She clearly does not understand what an axiom is.
2. She believes that the fact that some Objectivists answer this question "yes" gives credence to that answer. She fails to see the rationalization on the part of those Obj.s.