Paganism?

[twodelta]

Can anyone enlighten me on the basic pricipals of Paganism? Are their any good websites that I could go to? I tried to Google, but really didn't find much of anything that was useful. Thanks for Your help - Dave :yinyang:

[citystyleguy]

here is a link to an online encyclopedia; as good as any for a general understanding;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paganism

hope it helps!

[Long Duck Dong]

it depends on what sort of info you seek

I am a wicca witch ( male ) but i tend not to use any sites, as they are so full of conflicting info and self beliefs about wicca ( neo paganism ) that i avoid them

I am a eclectic olde wiccan.. ( solitary non conforming wiccan ) so my views are differing to the main stream modern wicca

the difference between my beliefs and modern wicca is modern wicca started between 1930-1955 depending on what site you read...
olde wicca is centuries older and one of the books on my shelf is from 1889 and hand written as are a lot of the other things i possess... wicca has run in my family for many generations...as a guess, I am a 18 th generation wicca witch...
now people will argue that i can't be a 18th generation wicca witch cos wicca only existed in the 75 odd years.....and again.... i am not part of the modern wicca movement...lol you will see further down just how far back, the basis of my beliefs actually run

part of the basis of nature research, human psychology etc etc.. however it was not connected with them,...olde wicca is understanding and honoring nature and human nature
modern wicca incorporates a lot of ceremonies and rituals that never existed in olde wicca

the 5 pointed star emblem ( people call it the pentagram , pentacle, pantacal etc ) is the symbol i use to represent the basis of my beliefs

the dual nature of the symbol represents
fire, earth, wind, water and union as elemental nature
understanding, power, wisdom, knowledge and love as human nature

the idea behind shamanism, wicca, paganism, druidism etc... is the same.... human nature reflects and intertwines with nature
modern medicine has shown us that indeed a lot of homeopathic medicines ( i am talking about the real stuff, not the herb supplements ) work effectively well, if not better than a lot of the modern mass produced pills and tablets

wicca explores the union between the seasons and the ebb and flow of human nature ( psychology has documented the seasonal effects of winter on the human psyche )...
the effects of living with nature and animals ( many animal behaviorists report remarkable similarities between animals and humans )
and indeed we can honor the gods and goddesses of old
( i use the celtic system which doesn't have gods and goddesses in the sense that christians have christ.....the celtic gods and goddesses were very helpful in guiding, supporting and teaching people and there is over 130 celtic gods and goddesses )

olde wicca encompasses older forms of herbology, aromatherapy, natural healing, astronomy and astrology, pet care, health care, crop planting and harvesting etc....a lot of the modern wicca is based around rituals and ceremonies... the older style wicca doesn't... we simply call out our need and we are answered, without ceremonies or rituals

the modern wicca rede is similair to olde wicca beliefs
( shortened modern wicca rede )

bide the wicca law ye must
in perfect love, in perfect trust
in eight words, is the rede furfilled
AS YE HARM NONE, DO AS YE WILL
ever mind the rule of three,
what ye share comes back to thee
follow this with mind and heart,
merry ye meet and merry ye part

the rule of 3, is NOT karma....it refers to the three parts of humanity... mind body and soul, ....... mental, emotional, psychical.....foe, friend and partner

[Herbwoman39]

I am a different type of Pagan from LDD. I call myself pagan because Christians teach that anyone who doesn't believe their way is a pagan. So I use that label.

My spirituality is self-defined. If I were to self-label, I would be a multi-faceted monotheist. In other words, I believe that all gods are one God. The Infinite Being, to me, is similar in nature to a multifaceted crystal ball. He/She/It shows a facet to people who will best comprehend that aspect. In other words, a volcano god is easier for an Islander to comprehend than a Norse god would be. The Divine shows the aspect that will make the most sense to that person, which is why the world has, and has had, so may different gods and continues to have so many different ideas about what god is.

How can we fully encompass with our finite minds, something that is Infinite? It makes sense to me that all gods are one god.

I don't believe in Hell because 1) I don't believe a loving god would punish me permanently for mistakes I made when I was human, which is a temporary condition. Also, according to literal translation of the Hebrew texts, Gehena (hell) was a physical place that burned. It's just a scare tactic by the early Christian church to control people.

I also do not believe in the Devil. The goat footed, horned being in the Christian church is a bastardization of the Celtic Horned God, who is consort to the Goddess, lord of the wild things and represents the dark half of the year (winter, fall, cold, etc). In Celtic faiths, he is a tall, wild looking man with stag horns and goes by the name Cernnunos. Or Cerne the Hunter or any one of a hundred names.

I follow the Wiccan Rede "Ain it harms none do what thou wilt". This refers to any mental, physical or emotional harm to another living being. Not just humans but animals and nature as well.

Now by that logic I *should* be a vegetarian. I am not. So I have taken on the Native American hunting tradition of giving thanks to the creature that I am about to eat. I thank it for giving up it's life so that I may continue to live.

I also follow the Three Fold law. Anything i do comes back to me three fold, whether that be for good or ill. So I do my best to treat people well and conduct myself in a positive manner.

To answer your question a little more briefly, there are as many types of pagans as there are pagans themselves. Witchvox.com is a good resource for more research.

Good luck!

[Hello_go]

The Roman meaning of Pagan is rural person or "peasant". If you want to learn about original paganism, not the bastardized versions you read about today, here is something about Baltic paganism for you that goes way, way back in time. Even before Roman times. BTW, the Baltics were one of the last regions to convert to Christianity. There are some good links in here too.

http://www.geocities.com/athens/oracle/2810/romuvawhatis.html

[jedinudist]

Can anyone enlighten me on the basic pricipals of Paganism? Are their any good websites that I could go to? I tried to Google, but really didn't find much of anything that was useful. Thanks for Your help - Dave :yinyang:


I'm not sure about websites, I will ask my wife as she has a few good ones that she knows of...

However, there are a few good books - - -

Believe it or not, an excellent book is: The Complete Idiots Guide To Paganism by Carl McColman ISBN number 0-020864266-X

Another good book is: Paganism An Introduction To Earth-Centered Religions by Joyce & River Higginbotham ISBN number 0-7387-0222-6

Unlike many other religions, Paganism tends to be a more self-directed belief system.

Good luck as you journey on your path :D

[Azrael]

'The Witches' Goddess' By Janet and Stewart Farrar was very helpful to me. Admittedly due to school I've been slacking in my pursuit of spiritual wisdom. I'm delving into my Irish roots and learning about the Celtic mythos at present. I consider myself a pagan in that I'm basically a nature worshipper. There was a time when I was into Satanism but ultimately I found it too mean spirited a filter through which to view the world. For a long time I was in this nihilistic shell where I was so hateful and destructive that Lavey's wanna be Nietzschean hogwash actually made some sense, although even then I was gravitating toward a more Earth based perspective.. Until one day I grew up and stopped hating the world. As it stands, I am endlessly fascinated and perplexed with the beauty of everything. Systems of systems in cycles on both a microscopic and astronomical level. That said, I'm not particularly well versed as a pagan as it's relatively new to me. I'm in the fascination with manipulation of energy space currently and probably will be for some time. Regardless of what you believe, the rule of Karma applies.

[twodelta]

Many thanks to all who replied to my post. It seems that asking "what is Paganism" is just as complex as asking "what is Bisexuallity". I've started already to review some of the information provided, and will continue to do so. I'm not sure exactly where all this is taking me, but I feel strongly compelled to go there. I will say though, that a great deal of what I am reading follows very closely to my own personal beliefs. - Dave

[diamond_tether]

He is a practicing Taoist (spiritual, not religious); She's a reform Jewish Animist with Native American tendancies. We both count as Pagan. ;)

Your best bet is go to your local used book store as they'll probably have a more ecclectic selection (or Megachain if that's all you've got) and basically look at everything that isn't Jewish, Christian or Muslim in nature. As far as we know, according to the modern ideal, anything not 'Of The Children of Abraham' (i.e. any of those above three) it's considered Pagan. As you explore, like everything else, take in information with an open mind and hefty grain of salt. The last bit of advice we'd have to offer would be to try not and get bogged down so much in labels or groups as opposed to being willing to mix and match whatever you need from various sources to figure out what makes you most comfortable and secure.