Question by Sakura Chan: Any Pagans would you mind telling me?
Hello there everyone!
So, I’ve been browsing around R&S for a while and I noticed that most questions directed towards Pagans are mainly directed towards those from the Wiccan denominations…and I find that a little strange.
So here’s my question:
What denomination are you? If you are a mix please tell me; and what ever information or websites you could tell me about it?
Also, if you have any stories about the area around you or any story you have the involves your religion.
I myself am a mix and I would like to hear about what others have; I know there are some that I have no clue about, and I would like to hear about them.
Thanks for your answers in advanced!!
*Mawkish:
It is true what you say; before christianity and catholisism became so popular, the definition for a Pagan was one who believed in a religion that can be manifested within nature. Afterwords though, it became any religion that isn’t associated with either catholicism or christianity
* Citizens of the Cosmos:
Was it StarHawk who wrote Spiral Dance…or am I mixing two different people up?
Best answer:
Answer by kitteh.
i’m a large mix, but seem to be leaning towards wicca.
[sorry, i’m lazy and don’t want to type up all of it! i’m just a large mixture of different beliefs.]
What do you think? Answer below!
I’ve been called a pagan before, and I follow Buddhism. I think maybe a lot of Christians associate any religion other than their own as ‘pagan’.
Paganism is a umbrella term for a number of different faiths, not denominations. I’m a solo Eclectic Wiccan.
my public religion is pastafarian
my private religion is hellenic polytheism (not reconstructionism)
We have traditions, not really denominations.
I am an eclectic. I rely heavily on the Ancient Egyptian Pantheon but also draw from Celtic, Wicca, and Kitchen Witchery.
My area is interesting. On the one hand we are very liberal town. We have the second highest gays per capita (we are the sister city to San Fran), we have a ton of pagans here but…..the right wing still seem to have the main control. I don’t walk around going “Hi my name is **** and I am Pagan.” but to actually allow anyone to know could be detrimental for my kids and myself. Moreso my kids though, for whatever reason the scared right wingers feel the need to attack the kids and “save” them from me. So we still keep quiet and we keep our gatherings as quiet as possible.
Oh and I don’t find it so odd that people ask questions about Wicca more. Most people think that there is only Wicca. I am ok with that, I still try to answer the best I can.
answer: I have been a Heathen for 16 years, 10 years eclectic pagan before that. I’ve been a reconstruction Heathen, meaning more of a conservative Heathen when it came to mixing any outside influences into my Kindred and practices. In other words, no Wicca-Tru.
http://www.asatru-u.org/beginner/asau-beginner-outline.htm
I was born and have practiced Celtic for my entire life. We are not Wiccan and do not necessarily believe in magic. We have 4 higher beings 2 gods (Fire and Wind) and 2 goddesses (Earth and Water). If you would like more information e-mail me and I can send some to you.
Okay, I’m a real weirdo: scientific pantheistic paganism.
I believe that there is no literal god, but that all of existence is divine and the concept of “god” pervades all of existence. I believe that various pantheons are useful in personifying elements of life that are worthy of reverence, but I don’t believe that any deities actually (literally) exist.
eclectic Pagan (pantheist) here. To add to what George K said above, the best website on pantheism is http://www.pantheism.net
Some good books are:
The Earth Path by Starhawk
The View from the Center of the Universe by Joel R.Primack and Nancy Ellen Abrams
Thank God for Evolution by Matthew Dowd
Another book that has been highly influential on me:
The Happiness Hypothesis by Jon Haidt
edit: Yes, it was. In The Earth Path, she says that her theology has grown pantheistic over the years.
I’m a Hellenic Polytheist and my religion is called Hellenismos. (And I wish YA would stop counting it as a misspelling! The word has existed since the Roman Emperor Julian! LOL) It’s a recreation of the pre-Christian Pagan religion of Ancient Greece, with some updating for the modern age. We believe in multiple gods and goddesses, and most of us do not subscribe to the “all gods/goddesses are one god/goddess” idea of Wicca; we are polytheistic. We believe in balancing our intuition & spirituality with logic & reason, and most of us have a love of history and science. Most of us do not practice any kind of magic or witchcraft, though some do but it is just not seen as part of the religion itself. The religion does include a fair amount of mysticism though, which is seen as being a totally different thing from modern-day magic. We’re not so much a “nature” religion, so some of us prefer the definition of Pagan to be “non- or pre-Christian religion” instead. The most popular example of our moral code are the Delphic Maxims.
Some good websites for Hellenismos are: hellenion.org and neokoroi.org. Google with care, unfortunately our tiny religion already has a small number of fundies! LMAO
I am a Wiccan, specifically a UEWiccan. Specifically a reconstructionist Wiccan.
To be honest im a big mix, leaning closly with Wicca. I follow the Welish Gods of my ansestors, i also follow the custom of praying to the dead daily which i havent really met any one else yet that does this.
I am Norse Heathen but will also answer to Asatruar.
Pagan isn latin for “country dweller”. This became the common term for those who had not converted since they were the last to “hear the good news” since Paul evangelized through the high way system. It simply meant to insult the previous cultural religion.
When asked for a title, I fall back to Eclectic Norse Pagan. I feel the closest connection to the Norse gods and goddesses, but include a few others. I make use of the Native American “truths” that I feel are appropriate. After all, those beliefs were practiced here hundreds if not thousands of years before any of the European beliefs came over. Some pagans insist that one must pick an established path and stay true to it. My stance is that no one path has a monopoly on the truth, and I am free to use the “truths” that feel “right” to me.
Edit: About the definition of pagan. Before Christianity, pagan meant farmer. It had no religious meaning. It then became used for any one following the old religions, as the farmers did. The city folk had all converted to Christianity. The meaning has since evolved to mean, broadly, anything other than Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. Whether some religions such as Hindu, Buddhism, and Shinto are pagan is up for individual interpretation.
I call myself Pagan because its an easy label for people to understand.
I’m technically an Eclectic Neo-pagan. Up until 12 months ago I considered myself a pantheist until I was called to Anpu. Studying Kemeticism though, has drawn me more towards Thelema, which I have always found fascinating.
I consider myself a pagan, I refuse to call myself Kemetic because there are still things from my pantheism days that don’t mesh with Kemeticism… eg Kemeticism isn’t an earth based religion, and while with most cultures the deity associated with the earth and it’s bounty is a woman (“Mother Earth”, Demeter of the Greeks, etc…), the Egyptians chose a male “Geb”.
Hi Sakura,
My tradition is very ancient, the oldest religion known
to man (about 9000 years old). We worship the primordial
Great Mother Goddess. We are actually monotheistic,
because there were no other deities when our religion
began, or for several thousand years afterwards. Our
Goddess by the way has been found in nearly every
Neolithic culture discovered everywhere on Earth. I
think the fact that so many people all recognized the
Goddess independently says a lot. I will send you a
link to our website privately if you can receive email.
Many Blessings,
Jean