Ask a Pagan

[Caitlin.ann]

Okay now that I finally have a chance to answer your questions..

1. Were your parents pagans & or why paganism?

My mother was raised Catholic and is now non-denominational, my father raised in 'Assemblies of God' churches and still holds those beliefs, however his church attendance is nil now. So no, my parents are not pagans in any way, shape, or form.

Why paganism? Well you must understand first that paganism is an umbrella term for every religion of the world save for the three Abrahamic faiths (Islam, Judaism, and Christianity). Why my specific pagan beliefs? Because after much searching which I am still undergoing this just feels right to me. Many pagans will say that when they found their path it was like coming home after being lost, this is what my path feels like to me. I have found (for the most part) my path, what feels right to me.

2. What are your primary beliefs?

As for gods, I am a hard polytheist. I worship Cernunnos, not because of anything to do with Wicca since they tend to overuse him, Herne, and Pan, but because he called to me. I venerate my ancestors and I am especially interested in their ways. I have an ancestor altar up for them right now actually. My heritage is very important to me. I focus on the changing of the seasons and the sabbats/equinoxes. I an an animist as well. I believe in working with spirits and/or totem animals, of which my totems are very important to me (I have two). My path could most be aligned with that of the cottage/hearth/Green witch.

3. How do you view non-pagans?

I view them as other people, just on another path. Some get on my nerves more easily than others.

4. Have you ever been atheist?

Nope, I couldn't do it, however my fiance is an atheist and so is my future father-in-law.

5. Do you practice the dark arts?

[/QUOTE]

Dark arts? What exactly would qualify as "dark arts"? If you mean witchcraft then yes, I do. If you mean working with "dark" energy then yes that too.

Do you think about death?

Yes I do think of death, quite often. Its quite around me as of late and death often comes to mind when I venerate my ancestors who passed on, specifically my grandmother who I lost to cancer in December of 2006. When I was a child I was mortally afraid of death, my then Christian faith did nothing to quench that fear, if anything actually it heightened it! Am I afraid of it? Yes. I am afraid of the unknown. I am a controller, I have to have every aspect of my life neatly planned out and if something unexpected or unknown gets in the way I panic. Death is unknown and unplanned for the most part. As a Christian I felt the same, the Bible did not convince me of what happens after death and to this day I still know that there is no way to know until I go through it myself. I am not afraid of any hell, imagined or real. I am afraid of being worm food and having no consciousness.

 

[nesian]

6. Which pagan religion do you identify with the most? & Why?

7. Do you think there are many unjust misconceptions surrounding paganism?

8. Which ones irk you the most?

9. Have you ever felt you're in over your head with certain pagan rituals?

10. Ever been possessed?

 

[Caitlin.ann]

6. Which pagan religion do you identify with the most? & Why?

Hmm thats a toughy! Some would consider Cottage/Green craft a religion; however, I do not. I consider it a practice which can go with any religion. That being said, I consider a religion to have a set of deities or a single figurehead. So if you're speaking as far as a religion which includes deity, then I am most drawn to Heathenism, or more accurately Asatru which is within heathenism. Which may seem strange since the deity I feel closest too isn't a heathen god.

7. Do you think there are many unjust misconceptions surrounding paganism?

Yes, as far as the concept that Pagans worship Satan is concerned. There is a lot of misinformation on Paganism which should be sought to be corrected. Paganism is commonly thought to mean Earth based religions only which are often polytheistic. Usually paganism is synonomously used to mean "Wicca" and "Witchcraft" which is unfortunate because Paganism encompasses much more than that! It seems also that at least within the Christian community Pagans are seen to be primitave, animalistic in nature as if pagans are nothing more than beasts, which is also far from the truth. There are many more, however to list them all would be tedious and tiresome. You see unjustness here and there and a lot of misinformation, which is what I seek to correct when I can.

8. Which ones irk you the most?

I'd say basically what I mentioned in the aforementioned.

9. Have you ever felt you're in over your head with certain pagan rituals?

Never, however I'm not a huge ritual person. I do one maybe twice a year.

10. Ever been possessed?

Never. I don't believe in demon possession at all, though I do believe in spirit possession. I have felt spirits that can possess, but I have never been possessed myself. I'm skeptical of others who say they have been possessed as well.

 

[awitch]

6. Which pagan religion do you identify with the most? & Why?

I walk my own path because I reject certain elements of other traditions. I am a church of one. I align myself with a Celtic pantheon because they are most interested.

7. Do you think there are many unjust misconceptions surrounding paganism?

Many, many, many misconceptions.

8. Which ones irk you the most?

The accusations that witches try to appeal to children and attempt to sway people to abandon Christianity is a big one. I think Pagans tend to be more exclusive than other religions. Proselytizing is generally frowned upon.

That all Pagans worship Satan is another misconception that irks me. Satan is from the Abrahamic traditions. I don't recognize his existence.

And Harry Potter is a fantasy story. Real witchcraft just ain't like that.

9. Have you ever felt you're in over your head with certain pagan rituals?

Perhaps confused at times...like why one Gardnerian Wiccan insisted on using the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentacle at the start of each ritual. What's up with invoking the Christian archangels in a neoPagan ritual anyway?

Otherwise, I maintain complete control during ritual.

10. Ever been possessed?

No, I do not believe in possession. I maintain my own free-will.

 

[morningstar2651]

1. Were your parents pagans & or why paganism?

My parents are Christian. I'm Pagan because that's the label that best fits my beliefs & practices.

2. What are your primary beliefs?

I could probably write a whole book on that. I'll come back to this question later - it's 1am here.

3. How do you view non-pagans?

Same as I view Pagans.

4. Have you ever been atheist?

Agnostic, but not atheist.

5. Do you practice the dark arts?

Could you be more specific?

 

[sidhe]

6. Which pagan religion do you identify with the most? & Why?

I identify with Celtic Reconstructionism mostly. I'm very loose about it, but I try to do a good job. I've also got a fascination with all things faerie.

My background is in Thelema and associated practices.

7. Do you think there are many unjust misconceptions surrounding paganism?

1) It's different, and people don't like things being different.

2) In the Bible Belt, where people tend to store their vices under the bed in shame and shy away from excessive pleasure, the pure joie de vivre of paganism makes people uncomfortable. Seriously, the average student where I went to University didn't know 10% of what happened at a pagan student party, and people would give you wary looks if you said you went to them just based on what was known.

3) American Conservative Christianity (ACC, for short) stresses that anything not Christian is Satanic. Paganism makes people iffy to begin with (see 2), so it's quick to be labeled as evil.

8. Which ones irk you the most?

The one that seriously irks me is (3) above. Also, the perception of all pagans as rebellious kids who'll start practicing a "real" religion eventually grates on my nerves.

9. Have you ever felt you're in over your head with certain pagan rituals?

The first time I worked with the Morrigan, I was pretty sure I'd just made a Fatal Exception Error. But, as I said before, she's a sweetheart.

10. Ever been possessed?

Alien concept. Doesn't exist in my worldview. Access by invitation only.

 

[Jane_the_Bane]

1. Were your parents pagans & or why paganism?

My father is a "better safe than sorry"-Lutheran whose faith is mostly motivated by Pascal's Wager. My mother is an agnostic who hasn't got the slightest interest in spiritual matters of any kind. My interest in paganism is entirely my own, probably sparked by my general dissatisfaction with Christianity, my environmentalist leanings, my interest in mythology, and my fascination for the depths of the psyche.

2. What are your primary beliefs?

We are the universe trying to understand itself. Each of us lives in a world that is constructed by language - conceptual cages that allow us to make sense of the world and communicate it, but inevitably narrow our point of view. The Divine (if we choose to call it such) takes many forms, from the most abstract and universal deities over more particular, anthropomorphic gods and godesses charged with specific portfolios, to the most mundane phenomena - and yet, it transcends them all. To me, gods and godesses are mostly archetypes (even if I do consider them "independent" entities that lie beyond our control).

3. How do you view non-pagans?

The same way I view everybody else. I don't judge people based on their religion, unless they happen to be fanatics.

4. Have you ever been atheist?

*shrugs* Some people might say that I am an atheist. And I can't really tell whether they're wrong. I certainly don't believe in any supernatural interventionist god(s) in the mould of "I prayed for parking space, and ZING! - Jesus made the SUV in front of me reverse out of the lot to make room for me."

5. Do you practice the dark arts?

You mean, like Voldemort in Harry Potter? That's where that term came from, you know?

 

[Druweid]

6. Which pagan religion do you identify with the most? & Why?

Mainstream Eclectic Paganism/Neopaganism. Some of the more significant reasons that I identify with this are:

1) Co-existence with people of other religions, regardless of dissimilarities.

2) The understanding that each person has a path to follow, lessons to learn, experiences to gain, etc., and therefore no one religion is ever the wrong religion.

3) The knowledge and understanding that people, despite being susceptible to corruption, are inherently good.

4) The ability to seek knowledge from any source, e.g., Koran, Vedas, Tripitaka, etc., for spiritual knowledge without violating tenets of my religion. In short, Truth is Truth regardless of it's source.

5) The understanding that I am not "complete" by adhering to some preestablished criteria, but that spiritual growth is an on-going journey of study and practice toward a personal goal, and ultimately, to a higher state of being, and this being not an arbitrary "reward," but the natural result of proper spiritual growth.
​

7. Do you think there are many unjust misconceptions surrounding paganism?

Yes, many and varied.

8. Which ones irk you the most?

As has been mentioned, Satan worship and being anti-Christian (or anti->any religion< for that matter); also, that I must be a stoner or a hippie, or at least had been raised by such people; that I must be religiously ignorant or bear some kind of grudge against Christianity; that I am "into" that New Age "thing" (I am "into" nothing, I practice a religion); that I must be or feel inadequate to the moral demands of Christianity, so I chose something easier; and that regardless of how I present my beliefs, I *must* be lying about the dark/diabolical aspects to protect myself. I could go on, but I think this should suffice for now.

9. Have you ever felt you're in over your head with certain pagan rituals?

No, and I do not feel that this is a problem specific to any one religion. At the risk of over-simplifying, this is a problem of one seeking power/authority prior to, or in the absence of, sustainable knowledge.

10. Ever been possessed?

No, but I have, on occasion, allowed my shadow-self to dictate my behavior. Not quite like being possessed, but tends to have undesirable effects just the same.

 

[Druweid]

What's up with invoking the Christian archangels in a neoPagan ritual anyway?

Just a quick thought on this one.

If they're being viewed as Christian Archangels, yeah, it's a little out-of-place. If they're being viewed as archetypes, that is to say, not for who or what they are but what they represent, then I don't see a problem with it. Still, everyone in such a ceremony should be like-minded, so it was still a little awkward to have included them.

FWIW, I once wrote a memorial ceremony for a friends dog, (she wanted *some* kind of funeral for her) and the four watchtowers I invoked were all dogs.

Regards,
-- Druweid

 

[morningstar2651]

6. Which pagan religion do you identify with the most? & Why?

The foundation of my beliefs are somewhere between Thelema & Wicca (Thelema-Lite). The more I study, the more Thelemic I have become. I also have a strong Hellenistic influence since I work primarily with Greek deities.

7. Do you think there are many unjust misconceptions surrounding paganism?

Yes, beyond the "They're evil" crap. I don't wear all black. I don't wear a ton of jewelry. I think many new age things like "Indigo Children" are bull. I'm not a vegetarian - veggies are what my food eats.

8. Which ones irk you the most?

The flaky new-ager one.

9. Have you ever felt you're in over your head with certain pagan rituals?

Nope. I'd never do a ritual I wasn't prepared for. Almost got married... glad I didn't.

10. Ever been possessed?

Nope.

 

[Jane_the_Bane]

Do you think about death?

Yeah, of course. I find that our culture is utterly neurotic with regards to death, tabooizing it beyond all rational measure and thus rendering it into something frightening, something that is perceived as the antithesis of life, something unnatural. It isn't.
To use a phrase that's usually reserved for matrimony: it's a game of give and take. The old die so that the young may live without exhausting the resources. Predators eat their prey - and are in turn eaten, fertilizing the soil which will produce the plants eaten by their prey. Suns burn out, consuming their planets - and fertilize space with the elements they produce in their death-throes.

It's beautiful, really. It's Life.

 

[Jane_the_Bane]

What's up with invoking the Christian archangels in a neoPagan ritual anyway?

Well, that's what happens when you "borrow" too extensively from the Golden Dawn-Qabbala, not paying heed to the roots of the ritual. But as Druweid states, it is possible to re-align things if you put them in a proper (archetypal) context. Heck, you can even invoke the Tetragrammaton without actually refering to the Mosaic fire deity.

 

[Jane_the_Bane]

6. Which pagan religion do you identify with the most? & Why?

I'm strictly eclectic, although I've pondered my Finnish roots (which haven't been embraced by any pagan group that I'm aware of so far). It might be interesting to research the topic some more, but in the meanwhile, I mostly study whichever mythology passes my way. At the moment, I research the Norse pantheon, particularly marginalized figures such as Freya, who was censored away by the time somebody bothered to write things down.

7. Do you think there are many unjust misconceptions surrounding paganism?

Naturally. Most of them have been mentioned already. (Equating paganism and Satanism; viewing it as "primitive", or as a teenage fad; etc.pp.)

8. Which ones irk you the most?

The ones that aren't completely off the mark: fluff bunny wiccans do exist, and they're a true pain.

9. Have you ever felt you're in over your head with certain pagan rituals?

No. Have you ever felt you're in over your head while participating in the Eucharist or while speaking the Lord's prayer? Didn't think so, either.

10. Ever been possessed?

No. Ritual possession (as practiced by Haitian Vodouns, for example) is a fascinating subject, though.

 

[Druweid]

(Thelema-Lite).

I like it!

9. Have you ever felt you're in over your head with certain pagan rituals?
​

Nope. I'd never do a ritual I wasn't prepared for. Almost got married... glad I didn't.

10. Ever been possessed?
​

Nope.

Hey, look, the answers to 9 and 10 are interchangable!

Blessings,
-- Druweid

 

[Völuspá]

Hope it's okay if I bump his old thread. There were a lot of good questions, and maybe some more will come along.

How long have you been following the path you're on?

Were you ever Christian?

What made you change your mind about it?

It's been long and complicated for me. I began reading about Paganism when I was about 12, and a lot of what I read deeply resonated with me. The problem was that I was raised a staunch Evangelical Christian, and it took many years before I could finally let go of that. I don't have fond memories of my strict Christian indoctrination, and as a teen I lived very split for a long time. I semi-officially denounced Christianity at 16, but didn't fully let it stop having it's hold on me until I was 18 or 19. To finally let go and follow my own bliss has been a greatly liberating experience for me, which actually came with the help of atheist communities on the internet. I finally saw Christianity as just another religion with it's own very human, dare I say Pagan, roots. Considering all the fear and confusion I endured, I'm surprised that I actually made it to where I am today. Now I have the perspective of two vastly different points of view.

How do you not get overwhelmed with all of the information, materials you need...stuff like that?

What deities, if any, do you believe in? Why?

It can certainly be overwhelming if you're just embarking on something entirely new, and you feel like you have to be a guru overnight. Taking it in small steps and going by what's immediately relevant in your life is the best advice I can give.

I believe in all the gods that people worship, though I may not know their true nature or where and how they exist. But I suspect that if someone halfway across the world is praying to their god and having good results, then there's another god out there somewhere. I am largely influenced by a great book titled, A World Full of Gods, by John Micheal Greer, which discusses polytheism. It's given me a much more coherent worldview which I just didn't have before.

1. Were your parents pagans & or why paganism?
2. What are your primary beliefs?
3. How do you view non-pagans?
4. Have you ever been atheist?
5. Do you practice the dark arts?

No way on earth are my parents Pagans, and they would probably crucify me if they had any idea. I just keep it happily to myself. Why Paganism? I don't know. As I mentioned before, it just resonated with me in a way that was deeply nurturing. It was like my brain insisted that Christianity was the one true path to salvation, yet my inner being desperately wanted something of it's own to crawl into, and that was it. I still don't know why my personal philosophies were so different from what I was taught. The difference now is that I don't suppress them anymore.

My primary beliefs are those in the gods, the love and respect of nature, treating well the land's ancient inhabitants, the observance of seasons, the myths as metaphor, common sense and noble virtue... and I'm probably forgetting a lot.

I sort of live multiple realities at once. I understand that wind is wind, thunder is thunder, and that nature just does what it does... but it's also possible for the gods to be an integral part of those natural forces, and to sometimes bend that nature to reach out in some way. At least that's how I've experienced it. I have a better time communicating with the elements gently pressing against me in response to my dialogue, than I ever do with prayer.

I'm fine time with non-Pagans, so long as they're fine with me. I kinda now see all religions as just being pagan in denial. haha Okay, not really, but we're all human and have similar roots that stretch way back to primitive times, and so the illusion that any religion is somehow separate from all things human doesn't bode well with me. We're all just people with people religion, basically.

I was actually an atheist once, very briefly. When I was 13 I lost some interest in Paganism because I didn't have enough access to the information I would have needed. I just kept some general principles with me and considered myself to have a generic agnostic pagan outlook for a long time. At 17 I adopted pantheism because I realized what I considered sacred was nature, while dabbling here and there in some Pagan practices. Then I got swept up in atheist communities online, and for the first time could see the world without any kind of divinity. Pantheism just wasn't making sense to me at that time. I almost officially dubbed myself atheist and wanted to pursued that path vehemently, when a god (whose runes I had been dabbling in,) very unexpectedly made his presence known to me. I was quite literally changed overnight. I didn't believe in gods, and I honestly always thought polytheism sounded silly. But there I was, faced with something totally bizarre and unreal, so I pursued it, wanting to know more or if I was just crazy.

Dark arts? Depends on what you mean I guess, but I'm just gonna say no.

Do you think about death?

Yeah, but not hardly as much as I used to. Growing up, it was always on my mind. I was some messed up little kid. haha The most important thing about life, I was told, was the end and trying not to go to hell and all of that. For so many years whenever I got into a car or something, I would pray nervously the whole time because I knew I was going to die and god didn't want me and I was going to hell and it was hopeless and just awful. Compared to that, I really don't think about death. I can't control what happens to me, so what's the point. Maybe I'm just tired of it and gave up.

6. Which pagan religion do you identify with the most? & Why?

7. Do you think there are many unjust misconceptions surrounding paganism?

8. Which ones irk you the most?

9. Have you ever felt you're in over your head with certain pagan rituals?

10. Ever been possessed?

I identify with Norse Paganism (&#193;satr&#250;,) because the god I mentioned earlier sent me down that path, and he is still near me sometimes today. I've found much to love about the path and it's become my spiritual home. I didn't take too strongly to the whole ancestral thing at first, but I am warming up to it now and reconnecting with my Norse ancestry.

Like any minority group there's going to be a lot of misconceptions about us. I guess the most outright silly ones can irk me, but what has hurt me most is when atheist friends and acquaintences talk about Pagans as being stupid (without knowing I'm Pagan of course.) But this attitude was originally generated by Christians who sought to deligitimize Pagan belief, and it just annoyingly lives on today. It sorta makes me want to wring some necks from time to time.

Never felt in over my head over anything, but I don't really perform rituals. If I do, they're pretty straight-forward and definitely not spooky (well, not in my mind.)

Ahh I just told my whole life story.

 

[Warren Clark]

I am a pantheist.
Honestly, I believe a lot of the Pagan views, but my core beliefs of there being some [non]form of a "God" match best with Judaism.

I believe God is a supernatural force that binds all living things together.

I believe in harmony within the species.
With out one there would not be the other.
The earth is a living thing.
It is a single organism in its self.
I believe there has to be a God in order for a heart to beat.

God is matter. It cannot be created or destroyed.
God = It
Non-bias or sexist.

It is every where.
However, I do not believe that God has interference in our free will.
God does not provoke or prevent war.
God is near emotionless.

With out "God" nothing could exist, an "intelligence" is needed.

(I used to be Christian, but I believe that man in itself is a corrupt form and God would not appear as man. God is inhuman. God has no characteristic of a human. His characteristic to me is matter. The building block of everything. In a sense, we are all apart and linked to God.)