My fellow pagans

[Zoness]

Blessed be,

I am curious about something; and for some of you I know bits and pieces of this information. Could you describe to me your path or tradition and if any major calendars play into it? I would describe myself as a Gardnerian Wiccan who adheres pretty close to the Wheel of the Year, for example. Additionally I am curious how well the Wheel is accepted throughout other pagan branches. I am looking for input.

To make this thread a nice two in one I also ask: Do you prefer solitary ritual or group worship? I only do group worship around Samhain and Yule, generally speaking. It's a good time to get together with friends and catch up and share spiritual experience. Most of the other greater and less Sabbats fall during my school year with little free time and often me just performing a solitary ritual. I am curious to how some of you integrate your practices with your daily life.

 

[awitch]

Blessed be,

I am curious about something; and for some of you I know bits and pieces of this information. Could you describe to me your path or tradition and if any major calendars play into it?

I'm a hard polytheist, meaning I believe in multiple deities with distinct personalities. It's a Celtic pantheon but I only place importance on a handful of deities. I've assembled an eclectic tradition, but it's parallel to Wicca.

I use the Gregorian calendar just because that's what everyone else uses. While I still follow the numbering system, I treat October 31 (Samhain) as the New Year.

As far as the Wheel, I recognize the solstices (Yule and Midsummer), equinoxes (Ostara and Mabon), Beltane and Samhain. I typically ignore Imbolc, Lughnasadh, and the esbats.

To make this thread a nice two in one I also ask: Do you prefer solitary ritual or group worship?

I started solitary, designing ritual based on books but eventually I joined up with a mixed group who used rotating priests and priestesses. I really liked practicing in a group and it was a great learning experience but as the group started to grow, things got too crowded for me and disorganized. Eventually, human group dynamics fractured the group and I returned to a solitary practice.

(While I sometimes joke about a homegrown philosophy I call the Church of Daffy, I am half-seriously using it as a thought experiment when considering life experiences)

 

[Zoness]

In terms of date observation, we are basically the same! I use the label Gardnerian Wiccan but I am really not strictly that tradition nor Alexandrian. I believe in the duality of the God and Goddess but I would describe that more as a symbolic facet of my faith. I think I may be best described as a Panentheist though culturally I am most interested in Celtic and Germanic traditions.

Are there specific reasons you don't celebrate certain days? In my case it mostly comes down to free time and the fact that relating their meaning is not always relevant to me. They can make for nice observation and I find them to be great talking points to pagan or non-pagan friends but they are less critical days for me.

And group dynamics...I was afraid that was going to run mystery occult religions for me but I got lucky. I was in the founding class of a secret, esoteric tradition (Western Hermeticism was its emphasis) but it quickly collapsed because of poor communication and teamwork. The more dedicated practitioners are still around and practice in solitude but myself and friends about how to expand and evolve their faith. I have considered joining a coven or another esoteric group but since I will be graduating university in May, I might end up moving somewhere very different than where I am now and that might make things difficult.

 

[Gardenia]

Could you describe to me your path or tradition and if any major calendars play into it?

I'm a hedgewitch, which is a form of traditional witchcraft that has a focus on the more 'core-shamanic' elements of witchcraft, spirit journey, spirit-work, honoring ancestors and land spirits, herbalism, and the like. Soft polytheist in belief, although my practice tends to look more like hard polytheism anyway. Some hedgewitches choose to focus on a particular culture/pantheon, but I'm a bit eclectic in that area these days...

I also celebrate the Wheel - solstices, equinoxes, and cross-quarter days. Some I might enjoy more than others, but they all have an importance to me. What I'm celebrating would probably look fairly familiar to a Wiccan, with the exception that there is no deity story tied in (no maiden-mother-crone goddess, no drying and reborn god, no holly king and oak king, nothing like that). The focus tends to be less on deity/deities, and more on the literal changes happening locally, and the personal spiritual/symbolic elements of those changes. Hopefully that makes sense. (Went into a bit more detail on each in another thread here.)

I also celebrate the lunar cycles. New moon as a hearth festival. The 6th day of the cycle is a festival for Artemis and the nature spirits. The full moon itself is less of a 'holiday' more of a working day. The last day of the cycle is a festival for the ancestors and for cleaning out the deity shrines and such.

Additionally I am curious how well the Wheel is accepted throughout other pagan branches.

When I was an Egyptian reconstructionist, I still celebrated the Wheel apart from my 'main faith,' so to speak, as it kept me linked with the local natural changes, which of course the Egyptian calendar didn't really do for me (not living in Egypt or a similar climate). I also celebrated the major Egyptian holidays of the tradition.

Some other recons in my tradition celebrated the wheel because they liked going to local pagan gatherings, and that's usually the focus for many groups. Other recons didn't celebrate it at all, sticking with only the Egyptian festivals. I know this is similar for others, such as Greek/Roman recons.

Do you prefer solitary ritual or group worship?

I vastly prefer solitary worship, it's a lot more comfortable for me. I've given group work quite a few tries - I've done the whole small group thing, the large group thing, organized, less organized... eh, it's okay on rare occasion, but not really for me. I like having pagan friends to discuss things with, but when it comes to the actual work and worship, solitary works best for me right now.

 

[awitch]

Are there specific reasons you don't celebrate certain days? In my case it mostly comes down to free time and the fact that relating their meaning is not always relevant to me.

Pretty much. A lot of the significance was based on agriculture which is not really relevant to me anymore living in the suburbs with five grocery stores within five miles. I reinterpreted the holidays I celebrate now and haven't gotten around to the others yet. I don't like to incorporate ideas in my system just for the sake of doing so.

 

[bibledoctor]

There have been a few Emperors who were Pagans ...

 

[Zoness]

Pretty much. A lot of the significance was based on agriculture which is not really relevant to me anymore living in the suburbs with five grocery stores within five miles. I reinterpreted the holidays I celebrate now and haven't gotten around to the others yet. I don't like to incorporate ideas in my system just for the sake of doing so.

Sure. I take a very practical approach too. Usually when I recognize days that had significant agricultural meaning I take it as time to give additional reflection and respect to mother Earth for the resources she provides and its a reminder to me that I am a guest on this planet and resources are not infinite, contrary to what consumerism would have people believe.

 

[bibledoctor]

Do you prefer solitary ritual or group worship?

Solitary worship is better if you have time to practice (stuff at your job_search) ...

 

[sidhe]

Blessed be,

I am curious about something; and for some of you I know bits and pieces of this information. Could you describe to me your path or tradition and if any major calendars play into it? I would describe myself as a Gardnerian Wiccan who adheres pretty close to the Wheel of the Year, for example. Additionally I am curious how well the Wheel is accepted throughout other pagan branches. I am looking for input.

Get out a calculator - I'm a Thelemite, and I practice a Feri influenced variant of Thelema, and I address faerie archetypes. So, I operate on both the traditional celtic calendar, and on Thelemic dates as well. It gets complicated, as Thelema uses a separate solar calendar for tracking your personal work on top of the Western calendar for tracking festival dates.

Add that my partner is a Norse pagan, and I generally don't try to keep track of holidays anymore.

To make this thread a nice two in one I also ask: Do you prefer solitary ritual or group worship? I only do group worship around Samhain and Yule, generally speaking. It's a good time to get together with friends and catch up and share spiritual experience. Most of the other greater and less Sabbats fall during my school year with little free time and often me just performing a solitary ritual. I am curious to how some of you integrate your practices with your daily life

.

Solitary, out of necessity. It's just easier that way. I love group rituals, but finding a group that's stable in all possible ways is next to impossible. Accordingly, I'm a soloist.

 

[Abandus]

During my case this mostly precipitates to leisure time and the truth that relating his or her meaning is just not always strongly related me. They can make regarding nice declaration and I discover their whereabouts to be great chatting points to be able to pagan as well as non pagan friends however they are a lesser amount of critical days in my opinion.

 

[Jane_the_Bane]

I'm notoriously bad at paying attention to calendars, conducting rituals at specific times or dates, or just about anything else that involves keeping a tightly-knit schedule that's mostly dependent on my own willingness to organize.
(I'm a solitary practitioner, so there's no community that might keep track of these matters for me.)

The only thing I do pay attention to is whether the moon is currently waxing or waning. I'm vaguely aware of the solstices, but usually do not conduct elaborate ceremonies around them (apart from a mostly secular Yule/Christmas).