Blessed be brothers and sisters.
I have been a follower of Paganism, Wiccan beliefs and the like for many years now and humbly ask acceptance here.
paganism lol so much angst
At 1/6/12 06:13 PM, Dromedary wrote: Apparently Pagan is now an offensive word in the inner cities of Britain.
you used that term in completely the wrong context
I wouldn't mind joining if you'll have me.
I've been Pagan for many years and am finally glad someone made a group!
From the darkest of caves...
At 1/6/12 07:58 PM, Spilda-Bongwata wrote: paganism lol so much angst
At 1/6/12 06:13 PM, Dromedary wrote: Apparently Pagan is now an offensive word in the inner cities of Britain.you used that term in completely the wrong context
Wasn't me that came up with it, haha.
MrPercie on Dromedary: "smug santa claus face, bringing nicieties to those he likes but shite to those he hates - which is everyone"
My personal belief, which was acquired over much trial and error, and mainly derived from my own, sometimes funny experiences is thus:
I believe that all things in the natural world have a spirit or essence to them.(trees, rivers, everything basically. Unless it's made of plastic I guess, cause I mean, it's manmade and the only thing sulfuric acid can't eat through, and there's something really weird about that)
I believe the universe is essentially a giant brain, and each galaxy is connected via a spiritual, or electrical(whatever you wish to call it) thing.(like how neuro-electrical impulses connect in the brain) All life, especially intelligent life is connected.(it's comparable to yggdrasil the tree of life in norse mythology, if say, the tree weren't really a "tree" perse)
When you die, your "essence" if it were returns to this central place, which I liken to a well of souls of sorts, and then you're shot back out into a new body, either on this planet or another.(not to be confused with alien spirits invading human bodies which is what scientologists believe.)
I guess I believe in a type of majik, related to the elements, but I like to think of it more like chi, than actual spells and incantations.(I believe in the power of the mind, to influence over the elements and the natural world.)
Mother nature is there. She exists. She is tangible and you can witness every day the existence of the natural world. On the other hand you have Jesus, who's almost never been mentioned outside the bible, and the parting of the red seas and
the story of the ten commandments, and you wonder why they call "pagans" pagans or heathens.
It's funny to see that before the advent of Christianity, most people worshipped many gods, many spirits. This leads me to conclude that the creation of Christianity was political. You can see influences from Judaism, Zoroastrianism, norse mythology(particularly the Valkyries, aka female angels) and many other influences. The goal was to prevent warring over other gods, so THE religion became Christianity, and THE language became Latin, and well, you know the rest.
Also, to add:
I understand Judaism and Zoroastrianism encouraged worship of one god, but Judaism, especially kaballic Judaism has a very heavy paganistic roots. Animal sacrifice, hermeticism and witchcraft were all a part of original Judaism and there's no real mention of an afterlife perse. Zoroastrianism I think believe in one god but I think(not positive) they also believed in reincarnation and animism.(I'm judging this purely off of symbles and pictures which often depict, well, animals...but I'm fairly certain I'm right)
Jews at the time Christianity took fold, were not in any position of power to do anything, which is why Christianity was created. To me, I don't hate Christians, more power to them if they really believe it, but history suggests to me that it was created as nothing more than a tool to control the masses.
Maybe I'll be the one to resurrect this
I don't really call myself a pagan as it's a christian term (I also dislike the term, I feel it adds an element of oversimplification and straw-manning), but I'm fairly polytheistic myself with my principle deity being the Sabbatic Goat; I also follow the greco-roman pantheon among other things, and I am always looking to expand.
As far as religious philosophy goes, I generally take a sort of neitzschean approach to gnosticism, with many other influences.
I've always taken my own approach to religion, Partly because I want to have control over who I am, but also because many things just felt forced and unnatural to me.
A few years late to the party but here goes (with Seven's permission to bump).
Yule and a Cold Moon is two days away, so it seemed a good time to shake some of the dust off this crew.
I'm a practicing Asatruar (Norse Pagan), and have been under that label for about a year and a half. Prior to that, I was a (very) lapsed Roman Catholic. I had found that I didn't disagree with spirituality but I did have trouble with some of the Christian dogma. I spent about 7 years with agnosticism, before I started to learn a bit about the Old Ways around 2014.
Asatru has a few sub-branches to it: tribal, folkish, and universal. I fall under the latter category, as I don't see the point in saying "only Northern Europeans get to believe this". Folkish Asatruar ("Odinist") are usually the ones blamed for tiki-torch protests...
I'm not currently affiliated with a kindred, but I do small things with my wife now and then, and once in a while help out the few distant contacts I have. I am loosely affiliated with The Asatru Community (which has issues now and again of "good intent, poor execution") and I found Huginn's Heathen Hof to be a good resource as well. For the record, I do support Declaration 127.
There is a local-ish pagan run campground near where I am, so I'm hoping to get down there for one of the big group events in the springtime.
Personal goals I guess, I hope to learn more enough to lead some events and take the path of Gothi (but a Gothi without a supportive community is not a Gothi). I'm a little curious about the runes and Seidr, but don't currently feel the call to be a Vitki.
At 12/18/16 01:39 AM, Heretic-Anchorite wrote: I've always taken my own approach to religion, Partly because I want to have control over who I am, but also because many things just felt forced and unnatural to me.
@Heretic-Anchorite I know you're still around here somewhere. I can definitely relate to this, which is a nice part of heathenism in that most of the knowledge had to be rebuilt and is open to interpretation.
Hopefully a few new voices will find their way in here. I look forward to reading back and learning about everyone's beliefs, and encourage anyone reading to ask questions if you have them.
Have a Blessed Yule!
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