A Pagan’s Primer
Outdoor meditation at Diana's Grove, near Bunker, Mo. Photo by Alyson Taggart.
“You find magic from your God, and we find magic everywhere.”
Folk singer Dar Williams, The Christians and the Pagans
I wish I could have been that succinct when inquisitive fellow bloggers asked what being Pagan means. But my spirituality is one area in which I haven’t yet developed an elevator speech.
To start, I primarily relate to the Sacred through nature. My religious holidays are based on the cycle of the seasons. I believe we can learn Divine Truth as easily from tending a garden or watching a tree progress from bud to leaf to bare branch as we can from reading a book.
I do read books about spirituality. Lots of them. Pagans do not have one holy book; rather, we see all of them as holding meaning and potential lessons. I also look for lessons from the commonalities in each of the world’s spiritual traditions. I’m more interested in the ways we’re the same than in the ways we’re different.
I believe the Divine spark is in me and all living creatures around me. I believe Divine energy connects everything that is, was, and will be. I believe we are here to learn things we can only learn by being human. And that when this incarnate life is over, we will return to the Divine.
I believe the Divine is ultimately beyond gender–God Herself. But on an everyday basis, I relate to the Divine as God or Goddess, male or female. It’s just easier as a human to talk to Someone who looks like me than to amorphous spirit. I am very aware that this is my choice, and that others may pray in a different way. It is my responsibility to respect their choices.
That’s enough for a starter–the Pagan elevator speech I wish I’d been able to come up with Thursday. If you’re interested in exploring a few more details about the Pagan religious year, there’s a nice description at Beliefnet.
For a discussion of the word Pagan and its usage past and present, check out a discussion from the Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance. I agree with quite a lot of it, except the part about not using the word “Pagan.”
Even though I still don’t have a good three-sentence elevator speech to explain it.
A friend (a friend from church, actually) just loaned me the Dar Williams CD that has that song on it. My daughters and I have been driving around singing it a lot recently. I’m not sure it’s entirely fair to Christians, who come off as almost satirically middle class and conservative, but oh well. The song says a lot about tolerance and celebration and family–”finding faith and common ground as best as they were able” is a great refrain for all of us.
I would imagine it can’t always be easy to self-identify as a pagan in this culture. But, problems with the word aside, the description you give of your spirituality is one that I think a lot of people can relate to, even people who consider themselves members of another religion.
I’m sure it will add a lot to this conversation to have you on the blog and I hope you always feel welcome here.
I truly did not realize that anyone identified as Pegan today, I thought of it only as an ancient name for people who practiced magic, worshipped things and other gods apart from the One God that we Christians worshipped.
I am discerning that being a Pagan today is closely related to the practices and beliefs of Wicca, am I correct or not?
There’s a big problem with morals in America and it isn’t solved by wimpy overtones from pagans or aethists. Tolerance has become a code word for accepting being submissive to loud mouthed bullies like the homosexuals. Our faiths have had to take a back seat because homosexuals, abortionist, aethists and other deviants want the right to roam the streets obeying no laws and demanding that they be treated as Gods.
Wicca is (generally) considered a Pagan religion, Paganism not being a religion in and of itself, but rather an over arching grouping. As such, Pagan covers a wide swath of beliefs, but they can be considerably different in their theology, ritual, cosmology, practice and any number of other related issues.
Wicca is certainly the best known.
Serious question: What do pagans believe happens to them when they die? Please elaborate on “we will return to the Divine.” Thanks, Kathy.
Seems slightly at odds with the dictionary’s definition. I like most that I hear here, and am waiting to hear more.
I am a bit wary of the opening line that defines a God as something less than everywhere to create a space for something else that is more.
If the idea that someone elses God is not everything, then what is it? Is it the idea that Divine Energy is a multitude of wonders and that there is no one encompassing Divinity? That would match the dictionary’s definition.
@D. Walker - There are many that identify as Pagan today. Being a Pagan today, while based on what we know of early beliefs, is probably equally as modern. The way I see it, Paganism is just as much a spiritual path as it is an umbrella term for many earth-based paths. Wicca falls under that umbrella. Not all completely believe that statement, though
Kathy - I can’t wait to see more! STL has always been a very Pagan-friendly community, and I’m glad to see some good discussion publicly. Great primer post!
Thank you, Kathy. I am wiccan (although less of a participant in ritual than many). I believe in reincarnation, but differ from most wiccans by believing in the possibility of interspecies soul migration. There are differences of beliefs even within the wiccan community. Do I consider myself pagan? Well, sometimes.
It really is interesting that a lot of what you posit can be applied to Christianity and other faiths as well. Looking forward to learning more, thanks!
Another,
“Divine Energy is a multitude of wonders…”
Strange you mention this energy connection.
A relative had gotten off into this practice of energy and waves forces as a way to control things and the mind. There is this new following over the internet that someone close to be got caught up in. They practiced using energy sources to control things around them including their own mind, so they think, not realizing the real force behind what they are doing. They were even able communicate and do many things most would find strange or unbelievable through sound waves instead of typing to one another, etc.
One day this teenager limped into fathers and mothers bedroom attempting to explain that someone had just sent him pain. This kid was in such extreme pain that it was scary. This teenager was in a Christian home where his father is a pastor and was remarkably very familiar with these things and had not realized that his son was dappling in this stuff. He however knew that he was going far over into dark things, gothic, punk, etc. It was ugly and my uncle had to find remind him that the power within him was greater than them. And asked him if he wanted to be delivered from these destructive powers, and from there they went and today he has his son back. This just happened, maybe at the most, 2 months ago.
These energy sources are what Scripture explains to us in many parts of it as, “The Prince of the Power of the Air”, he can influence and cause destruction. He appears as the angel of light into self-discovery, self-powerment and the ability to control everything and all things around you. Make no mistake that this stuff is real and is something that Christians must stay far away from and take no part or curiosity in.