Why are you Pagan?

Question

I just saw a ridiculous claim by a Christian. (http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AlZ_nTzrS7PlpZ_UOvaXkMHzy6IX?qid=20060619073252AApyOHI Sixth answer, down)

They think the whole reason we're Paganism (Wicca to be exact) is because "All of our friends do it", and "We don't want to get up early on Sunday" Thus, impossible to actually find peace and completeness within Paganism. We just do it because it's "cool".

So, I would like all the Pagans to respond and write down why they're Pagan to try and dispel this misconception.

I am Wiccan because I've always had independent beliefs apart from Christianity like, reincarnation, karma, and the existence of the Mother Goddess. I had also been practicing healing arts with crystals since I was a little girl without even knowing what it was. I could go on but I have only so much space to write.

Blessed be!

Answer 1

people are pagan because they follow the true gods and goddess and do not follow a war god like the christians do. i am a pantheist and i find it sick that christians hate pagans so much at times. want proof of the hate look at the witch trials. i sooner be a pagan out of pure love for nature and animals unlike christians and islamics who think satan rules our earth. Satan doesnt exist mind you

Answer 2

That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever read. Most of my friends are not Pagan, so there's that theory shot all to hell. I'm not a heard mentality person, so doing anything because it's "cool" or because all my friends are is completely stupid as far as I"m concerned. As for not wanting to give up a Sunday morning, check around here on a Sunday morning and you'll see that many self-proclaimed Christians don't want to either.

I have found peace in the Pagan faith. I've found a peace that I couldn't find in any other faith. Mine tells me to do good and be a good person just because, no hellfire and brimstone, no go out and convert the masses, just do good for the sake of it.

I feel more complete now than I ever did when I was practicing Christianity. I feel happier and more content than I did before because I don't have all of the dogma and guilt I carried before.

It's funny, and I know I've said this many times before, how many people use this wonderful research tool to spout lies rather than learn something. It's easy to lie about somebody else's faith and make yourself look like a complete tool in the process, I suppose doing even the smallest amount of research is just a bit too much for some people.

Blessed Be to my fellow Pagans!

Answer 3

Oh man they can be serious! I am Pagan (Wiccan like you) mainly because I feel it is right for me to be it. Not because my friends (which I do have a few are Pagan) are Pagan. I have for the longest time felt there was more to existence than what Christianity said there was. Reincarnation, magic, Gaea (The Mother Goddess), and I have had a few occasions where I saw a *glimpse* into the future ( i.e. some event that would tomorrow, and where they find my brother after he disappeared [thankfully he was found alive]), and lastly a deep connection to this Earth (in the sense that I feel at peace in Nature).

The IDEA that we choose Paganism because it is cool is a bit far fetched and is probably a way for them to rationalize why they cannot convert us to their faith. I am 24 years old and am still in the Broom Closet mainly because I do not want to hurt my grandmothers feelings; though I am sure she would still care for me deeply. Well enough of my ranting.

Blessed Be.

Answer 4

I am Wiccan because it is what I found it is what most closely mirrored my own personally held beliefs. As a matter of fact none of my friends are Wiccan and until I moved I knew no-one that was Wiccan or Pagan. I didn't 'do it to be different' because I was too afraid to tell anyone for fear of what would happen, look in this section and you will see what I mean by that. I take my belief VERY seriously and am just as devout as many other religious people. It is a commitment and a lot of work. What you learn you learn through your own hard work and study, not by someone in a pulpit y classes. YOU do it, alone mostly.

Answer 5

Oy. That answer really is a piece of work. Not that I haven't seen it, mind you. There are a bunch of kids who do indeed have that kind of mindset, or just want to rebel, or whatever, but they're not in the majority. I think it is just unfortunate that the vocal, obnoxious minority wind up being the cause of misconceptions of the whole. Same goes for that guy on Christianity. Not all Christians are like that, but the loud, ignorant ones are the ones we remember, more's the pity.

A lot of conversion stories begin "well, I actually READ the Bible. . . " and mine's not much of an exception. Sure, it's full of internal inconsistencies and stuff that DEFINITELY conflicts with what a lot of Christians believe, now. Much of modern dogma actually comes from the writings of Milton. But this doesn't demolish it's value as a religion. Lots of religions have internal problems. (Look at the problematic medieval history described by Wiccan writings) The longer they exist, the more they spread among different peoples, the more those will come to light. No, I went to church, taught sunday school for four years, read the Bible, and decided this wasn't what I believed. I went through the motions long after I ceased to believe in it. I wasn't angry at it for making no sense, I felt sad that it wasn't for me. That really hit home when I was in a particularly beautiful cathedral, once. I felt forlorn that I just didn't have the kind of faith that must have been had by the builders of this marvellous structure.

I had, by that time, held personal beliefs quietly and to myself for quite some time. What I did believe in were the many gods of cultures gone before me. Even as a Christian, I believed these gods were real. I did not disbelieve in the god of the Christians- I just didn't feel I had anything to do with Him, or Him with me. This made sense when I remembered the covenant with his chosen people- of whom I am not. That made it make more sense. So, I sought out the gods who DID want me. They made Themselves known when I visited the place of Their origins, and I had known of them before from stories told to me by my father. Thus went my relatively peaceful conversion to Celtic reconstructionism. I've always been a hardcore polytheist, I just had to make peace with that.

As for the guy who thinks getting up early on Sunday is too hard for most pagans- I wonder how he'd (she'd?) do at fasting, staying up for a full day, or being more of a participant in a religious ritual than repeatedly standing and sitting.

Answer 6

I turned to Paganism, namely Wicca because the concept of duality appealed to my philosophies. I believe that the world and our dieties are connected to Nature. Nature is more than an afterthought it is everything,

Those concepts aren't found in monotheistic religions. It had nothing to do with not getting up on Sunday morining namely because I still do. I go to the UU services at 9am. Its a Pagan service. Although, I admit, I don't go every week, it does provide some reinforcement of my beliefs and some personal empowerment.

Also, Dragons and their origns are many and worldly. They also predate Christianity by many accounts. This man The ALL Knowing Sam, is obviously ignorant and cowardly.

Answer 7

I am Pagan because the Earth is sacred to me and all things are Sacred. I believe the creator and the created are the same and are all intertwined. I was Pagan before I knew what it was.

I get up early on Sunday and clean my house every week. Saturday I spend time with my children. On the full and new moons, I leave work at the normal time, make a quick dinner, then bustle my family off to Esbat and we all stay up an hour or two past our normal bedtime, but get up in time for work and school in the morning. Unlike Christians who get Sundays off, we have to work a little harder to make our sabbath days work.

Not all my friends do it. The Pagan friends I have I met purposely searching for Pagans to share my faither with. I have many Christian friends, and friends of other faiths, and an Atheist partner. I have ended more than one relationship with men who were otherwise wonderful because my Pagan views didn't coincide with their Christian views. My father disowned me, doesn't speak to me anymore, took away my college fund. I showed him, two degrees later... I have to deal with my grandparents sending me horrible emails about how if you don't like "Under God" in the pledge you should leave the country that they think is funny and clever and expect me to pass it on, because even though they know I'm Pagan, they've forgotten, certain it was just a phase.

Answer 8

I'm not Wiccan, but I am Pagan. I was, at least in part, raised that way. I was raised by a mother who, although a Christian, was open to the rest of my family and their beliefs because she was partially raised on a reservation with Native spirituality. She married an Atheist who taught me to question everything and he was raised by his great-grandmother who practiced Scottish Witchcraft as well as going to the Lutheran Chruch. My friends are, by no means, all Pagan, as with the rest of US society, most of them are Christians and we have respect for each others' beliefs and often get into some very intersting discussion. I've personally chosen to "label myself" Pagan because I don't fit in any other slot with my beliefs and practices, but it has absolutely nothing to do with sleeping in on Sundays or with what my friends believe and practice. Spirituality is personal, simple as that.

Answer 9

I was a Pagan, but now am a Christian.

I was raised Roman Catholic by one side of my family from birth but hated it, it made me angry and I felt that it was forced. I hated God at some points and dident really beleive in any sort of God for a few years growing up. I had to go to a Catholic school untill Grade 9.

Once I went to a public high school I started getting into Wicca and Paganism, not because of any of my friends, but because of my family ( the other side, the non-catholic side) and I felt drawn to it, it really made sence. I started taking part in my pagan heritage and I stayed on that path for many years. All my friends were Christians, not Pagans at the time. The never came with me to rituials and events. They wouldent even buy herbs with me.
Although some came with me to my Native American nameing ceremony, and sometimes they'd come to a drumming ceremony. Full moon ceremonies, I'd only go with my family.
I too practiced healing arts such as crystal healing, healing with herbs and started Reiki training. I later found out that my biological mother practiced the same pagan beleifs that I did, and I never met her untill I was 20.( I was adoppted at birth) Her 'gifts' were different than my own though.

I have since found such a deep, amazing faith in Jesus Christ. For me, it has been a wonderful experience and I've never been happier. It has been a strange transformation from pagan to Christian, but for me I know it is genuine and full of love and positivity. I've felt such a peace come over my heart. I'm not part of the Catholic church though, I have found God through the Bible and through the word of God.
I still have a deep respect for nature, I just worship the God who created it all.
"The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands" Psalm 19

I know that Pagans, and Wiccans are not just doing it to be "cool". They are not just picking a religion because all their friends are doing it. Most of the pagans at the ceremonies I was with were older, and had made their decision for their self.

Look at how much criticism Wiccans receive for their beleifs! They don't get respected by the government as a religion.
If they "truly wanted to choose a religion to be cool(as that person said)", I doubt Wiccan beleifs or Paganism would be it. I think the Cult of Paris Hilton would probably be the trend to follow.

Its their beleif, their religion and they have just as much of a right to practice it as anybody else.

Answer 10

Well, I was brought up in a pretty catholic surroundings and it was kinda expected from me that I would go to church and so on. Luckily, my mum prevented my fanatic family to force the stain of baptism on me, so I'm fortunately free of that.
During my growing up ages i was kinda agnostic, but more and more as I researched into nature based religions, more I found out that my beliefs were oriented that was from the very beginning.
Basically, the moment I read about pagan beliefs, I kinda knew they're the right thing for me. As if i just had to remember them from sometime... earlier...

Answer 11

I grew up with an Aunt who could do amazing things. I learned from her. I was left to make up my own mind too. I had friends who were Christian, and I went to church with them many times. The last time I went to church, they tried to make me "take the flesh and blood of Christ" (grape juice and bread). But to me this was symbolic cannibalism. I don't eat humans. Also, as the preacher was preaching, there were these "ropes" of color. They were deep purple and black. I decided these were not good colors to see in a church. That was the last time I went.
I have chose the path of a solitary practitioner. I have done some crystal work. I have "guardian" crystals in all of my windows. And I have made spirit bags for each of my children.
I also chose Wicca because of the balanced nature if it. I don't know how to explain it further.
Blessed Be!