Is anybody a Pagan?

Question

Please tell me about your religion and beliefs.

Answer 1

I am Pagan
I am also a Witch.
Paganism is a general term, like Christianity for example. My path, witchcraft is only one of many 'types' of Paganism, like methodist,catholic are in Christianity.
I believe in the God and the Goddess as the personification of the male and female divine forces that rule the universe. I believe you can ask for their help using the right words and thoughts in a ritual.
As a Hedgewitch, I do not believe that you have to have a knife of a special colour or your alter cloth has to change with the seasons. Not unless you want to.
I celebrate the Wheel of the Year, starting with Samhain (halloween) as New Year. I lay out a place setting on Samhain eve to remember that there are those who have died that I would like to be sharing my meal with. I carve names of loved ones into candles and burn them in the evening.
At Yule (Christmas) I celebrate the Winter Solstice (on or around December 21st, it fell on 22nd in 2006). It is the symbolic rebirth of the sun, of his growing power in the days that follow the solstice. Several days before the Solstice, I select a log from my log store and decorate it with sage, cloves, holly, incese and candles. I greet the sun as it rises and do a short ritual. I then burn the log and keep some of the embers to light my Yule fire with next year. I keep the embers in a pouch I have made for this purpose to bring me good luck during the year.
Ostara (Easter) is the celebration of the land, of the fertility of the lady who grants us crops and life from the land. It is a time to clean the house and renew any charms hanging outside the house.
Summer Solstice (MidSummer's Night) The longest day of the year, the celebration of the height of the Sun king's power.
I celebrate the balance of male and female, of life and death.
Witchcraft is learning about the natural flows of energy in the universe and working in harmony with them to effect positive change, both in yourself and your environment.

Answer 2

Lets get something straight, paganism is a true religion, it's not something to believe in just cos you don't believe in God, It's the oldest religion known to exist. I am pagan and it really upsets me when people make comments like this about my religion, just because someone doesn't believe in paganism doesn't mean they should discount it as rubbish, as a true pagan you are encouraged to be open minded and not discount others beliefs and religions. Paganism is about respecting the earth and the miracles it performs everyday, celebrating them and their creation, how can that be rubbish?

Answer 3

Actually I am a Asatruar (Norse Pagan). I'm a polytheist. That is, I believe in a number of deities, including Goddesses as well as Gods. I also believe in an underlying, all-pervading divine energy or essence which is generally hidden from us, and which is beyond our immediate understanding. I further believe that this spiritual reality is interdependent with us - that we affect it, and it affects us.

Asatru does not claim to be a universal religion or a faith for all of humankind. In fact, I don't think such a thing is possible or desirable. The different branches of humanity have different ways of looking at the world, each of which is valid for them. It is only right that they have different religions, which of course they do.

Answer 4

There are many different paths of neo-paganism. I follow a Celtic Reconstructionist (CR) path. I can only speak for the practices of my family and not for all CR paths.

We celebrate four agricultural holidays a year--Samhain, Imbolc, Bealtain, and Lughnasadh. Samhain (beginning of November) is our new year, a time to celebrate the final harvest. It is considered a time when the veil between the worlds is thinner than most so it is a time for divinations and honoring our ancestors. Imbolc (beginning of February) is a time when the first signs of spring are celebrated and lambs come into milk. It is a time for new beginnings and a time for to especially honor the goddess Brighid. Bealtain (beginning of May) is also a time when the veil thins between the worlds. We celebrate the fertility of the land. Lughnasadh (beginning of August) is a time to especially honor the god Lugh. It is a time of the first harvest. We have games of skill and enjoy the fruits of the harvest. We observe the solstices and equinoxes but we do not celebrate them as religious holidays.

On a daily basis, I spend about a half hour in the morning in prayer, praise and meditation. I give small offerings of food and drink to my deities at our family altar. Throughout the day I pray to keep in contact with my deities. I try to live my life according to Celtic values.
http://www.imbas.org/articles/celtic_values.html
In the evening I always pray and meditate before going to sleep. Every day, I try to learn about my deities and the peoples who onced worshiped them. I find inspiration in both academic study as well as meditation and prayer.

I occasionally use magic but it is a very small part of my practice.

Most of my deities were worshiped by the Continental Celts during the Iron Age. My main deities are Taranis, Lugh, Epona, Cernunnos, and I am getting to know Sequana better. For a description of Gaulish deities:
http://www.geocities.com/nemetoneponas/deities.html

After death I believe that I will go to the Otherworld to feast and review the things I've learned before incarnating again.

Answer 5

pagans are those in which believe in a higher power along with all earthly things. They celebrate the seasons, such as harvest tim(fall/autumn) etc. Christians actually are followers (to a certain extent) of the pagans. Of course a christian is going to argue this . If so called christians would take the time to read about paganism, they would not be so closed minded in their thoughts. Christ was not born on XMAS day, he was actually born a few months prior to this and then taken to Bethelem. Christians believe only what they have been told for many yrs by others and are so narrow minded and one way path. They are afraid of learninfg what really has taken place

Answer 6

Yes, I am. I suppose you could say I am an Hellenic Polytheist. It is a reconstructionist form of Paganism inspired by the ancient religions, culture, and philosophy of Greece. I feel that the cultural and religious insights of the ancients still have value today, and strive to balance the past with the present.

Answer 7

I'm a Pagan Wiccan. Pagans are generally polytheistic and believe in the ancient gods and goddesses of the old legends. Some of us work magic as witches but many Pagans do not.

Not many people are Pagan and Wiccan, so I'm probably not qualified to say much more since I'm not purely Pagan. However, there are many Pagan resources online.

Answer 8

not enough space here, but, pagan is a generic term, kind of like christian it is an umbrella in which many things are put under, usually by those people that don't have a clue, or look at if from a x-tian point of view only.

my belief is simple. but misunderstood by the vast majority, if they can even understand it at all.

93/93 sums it up

Love is the Law; love under will. Do what thy wilt shall be the whole of the law. Liber Legis CCXX

Answer 9

The true meaning of pagan was lost somewhere through time. It has nothing to do with religion. Do some research.

Paganism (from Latin paganus, meaning "a country dweller" or "civilian")

Answer 10

The word pagan was meant for those who did not believe in the Christian God. The pagans had their own deities. Nothing to do with witchcraft. The word has been corrupted.