Is anybody a Pagan or Druid?

Question

A I correct in thinking that you worship the Earth?
How do you Worship?
What are major celebrations within your religion?
What joy do you get?

Also can you tell me how you embraced it?

Any thing will be great?

I could look on Wikipedia but I want to hear from real pagans and druids!

Thanks.

Answer 1

I'm an Ásatrúar (which can be considered as Norse Paganism).

No, I do not worship the Earth. I worship the Æsir and Vanir (Norse Gods), as well as my ancestors and the Landvættir (land spirits).

I don’t actually "worship" my Deities as in the same sense as those from the Judeo Based religions of Christianity, Judaism and Islam. Rather, I honor with great respect, love and awe.

As a way of showing my honor and kinship to my Gods I preform blots (a sacrifice to the Gods) In the old days this was done by feasting on an animal consecrated to the Gods and then slaughtered. As we are no longer farmers and our needs are simpler today, the most common blot is an offering of mead or other alcoholic beverage to the Deities. I also have a Sumbel ( ritual drinking celebration) to honor my ancestors and the Gods. At the sumbel toasts are drunk to the Gods, as well as to a persons ancestors or personal heroes.

The ancient Norse knew four major holidays the Spring and Autumn Equinoxes which we call Summer and Winter Finding, and the two solstices which we call Midsummer and Yule. However, there were many other minor festivals honoring heroes and modern Ásatrú have added even more.

Ásatrú gives me strength in daily life, it gives me hope that there are actually Gods that care, and that stand with you if times are hard. Also because it gives me a fulfillment in life that no other religion ever could do. Being connected to the Gods who are as close to you as blood-kin, following a Lore that teaches you to be strong and independent, honoring your ancestors and the heroes of before, that is Ásatrú for me.

Answer 2

It isn't worship of the Earth the way Christians worship God. The Earth is loved and respected and we are thankful for what we have. The Earth is home to our spirit and the spirit of all things. We try to include memory of our earth and thankfullness in everything we do. We usually have a "circle" which is basically that we stand in a circle and worship together. It is usually outside. There are a whole bunch of holidays. There is the Wheel and the moons. The Wheel of the Year will look familiar if you are Christian. It starts with Samhain, our last autumn festival and the first festival of winter. It is a harvest festival and is better known as Halloween. Many Halloween traditions are of Celtic origin, the apples, the pumpkins (although it was originally turnips). We move then to Yule (which isn't as important to us but we have fun with it). It is Midwinter, and was originally twelve days long. It celebrates the birth of the sun (the irony is no accident). Next comes Imbolc (Feb 2ish), the last winter festival and first spring festival. We celebrate the coming spring, baby lambs, many of us start seeds for the spring. The comes Ostara (Eostre in the Germanic regions). This is on the vernal equinox (or on the full moon nearest it) and holds a lot of Easter's roots. It is a spring festival, with signs of fertility like eggs, rabbits (again, we know those things ended up on Easter too), more seed planting, and a celebration of maidenhood. Opposing Samhain and the other big celebration is Beltane (near MayDay) and is the high fertility festival. It is a celebration of marriages, the planting of the year's crops, etc. It is a festival of fire and fun. June brings Midsummer and as expected it is a festival of fields, of fertility and of summer. The planting is done and it is time to celebrate. Then comes Lugh the first harvest festival for the year (it falls on or near August 1st). It is a celebration of the first harvest fruits and kind of a moral builder to take the community through the rest of the hard-work in the harvest season. Last on the list is Mabon (September 21) and is another harvest festival.
The festivals were born of an agricultural society and remind us today of the bounty of the earth. I feel at home in this religion, it makes sense, it celebrates where we came from and where we are going. This is a VERY basic glance at the religion of Celtic people for whom Druids were priests. We have a long history and much has happened. There is a lot more information but this is hopefully what you are looking for.

Answer 3

Paganism is a blanket term for any nature-based religion and/ or one that worships more than 1 god. Every pagan tradition has different gods, different ways of practicing & celebrating. Every ancient civilization had its own pagan religion (or pretty close to all) and these are what modern pagans practice.

Wiccans are also pagans, but there are differences. Wiccans have the freedom to mold their religion into whatever they want. They can even borrow beliefs & practices from other religions.

I am a Wiccan & I worship nature as a part of the Goddess & God, like all things are a part of Them. The website below has info on countless pagan traditions by people who practice that tradition, including Wicca. You should know that some traditions require an oath of secrecy, as many ancient mystery religions did. As such, they can not reveal anything but their basic beliefs & practices. I hope this helps you. Good luck!

Answer 4

Let me take your questions one at a time.

1) I am a Wiccan, which is one denomination of Paganism, so I hope you won't mind me taking a stab at the matter.

2) Wiccans, at least as I was taught, don't worship nature per se. We believe that the universe is the body of God/dess, and therefore that all things contain Divine energy and that the world itself is sacred.

There can be no separation from God/dess. All things not only proclaim Their glory, but ARE Their glory. It's therefore more accurate to say that we worship the Divine as manifest in nature; we worship the Creator, IN the Creation.

3) As a Wiccan, I worship informally by being aware of the Divine as manifest in the world around me, and formally by casting a circle of sanctified space in which I acknowledge the power of the four Platonic elements and invite the God and the Goddess to join me and lend Their aid to whatever work I may choose to do within the circle.

4) Wiccans follow eight seasonal festivals, called sabbats, and often also gather during the full moon in rituals called esbats.

A brief explanation of the sabbats can be found at:

http://paganwiccan.about.com/library/basics/blsabbats.htm

5) The joy of always knowing that the Divine is with me, never further away than a heartbeat or a moment's prayer. The pleasure of contemplating the many faces of Divinity in the world around me -- the trees, the animals, my fellow human beings. The happiness I feel when gathering with others of like mind to celebrate a sabbat or an esbat.

6) I embraced Wicca when, after several years of atheism, I had a profound personal experience of the Divine, a vision of the Goddess in Her glory. I only decided to pursue theism again after a few weeks of considering the experience, and when I decided to do so, Wicca proved to be the religion that most closely matched my ethical system as well as making deep intuitive sense to me.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to email me.

Answer 5

particularly we've truly some written words and really some historic understand-how (i'm no longer Druid yet you stated pagans too so i will throw in my 2 cents) Heathens don't have the concept of an enternity to believe something to. we do not have any genuine afterlife outside of returning to the Ancestors. we've truly some understand-how from sagas, poems and archeological internet sites. xmas is coming up quickly, in December. Heathens have wintry climate evening too it truly is between the middle of October and the middle of Novemeber, searching on the position you stay and the seasons. Samhain is yet another mid-autumn pagan social gathering it truly is shared in a various traditions (no longer mine). I celebreat xmas with truly some family members, truly some food, truly some activities and really some eggnog. an identical as easily everyone else.I only get to do it for 12 days quite of one million.

Answer 6

I'm Wiccan. I don't worship the Earth I worship the Lord and the Lady. I worship by spells and prayers. I get joy from my spells working. I embraced it by studying the religion and doing my spells. The major holidays are Candlemas, Ostara, Beltane, Summer Solstice, Lammas, Fall Equinox, Samhain, and Yule.

Answer 7

The Moon, Sun, Mother Earth are all important , we are dependant on all of them and they are all necessary in our survival. The way I have embraced my spirituality is to try to live my life by ' and it harm none, do as you will'. Each season has its own celebration , which I celebrate in my own private way. The joy I get is peace within myself.

Answer 8

I'm Wiccan, which means I'm Pagan but not Druid. I do not worship the earth, I love and respect it. From the earth we came and to the earth we will go.

I don't get joy, I get peace.

And this link will tell you all about Wicca (generally).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wicca

Answer 9

Yeah we do revere the earth, moon, stars and other things like that, I guess we get the same joy other religions get out of their worships services. I do a ritual every full moon, sometimes I meditate.


If you have more questions, e-mail me.

Answer 10

A pagan is anyone who follows pagan traditions.

Walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, its a duck.

Celebrate pagan holidays, Christmas, Easter, Halloween,
YOU ARE A PAGAN!

The true saints keep the feast as written in the Holy Scriptures.