Pagans would you care to help me?

Question

If so great. Here goes. What are the differences and similarities if any at all between the following, Thelema, Hermeticism, Wicca, Druidism, Santeria, Candomble, Voodooo aka Vodoun, Hoodoo, Ifa, Shamanism, Animism, Yoruba, and whatever other forms that you can think of? I know I'm probably leaving some out. That's because I can't remember some of the other forms. I know this is a pretty vague question but bear with me okay.

Thanks alot for nothing wolfgang.

Vinslave - I don't mind long answers as long as they contain the information that I am looking to obtain.

Okay Black Allissa. And leave any links as well. Thanks.

Answer 1

Whoa this is a big question, lets take a look at some of these that can be grouped together, such as Santeria, Candomble Vodou, Yoruba and Ifa. Ifa is an ancient & original practice that is indegionous to Africa, the others are based off of that origianal practice of ancestor worship, through trance possession by the LOA or Orisha. Santeria and Vodou are the ones that I know the most about, and I know that these two are "syncretic" paths. Meaning that they combine the origianl Ifa religion with the Catholic religion. Using images of Saints as the LOA & Orisha. All of these practices utilize Trance Possession through rhythm, and drumming is a very important aspect of the rituals and ceremonies. The ethical code of these is vastly different than that of Wicca, as opposed to harm none, they believe that the gods hate a hypocrite... it is ok to curse someone if necessary as long as you don't do the act that caused you to want to curse that person. For example, say you cursed a rapist who raped your sister, you caused his nuts to shrivel up to nothin...you best not have your way with someone sexually against thier will or the gods(ancestors) will inflict a punishment on you that is ten, twenty or hundred times worse than what you did...

Thelema & Hermeticism are magical practices and not religions. The ethical code among Thelemites is "Do as thou will shall be the whole of the law, love is the law love under Will" Their practices are highly ritualized and both require an inititation into an order or lodge in order to learn the meaning behind the rituals and inner workings of ceremonial magick.

Edit: This is in no way an "earth based religion" it is also not a solitary path, a group or lodge is necessary to advance beyond the basic 'outer court knowledge'

Tradtional Wicca is a combination of ceremonial practices of hermeticism & masonic ritual, mixed with european folklore, either adapted from Leland's "Aradia: Gospel of Witches" and/or Welsh/Brythonic folklore. It was pieced together by Gerald Gardner in the early 1950's after the last laws against witchcraft were repealed. He was (according to legend) an initiated member of the "New Forest Coven" inititated by one Dorthy Clutterbuck, which seems to indicate a lineage older than "Old Uncle Gerald" However since the ritual structure is so close to that of the Masons, what is practiced as Wicca today is unlikely the same as the witchcraft practiced by the New Forest Coven. Ethics passed on from teacher to student in Wicca is done via a poem called the "Wiccan Rede" It was believed that Doreen Valiente was the author, but there has been some debate that it was originally penned by Adriana Porter, a heredity witch from New Haven Connecticut. Traditional Wicca also requires an intitation into a coven, inorder to gain access to "the mysteries." However with the advent of Neo-wicca... self-dedication is a popular path, though it is not currently recognized by traditionalists.

Animism is the oldest religion according to any of the anthropology courses I took in college It's main belief is that god is everything & everything is god, it gives god like qualities to the sun, moon, change of seasons, land, trees, rain etc. Many of the ancient polytheistic beliefs were based on Animism.

Shamanism and animism are closely linked. Whether it is core shamanism as taught by Micheal Harner, Psychedelic shamanism derived from ancient practices & revived through the popularity of books by authors such as Carlos Castenada or Traditional teachings from any number of indeginous tribes passed on from elder to novince. I know more about core shamanism so that is my reference point here. It is a practice that involves a healing procedure known as "soul retrieval" it incorperates deep meditation, underworld journey, trance possession, power animals, drumming etc. The first journey of the core shaman is to meet with thier power animal, which serves as a guide & protector in the underworld. Any subsequent journeys provide release of "elf shot" and "gathering the shards of your soul" to make yourself whole.

Edit: The word shaman is of Siberian Origin, and though many cultures throughout the world have utilized "shamanic techniques" it is somehow confused with Native American spirituality. Although some traditional Native Americans utilize shamanic techniques they do not "corner the market" on Shamanism.

I am not too familiar with the actual practice of Druidism, I know that is mostly a reconstruction based of roman transcripts by authors such as Tacitus, and other monks. The Druids were, in ancient Europe a Priestly Class, who officiated the many ritual practices of the time (including human sacrifice). Modern druids seem to have a strong veneration torwards nature, and work with the spirits of nature, such as tree spirits etc. Issac Bonewits is a prolific author on the subject.

Hoodoo is a magical practice that involves pretty much whatever is handy or available at the time, Poppets, rootwork, candle magic, herbalism, etc...I have practiced a bit of rootwork, but I am not very well versed in the practice of Hoodoo.

Other forms that I can think of include Pennsylvania Dutch Powow, Rune Risting, bindrunes & Galdur, Sorcery, and Chaos Magick. What all of these have in common is that they follow the Laws of magic which are, according to Fraizer in "The Golden Bough" The Law of Similarity & The Law of Contagion.

The Law of Similarity states that items of a similiar nature are affected the same way. If you are able to affect a drop of water you are able to affect all of the oceans.

The Law of Contagion means that objects that were once in close proximity to each other still have the ability to affect the other even if they are seperated... Hence the use of hair, or person al articles in sympathetic practices such as poppets, that single strand of hair still contains the essence of the person you wish to affect.

That is all that I can think of to add at the moment. I included a list of websites in the reference section, however most of the info that I presented came from my personal interpretation through practice & research over the past 22 years. I hope it helped.

Answer 2

Santeria, Candomble, Yoruba, Voodooo aka Vodoun, Ifa--these are all practically the same thing, with name changes, like the greek and roman pantheons--Thelema, Hermeticism, Wicca, Druidism--these are all offshoots of each other, hoodoo is a mix of literally EVERYTHING and shamanism and animism are practices incorporated into many faiths, but not necessary in any of them, commonly referred to as "nonreligions"

Answer 3

Whoo that's a tall order. I will have to present you with some VERY simplified answers.

Thelema means simply Will. It is a spiritual/magical practice that aims to guide seekers toward finding their True Will (that is, their Purpose and their CHOSEN Path to acheive it) and provide them with the tools (and the balls) to acheive their Will at any cost. Aleister Crowley wrote extensively on the subject and, while he's rather a hard read, I recommend his teachings to anyone.
http://www.thelema.org/

Hermeticism is a set of beliefs (religious and magical) based on the writings of Hermes Trismegistus (This is not, let me be clear, the Greek God Hermes nor slightly related to Him) It is based in Egyptian lore (as Hermes Trismegistus was an Egyptian) strongly featuring the God Thoth.

Wicca... er, I wrote an article on this on my website, look there http://www.sacredhearth.com/articles/whatiswicca
(Just to save time which I'm sure I'll run out of)

Druidism is a Pagan religion based on Celtic myth and folklore. There are many different types of Druidism as there were many Celtic tribes that differed in various ways. For the most part it is somewhat Earth based, hard polytheistic and, well difficult to explain quickly.. They are very Shamanic in nature.

Santeria is a synchretic religion blending traditional African spirituality with Catholic ideas created by the slaves to make their masters think they were good Catholics, when in reality they were practicing their traditional African religion. Candomble and Voodoo are similar to this but they come from different places and so are all slightly different.

Hoodoo is traditional West African magic.

Ifa is a West African form of divination, sort of like I Ching... but not really.

Shamanism is a system of magic that involves leaving the body to do work in an energetic state and speaking with spirits (or having spirits speak through you to an assistant) to gain wisdom.

Animism is the belief that sprits or Gods reside within natural things, like waterfalls, trees, mountains, etc.

Yoruba is a language group and an ethnic group in West Africa, (Yes, there are many ethnic groups in Africa, not just "black") particularly in what is now Nigeria and Benin. Many African Americans have Yuroban ancestry as many slaves were taken from West Africa. So, it's logical that many of the African American Pagan traditions are Yoruban in origin.

Those are ALOT of things to compare differences and similarities to, so I'll let you judge. Some of them are religions, some are not. Yoruba most significantly is not a religious or magical system.

You may find more of what you're looking for at http://www.sacredhearth.com/faq
but it doesn't have alot of the African stuff in it.

Answer 4

I know a few of these, but just a little on each.
Wicca is the new "witchy" religion begun, technically, by Gerald Gardner in the 50's or so, though he said it'd been passed down for many years. It's a nature/magic based religion celebrating dual God/Goddess and nature based holy days.
Hermeticism is a fairly solitary religion (like "hermit") that is also pretty earth based, but kinda relies on you looking up your own info and deciding what to believe.
Voodoo is an offshoot of African tribal religions and Catholocism. I know that they celebrate the duality and necessity of both good and evil in the world, and if you get on the wrong side of a Vaudan, they can whip up a really nasty curse. You should be able to find lots on this culture as it thrives in the South (Louisiana).
Shamanism is Native American based and focuses on the Great Spirit (or whatever name they want to call it) and powers of animals and other nature.
I assume that Animism is pretty similar.
Druidism, which I am currently learning more about, is another one that sprang up in the 60's to reflect an ancient religion. They do a lot of studying, as well, and are big into protecting and preserving nature. Druids are kind of harder to tack down for a definition, since they are usually affiliated with another religion in conjunction with Druidry.

The similarities are that they are all "new"-ish religions that are non-Abrahamic. Most focus on learning about nature and magic.

Hope this helped a bit. :D

Answer 5

Do you realize the sheer volume answer of the question you just asked? LOL That would be a week-long special on TLC or Discovery or somesuch.

I could only speak for Wicca and Shamanism and that would still be a ton of info.

_()_

Answer 6

i can tell you that "pagan" pretty much covers all religions that are not christianity. oftentimes the term pagan is reserved for earth-based religions. that is true of most of the faiths you mentioned. i am not sure about a few of those {ifa, yoruba and candomble i have not heard of}. that is to say that they celebrate, but don't necessarily worship, the divine in the physical world. things like the planet, people and animals are all divine. divinity is not limited to gods, like in other religions. again, i cannot say for sure whether that applies to all the ones you mentioned because i am not familiar with all of them.

Answer 7

For the differences between Wicca and Druidism:
http://davensjournal.com/index.htm?DaWaC.xhtml&2

For the differences between Wicca and Asatru:
http://www.webcom.com/~lstead/wicatru.html
I hope this helps.

Answer 8

Differences: far too many to list here.
Similarities: they're all based on myth and superstition, with no evidence to back up any of their claims. Just like all other religions.

Peace.

Answer 9

What do I get if I answer?

This sounds like a multi-part question here, give me 100 bucks and I will give you a breakdown of each.

Answer 10

http://meta-religion.com/ScienceHome.htmu find all sorts of religion and philosophy