For Pagans?

Question

If you aren't pagan please don't use this question to bash us. If it hurts you to see people bash your religion, if you are suppresed and judged you know how it feels. Return the compassion
What tradition are you and how did you decide it was right for you?

Answer 1

I'm Asatru.

Because to me Asatru is one of the only religions that doesn't clash with the modern day scientific view on the world, it views the world as it is, a natural place, with many Gods.

I like being Asatru because it rewards people who are academically-inclined. Really and pervasively, not just in theory.

I like being Asatru because its ethos match mine. I can be a reasonably good example of an Asatruar; I would never be anything but a marginal, footnoted, troublemaking member of any other religion. I like hanging around with people who think that an oath is an oath, for example.

I like being Asatru because it validates my inclination to bonk irritating people on the head with a Big (Rhetorical) Hammer. I am blunt; in Asatru, blunt is a good thing. "Frith" and "cooperation" are much more resonant values for me than "niceness" or "harmony".

And most of all because I like the connection to my heritage. My ancestors were Danish and Icelandic, so it makes sense to me if I am going to practice any religion might as well practice the one my ancestors did before Christianity took over.

Answer 2

Like most Pagans, I started out in Wicca, which worked for me quite well for a while, but I came to disagree with some of the Wiccan dogma. I am a Thelemite by initiation because I like the philosophy of the O.T.O. -- Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. Mainly, though, I consider myself a Greek Pagan because I worship the Greek Gods. Those Gods, I feel, chose me. Ever since reading the myth of Persephone in first grade I've felt a connection to the Greek Gods.

Answer 3

I'm Wiccan, specifically uew ( http://www.cuew.org )

It (or more specifically, the group that became it) was the group I first fell in with, and when I left it for a while and tried other groups I ended up running back. My problems with uew as it was then were largely cosmetic, and my problems with other trads I experienced were theological and philosophical.

It is the only trad I've ever liked, and recently started to love.

It's very sad that some people are not willing to give traditions a try. They should at least know why they don't follow one if they make such a choice. :) Most trads don't teach "this is what you must do," but instead "this is what we do and why" those whys are what you miss outside traditions.

Answer 4

I'm an Eclectic Pagan. After studying many different traditions and magical systems, I grew attached to a couple of different systems that, though not culturally linked, were not mutually exclusive of each other. After a brief study of Chaos Magic, I decided that the skill of the practitioner was what determined the outcome of rituals and spells,not the god(s) one prayed to, and therefore chose to label myself Eclectic, though the deities I worship are mainly Hellenic.
I can't quite be called a Hellenismos, because I incorporate practices from other cultures into my rituals and ceremonies and I am not exclusively dedicated to the Greek Pantheon.

Answer 5

I have several friends who follow Wicca. They believe that everything has an energy and must be respected and treated with love. They believe that we are all connected. Most of the Wicca people I know really appreciate the beauty and oneness of the world and have a truly deep spiritual connection with who they really are inside. It's beautiful.

It really bothers me how Christians call anyone who is not a Christian a "Pagan," which means "false religion." That is grouping every other religion but theirs in one general category and is very condescending. That's one thing I love about Wicca. It never discriminates. I, personally, do not subscribe to any specific religion.

Answer 6

I am a Wiccan. I have been initiated into a lineage and am in the process of creating another initiatory group from the ground up. My roots lie in Alexandrian practice, which continues to define the form of Wicca I practice today (which most Alexandrians would define as eclectic).

Answer 7

My religious beliefs have evolved, and continue to do so. It is difficult to put my beliefs in one group.

Wicca fits most comfortable, but I have a strong connection to enochian and essoteric mysticism. There are some things that I can not leave behind, maybe if I wasn't raised in a christian family I could be more secure about my beliefs.

But, if you truely look into the truths of the Goddess, then my beliefs are pure....a true essence, so to speak.

Answer 8

I'm not a pagan anymore.
but if you don't mind i would like to answer anyway ^_^

the tradition that i liked most was Kemetic Orthodoxy.

I came to it because ever since i was very little, Egypt had called me.
it felt like Egypt was in my very blood.
if i ever go back to religion (I'm an atheist) then that would be the only religion i would practice.

Answer 9

I guess I'm you're run of the mill eclectic, I take a little from all of the traditions, simply because I don't think that with an earth based faith you can say this is how it has to be. It's all in how you feel, and how you feel you should worship.
:)

Answer 10

I am Pecti-Witan (also Hedge Witch). My mother encouraged me to search and research for my path. I found out after making my choice that my mother was a Hedge Witch and I am the great-great-granddaughter of a Comanche Medicine Man. So, unknowingly, it was actually in my blood all along.
BB
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