When i was pagan?

Question

I tried to find the religion of my ansecters and i stumbled across wicca now i looked at it and i was a bit shocked becuase i heard and read in books that pagan gods were supposed to be manly and still be respectfull of the earth but it seemed a bit feminie to me and i was riased by my dad to be a manly man. now i know alot more and im nolonger a pagan dont worry im not a christian. i still respect wicca but i was wondering what is the most "manly" pagan religion.

and yes i know there is a spellcheck

kujigafy it is too much to explian and it has been a year since i last heard anything about wicca that wasnt an insult

barry.ch… you know whats funny about that it is that fact that i currently am a MUSLIM! it says not to disrespect woman that is more of a cultural thing so dont mock islam

Answer 1

Drinking

Answer 2

Unless you're using an abnormal definition of the word "ancestors", Wicca isn't the place to look.

Some particular branches of Wicca may seem "feminine" to some folks - though I wouldn't consider simply following a goddess or being led by a priestess to make it unbalanced. So, without you giving more details, it's hard to tell if you were put off by a particular branch of Wicca, or if you just took issue with Wicca's more balanced approach towards the genders.

There are some groups and branches of religion that might meet your requirements of "manly" - but since that's such a vague and cliche phrase, it's hard to tell exactly what you're looking for. If you're simply looking for something with a "warrior ethos," most of the reconstructionist religions (Celtic Reconstructionism, Asatru, Religio Romana, Hellenismos, Kemeticism, etc) have warrior traditions. If you're looking for something else - cough up the details.

Answer 3

Since when does religion have anything to do with how much of a man one is? This seems to be ridiculous to me...

Religion is about faith and has nothing to do with other's opinions of you. If you are choosing a religion based on what others think you may be making a poor choice.

However, if in your mind being manly and having a manly religion is most important, well then that's your call to make. Just do it for the right reasons.

Good luck....

Answer 4

A manly pagan religion? You basically want something patriarchal? Well, you can dedicate yourself to a masculine patron deity instead of a feminine one. You might consider Asatru, or Greek or Roman Reconstructionism. Or Natib Qadish, or even Kemeticism. But you have to realize there are going to be feminine deities in every pantheon, and people in every tradition who focus more on the feminine just as there will be people in every tradition who focus more on the masculine. It's really a personal preference. BTW - exploring feminine deities or even your own femininity is not a negative or un-manly thing. You won't start growing breasts or suddenly turn gay. I think maybe you might want to consider why you have such an issue with femininity and why you think it's such a "bad" thing.

Answer 5

Depends on what you mean by pagan - non-Christian? And by manly, macho?

You might try Zoroastrianism, the Father of religions in the West. There are practitioners in the US and while small, it is the fastest growing religion in the world.

It requires the active practice of good in the world, and so requires a true, active belief in in its tenets, rather than the passiveness of Christianity which requires merely faith.

Answer 6

Wicca is a new religion. The religion of "your" ancestors was a bit more specific in nature and local. Research the ancient religions of your specific heritage. For instance, Druidism is not the religion of the Teutonic peoples of old. A Catholic Man.

Answer 7

".... that pagan gods were supposed to be manly and still be respectfull of the earth but it seemed a bit feminie to me ...."

ok, so, what seemed feminine to you?

well i assure you im not being disrespectful, and i ask this as a christian. im just not sure what about it seemed feminine to you, or why that would even play a role. spiritual enlightenment to me is only about truth, while gender roles are natural occurrences, unaffected by which god we pray to.

Answer 8

Hmmm it would probably be something like the primitive pagan tribal religions of Europe. They have been rekindled these days and involve all the old fire-dancing, fur underpants-wearing rituals.

Ooogah!

Of course, it depends on what your definition of a man is.
It's not about how much beer you can drink or how many women you can ravish.

A real man serves God and protects his family and his home. A real man can control his passions and keep them in their proper place. A real man respects women.

Answer 9

Like others, I'm not quite sure what you are looking for. In my area, there seems to be more females who gravitate towards Wicca and Neo-Wicca, and males gravitate towards Reconstructionist faiths, Druidism, and Shamanism. Of course there are many exceptions.

Answer 10

Well I am no expert on Pagan religions at all, but I have met many Pagans and have friends from various paths. Of course this greatly depends on what you consider "Pagan" to be. For some it is just Wicca, Faerie, etc. For others it includes the Reconstructionist Religions. I tend to place Pagan in the larger term of both Wicca, Faerie, etc and the Reconstructionist Religions.

In terms of "masculine" versus "feminine" this can be difficult with some Pagan traditions as they are a blending of both. Kemeticism (Egyptian) tends to be a nice blending of the two as is Celticism. Religio Romana (Roman) and Hellenismos (Greek) tend to stress the masculine a bit more, but the feminine is still blended. Asatru (Norse/Viking) tends to be the most "masculine" based on what I've learned about it from reading about it and what my friends who practice it have told me (all but one friend is female who practices Asatru...just so you know). The Ecclesia Antinoi (Antinous) tends to focus on the feminine within the masculine and works to blend the two within the Antinous. It all greatly depends on your own perspective, though, with regard to these religions. You can focus solely on the masculine aspects in Asatru, Religio Romana, Hellenismos, Kemeticism, etc or you can focus solely on the feminine aspects. Some purposely stress one over the other, but for the most part they leave it open to the individual to decide. This is probably the one primary similarity that Paganism has with Hinduism is that the individual chooses the name and form they choose to worship the divine through. The main difference, of course, is that Paganism tends to either be polytheistic, pantheistic, or henotheistic and Hinduism is monistic theism, monotheism, and panentheism. What I mean is that a Pagan often believes in many gods and goddesses or believes in a hierachy/pantheon of gods and goddesses, or is henotheistic...believes in many gods and goddesses, but only one is worshipped by the individual as the supreme god/goddess...sometimes it can even be kenotheistic...being that at certain times a certain god/goddess is supreme and this rotates throughout the year. Hinduism differs in that all the gods/goddesses are merely aspects/representations/faces of the One (monotheism/monistic theism) and that the One (God) is the universe (panentheism) and is also beyond the universe as well. However the fact that many of these traditions allow you to choose one specific deity as the one the devotee will worship is what is similar to Hinduism...except in Hinduism it is understood that the deity of one devotee is not a different deity but is instead in fact just another human representation of the qualities/aspects of the one god. Hinduism uses language to make the distinction with Brahman being the word used for "the One". Brahman coming from Sanskrit meaning "Expanding Awareness" or "Manifesting Consciousness".

It should be kept in mind that most of our ancestors would have thought us silly for defining a religion as being more "masculine" or more "feminine" than another. The Pagan religions emphasized that the Divine was both....and in most pantheistic religions the pantheons were organized to reflect the idea that the gods and goddesses were organized the same way human society was organized. Of course beyond the basic ritualistic aspects of the religion and the moral teachings, there were mystical traditions associated with them as well. And how our ancestors defined "masculine" and "feminine" does differ from culture to culture even to this day. What one culture defines as "masculine" another culture may consider "feminine" or may consider "neuter" or "androgynous". Keep this in mind when studying religion, especially from a historical perspective. You do not want your own concepts of "masculine" and "feminine" to be shadowed upon out ancestors who very obviously lived in a different time, place, and culture and defined these concepts differently.

Here's hoping you find whatever path, be it Pagan or otherwise, that reflects your own spiritual experiences, understandings of the Divine, and beliefs.

Peace be with you.