Opinions on Wicca and Paganism?

Question

I've found everyone in this forum has an opinion, positive or negative, on Christianity. But I don't hear many thoughts on Paganism. What do you know about it? What are your opinions?

I was raised Catholic. I have nothing against Christianity, it just wasn't right for me. At 16 (I admit it began because I jumped on the angsty teen bandwagon) I started researching Wicca, and eventually "converted". It's been eight years now. I do this because there is a respect for nature that I think we've lost in modern life, and it teaches us to be responsible for our own actions and to work toward positive change in our lives. We don't place the blame on anyone, and there is no devil to point fingers at. And I've found that a lot of people think we sit here casting some crazy Harry Potter-style spells. Not true. I celebrate the changing of the seasons and the moon with small rituals that aren't too far off from Catholic ritualism. But that's just my thoughts. What say you?

Answer 1

Well, I like it. I enjoy knowing that there is no church or middleman to try and tell me how and what I should believe in. The fact that realizing there is more in this world than what other religions want you to believe is another good thing.

I love the celebrations. I love being able to feel the energy and know what it is and not to fear it.

Answer 2

I have been Pagan my entire life. I am Buddhist first and foremost, but I'm also a Hellenic Witch and I'm studying Celtic Druidism, although I started out with Celtic Witchcraft (long after the Buddhism). I've also found that Christians like to blame the devil for things that people are actually responsible for. My spiritual path involves nature worship and doing what I can for the environment. Hellenic Witches and other Hellenic Pagans honor and worship the Deities of ancient Greece (Helle). I also honor and worship Deities from the Celtic Pantheon, mainly Irish Celtic.
Everything you've said about positive change and responsibility is true in the religion that I practice, too. Ritual is, of course, very important in Pagan religious practice. Every Pagan group and individual that I have come across has rituals for various things, mainly the Sabbats and Esbats.

However, I've come across far more Christians who think all Witches worship the Christian Devil and cast evil spells than ones who bring up the Harry Potter thing. I've actually had a lot of trouble with Christians who say Witches are under the devil's influence and think they need to convert us to their religion (Christianity) in order to "save" us for some reason or another. I know that the devil does not exist, and Witches, Wiccans, and other Pagans in general also know this. We do not worship the devil. It simply does not exist. But many Christians insist that it does. And they use things like that to make our Pagan religions seem less than legitimate in the eyes of other Christians. I think it has something to do with them not wanting to accept responsibility for their own actions and believing that others who do bad things are not responsible either.

Answer 3

Happy Litha! I too was raised Catholic! I've been Wicca for 10 years now for the basic reasons that the book religions began teaching propaganda and telling us we would go to hell for not doing as they said while they are doing the opposite. The reason for the similarities is that Christians under the pope used the Wicca/pagan ideals, adapting them to their uses to bring us to their way of thinking (although those who understood that kept up the practice in secret so as not to be killed for their beliefs!) Anyway I too celebrate the seasons with the small rituals as a solitary since I have had run-ins with the Christian sector about this before... Hope that this works as an opinion for you. It is how I feel.

Answer 4

I was raised Roman Catholic, and rebelled against it in 1998, since then have been a practicing Wicca, though haven't yet gotten into a coven... ... i think to many people in the Christan community put too much faith into a book that has prob been changed to many times over the years from one testament to another... I'm sure there is fiction and fact to Christianity as there are to other religions, but I'm not going to say believe in my god or gods or die such as the catholics did in early times... i think that's why i prefer the Wicca side of the house less drama, more serenity... guess just my opinion, and two things no one will ever win at religion and politics... :P...

laters

Answer 5

A pagan here (not Wiccan).

Personally, I think Wicca is a little bit silly. It was made 50 years ago and it's pretending to be an ancient religion. All the teenage girls want to be witches to be cool. That couldn't be further away from what paganism is meant to be about.
So I'm very very skeptical when somebody tells me they're Wiccan. Don't get me wrong, I DO have respect for people who have been practicing for a long time, learning, researching... etc.
It's the eclectic N00bs that I can't stand - combining a god from one religion with a practice from another, throwing in a couple of divine creatures just because they have a cool name and throwing in one of the popular goddesses because it's modern to be feminist. With all due respect, that's bullsh*t.
Sadly, you get more and more people nowadays, mostly kids, who do just that. It's them who give true Wiccans a bad name.

Answer 6

Let me wish you a merry solstice on the morrow.
Before I found the Goddess I was a pagan (Green man Grove NJ) But the LDD puts less demands on my time. I went to lectures by Margo Adler, Starhawk, Isaac Bonewits and Marion Weinstein.
Of all other religions I have the most simpatico for Wicca, Paganism and "small boat" Buddhists. In a way I'm still a solitary practitioner of the Craft.
Merry Meat
Blessed beet
Envision Whirled Peas
WITCH PARKING ALL OTHERS WILL BE TOAD

Answer 7

My purely genuine pork with Wicca is that an incredible sort of Wiccans have been on their PR marketing campaign for see you later, that they have got distorted their own historic previous, and from time to time unfold lies approximately different religions. Wicca isn't an historic faith. It brazenly borrows from previous religions, in spite of the incontrovertible fact that it grew to become into nonetheless a twentieth century formation. The victims of the Inquisition and Salem Witch trials weren't Wiccans. Wiccans have not got a monopoly on the pentagram or the term "witchcraft". And their efforts to distance themselves from Satanism, they have pushed lots of the comparable Christian propaganda thoughts approximately what Satanists allegedly have faith and do. i'm no longer saying that this makes Wicca an invalid faith. If a faith works for you, then it quite is valid, no rely if it grew to become into made 60 years in the past or 60,000 years in the past. yet enable's a minimum of save some data as we communicate.

Answer 8

I definitely think that television and books have created a certain image of Wicca, and whether they are accurate in any respect or not, I have no idea. I do know that people have been practicing "paganism" or polytheism since almost the beginning. Many different cultures also worship(ped) the elements and nature with a pantheon of gods, each signifying an aspect of nature or human nature. I personally believe in Christ, but I also believe that He created nature, and that's holy too.

Answer 9

It has become much too "hip" to be Wiccan or Pagan in the past decade, and I fault the media for this fact. Because of this there are a million morons running around claiming to be witches. I have more respect for the Wiccans that have learned it from their families or from early interest and study.

As far as their philosophy on white magic is concerned..I think that they are trying to dabble into the forbidden, but they are afraid to experience ALL magic.

Answer 10

I am not Wicca or Pagan but I have adopted some beliefs to fit my own belief system. I think both are spiritually centered rather than religion centered. Neither a Wiccan nor a Pagan has ever judged me or tried to convert me. I have respect for those who respect where I am at in my spirituality.