What kind of Pagan are you?

Question

I see a lot of people referring to themselves as "Pagan," but that's kind of a blanket term.

Do you mean you believe in and worship Thor and Odin, or Apollo and Zeus, or some type of Druidism or what?

I assume you don't mean Hindu, etc, because they actually identify themselves as such. I also assume you aren't witches or wiccans for the same reason.

What brought you to this type of Paganism since basically everyone else has discounted the types of gods mentioned above centuries ago as just metaphors, or avatars if you will, for natural scientific occurrences?

If you're an atheist, why are you always bagging on Christians, but not on the Pagans who would seem to be just as worthy of ridicule, if not more so.

Sesshomaru:
Why does that matter? I'm asking about Pagans, not about Christians.

For those of you that had a problem with me insinuating that Paganism is just as worthy if not more so of ridicule to an atheist- isn't it obvious?

gods, goddesses, magic, beliefs in ancient myths, rituals, witches, spirits, etc.

Don't you think an atheist would think that those ideas are ridiculous?

Answer 1

I don't hate pagans. They never knock on my door or even attempt to get me to worship their gods. However, being an Atheist, I gotta say this. I hate christianity and their one god. Now, I know pagans have more than one, so , that would be even more gods to dislike.

Answer 2

I'm a Witch, a Pagan, a Wiccan..... It's very hard to define what I am since I'm eclectic, so I sometimes WILL use the blanket term Pagan.

I worship the God and Goddess, and I believe they have many facets. I feel most connected to Loki, Eros, and Kali. Each from a different pantheon. This is why I sometimes use the blanket term "Pagan."

I'm a Witch because I incorporate Magick into my religion. Not all Pagans do.

Blessed be :) (by the way, good question)

Answer 3

Celtic Reconstructionist.
When I use the term Pagan (or more often, neo-pagan), I use it to mean that I am a polytheist who honors pre-Christian deities. It's a general term and is more inclusive than my specific path.

My deities brought me to this path. I met some of them before I knew that there were folks who didn't believe they exist. Due to my personal experiences, I still believe in them and honor them.

I have two friends who are atheists and I would agree that they find my beliefs to be absurd (slightly different meaning than ridiculous). They don't ridicule me about my beliefs because we have a mutual respect for one another. I understand why they feel my beliefs are absurd--after all, if I hadn't had the experiences that I've had, I'd feel the same way. They respect the fact that I keep my practices personal and don't try to persuade them to believe in something that they find unbelievable. Since we understand and respect each other, religious beliefs are not an issue.

I can laugh "with" my friends. During a drought I can half-jokingly offer to do a rain dance for my atheist farmer-friend. And he can jokingly say that the cut hay in is field that was ruined by the rain was his offering to the "field goddess". We just don't need to always see things the same way to be friends.

Answer 4

I am Wiccan and usually identify myself as such. I do not like to call myself pagan as pagan means "not of the Abrahamic faith" and I don't think you can define yourself by saying what you are not.

I think those that are attracted to pagan beliefs are those, like atheist, who don't believe in the God of Abraham and that one, historically inaccurate, book holds all the answers. But these people, unlike atheist, still believe that there is more to life than just a one shot life on this planet.

And also a lot of Christianity is borrowed heavily from the older "pagan" faiths so I guess these people decided to cut out the middle man and get back to the source of inspiration.

Blessed Be )O(

Answer 5

Celtic Reconstructionist. I follow the deities of the ancient Irish: Lugh, Brigid, Manannan, etc. (Though, I'm pretty respectful of the Norse gods too, just to be neighborly.)

Thank you for not assuming that I'm Wiccan - most folks actually assume that I am, so that's refreshing. The times I simply use Pagan are due to lack of exposure - if I say that I'm Pagan, people have at least *some* clue what I'm talking about, even if it's not quite accurate. If I tell someone I'm a Celtic Reconstructionist, 99 times out of a hundred, I get a blank look of uncomprehension.

My life events are what brought me to where I am. I had problems with Christianity, explored elsewhere, and found what resonated.

And, as LabGrrl said - not everyone discounted them as metaphors. Hard to just write them off as that when they featured quite heavily in the oral histories.

Answer 6

I don't really fall into any of the catagories you mentioned, and I have never felt comfortable or identified with the ancient pantheons, neither have i bought into monotheism. I don't see how there can only be one male god, I believe in duality and balance that there is no absolute good or evil, only light and dark, chaos (which human perception labels as evil) and order (which human perception labels as good). Humans, animals, even plant come in both male and female thus there must be a sacred femenine as well as the sacred masculine both are important and they are equal Wiccans and witches both fall under the pagan umbrell because they worship more than one god. All of the ancient and not so ancient goddesses are just faces of THE goddess forms and name given by people to help the comprehend the divine that is more than the human mind can understand as a whole the same goes for the god, and that includes the Judeo-christian gods as well just names and faces we use to define the undefinable.
As for the balance the best way I know how to explain this is: the flame that cooks your meat can also burn down your house.

Answer 7

Sometimes I call myself a witch, and sometimes a pagan. I consider pagan a generic term, and if I'm talking to someone who might freak at the word "witch," I say pagan. But I also avoid the word "witch" with other witches, especially those who identify themselves as Wiccan. I consider that a brand name now, referring to a specific set of religious beliefs. I do not want to be associated with a group about which I know so little. Frankly, I think it is substantially made up of trendy teen-agers.

Actually, what I am is a member of the Ethical Society, which is even harder to explain.

Answer 8

Paganism (Neopaganism) Is an umbrella term for a number of related religions; Wicca & Druidry and Asatru & Hellenismos being the main four.

Asatruars follow the Aesir or Norse/Germanic Gods.

Hellenismos follow the Olympian Gods or Greco-Roman Gods.

I follow the latter.

The Gods of polytheistic religions are not simply anthropomorphic personifications of natural forces. Most followers of Hellenismos are 'Hard-Polytheists' and believe that the Gods are real divine beings.

For me, I believe that mind rather than matter is the ultimate reality and because there is never one example of anything, there must be a plurality of ultimate causes. Therefore a religious belief in the Gods is entirely consistant with my philosophical perception of reality.

Answer 9

I am by natural inclination a hedge-Witch, a solitary witch, preferring simple folk magic to formal rituals. I am an herb worker, working for the healing of self and others, walking the border between the community and the wild, with one foot on each side...Nature is theophany (divine manifestation) and I revere the Gods of Nature.

I have been trained in, and initiated into, two different Traditions of Witchcraft. One is my private practice, and the other is my coven practice (NROOGD).

Hubby and I made a choice to learn a second Tradition because we practiced *different* oath-bound Traditions, and thus could not practice together.

As far as atheists are concerned, I think that the lack of bashing comes from the fact that we have no interest whatsoever in mocking them, abusing them, or converting them.

Nor do we proclaim that ours is "the only right way".

Answer 10

Just because people have supposedly discounted the existence of deities doesn't mean that they're necessarily right. Deities aren't limited *just* to their roles as avatars of natural forces; that's a very one-dimensional perception. That would be like saying that YHVH is just a Hebrew War God. Yes, there's the physical force of nature that *some* pagan deities are connected to, but there's more to them than that. When I work with Artemis, for example, I'm not just working with the Goddess of the Moon. I'm also working with the Goddess of the independent woman, of the wilderness, and the deity who first taught me how to dance. On a Jungian level, I'm working with an archetype that I emulate in a number of ways.

As for why I say "pagan", it's easier than explaining every time that I'm an animistic, pantheistic, totemistic neopagan with neoshamanic leanings, a strong dash of Chaos magic, and plenty of Unverified Personal Gnosis.

Answer 11

I would really like to answer this one because I think alot of people are confused when they hear a person refer to her or him self as "Pagan".

Paganism is an earth centered religion that has two central themes, interconnectedness and blessedness. Paganism is a modern religion that includes concepts found in ancient religions. It has no dogma and there is alot of diversity found in Pagansim. We all believe and think different things and thats ok! Pagans believe in taking personal responsiblity for their actions, behavior and beliefs. Paganisms see the world much as the Gaia theory explains it. All things are sacred, from a tiny atom to the scope of the universe.

Pagan is a term for many branches within the pagan relgion, such as Wicca, Druidism, Solitary, Shamanism...(this list goes on). It is just as Christianity has many branches with in itself.

I hope this helps! If you are intersted in learning more about what it means to be Pagan, the book 'Paganism, An Introduction to Earth-Centered Religions', by Joyce and River Higginbotham is a great place to start!