Pagans only please!!!?

Question

For those who feel that they were forced into a majority(nonpagan) religion at a young age, when you found your pagan path were you angry at the religion that you were forced into for the time that it cost you in your true path? If you were, how did you deal with it and how did you deal with the sense of saddness at the time lost??

THIS QUESTION IS FOR PAGANS!!!!!!!!

Answer 1

Ms Crone, I spent the first 21 years of my life a a Catholic. No I don't have any regrets about it at all. I was always an idealist so I chose to keep ONLY the GOOD stuff from then and toss out all the BS and guilt and other things that just didn't sit right with me. I found that I gained an awful lot of good stuff from Catholicism, much of which I still carry with me this very day. things like universal love, compassion for the less fortunate, etc etc.. Once I found Wicca It was only a matter of Absorbing that new Knowledge into the GOOD things that I arleady had from Catholicism. It really didn't require much re-shaping of anything as Wicca holds a lot of the basic morality of ALL Religions. the only differences were no hell or heaven no sin no punishment other than what YOU yourself make for yourself. I get a kick out of how some folks view Jesuits as being the ultraconservatives of the Catholic Religion. I learned everything with respect to MY morality from Jesuits and found them to be EXTREMELY Liberal in their interpretations of the Bible AND how to live a truly spiritual life. I attended a Jesuit High school and was taught by Jesuti priests. A more liberal bunch of folks don't exist in Christianity.

BB,
Raji the Green Witch

Answer 2

Was I angry at my folks when I discovered that I was a Pagan?

Nope, my folks did what they had been raised to believe was the right path, so I was raised Baptist, I was also raised to think. So when I was of an age where I could make decisions on my own, I did.

It took a lot of time and research to find out what a pagan was, there were not a lot of books and most of the people who knew anything didn't advertise.

Because I was raise to think, I didn't just read a book or two and decide that voilà!, I was a Wiccan either.

I truly believe that no one should decide what religion they think they want while still a child, with no real world experience, it's why I like the fact that in traditional Wicca no one is allowed to be trained who is under the age of consent, 18 in the US. No honorable Wiccan would teach a child, counsel, yes, teach, no.

No one should ever enter a religion because they feel betrayed or lied to by their previous religion, or because they somehow think it's a quick path to feeling important, the satisfaction gained that way is usually short lived.

I am a searcher, time spent looking and investigating is never lost.

Answer 3

I was raised Catholic, and felt it thrust on me at an early age, but I got over it, now that it is my choice to decide for myself. For all I know, if I had been raised with a Pagan religion, I might have thought likewise about that as well. Now that I am an adult, though, I have no resentments about Catholicism or Christianity, as far as finding my true path goes, how would I know it without something to compare it to? I don't consider it time lost on my path, only part of the background and foundation which I build my spiritual life on, if anything, I feel I understand the concepts I was taught better since taking the Pagan path of study.... Now that I am a grownup, I have to admit that part of my problem with it was that I was being commited to things like going to church, sunday school, and the "rules" I was being asked to adhere to, whether I felt like it or not, or if there was something else I would rather have been doing or not, and also felt that way about school. But that is part of learning discipline, and children for the most part don't choose to learn discipline, they choose to eat candy, and swing upside down on the jungle gym. That is why we have parents and teachers for that sort of stuff.....

Answer 4

I wasn't really 'forced' but, raised in the Christian church. When I was 17 I became Wiccan. I had MANY questions about what I was being told from a much earlier time though.

I look upon that time as another learning experience. I no more see it as a loss than any time I spend reading a book about a religion that I don't agree with.

It was a sample of another form of belief. I learned some good base 'rules' that can be found, in one form or another, in all religions. I tested many forms of Christianity, found that none were appropriate for what I believed, in my heart. So I moved on.

)o( Blessed Be!

Answer 5

I grew up a Lutheran, just because we were Lutherans, and for no other reason than being brought u p in it as my parents were brought up in it.

It would never have occurred to me, for many years, that there was any other path for me. It took me many years of wandering in the barren world of nothingness to come to paganism, to agnosticism, to Witchcraft. What I am now is a PRODUCT OF ALL THAT WENT BEFORE. I wouldn't be what I am in the same way if I had not trod the path I did.

I look back on all my experiences in life as learning opportunities, or at least I try to, because we can learn so very much from the places where we were, and especially from hard or challenging lessons.

I don't feel angry that I "lost" all that time in the wrong path. Everything has a purpose and there are no accidents. If I hadn't been brought up in Christianity, I wouldn't know its flaws from the inside out, as I so keenly do now.

I am happy that I broke free of it, and am very happy in the place I have found. In truth, it feels more precious to me because it feels earned, rather than inherited.

Bright Blessings,
Lady Morgana )0(

Answer 6

When I was young (18-19 years old) I was a bit riled up and angry at the patriarchal traditions/religions when I started educating myself with books like When God Was a Woman by Merlin Stone and The Spiral Dance by Starhawk. I eventually was formally initiated into Wicca in 1982, at the age of 21. As I've gotten older (I'm now 46) I realize that the religion I was brought up in (Roman Catholic) helped me see that my chosen "pagan" path is right for me. It retrospect, it was part of my spiritual journey and part of what makes me who I am.

Answer 7

I was never forced into any kind of religion as my parents never went to church, but at the age of 12 I decided to start going on my own, and it was the start of my spiritual searching.
I went through all the usual before setting my feet on the pagan path, but there is no regret as it is all part of the journey, it taught me much and made me who I am today, and usually, I quite like who I am :)

Answer 8

No I'm not really angry at it, I'm angry at the actions of it's practitioners (christians) but not for that.
I think everything happens for a reason, and I think my dislike for Christianity- and the desire it gave me to learn more about *all* religions, not only increased my knowledge of others but allows me to appreciate Wicca more.

I deal with the sadness of my lost time by making the most of the time I DO have now && of the time I will have in the future.


Blessed be.

Answer 9

Well, I will admit I had left Christianity at a young age, too. So it wasn't like I was really all that familiar with it. And I'd been without any real religious roots for a while before I found Paganism.

Most of the "hate" I had for Christianity was a product of the usual fluffy syndrome. "They burned witches and they destroyed the Goddess and they are really mean!" You know, a few beginner books where they really bash the history of Christianity to show how persecuted us Pagans are...

But I got over it pretty quickly, despite a few incidents in which Christians were less that Christ-like in their behavior towards me. (Not that I've ever been the embodiment of grace and perfection either, lol.) I no longer read Llwellyn books, though, because I've found their academic standards to be completely lacking. And I don't regret my time as a Christian, since it brought me closer to my mother. I had little enough time with her as it was...

Answer 10

Nah. I left Christianity very early in life - it may even be fair to say I never really got into it all, no matter how hard anyone tried. I was much too able to see the problems. I was always the kid saying, "Now wait just a second here...."

In fact the Sunday School teachers were actually not sorry when I finally convinced my Mom to stop trying to make me go.