Do all pagan traditions practice magic?

Question

Do Celtic Reconstructions or Asatru? What kind do they practice?

Answer 1

Celtic Pagans believe in magic but not all of us practice it.

Answer 2

Not all Pagans practice magic. I suppose that some individuals of all Pagan traditions do however since magical practices are so well attested in the past. Some Pagans don't even believe in magic. My own experience is that in some ways, Wicca is a magical system with a religious element, while Asatru is a religion with optional magical activities. Seidhr and Galdr are the main forms of Heathen/Asatru magic. Google my name, "Jordsvin" with "Seidhr" and then with "Rune" and you'll get to lots of info on what I do. Best, Jordsvin

Answer 3

There's some mystical practices within them... but they're specialties, stuff that not everyone does - and some of the non-practicioners even refer to it as "the woo-woo stuff". ::shrugs:: They're far less common than magical practices among, say, your average Wiccan group.

In Asatru, you'll find runework, such as galdr, and some spirit-work, such as seidhr. CR, there's a smattering of techniques, magical poetry (filidetch) being the most common, but there's some work with the ogham symbols, and some folks working on rebuilding the Celtic spirit-working... (What, us, crib notes from the seidhkonas? No, not at all, don't mind me or my notebook....)

Answer 4

No, not all Pagan Traditions practice magic.

Not sure about the CRs or the Asatru... hopefully one of them will stop by to answer. :-)

Answer 5

Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. There are so many answers here and frankly all have their own beliefs. Where is our heart at? Do we worship Him in Spirit and in Truth? There's nothing wrong with burning a candle or having Christmas on Christmas day with your friends and family. Christianity is not a religion to me it's not even a way of life. It is Life. I will not be ordained by anything or anyone except Christ Jesus. Only on the day that the Lord tells me I cannot do that will I cease to do it. Nothing in true Christianity has come from any pagan ritual. Christ was before anything even created. There is nothing defiled in Him. Thanks and God Bless. :) One more thing: Christians need to be Watching and Praying these days rather than be caught up discussing or arguing about trivial matters. The day of the Lord is coming soon and there is nothing else that the enemy wants than for us to be divided. He is after all wanting to destroy Christ and the Church. Let the Lord be our judge. He knows how to deal with us all, singly. Judgement shall come first to the Church. Get ready, oh boy!!

Answer 6

As a follower of the Northern Folkway (Asatru) I can tell you that there are magical aspects to our Way, though for the most part, most Heathens do not practice 'magic' in the way that people would usually define it.

Answer 7

No. Although at least in antiquity (and presumably in whatever group you belong to) cultures (pagan and later Christian cultures) tended to think that the rites, beliefs, and practices they observed were "religious" and that some of the rites, beliefs, and practices that were followed by persons from other cultures and religions were "magic," superstitious, or in some way antisocial, threatening, and evil. Oftentimes one culture made up paranoid stories about another to perpetuate this animosity and to have an excuse to persecute them. For instance, the Romans thought that the early Christians were magicians and that they practiced black magic with human body parts collected from crucified criminals. In the later middle ages, Christians thought that Jews used babies in Satanic rituals and that they canabalized them. The Romans and later medieval European Christians used their false ideas about people of other faiths to perpetrate atrocities against them.

Answer 8

Hmmm not sure. I don't practice magic just because I've never felt a real need to persay. I suppose it also depends on your definition of what magic is, which can also vary. Is there magic? Sure every religion has a sense of the mystical. But I do not WORK magic.

Answer 9

Hellenic Reconstructionism does not include a practice of magic. Divination is NOT considered magic in that the ability to be a diviner is seen as a gift of the Gods.

This link from the Hellenion website gives a SMALL overview of Hellenic Reconstructionist beliefs in the US...
http://www.hellenion.org/Mission.html

What We Mean by Hellenic Pagan Reconstructionism

While the members of Hellenion are of course free to pursue whatever personal religions their hearts and souls commend them to, part of our mission is to provide fellowship and information for people wishing to honor the ancient gods of Hellas with the future intent of reconstructing public rites of the ancient pagan Hellenic religion.

As such, our concept of Pagan Reconstructionism entails:
****Reverence for the pre-Christian Hellenic deities and Mysteries.

****A connection with the ancestors, honoring Hestia as the goddess of hearth and home. Within a modern context, this means a concern for family, in its broadest sense, whether by related by blood, spirit, or kinship ties.

****A connection with the Hellenic past. We strive to be as historically (and mythologically) accurate as the state of the evidence allows. When gaps in the evidence, or the realities of modern life, make it necessary to create something new it should be:
****As consistent as possible with what we do know about the ancient Hellas and its colonies throughout the Mediterranean up until the point of the end of the Delphic Oracle in history.
****Clearly presented as a recent innovation. We frown on attempts to advertise something modern and invented as ancient and historical in order to give it an authority (and marketability!) it does not deserve.
****A balanced approach to understanding classical Hellenic religion which relies on both sound scholarship and poetic inspiration without mistaking one for the other.

****Inclusiveness. While we recognize the importance of an ethnic component in traditional Hellenic religion, we seek to reconstruct the religious culture of the ancients, not their society. Therefore, we do not rely on genealogy or geography to determine who is a Hellenic Pagan. Just as the Eleusinian Mysteries were open to those who could understand the Greek language, our group is open to all who worship in the ancient Hellenic tradition today.

****Respect for men and women regardless of ethnicity, color, creed, social status, sexual orientation, or physical ability.

****A moral code inspired by the Delphic maxims which emphasizes the following: know thyself, nothing in excess, and respect for oneself, others, and the gods.

What We Are Not About

As we are concerned with historical accuracy, the public rites of the Greek/Hellenic religion do not include:

****Any of the interpretations of Hermetic philosophy and magic that emerged during the European Renaissance (not the traditions themselves, but their Renaissance interpretations) and/or its modern religions movements that have since been inspired, such as Wicca, neo-shamanism, and the like.

****Eclecticism (as opposed to historical syncreticism; combining ancient Hellenic religion with other cultural traditions that weren't combined historically. Foreign cults related to the ancient Greeks and their colonies are appropriate, such as such as the Phrygian Great Mother Kybele, and her consort, Attis.


As always, we emphasize that people's personal practices can be as they choose, by their heart and their soul, but what we choose to focus on as a group is strictly on the Hellenic religion.

Answer 10

difficult situation. query from yahoo or google. that could actually help!