Teaching Pagan Belief?

Question

i am a pagan.. I Believe in reincarnation.. I live in a VERY small town... How do I teach my son about reincarnation without getting him burned at the stake...

Answer 1

He probably won't be "burned at the stake." I've found that, in general, people are more open-minded than I've expected them to be. Teach him what you believe. Raise him in your faith. Give him a firm foundation to build on, so that he understands the Pagan path and can answer why he believes as he does. Teach him to respect other religions -- but try not to teach him to fear other religions. I understand that some of this fear is well-grounded, and that spiritual bullying does occur. But if he has a strong enough sense of self, and you give him a religious tradition that is structured enough while still being fun and inspiring, he should be able to hold his own.

I've noticed that many Pagans are afraid to teach their religion to their children. I hear this all the time, "I don't want to force it on him, I want him to make up his own mind." I understand that many of us were hurt by organized religion. I understand that it was pushed on most of us when we were young. But our path is different. It seems to be more in harmony with what children naturally believe. Don't think of it as "pushing it on him," but rather think of it as giving him a strong enough spiritual foundation so that when other people try to push their religion on him, he will be strong enough to think for himself. Children need structure. Religious traditions are good ways to keep families close, and to build positive childhood memories. Children belong in the Coven, the Circle, the Grove, and the Temple. So don't be afraid to teach him what you believe. He can explore other paths later -- that's what college is for.

BTW, for those who don't get it, "Burned at the stake" is figurative. It's Pagan slang for being persecuted for your beliefs. I didn't think that needed to be said, but enough people here took you literally that I felt the need.

Answer 2

I'm a few weeks away from giving birth to my first born, I've been thinking about this same thing.
Firstly, fear not the others: burning at the stake is murder in the first. They can't touch you or your son without committing a crime.
As I have seen with the other answers ( besides those that were assaulting you with their bibles. Dear Christians, how many times do I HAVE to remind you about the Mission of the 12???? Check Matthew in the New Testament, please?)
It's best to teach in the privacy of your own home but don't forget to show him how other people believe and relate spiritually. Check out Religions in your local library or on line.
Don't forget to take cues from you son's curiosity. His path may not be the same as yours.

Answer 3

As a pagan you should know that everyone has their own path. If you want to teach your son about your beliefs then do so, but also let him know that their are other religion's and beliefs that he needs to look into as well. Let him know that whatever path he chooses you will back him up 100%. If you go into this as informing instead of teaching he will more than likely be less apt to assuming that everything you say is the only truth, and he will more than likely start researching into what he can relate to. If he finds his own path he will come out more enlightened and appreciated that he found it on his own, rather than not having a choice. Also let him know that he needs to trust his instincts and follow his heart, rather than what people tell him to believe.

Good luck!
Love and light
Blessed Be.

Answer 4

Lady Morgana and Prairie have great answers.
I live in the Bible Belt. BUT I am lucky to live near a city. I have a pretty large pagan network. The kindred I work with all has kids and we are talking about setting up more kid based teachings at fellowship as most of them are old enough to "get it". We taught them a bit about it at Winter Nights since it went with the theme.
I teach my daughter as she asks. She wanted to know what my necklace was. So I told her (Mjolnir) which lead to more questions. But the end of the convo she knew what Mjolnir was, who Thor was, and the basics of what Thor meant. As she asks questions I answer them. I will raise her in the Heathen tradition but she will hear what ever gods call her.
Point being, teach your children what you want. I always stress to my kids that not everyone believes what we do, and some people don't and won't understand. Some people are ever afraid of it. Our children are growing up in a more tolerant world. No it's not perfect. But I won't "hide in the broom closet" either. My faith is VALID and I won't pretend otherwise. While I don't go about advertising it, people realize I believe something different when I call the Holidays something different. If they ask, I have found them to be genuinly interested. If they don't, then I don't tell them. Its not like it comes up in convo.

Answer 5

i'm going to assume you meant that figuratively, unlike some of the answerers....

i, too, am a pagan from a small town. and it's not easy, even if you don't tell people, if one person knows the whole town knows! and then you get all sorts of snide comments, pranks pulled on you, treated like you're the devil himself.

i would tell him that people don't always understand your beliefs, and since they don't understand they are often ill-behaved. teach him the seriousness of the subject, and that it's not to be talked about lightly. that's the only suggestion that i can think of. i moved away from that town so i wouldn't have to worry about raising my child in that ignorance.

good luck!
& blessed be :)

Answer 6

My family used to live in the Bible Belt, Texas to be exact, and we had the same concerns. We realized that we were tired of living in fear and so we moved. If moving is impossible for your family, then you may consider being totally honest with him about the fact that what you teach him must not be spoken about to anyone except the family. Let him know that the people you live around would not understand and that they would believe bad things about you that are not true if they find out your religion. It would be terrible for him to grow up afraid to speak about his spiritual beliefs to others, but that is a much better option than what others may do or say to him if they find out.

I have total sympathy with your situation, and I hope you can find a good solution without having to move like we did.

Answer 7

Are you getting burned at the stake?

Tell him it's your beliefs. He'll be able to choose his own anyway. Tell him everybody has different beliefs and nobody knows the answer so you don't talk about it with others.

That is, unless you do think you know the answer and everyone else is wrong, in which case if he says that to people you will get burnt. That's the problem with belief.

Answer 8

as long as you are kidding and there is no real danger of threat to life or limb, I would be as open as possible about your beliefs and teachings. Perhaps you will be surprised to find like souls in your small town.

We pagans need to come out of the closet as we can. If we keep hiding, how will they know we exist and are real, and are no threat to anyone? Of course be careful. But hiding strikes me as too repressive, too much self-censoring.

The more we talk about ourselves and our beliefs as being another perfectly acceptable way, the sooner the will be accepted as such.

Blessings,
Lady Morgana )0(

Answer 9

Well, sounds like a good time to teach your son what bigotry is and why sometimes a wise tongue is kept in a still head (did I say that right?)...

Teach him to be strong in his belief - who knows, maybe he'll be a catalyst for change later?

Answer 10

knowledge is power. teach him your beliefs, and teach him other's beliefs. i'm also pagan and in a small town - a catholic town - and my kids are doing fine. you might actually be surprised how many other pagans are actually in your town.