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    What is Paganism

    Can someone do me a brilliant favor... sum up paganism in a few sentances.
    Thanks
    Darach

    #2
    Re: What is Paganism

    That might be a tall order,but you could look here.

    MAGIC is MAGIC,black OR white or even blood RED

    all i ever wanted was a normal life and love.
    NO TERF EVER WE belong Too.
    don't stop the tears.let them flood your soul.




    sigpic

    my new page here,let me know what you think.


    nothing but the shadow of what was

    witchvox
    http://www.witchvox.com/vu/vxposts.html

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      #3
      Re: What is Paganism

      "Large Umbrella Term for practices which do not fit within traditional applications of Abrahamic faiths"

      Maybe...good luck finding 2 pagans with the same response, though
      Great Grandmother's Kitchen

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        #4
        Re: What is Paganism

        Well, "pagan" is a five letter word, so "paganism" would be the belief system which surrounds five letter words.

        I don't think anybody can honestly do that, ThomFewkes. If you pop into this thread over here -

        http://www.paganforum.com/showthread...ining-Paganism

        - you'll start to get a feel for why.

        Welcome to the forum!
        Every moment of a life is a horrible tragedy, a slapstick comedy, dark nihilism, golden illumination, or nothing at all; depending on how we write the story we tell ourselves.

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          #5
          Re: What is Paganism

          Originally posted by Dez View Post
          "Large Umbrella Term for practices which do not fit within traditional applications of Abrahamic faiths"

          Maybe...good luck finding 2 pagans with the same response, though
          Heck, we have an entire thread on the subject...

          IMO, its the practice of a number of the overlapping characteristics of a set of distinct religious traditions and mythologies that are outside of the major historical religious traditions. How and what is practiced and what beliefs are adopted vary by group or practitioner, but it generally involves some variation of polytheistic practice and/or belief and/or earth or nature-centered practices and/or beliefs. Often practices and/or beliefs are based upon the religion and/or mythologies of the Ancient world, either as a reconstruction or just as a source of inspiration.
          Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of HistoryPagan Devotionals, because the wind and the rain is our Bible
          sigpic

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            #6
            Re: What is Paganism

            Another?

            *Headsplosion*

            *Body wanders off to grab a spare skull*


            Being semi-serious, Paganism has a multitude of different and sometimes contradictory uses and meanings. Attempts to give it a clear definition tend to have interesting results.
            life itself was a lightsaber in his hands; even in the face of treachery and death and hopes gone cold, he burned like a candle in the darkness. Like a star shining in the black eternity of space.

            Yoda: Dark Rendezvous

            "But those men who know anything at all about the Light also know that there is a fierceness to its power, like the bare sword of the law, or the white burning of the sun." Suddenly his voice sounded to Will very strong, and very Welsh. "At the very heart, that is. Other things, like humanity, and mercy, and charity, that most good men hold more precious than all else, they do not come first for the Light. Oh, sometimes they are there; often, indeed. But in the very long run the concern of you people is with the absolute good, ahead of all else..."

            John Rowlands, The Grey King by Susan Cooper

            "You come from the Lord Adam and the Lady Eve", said Aslan. "And that is both honour enough to erect the head of the poorest beggar, and shame enough to bow the shoulders of the greatest emperor on earth; be content."

            Aslan, Prince Caspian by CS Lewis


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              #7
              Re: What is Paganism

              so a pagan is mostly with ancien wisdom and\or with different belief than the main religion of this world am i right or wrong?
              one out of many
              difference does'nt make everybody happy but does make a person unique!!!

              Comment


                #8
                Re: What is Paganism

                Originally posted by kaine View Post
                so a pagan is mostly with ancien wisdom and\or with different belief than the main religion of this world am i right or wrong?
                Some people believe they can practice one of the Big 5 religions & still be Pagans... but...


                No, no, never mind. Yanno what? I'm not going to indulge myself in yet another one of these threads. I'm going to finish my beer and go to bed instead. :P
                The forum member formerly known as perzephone. Or Perze. I've shed a skin.

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                  #9
                  Re: What is Paganism

                  Originally posted by kaine View Post
                  so a pagan is mostly with ancien wisdom and\or with different belief than the main religion of this world am i right or wrong?
                  Neither. Both.
                  www.thewolfenhowlepress.com


                  Phantom Turnips never die.... they just get stewed occasionally....

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                    #10
                    Re: What is Paganism

                    Again?

                    life itself was a lightsaber in his hands; even in the face of treachery and death and hopes gone cold, he burned like a candle in the darkness. Like a star shining in the black eternity of space.

                    Yoda: Dark Rendezvous

                    "But those men who know anything at all about the Light also know that there is a fierceness to its power, like the bare sword of the law, or the white burning of the sun." Suddenly his voice sounded to Will very strong, and very Welsh. "At the very heart, that is. Other things, like humanity, and mercy, and charity, that most good men hold more precious than all else, they do not come first for the Light. Oh, sometimes they are there; often, indeed. But in the very long run the concern of you people is with the absolute good, ahead of all else..."

                    John Rowlands, The Grey King by Susan Cooper

                    "You come from the Lord Adam and the Lady Eve", said Aslan. "And that is both honour enough to erect the head of the poorest beggar, and shame enough to bow the shoulders of the greatest emperor on earth; be content."

                    Aslan, Prince Caspian by CS Lewis


                    Comment


                      #11
                      Re: What is Paganism

                      lol, Masked...its why we never toss this thread in archives.
                      Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of HistoryPagan Devotionals, because the wind and the rain is our Bible
                      sigpic

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                        #12
                        Re: What is Paganism

                        I just describe it as an "earth based" belief with many deities

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Re: What is Paganism

                          I agree that its a nature based kind of spirituality & is sometimes centered by monothiesm or polytheism & some practice rituals and/or spells to ask for understanding and/or help from the god/s on how life should be lived. IMO at least. ^_^

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Re: What is Paganism

                            Originally posted by ThomFewkes View Post
                            Can someone do me a brilliant favor... sum up paganism in a few sentences.
                            Difficult to do, but I think I can manage. Keep in mind, this is mainly my own opinion, based on linguistic research and anthropology. I define Paganism fairly narrowly, though still broad enough to capture a lot of different things. To me:
                            Pagan describes a religion, attitude, practice, or worldview that is oriented towards nature, folklore, hearth and home, and the cycles of seasons and -this is important- agriculture. This last bit might strike some as odd, but I find it to be as integral to being Pagan as nature worship. As much as our modern society has divorced itself from traditional agrarianism and pastoralism, these aspects still exist and are among the fundamental parts of paganism's focus.
                            Agriculture and animal husbandry is how, for better or for worse, humanity interacts with and harnesses the natural world and is the practice around which much of human civilization has organised itself. The root Latin term from which "pagan" is derived refers to the rural, superstitious folk of the Roman provinces to whom agriculture and safe interaction with the natural world were central parts of their society, culture, and religion. I see modern paganism as a continued expression of this principle. "Earth-Based" is good for a very brief descriptor, but I feel that it is much more complex than that. Continuing from this, I use Neopagan to describe iterations of Pagan thought and belief that have come about from the 19th century onwards, based on but modifying Isaac Bonewits' terminology.

                            As such, I do differentiate between Neopaganism, Polytheism, the Polytheistic Revival, and the Witchcraft Revival. There's a great deal of overlap, especially when it comes to Wicca and Neo-Druidry. But not all polytheistic revival religions are pagan; some simply don't have a major focus on agriculture and nature. For example, Wicca is generally polytheistic, pagan, and a witchcraft religion all at the same time. Neo-Druidism could be described as just pagan and polytheistic. Whereas most Hellenists I've met would describe themselves as polytheistic, but not "pagan" and certainly not "witches". On the other hand, there's plenty of non-Wiccan witches that would define themselves as pagan witches, but might not necessarily be polytheistic; Dianic Witchcraft and Christian Witchcraft comes to mind, as those are or seem to be monotheistic.

                            Oh dear, those "few sentences" have turned into "a few paragraphs".
                            Last edited by Louisvillian; 30 May 2012, 21:26.

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