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I'm wondering if there's a branch my beliefs fall under?

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    I'm wondering if there's a branch my beliefs fall under?

    Hello!

    I am new here, and my mild form of OCD says I should try to figure out what the "name" of my religion is...I know it's Pagan, but I don't know what type? I know it's almost impossible to list every subset of Paganism but I'm here like...hello, I need a name for this! :=L: Sorry if this is the wrong place for this. Could anyone help me sort this out?

    So I believe that;

    -Nature is sacred and is the main way the Goddess and God communicate with the world
    -I believe in the Wiccan Rede although I really don't think I'm Wiccan...
    - Keeping a clean house/car/lifestyle is an important way of honoring the Goddess, but unlike a Cottage Witch I do think there are other things that are more important in general.
    - Having an altar (or better yet, multiple altars) in your home or place of residence is a very good thing to have
    - And I follow the Sabbats but I am not overly strict about them as they are not the main focus of my belief system
    -Basically, the main focus of my beliefs are, honor nature (live as natural as you can, recycle, try to only eat organic local foods, follow the moon cycles and seasons, etc) and that's the way you honor the God and Goddess, not by doing a ritual or setting up an altar for every specific Sabbat, and to have altars set up specifically for the God and Goddess, as well as things such as family and your life path, year-round.

    And because it sounds like I'm picking and choosing from a million different paths I can't find a name for this or even begin to know what to call it!

    #2
    Re: I'm wondering if there's a branch my beliefs fall under?

    Hm, perhaps eclectic Wiccan? Or even eclectic Pagan?
    Blog: http://thestarsafire.tumblr.com

    Kuchi wa wazawai no moto (the mouth is the origin of disasters)

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      #3
      Re: I'm wondering if there's a branch my beliefs fall under?

      Why don't you think you're Wiccan? Is it because you're not in a coven or initiated into a specific tradition? If so, you can be an eclectic solitary Wiccan. Not that you have to be Wiccan if you don't want to be, 'cause that's ok too, I'm just sayin'. What's on your altar? What do you actually *do* as part of your spirituality from day to day? Are there any specific deities you are devoted to?

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        #4
        Re: I'm wondering if there's a branch my beliefs fall under?

        For day-to-day spirituality I do simple things really. I try to recycle, keep a clean living space as I feel that is important to be connected to the spirit world (clean house, clean mind, less distracted from your surroundings and more open to the spirits around you). If I eat an animal product (which is very rare and usually only happens if I become anemic or think I may be B12 deficient) then I thank the spirit of the animal for its sacrifice.

        I practice reading Tarot in general, but I haven't for a while as my deck just turned up again and it needs to be recharged. So I follow moon patters. I've tried reading tea leaves and I am looking for a black mirror to practice with as well. As far as divination purposes go, I believe it to be very open-ended and not accurate 100% of the time, but the more you practice the better you get. Also, I live near a cemetery, and my mother and brother noticed when I'm home from college weird things happen (shadow people, things move around the house, etc). Yet I very rarely see it.

        I believe in reincarnation, Old Souls, and Karma.

        The only altar I have right now is elemental and it has feathers, most from my hens, which remind me more of earth than air as my hens live off the earth; stones from a creek I would visit as a kid; sandalwood, frankincense and myrrh incense; a red candle; and a green Goddess candle and a blue God candle, as well as a yellow candle in the center (for scorpio, which I am) with my pentacle. I do not follow a specific deity or set of deities.

        I don't think there's anything wrong with Wicca/Wiccans, just a part of me feels that's too modern, and I also hesitate to consider myself one because if my family (mostly Christian/agnostic) finds out they'll collectively have a stroke.

        Reading this makes me realize I'm very Earth and Otherworld oriented as a whole...sorry for writing a book though! XP

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          #5
          Re: I'm wondering if there's a branch my beliefs fall under?

          Honestly, I would say eclectic neo-Wiccan or eclectice neo-pagan if you prefer. But the only way that you are really going to find a specific name is if read as much as you can about specific paths and then see if you fit in. Otherwise, try to convince that part of your brain that cares about this that 'neo-pagan' is a perfectly acceptable label. Because it IS a perfectly acceptable label.

          If you feel the need to get into the nitty gritties of labels though, it may be worth looking into the core aspects of faith and belief. Rather than looking for a name for your path (which may not have a pre-existing name), look at things like your belief in deity... are you a pantheist, panentheist, henotheist, hard polytheist, soft polytheist, monotheist or a combination therefore? That might satisfy that part of your brain that needs a label, without getting you all mired up in the superficial quest for a 'name' for what you do. Names are just names. I do understand the need for a label... my brain works a bit that way too... but a name is just window dressing when it comes down to it. It's not going to make your practice any more or less fulfilling.

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            #6
            Re: I'm wondering if there's a branch my beliefs fall under?

            Here's another question. Who would you consider your patron gods? Or how do you define God and Goddess?

            Maybe we can get there by a process of elimination.

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              #7
              Re: I'm wondering if there's a branch my beliefs fall under?

              Originally posted by Dagger View Post
              Here's another question. Who would you consider your patron gods? Or how do you define God and Goddess?

              Maybe we can get there by a process of elimination.
              I hate how this sounds but I don't really have any? I do believe in a God and Goddess but I feel they just manifest themselves in nature and are omnipresent in that way.

              I suppose neo-pagan would be the best fit (for now at least), I was reading about it today and the way the book laid it out it doesn't sound as if it's a "trend" in society. I've been going back and forth from this path since either grade, with my Christian friends and family trying to convince me that their path is "right" and leads to eternal joy. Which may or may not be true but now I'm on my own for the most part so what does their opinion matter really.... no offense to anyone XP

              I still feel there's a lot of digging to do and not just in the sense that I am just scraping the surface of all of this in general. Thank you for all your help!

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                #8
                Re: I'm wondering if there's a branch my beliefs fall under?

                It seems to me like the Wiccan concept of God and Goddess are a good fit for what you're saying, even if you don't fall under a particular brand of practice.
                Great Grandmother's Kitchen

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                  #9
                  Re: I'm wondering if there's a branch my beliefs fall under?

                  I concur that it sounds like Solitary Wicca to me too....

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                    #10
                    Re: I'm wondering if there's a branch my beliefs fall under?

                    Okay, thank you! That's what one of the people that has been teaching me about Sabbats said too so I guess you're right. Thanks everyone!

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