If you are Pagan, what does Paganism Mean to You?

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   Ian Quicksilverposted 12 years ago

   We have to be Neo-pagans for the most part, though there are a few precious pockets of the old paganism left which are under attack.  We should do everything we can to protect the Malwa of the Mari Republic, Russia; the Udmurts of Udmurtia, Russia; and the Kalasha of NW Pakistan, who claim descent from Alexander the Great's soldiers. 
   
   A pagan is a person who feels religiously involved in Nature and the ancient pre-Christian and Pre-Islamic religions.  Pagans are inclined to polytheism and enjoy living in the world with their Gods, instead of living inside one God. Pagans tend to be ethical but are not obsessively so.  We are interested in living in balance with animals, plants, other people, ancestors and spirits.  We aspire to wholeness rather than perfection. We like to worship in groups of like-minded people but reserve the right to our own opinions on religious as well as other matters.  We revere no sacred book except the book of Nature.  We live, or try to live, in rhythm with the seasons.  We value dreams and divination, divination of the past as well as the future. 
   
   Pagans rejoice in nature, the world and life and feel no need to escape Mother Nature.  Our souls do not need saving, and are not in danger of damnation.  There is no Devil and no Hell, although some spirits are wild and must be approached with circumspection.  Some pagans believe in rebirth, generally in the family or clan line, after a period of sojourn in a special spiritual place of rest within the bosom of Mother Earth; others find it enough to join the Gods and ancestors after living once.  No one is wholly good or wholly evil, including spirits as well as humans.
   
   Finally, the purpose of existence is to have joy, even when it is mixed with sorrow.  Pagans take life lightly.  Being light themselves, they barely touch the ground as they dance through the seasons and years.

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      mischeviousmeposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      You're a hippy then?

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         Ian Quicksilverposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Correct.  I went through the Sixties and Seventies.  I smoke pot occasionally.  I am as hippy (or hip?) as they come.

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   Reality Bytesposted 12 years ago

   Well you summed it up pretty well. 
   
   Welcome to HP.
   
   I have been following the Pagan Path for well over thirty years.  I stay true to myself, I stand my ground, I stand alone, and am constantly seeking to acquire new wisdom.  Paganism is a label which I willingly consent to holding.  To me the word means an individual pursuit of truth.

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      Ian Quicksilverposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Thank you.  I agree.  That says it in a nutshell.

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   knolyourselfposted 12 years ago

   Well said. I was a pagan when I was a kid and then got
   converted to Christianity. Thought I would give it a shot. Did me some little bit good but didn't stick. No Christmas presents under the tree. Then I investigated most of the other ways of thinking and became a pagan again. Now I am trying to transcend that. Just haven't quite gotten around to the logic of it yet.

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      Ian Quicksilverposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I keep moving beyond too.  In my case, I always find I've carried the label with me.  Guess I just like it.  I was Christian till I turned 18.  Like you, I didn't find it much fun, as you put it, no Christmas presents under the tree.  Now every day is a little like the Christmas of my childhood.

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