Neo Paganism

[isis.auset5]

Hello!

This may sound odd but, just for fun, I did a online quizz (lol) to find out what religion suits me best. To anyone wondering, it was 'Belief-O-Matic', and apparently, what suits me better is Neo Paganism.

I can do Google searches for myself, but I was wondering what you, experienced users, could tell me about Neo Paganism? Anything, really.

Also, I found this website, do you think it could be useful?

No, I don't intend to start following any kind of religion because of an online quizz, I just became curious as to what this religion really entails, and what you think about it.

Thanks!

Isis

[autodydact]

Neo Paganism is an umbrella term for a large set of religious/spiritual belief systems. Many of them are indigenous to certain countries, although you shouldn't feel restricted by your place of birth/ancestry. It is an experiential path... I speak for myself as well as many neo-pagan friends when I say that it isn't uncommon for one to begin on one path (druid, wicca, egyptian, shamanistic etc.) and find they end up on another completely.

Very basically, most pagan (I'm just going to say pagan because it's less clumsy to type, even if less accurate) worship is largely nature based. They worship the sun, the moon, the earth and so on. Most pagans find that their beliefs centre around an adoration or reverence for the natural world. It is not a dogmatic belief system (although some groups might suggest otherwise). There is no: This is right, this is wrong.

I feel I can best describe it with my own experiences. I am a pagan. I am British and have always had a fascination with the folklore and legend of my land, which led me to the 'old gods' of my country (old gods being those indigenous prior to christianity in britain). Through my journey I have collected elements of neo-druidry, shamanism and wicca (wicca is a bit of a dirty word in occult circles with good reason which I can explain at length if you wish). I incorporate all into my worship and occult practice as I see fit. Equally, I have 'hedge witch' friends who incorporate hindu deities into their practice. Describing paganism is like trying to describe religion as a whole: it depends so much on the individual's beliefs that it is hard to pin it down to being one definitive thing.

My advice to you at this stage would be to read/research as widely as you can. Your user name suggests you have an affinity to Egyptian deities, so perhaps now is a time to explore them in greater depth. Find out what paganism means to you.

[autodydact]

the link you provided is very accurate on many points. Paganism is not satanism. During the rise of christianity, paganism suffered a campaign of slander where many of its deities were appropriated as images of satan, many of which last to this day. Pagans don't believe in a singular all powerful god and a singular evil force. I myself, don't even acknowledge evil as a thing. Our deities are neutral. Neither good nor bad. Simply present.

[isis.auset5]

Thank you, that was very interesting, and cleared up a lot for me

Through my journey I have collected elements of neo-druidry, shamanism and wicca (wicca is a bit of a dirty word in occult circles with good reason which I can explain at length if you wish)

Why is wicca a 'dirty word' in occult circles? I mean, I've noticed that people don't seem to like wicca very much, because it's mostly rainbows and butterflies - is that it?

Anyway, I'm going to take you up on your advice. After all, knowledge is never too much

Isis

[Ramscha]

From the impression I got about wicca it is about the hippy rooted new age influence, generally spoken. Wicca claims to have reawoken old and forgotten tradition, which might be the case, but as you said it became such a love, piece and butterfly movement in many cases, that it got lots of misscredit for that. Obviously it is not always the case but based on that people are generally very suspicious when it comes to it.

I also want to add something to the point of neopaganism:
Depending on the way you go the borders to shamanistic practice can be very fluent and are sometimes fusing like I found it in the norse ways. In egyptian pantheons and practice this might not be the case (depending of course also at which pint you enter). From what I saw the "older" or the more basic the practice in the paradigm is that you do, the more it comes down to those shamanic nuance. The younger it is, the more clearly structured , the farer away it gets mostly (not in all things). I should add that this is only the impression I got based mostly on the norse and little bit on the celtic influenced pagan practice. Others might have another point of view.

Ramscha

[RoseRed]

There's a HUGE difference between Wicca - which is a Lineaged Mystery Tradition and Neo-wiccanesque.

Most of the fluffier types practice a form of wiccan-esque.

[isis.auset5]

Ahh I see.

Thank you for the clear-ups, Ramscha and RoseRed.

[Nahemah]

Ooft.Those articles are howlers,with a whole lot of misnomers,misapellations and poorly worded interpretations/representations,it makes my eyes bleed.

Erm: 'The Burning Times',for starters.

And I know of more than a few Recons who do not consider themselves at all Neo-Pagan and actively dislike the association.They believe it implies 'fluffy' practices and a lack of study/scholarship.

It contains NeoWiccanesque apologia on Satan too.Remnants of paranoia from the old glory days of the Satanic Panic. [crazy]

I'll explain more later,on what I mean,but above examples are just reasons,so far.[I need to read more first.]

I did the beliefomatic once.But I can't recall what my results were.

[autodydact]

All of the above said about Wicca is true. Whilst much of it has a basis in genuinely ancient practices, it is often very watered down in certain circles. Wicca often (but not exclusively) attracts a certain sort of person with a penchant for t-shirts with dragon artwork. A fine example is that of the author Silver Ravenwolf... Her writing seems to pander to people who want to be wiccan without putting in any effort. There is also the fact of her name... there's nothing wrong with a craft name, but do they all have to be pulled from forth rate fantasy novels? It just starts to seem rather tacky... Let's face it, people can be pretty hostile to scientology, but if Tom Cruise started wearing a space helmet day in, day out and would only answer to the name Klangrah G'Trath, then the number of people who could take it seriously as a religious/philosophical practice would drastically plummet, I'm sure.

There also seems to be a certain amount of persecution complex in certain Wiccan's of my acquaintance (more than enough to discard it as coincidence). Yes, it's not nice when someone accuses you of being an evil satan worshipper wrongly, but the way some of them rant if a street preacher so much as offers them a pamphlet beggars belief. They always have a story about how they have been persecuted for their legitimate beliefs which is kind of understandable when you use phrases like 'oh my goddess', or 'thank bridgid for that!'.

The above is all my personal experience and opinion. I welcome anyone to correct me and urge anyone who is new to wicca to do their own research before forming an opinion!

[RoseRed]

Correct you? For what? The only thing I saw that needed correcting was the spelling of $ilver Ravenwolf. LOL a lot of people use the dollar sign instead of an S when typing out her name LOL

Long ago there was a website called WhyWiccansSuck.com. You can find it through the Wayback Machine (internet archive) or after doing some googling - I also found it on a blog.

Wayback Machine link http://web.archive.org/web/200212070645 ... ndex2.html

Blog that copied it http://thebookoft.wordpress.com/knowled ... cans-suck/

Whether I agree with the site or not is irrelevant. It does do a good job of explaining the animosity that's out there.

[Ramscha]

Haha, that is a nice one, made me laugh on quite many pages [rofl]
But it hits the point although I don´t like the generalization. But when it comes to the cliché teen wiccan I guess this is quite a good info point

Ramscha

[autodydact]

Correct you? For what? The only thing I saw that needed correcting was the spelling of $ilver Ravenwolf. LOL a lot of people use the dollar sign instead of an S when typing out her name LOL

I just wanted to make sure that anyone who is interested in wicca weren't discouraged by me and that anyone who is a 'full time wicca' didn't think I was just going out to attack wicca.

[manonthepath]

Why is wicca a 'dirty word' in occult circles? I mean, I've noticed that people don't seem to like wicca very much, because it's mostly rainbows and butterflies - is that it?

This is an interesting question and I will answer honestly. I'd like to begin by clearly stating that I refrain from judging anyone, but myself. Although I certainly wouldn't go as far as to say it is a "Dirty Word." in my explorations of Wicca I found myself feeling pretty much as spiritually hamstrung as I felt during my days as a Christian. IN MY EXPERIENCE the Wrede, while useful as a controlling device for novices and juvenile egos, falls short of a true understanding of the nature of Karma. It also seems to me to be a bit of a recreated amalgamation of a variety of fragments from different pagan paths. I FIND NOTHING WRONG OR NEGATIVE ABOUT THIS, but I prefer the classical Roman path, which offers me a gratifying balance of freedom and formal structure in my practices. I find that this path has deepened my understanding of the occult in general and brought me very rewarding contact with wonderful energies and dieties. I will openly admit that I've had some disappointing interactions with my fellow classical pagans. The biggest downer with classical Greco-Roman pagans is the presence of pseudo-intellectuals, who, like the hobbyists they are, perform rituals well, but without any real relationship with or understanding of the energies they are evoking/invoking. I will praise Wiccans for their seemingly close relationships with the energies, but FOR ME they seem too much like Christians overall. Perhaps I just haven't met the right ones? Who knows? Others will disagree with my views and I wish them growth and prosperity.