Paganism...... Is it a hot property these days?

Yea, that's fine. Everybody's got choices!

I don't worship Idols. I worship Gods.

I have no idols of these Gods, just the energy of them themselves.

Idols are severely misunderstood by outsiders. We don't worship the idol itself, we use idols as a tool in worship.

I believe it says not to worship false idols and while I don't know much about the Pagan religion, I do know that false idols is not what they worship or any idols at all for that matter.

Quite an important point.

Although you term it confusing, I would call your response one of the most interesting here.

You may be right about it being a dumping ground. It seems that people who were fed up with organized religions turned to the ancient, relatively more liberal Paganism.

Since Paganism is an umbrella term for different belief systems, I reckon it has this similarity with Hinduism.

What is "confusing" about the term pagan; is the simple fact that if someone is identified as "pagan", you have no idea what they actually believe unless they identify which "flavor" they are.

Most of the pagans in my area are wiccan; but, we do have a handful that follow Native American beliefs, and we even have one Egyption sun worshipper. Unless they identify which religious system they follow, you would not have any idea what they belief in if all you knew was that they were "pagan".

Ha, Yea true. Difficult to be recognized

I see. You seem to imply that it was just a trend, may be a decade ago.

But it seems it was an overwhelming one. Since without any missionary activity by the original Pagans it managed to attract so many. What could be the reason for it?

From your other posts, it seems you're also one. If I ain't affecting your privacy and if you're a convert, may I ask the reason/s that prompted you to that path?

I was lucky enough to be raised in a Pagan family.

it's gone through a phase of being fashionable in recent years, because of that fashion, I've seen a lot of people pick it up, then move on to the next fashionable spiritual path.

but some of those people who came here for the fashion then found spiritual peace in the path they sought only because it was the latest thing.

I think it's passing now as a fashion, but some of the people into it through fashion have discovered that they have a Pagan soul

I think it's colorful nature and liberalism makes it fashionable. Besides, it had been under wraps for so many centuries I believe. So the curiosity factor too.

Yes I see many proud Pagans on the internet. Not any formal Pagans in my nation, India but we Hindus, I reckon are Pagan in a way.

Thanks for sharing.

I don't know if I'd call it a trend. Many come to Pagan religions and find their true spiritual niche in the old ways. I am a Kemetic, and I am so glad I found the religion of ancient Egypt. It may be offensive to some to call Pagan religion a trend. Paganism is growing because people are returning to the old ways. The same could be said for Judaism among the Abrahamic religions. Christians and Muslims convert to Judaism because they are drawn to the old ways.

Yeah, I too have known that a significant number of sects in Paganism are nature-worshipers.

You're also right about the misconception that they are wrongly considered to be devil worshipers. Even Satanists are misunderstood.

Your attitude, I feel is pretty correct. Why should one judge others' paths when there's no objective evidence for correctness of any particular one?

Thanks for a nice answer.

Heh, Christians have a lot of room to talk. Many elements of their religion was borrowed from the following; Judaism, Gnosticism, Zoroastrianism, Hinduism, Kemeticism, Buddhism, Hellenios, and Druidry.

And yet, the Christians constantly discriminate against other religions event though they have borrowed from them. I have met very few Christians who embrace other religions with open arms and they will not discriminate against them, but this is but a small few. Even some of my Christian friends will constantly throw their beliefs in my face on a daily basis, and I will tell them to cut it out. I am Agnostic, and I am sorry that I do not believe in Jesus like you do. I was a Catholic for several years, I read the Bible, I did the whole Catholic thing (Baptism, Communion, and Conformation), I was in choir, I was in Bible Club, and I still wasn't satisfied with it. I had way too many questions, and none of the answers that I wanted.

People wanted me to see Jesus. I never saw Jesus, and I think that when people tell me that they have seen God, or Jesus, I question it. How can anyone really see God or Jesus? They tell me to open my heart. Okay, been there done that, nothing. I lost my brother and prayed to see God, I still see God. I did the same thing when I was 12, this was long before my brother died, and all I ended up with was a small, helpless, three week old kitten. I guess the kitten could be seen as God's love, but I am sure that there was a scientific explanation for it.

I am more of a logical person than a faith based person to be honest. I believe in science more than I will ever believe in religion. I am not against people and their beliefs, I just don't see it.

Hiya Grandpa

You may well be right that it may just have been a trend probably a decade ago. But does that mean it is on a downfall now?

True, starting figure was apparently small. But I thought it was/is like a rage. And there ought to be a solid reason for that. What, in your opinion is that particular striking feature of Paganism?

The explanation about neo-Paganism is useful.

Always love your responses

It's very popular with women, as many of the branches worship the Goddess as equal with the God and provide wonderful role models for women, and a complete lack of male superiority. A few of the feminist branches seem to go a bit far in the opposite direction. For men who feel the need of a feminine archetype/deity it is also very popular. The emphasis on nature and environmentalism in many forms of neo-paganism is attractive to many people, and for those who need ritual and form in their lives, there are branches which work strongly with those elements. The strong mystical elements in many forms also has its attractions for some.

Lash

Bull's eye. Just what I expected.

One last question, probably:

Could you elucidate on the mystical elements? [Since I'm myself an ardent fan of Eastern mysticism.] I only knew about Gnosticism and Sufism as the other ones. Do you know what those of Paganism are called? And the basic tenets?

Damn, just lost another completed post, so I'll have to do it again. Mysticism is a difficult term to define: add to that the fact that most pagans are fairly eclectic and that they are trying ot revive practices long since destroyed or corrupted by the Christian church, and pagan mysticism becomes very hard to define.

Mostly it revolves around the meditative and rituaql elements parctice3s in circle or temple; many fuse Buddhist practices with their pagan beliefs; and there is mysticism inherent in the various pantheons they use. I used the Cretan labyrinth, for instance.

I should note that, just as in any religious path, a lot of followers are fairly unknowledgeable, and it is only the serious practitioners who would even give your questions much thought. For a lot it is a "feel good" path without a lot of real depth. And there are many for whom it is simply a part of who they have always been, an attitude and personal conviction that has little to do with theory.

Lash

Checked 'Cretan Labyrinth' with wiki. Quite interesting. I looks like you use such symbols as a focal point; just as some Hindus here use idols and symbols for spirituality.

Needless to say, the rest of your observations do not meet any challenge from me. I agree with them.

Thanks for the BR.

Lash

Now what on earth makes you say that those gods/deities are false? They may be for you, but don't consider it a universal truth.

They have their own nice followers for whom they are absolutely true. After all there's no objective way to prove either ones right or wrong.

You have absolutely no idea what you're babbling about Joseph. How about taking the simple course of actually learning something about the things you are critical of before engaging mouth.

Lash

my Gods are definitely not false.


they may not be your God, as your God is not mine, but that doesn't mean they're false.

buf blossoms. leaf unfolds. the Gods are with us every breath.

if life is false, then my Gods are false.

so is life false?

1. Who worships idols? Idols are tools in worship.

2. My gods are no more false then yours.

Great attitude. Not much to say anything against. And your last line is correct. There have been many myLot discussions too, clarifying the matter.

If you're referring to a religion such as LaVeyan Satanism, no they definitely don't represent Paganism as a whole.

True, till date some people oppose them for no real reason!

It looks like you follow a fusion of Paganism and Buddhism. Nice to know that. I have my own share of admiration for Buddhism too, since I know it fairly and actually my own path (Advaita Vedanta in Hinduism) can be said to be similar to it.

More intriguing to know how you accidentally discovered the nature of your path.

I would definitely check that site. [I'm a lazy surfer]

Wrt your last para, the reason why asked this person was that I was kind of astounded that a religion which apparently had no rigorous missionary activity could yet manage to attract so many. I was looking for the particular feature. Thus I was asking why people CONVERTED to it in droves. Of course it was because they liked it but I wanted to know the exact facet of the religion which did the trick.

Not that I'm an evangelist and going to plagiarize the idea; plain curiosity!

Typo: 'person' in the penultimate para, line one should read 'question'

I also follow a combination of Paganism and Buddhism. I follow Kemeticism and practice Mahayana Buddhism.