The Pagan Man?

This has an awful lot to do with the Individuals who are involved and what type of paganism they practice. Many of the wiccan based groups are matriarchally oriented almost to a fault. It has always been my impression and belief that the imperative is that a balance should struck and maintained between all things, especcially that of the male and female, ying and yang or whatever methaphor that one wishes to use. I think many of these wiccan based religions are a rebellion and backlash for the male domination of religion and spirituality and has been very heavily identified with feminism and female empowerment. That being said, I have seen and been a part of wiccan groups that did strike the balance to mimic that of nature by holding both sexes to be equal and doleing out the tasks and responsibilities fairly between the two. Individual personalities and egos seem to play a large role here as well. I did have a male friend who was heavily into the Celtic, because he identified with much of beliefs and the male empowerment that existed there as well. We had many conversations that sadly I can't remember very well-- to the point of not knowing much at all about the celtic belief or deity system. What I do recall is many of the similarities that we noted between Celtic and Native American beliefs which is the path that I walked the most. More on that later in this post. I've seen some discussion here about "drummers," and thought I would shed some light on the subject from a Native American view. Drums and drummers have always played a large part in Native American (and many Native cultures worldwide) spiritualism. Much as tobacoo smoke is used as a vessel to carry our thoughts and prayers to the powers that be, the drum is said to be the canoe that guides our spirits in inward, or on out of body journeys into the spirit world. So the drummer has the very sacred task of protecting the travellers as they are abroad, guiding them and calling them back to our 'normal' world or plane of exsitence. The issue of the sexes is very different in Native American cultures, and based largely on the beliefs of the individual tribes. In some the women play a larger role, in others the male and in still others either or both can be the "primary" person of medicine (read power). Your husband might want to look into some of the Native American beliefs and practices to find something that is geared a bit more towards him that also at the same time very complimentary to most pagan and wiccan belief systems. There are some books I can recommend. The Carlos Castenada books are decent if one reads between the lines and is good at figuring out the hidden meanings and decyphering the various symbolism involved. Some of the books written by Sun Bear are very good as well. My personal favorite though is written by a woman. (although I can't remember her name, I think it is Genie Graham Scott) I was literally shocked at how much infomation she provided that so closely mirrored my own tribal teachings both in belief and application of actually telling somebody "this is how you do this." Much of what she teaches are closely held secrets and to be honest I'm glad someone is sharing them with the world at large. (I'm more glad that someone isn't me) While she doesn't paint the whole picture, she gives a very good starting point. I think the book is called The Shaman Warrior if I remember correctly.

We have a group that gets together each week, the members are a southern baptist, a druid, a wiccan, and me, I'm not actually sure what I am. I was brought up protestant, learned eastern religion, wicca and druidic teaching, and the teaching of Anton LeVey. The brand of Satanism that Anton taught is a very male oreinted religion. In most of my beliefs I am dominant, so I tend to lean towards the teachings of Anton LeVey. I was trying to look for a book written similar to the one you describe but I'm not sure of the author or title. I just know that the author is a retired policeman and a wiccan. I enjoyed it because of the point of view. I gave it to a friend so no longer have the book available. Another thing I have to say is to find a copy of the original Wicker Man and watch it as it is more of a druidic and male dominated view rather then the new Wiccan, woman oriented religion of the new version.

Lecanis...This is an interesting discussion. I am not Pagan .....all though I am Fascinated with Paganism . I do not fully understand Paganism ; therefore , I cannot speak with erudition. But I am of an Open - Mind. I believe ther is More to Paganism , then the Childish stories " around the Campfire ". Can you just give me an example ( from your point of view ) what Paganism is ? I used to be a Catholic , but I started having More questions , then answers about the Church's divinity. As of right now....I am resolved to going back to my Native-American way of thinking. Before Religion was imposed on this great Nation.

Why should you feel out of place? In fact, I would think conversations do not usually stray to religion - unless it was a religion setting or group. So why should you be bothered if you are pagan? You should be proud of what you believe. :P

I feel I can't answer your questions, but I wanted to focus on something that perhaps change my point on all that: did you (or actually the author of your book) realy said Drummers? That means musicians that play the drums for spiritual purposes? Like specially afro-americans do? I am very interested in religions with a spiritual path that involves music, specially when it is drums. But now my point is: do afroamerican religions also fit in paganism? Or were you and your writer talking about something totally different and I am just misunderstanding it?