[Hylean]

Whilst clearly a collection of minority belief systems, Paganism is on the rise in Western Society. Given the huge amount of misinformation surrounding it, I thought we should have a official Ask A Pagan thread. There was one before, but it died.

Themes can revolve around beliefs, rituals, etc. "Paganism" is used a short hand for both Pagan and Neo-Paganism.

Remember, like H&R, any advice given in this thread is unprofessional and should be treated as such.

For those wishing to discuss more personal issues amongst themselves, here is the Pagan Society's thread. For a brief background on terminology, and issues with, see Wikipedia's page on Paganism.

Please be civil. This thread is for those wishing to know more about Paganism. Any trolling, spamming or insults will be removed and warned.

[Pandora.]

Nobody has any questions? This is like the awkward silence at the end of a presentation. Come on, we don't bite!

[Hylean]

(Original post by Pandora.)
Nobody has any questions? This is like the awkward silence at the end of a presentation. Come on, we don't bite!

Fine! I'll ask one: where do you stand in regards to continuity between pre-christian religions and current pagan religions in Europe?

[Pandora.]

(Original post by Hylean)
Fine! I'll ask one: where do you stand in regards to continuity between pre-christian religions and current pagan religions in Europe?

If you mean what I believe, then I stick mainly to a mix of current pagan religions, while using many ancient Gods and Goddesses as part of my worship. I flit between the different pantheons right now, I haven't found the one that suits me most. I'm leaning towards Celtic right now though.

[Hylean]

(Original post by Pandora.)
If you mean what I believe, then I stick mainly to a mix of current pagan religions, while using many ancient Gods and Goddesses as part of my worship. I flit between the different pantheons right now, I haven't found the one that suits me most. I'm leaning towards Celtic right now though.

Nah, I meant do you think the current pagan belief systems/religions are directly descended from the older ones or are they modern recreations based on the older ones?

[Lil Piranha]

(Original post by Hylean)
Nah, I meant do you think the current pagan belief systems/religions are directly descended from the older ones or are they modern recreations based on the older ones?

To be honest I think it's fairly inevitable that they'll be modern recreations - the upheaval of Christianity in Europe for hundreds if not thousands of years means that there are very few resources which can tell us with any accuracy about pre-Christian beliefs. How accurate these modern interpretations are is impossible to say, but it's all about having faith!

[Hylean]

(Original post by Lil Piranha)
To be honest I think it's fairly inevitable that they'll be modern recreations - the upheaval of Christianity in Europe for hundreds if not thousands of years means that there are very few resources which can tell us with any accuracy about pre-Christian beliefs. How accurate these modern interpretations are is impossible to say, but it's all about having faith!

True, but it's interesting to see where modern pagans stand on it as many of us feel, for example, that Wicca has an unbroken connection to the pagan religions of England and Ireland pre-christianity.

[Alpharius]

This is just a question aimed at individual pagans.

Do you worship any of the old pantheons? Greek, Egyptian, Celtic...? If so (or not so), which God/desses do you pray/worship most regularly?

Always loved reading about the Greek Pantheon. It's the only one I really understand. Personifications of nature/human emotion. Flawed characters, that can be benevolent, but can more often than not be malicious.

Spoiler:

Show

...See? Even I can be nice on DnD!

[Pandora.]

(Original post by Hylean)
Nah, I meant do you think the current pagan belief systems/religions are directly descended from the older ones or are they modern recreations based on the older ones?

Modern recreations, definately. Too much of it (especially Wicca) is, while not a bad system, made to play upon the modern ideas of witches and magic. Sorry if I'm going a bit off track here, but some of the "spells" I've sene on the internet are frankly ridiculous. Maybe it's just because I have a different belief system though.

[Teao the Cat]

I'm in the 'modern recreations' camp too... not that I see anything wrong with that. The world and society has changed, and we change with it.

In terms of the 'ancient' pantheons, I dabble, for want of a better word, in the Celtic and the Egyptian pantheons. I've got a particular fondness for Bast and the Celtic triple goddess respectively.

[Munchies-YumYum]

Is masturbation haram or helal?

[Hylean]

(Original post by Munchies-YumYum)
Is masturbation haram or helal?

Meaning? It's not against any of the pagan traditions that I know of. In fact, sex is often used in rituals by Wiccans.

(Original post by Alpharius)
This is just a question aimed at individual pagans.

Do you worship any of the old pantheons? Greek, Egyptian, Celtic...? If so (or not so), which God/desses do you pray/worship most regularly?

Always loved reading about the Greek Pantheon. It's the only one I really understand. Personifications of nature/human emotion. Flawed characters, that can be benevolent, but can more often than not be malicious.

Spoiler:

Show

...See? Even I can be nice on DnD!

Wonders never cease.

I don't follow any specific, though I'm drawn to the Celtic by heritage and Norse by something else. Believe they all exist, though.

[Munchies-YumYum]

(Original post by Hylean)
Meaning? It's not against any of the pagan traditions that I know of. In fact, sex is often used in rituals by Wiccans.

Whether it's forbidden, I think Imma convert to wiccan. I need as many rituals as possible.

[Pandora.]

(Original post by Alpharius)
This is just a question aimed at individual pagans.

Do you worship any of the old pantheons? Greek, Egyptian, Celtic...? If so (or not so), which God/desses do you pray/worship most regularly?

Always loved reading about the Greek Pantheon. It's the only one I really understand. Personifications of nature/human emotion. Flawed characters, that can be benevolent, but can more often than not be malicious.

Spoiler:

Show

...See? Even I can be nice on DnD!

Oops, I missed this

Like Hylean and Teao, I'm drawn towards Celtic, but I like too pick'n'mix (I hate that phrase ) with the various different ones. I haven't settled yet, but I'm leaning towards Celtic much more than the rest and I can't define why. There's just something about Celtic culture that is a part of me Sorry for the cheesy phrases

[Teao the Cat]

I agree! part of me rebels at the 'pick'n'mix', but I justify it by the fact that I reckon all the gods and goddesses are just facets of nature, or whatever great force we wish to attribute 'god-ness' to. I also have a leaning towards the Celtic rather than the Egyptian, i just identify so well with Bast as a goddess. I have no Egyptian ancestry (unless we go back as far as we all came from the same place) so Celtic certianly makes much more sense from a descent point of view.

(Original post by Munchies-YumYum)
Whether it's forbidden, I think Imma convert to wiccan. I need as many rituals as possible.

Heh, sex is only really used when the high priest and priestess are in a sexual relationship, and I understand that they withdraw to a private place to carry it out. The great rite is usually conducted in symbolic terms with a chalice and athame.

[Munchies-YumYum]

(Original post by Teao the Cat)
I agree! part of me rebels at the 'pick'n'mix', but I justify it by the fact that I reckon all the gods and goddesses are just facets of nature, or whatever great force we wish to attribute 'god-ness' to. I also have a leaning towards the Celtic rather than the Egyptian, i just identify so well with Bast as a goddess. I have no Egyptian ancestry (unless we go back as far as we all came from the same place) so Celtic certianly makes much more sense from a descent point of view.



Heh, sex is only really used when the high priest and priestess are in a sexual relationship, and I understand that they withdraw to a private place to carry it out. The great rite is usually conducted in symbolic terms with a chalice and athame.

I don't mind being in a sexual relationship nor private places as long as the keywords tight and wet are involved, everything should be fine.

[mel0n]

I thought I commented in here yesterday

Can someone some up Paganism to me? Do you believe in a God? Any saints etc? What do you believe about life after death?

[Teao the Cat]

(Original post by mel0n)
I thought I commented in here yesterday

Can someone some up Paganism to me? Do you believe in a God? Any saints etc? What do you believe about life after death?

Difficult to sum it up, really, there are so many different 'types' and then others, like me, who are eclectic pagans and don't necessarily believe in nay one of the mainstream varieties.

Probably the largest coherent group of pagans today are Wiccans. Paganism as a whole is typically a nature-based religion, and there are whole pantheons of gods and goddesses. No saints so far as I am aware though...

Life after death, for me, is rebirth. I haven't quite sorted out my views on the specifics yet though, different people will have different ideas. I have a funny feeling it was one of the things we discussed on the society thread, so there should be some different views there.

[mel0n]

(Original post by Teao the Cat)
Difficult to sum it up, really, there are so many different 'types' and then others, like me, who are eclectic pagans and don't necessarily believe in nay one of the mainstream varieties.

Probably the largest coherent group of pagans today are Wiccans. Paganism as a whole is typically a nature-based religion, and there are whole pantheons of gods and goddesses. No saints so far as I am aware though...

Life after death, for me, is rebirth. I haven't quite sorted out my views on the specifics yet though, different people will have different ideas. I have a funny feeling it was one of the things we discussed on the society thread, so there should be some different views there.

I know next to nothing about Paganism so please excuse my ignorance! The only gods and goddesses that I am familiar with are those in Greek and Roman mythology - what gods and goddesses do you believe in? Is there a 'main' one?

And ok fair play on the life after death thing.

[Teao the Cat]

(Original post by mel0n)
I know next to nothing about Paganism so please excuse my ignorance! The only gods and goddesses that I am familiar with are those in Greek and Roman mythology - what gods and goddesses do you believe in? Is there a 'main' one?

And ok fair play on the life after death thing.

The Greek and Roman are recognised, yes. There's also Egyptian, Celtic and Norse, and I can only imagine a few more, but they are the major ones. Each one of these tends to have a 'main' god or goddess- Zeus, for example. People often identify with particular gods or goddesses- I'm rather fond of Bast, the Egyptian cat goddess. My bf likes Odin of the Norse mythology.

If we're talking in terms of mainstream Wicca again, they have (so far as I know, I could be wrong) a mother goddess and the horned god. There are branches like Dianic Wicca which doesn't recognise the male aspect of deity. Most believe in a balance of male and female, however.