i'm a pagan, AMA

Could you describe paganism in one sentence?

What made you decide to practice neo-Paganism?

what do crystals do and what does tarot cards do?

as all religions have rules, what are the main rules of your religion?

Do you sacrifice slaves and stuff? Or are you just one of these 'new age' tossers that think European paganism was all about chakras, peace and love, and all that stuff?

i've seen this done for a few different religious beliefs so i thought i would drop one for paganism as i've seen quite a lot of people ask questions about it

obviously paganism is very broad, and to be clear i'm talking about neo-paganism rather than paganism that christians branded every other religion that is not abrahamic

specifically, i'd call myself a norse pagan but i'm not a huge fan of those intricate labels.

feel free to ask any questions you have (:

no, slavery is immoral and most sacrifice in paganism wasn't of humans. if there was i don't know about any of it nor follow those beliefs. and as i said to shak101, i do not support sacrifice at all because im a vegetarian.

also european paganism was never about chakras because chakras come from hinduism.
and yes, i do follow 'new age' paganism because the 'old-age' paganism term comes from christian who labelled everyone who wasnt christian, jewish, or muslim (or other abrahamic religions) as pagan.
neo-paganism refers specifically to the worship of nature and often practicing of witchcraft.

no, i do not practice Wicca. in fact i fairly strongly disagree with Wicca.

Hi! Do you celebrate Christmas or an equivalent holiday? I heard it has Pagan roots.

I think it's pretty safe to say that your beliefs don't resemble the original European pagans very much then. Druids, for example, used to divine by cutting somebody's liver out and examining the markings. Your ideas seem to be in a christian mould (thy shalt not kill etc), but with a pagan motif.

I never claimed that my beliefs are the exact of 'original European pagans' (which is a very broad and ignorant claim).

I am a Norse pagan and my worship is therefore of the Norse pantheon. there is no bible or book that demands i slaughter innocent people or animals.
My practice also has nothing to do with christianity as i have no christian morals.

my moral compass is my own. i believe i have no right to take the life of a human or animal. that has nothing to do with paganism or christianity, it is my own belief.

i am my own person. my person is not my religion and my religion is not my person.

you clearly do not know much about paganism or neo-paganism. you pretend to by bringing up human sacrifice, but that is not something that happened often nor was it something that happened in all sects of paganism.

'European' paganism is broad. there are many types of European paganism. Greek, Norse and Germanic, Celtic, and Roman, amongst smaller sects elsewhere. It is incredibly ignorant to force the little you know about very old paganism and mold it to huge groups of people and practices.

I will no longer be replying to your complete drivel. Have a nice evening.

crystals have correlations that people often use to draw those things towards them. common example being rose quartz which people mostly use to attract love in some way. self love, friendship, relationships, etc. you can carry them about with you, meditate with them, sleep with them, etc. whatever you want, really.
my favourite crystal is probably amazonite. great for dealing with mental health and working through difficult patches in life.
i think if you believe that they radiate those energies, they will work. people always question why because i suppose there's no proof that they do, but if i believe they do and i see benefits then i suppose they do work.

tarot is a very broad divination technique, they're often used to gain insight into aspects of life and ask questions. not necessarily in the sense of future telling, but more to gain insight into specific topics or questions. tarot is split into two setions, the major and minor arcanas. cards in the major arcana are huge and point towards changes in life and the direction. cards in the minor arcana are split again into four suits (pentacles/coins, cups/chalices, wands, swords) all of which the suits have their own meanings, but each card also has it's own separate meaning. it's a very difficult topic to explain in so little time, but essentially i use tarot cards to ask questions and gain better insight. my most recent tarot spread was actually asking about university. i was given an offer to the uni of leeds but felt torn because i like the course and modules, but i live in scotland so its very far away and my mum would rather i not go. i asked the cards a question and used a celtic cross spread which is a ten card spread, each placement of the card has an individual relevance to the spread which the meaning of the card is applied to. (god, i hope this makes sense LMAO)

in paganism the rules are very loose because there are different groups of pagan beliefs and different morals. personally, i dont feel like i have specific rules of things i can and cant do. however one thing i prefer to do during tarot sessions is veil (wearing a headscarf) because i believe it protects my head chakra and my energies. also my patron goddess asked for me to do so, but not everyone does that and you can always say no.
in hellenic paganism (the worship of greek gods and goddesses) women who worship and work with hestia are often expected to veil in sort of a similar way to why muslim women wear the hijab, etc. for modesty, but also protection like me.