Pagans, FTW.

[sweetdarksilence]

Magic creatures huh.... That sounds intoxicatingly exciting! I love to consume books.

This might be a little personal..... You don't have to answer.

My question is has anyone ever had a direct message given to them from their patron or whoever they associate with?

[applejuice81]

Hi. Well I'm not pagan or wiccan. I've grown up being a Catholic and have not been to church in over 10 years except for weddings and funerals. I don't plan on going back. I believe in God and that most people believe in the same one no matter their beliefs. I have been interested in Wicca for awhile before I really researched. Researching Wicca has lead me to other pagan groups that seem to be more in tone with nature and has more of a foundation than Wicca does or atleast seems to me. I definitely would like to start practicing paganism but I not sure what to do or start and I'm still kinda researching too. So we'll see.

[WhiteRiver]

Technically.. since I'm neither Christian or Jewish and my religion is polytheistic and forces of nature are personified into worshippable deities, I am pagan by definition.
However, the context in which I first learned of the word was to mean 'wiccan'. I participated in a similar discussion on another forum just earlier today and was rather surprised to see it pop up here too.
I don't remember when I first became curious about Wicca, probably around the time I turned 13, began to use the internet and ran into numerous websites with pictures of the pentacle, beautiful spirits and fairies, all that. I am quite certain, however, that what drew me to this is the emphasis on nature-worship.
I view the fact that I 'follow' my religion more in the sense of following the traditions and customs that I have inherited, as my culture, rather than my relationship with God. This latter is very personal and, I believe, not confined to any current religion. I must have come to this conclusion at much the same time, perhaps a year or two afterward.
That established, this left me free to observe and attempt to understand any form of belief I came across, although in hindsight I will now say that much of my knowledge was gleaned off the internet and was, more often than not, half-baked.
It's when I entered college and began to meet people of completely different backgrounds that I began to realise that often, my perception of several religions or culture was romanticized fantasy. I also learned that often, even positive stereotypes are not received very well. For instance, try telling the average person with Native American ancestry about peaceful, nature-loving tribes, and likely they'll feel a touch annoyed at you for making ill-informed statements about their heritage. Or tell an Indian from India how fascinated you are by all the spirituality that's inside of every soul that comes out of their country and ask after their elephant, and see how they react.

Anyway, it's with this in mind that I'll continue with some caution. I have a great admiration for what I can understand of the Wiccan faith, I find that I identify with the practice of nature worship on some level, although sometimes I feel like I'm playing make-believe when I feel like the sunflower I'm walking past has a soul that saw me smile. Needless to say, magic fascinates me too, on the same imaginative level. What has touched me the most, however, are the following (rather famous) lines from the Wiccan Rede (sp?) : "..an ye harm none, do what ye will"
If there is one thing that I believe is at the center of how I live my life, it is this, and I was stunned, when I first came across this line, to have found something that resonated so deeply with my own idea on how life must be led.

x end musing ^_^ x

[sweetdarksilence]

Very well put WhiteRiver.... wow! You sound like a very interesting person to meet. Your words were very sincere and deep.

I have a very hard time communicating in words how I feel about things especially when it comes to expressing my personal beliefs. I also have the fear that if I do try and communicate what I feel others will pick it apart and tear into them shoving them off as poser or ignorant. It takes a lot to brings fears to the surface. My hope is that this forum will be open minded to the different beliefs of many different pagans and those who want to learn about paganism.

I guess I got on a box somewhere..... oops