Pagans, FTW.

[Mika]

Magic is ultra cool. :3 We all know it.
Well, if you're a pagan of any sort you know it. >>

Anyways... has anyone read any neat pagan books lately? Share some good authors with me. x3
I kinda like the stuff by Judika Illes. Her Element Encyclopedia of 1000 spells is really helpful.

Or...
People can come in here and chill with us cause we're cool.:3

Just... uh...
No bashing on anyone's personal beliefs, kay? Pretty sure staff members get angry about that... and any bit of descrimination against others will be instantly reported.

[Nemui]

i had a friend back in school who went through this phase
where she was Pagan. it was kinda funny , becuase two months later
she forgot all about it.

although i do find people who are pagan to be pretty cool.
they are so connected to the earth around them and
dont care what others think.

Me i am not pagan, but i love how they dont force their beliefs on people.
they come off as very earth loving and thats what i like about them.

and i love watching them "cast" spells.
its so intriguing.

[Mika]

Yeah.
People are often disappointed when they find out the magic we use isn't that Hollywood Harry Potter nonsense. XD Though, the magic wand concept isn't that far from the truth. There are some wiccans who use magic wands, but not in the way you'd thing. x3

It's about the same as an athame. (a magic knife, for those that don't know the word.) It's a tool for conducting magical energy, and nothing more. You certainly won't see an athame being used to inflict harm on anyone or anything, and you won't see sparks fly out of a magic wand after waving it around and yelling out some nonsense words.


Also, the "animal parts" used in spells... none of them are obtained ever through an animals suffering. Ever. Most, actually, aren't even actually animal parts at all. They're code word for some form of botanical or another. Lion's tongue? Botanical. There are some spells that use animal parts... however!! These come from cultures who used ALL parts of the animal to survive. The animal was never killed for the purpose of casting spells, but for food, clothing, and many other uses. Use of leftover parts from animals simply evolved from that.

There's also so many types of magic, it's likely that no two pagans practice the same way at all. Magic is quite customizable to a persons needs. It needs to fit you. If a spell doesn't feel right to you, don't even bother trying it. It's probably not for you, and won't work even if you did try it... cause you can't really connect with it.

Haha, I could go on about this forever.
x33

I love reading about paganism, and I love practicing it. I don't see it as a religious choice, but as a life style. It's very rewarding, and makes you feel so much healthier to be in tune with the environment around you. If you look at any well-practiced pagan, you'll see they don't even sick half as much as the average person. I'm aspiring to be like that. Healthy, and living with the world instead of just.... on it. You know?

It's not so much that pagans don't care what others think... it's that as a general rule, they try not to let negative energies into their lives. If someone has a negative attitude towards them, instead of fighting back and being aggressive about their beliefs, pagans are usually rather passive towards it. They try to respect that person's differences and leave them be. If they ever wish to approach them respectfully, a pagan will share with them to a degree what they know (We're also quite secretive with the very personalized and specific way we practice also) provided the person has a genuine aspiration to learn.

Though, I'm rather hot-blooded so it's something I need to work on. x3 When I do, I'll be far less stressed! It's for sure. <3

[Nemui]

yes i have learned that the pagans can be very secretive about how they preform their rituals and so foruth.

the only real insight i have ever had to a pagan was on, Wife Swap XD
i know thats horrible.

But the one of the families was pagan. they worshiped
the mother. She was their goddess.

it was pretty cool, yet kinda weird.

i have never actually sat down and read a book about paganism, but i know a few things about them from what my moms friend told me.
They celebrate a lot according to what he told me.

[Mika]

>> Worship is such a harsh word for a pagan. Because if you think of it... it's not really worshipping that we do. There's not even an obligation to use the mother goddess as your patron deity.

We're thankful to spirits. We're respectful of spirits. We live with them, beside them almost... rather than worship them fearfully like a superior deity. A pagan will never fear the wrath of the goddess, or any other deity they choose. There is absolutely no need.

Fear is a negative energy, and we try to keep those out of our lives. x3 Good emotions are better.


Wife Swap, huh?
Did they swap with like... a christian family? I wouldn't put it past anyone to think that would be hilarious to do. Although kinda mean.... even I might get a giggle out of that. Even more so if it was like... a catholic or a mormon. x3

Pagans also celebrate rather differently than most do. :3 Some "celebrations" are nothing more than a simple ritual for a special day. The sabbats can be rather elaborate, however. x3 I have to learn more about them, though. Samhain and Beltane are both very important sabbats. :3 I know that for sure.

[Lunar]

I was a pagan, for a good 4 or 5 years, I even had a home-made altar which I designed with slots for 5 gems: red/fire, blue/water, green/earth, yellow/air or light and white/spirit
It had a built in cupboard at the back as well for storing all my incense, candles, books and other materials.
I finally stopped being a pagan because I believed that any form of deity had forgotten about me, and though paganism is more to do with spirituality than religion, I still felt the universe disliked my chakra's so I became agnostic and open to idea's but now Im too skeptical for everything really :/
My altar sits in the shed gathering dust and collecting cobwebs. :/

[Mika]

DDD: That's really sad...

Poor altar... the energy in it is probably all messed up then. x.x You'd have to cleanse it. I'd make an altar if I had a place to put it. I have a shelf on the wall I keep all my candles on, though. x33 My incense on top of my dresser.... my stones in a special pouch with my pendulum right beside them in a separate pouch.

My books are scattered everywhere. I know where all of them are, too. Except one. D: Rune book. I want it but I just CAN'T remember where I put it last. I'll find it though.... when I clean my room. x.x

[Lunar]

I even bought a book of shadows I started, but now I look at it and its only got like 20 pages filled in. :/

[Mika]

I'm not getting my own book of shadows until I've read a LOT more on the subject and figured out the ways I like to practice. I'm no where close to a point I can build my own spells. I definitely don't have enough resources. No, for now... getting tabs and bookmarking places in books already written will do fine. x3

Then I can write them down in a way I want to. A book of shadows is a commitment, too. x.x I'm not good at commitments. XD So I wanna make sure I'll finish it, you know? Real bad habbit of starting things and not ever finishing them... that's just something too special not to keep up with. For me, anyway.

I would really like to invoke spirits. <3 I like that type of magic, as well as botanical spells... I like crystals and stones as well, fortune telling... things like that. I'm not too fond of having a magic wand or anything, and I certainly won't be using spells that involve fecal matter or menstrual blood. I don't care how many people say menstrual blood is the most magically charged and powerful substance on the planet. I'm not using it. Iron and Lodestones are just as good. D<

[sychobunny]

<.< I studdied Wicca for... over a year-ish. And general Paganisms longer, but nothing quite as in depth.
Isn't the religious use of magic spelled with a k? To help differentiate it from fictional magic?

[dizzy]

This would be probably the most stupid question you have EVER heard in your lifes,but.... What is Pagan?

Really,it's the first time I actually hear about something like that,I'm sorry! Reading through your comments made me curious about it,it sounds like something really interesting. Is it something like witchcraft?

[sychobunny]

A pagan is one who recognizes multiple deities (gods). A monotheist recognizes one deity.

[Mika]

>> Well, you don't have to have a mono or polytheistic pantheon to be a wiccan, but that's still pagan. Though, that definition could work, I suppose.

It's actually difficult to define the word "Pagan". Because it all depends on who's point of view you're looking at. Some definitions include only the ancient celtic beliefs in Europe, while others stem out to include Ancient Egyptian, Indian, South-East Asian, Native American and Traditional African and Middle Eastern beliefs as well.

The definition given by the person above, however, is probably the most common and basic definition of a pagan, and the most simple. Basically, if it's not Christianity, Islam or Catholicism... or at least VERY closely related (jehova witness, mormon, etc.) it probably can be considered pagan. Even Judaism sits on the fence in this one... since it takes so much from cultures who practiced magic. The Kabala? That's used by many magical practitioners.

Pagan can also be defined by someone who uses magic. It's hard to get a solid definition of it.

There's no right or wrong way to spell magic. x3 Fictional magic and real magic don't need to be differentiated to anyone who practices real magic anyways. It doesn't confuse us. You can write it as Magic, Magick, Magik, Magyk, Mana... and Several other words for it. Egyptians call it Heka. The Yoruba (an old tribe in africa) call it Ashe. Mana is Polynesian. In Morrocco, the word for it is Baraka. And there are many more.

I wouldn't consider practicing magic a religious act. It has been incorporated into religion, but it's not a religion itself. Spirituality and Religion aren't the same... and you don't have to deal with deities or spirits to practice magic.

Don't ever worry about asking stupid questions. x33 I like answering questions~!! It's better to ask questions, then to make statements about things you don't know. Questions are appreciated and respected... false statements are not. ^^ So never be afraid to ask!!

[sychobunny]

But then what of Bhuddhism? I don't consider it pagan because it doesn't really recognize any deities. It welcomes those who do, but does not really welcome any as a doctrine.

There's also the term Neo-Pagan, which is more about what this topic is about as very few people adhere to the rules of older pagan doctrines, and most modern pagans look at the relationship of people and nature as a running theme.

[Transcendence]

I cant really think of any books at the moment, but after watching the newest King Arther movie I want to know more about them . I mean...they were and I often didn't know what the background was for pagans.