Ask about Paganism

[lastromantic49]

Is there any interest in talking about paganism here? I'm not any kind of expert, but throughout most of my years in the CofC I was really at heart a pagan, or at least much more in tune with Native American and pagan beliefs, shall we say? For the past ten years or so I have been a practising pagan in the Feri/Reclaiming path.

[Ivy]

I am interested. Let's talk about it. I won't be able to contribute much in the way of solid knowledge, but will research as we go. Interested in hearing your
thoughts on it.

[lastromantic49]

Hello Ivy. I need to figure out how to get notified of responses here. Sorry it took so long, just came in and looked around. Still willing to talk?

[teresa]

To get email notices, scroll to the bottom of this topic page and click on the "subscribe topic" button.

I am also interested in hearing about paganism, although I may have little or nothing to say.

As an aside, I know very little about Native American beliefs, but from the little I do know, I would not regard these beliefs as pagan, necessarily. And I don't think Native Americans regard their beliefs as pagan.

Excerpt from h**ps://www.thoughtco.com/native-american-spirituality-2562540 The term “Great Spirit” is applied often in Native American spirituality, to refer to the concept of an all-encompassing power. Some Native tribes refer to this instead as the Great Mystery. In many tribes, this entity or power has a specific name.

[Ivy]

Sure!!

[lastromantic49]

You could be right, though it may boil down to semantics. In the original meaning of pagan, according to Merriam-Webster, the term came from the Latin paganus which basically meant country-dweller but came to identify anyone who worshipped anything other than the Judeo-Christian god. Sort of interesting that that definition is still valid, even though the word, along with heathen, has taken on another usage as one who is not religious or is a hedonist. Most of my pagan acquaintances would go by that first meaning although like anyone else they can have their hedonistic moments!

As you said, NA religion, while varying a lot from tribe to tribe, mostly seems to honor the overall creative force, all-father/mother, somewhat in alignment with the Judaic Yahweh, but to me it differs and runs into the pagan area of recognizing that force, or perhaps soul, in all things, living and non-living. That's what I mean by calling it pagan. It certainly adheres to the first definition. That was the selling point of the early missionaries, I think. The tie-in between Yahweh God and the All-Father. Some sources seem to indicate the indian response was, "okay, whatever, call it something different if you want, but you're kind of limiting it!" (my interpretation.) The existence of Jesus Christ was a bit harder sell, but wasn't too awfully foreign to many tribal myths, I think.

Admittedly a lot of what I'm saying is generalized and doesn't hold in all cases. Shamanism, as practiced by many native peoples, celebrates that pervasive life force and attempts to heal physical and mental disease by re-aligning the patient with the totality of the life force to balance their well-being. Again, at its most simplistic.

I'll touch on how I got where I am another time, but the pagans I socialize with are, by and large, Reclaiming Witches. There are a lot of different sects of paganism, like any other religion. Reclaiming is based on the Feri Tradition, which was formulated in the '60's by Victor Anderson and others. It can be termed a neo-pagan tradition. It was put together from parts of several earlier pagan and witchcraft traditions but was meant to be an ecstatic, rather than a fertility, practice. A decade later Feri Tradition witches such as Starhawk and others, mostly in California, added elements of Feminist and Environmentalist activism to the Feri foundation and Reclaiming was born.

Members are mostly Solitary Witches who join for community. The group I am with in central Texas meet regularly for public rituals and classes in both Feri and Reclaiming, as well as other witchy type arts such as the Tarot and Labyrinth. We value individual experience and personal beliefs and realize everyone is living a unique experience. The Feri basis, in simple terms, is that there is, again, one overall life force that permeates everything and was present and active in the beginning of all things. It is given different names and is both male and female and no-gender. Various known gods and goddesses from many pantheons may be worked with in ritual, etc. They are seen as distinct, but also merely facets of that one force. This one is the face of it that is associated with crops and harvest, that one is connected to love or family, and so on. Sort of like the trinity is three faces of god but also sometimes operate as distinct individuals.

Yes, we also believe in fairies! Or that portion of the life-force that dwells in the wild places, unseen, but still interacts with humans at times. The Feri name reflects that. The spelling was chosen to distinguish the path from other similar ones. We do a lot of sometimes intense personal work but it is self-guided. One of more facilitators present a framework, but no one is instructed what specifically to believe or how to act. We do adhere to a set of core principles that say basically we agree to honor and protect each others right to our own experience without interference.

In jest, I refer to it as "everyone has a right to go to hell in their own handbasket!" To tell the truth, this has always been a core belief of mine and probably one of my main areas of conflict with the COC. Anyway, we actually see hell as non-existant, as well as literal heaven. Many believe in reincarnation of a sort. Others believe we all return to that life force ultimately and are blended in.

That is probably more than enough for now. Perhaps I should mention that all the above is my own interpretation and some might disagree. It's much like the old story of the blind men describing the elephant. Another of our favorite lines is "You are your own authority!" I realize the above is a fast run through, and I'm happy to elaborate if you want. Blessings.

[Ivy]

Thanks Lastromantic49. That was an interesting read.

Will be back to participate in further discussion.

[teresa]

As you said, NA religion, while varying a lot from tribe to tribe, mostly seems to honor the overall creative force, all-father/mother, somewhat in alignment with the Judaic Yahweh, but to me it differs and runs into the pagan area of recognizing that force, or perhaps soul, in all things, living and non-living.

It might differ. But I think the apostle Paul said much the same thing, when he declared God to be "one God, the Father of all, who rules over all, works through all and is in all." That's the way I have always read this verse. But now that you mention it, maybe by "all" Paul was referring to all peoples, rather than all the created order. Maybe agricola (who is Jewish) can share her insights into what Paul may have meant by "all".

[teresa]

We do a lot of sometimes intense personal work but it is self-guided.

Can you expand on this? What do you mean by personal work -- self-healing of early trauma (as in Psychology), or something else? And can you give an example of a what this personal work might look like (I understand it is self-guided and varies from person to person).

[teresa]

It was put together from parts of several earlier pagan and witchcraft traditions but was meant to be an ecstatic, rather than a fertility, practice.

Can you expand on this? By ecstatic, are you referring to a self-transcendent connection with the "overall life force that permeates everything and was present and active in the beginning of all things". If so, that reminds me of a movement among some Christian groups who structure some of their services to encourage the individual's self-transcendent experience of God.