Is there a main book of Paganism?

[TKramar]

Originally Posted by Trebek

Do you all Pagan's out there have one main book of Paganism, like the Christians have a bible? Is there a difference between Paganism and Wicca?

Thanks, just trying to gain understanding.

Pagans don't read.

[TKramar]

Originally Posted by TKramar

Pagans don't read.

Why haven't I gotten any hate mail on this? I expected to...but I wasn't being serious, I was only joking...

[wzippler]

Originally Posted by TKramar

Pagans don't read.

Edit: I wrote this before I realized the quote was supposed to be a joke.


That kind of talk is not helpful. While I do not believe in Pagan theology either, we should at least be kind! While of course I can't speak for all of them but the average Pagan seems to read more than the average Christian I know.
BTW I am a Christian, and a heavy reader.

[megdwhite]

Originally Posted by wzippler

Paganism, is sort of a generic name that covers ALLOT of different faiths
Wicca is the most widespread of the pagan faiths.

From what I can tell paganism is next to imposible to put in a one size fits all box. They are non-exclusive, which means you can worship more than one God at a time without going against paganism.

While I have met some Pagans that were friendly toward Christians most treated me like bile, with no more provocation than me signing letters in Christian Love.

So if you want to befreind a pagan I suggest you tell them about you believing Buddhist and Native American faiths before you tell them about your belief in Christianity. If you put off telling them about Christianity till last you will fit right in. If you tell them about Christianity first the conversation may be over before it begins. (but that depends on the preticular pagan in question)

The majority of pagans do not believe in the devil.

Some participate in Witchcraft, or magick, which they descibe as a form of prayer, but not all of them.

Most pagan faiths are really neo-pagan. They have ancient roots, but have mixed thier faith with modern ideas, and culture, so the ancient pagans would have trouble recognizing many modern day pagans.

Hi there,
I just registered to comment on this. I'm a pagan (part Native American and part indian). I firmly believe in the teachings of the Buddha as well as the worship of mother Earth. My Husband is a devout Christian and our three children are being raised with both faiths.
As far as how pagans treat you, I'd assume they treat you "like bile" because you're identifying them primarily as pagans rather than as people. And also, much as I understand greeting someone with Christian love, I don't comprehend how you don't see that this might make someone uncomfortable. I know that if I walked around making the signs of the chakras to people as a form of salutation I'd meet some very intense aversion. I understand being proud of your faith and showing it, but I feel there's a right place and a time for everything. And greeting someone who doesn't share your religion with a religious symbol/greeting is certainly not appropriate; actually I'd say it's simply inpolite.

[megdwhite]

Originally Posted by mountain_time_Blues

So jews are pagans? Muslims too? Your logic doesn't make sense?

The definition of paganism is simply any faith that doesn't adhere to Christian doctrine. Some people do consider Judaism to be pagan considering the Jesus figure in Judaism isn't the son of God. Muslims also fall under the distinction.

[FunkyMonk]

Very strange responses here, a lot of them seem to be very wrong too.

You all say Paganism is any non-Christian religion??? This is simply not true. Paganism is the religious beliefs of ancient Europe which are based in nature worship and shamanism.

European-Christians of the past called any non-Christian a Pagan. And the Bible has referances used in this context. But this way of speaking and categorizing is now almost totally obsolete and backwards.

Are Buddhists, Muslems, Hindus, Jews, Scientologists and other non-Christians considered Pagans? No they are not. In todays language "Pagan" means the folk religions of Europe.

And no, there is no religious text for Paganism. There is lots of literature about it, but no main book.

[Mooseketeer]

Paganism ( as in Western Shamanism strictly speaking a religion which deviates from mainstream religions (which has now come to mean Animist and Shamanistic Natural Religions as a result - The Latin definition is greatly disputed however) - Oxford dictionary ) needs no scriptures as it is all passed down orally. In a time where most people could not read and books were incredibly rare at best or non-existent if one goes back long enough , oral tradition has always been the thread of continuity.

My Great-Grand-Mother's old Grimoire was only basically a book of remedies and comments on natural pheonomena passed down from generation to generation ( It really was more of a record of certain plants , and very few "rituals" at all , a sort of written Herbarium if you will) . Before that all you need is oral history.


Which is why there are no real traces of Paganism as such apart from second hand observers ( mostly hostile Christian priests , the only people literate enough to record certain behaviour and mores or the Romans who had a "slight" Political agenda and feeling of cultural superiority !) .

Paganism as practised nowadays is for the most part a 19th century invention bolstered by popular fiction and Hollywood films and TV series. The revival of Druidism in 19th century Wales and England was mostly the rantings of an over fevered romantic imagination.

The Old Arts of Paganism are steeped in the dawn of time but it has been romanticised and elevated to something it often isn't.

What I know from my Great-Grand Mother ( whose entire matrilineal line transmitted their values upon her though not to my grand-mother, nor me) is a Natural Religion based on Anthropologically common beliefs around the world. Rituals have been passed down very discreetly in the last few centuries as most Christians had a rather violent aversion to a culture they could not control nor understand.

"Wise Women" were often the targets of overly zealous zealots who could not excuse any behaviour deviant from their own. This explains the secrecy that Paganism has often been shrouded in for Millenia.


Scriptures of any sorts are irrelevant and completely un-neccessary . The best way to transmit traditions is orally. No records. No proof of "social deviancy".


A main book would almost go agaisnt the whole Naturalistic philosophy which implies a true personal relationship with Mother Earth and its natural wonders. True Paganism is first and foremost about Nature and our very deep and personal rooting in it. Like all Shamanistic cultures it needs no written word. Things are written down but the real and deep traditions remain as oral traditions because it is the best way.

Scriptures to me only seem required if you want to endoctrinate or convert people, perverting their own personal conscience and sense of belonging to something wider and bigger. A true Pagan will never seek to convert because they know that it needs to be genuine knowledge deep within the soul rather than a perverted set of words which will have lost all their meanings by the time it gets to you.

That is what I was told by my Great-Grand-Mother anyway. Books are there as "aide memoires" , nothing else. If you need a book to be a Pagan you have missed the point.

[albion]

Paganism is well accepted in my home county. A lot of the churches in England stand on the sites of Pagan places of worship.
In fact the church where I married, has a standing stone in the entrance to the building.
I've seen Pagan weddings take place at our local beach, everybody is invited to the ceremonies and to the feasts afterwards at the local pub.
These people bring nothing but peace & tolerance everywhere they go, and they are most welcome in our village.

[wzippler]

megdwhite
I think you misunderstood my post. The point of it was to say that Paganism is a very diverse group, some are tolerant and are very easy for me to be friends with. I have maintained several long term friendships with many pagans. But others were cruel. Some follow Gia, some Thor, some follow other deities. Like a Wiccan friend of mine once said if you ask 10 different Pagans the same question they will probably have ten different answers.
If I thought of them as just one big group instead of many separate people within a large group I would not be able to recognize their diversity.
And please notice the words in my first post that says "That depends on the particular pagan in question". If I didn't see pagans as individuals I would not have said that.

Also I wasn't greeting them with the words in Christian Love, I was closing my e-mails in Christian love, kind of like some people say "yours truly", or "sincerely yours". I don't like ending letters "sincerely yours" because I am unwilling to say I belong to someone I barely know, I don't want to sign just love because there are some many different types of love I don't want people to get confused as to which kind I mean. I am not trying to be offensive I am just trying to clarify that I don't mean romantic love, or anything like that I just mean I want to be nice.

I am not anything like the person you assume I am.

Originally Posted by megdwhite

Hi there,
I just registered to comment on this. I'm a pagan (part Native American and part indian). I firmly believe in the teachings of the Buddha as well as the worship of mother Earth. My Husband is a devout Christian and our three children are being raised with both faiths.
As far as how pagans treat you, I'd assume they treat you "like bile" because you're identifying them primarily as pagans rather than as people. And also, much as I understand greeting someone with Christian love, I don't comprehend how you don't see that this might make someone uncomfortable. I know that if I walked around making the signs of the chakras to people as a form of salutation I'd meet some very intense aversion. I understand being proud of your faith and showing it, but I feel there's a right place and a time for everything. And greeting someone who doesn't share your religion with a religious symbol/greeting is certainly not appropriate; actually I'd say it's simply inpolite.