The Growler <![CDATA[The Growler]]> en-us Copyright 2008 - All Rights Reserved. Mon, 23 Nov 2009 05:44:38 GMT 15 <![CDATA[Understanding Paganism: No Devil Worshipping Involved]]> By Glenn Guinand


Paganism

What Is Paganism? I want to start off with saying the intent of this editorial is NOT to change your religion or to say your religion is wrong, it is to educate others about the religion I follow--Paganism. I am Pagan and proud to say so. Contrary to popular belief, Paganism is not devil worshipping-- that’s called Satanism. Pagans do not believe in the devil. The devil is largely a Christian concept and since Pagans are not Christians, the devil holds no place in Paganism--another common misconception. Paganism is the oldest religion. Paganism is a religion of nature--in other words Pagans revere nature (meaning we have deep respect for nature). We live our lives attuned to the cycles of nature, the seasons, life and death. We see the divine in everything around us; in every tree, plant, animal and object, man and woman and in the dark side of life as much as in the light. The divine is male as well as female (meaning there are Gods and Goddesses). The goddess encompasses everything that is female and the god encompasses everything that is male. Pagans believe in the existence of Gods and Goddesses that affect our lives. Paganism tends to be polytheistic (belief in more than one Deity). Individuals often follow a specific pantheon such as Roman, Celtic, Norse, Greek, etc. We practice Magick which is the ability to use your will to effect real and positive changes in your life, meaning we cast spells. However, the term "spell" is widely misunderstood. Spells are somewhat like prayers and are used to create needed change in one's own life or the life of a loved one. But while prayers are a petition to an external Deity to create the change, most Pagans believe that Deity is present in everything, including us. Spells, then, are the channeling of our own divine selves, our own energies, to create the change. We pray to whichever God or Goddess is involved with whatever we are praying for, examples being: Astrild- Roman goddess of love; Forseti- Roman god of justice; Freyr- Roman god of fertility. Hopefully this explanation of paganism will be cause for you to be perhaps less judgmental on topics that are unknown or, at a minimum, encourage education of such things. Afterthought... The term "Neopagan" provides a means of distinguishing between historical Pagans of ancient cultures and the adherents of modern religious movements ]]> Fri, 19 Sep 2008 15:38:00 GMT