I'd like to know if there are any others here following the pagan path. I myself am a long time solitary practitioner, a highly spiritual woman with complete respect for nature and the world around me. :)

If you aren't, and have any questions, feel free to ask :huggle:

.:Tacoma:.

I'm not, but one of my best friends is. I think it's totally fine, and I studied it a few years ago. If I were religious, chances are I would turn to some form of that. ^_^

I'm Wiccan! :D

Can someone roughyl define Wiccanism and Paganism entail? I know roughly their concepts but nothing in detail.

And yes I could just google this, but it's always nicer to hear it from some involved and believing.

Some basics...

The difference between a Pagan and a Wiccan are comparable to that of a Christian and a Catholic. A catholic is a christian, just with a specific set of beliefs. So it is for us as well. Not all Pagans are Wiccans, as not all Christians are Catholic.

Paganism is a religion, not a cult.

We do not worship or believe in Satan, as Satan is a christian deity. Satan is a part of the Christian and Muslim religions. Pagans are neither Christian nor Muslim, therefore Satan is not part of our deity structure at all.

Most Pagans cast spells and hold rituals. Spells are somewhat like prayers, hardly any of that hocus pocus stuff that most imagine.

Do we worship a god/goddess? Some do, some don't. I worship The great Mother Goddess, (in otherwords, Nature) and have a spirit guide (much like a guardian angel).

We're mostly versed in the beliefs of other religions and find the various
religious systems interesting. Pagans believe in free will and
free choice and that an educated choice is always better than blind
obedience to any religion or dogma. We are not "against" other
religions. We have simply made our choice to be pagan and we expect
others to respect that choice as we respect theirs.

Anything else you'd like to know, just ask.

Great knowing there are fellow Pagans aboard here, nice to meet y'all :)

:huggle:

I absolutely HATE it when people assume Wiccans are some kind of Satanists or something! The NERVE!

What're your -- as in you specifically, wiccans generally and pagans generally -- beliefs in the after-life like?

It varies. Most believe in reincarnation. I like to think of it as...when we die, our souls leave the old body behind, return to a place of judgment for fate/nature/God to decide where we should go next, and are reborn to a new body. If we've learned a specific lesson or have been especially kind and respectful, that we'll go to a heavenly place. A lot of wiccans refer to it as the Summerlands. People who have done more harm than good might end up repeating the process, but there is certainly no hell in our religion unless you believe in hell on earth. :lmao:

I'd like to hear other's take on the afterlife, I'm curious as to what others believe happens (of any religion) :)

My stepmom is Wiccan. She shows me all the things she does, and it seems really cool.... But I'm not exactly 100% sure what it's all about. She believes in the afterlife. One of the things she showed me that I think probably changed my life forever is the ouija board. It has nothing to do with being Wiccan, I don't think, but it's something she and her sisters do together. (Anyone ever try it?) But to them it shows that there is an afterlife, and now I'm beginning to believe there's life after death as well. (But not just because of some ouija board, mind you.) Since then, though, I believe there are spirits and ghosts all around us.. I don't think the soul dies, I think it goes on. I also believe in past lives. My stepmom practices psychic stuff too, but I'm not sure if that has to do with being Wiccan either. She showed me how she performs healing spells and stuff. I think it's really cool!

Yeah, I read something about that in a book by Sylivia Browne. Spirits go to the "Other Side" or "Home" which is kind of like what people think is Heaven, and the "Left Door" which is where people who didn't lead a very good life (for doing bad deeds) go to be judged by God for their fate. And ghosts remain earthbound until the people on the Other Side help them home. This is what my stepmom and her sisters believe.

What do Pagans/Wiccans actually do though? I don't really know much about it.

I think most people are familiar with the Christian view of the afterlife. God judges people based on their faith and actions and they go to Heaven or Hell depending on that judgement. Heaven and Hell are generally believed to be eternal, although denominations differ on their view of the nature of Heaven and Hell.

What's the difference between paganism and satanism?

What's the pagan view of other religions and the truth of their beliefs?

I used to be really into Wicca/Paganism about five years ago, so if memory serves me correctly, most Wiccans believe in a Goddess, or Lady, whose power is at its peak from May to October (fertile months) and a God, or Lord, whose power is at its peak October to May (darker months). They also believe that the spirit of the God and Goddess exist in everything, in creatures, plants, the sea, e.t.c. So Wiccans worship nature, and wish to live in harmony with all things.

Wiccans celebrate the cycles of the moon, the seasons, and believe that there are four spirits for the four elements, Air, Fire, Water and Earth. They believe that all four combine to manifest all things. The Wiccan Rede states "Eight words the Wiccan Rede fulfll: An it harm none, do what you will." Wiccans believe in the Law of Three - that anything they send out, good or bad, will come back threefold. (Therefore Wiccans do not condone hexing others with spells.)

I'm not really up on Satanism, but as far as I'm aware, Satanists do not worship anything. They believe first and foremost in self-gratification. I looked Satanism up further and found this list, which should help.

1) Satan represents indulgence, instead of abstinence!
2) Satan represents vital existence, instead of spiritual pipe dreams!
3) Satan represents undefiled wisdom, instead of hypocritical self-deceit!
4) Satan represents kindness to those who deserve it, instead of love wasted on ingrates!
5) Satan represents vengeance, instead of turning the other cheek!
6) Satan represents responsibility to the responsible, instead of concern for psychic vampires!
7) Satan represents man as just another animal, sometimes better, more often worse than those that walk on all-fours, who, because of his divine spiritual and intellectual development, has become the most vicious animal of all!
8) Satan represents all of the so-called sins, as they all lead to physical, mental, or emotional gratification!

From Satanism 101

Wiccans have had to deal with persecution for centuries for their beliefs, as a result of this (most likely) they believe in religious freedom, tolerance and acceptance of all other religions.

Wiccans basically revere nature. They perform rituals to celebrate the lunar and seasonal cycles, and some do spellwork (directing energy drawn from nature to achieve a positive goal).

The difference is that we don't believe in or worship Satan, they do. Satan is a christian creation that we want no part of.

Satanists don't actually worship Satan. Devil Worshippers do, but they aren't the same thing. Satanists don't worship a deity because they believe that doing so is useless. The 'Satan' in Satanism doesn't refer to the Christian Satan, but rather an ideal.

Mmm, I have a friend who was into Wicca, she was only in the Shallow end of that stuff, but she's now a Christian. ^_^ She's alot happier. :) but I guess that's her point of view, I mean no offense. I won't try and debate, cuz this is your thread. :huggle:

Perspective. ^_^

If she was only into the shallow portion of Wicca, then it's kinda hard for you to say where she would have been happiest until she studied both religions indepth, but whatever floats your boat.

I find Wicca fascinating, and some of the charms do seem to work. Overall, I find it a wonderful practice celebrating nature and it's powers--especially precious since so many mortals take the Earth for granted. :aeris:

There are 13 Wiccan Principles. They're really easy too!

1: We practice rites to attune ourselves with the natural rhythm of life forces marked by the phases of the Moon and the seasonal Quarters and Cross-Quarters.

2: We recognise that our intelligence gives us a unique responsibility toward our environment. We seek to live in harmony with Nature, in ecological balance offering fulfilment and consciousness within an evolutionary concept.

3: We acknowledge a depth of power far greater than that apparent to the average person. Because it is far greater than ordinary it is sometimes called supernatural, but we see it, as lying within that which is naturally potential to all.

4: We conceive of the Creative Power in the universe as manifesting through polarity ~ as masculine and feminine ~ and that this same Creative Power lies in all people, and functions through the interaction of the masculine and feminine. We value neither above the other, knowing each to be supportive to each other. We value sex as pleasure, as the symbol and embodiment of life, and as one of the sources of energies used in magickal practice and religious worship.

5: We recognise both outer worlds and inner, or psychological, worlds sometimes known as the Spiritual World, the Collective Unconscious, Inner Planes, etc. ~ and we see in the interaction of these two dimensions the basis for paranormal phenomena and magickal exercises. We neglect neither dimension for the other, seeing both as necessary for our fulfilment.

6: We do not recognise any authoritarian hierarchy, but do honour those who teach, respect those who share their greater knowledge and wisdom, and acknowledge those who have courageously given of themselves in leadership.

7: We see religion, magick, and wisdom in living as being united in the way one views the world and lives within it ~a worldview and philosophy of life which we identify as Witchcraft ~ The Wiccan Way.

8: Calling oneself "Witch" does not make a Witch, but neither does heredity itself, not the collecting of titles, degrees, and initiations. A Witch seeks to control the forces within her/himself that make life possible in order to live wisely and well without harm to others and in harmony with Nature.

9: We believe in the affirmation and fulfilment of life in a continuation of evolution and development of consciousness giving meaning to the Universe we know and our personal role within it.

10: Our only animosity towards Christianity, or towards any other religion or philosophy of life, is to the extent that its institutions have claimed to be "the only way", and have sought to deny freedom to others and to surpress other ways of religious practice and belief.

11: As American {Or World Wide!} Witches, we are not threatened by debates on the history of the Craft, the origins of various terms, the legitimacy of various aspects of different traditions. We are concerned with our present and our future.

12: We do not accept the concept of absolute evil, nor do we worship any entity known as Satan or the Devil, as defined by the Christian tradition. We do not seek power through the sufferings of others, nor accept that personal benefit can be derived only by denial to another.

13: We believe that we should seek within Nature that which is contributory to our health and well being.

::I hope these make some sense to you!::

Thank you for sharing, pink_fl0wers!

:huggle:

Sorry. But that was the first thing I learned. All the way back in 5th grade.

I think I understood all of those--I quite like them. I'll have to resume my studies of Wicca sometime when I next browse a bookshop.