[HALLIEBETH87]

anyone wiccan/pagan?

[HALLIEBETH87]

ok...anyone have opinions on paganism?

[Sherryanne]

guess id have to understand what it is first.....

[January]

I have friends who are wiccan. They honor the earth like many of the Native American traditions.

They are not the horrible people that most movies, etc make them out to be.

Jan

[bebop]

my stepdaughter is wiccan. I know they worship mother earth but also it is a form of witchcraft I believe. I think they call it white magic or something like that.

[(JD)]

Halliebeth, what are your intended outcomes from asking these questions? I can't give you support without knowing a bit more of what you need. TC

i have wiccan friends. it's very close to what the American Indian believes. i never judge anyone because of their faith. i don't think it's the right thing to do......and i don't believe that anyone's beliefs are more important/true/real/whatever than anyone else's faith......xoxoxo pat

[InACorner]

as a teenager who wanted to try new things i did look into wiccan.....and did try it...however i guess im more of Gods girl than anything...for me it was just an experiment....so why ya asking youve got me curious lol...

paganism was the first ever religion, it's not devil worship or satanism or anything else attached to it. pagans worship all that is good, nature, the earth, i though all that mumbo jumbo about witchcraft linked to pagans was over by now. they use natural remedies and original potions that were around before anything else. wiccan is a different thing, alexander crowley gave wiccan a bad name, alaathough there are still good wiccans practising out there. my daughter sort of is wiccan, she's also an angel to me, no voodoo dolls or witchcraft, just herbs and nice words which are classed as 'spells' nothing sinister.
pagans are good, honest people. it was around way before christianity as it is now. sorry if this offends anyone but it's my opinion, i do not judge other people's oinions on religion, each to their own.

what I will say is that I went to a pagan festival and there was a preacher with a banner saying we should all burn in hell and told my friends daughter she was a ***** - she was 12 at the time. is this a good way for a christian to behave? I think not.

jinny xoxoxoxox

[HALLIEBETH87]

i was just curious. i was brought up as a southern baptist, but am looking into pagansim....reading about wicca right now. im not sure i so much believe the polytheism parts>but i will say as for the goddess/god...i believe in mother earth and god but not in the same way some wiccans do with the two seperate beings. i moreso believe they are one, but 2 ideas. make sense? is that a pagan 'belief?' i believe the earth holds, somewhat supernatural, powers. i also believe that god is not seperated from us (as in, Up in Heaven while we're down here) but that he is IN us, AROUND, us and with us at all times...i guess im just thinking my personal beliefs ( that were never taught to me) are more of a pagan belief system than christian.

[LMo]

You know, Halliebeth, here's how I look at spirituality. I was also brought up within a christian faith, but many things either turned me off (usually the people) or seemed too farfetched to buy into. But instead of finding a category to put myself into, I simply searched for understanding of my values and my own beliefs, similar to what you've been doing. There are aspects of any religion (definitely including paganism) that make sense to me, but religion doesn't define me. I define me, and my own morals and values guide me through life instead of a list of rules that somebody else wrote.

Just a perspective and my experience, if it gives you something to consider. I think that studying other religions is extremely important for historical purposes as well as for giving food for thought so that we understand ourselves.

You could discover that you're a Halliebethist, for example...

[HALLIEBETH87]

you express yourself ver well LMo. Thanks for your reply. Its basically just that I want to know what 'label' others consider my beliefs to fall in.

[HerOdyssey]

Don't let the inclusion of various dieties confuse you; Wicca and Paganism both require that you seek the answers within yourself, using the gifts and energies given to you by the world and the universe. Pagan and Wiccan gods do not provide the answers, nor do they require your abject fear of them in order to benefit you spiritually.

The various dieties serve to connect you to the universe on an elemental level; and to channel the energy around you.

It is a very pure spirituality; and it can be practiced alone or with others.

Both ideologies believe in protecting and honouring nature and the earth; and to give the gift of womanhood the respect it deserves.

I've been a sole practitioner of the Wiccan ways since I was seventeen. It has been the spiritual thread that has kept me tethered to life, sometimes and has opened my eyes to the beauty and synergy of our world.

[HALLIEBETH87]

i have just become so absorbed by the energies and everything the earth holds intrigues me. i find myself glowing as bright as the stars i gaze at...its empowering.

I am well.. the closest thing I can call myself is wiccan.

I am a solitary wiccan however, prefering to practise alone.

[LMo]

</font><blockquote><div id="quote"><font class="small">Quote:</font>
HerOdyssey said:
Wicca and Paganism both require that you seek the answers within yourself, using the gifts and energies given to you by the world and the universe. Pagan and Wiccan gods do not provide the answers, nor do they require your abject fear of them in order to benefit you spiritually.

</div></font></blockquote><font class="post">

Very good post...

[SeptemberMorn]

</font><blockquote><div id="quote"><font class="small">Quote:</font>
HerOdyssey said:
Pagan and Wiccan gods do not provide the answers, nor do they require your abject fear of them in order to benefit you spiritually.


</div></font></blockquote><font class="post">

What god are you refering to that requires abject fear from his followers?

<font color="#000088"> I was Wiccan for about 6 years,I haven't really been practicing anything for awhile,but if I was going to start again,it would probably be wiccan.....I still read Tarot Cards! </font>

[HALLIEBETH87]

maybe....the christian god?

[SeptemberMorn]

The Judeo-Christian God is not the One that demands abject fear from His people. The old English translation uses "fear" because in those days it meant "respect."

It's the doomsdayers and the hell and damnation preachers that want to win over people to their side by litteraly scaring "the hell" out of them.

That's not what God is about. God is Love. Jesus' greatest commandment was that we love one another like He loves us. To me, there's nothing fearsome about that! Awesome, yes. Fearsome, not at all!

[HALLIEBETH87]

i was raised a 'god fearing baptist'

[SeptemberMorn]

LOL And I was raised "a God-fearing Presbyterian." When I got out on my own, I waffled quite a bit but wanting to raise my kids in church, I had opportunity to hear the word of God through a minister that was in touch with the Love of God. So much of my "Christianity" had been so slanted it barely resembled it's name.

You weren't Southern Baptist were you?

[HALLIEBETH87]

yes. very much so. y?

[SeptemberMorn]

That's where the "fear" comes from, Hon. IMHO, I found Southern Baptists very stiff, legalistic and fear (the true meaning of fear, not respect) inducing.

Please read my post on the Five Absolutes. If you can embrace those, that's all you need to have a good relationship with Christ. The rest of the Bible is up to what it says to YOU personally.

It's totally up to you what you decide, though. I'm not pushing you in any direction. Just telling you what I have learned and I'm doing it with love, ok?

[blah__x]

i've had a number of pagan and wiccan friends. with the pagan friends, most were into "white magic" and the sort but i did have two or three mates that were into the more.."sinister" stuff so to speak.

cheers