Day-to-day practicalites of becoming a Pagan?
- Thread starter Hollis
- Start date
ItWillNeverWork
Messy Crimbobs, fellow humans.
Why bother with any religion?
ViolentPanda
Hardly getting over it.
Hollis said:Might be a good way to make some new mates though.
Admit it, you just want to see the Wicca Chickas dancing naked in the moonlight, don't you?
sheothebudworths
Up the bum - no babies!!!
My friend took her daughter and boyfriend and as it turned out, heo - who was just after a smoke tbh - up to the park for Beltaine where they had a vegan bbq and my mate dressed up as a hippy and did some sort of funny business.
They may have had a small hand at enjoying themselves too - I wouldn't know about that though - but they certainly dawdled all the way home, looking for one of the small girls hippy outfits - she lost it in the park and was distraught apparently - and got heo into immense trouble with me cos I never wanted the small boy staying out that late on a school night.
We all had a lie in in the morning though and he just went in an hour late and everyone was happy.
She very kindly ignored gender boundaries too and went on to make my son a living crown ( ) after he expressed a very keen interest in having one identical to those she made for her/her bf's daughter.
She gave it to him at the fair a few nights later, but he said he was too embarrassed to wear it cos people might laugh, but the next morning he lodged it firmly on his head and wore it up to school 'for show and tell....oh no, not show and tell...'...they gave show and tell up in the infants....he obviously just wanted to wear it....LOL! <cries>
He didn't lose it either, which makes a fucking change.
I had a nice quiet time at home meself and I'd certainly be the first to recommend a bit of P & Q if that helps at all, Hollis..
They may have had a small hand at enjoying themselves too - I wouldn't know about that though - but they certainly dawdled all the way home, looking for one of the small girls hippy outfits - she lost it in the park and was distraught apparently - and got heo into immense trouble with me cos I never wanted the small boy staying out that late on a school night.
We all had a lie in in the morning though and he just went in an hour late and everyone was happy.
She very kindly ignored gender boundaries too and went on to make my son a living crown (
) after he expressed a very keen interest in having one identical to those she made for her/her bf's daughter.She gave it to him at the fair a few nights later, but he said he was too embarrassed to wear it cos people might laugh, but the next morning he lodged it firmly on his head and wore it up to school 'for show and tell....oh no, not show and tell...'...they gave show and tell up in the infants....he obviously just wanted to wear it....LOL! <cries>
He didn't lose it either, which makes a fucking change.
I had a nice quiet time at home meself and I'd certainly be the first to recommend a bit of P & Q if that helps at all, Hollis..
Flavour
hang the bankers
Paganism
I went pagan once for a 7 week period in 2002, it was a fucking nightmare. Rabbits started showing up in me garden acting out the story of orpheus eurydice, even building a mini-warren around the shed to be the underworld, a pair of falcons flew in through my bathroom window and started pecking mysterious hieroglyphic patterns with their big fuck off beaks into my bathtub (i was
as well, let me tell you) and a fox named zebrodecimus skips turned up one morning having killed all the rabbits and then used the old "it was a sacrifice to the god Dionysus" defense. LOAD OF BOLLOCKS SKIPS MATE, AND WE BOTH KNOW IT
I tell you Hollis - going Pagan, it's ain't fucking worth it. I wouldn't do it again if you payed me in gemstones.
I went pagan once for a 7 week period in 2002, it was a fucking nightmare. Rabbits started showing up in me garden acting out the story of orpheus eurydice, even building a mini-warren around the shed to be the underworld, a pair of falcons flew in through my bathroom window and started pecking mysterious hieroglyphic patterns with their big fuck off beaks into my bathtub (i was
as well, let me tell you) and a fox named zebrodecimus skips turned up one morning having killed all the rabbits and then used the old "it was a sacrifice to the god Dionysus" defense. LOAD OF BOLLOCKS SKIPS MATE, AND WE BOTH KNOW IT I tell you Hollis - going Pagan, it's ain't fucking worth it. I wouldn't do it again if you payed me in gemstones.
Bernie Gunther
Fundamentalist Druid
It is tricky to get a decent set of ceremonial antlers these days.
On the other hand, an old WW2 kukri makes an excellent druidical sickle substitute, and is so much more practical.
On the other hand, an old WW2 kukri makes an excellent druidical sickle substitute, and is so much more practical.
ViolentPanda
Hardly getting over it.
Bernie Gunther said:
I admire your practicality, although I suspect your thumbs don't, if you're following the usual kukri-related admonition to never draw it without allowing it to taste blood.
On the whole I find "mainstream" neo-Paganism rather depressing, mostly because of it's absorption of some of the more nauseatingly twee elements of so-called "New Age" philosophy rather than retaining a more practical and grounded "everyday" view of life.
"New Age" philosophies are fine if you need to believe in your own ability to transcend the common run of life, to celebrate your own specialness, but they're not much use as a method of drawing spiritually-minded people together into common/communal pursuits and endeavours, which given many component elements of neo-Paganism's professedly community and environmentally-centred aims, seems rather foolish.
DrRingDing
'anti-human wanker'
When I become 40 I'm going to be a pagan as you get to see lots of young women in the nude and you get to grow a big bushy white beard
Hollis
bloody furious
sheothebudworths said:I had a nice quiet time at home meself and I'd certainly be the first to
recommend a bit of P & Q if that helps at all, Hollis..
Hmm a copy of "Wicca: A guide for the solitary practitioner" - by Scott Cunningham - would suggest you can develop your wicca skills without the distraction of having any mates..
I think i might take some time out to investigate this stuff..
story
Gone for a Burton
Hollis - there are some good books about, but one of the important things about paganism is that there is no Book.
There are many models and systems within paganism, you'll have to find the one that resonates best with your own sensibilites.
At base, and at core, it is a Nature-centric religion/philosophy. Most pagans feel that Nature is sacred in and of itself. They then attempt to connect with that in any number of ways.
You OP was about the day to day practicalities - well there being no Book or dogma, that is largely up to you.
For some, it's about preparing and sharing food (the simplest and oldest form of alchemy). Others set aside some time eachday to pray or meditate; others yet try to make every chore into a prayer or an offering. Sex and relationships are another area where pagans focus their religion.
In many ways, it's exactly the same as any other religion or philosophical model for living, in that your sensibilites and beliefs inform your choices and decisions. Pagans will be aware and careful of environmental issues, for instance.
Most pagans celebrate the Circle of the Year, which is framed around the solar and seasonal "corners" or hinges of the annual cycle: Samhain, Winter Solstice, Imbolc, Vernal Equinox, Beltane, Summer Solstice, Lammas, Mabon Equinox, and back to Samhain.
Being in an urban environment makes it tricky to observe the the turning of the year, and most pagans will try to get out onto the land for extended periods, to celebrate at least one of these festivals. Many will find some way to live outdoors for the duration - camping or hiking. They'll gather at some sacred site (such as Stonehenge) and stay up all night to see in the dawn.
More and more, pagans are exploring their local sacred sites, since the big ones are now so crowded and issues of access and policing are becoming problematic.
And so on...
There are many models and systems within paganism, you'll have to find the one that resonates best with your own sensibilites.
At base, and at core, it is a Nature-centric religion/philosophy. Most pagans feel that Nature is sacred in and of itself. They then attempt to connect with that in any number of ways.
You OP was about the day to day practicalities - well there being no Book or dogma, that is largely up to you.
For some, it's about preparing and sharing food (the simplest and oldest form of alchemy). Others set aside some time eachday to pray or meditate; others yet try to make every chore into a prayer or an offering. Sex and relationships are another area where pagans focus their religion.
In many ways, it's exactly the same as any other religion or philosophical model for living, in that your sensibilites and beliefs inform your choices and decisions. Pagans will be aware and careful of environmental issues, for instance.
Most pagans celebrate the Circle of the Year, which is framed around the solar and seasonal "corners" or hinges of the annual cycle: Samhain, Winter Solstice, Imbolc, Vernal Equinox, Beltane, Summer Solstice, Lammas, Mabon Equinox, and back to Samhain.
Being in an urban environment makes it tricky to observe the the turning of the year, and most pagans will try to get out onto the land for extended periods, to celebrate at least one of these festivals. Many will find some way to live outdoors for the duration - camping or hiking. They'll gather at some sacred site (such as Stonehenge) and stay up all night to see in the dawn.
More and more, pagans are exploring their local sacred sites, since the big ones are now so crowded and issues of access and policing are becoming problematic.
And so on...
sheothebudworths
Up the bum - no babies!!!
That path looks a touch busy to me, Hollis.
sheothebudworths
Up the bum - no babies!!!
sheothebudworths
Up the bum - no babies!!!
King Biscuit Time
Well-Known Member
Is it ok to be a pagan if you don't believe any of the supernatural stuff, but just think that the rituals and ceremonies are just nice things to do?
Thats about where I am.
Thats about where I am.
story
Gone for a Burton
In Bloom said:
Many pagans also follow Christian thinking.
There is nothing homogenous about cultures. Pagans do recognise this. Many are very well read in theology and mythology, and they discuss such mattters at great length. Pagans recognise that there is no one authority, no one true way to connect with Spirit, and they are open minded to the idea that *your* way may be useful, and certainly will be interesting.
Pagans are accused of creating a pick and mix ideology because they recognise the truth and beauty in many different cultures and philosophies. While it is true that there will be some pagans who enjoy the stuff they like and jettison the stuff they don't, there are also many many pagans who are very disciplined. There is more structure and cohesion within paganism than many people realise.
You can't just pick out the bits you like from a series of fundamentally different, often mutually contradictory belief systems and ignore the nasty parts (which often follow logically from the nice, hippy sounding bits that "Pagans" accept). That's not the way the world works.story said:
sheothebudworths
Up the bum - no babies!!!
story said:
Oh
- I feel a bit like deliberately stubbing my toe and feeling that pain now. )))))) Hollis
((((((And while we're on the subject, taking a load of mushies and then insisting to everybody that the stuff you're seeing is really there but we just don't see it because of all the filters put on our perceptions by our western lifestyles doesn't make you a shaman, it makes you a stupid prick.
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