Q: "You're Pagan? What's that?"

Like many of us, I’ve spent a great deal of time questioning and distilling the nature of my beliefs. Thus, I could say a lot on the topic, however, in general, I find that people do not want [and are not interested in] a lecture. So over the years I’ve managed to distil my POV into a single sentence:

A: "It means I draw my spiritual influences from pan-European* belief systems."

Typically that ends the questioning. As is, the topic rarely comes up. I’ve only been pressed to elaborate a couple of times. I think I answered with something along the lines of:

“My spiritual practices come from the indigenous beliefs of my ancestors prior to the advent of aggressive foreign religions.”

And of course, I say it with a smile. That's important! :)

* European applies to me. Insert whatever geographic region that applies to you, or if you are a mix-and-match Pagan, perhaps “pan-cultural” would suffice.

Oct 29, 2008 -- 11:15PM, gorm_sionnach wrote:

So your a Pagan... could be a little more specific;)  Since the definition of Pagan gets thrown around and analyzed and scrutinized, dissected and digested all the time, perhaps a different tack would be in order. Where do you fall in the wide and sparkly mosaic (I like this so much better than umbrella, and maybe you don't, if so, too bad for you) that is Paganism. Are you a Celtic Recon? Asatru? Witch? Wiccan? Druid? Shaman? Polytheist? Hellenic Recon? Pan-Pagan? Dianic? Reclaiming? Goddess centered? God Centered? One of a hundred other groupings I've missed?

GEM,

You raised an interesting question. Let me offer my perception on this.

Labels are very important within a noun-centric language like English. One cannot go through the day without using labels including such words as hearts and souls, earth, sky etc. These are all labels. They are a shorthand description that enables an English-speaker to figure out where someone else fits in the big picture or what part of that big picture someone is referring to. Sometimes labels do create misconceptions along the way if folks define the same label differently. Souls is an interesting example of this, by the way. When labels are not provided or offered, as personal labels are always a choice, English-speakers unconsciously will either apply a label from what they perceive of another or they will ask for a description from which to extrapolate such. For those who choose to share what they are, a label such as Pagan or more specifically Eclectic Pagan, Dianic Pagan, Celtic Pagan etc. provides to a shorthand description of the major themes that frame what an individual believes.

When you wrote, I use a bit of the all, I instantly 'labelled' you as an Eclectic Pagan.  That describes to me the major theme of your wisdom walk.

C.H.

Nov 5, 2009 -- 1:36PM, Goldeneagle wrote:

Hi all, a newcomer here.

Being a solitary type who doesn't care much for labels, I have no idea what 'type' I am! The more reading I do, it seems to get more and more convoluted... I suppose I'm something like a hedge witch/kitchen witch/hearth witch.

Here are my beliefs in a nutshell.

I do believe in....

• Living in tune with Nature
• Celebrating the turning of the seasons and their meaning/themes, in the context of the 8 traditional sabbats
• An overall energy/spirit/force which is present in everything, and the influences & interactions between these. This includes element-type energies.
• Working with these natural forces, in the context of spellwork, healing etc
• Evolution, the Big Bang etc (until scientists come up with another theory)

I do not believe in...

• Specific deity/ies
• Organised religion

I'd be really interested in people's opinions... any thoughts?

=)

"Pantheistic Witch" comes to mind, albeit not every religion/spirituality needs label itself in regards to its posistion on deity.

Though I assume your statement "I do not believe in Organized religion" is more of a statement on the propriety of religious institutions, rather than whether they actually exist, whereas your statement about deity is about whether they exist or not?

Any particular reason why you do not believe in the existence of specific deities?