Pagans: Who are they?

When we think of pagans, or witchcraft in general, we might think of a mystical fortune teller, or the Wicked Witch of the West type.  If you've met a real pagan, then you know that neither of these depictions are true.  If you haven't met one, then it's easy to think of an ugly old woman, living in a gingerbread house.  Society has it's own speculations of who other groups are, and which categories they fall into.     

Like goth, pagan people are hard to get to know.  The negative stigmata that is attached to both can fog people's judgement if they want to get to know an individual or not.  Negative stereotypes create this false picture to help people identify those who are involved with a certain group.  "If someone looks scary, or have a strange religion, they must be a Satanist!  That's the only logical explanation!"  Excuse me while I facepalm at the above quote.  No one can really spot what a Satanist looks like, just as no one can spot what a pagan (or other groups) look like.  Just because it looks like a duck and walks like a duck, doesn't mean it's a duck.  Just because someone looks a certain way on the outside (scary, pretty, etc), doesn't mean that's how they are on the inside.

Let's take a look at what pagans aren't like, and what they don't do.

- Pagans are anti-Christian, ungodly, and worship Satan.
- Pagans are religiously confused, or don't understand the greatness of god.
- Pagans are crazy, or mentally unstable.
- All kids and teenagers go through a pagan phase to look 'edgy'.
- Pagans are serial killers and sacrifice animals.
- Pagans eat babies (seriously, some people actually believe this).
- Pagans will lour your children and make them rebel against their parents and god.


So, if none of the above describes who a real pagan is, then what does?

- There are good ones and bad ones, just like how there are good and bad Christians.
- Pagans don't warship Satan.  They don't even believe in a heaven or hell.
- Not all pagans share the same diet, but in no universe do they eat babies.
- Most pagans have successful jobs.  They can be your doctor, dentist, anyone.  They may not want to wear their pentagrams (or other religious symbols), because they are in a professional setting.
- Paganism isn't a 'phase', it's a spiritual path.
- Pagans don't sacrifice animals, they prefer to live side by side with them.
- Pagans are as mentally stable as other people.
- Pagans have no desire to lour your children to do bad things.  They will answer questions that kids have about their religion though.
- Pagans aren't serial killers (most don't like hurting people at all).  Suggesting that everyone in a single religion are serial killers, is silly.

Above all, pagans are just like you and me.



                  

Store Review: 13 Moons

I've reviewed a goth store a long while ago, so now, it's the pagan's turn.  I've recently bought a product from 13 Moons.  I bought a very small, brass mortar and pestles set (it's literally 2" high x 1 3/4" wide).  So far, I'm happy with this product.  The reason why I bought such a small set to begin with, is because 1) It's made of brass, so it'll be harder for it to break (I've been known to be clumsy), and it's easier for me to control how I'm crushing the herbs.  That's just me though, they have a lot of different types of Mortar and pestles set to choose from, as well as many other different products.

I haven't purchased anything else besides my set, but so far, I have no complaints.  They have different categories for everything that they sell.  The prices are fair enough.  If you're on a budget, I suggest you go to a second hand shop, or substitute the tool that you're looking for.  Sometimes the site will have sales, so you may find something then.  For cauldrons and mortar sets, the cheaper, usually that means the smaller as well. If you're ok with that, cool, but if you're not, you may need to pay a little more for the size you want (keep your eye out for sales too though).  The shipping really isn't half bad.  Most of the time, it'll be around six dollars, depending where you live.  When you get the package, you'll also get a surprise gift!  I got a stripped jasper stone.  

Overall, I have no complaints about this store.  I'm looking forward to buying more tools/ingredients soon.

Eclectic Neo-Paganism

There are a lot of terminology with paganism.  If you're new to it, or if you've been reading about the subject for a while, sometimes new terms come up, and you learn a little something new every time you read.  I have been into paganism for over five years, and I have never heard the term Eclectic Neo-Paganism until a few months ago.  Now, I'm sure I'm going to receive a few eye rollings for my previous sentence from people who are more knowledgeable about paganism than I.  I will say this much, I'm only human, which means that I don't claim to know everything.  I didn't know about Eclectic Neo-Paganism, or that this is a specific group within the pagan world.  Forgive me for saying, but terms like this aren't exactly common, and misunderstandings are bound to happen. Certainly, there are a lot more information on the subject now, rather than when I started my pagan path.

So, what is Eclectic Neo-Paganism then?  Let's start by looking at the word Eclectic.  Eclectic means deriving ideas, style, or taste from a broad and diverse range of sources.  Neo-Paganism on the other hand, means modern paganism   Instead of following traditional pagan religions, the religions have been modified to mesh with the modern era.  Most Neo-pagans share a combination of the same beliefs.  Basically, Neo-Paganism takes old concepts of pagan religions of old, and turn them into a more contemporary religion, related to a pagan movement in the 19th century, which helped influence modern pagan religions, like wicca.

Now, if we put Eclectic and Neo-Paganism together, we get a category for people who are involved with paganism, but don't follow a certain pagan religion.  Because in most pagan religions (like wicca) one has to be initiated (among other prerequisites), which means that most people fall into the Eclectic Neo-Paganism group.  It's not a bad thing to be incorporated into this group, nor does it mean that you are any less pagan than anyone else.  Actually, an advantage to being in this group, means that you can branch out and learn anything you want to.  You can take bits and pieces from wicca and other pagan religions of interest, and write your own pagan path that fits your needs.  You don't have to be initiated, you can believe anything you want to, and you don't have to be oathbound about what your practices are.

I myself, happen to be Neowiccan.  Neowiccan (AKA Eclectic Wicca) simply means that I take most of my teachings from wicca (non traditional, but from books like ones from Scott Cunningham) .  Because I don't have any wiccan lineage, am not initiated into a coven, or the like, I can't be considered wiccan.  However, since I convert wiccan teachings to my beliefs and write my own pagan path, I can be considered a Neowiccan.  Now, this doesn't mean that I can't take other interesting information from other pagan religions.  I can very well do that, but as I stated before, I prefer to learn wiccan based beliefs, because my core beliefs match the closest to the wiccan way (as far as the outer teachings go).

Like any religion, it's all about what you are most comfortable with.  You might never become part of wicca, or any other specific pagan religion, but that's ok.  You can always write your own pagan path to what best suites you, and you not being a pagan religion, or whatever shouldn't stop you from being interested in paganism.  Don't let anything like religious status, or disappointment in never being able to be part of a religious group get you down.  If you do have an interest in paganism, then I would do the research before hand, and really think about your core beliefs.  If you still feel that you want to be a pagan, then write your own path and learn about everything, and anything you can.        


Sources:

Neo Wicca
Eclectic Wicca (Neo Wicca)
Neo-Pagan Witchcraft and Solitary Wicca    

Real Witchcraft

This is my first post about witchcraft, which was about time.  I love my gothy posts, but I think I'll turn to other subjects as well.  For this segment, I would like to talk about real witchcraft, and not stuff that you see out of the movies.

There is a lot of confusion about witchcraft.  I can understand why, most people aren't very open with talking about it, as it's still seen as a taboo subject.  Like goth, witchcraft has a lot of negative stereotypes, and people who don't follow it, have bad opinions on it.  Sometimes it's hard to talk to someone about it, without them asking if you warship the devil, or have them roll their eyes and say it's not real.  Maybe it's not real, but it's all about faith, like Christianity, etc.  

A few things that witchcraft is not:

• It's not a cure all.  That means that if you cast a spell, don't expect it cure all your issues.  You still need to make decisions, and you still need to live your life.
• It's not about warshipping the devil.  Actually, you can perform witchcraft, and warship any god you want to.  You can even warship the Christian god, though some would argue with this.  
• It's not evil, but neutral.  It depends on what you send out to the world.  As long as you don't harm anyone, then you're ok.
• If you're expecting to do spells like they do in the movie, The Craft, then sorry to say, they don't exist.  While spells that change your eye color sound cool, they don't work.  You need special contacts for those.  Doing spells for invincibility, or invisibility, won't work.  Same thing with controlling the weather, it's impossible.  That's not what real witchcraft is about.  Real witchcraft is, to be frank, almost like praying, for those who follow Christianity.  Sure, we do love spells, money spells, etc, but like preying, it's about faith, hope, and that what you're doing will help you to find what you're looking for.   
• You don't have to be goth to be into witchcraft.  Some of them are, which is cool, but just like how everyone in the goth community is different, so are all those who practice the craft.
• We certainly don't sacrifice animals, or people.  The media likes to over play this in some movies that feature witchcraft.  Despite what everyone thinks, no, we don't sacrifice living things, or would we want to.  Many people that perform witchcraft would rather live side by side with animals, instead of cutting them open.  Just the thought makes them squirm.  
• Witchcraft isn't a religion.  Most people confuse witchcraft with being a pagan religion like wicca, but it's not.  It's a craft, which means that you perform it, and incorporate it into your life/religion.