About Paganism

*Note* I am no longer Wiccan or any stripe of Pagan but I will leave this up since it’s still a good overview of Paganism and Wicca. Plus, I hold no animosity to my previous beliefs or religion, or those who hold those beliefs. But I’m not going to update this page. **Actually, this is just a c&p job from my old blog. I’m keeping it because I like having the info up. Paganism is a misunderstood group of religions, I still reference this info when I answer questions on Y!A, and I still might occasionally write about the subject.**

The opinions on this page are mine and are not the official words of any tradition, movement, religion, or authority. Different people will define these terms differently, however you will find that how I have defined things like Paganism and Wicca are consistent with the prevailing thought.

Paganism refers to a group of religions rather than one specific religion. A Pagan religion is a non-Abrahamic religion, that is, not Judaism, Christianity, or Islam, and one that wishes to identify as Pagan. There are several religions that are non-Abrahamic that do not identify as Pagan such as Buddhism and Hinduism. There are many, many Pagan religions. The beliefs and practices of these Pagan religions really don’t have anything in common despite what you might have heard.

Some common misconceptions about Pagans are:

All Pagans are Polytheistic. You will find duotheism, henotheism, monolatrism, kathenotheism, and even atheism. There are also pantheists, panentheists, and archetypalists. I don’t personally know any monotheistic Pagans, but… no, actually I do. You simply can’t group all Pagans into one theistic grouping.

Pagans worship the Earth or Paganism is an earth centered religion. There are a very few Pagans who worship the earth, but this is very rare. It is a common criticism to level at Pagans “they worship the creation, not the creator.” It is pretty much a baseless claim. I don’t know any Pagan that worships rocks or dirt. There are those that believe that deity is immanent and everything contains the spark of life and the divine so a stream is just as divine as a human. But we don’t worship rocks. We are also not all Earth centered. In fact, I don’t even know what “Earth Centered” means. We are centered on the Earth in that all the Pagans I have ever met live on the planet Earth. But past that, we don’t worship the Earth either nor do we consider it the focus of our religions. We also do not all worship an Earth Mother. There are plenty of goddesses that have that association. Some Pagans honor such a goddess, some do not.

All Pagans are Wiccans or Witches or believe in magic. No, no, and no. Wicca is one of many Pagan religions, just one. Witchcraft is a practice and we’ll get into that later, but probably most Pagans are not witches. Along with that magic is also a practice and there are just as many practitioners of magic that are not Pagans as those that are.

All Pagans are young, old, fat, skinny, feminists, hippies, poor, unemployed, insane, any other insulting on generalizing adjective. No, just no. There are all types of Pagans. I’m a thin, 34 year old stay at home mom. I live in a middle class neighborhood with a Homeowners Association and drive a big ‘ol SUV. I have coven mates that work in social services, hospitals, office buildings, and all sorts of things. Pagans are just like everyone else. The only thing you can really pin on us is that there is a high chance our homes will be filled with lots and lots of books.

So now that we’ve dealt with some misconceptions, just who are all these Pagans. There are lots and lots of Pagan religions. I couldn’t even begin to name them all. Here’s a few though. I’ll try to eventually get in here and give some descriptions and links for these. Some Pagan religions are:

Helenismos (Greek Reconstructionism), Kemeticism (Egyptian Reconstructionism), Asatru (Norse Recon), Celtic Recon, Religio Romano, Druidry, Wicca, Dianic Pagans, Feri, and Eclectic Pagans.

Eventually I’ll put at least some links to sites for some of these religions, but for now I’ll just cover the one religion I know most about which is my own.

What is Wicca?

Wicca is a religion. Some Wiccans are initiated into traditions and work in covens, others are solitary. There is a decent amount of leeway within Wicca as far as beliefs and practices as there is no one book of doctrine or high up official that decides what is Wicca and what is not. However, there are core tenets of the religion and Wicca is not a “make it up as you go” religion. The core tenets of the religion, the principles that make Wicca, Wicca are:

1. Honor the gods. Which gods are honored and how they are honored exactly will vary depending on the tradition and/or individual Wiccan. Though the rituals in Wicca are part of the way in which we honor the gods.

2. Acknowledge the Sabbats. The Sabbats are seasonal celebrations, there are 8 traditional Sabbats: Winter Solstice, February Eve, Vernal Equinox, May Eve, Summer Solstice, August Eve, Autumn Equinox, and November Eve. These are the traditional names for the Sabbats though other names have come into popular use. How these are celebrated will vary.

3. Embrace the Wiccan Rede which states: An it harm none, do as you will. It has become a trend to shorten the rede to “harm none” and to interpret the rede as “harm none”. The rede is 8 words, not two and the rede does not mean “harm none.” It would be impossible to truly “harm none.” One of the best essays on the meaning of the rede can be found here and it is so well put that I have no interest in re-explaining it. Additionally, there is also an unfortunate trend to confuse the Wiccan Rede with the 26 line poem, The Rede of the Wiccae by Gwen Thompson and Adriana Porter. The two are not the same. A history of that poem as well as the text of it can be found here

Those are the core tenets of Wicca. Some other important details in understanding Wicca:

Wicca is not modern witchcraft. Wicca and witchcraft are not synonymous. Wicca is a religion, witchcraft is a practice and can be practiced by one of any religion or no religion at all. Some Wiccans practice witchcraft and some do not. Here is a very well reasoned essay on why we might not want to use the word witch.

Wicca is not an ancient religion. It is a modern religion (about 60 years old) and it’s root are very traceable. The very best resource for the history of Wicca is Ronald Hutton’s Triumph of the Moon. This is a book every single Wiccan should read.

Wicca is in no way shape or form related to any Witch Trials. The Burning Times is not an event that has any relation to us. Those people were almost without exception Christians and they certainly were not Wiccans. It was a terrible time in history, but it is not our history. Here is a nice article on the subject. Note that this website also has a good article on the history of Wicca.

Wicca is not about spells, candles, incense, or any other physical object or supernatural activity. The main function of Wicca is honoring the gods. There are no tools required to honor the gods. You don’t need to buy anything to honor them.

Those are the most frequent bits of information I find myself giving about Wicca. The last piece of information I’ll give is a link for local resources. The Witches’ Voice is an excellent source for finding local shops, events, people, groups, and covens. If you do decide to meet others take a look at this page first. 99% of the people you meet will be absolutely lovely, but unfortunately as with any other group of people, there are untrustworthy Pagans too. Be safe and make sure any person or group you are meeting is safe. Always meet people in a public place first and never give out personal information until you know someone better.

That’s it for now. I’ll try to add more info as I get the time.