Pagan images create feelings of freedom, excitement, and intimacy. A ring of fires blazing in the night as the moon rises...drums beating as people dry off from a ritual bath...flesh is bared and a sword is raised...Any such scenes could come from a pagan ritual, or none of them because paganism summons diversity and encourages creativity.
Paganism as a religion has proven difficult for academics to define in narrow terms. Essentially a common element among people who practice pagan rituals is that very little restriction is placed upon imagination. Different groups of pagans devise their own ways of performing rituals according to their tastes, region, and ways of thinking about their sacred realms. Paganism has no strict rule book or laws laid down by prophets that must be obeyed by followers.
Because paganism tends to allow its practitioners to explore their own visions of how to worship the sacred, it can be said to allow people great freedom within the religion. Pagan religions make spaces where their members can be imaginative in their philosophies and rituals. This element of freedom in paganism has been identified as a factor that attracts some people to the religion. Wiccan priestess and NPR correspondent, Margot Adler in her classic book "Drawing Down the Moon" described paganism as a "religion without converts" because people decide individually to seek pagan spirituality. Pagans rarely proselytize their faith, and, Adler noted, that a pagan group might even be quite selective about accepting new members.
During her extensive research about paganism, Adler conducted interviews with people who identified religiously as pagans. When asking people what they liked about it, she discovered several prominent reasons.
Environmental Alignment: Paganism, whatever its methods and philosophies, is always rooted in Nature. Pagans revere Nature, and their attraction to paganism is often motivated by the environmental destruction of Nature that is going on everywhere. They see that they need to connect with the natural sacredness of all creation. They want a religious expression of ecological truths that are becoming increasingly apparent.
Feminist Alignment: Unlike the monotheistic patriarchal religions that are hostile to women and all that is female, paganism embraces both the feminine and masculine. Women are accepted within paganism as powerful, creative, and beneficial forces. Mother Earth worship and Goddess worship occur throughout paganism. Women play crucial roles as priestesses or witches. Unlike most religions, paganism gives women a respected place. To put it simply, the feminine is part of paganism. Therefore, some women come to this religion because of its ability to support feminist thought.
Intellectual Stimulation: Pagans often report that they find pagan subjects, esoteric knowledge, and ancient practices interesting and that they like to learn about many things, especially on spiritual subjects. Because they find that paganism is open to learning about new subjects, people who crave to continually expand their outlook fit in well. This makes sense because paganism sees sacredness in all of creation and learning more simply means knowing more about the sacred.
Adler noted many times in "Drawing Down the Moon" that pagans are avid readers, and this appetite for reading was not related to education level or socioeconomic class. Pagans regardless of education or profession read books frequently. Some of them even cited their extensive reading as what led them to accepting paganism as their spiritual guide.
Because they read many books, pagans often include books in the fantasy genre on their shelves. This can be explained because fantasy books frequently are set close to Nature. Characters exist within a world that has a low technology level, as in most high fantasy books like "The Lord of the Rings." Another aspect of fantasy fiction that fits in well with pagan tastes is the conceptualization of magical powers that are derived from realms other than technology.
Although pagan religious groups are decidedly out of the mainstream, they can be found throughout the world in one form or another. Paganism, so often reviled throughout history as large state-allied religions asserted themselves throughout much of civilization, has never been completely abandoned. People seeking spiritual expression come to it from many directions and practice pagan rituals in many ways that are constantly updating as paganism continues its quiet existence within larger societies.
This article about paganism was written by Tracy Falbe, who is the author of The Rys Chronicles. She invites book lovers to visithttp://www.braveluck.com and discover the pleasures of epic fantasy. Book I of her series is a free fantasy ebook.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tracy_Falbe
No comments:
Post a Comment