Archived People who identify as Pagans...What is Paganism to you? (AskVoat)
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Archived People who identify as Pagans...What is Paganism to you? (AskVoat)
submitted ago by Survivorofthemeta
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[–] maliceotaku 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago (edited ago)
Paganism is pretty simple, it's pretty much the dictionary definition. Believing/Worshiping multiple gods and goddesses. Which specific gods/pantheons they go for is up to the individual (greek, roman, norse, celtic, druidic, Wiccan, other). Although Hindu, to my knowledge, isn't "counted" by pagans. I believe due to the fact that it's a large and currently functioning religion (I honestly can't give you a better reason than that, because they have a crap-ton of gods too). Also, most pagans tend to believe in magic (magick for the new agers/Wiccans) and casting of spells of some form. Not to single out pagans, all religions have some form of magic in them, whether it's a person making magic happen, or a god making magic things happen. But pagans take a more personal sense of "power" instead of just the particular god having the ability to do so.
Examples of magic:
Pagans - love spells, hex spells, summoning rituals (not nessicarly demons, they tend more toward "spirits" or straight up ghosts of dead people), Cleansing rites (this house is clear). even exorcisms. Each of these is at a personal power level, meaning the power comes from the person, not from a deity, or the power is granted by whatever specific deity the person worships but is still largely limited to their ability to "cast" said magic.
Monotheistic religions - (Christianity, Muslim, Jewish, others i may be leaving out) Turning water to wine, turning a person into a pillar of salt, summoning 4 "she-bears" to maul/eat 40 kids, parting the red sea, all that is magic, just wielded by a god instead of a person. Although some "powers" are granted to people like cleansing rites (this house is still clear) and exorcisms.
Lastly, by technicality, the monotheistic religions are actually paganistic religions. Lucifer is a deity, you might not worship him, but if he can fuck with things god did, or thwart him in any way... yep, buy definition, Lucifer is a god, and that would mean there are 2 gods in Christianity. One good, one evil... just like Wiccans (the goddess and the horned god).
My explanation is from my point of view, having at one time been pagan (i predominately followed the gods of death and time, because those are the two you could never escape, no specific pantheon). Later i grew up and realized all religions are full of shit and are batshit crazy. That's when I became an atheist.