Many Have Asked...

...me what I mean in my signature by Pagan. This is also a hot topic online right now because of Halloween coming up. I am going to place some information about Halloween at a later date.

Here's my answer to Paganism:

I am using the term Pagan to be used with the definition:

"A modern religious movement that encompasses traditions which are generally earth-centered; magickal; indigenous; stress a connection to and respect for the natural world; recognize both male and female deities; encourage diversity in spiritual beliefs, practices, and lifestyles; do not operate under a central hierarchy; have no official or standerdized dogma that extends beyond the particular tradition; and stresses personal responsibility in matters of belief, ethics, and spiritual practice." -PAGANISM; An Introduction To Earth-Centered Religions by: Joyce & River Higginbotham

It's a religion, not a cult. It does not usually have anything to do with Christianity, though there are some who claim to be Christian Pagan, and those would include hell and heaven in their practices. It has some things to do with the occult in some cases. Has a lot to do with pluralism since everything must have a male and female side. There is no recognized sin, so salvation wouldn't be included unless someone said it to one of us to "save our souls." Some of us consider ourselves to be the more modern version of a Witch. Some of us claim to do Witchcraft. The Unitarian churches welcome us to their services, but many of us don't go. We are Universalist, in the sense that I know of the word, because we believe everything is combined in the Universe. Voodoo is the witchcraft known in the Hoodoo religion. Hoodoo or Voodoo is not a Pagan known religion, but one more closely associated with Santeria or African tribe based religions not commonly associated with the new movement of Paganism.

Asking a Pagan to describe their religion is like taking the many different type of Christian religious sects and asking them to describe their religion. Ask three Christians, one Catholic, one Latter Day Saint, and one Seven Day Adventist what the common Christian believes and they most likely will have three different answers, except they all believe in Christ. Well, all Pagans believe in the Earth as a thing to worship.

My form of Paganism is a family tradition that my mother had taught me. We do everything naturally (for the most part. I never was vaccinated, but I think it's time we went a little modern so I changed that part of our Holy Book to allow it.) I do make our own medicine using herbs I either buy or grow. We have celebrations for the moon cycles and the seasons. We also celebrate our own growing up. We honor our ancestors everyday and we honor our house spirits so that they may protect us. We use divination, but do it wisely as according to our teachings. I also own many books on the different sects of Paganism, because I love learning about my fellow Pagans (hence the book I quoted up top. I found that in an airport on my way over to Japan.) I also try to learn about as many other religions as I can.

I hope I've cleared some of this up. Anymore questions and I am here. I don't mind answering them.