everything pagan

okay, i'm just curious to see how many people are non-western religion (this includes judaism, christianity, and islam). if you're one of those, please don't spam this thread with things like "you're going to hell if you don't believe in god!" or something of that sort (this argument is the one that really irritates me the most). this isn't the place for it. be considerate and don't try to tear people down because they don't believe in the same god you do.

i'll start with just a few questions (but keep in mind that you're not limited to just these! say anything you want!)
what do you call yourself belief wise, that is, if you call yourself anything? (i.e. wicca, druid, plain old pagan, ancestor worship, etc.)
what's the core of your belief? (this isn't here so people can tell you it's wrong. it's just here to help share ideas that some people may not have thought of yet, or to help build on your own.)
what else do you want to share, if anything? (pretty much anything else you feel like.)

okay, i'll answer my own questions.
so far i'm just a plain old pagan. i can't make up my mind on anything definate, but i'm pretty good with the new age side of things. i'm pretty proficient in norito prayers, and i can read into feng shui real well, almost like a natural talent of mine.

i'm completely nature based. it's my only refuge from the world, and the only place i can actually think without worries. i believe that everything comes from nature, and returns to nature after passing through a series of lives in order to become one with nature again. i prefer natural herbs and plants to medicines and such too. and i'm a heavy believer in intuition.

i read tarot cards, love sci-fi, and thrive off controversy in the theological area of human ideas. people at school hate the fact that i know more about their religions than they do, and i use facts from them to point out flaws in the rigid belief systems of the officially organized religions. however, i don't do this to make them feel like their beliefs are completely wrong. far from it! i point out the flaws so that they can work on them to make them better, and when i argue with people about them, i tell them this. but no one seems to listen. i also don't care too much for people who try to shove their religion down your throat. it's embarassing, especially to the person doing the shoving.

i'll post something else here when i can think of more. right now, i'm just so tired.

[Gorath Sodom]

what do you call yourself belief wise, that is, if you call yourself anything?

I consider myself agnostic.

What's the core of your belief?

I am not sure if there is a divine force or not (I'm leaning towards yes as we had to get here some how) or if this divine force is similar to what any religious texts depict (I lean towards no). I also believe trying to decipher whatever divine force is out there is irrelevant as we are too underevolved to understand such things and further more a waste of precious time. That said...

Judeo-Christians and the like, stop trying to understand god, you're too under evolved for such a thing.

[Yuki-onna]

Hmm.

My religion doesn't press into people's heads what they should believe; sometimes I wonder why we even classify it as a whole religion; there are so many different sections, thoughts, inner beliefs.
There are pitifully few of us compared to others in the world; but we're not set in convincing people or mostly even telling people about our thoughts.

The core of my belief would be hard to say. I'll sum it up as belief in oneself, believing you have purpose, and respecting all souls around you.

We do not believe in gods as described in say the bible, but we do think there are certain helpers and forces that sometimes guide us or whatnot.

Neshkou.

that's an intriguing statement Ambika. i think if more people thought simmilarly, then maybe there wouldn't be so much strife in the world. i mean, if people just stopped trying to shove their beliefs down the throats of others, then there wouldn't be the need to classify anything or anyone. grah. that's just what i think. ^.^'

[Yuki-onna]

Yeah...if people would just treat people they way they themselves want to be treated, the world would be a better place.
So depressing. I think people should just believe whatever they want to. As long as that doesn't involve killing people, fine by me.

[LadyNithpantiel]

I consider myself to be pagan right now, though, I have always searched about Wicca. I love Wicca, but I haven't consider myself to be Wiccan yet. Not until I fully know and understand everything about it, besides I don't know how to practice it and its hard because of my parents.

I remember one time my sophomore teacher asked what a witch was (because of a book we read) and some people replied bizarre answers, but I was the only one who actually got the question right. Hence, staring eyes and accusations of being a witch. God forbid if I'm a witch; pfft, burn me at the stake why don't you. -_-

As for the second question, I love nature. I may move where the woods are at; I don't know, in a way I hope so. I love forests, for some reason, I feel at ease. The water calms me down, as well; being at either places makes me feel one...hard to explain. >_O

wicca. that's what my mom practices. from what i understand, there is no right or wrong to it. it's just a go with what feels right type thing. as for your parents, it doesn't matter what they think about it (although, depending on how close you are with them, their opinions and reactions might affect you more than you might think.) don't pay any attention to what everyone else says. as long as you feel that what you believe is right for you at this point in your life, that's all that matters.
my mom and i have some pretty interresting discussions, most of them about various groups and circles that are known around my town. in my opinion, i think you're in the right by not calling yourself a wiccan quite yet. i was unsure of what to call myself for a while until i knew more about where i stood on my own personal beliefs. my advice is to just learn all you can, and keep an open mind. you might find a book that's perfect for you, or you might find one that seems right, but once you get to reading you might discover that it's completely wrong. ^.^ what i think is important is that you're happy with what you have and how you are, and happy with what you'll become once you understand yourself and all that jazz.
good luck in your search! ^.^ just be sure to let us know how you're getting along once in a while. you might find something none of us have even thought of yet. ^.^

[Yuki-onna]

Hmzer...I don't like to label myself with the names of beliefs...I might like to learn more in written word or such but I rather find my own path.

[LocoColt04]

what do you call yourself belief wise, that is, if you call yourself anything?

Polytheistic. That's the belief of more than one god, for anyone who doesn't know.


what's the core of your belief?

*points up*

Anyone ever heard of Greek mythology? That's it, in a nutshell. To me, it's so much more than "myth" though -- it's real. But hey, to each his own, right?


what else do you want to share, if anything?

I've got somewhat of a religious rant-type thing explaining everything posted elsewhere. If you're really that curious, I can transplant the thing into this thread.

[Chez Daja]

Belief-wise: No. I don't have a religion, I don't have much of a belief, I am very interested in Jewish belief, Greek Mythology and Hindu belief though. I'd say I'm closest to Wiccan or Pagan though.

I'm a very spiritual type of person (often misunderstood by people that don't really know me as well), I like to think I'm mostly a peaceful spirit.


Anything to share? Yeah. Don't let two different religious parties become too engrossed in a religious conversation. That shit is what ruins us.

I've also toyed with the idea that there is a God. And that he uses us as toys to destroy each other. Like, the Jewish against the Christians. That sounds a little strange, but it starts enough wars, so why not? Although I'm still interested in that theory, I don't so much talk about it.

i am a follower of asatru. it is a lot like the religion practiced those who believe in the greek gods, but it is norse. Odin, loki, thor, freya, the valkyries.
we believe a lot in taking care of your fellow man, fanily first. there is a lot of honor involved in being asatru, and is not something to be taken lightly. i love it mostly because i can trace my lineage back to a longboat captain during the most favourable times there were for the vikings. and it is awsome that i am able to worship like my ancestors did

I don't have any religion. I believe everything just *is*.

Originally Posted by LadyNithpantiel

As for the second question, I love nature. I may move where the woods are at; I don't know, in a way I hope so. I love forests, for some reason, I feel at ease. The water calms me down, as well; being at either places makes me feel one...hard to explain. >_O

I would highly recommend moving to the Oregon coast. I used to live there and it's full of forests and rivers and such. And the ocean is very pretty as well, though it is a bit cold. There aren't many large cities, but that sounds like a plus to you. So it does tend to get a bit boring. That was the main reason I didn't like living there. There's a town called Eugene that's about an hour inland, and it's full of liberal minded people and very green for being a large town. I think it's at about 300,000.

Right now I consider myself to be agnostic. I believe in the possibility of a higher power, I'm just not sure what that might be. I have been feeling the desire to dedicate myself to some sort of spirituality recently though. I have no desire at all to be Christian, I have a great distaste for all factions of that religion in general. I don't like being told that I can't do something or I'll burn in hell. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I'm a big girl, I know what's right and what's wrong. That's one of the reasons I like Wicca and Hindu. Those are the two I'm most interested in, though I'm also interested in Buddhism. I like the concept of karma a lot, and reincarnation over a heaven. With as many people that have lived, I imagine heaven and particularly hell as being very crowded. Reincarnation frees up space. ^^ If I had a bit more spare cash I would buy some books to read about Hindu and Buddhism, I have one about Wicca but I don't read it much because I'm pretty busy, so I suppose the books wouldn't do me much good right now.