Paganism and You: Where do you stand?

[TeaDidikai]

An odd tradition because to the best of my knowledge, the Catechism of the Roman Catholic Church allows for layity to provide Last Rights in cases of emergancy if no Clergy are able to attend. confused  

[EternalHearts]

TerminalAddiction

EternalHearts

I'm an Olympianist...I use what we have been left in writing and art by the Ancient Greeks to recreate the religion within the modern time. There is a lot missing, and there are aspects we can't do today (or just aren't feasable, like huge public feasts)...

Ever tried to organize one? smile Could have a huge feast (read: picnic/potluck) in a park?

What does being an Olympianist with Recon leanings mean?

My Gods, I totally forgot to check in here over the last couple of weeks!

I personally haven't tried to organize a gathering, but with low numbers of other Hellenic Polytheists, having city-wide publis feasts with processions and sacrifices and the like. I have participated in rituals of up to 10 people, but that's typically the biggest that you will find, and only becasue there are a larger concentration of Hellenics in MA than on most other areas of the US.

I call the religion I am a part of Olympianism because the concept of Olympus was, for all intents and purposes, pan-Hellenic, recognized by most of the Greek city-states, despite their differences in worship. Recon leanings...I try to be true to authenticity, but am a firm believer in the fact that this is a living, breathing tradition and changes can and will be made. I'm more open to accepting change and differences than stricter Recons tend to be.  

[TeaDidikai]

EternalHearts

Recon leanings...I try to be true to authenticity, but am a firm believer in the fact that this is a living, breathing tradition and changes can and will be made. I'm more open to accepting change and differences than stricter Recons tend to be.

Do you see room for drastic UPG in your tradition? Say- if Hera came to you and said she was a "peaceful goddess of the waves" and asked for mud pie sacrifices?  

[EternalHearts]

Thanks for that question Tea. No I do not support drastic UPG--if a person were to claim something like that, I'd allow them to believe it, but would not accept it into my own practice or belief system unles many others also came to the same conclusion. I think that UPG should be in line with ancient tradition as much as possible.

If Hera came to me personally and said that, I'd do a lot more searching to see if this was something that was in line with tradition somewhere historically. I'd also do a lot more meditation with and about Her to determine why She wanted me to worship Her in this manner (or if it really is Her and I'm not getting me messages mixed up). But I would never claim that is was part of ancient tradition if I were to begin doing as She asked.  

[TeaDidikai]

EternalHearts

But I would never claim that is was part of ancient tradition if I were to begin doing as She asked.

Interesting. I think you have a very good head on your shoulders.

How about more subtle UPG? Small things like the idea that Hera might like offerings of Chocolate?  

[EternalHearts]

Tea, that is the most amazing compliment I have ever received because it came from you, and you are not easy toget those kind of comments from 3nodding

Subtle UPG is a lot more acceptable to me and a lot morefluid--I may have different experiences than someone else as for things like prefered offerings (I for one am fully convinced that Hestia enjoys coffee libations). If someone mentions thier experiences, I wont discount it, nor will I nessecarily follow it--I'm going to develop my own relations with the Theoi.

As always, provided a person is not claiming that what s/he does is ancient, I am willing to accept their experience as valid for THEM becasue it HAS been 2000 years and the traditions, as far as we know in almost all cases, have not been carried on. But do't expect me to follow your UPG's because it just may be stupid.  

[Kalyani Srijoi]

I'm an atheist, here because even though I don't believe in pagan religions, I find them interesting. Why do I find them interesting? It's hard to say. I'm not really sure.  

[Ulfrikr inn Hrafn]

TerminalAddiction

What type of "paganism" do you follow?

I am of the Germanic Folkway.

TerminalAddiction

The second question I wish to ask you is how close do you think you are to how people originally worshipped your type of paganism, and if you could would you return to it?

Well, there's a question. How long's a piece of string? When one speaks of the Germanic Folkway, we're talking a belief system which is very broad, taking in the Germanic Tribes, whom lived throughout Europe within a time-frame which is in the thousands of years prior to Christianity at least. We're talking a Northern Bronze Age culture originating, according to current theories, to around 1,700 to 1,800 BC. Now this doesn't take into account earlier occupations and habitations in Europe as evidenced by Nebra, which are around 5,000 BC, and then if you start connecting with Indo-European cultural linkages, you go back even further, and indeed, there are people out there whom are reconstructing Indo-European Folkways.

How close are we? Well, for myself, I'm probably a bit away from it, kind of around 1,000 years out smile That said, I study where my ancestors came from, their lives, how they did things, what they ate, how they thought as best can be assessed from the evidentiary sources we have available to us. I can't say that I'm living their life, as I'm not. What I can say is that I am hoping to live the life of someone whom, had Christianity not come on the scene, had been able to have their Folkway develop through the generations.

Ver thu heil  

[TeaDidikai]

EternalHearts

Tea, that is the most amazing compliment I have ever received because it came from you, and you are not easy toget those kind of comments from 3nodding .

Heh. Welcome. sweatdrop  

[Boadicia]

Right now I've pledged myself to studying Wicca. Most of my knowledge comes from personal studying from various sources. Since I have no one to train and initiate me at this time (which seems to be quite prevalent, unfortunately), I refer to myself as a dedicant or seeker.

Wicca is only about 6 or 7 decades old. Having to do everything on my own, I can't possibly do it exactly as it was first done, but I do follow rules on what to do and how and when to do it.