Posted on Saturday, 27th January 2007 by Maritzia
See, nothing irritates me more than to have people trying to define what is and isn’t pagan. Pagans have to be nature centered. Pagans of to be polytheists. Blah…blah…blah….
I feel the same way about Christians who try to define who is and isn’t Christian. If I want to say I’m Christian, who gives a damn. If I want to say I’m Pagan, what the heck does it have to do with you? Pagan is a *very* broad umbrella. There’s lots of us folks who have very eclectic belief systems who self-identify as pagan. Why? Because it’s the closest we can come to an easy statement to give people a basic idea of our general beliefs. What irritates me more than anything else is this idea that somehow Pagan means Wicca. And while I share some beliefs with Wicca, I am not a Wiccan. I share some beliefs with Christianity, but I’m not really a Christian. Heck, I have beliefs that fit in with a lot of other belief systems, but none of my beliefs fit wholly within any defined, organized religion. (Although it’s a stretch to call Wicca defined. It’s about as defined as Christianity. The are some general items that most will agree to, but pretty much, Wicca practiioners tend to be a pretty eclectic group.) So, I identify as generically pagan, because more of my beliefs fit into that structure than any other. And that hurts you how? Why is it that you only feel good about your religion by categorizing and defining in order to exclude others?
*shrugs* What can I say, I spent the morning reading blogs by people who call themselves pagan (although you tend to actually find very little about their spirituality in their so-called pagan blogs), and that always tends to make me annoyed. I should stick to those blogs that I know interest me, but sometimes I want to reach out, hear new voices, find different inspirations. It just such a hard process of wading through the chaff to find the kernels of wheat.
Posted in Religion/Spirituality | Comments (4)
January 27th, 2007 at 12:28 pm
I’m guilty of being one of those who thinks of pagans as being nature centred, I mean to me it just goes hand in hand. I see it as all about this earth and all it holds-tides, seasons, trees, whatever out of all the religions I know of this large eclectic group is most focused around that.
January 27th, 2007 at 1:12 pm
Steph, while your paganism is very earthcentered and you write about that a lot, I have never in any way felt from you that you think paganism *can’t* be earth centered. One of the reasons I read your blogs is that they never seem to judge others religiously. You help inspire my path while never defining or constricting that path. I really do think you are amazing, you know.
January 27th, 2007 at 4:11 pm
well thank you!
I try to stay open minded of others paths I do have a definite view of paganism (or maybe the responsibility we as pagans have to the earth because I see paganism as earth centred)
This is a path that is ever changing so I imagine in another 5-10 years I’ll have a different view, the beauty of spiritual growth!
March 5th, 2007 at 12:24 pm
I agree with you – Pagan is a very broad umbrella, and there are so many Pagan’s whose beliefs vary, and I celebrate our differences, and love our differences. Unfortunately, the non-Pagan world will probably always have their own views of what Paganism should or should not be..