Am I a Pagan?

[tellmethetruth]

I joined this group because there's so much awesome stuff to talk about on here - but am I actually a pagan?

I identify closely with Buddhists. I meditate and listen to dharma talks all the time and just love everything the philosophy has to teach.

But . . . . . I was raised Christian and I think that, although 90% of Christians have totally misinterpreted the Bible and don't even understand what it's about, Jesus was divinely inspired to teach here on this earth.

I believe that all of the Gods and Goddesses people worship do exist.

I believe in communicating with my spirit guides (though I'm not so great at it yet) and I do magic spells, look at auras, do a little psychic reading, fire scrye and crystal ball scrye, etc.

So - am I a Pagan? And is that word supposed to be capitalized? What exactly IS a pagan? When I was a kid it was another word for "heathen," or somebody who didn't believe in God. That is very obviously not what a Pagan (pagan?) is. What is it?

[phoenixrising]

You are whatever you want to be, don't worry about the labels, be comfortable with your practice and so long as you feel a connection to divine everyone here will be happy for you.

pa·gan http://cache.lexico.com/g/d/premium.gif http://cache.lexico.com/dictionary/graphics/luna/thinsp.pnghttp://cache.lexico.com/g/d/speaker.gif (https://secure.reference.com/premium/login.html?rd=2&u=http%3A%2F%2Fdictionary.reference.com%2Fbrowse%2Fpagan) /ˈpeɪhttp://cache.lexico.com/dictionary/graphics/luna/thinsp.pnggən/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[pey-guhhttp://cache.lexico.com/dictionary/graphics/luna/thinsp.pngn] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun 1.one of a people or community observing a polytheistic religion, as the ancient Romans and Greeks. 2.a person who is not a Christian, Jew, or Muslim. 3.an irreligious or hedonistic person. –adjective 4.pertaining to the worship or worshipers of any religion that is neither Christian, Jewish, nor Muslim. 5.of, pertaining to, or characteristic of pagans. 6.irreligious or hedonistic.

if you want to be specific see if this applies to you :D

[StarEyedShelly]

I call myself a pagan because, in my opinion, it's a nice umbrella term for a religion that isn't one of the more widely celebrated ones. I'm not christian, muslim, jewish, buddhist, hindu, etc...so I'm a pagan. That's my logic. I've also always associated the word "paganism" with a belief at least one maternalistic deity, versus the paternalistic monotheistic dogmas of other religions. Some people would probably disagree with me defining paganism as the lack of other religions. But, hey - I can't think of anything else better to describe myself.

[Brigid Rowan]

You can only be a pagan if you dont shave anything, wear hemp clothes, scorn a regular job, and dont eat pizza.

Oops...I think that was supposed to be for the Stereotypes thread... ~blush~

Seriously, you are whatever you wanna be. I dont think P/pagan has to be capitalized UNLESS it starts a sentence. LOL..

Dont worry about labels. They are a nicety for quicly explaining who you are, but really, when you think about it, most of us dont fit neatly, labled-like, in any facet of our lives...no need to lable this one facet. Just enjoy the journey, be kind, and eat pizza. :)

[tellmethetruth]

Mmmmmmmm - I think I like this forum. If I'd known this was what all you naked dancing around the fire under the full moon, non-pizza-eating hairy smelly people were like I would have joined your ranks long ago.

LOL

[phoenixrising]

What where are all these naked people!?!?

[Greybird]

A pagan is a gray bird, often found atop city statues. They live in a pagan coop. Old men like to go to the park and feed the pagans.

Seriously, though, you fit some definitions of pagan, so if you feel like using that word, you won't be wrong. As to capitalization, I see no need. It isn't the name of a specific religion, just a classification for a variety of religions. You capitalize 'President' and 'Congressman', but not 'politician.' There are those that would argue otherwise, and they're not wrong, either (contrary to what elementary school teachers tell you, there isn't always a single correct rule for English usage, just for particular writing styles.)

[LostSheep]

I joined this group because there's so much awesome stuff to talk about on here - but am I actually a pagan?

I identify closely with Buddhists. I meditate and listen to dharma talks all the time and just love everything the philosophy has to teach.

But . . . . . I was raised Christian and I think that, although 90% of Christians have totally misinterpreted the Bible and don't even understand what it's about, Jesus was divinely inspired to teach here on this earth.


I agree with you there, I think... in fact, the more I've been looking at it, I really don't think that, looking at what I think Jesus actually had to say (as opposed to what Christianity insists), then I really don't htink it's that incompatible with reverence for nature. Similarly with many of the principles of Buddhism, i think.

I like the "hedonistic" definition, obviously. :-/

[Jeremy Westenn]

I joined this group because there's so much awesome stuff to talk about on here - but am I actually a pagan?

I identify closely with Buddhists. I meditate and listen to dharma talks all the time and just love everything the philosophy has to teach.

But . . . . . I was raised Christian and I think that, although 90% of Christians have totally misinterpreted the Bible and don't even understand what it's about, Jesus was divinely inspired to teach here on this earth.

I believe that all of the Gods and Goddesses people worship do exist.

I believe in communicating with my spirit guides (though I'm not so great at it yet) and I do magic spells, look at auras, do a little psychic reading, fire scrye and crystal ball scrye, etc.

So - am I a Pagan? And is that word supposed to be capitalized? What exactly IS a pagan? When I was a kid it was another word for "heathen," or somebody who didn't believe in God. That is very obviously not what a Pagan (pagan?) is. What is it?

Because you believe in all the indivdual Gods and Goddess's your a polytheist first off, but you don't exactly practice Paganism or anything of that sort. You have to understand, I think at it's literal definition pagan for a long time basically meant anything non christian. Now it's more of an umbrella term for earth based magic related religions. I don't think you actually fall int othat category.

Now if you do believe, worship, and follow specific Gods and Goddess's that could narrow things down. If you did follow any Gods then you would be a Pagan, totally.

- Jeremy

[Greybird]

Don't forget the pantheistic and animistic pagans. They don't necessarily follow any specific gods, they don't necessarily even acknowledge their existance.

[tellmethetruth]

WOW - so I'm a pagan or, if not, at least some sort of heathen.

This is AWESOME. My Sunday School teacher would kill me.

Can I take off my clothes now?

[LadyCelt]

I believe it is up to each person to decide what they are. A person can incorporate aspects of different religions into their overall spirituality.