a new pagan

[animosity213]

Hello my names is austin Fitterer I have recentley been looking to become a pagan. To be completley honest I really in my opinion I have a lot to learn and hoping you could help in that direction. Well the meaning of this thread is simple I just want to learn more about the pagan religion, I have been to many sites just looking for historic informations and have come up a little short. Another question is I'm a little cloudy when it come to wicans and witchcraft, one thing that I must tell is that before I dive deeper in to the religion of peganism I want to make sure that I can become a pagan without commiting human/animal sacrifice I'm indeed a very loving person, so the main question is can I still become a pegan with commiting sacrifice, I apoligise in advance for my ignorance I thank you. My last question is just help I want to learn more and be enlighted by new things Well thank you very much. Ahh here come the hard part well please don't judge me, well I beleive that I might be a ltittle younger than most people here so can you please tell me what age groups are genrally around here. Thank you.



Austin Fitterer

[Pure Ahimsa]

I think theirs a very, very small number of people who do animal sacrafices. Try "googling" Paganism, or you could PM me anytime :) Just ask us questions, and we could tell you are personal ways and give you a site :)


About the sacrifice part...
Their are a very few people that do Animal Sacrifices, if ever, and Ive never heard of mdoern-day Human sacrifices. Usually, when their were Human sacrifices in the "old times", it was an honour, and it was a good thing to the person.

Personally I think sacrifice is ignorant. If you give up a life and offer it to a deity, it truley means nothing. Their are some Pagans who believe that a small blood sacrifice (from yourself) is a symbol of trust with your deity. You are not ignorant. :)

[fire_and_moonlight]

Sacrifice?!
what R they teaching you?!? There is NO sacrificing necassary! what EXACTLY do u wish to know about paganism? and what pantheon r u looking into?

[animosity213]

Why I said sacrifice was because I saw a wicens thread concerning sacrifice and was just wondering if that was affileated with Paganism at all. Thats another problem I'm confused what pantheon I'm looking into theres the part where I need more directed help. Is there sights that will give me pantheon options or just about the religion?

[Flar's Freyja]

:welcome:

Pull up a chair and cast a sit spell on it - Flar7

[Teresa]

I would suggest going to the circle of teaching section and reading thur the classes that are offered.There is a section about Gods and Goddesses as well. Read the paths section to see some of the types of paths you could follow.What I would do first is make a list of things I believe and a list of things I refuse to do. Take those 2 lists and look at the paths and see if they will fit between those lines. :huddle:

[Karma Chameleon]

Why I said sacrifice was because I saw a wicens thread concerning sacrifice and was just wondering if that was affileated with Paganism at all. Thats another problem I'm confused what pantheon I'm looking into theres the part where I need more directed help. Is there sights that will give me pantheon options or just about the religion?


Well Paganism and Wicca aren't the same thing. Wicca is a Pagan religion. Paganism covers a whole wide range of various earth based/ indiginous type religions.

Most modern day Pagans would even never do animal sacrifice, let alone a human one. So if you're worried about that, you need not be.

As far as you being confused about pantheons, I'm not sure what you are asking. You will have to research different ones in order to fine which one is best for you. You could start by researching your ancestory and finding out which gods your ancestors worshiped. There's a forum on here called Gods and Goddess and you also might want to look at the Paths forum.

(Also, if you're curious was to what the age of people are on here, you can go over to the introduction forum and I believe there's a thread there with a poll.)

[bshore]

If you read enough stuff on this forum, you will begin to get a general idea of what Paganism is. The trouble is that the term "Pagan" could mean several things, and each person will have their own definition. Wicca is a little easier to put a definition on, and the absolute best site I've seen about Wicca is here: http://www.wicca.timerift.net (http://www.wicca.timerift.net)

Sacrifice is something which was practiced much more widely 2000 years ago than it is now. Most Pagans don't use sacrifice of any kind in their rituals, and almost none use animal sacrifices. Obviously, human sacrifice is a crime.

The main thing to remember as you study is: take everything you hear, see, and read with a grain of salt. Everyone who does any ammount of research needs to develop a good bullshit detector. http://www.occultforums.com/showthread.php?t=12619 (http://www.occultforums.com/showthread.php?t=12619)

Otherwise, feel free to ask any and all questions you want! People here are generally very friendly and helpful, and if they aren't, you could always pm me, and I promise to try and help you out. Welcome to Mystic Wicks!

[StarCraftLia]

Hiyas. ^-^ If you're interested in wicca, this website could help: http://wicca.timerift.net/index.html (http://wicca.timerift.net/index.html)

If you want to learn a bit about paganism, this is thee place to do it. Alot of people are more than happy to help! :) I hope you find happiness in whatever path you choose, and happy hunting to you!

[animosity213]

thank you all for you help, well after you guys told me to look at different types of paths so I started I looked at wiccan,druidy, astru,northern tradition, and shamanism. I found most of my happiness and beleifs in shamanism and have been looking to dive deeper into the path, but I read a line saying that just because you have a intrest in shamanism doesn't make you one and I don't see fault in that but how do I begin a path to shamanism, including like rituals and spirtuality and until I find that I will call my self a follower of shamanism or a student. Thank you in advance

[Garden of Eden]

The right to bestow a particular title upon oneself is not something that someone else will give you. When you are a "Shaman", a "witch", a "wiccan" etc. you will know. ;) Don't commit too readily to any one path, research, learn, evaluate, experiment! And if you find something that works; run with it!

[Sayyadina]

My name is Sayyadina Silver-Dancer and I've just embarked on the Pagan Path.I've been feeling alone during my first few weeks as a Pagan,so I'd like to connect with other Pagans and hopefully make some friends.More importantly,I'd like to find a mentor.