Other Paths on the Pagan Test

[Angaridatha]

Ok, I've decided that I'm bored and I'm going to do some research on these other things on the Pagan test and figure out what they mean. Go moo go.

[Angaridatha]

Of course I pick Thelema first, since we most all scored highly in this aspect. Actually it seems pretty interesting.

"Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law."
"Love is the law, love under will."
"Sub Umbra Alarum Tuarum." -no, I have no clue what this means.

"The primary message of The Book of the Law is concentrated in the Greek words thelema, meaning "will" — referring to the True Will, or dharma, or Divine Word inherent in each person — and in agape, "love" (especially bhakti, or passionate love of the Divine as a basis for authentic human love). It is in the name of Love and of Will that the inward call is issued to this that we call the Great Work."

Looks like a gnostic pagan religion concentrating on self discovery as based on three principles of Wisdom Love and Power. They emphasize intellectual training, magickal ritual, and meditation. Neato!

Ok, here's a link to what they call the Book of the Law, it seems like a very important text, if not the most important text, in their religion:

www.thelema.org/aa/documents/the_book_of_the_law/index.html

And here's a link to an initiating temple of Thelema's site so you can read more.

www.thelema.org/temple_of_thelema/index.html

Click on the read further tab near the bottom of the letter, they have more info there.

[Angaridatha]

Dunno what y'all know about druidic faith, but I'll slap some stuff down here. I'm certainly curious, since this is what I scored highest on.

"Love of the Land, Earth, the Wild, and Reverence for Nature."

What is extremely interesting is that the Druidic faith follows, (slightly altered) most of the Wiccan history and ceremonies, i.e. calling the quarters, crystal magick, etc.

Here are some of the basic tenets of Druidry that I found:

Love of Peace: Druids are traditionally peace makers, and still are. Each ceremony begins with Peace to the quarters, there is a Druid's Peace Prayer, and traditionally Druids plant peace gardens.

Love of Beauty: Druid path cultivates the Bard, the Artist within, and fosters creativity.

Love of Justice: Druids were judges, and law-makers. Traditionally Druids are interested in restorative, not punitive, justice.

Love of Story and Myth: Druidry recognizes and uses the power of myths and stories.

Love of History and Reverence for the Ancestors: Druidry recognizes the formative power of the past.

Love of Trees: Druids today plant trees and Sacred groves and study treelore.

Love of Stones: Druids today build stone circles, collect stones and work with crystals.

Love of Truth: Druid philosophy is a quest for Wisdom.

Love of Animals: Druidry sees animals as sacred, and teaches sacred animal lore.

Love of Body: Druids see the body and sexuality as sacred.

Love of the Sun, Moon, Stars and Sky: Druid Starlore, embodied in the old stories and the stone circles, teaches a love for the Universe.

Love of Each Other: Druidry fosters the love of relationship, of the community.

Love of Life: Druidry encourages celebration and full commitment to life. It is not a spirituality that wants us to escape from life.

Here are neat links:

druidry.org/
www.mithrilstar.org/

[Angaridatha]

Asatru, it says, is commonly confused with Wicca. It is Norse Heathenism, and focuses (obviously) solely on the Norse Panthenon.

Whew, I actually found some good solid info on this one.

Asatru Beliefs:

Asatru is a polytheistic religion. There are three races of Deities in the Norse pantheon. They are all regarded as living entities who are involved in human life:

The Aesir: These are the Gods of the tribe or clan, representing Kingship, order, craft, etc.
The Vanir: These represent the fertility of the earth and forces of nature. They are associated with the clan but are not part of it.
The Jotnar: These are giants who are in a constant state of war with the Aesir. They represent chaos and destruction. At the battle of Ragnarok, many of the Gods will die, the world will come to an end and be reborn.

Specific Gods: Some of the more important are:
Thor is the Thunderer, who wields Mjolnir, the divine Hammer. His chariot racing across the sky generates thunder. Thursday (Thor's Day) was named after him.

Odin is the one-eyed God; he gave up one of his eyes in order to drink from the Fount of Wisdom. He is a magician and wise one. He learned the secrets of the runes (Northern European alphabet) by hanging himself on the tree Yggdrasil for nine nights.

Frey is the God of Yule (born on the Winter Solstice, typically December 21). He is a God of peace and plenty who brings fertility and prosperity. His father was Njord.

Specific Goddesses: Some important ones are:

Freya (aka Freyja) is the Goddess of love, beauty and sexuality, and perhaps a dozen other attributes. She leads the Valkyries who take the souls of slain soldiers to Valhalla (Odin's great hall).

Frigg is Odin's wife. Her name has been secularized to a slang term which refers to sexual intercourse. She is the patroness of the household and of married women.

Skadi is the Goddess of independence, death, hunting and skiing. Scandinavia was named after her; the English words shadow, skullduggery and shade came from her name.

Ostara, is a Goddess of fertility who is celebrated at the time of the Spring equinox. She was known by the Saxons as Eostre, the Goddess of Spring, from whom we have derived the word Easter. Ostara's symbols are the hare and the egg.

Other Entities Other Deities are Aegir, Balder, Bragi, Forseti, Heimdall, Hel, Loki, Njord, Ran, Tyr, Ull and Vithar. Followers of Asatru also honor the Landvaettir (land spirits) of the forest, earth and streams.

Life Values: Asatruars in North America have created a list of Nine Noble Virtues: Courage, Truth, Honor, Fidelity, Discipline, Hospitality, Industriousness, Self-Reliance and Perseverance. The family is greatly valued and honored. They reject any form of discrimination based on ethnicity, gender, language, nationality, race, sexual orientation, or "other divisive criteria".

Origins: Humanity is literally descended from the Gods. Three brothers, Odin, Vili, and Ve created people from two trees and gave them the names Ask and Embla. One deity, Rig visited the earth and established the social classes.
Od: This is the gift of ecstasy provided to humans by the Gods. It is what separates humanity from other animals, and is our eternal link with the Gods.

Creation Story: A poem Voluspa (Prophecy of the Seeress) contains an Asatru story of the creation of the universe. Between Muspelheim (The Land of Fire) and Niflheim the Land of Ice was an empty space called Ginnungigap. The fire and ice moved towards each other; when they collided, the universe came into being. Odin, Vili and Ve later created the world from the body of a giant that they had slain.

After death: Those who die in battle will be carried to Valhalla by the Valkyries. There they will eat Särimner (a pig that is daily slaughtered and resurrected) with the Gods. Some, but not all, Asatruars believe that those who have lived a very evil and treacherous life go to Hifhel, (a.k.a Hiflhel). This is a place of torment. The remainder go to Hel, a place of calmness and peace, from which the name of the Christian Hell was derived. However, Hel is much closer to the Christian view of Heaven than to its concept of Hell.

In case that's not enough, here's another link.
www.irminsul.org/

[Angaridatha]

I've found that modern Egyptian Paganism is called Kemeticism...interesting.

Kemeticism is a re-creation of the religion of Ancient Egypt, and includes the revival of its belief systems, its spirituality and other relevant aspects of its culture, such as literature and art. It is a belief in the Neteru (Gods and Goddesses). It is a way of living in harmony with and upholding ma'at, which is balance in all things: the cosmos, the natural world and that of human society. The practice of the Kemetic religion today strives to be a living revival of the religion of the peoples of Ancient Egypt.

Kemeticism is a reconstructionist religion which utilizes scholarly methods to recreate the structures and practices of the ancient religion, and apply these to contemporary times. It bases its religious practices on modern scholarly and academic research. It is not a modern "New Age" interpretation of the beliefs of Ancient Egypt, nor is it an extrapolation based on any Western religio-magickal traditions such as Wicca or Ceremonial Magic, but rather the actual religious practices as recorded by the Ancient Egyptians. As Kemeticism can be considered one of the African Traditional Religions, which come from similar geographic and sociological sources, many Kemetics share styles and approaches to religious experience, rituals and life with such religions.

Marvelous site whose introduction I mercilessly stole because it was beautiful. It still has bunches of useful into on Kemeticism.

www.ecauldron.com/reconegypt.php

[Angaridatha]

A religion of the Yoruba people who live in West Africa.

In addition to the worship of one God, named Olodumare, the Yoruba worship dozens of deities known as "Orishas" who are personified aspects of nature and spirit. The principal orishas include Eleggua, Oggun, Ochosi, Obatala, Yemaya, Oshun, Shango, Oya, Babalu Aiye, and Orula.

An excellent resource documenting the roots of African-American culture in Yoruba and other African religions is "The Flash Of The Spirit" by Robert Farris Thompson, available in paperback. Many well-known Latin musicians are devotees of Santeria. Carlos Santana, for example, has incorporated Orisha-themes and rhythms into several songs, including "Hannibal," which includes a Yoruba chant to Shango.

Central features of the religion are its drumming and dancing celebrations known as tambors. At the tambors elaborate altars are created, and then food is offered to the Orishas. Depending on the nature of the celebration, percussionists and drummers (often playing the sacred 3-piece bata drums) play precise rhythms directed to specific Orishas while those present sing call-and-response songs in archaic Yoruba (called Lucumi in Cuba), causing the Orishas to descend and possess initiated priests and priestesses of the religion. The rhythms and forms of Yoruba religion are said to be fundamental to the development of many forms of African American music from gospel to blues and jazz, and to musical forms such as Salsa and Latin Jazz.

Ironically, while in the New World Yoruba religion is in a period of modest ascendency, in Nigeria itself it is being eclipsed by forms of Islam and Christianity, especially evangelical protestantism.

Yet again another awesome site for lots of specific information on the different Orisha:

members.aol.com/ishorst/love/Yoruba.html

[Angaridatha]

Now, there are lots of different breeds of shamanism, it seems that the two most popular by far are Native American Shamanism and Celtic Shamanism. I'm not entirely sure if the test wanted to encompass them all or point out a specific one. Therefore, it's link time. (and a blissfully short post for you!)

Here's a rather large FAQ on shamanism in general:
www.faqs.org/faqs/shamanism/overview/

[Angaridatha]

Wee! Another path with an ecauldron page. I'm tempted to see what they say about Wicca.

Hellenic (Greek) Reconstructionism is a modern Pagan religious movement that bases its worship and cultic practices on the traditional, polytheistic religion of Ancient Greece.

Although Hellenic Reconstructionism accepts personal gnosis as a part of its spirituality, the predominant source of information comes from the works of Homer, Hesiod and other ancient writers. Ritual practices are taken from these authors and from modern academic research on this religion. Where modernization of some ritual elements is needed and understood, those elements are not presented as "ancient" fact. Combining unrelated cultural beliefs (as opposed to historical syncretism) with those of the Ancient Greeks is unacceptable.

While Greek Reconstructionism is an attempt to recreate traditional Hellenic worship, it is not an attempt to recreate Ancient Greek society.

www.ecauldron.com/recongreek.php

[Angaridatha]

Guess what? We studied Orisha in Spanish Class. Otherwise known as santeria and practiced under that name in the Spanish speaking world. Check out these other links to learn more.

www.lucumi.com/spanish/index.cfm

orishanet.org/ochanets.html

www.ochareo.com/spanish/portales.htm

www.religioustolerance.org/santeri.htm

http:botelegua.com/catalog.htm

changobotanica.com