Balancing on Strange Surfaces
The Pagan Path
This is an interesting little widget I found some time ago..
If you look at it carefully you will see that it's spin changes
or at least appears to , the more you watch it
Watch it for a moment and see , if you see what I mean ...
Kind of hypnotic isn't it ?
And I'm sure your thinking
by now
OK it's a cute little
animation but what's the point ?
We of the Pagan Paths
must balance our lives on strange surfaces
The ebb and flow of learning
and growth,
make for constant changes
in our lives
The influences from within
and without
demand constant reassessment
of the self
and our beliefs unlike
any other religion on Earth
For many faiths, there
is a book,
a guideline that tells
one what to think,
what to believe, what
to feel and how to act
We on the Pagan path
don't get that ...
there
is no one book .. no central doctrine to use
nor
would we want one if someone tried to limit it in that fashion
The question I get asked
very often .. is why not ?
Here
are my answers to that
To begin with, we have not been organized
since the time when all mankind was "Pagan" ,
if you take the definition of Pagan being, not Judeo-Christian ..
Now the Pagan paths did not die out, with the coming of other faiths,
they just went underground and we as a group have
"come out of the broom closet " yet again
And this time we are staying :)
The question becomes
then,
why don't we organize
and become a more centralized faith?
The why not, is an Easy
one
History
History is a useful tool,
if one takes it with a grain of salt , for it's accuracy
As History is always written by the Victors
Even a short look, at the history of so called " organized " religion
shows you, that nearly all religions become the dogma
written for them, and the people no longer ask questions
Once they no longer ask questions, they tend to stagnate
and start doing things by rote .. never asking why they do so
In fact, in most faiths, it's not allowed to question,
as questions are taken to mean you don't have any faith !
Now this is not to say that all Men/Women of Good faith, who
have written down the Law for most religions, were a mess
of self serving hypocrites. But, BIG but , a great many of them
were just that, sorry to say, and the trend continues in some cases
So where does that leave your average Pagan ?
(
if there is such a thing as an Average Pagan.. :)
as
that's something of a contradiction in terms )
It leaves them doing a
balancing act over their own actions,
with mostly themselves
as arbitrator of what's right
Which is the point where
many other Faiths
have issues with us ,in
that they tend to believe
that some agency outside
the self
should be the arbitrator
The Pagan Path and Personal Responsibility
Ours is a Path where we
are the ones who are expected
to study ,learn and grow
on the Path, on our own
AND
We take no ones word for
anything,
no matter who says it,
or what book its in
unless it happens to
make sense
The individual is the
final arbitrator of what we believe
And is responsible for
ALL
that we do, right or wrong
Which
is no different than any other Faith,
we
simply
acknowledge what is a fact for all religions
That everybody weighs
the right or wrong
of what they are told
through their own perceptions
If
three people see a brown horse
they
all don't see the "SAME" brown horse
even
if they all agree , it IS a horse
But
we
do not even allow any one person or thing,
to
tell us what to name the horse :)
We have teachers yes, but in a very loose , informal fashion
in most cases. There are traditional Pagans, who have a much more structured hierarchy and practices.
But irregardless, if one is a member of a traditional Path or an Eclectic one, we all have teachers,
in fact most often.. Many of them.. and Most of us become teachers in turn..
the type and number of " students" varies greatly
It is not a requirement however
If we feel called upon
to become a teacher ... we teach,
and are responsible for
our students behavior
*Warning small rant coming *
But please do understand
We do not seek out others to teach
This is called proselytizing or sermonizing
Which we do not believe in..
I know that's not related to the point here,
but I feel like I can't say that one often enough,
as its one thing we are accused of all the time
for which we are most assuredly, not guilty ..
which is seeking out converts to the faith
Which is a little unfair to say the least,
as Most every other religion in the world,
preaches their brand of the faith ..
in some cases very strongly...
We do not believe in this practice
However
:) Onward
We do believe in things like ...
"
When the student is ready the teacher arrives "
..or
this one..
"
Those meant to walk the path.. will find Us "
Each person is responsible
for their own growth
and Service to the Gods,
we have no priesthood per sec
Although we have many
priests .. I am one such
But I am a Priest with
a congregation of one... Me
Even if I belonged to
a Coven at the moment
I would still only have
ONE .. Me..
Covens and Other Groups
The most simple explanation
of a Coven is a group of people
who work together to
perform Rites, Ritual and often Magick
They are like an extended
family in their own way,
as there are deep bonds
forged between people
who work together in
this manner
The High Priest or Priestess
is simply leader of the Rites
or focus for the powers
direction , in the case of Magick
and very often the Elder
and or,
Teacher
These groups are anywhere
from 3 to 13 people in size. Period
Not a whole lot , for
organized anything :)
And they are autonomic,
from every other Coven
They are responsible
only for and to, their own members
However
, like any Family we have our fights
The Witch Wars
There are some, who have
not given up the habit
of demanding that all
believe, as they believe
Which is what we are
taught in most other Faiths
That if you are X faith,
or in our case, X Path
there is only ONE way
to pursue that
The bulk of Us, started
out as some other religion
Mostly Judeo-Christian,
here in the States at any rate,
so we all were exposed
to that mind set
When the Pagan Way became
active and out in public
in this country, there
were and in some cases still are ,
many Wars of theology
..
And to be honest I don't
foresee this ever stopping,
as we are a VERY eclectic
bunch and very independent.
But it is showing signs
of chilling out a little
( Maybe, because so many
of us are getting gray headed
and perhaps a little
more wise.. hehehehehe )
The core concepts however,
Most of which I have
already mentioned
almost all
of us share, with some variations,
even if we don't agree
on anything else
The most primary being,
that we are independent
and are expected to work
out our relationship with the Divine
Ourselves ... Which,
as I said before ,is not a new idea
We
are just a lot more outspoken about it
So to be a Pagan in the current day world
is a world full of personal responsibility
for ones own actions and service to the Gods
It is a world were the concepts can change,
everyday as one learns new things and gains further insight
A place to stand that has no foundation of dogma
and each action or thought must be weighed on it's own merits
A stand that is constantly under siege from a good deal of your fellows
both without and within .. your faith is tested almost daily
The Pagan Way is a dance,
between the Ecstasy of the Power of the Divine
and the firing of the intellect when acquiring new thought
Ever growing, Ever changing, Always shifting and Becoming
There is No beginning and there is No end .. just a spiral dance
Just like my little Widget that started this whole conversation
Blessings on your Coming...
Blessings on your Going......
Blessings on All your
house