I define pagan as non-monotheistic religion. My social circle is comprised mostly of Druids, Wiccans, and Heathens.
I say Heathens because that's the word they use but it's Asatru (I think). As an example, we recently had a ritual send-off for a friend who was going off to join the military and the guy leading the ritual started off by thanking the people whose house we were holding it at with the phrase "Thanks for letting all these rowdy vikings into your house." So, some Nordic pagan tradition which I assume is Asatru (no one's been very specific about it whenever I ask).
I was raised Wiccan, myself, but I've never really believed it as wholeheartedly as anyone else in my family. Especially since my mom was very keen on teaching religious tolerance by explain it to my three-year-old self that "Everyone's gods are real, religion is just a word for which one you listen to."
That didn't really make sense because they were all so different and didn't agree with each other and so forth. So I sort of grew up assuming "gods" were more just comfortable faces/names to put on natural forces or forces that were as-yet-undiscovered-by-science but still worked according to the laws of the universe. I didn't run into people who took gods really seriously until high school (I got beat up a lot for trying to have rational discussions about it >.> ) and that was also about when I discovered that those people are terrifying.
I still have a tendency to go "I can't find my keys... stupid faeries moving them" or "well, reincarnation makes sense and here's how it could work according to scientific principles" and that sort of thing. It's inconsistent and that bothers me, so, here I am.
I say Heathens because that's the word they use but it's Asatru (I think). As an example, we recently had a ritual send-off for a friend who was going off to join the military and the guy leading the ritual started off by thanking the people whose house we were holding it at with the phrase "Thanks for letting all these rowdy vikings into your house." So, some Nordic pagan tradition which I assume is Asatru (no one's been very specific about it whenever I ask).
I was raised Wiccan, myself, but I've never really believed it as wholeheartedly as anyone else in my family. Especially since my mom was very keen on teaching religious tolerance by explain it to my three-year-old self that "Everyone's gods are real, religion is just a word for which one you listen to."
That didn't really make sense because they were all so different and didn't agree with each other and so forth. So I sort of grew up assuming "gods" were more just comfortable faces/names to put on natural forces or forces that were as-yet-undiscovered-by-science but still worked according to the laws of the universe. I didn't run into people who took gods really seriously until high school (I got beat up a lot for trying to have rational discussions about it >.> ) and that was also about when I discovered that those people are terrifying.
I still have a tendency to go "I can't find my keys... stupid faeries moving them" or "well, reincarnation makes sense and here's how it could work according to scientific principles" and that sort of thing. It's inconsistent and that bothers me, so, here I am.
"Hey, Huginn... Muninn, whichever one you are, say 'nevermore.'"
"F*** you," said the raven.
"F*** you," said the raven.
