(December 27, 2013 at 2:11 pm)LalalaTabby Wrote: I've always liked this religion, despite all the woo. It's got a lot of New Agey wooness about it, but aside from that, I do like some of the philosophy.
This religion is like a buffet; you can take what works for you, and leave what you don't like. For many, most of the beliefs are pretty much the same.
There's deities. Usually two--a god and goddess--or more, depending on what pantheon you want to worship. "All gods are one god, the goddesses are one goddess, and the god and goddess make up The One, who is The All, all of creation". I always thought that was interesting, and I gave it a pantheistic twist, saying they were a part of everything and us (humanity), and we are all connected. Also, particular deities were merely psychological archetypes.
There are 8 holidays. Yule (Christmas), Imbolc (Feb 2), Spring Equinox (March 21), Beltaine (May 1), Summer Solstice (June 21), Lughnassadh (sp? Aug 2), Fall Equinox (Sept 21), and Halloween. Yay, drunkenness and celebrations all year round!
Then there's witchcraft. You light a candle, say some words, do some complex shit (just google Wiccan circle casting) and you feel special about yourself because you used your "magic powers" to make some stuff happen. For a while, I told myself that there was nothing supernatural about witchcraft, it was all psychological. You wanna get over a heartbreak? Burn some dead roses. You wanna get a job? Bury a jar of coins. Making these little rituals or what have you made you feel like you were doing something (interestingly enough, every "spell book" I read always said "You can't just do a spell to find a job, you have to go the extra mile and actually find one!" Imagine that.).
So! I have all these attachments to all this, and this is just the tip of the iceberg of what Neo-Paganism is. A couple days ago, I took down my little Wiccan altar and replaced it with tea and books. I felt better coming back to my room after I put all my pagan stuff away. But....I still feel emotionally attached.
Does anyone have any recommended books, readings, articles or what have you to help me out?
im not really into religion that much but like shinto or the greek philosophers or the native american way of life would be ideal , Again I say ideal because it would be very difficult to live by these principles
