Looking for something specific? Search the site:
Contemporary Paganism: What It's All About
I’ve chosen a Pagan path…where do I start?!
Although Pagan religions have been around since the dawn of coherent thought, we are still not agreed on exactly what the God and Goddess are. These figures essentially mean something different to everyone.
Traditionally, Pagans have perceived the Gods and Goddess as anthropomorphic (although sometimes polymorphic) icons of a greater power. These were a source of comfort, acting as parental figures. They explained how our world worked, blessing us with our harvest every year. They were even a source of ethical example, shown by the current Pagan morals of “an ye harm none, do as ye will”.
Increasingly, Pagans seem to be abandoning a belief in any physical deity, instead realising a new awareness of quintessence. Quintessence is an old alchemy term meaning pure essence or spirit of a thing. All matter has a spirit, and all spirit is part of a combined natural energy. Both modern physics and Pagan spirituality submit as a theory this idea of an underlying, universal energy. However, this new spiritual and intellectual movement still allows of a polarisation of the natural energies into a “God” and “Goddess”.
No matter the philosophies of the individual, these deities are harnessed by Pagans throughout history as part of the natural order. I personally have come to believe that there is a great universal energy of which everything and everyone is a part. This energy is dynamic, always changing, never still, seeking only the path of least resistance. I believe that the conscious mind has some degree of control over this energy but that exercising this control is not easy. Every choice we make, and every choice of those around us (animal and plant alike) has an effect on the nature of this energy, every thought, and with every motion finding representation. Therefore, the act of invoking the God and Goddess during a ritual, for example, is simply an invoking within ourselves to influence the energies that reside within every living thing. The answer to the chaos of the modern world may well reside within our God and Goddess in their new form – not as an external power, but a power within ourselves.
All content within this site is copyright © to Sheona McCaig 1998-2006. All rights reserved.
Original Webset by Sheona McCaig.
WEBSITE VERSION 4.0