Paganism

Originally, celebrations around or on December 25 were pagan holidays. Those days are still observed by some people.

When first observed, Christmas was a day to remember the birth of Christ. In that respect, it is a Christian holiday that can be considered a day of the Christ Child.

Pagans, as a people, hold no animosity to anyone.

There is a group called the Dynion Mwyn Witchcraft of Iowa in Des Moines.

You can see their site and links from them here.

There is a Witchcraft store called Ancient Ways in Des Moines on the corner of 17th and Woodland Ave. There is another one called the Atlantean off Grand Ave on 5th st near Blazing Saddles. Ancient Ways is bigger, sells books and herbs, the Atlantean has lots of custom jewelry and basic supplies.

As each pagan spiritual path is individual it is difficult to give you a definitive answer.

A pagan wedding is usually, but not always called a hand-fasting.

As a High Priestess my usual blessing for a couple when they announce their intent to hand-fast (the engagement) is: "May the Blessed Lady, the Dread Lord and the Powers-that-be, guide and watch over you as a committed couple as long as the love shall last."

Well, Easter is a Christian holiday, celebrating the Resurrection of Christ. Sort of like asking how Buddhists celebrate Ramadan. They don't.

The above could only ever be true if you thought Jesus was resurrected by a giant bunny bringing him scrambled eggs for breakfast.

Easter was originally the pagan festival Eostre.

Most christian celebrations were originally Pagan ones (ask yourself how bringing a tree into the house at Christmas has anything to do with the birth if Jesus)

A bottle with something in it that "looked a lot like gin", is used to break a spell in the novel "Breaking a Spell" by by W.W. Jacobs (1863-1943).

Yule. We have a Yule tree or bush that was once upon a time decorated with candles.

Guy Fawkes tried to blow up parliament Bonfire night has no religious aspect to it other than been a few days later than Samhain

It is only real if you belive it is. If you strongly belive it doesnt exist, you wont see it and it wont effect you either. It only effects the weak that belive in it and fear from it. Be strong. xxx

Spelled Wiccan, it's a Pagan religion.

We believe in a duality. That is to say a God and a Goddess. Through history our God and Goddess have had many names depending on the languages spoken by the followers of the Pagan Faith. For example, our Goddess has been known as Mother Nature, Diana, Brigid, Aphrodite, Athena, Hera, Selene, Oshun, Eostre, Nerthus, Venus, Neith, Isis, and the list goes on and on. The list of names for our God is just as long. Names such as Oden, Hades, Pan, Geb, Horus, Imhotep, Osiris, and etc. etc.

Other then believing in a dual deity structure, we believe much the same as most religions (that is in part because other religions took examples of our ceremonies, beliefs, etc. and adjusted those things to fit into their own religions). We do not worship the devil, that is to say an evil horned "God". We believe in loving/caring/helping one an other, just as our Gods love/care for/help us. We believe in allowing each person to walk their own spiritual path and we do not believe in forcing our beliefs on to others.

If you want to learn more, I recommend the author Raymond Buckland and his book "Buckland's Complete Book of Witchcraft". If doesn't hold every piece of information about Paganism, but it is a good start to your research.

Being Pagan doesn't mean anything different for children than it does for adults - or, conversely - it's not much different from being raised Christian. You are taught the beliefs of your parents (whatever they may be) and you learn the workings of the religion. Eventually, you choose to accept that religion as your own or research and develop your own ideals.

Just a note: Paganism is a very diverse term and can mean neopaganism, wiccan, asatruic and several other things. In general, Paganism places an importance on a love of nature and the land as well as mystical forces that can help or hurt you (just like in Christianity), and often celebrate solstice, harvest, spring and yule.

point up pentagram = masculine, energy going out

point down pentagram = feminine, energy going in.

Christianity makes everyone scared of everything. Neither one of them is "evil." They are just 2 sides of the same whole.

Ares, poseidon, Hephaestus, were just some of aphrodite's consorts. comparing to her power i would thinl so

Satan is not worshiped in any Pagan religions. The only known religions in which Satan is a part are Satanism and Christianity (and its offshoots- Catholicism, Judaism, etc.). Please be very aware of this fact: Wiccans do not worship the devil, nor do Wiccans even believe in the devil.

That all life is sacred and our time here on earth is but one of many.

The so called "lesser pentagram" is actually a term derived from the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. They taught a small (lesser ritual) which involved casting a circle and reciting specific holy names of god while circumscribing pentagrams in the air with a ritual dagger.

The pentagram itself is not lesser, just the ritual.

There is also a greater ritual of the pentagram, as well as lesser and greater rituals of the hexagram.

Many of the holidays we have today like Christmas and New years are based in part around former Pagan Celebrations. No holiday is bad. Holidays are times of celebration and family gatherings.

The cross is one of the most ancient human symbols, and is used by many religions. It is frequently a representation of the division of the world into four elements, the four winds, cardinal points or as the union of the concepts of divinity (the vertical line) and the world (the horizontal line). Celtic coins minted many centuries before the Christian era have an entire side showing this type of cross, sometimes with the five cardinal points marked by concave depressions in the same style as in stoneage carvings. Other coins show the cross held by a rider on a horse and springing forth a fern leaf, sometimes identified as a Tree of Life symbol. In Paganism the equal arm cross is used to represent the sun. It if often drawn inside a circle - this is known as the Sunwheel, solar cross or Odin's cross. Used throughout Native American culture to represent the great Medicine Wheel of life it's also the symbol used by the Gnostic Movements. In early Chinese ideography the cross is a sign for perfection. In astrological symbolism it is the graphic symbol for matter, the earthly life and the plane of physical existence. It was used as a sign for acids, vinegar and soot by alchemists. On coins and medals it is used to represent death, end and beginnings, on maps it is used to signify boundaries and shoals, churches and chapels. Astronomers use the cross to signify the north. In the dualistic system it represents the positive pole, plus, positive charge, clockwise rotation and increase.

I am not a proficient in this subject but i have heard an answer for this questions.

Black Magics are magic that deals with dark arts like curses and voodoo. black magics is also highly related to satanism and necromancing with dark spirits. Black magic also covers magic performed using sacrificing (animals or humans), sex and vengence

White Magics also have its own curses but practitioners said that it relies on natural magic rather than spirits and dark arts. it is similar as geomancy, feng shui, divination , gypsy and vasthu. they use mostly simple rituals to accomplish what they want. some performs necromancy but only for information gathering or blessing and not to haunt others.

Vegans do not eat anything that has come from an animal. Veganism is a type of diet.

Pagans follow a spiritual or religious pathway which is nature-based. Paganism is a type of spirituality.

A Pagan may also be a vegan, and vice versa, but the two are entirely different things.

Paganism has a wide variety of symbols that carry different importance. One common symbol, the Pentacle or Pentagram, often represents the Earth, Protection, and the 5 elements that make up our human selves and the universe. The symbols used in Paganism vary depending on the specific branch of Paganism that one may adhere to, such as Wicca, Heathenism, Druidism, etc... Each branch has it's own symbols with varying importance. The main thing to know is that symbolism in general allows a practitioner of these faiths to focus on the workings they are doing, and in many cases, helps set the mood for various rituals and other practices.

No. The Christian Easter is the celebration of Christ's resurecction.

ANSWER

the pagan origins of Easter are, it was named Easter after the godes eostre,

attis is said to have resurected on the same date, and its thought by soem that this is where the story origionates

no it is a myth.

---ShadowD413---

Can you prove its a myth? Humans only use a tiny percentage of their mind, how do you know what the rest is used for? In all actuality its possible,though nothing can be proven, its all a matter of opinion, but in my opinion: yes is can