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So where do you think this new resurgence of pre-Christian religious ideas will go? Is it going to stay a sort of underground set of ideas? Go mainstream?
It's a fad, and will go the way of other such movements.
Then why are we seeing the kind of growth that we do within these pre-Christian ideal religions? When does that growth start to plateau?What happened to all the hermetic orders of a century ago? They're extinct now. I imagine the same thing will happen with the Neo-Pagans of our day. I just don't think there is much of a market for beliefs so radically out of sync with society. Paganism served the needs of a much more ancient era. The future probably lies in more philosophical, transcendental religions like Buddhism, or in one of the larger new religious movements like Scientology.
Its been around since the Hippy movement I guess there's a minor uptick.
Even in the last five years or so, I've seen the Pagan community expand exponentially and it doesnt seem limited by anything except a person's access to information.
It helps to be able to learn about the gods:scratches head:
Information on pagan gods?
In the last 30-40 years, there has been a very big resurgence of pre-Christian religious ideas that have taken shape in new belief systems built on these old ideas. The vast majority of them fall under what most people call the Neo-Pagan (I HATE that word) umbrella of belief systems, but what I'm curious about is the future of the resurgence.
What do you think?
The vast majority of these belief systems are BASED on older ideas, true. Individuals who claim their religion is ancient or can be traced directly back to pre-Christian times are unfortunately mistaken. However I dont think that diminishes the fact that many of the core concepts of these belief systems DO date back to pre-Christian times.I think a lot of them are made-up hippy b.s., and have very little to do with the actual historic beliefs. Wicca, for one.
A great deal of what there is to know about many of these traditions is passed around by word-of-mouth and it's left up to individual adherents to decide what they want to incorporate into their practices. These traditions almost never have any sort of holy scripture or guidebook on worship, so learning about them is a constant process of information assimilation and processing.Uhhh... Why?
The vast majority of these belief systems are BASED on older ideas, true. Individuals who claim their religion is ancient or can be traced directly back to pre-Christian times are unfortunately mistaken. However I dont think that diminishes the fact that many of the core concepts of these belief systems DO date back to pre-Christian times.
A great deal of what there is to know about many of these traditions is passed around by word-of-mouth and it's left up to individual adherents to decide what they want to incorporate into their practices.
Yes, that is true.You mean like The Ten Commandments was loosely based on the Bible? Yeah. I stand by what I said. First, we don't have a lot of religious documentation from pre-Christian eras, so neo-pagans tend to get all loosy-goosey with filling in the blanks.
Because these beliefs are more than entrails and burning sacrifices. We sacrifice through other ways and we dont need to root through entrails anymore.Secondly, I don't see many fluffy neo-pagan twits using entrails, offering sacrifices, etc. It's silly dress up time, for the most part.
I think you can find at least a grain of historical basis in most modern practices. For instance, the symbolism of the chalice and it's uses in Wicca. I may be over-extending myself a little bit here, I'm not Wiccan, but the chalice is used as a symbol for female and female sexuality during rituals and as a stand-in for these ideas.Give me an example of a group of reconstructionists that are using actual ancient practices.
Is there a specific reason for the hostility or has it just been a bad day?i.e. "We make **** up as we go."
Because these beliefs are more than entrails and burning sacrifices. We sacrifice through other ways and we dont need to root through entrails anymore.
I think you can find at least a grain of historical basis in most modern practices. For instance, the symbolism of the chalice and it's uses in Wicca. I may be over-extending myself a little bit here, I'm not Wiccan, but the chalice is used as a symbol for female and female sexuality during rituals and as a stand-in for these ideas.
I know of several groups that I've been invited to that participate in ritual hunts, something we have found in dozens of pre-Christian belief systems almost everywhere in the world
Is there a specific reason for the hostility or has it just been a bad day?
This is a common criticism and one I can only address for myself. I believe that my soul has been through this world before and it's picked up and learned things through those various trips. If I feel drawn to or if I find meaning in a particular set of religious ideas, perhaps it's because I haven't had a chance to experience that yet, even if the ideas come from differing religions, time periods, or places. I see nothing inherently wrong with mixing religious ideas.
I dont do them and I worship the gods. If the gods felt these practices were important, they'd have a way to ensure they were still done and they'd probably be exceptionally angry with people who discontinued them.Yeah. You can say that, but the ancients clearly felt these sacrifices were important to the gods. Who told you that these practices were no longer important? Oh, wait, you made this part up, right?
I'm aware of Wicca's roots and Gardner's claims at "ancient-ness". Wicca has within it symbolism and practices that can find roots in older practices.Wicca was made up by Gerald Gardner and has zero connection to the grail mythology. I'd stay away from subjects that you don't have a touching familiarity with.
That's one example, which you asked for.That's only a piece of these belief systems. You're taking 10 pieces of a puzzle and attempting to re-draw the rest of the picture.
Then I'd ask you not to communicate in such a way as to enable that mistake to be so easily made.Don't mistake bluntness for hostility.
I never said I was, you did.I think it's fine to have cafeteria faith, just don't pretend you're using ancient recipes. You aren't.
I do so hate the term "NEO-Pagan", it makes it sound like an art market.Here's the thing...a lot of fluffyheaded neo-pagans try to pick one thing from this faith and another from another faith, and they fill their shopping cart full of whatever looks tasty, without realizing that their practices aren't very respectful to those ancient beliefs, that they are taking things out of context, that these aren't their historical traditions to pillage, and their hodgepodge of made-up combinations bears zero resemblance to ancient faiths.
Again, I never claimed I was "resurrecting ancient faiths" and I specifically denounced that kind of thinking several times.Stop trying to give yourself legitimacy by pretending you're resurrecting ancient faiths. Just own the fact that you're making it up as you go, based on what speaks to you. ALL religious people do this, even the ones who claim to be fundamentalists (they're still picking the parts they like to focus on and ignoring the rest).
Its been around since the Hippy movement I guess there's a minor uptick.
it's been around since the 20's; i guess i'm working with a longer horizon, here.
A great deal of what there is to know about many of these traditions is passed around by word-of-mouth and it's left up to individual adherents to decide what they want to incorporate into their practices. These traditions almost never have any sort of holy scripture or guidebook on worship, so learning about them is a constant process of information assimilation and processing.
I think people just like rituals and symbolism.
I dont really recognize too much legitimacy in 'neo-paganism' seeing as the 'rituals' are newly made whereas the ancient ones were the product of native societies' development over eons.
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