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Warning....ranting Pagan alert.......please treat this situation with much mead......

Warning...some readers may find the content here offensive. You may think i am a prat and talking out of my arse. But it is only opinion.......













European tradition based Pagans from the other side of the world.
 
How the hell? When I look on the web and see millions of Europe stylee modelled Pagans from all over the world it makes me raise my eyebrows a little. Paganism is a nature religion indigeonous to Europe. The worship is based around our own native plants...trees...animals. The sabbats are all based around what is going on in the farming calendar......
How in the world can say...an American celebrate the Winter Equinox of Yule.....based around the rebirth of the sun......and various darkness coming into light based things.....inward coming outward....things like that......when its the height of summer over there???
How can they possibly celebrate lammas....the reaping of the corn...the death of John Barleycorn, thanks for the harvest.....the farmers saying phew that the crops survived and having a party............when their crops are just being planted??????? It doesn't make SENSE!
 
Same as the Brits who try to follow North American traditions. How many sacred coyotes, bison, eagles, white tail deer, bears etc etc etc etc do we see around England????????
How much of the North American Landscape from which their traditions were forged exists around Britain??????
NONE.
 
All nature based releigions are based around...... Nature! Tied in extremely closely with the landscape, flora and fauna of the world around the worshipper. How in the world can you possible follow a culture that has absolutely NO RELEVANCE to the landscape you live in or the creatures around you?????
It doesnt make any sense!
















Weekend pagans and Buffy Wiccans
 
I have read all over the web many entries from many young Pagans. Notably Wiccans.
The annoying thing is that legally you many not give any guidance or teaching to anyone under 18 or else it is regarded as occultism or something.
WHAT a stupid law.
 
The thing I find disturbing is when I read their profiles and their interests I find going out pubbing with friends, telly, shopping...ALLWAYS magic..........but rarely any mention of Nature.
Wicca is part of the Pagan web and every belief system in it is based around Mother Nature. How can you be Wiccan and have only a passing interest and a disturbing ignorance for Nature, the circle of life and the countryside? 
For a start of any working of magic revolves around the understanding of life, nature and duality.
 
I think it comes from the televised approach to Wicca. TV Wiccans are portrayed as these powerful weavers of magic, and many teens are understandibly drawn into the mystique and fascination of this.
But thise TV portrayals often leave out THE MOST IMPORTANT PART.........nature. When did you last see Willow from Buffy out in the wilds of the countryside, simply enjoying it??????
Thats right...you don't.
 
So many teens are led to think that Wicca is simply this big magic trip thing. They blindly follow things about the God and Goddess.....cast circles, call the elements.....and havn't got a CLUE where its all based in and what its all about.
 
And they end up taking Magic so lightly...doing this spell and that spell........measuring their worth as a Wiccan by how many spells they can do in a week...and its scary. Magic, magical ability and spells crafted does not a Wiccan make. You can be Wiccan and do no magic!!!!!Magic is a serious thing. It can have serious consequences. Someone I know has only performed about two spells in their life, out of respect of what it can do. It doesnt make her any less of a Pagan!
Magic is to be taken seriously and well respected. It is often best to look for your own solution to a problem than just blindly turn to magic.
It is to be treated like a loaded shotgun!
 
I often wonder just how many teen Buffy/The Craft stylee Wiccans would be left if they discovered just how intrinsic to the religion nature is.
Spending all your time in urban land....venturing to the countryside only every now and then cannot possibly be conjusive to following a nature based religion!
Of course this rant is not saying that every Wiccan is like this...but you've gotta admit....

Neo Paganism

The new wave of Paganism has I feel lost a lot of it's roots.
Due I think to the increase in solitary learning there is MUCH misinterpretation. Many feel that being a Pagan is about being all happy smily to everybody all of the time and being 'perfect'
This is not true. We are but human and we are not perfect. Bad points are to be embraced and learnt from. If we are unpleasant then the consequences will come right back in our faces. And that is how we learn. We can never truly love ourselves until we have taken note of all our bad points and accepted them.
Besides. In Nature there is no good or bad. It's all about duality. The 'bad' and the 'good' working together to create a 'one'.

Many feel in order to follow the whole "An it Harm none do as thou wilt" philosophy, you MUST become a vegetarian. Again untrue. The choice to become vegetarian is just that. Your choice. Make your OWN ethics. Your OWN morals and your OWN beliefs based around your own feelings and learning.
Not just because someone said "You MUST do this or you cannot be....)

My belief is thus.
We are all cogs in the wheel of life. A part of Nature. The ancient celts, Native Americans...all the old religions in their original forms consumed meats and used animal parts as a part of their day to day life.

They hunted and killed with respect and held rituals in celebration to the spirit of the animal. They would keep parts such as fur, tails, antlers, claws etc in hope that it would adorn them with the powers of that particular animal and for use in rituals.

Death was seen as what it is. A part of nature. NOT a negative thing. Simply the act of passing on from one thing to another.
This is where in my belief the Wiccan Rede falls short.
In Nature there is no right or wrong. No good and no evil.
Everything happens to keep an ever perfect and balanced circle spinning.
Death equals life. Life equals death. Without that which we deem as 'bad' you cannot have god.
Without which we deem as 'good' you cannot have bad.

To me, that bit in the rede does not mean "Do not kill an animal" That goes against nature and our natural place in the food chain.

BUT i think it does apply to keepin a hundred chickens in a shed and then hanging them upside down from a conveyer belt that slits their throat."
also...
eating that nice, clean sanitary de feathered/headed/legged/winged pink thing, all shrink wrapped and forget its a chicken.

I feel people should not be allowed to privelidge of eating an animal unless they can handle the messy, smelly process of killing and dressing it themselves.

It's about respect.