What is paganism?

Is it nature worship? I don’t worship nature. Some say it’s dancing naked under the full moon, I don’t do that either! Paganism is an umbrella term covering many traditions including witchcraft, shamanism, Wicca and Druidry, there are probably as many answers to this question as there are pagans to ask. So, let’s see how some describe paganism and its beliefs:

In her book Wicca: The Old Religion in the New Millennium (1996), Vivianne Crowley says “Wicca is called the Old Religion because it is based on the religious practices of our pagan ancestors.” She goes on to add “Wicca and the other pagan traditions are the only religions that worship the goddess.”

Amber Wolfe says “To the Celts, the divine is reflected in all aspects and all elements of nature in a basically non-hierarchical relationship with humankind. The mystical philosophy of the Celts is based on an active interconnection of all realms and life forms, however animate or inanimate they may appear to be.” Druid Power: Celtic Faerie Craft and Elemental Magic (2006)

Shaman and teacher, Gordon MacLellan says “I am a Pagan and I write this book from a pagan perspective: seeing the world that is all alive, where the energy that call “life” and “spirit” moves through all things, animate, inanimate, “living” or “dead”. A pagan world is one of endless connection and communication between the individual and the inter-related, growing, changing always evolving world that that person lives in.” Sacred Animals (1997)

Justine Glass comments that “The story of witchcraft, most anthropologists think, is as old as the human race itself. It goes back to the dawning of consciousness when man began to realise the existence of force outside himself and in the first primitive conception, personalised their manifestations. Its twin deities are the two main concepts of male and female deities which are found in the pantheons of all religions; which Jung calls ‘the archetypes of the collective unconscious’, The Wise Old Man and the Great Mother.” Witchcraft, the Sixth Sense (1965)

The dictionary definition of “pagan” is: country dweller, from the Latin pagus meaning village.

My own pagan path is probably best described as eclectic, having gone through several stages of exploration, development and learning and is still a “work in progress”. Today I find myself happy to follow a simpler, less prescriptive path. Yet, this seems to be a contradiction because it is anything but simple; indeed it is highly complex and paradoxical in nature.

I feel it would be fair to say that a pagan path is something I have followed all my life, albeit without realising; as a small child I had a great sense of “something out there”, a consciousness that was inside and outside of the world around me, part of me and everything else.  The world of nature held great fascination and during particularly difficult times in my childhood I frequently found myself drawn to the woods and fields, where I would find comfort, peace and a sense of kinship with my surroundings.

As an adult I found myself asking those perennial questions: “Why am I here?”, “Where will I go when I die?”, “Who made all this?”, “What is this presence I feel all around me?”, and so I turned to the church for answers. After ten years of regular church attendance, numerous Bible studies and even a full immersion baptism I still could not shake off the feeling that I was, somehow, a round peg trying to fit in a square hole; something was “wrong”, and so I left with nowhere to go. Yet, those questions persisted, they simply would not go away.

Eventually I turned to the internet for answers and came across something called “Wicca”, a kind of paganism. Remembering all those admonitions about the “occult” and how “dangerous” it was, I explored this new information with enormous trepidation – what if the church was right? What if paganism and witchcraft really were evil? Yet, I recognised in what I was reading that “consciousness” which had been an enduring presence for as long as I could remember, it felt like something was “calling” me to learn more. Thus began a journey into paganism which has taken me into many diverse and interesting places. I learnt about ritual, magick and the God and Goddess. I discovered the Wheel of the Year and the importance of harmony with the seasons and the connection with the natural world.

Today I have reached a place where I have much clearer answers; that “consciousness” I recognise as what many call the Divine. This consciousness is infinite, transcendent and immanent, personalised as the God and Goddess with whom I have an active and ongoing relationship. I experience these Old Ones as teachers, guides and protectors, ever present, ever patient with this child of Theirs. Balance is a key concept, a theme that appears in many spiritual paths and which I find deeply embedded in the pagan path. It has been said that one should not mix pantheons yet I find a perfect balance in the partnership of Hecate and Herne. Hecate is the triple moon goddess, revealing hidden secrets of my soul, Her lessons are not always easy but She is ever wise and compassionate in Her dealings with me. Herne represents the spirit of the wild, the Divine voice that speaks to me from all places of natural beauty, His presence ever comforting and familiar.

I enjoy and embrace the beauty of ritual, both solitary and with others, yet I experience that even a walk in the countryside is as much of a “ritual” as any Circle casting or communal celebration of sabbats and esbats.

In more recent months I have discovered Hermeticism, a completely new area of learning for me which resonates on a deep level, something that I recognise as a clear indication that this is the next leg of my journey. In particular I have found the Seven Hermetic principles interesting as they complement my view of the cosmos; that everything is Mind, that there is correspondence between the world outside and the inner world, everything is vibration, everything has polarity and rhythm, every cause has an effect and vice versa, and there is a duality of male and female principles.

Thus is my experience of paganism; a unique journey of discovery, magick and wonder, the celebration of male and female principles bringing a balance and equilibrium that brings me closer to that beautiful Divine Mystery that has always been and will always be a part of my very soul.