Stepping Up and Facing Who We Are

   By Axiom

Unlatched

Usually this column is about my thoughts, but this month I thought I'd feature a letter from one of our readers.

Personal Pagan Responsibility
By Christine

I was at the bookshop the other day with some friends. One headed off to look at the latest fiction while the other made a beeline for the parenting section. As we perused the titles, he commented that there didn't seem to be many available for "people like me". IE Pagan parents.... He's right. There's material for Jewish, Moslem, and Christian parents, even Atheist...but not an awful lot sitting on the shelves dispensing advice from toilet training through to diet and religion.

It's funny, 'cause we're a minority, but surely there's still a need among us for quality guides on raising kids? How about some of the other standard genres? Simple kids books for example?

This got me to thinking about life in general - it's amazing what a latte and a friend can do when you've escaped your own kids for a few hours! Where are the Pagan coffee houses, dance and activity clubs, educational centers, spiritual retreats, and so on? Few and very far between - and in some areas completely non-existant. Yet when I go online, there are Pagans everywhere.

Why is it this minority has so little while other minorities are so organized and together and visible...organized. Oops, forgot about that. Not really our strong point now, is it? For a group so big on personal responsibility we seem remarkably eager to sit back and wait for someone else to get the job done. I want good quality Pagan kids activity books, so I'm actually involved in getting some written - hopefully they will be good quality, but either way, I got active. I even spoke with the local bookshop about an alternative religion reading group. So far we have a Buddhist, some ecclectic Pagans, and a "fallen" Catholic signed up. Our first book is "Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life" and we're having some interesting discussions about it.

It's something most other religions are far ahead of us in - getting active within the community. Even the different denominations will unite to achieve something like a community hall or charity drive. I don't want to be them, but I do want to emulate some of their better qualities. Why is it so anti-Pagan to get active, take responsibility, and become involved? But it must be - after all we are all just sitting around waiting for someone else to do the work so we can benefit from it.

Well, I don't want to sit around. I want to take hold of my life and be visible. I may not be ready to wear a pentacle to work, but I can at least be out there talking about some of my more general beliefs, working to get Paganism seen as more mainstream.

   

Inside the Pagan Mind How I found my path and why I still follow it today    By Jase Price It is my honest belief that you don't choose your spiritual path, it chooses you. I started out - as so many other fellow pagans - as something else. I was raised Southern Baptist but as I grew older I came to realize it didn't suit my lifestyle. In 1996 while I was in high school I stumbled upon paganism, quite literally. At the town library I happened to trip over a book on paganism and I've been hooked every since. I started off with Wicca but soon felt that it wasn't quite right for me. From there I started studying Scottish Witchcraft seeing as how I am of Scottish descent. It hit a little closer to home but it didn't fit perfectly, I felt something was still missing. Not long afterwards I found my way into Norse paganism. To this day I am a practicing Asatru. What pulled me to settle on Asatru you may ask? For starters my deities aren't all-powerful all-knowing deities. They make mistakes; they do not hold sway over anything and everything. My gods are viewed basically as humans but on a much higher level. Each god doesn't have just one role but several responsibilities. As an Asatru I feel more at home with my beliefs and my patrons are familiar to me, even though some can be a little more demanding than others. Sometimes Odin as a patron can be a blessing and a curse. My patrons speak to me, guiding me on my life's path through the good and the bad. Odin provides me with insight and knowledge during my rune casts to help guide my life, Thor grants me the strength to fight for what I believe in and to protect what truly matters to me, Loki to provide spice and to suit my more mischievous nature. For ten years now I have followed the pagan path through many aspects until I felt at one with myself and my spirituality. There are many paths for many different people, so I ask you the reader, what path chose you?

The World Around Us: Links of Interest

Ragnarok to Start Next Tuesday
Hungary's Head Witch Explains Opposition Leader's Powers
Down with democracy!
Edinburgh churchgoers in attempt to close Dungeon
The benevolent Uncle Yama
   

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