Frequently Asked Questions

   Collated by Rhiannon NosTylluan

   

FAQ for April 2005 Out of the infinite alternatives, why did you choose a Neo-Pagan path? If you don't believe in heaven or hell, where do you go when you die? Don't you use sacrifice in ritual?            Out of the infinite alternatives, why did you choose a Neo-Pagan path? Actually, I'm not sure I qualify as Neo-Pagan - don't they have a fixation on mother earth goddesses and horned gods that die each year? I'm into Greek Reconstructionist Paganism - Hellenisimos. Stumbled onto it about 5 years ago after a few years of wandering aimlessly through agnostic fields. I found that while I believe we don't know what is out there, I also believe that we can say there is something - so many billions of people over so many thousands of years can't all be wrong. I believe the more "civilized" we become, the less we really hear the gods. But they are there. They speak in our dreams, our visions, our art, and our love and hate. I became Greek Pagan because of all the paths it was the one that most called me - something about the dark primal nature of the Cthonic gods really draws me - both in their positive and not so positive aspects. ~ Jane I tried Buddhism and investigated Judaism and Islam - none of them really called to me, although Buddhism came close. There was a certain something missing and I felt as if I stood in an empty house, calling out "hello". Really foolish. A friend gave me some book to read - fiction - and the religion of the main character was Wicca. It sounded "right". Which I thought wierd as at the time I knew nothing about Wicca - not even that it existed. But the next time I was at the bookshop, wandering through religion, I came across the Dummies Guide to Wicca and paganism. Sat down to check it out and got kicked out at closing time - 8 hours later. Not traditional Wiccan, more Continental Europe, I guess, with a mix of my own. But the house ain't empty anymore. It is filled with laughter, life and suprises. I like suprises. I like hearing my gods talking to me. ~ Josh My search for where I belonged began with Wicca; after leaving the Christian church, knowing full well that it wasn't for me. After studying various forms of Wicca and researching various other paths such as Buddhism and Shamanism, I had an extrememly profound experience coming out of a dream state, when I stumbled upon the Celtic pantheons. I had always had a longing for something, not quite sure knowing what it was. The more I studied the Celtic Patheons the stronger the pull towards the Irish Celtic traditions were. I finally realized that my searching was over. Everything I was "learning" was more like I was remembering things, things I already knew - known for a VERY long time. I was for the first time comfortable in my skin. I found my path and the way home. ~ Heather P. I chose a Pagan path after many years of study. Even then, it was not so much a choice as a home-coming. The Path I now walk, fairly Druidic, but with Asian and Mediteranian influences, is not what I would necessarily choose - it's not easy. It would have been so easy in many ways to have remained Christian. This path demands many things of me - study, effort, personal introspection, community activity, etc - that go beyond what my Christian path did, and the self-questioning, discovery, and challenging is constant and difficult. I face parts of myself I would so love to be able to hand over to God and say "help fix it". In my path that is not the solution, merely another way to hide from my responsibilities. So I really don't think I chose my path. However, I cannot in truth imagine walking a different one and still being me. Since I choose to be me, to face myself, warts and all, this path with its high demands is the one I wish to walk. And the rewards are great - self-knowledge, trust and respect are great things. The ability to commune with the divine, to see it in everything about me, to feel it at all moments, and know I am a part of it is beyond reward. These are things I did not find until I explored this path. ~ Catherine M.    If you don't believe in heaven or hell, where do you go when you die? Hopefully the Elysium Fields - prefer that to Hades any day thank you. But a small part of me niggles that reincarnation may be the reality - why else would this religion feel like an old, long-lost, glove rediscovered? ~ Jane Heaven and Hell - I kinda do believe in them, I think they are personalised. For a fundie Christian, Heaven is that Pearly Gate, Angels, God, fluffy clouds stuff, and Hell is eternal torment in the burning lake of fire. For me, Hell would probably be eternity in the fundie Christian Heaven! Seriously, I think each religion has its own system build in. The more evolved you are about your faith - and the more passionate - the more likely your faith is to be a teaching system designed to help you advance. The more primative, the more likely you are to have simple carrot (Heaven) and stick (Hell). ~ Josh I believe that after I die my soul returns to the cauldron of rebirth. It is there that my soul grows young again and I am reborn into another life to learn the things I didn't learn in the previous lifetime. ~ Heather P. I believe we are all part of the divine - of "god" if you will. At death I return to full awareness of that, as opposed to the partial awareness I have in "life". Eventually I will be reborn - maybe my soul will remain in its current composition, maybe it will fragment and blend with others and a new soul will emerge. I don't know. And maybe I'm wrong. Maybe the Christians are right about Heaven and Hell - in which case I think I'll end up in Heaven as I am a pretty good person, and Jesus only ever required that to be counted a sheep as opposed to a goat! Or maybe the Buddhists are right and its reincarnation until I work it out and go to Nirvana. But for now, I'm happy with what I "think" will happen. ~ Catherine M.    Don't you use sacrifice in ritual? I do - I sacrifice personal things such as desire for vengeance, sorrow, etc. I offer vegetation on my altars, grains and other foods. I burn flesh and offer blood. I just don't actually slaughter the sacrifice - I purchase organic from the butcher! Actually, when I lived in the country and had farm animals, I did ritually slain a few chickens - fed sacred, blessed grain, bathed and anointed with olive oil, and then wrung their necks quickly - aside from the feeding, bathing, and anointing, nothing different to killing a chicken for dinner. They were used as the main course of a celebratory feast, and there was no torture or anything cruel about the matter. I see it as no different to buying a bird for Thanksgiving - except my chickens were better fed and cared for during their lives. Free range, actually living greenery and bugs to eat - much better life, and a much quicker death which was treated with reverence and appreciation. ~ Jane Define sacrifice. Everyone who has faith has sacrifice - whether they are active in their faith or not. An inactive believer simply fails to offer up the goods. I sacrifice things to my gods that are of greater value to me than some animal I can buy at the pet store - and conversely will never have the value of that animal's life. I simply don't believe I have the right to kill another to gain for me or worship "my" gods. What value is there in the sacrifice of another when it is I who wants the outcome? Real easy to kill a rabbit (for some). Not so easy to swear off your favorite vice and give that to the gods now, is it? ~ Josh Yes, I use sacrifice in ritual. I personally don't kill animals or people or cut myself and offer my blood. What I do sacrifice? I sacrifice foods that I have cooked into meals (containing meat or fruits or vegetables). I offer libations of wine. I sacrifice my self - my faith and my actions. I sacrifice characteristics and traits that I no longer need, though I may still want them. So, while I may not run about killing goats and drinking their blood, I do make sacrifices. ~ Heather P. Every person sacrifices for their religion. Even the atheist who has no god. Religion is simply that which you "worship" - life, work, money, love, god, the earth. Whatever. And we all give up things we desire, or even need, to obtain what we want, or show our love/respect/obedience. That is sacrifice. This focus upon slaughtering things - blood sacrifice - is an obsession with the ignorant who fear to learn. "You kill kittens" they scream, and run the other way when they see someone different. Makes no difference what the religion. I do not engage in the "obscene" bloody sacrifice fear mongers use to portray my religion as a foul obscenity. I don't know anyone who does - it's propaganda, pure and simple. I do offer up material and emotional sacrifices to the divine in an attempt to improve myself - like the child who puts away her dolls when she grows up, I too "put away" things I have outgrown. The actual formal recognition of it is a sacrifice of sorts. I also offer portions of ritual feasts to the divine - as personified by the gods - as a recognition of what I have and my gratitude for that. ~ Catherine M.

Archive Page

April 2005 Contents Page