Paganism 101

Princess Poochie requested that I do a post talking a bit more about the pagan religions so she could better understand the Sandman/American Gods series. I’m happy to oblige, so here’s my paganism 101 post! (It might get long. You’re forewarned!)

First off. My definition on paganism might not be the dictionary definition, but it’s a definition from someone on the “inside”. That definition is paganism = a non-Abrahamic religion whose adherents self-identify as pagan. I say self-identify because I don’t think most, say, Hindus call themselves pagan and I think many find the title somewhat insulting. And it sucks to be labelled something without your consent. Most pagan religions are…

• either newer religions (founded within the last 100 years or so, like Wicca, which was created in the 1950s) or attempts at reconstructing or reviving an older pathway (like heathenism, Kemetic reconstructionism, Celtic reconstructionism, etc.). The term “reconstructionist” within paganism means pretty much what it sounds like. A lot of research is done into examining how things were done then, and then the practices are adapted by modern adherents who believe the same thing as their spiritual ancestors.
• Earth centered or animistic in some way.

This is really important: paganism is not one monolithic religion. One pagan does not necessarily have the same beliefs as another pagan. Paganism, rather, is an umbrella term that covers a huge variety of different religions. Under the umbrella of paganism, we have, say, Wicca, a popular example. All Wiccans are pagan, but not all pagans are Wiccan. “Paganism” does not automatically equal “Wiccan” and many pagans will get insulted if you automatically assume they’re Wiccan – which is not necessarily a slight on Wicca, but it would be akin to someone saying “I’m a Christian” and another person replying “Oh! You’re Catholic?!”. Every. Single. Time. It gets old, trust me.

But I digress. Let’s see how different pagan religions can be.

Wicca was created in the 1950s in England by Gerald Gardner. Depending on who you talk to, to be a “real” Wiccan, you need to be initiated into an official coven, or you can be a solitary practitioner who believes in the tenets of Wicca. I would say those tenets are duotheism (all deities are facets of the God or the Goddess), the Rede, and the Law of Three/Law of Return (which basically says, think about your actions because they have reactions, some of which will affect you). Those are pretty hotly debated within the Wiccan community, though – both the basic tenets and the solitary vs. coven issue.

Then there are the aforementioned reconstructionist pagans, and there also are more eclectic pagans who might not work within a specific cultural framework. I would tentatively say that paganism today can probably be split up between eclectic pagans, newer pagan religions (like Wicca or Thelema), and reconstructionist pagan religions.

I would fall under the third category (a reconstructionist/revivalist pagan). I’m a heathen, which is kind of a catch all term for a pagan who worships the old gods of Europe and Scandinavia. That’d be Odin, Freyja, Thor, etc. I prefer the term “heathen” to the term “Asatru”, even though Asatru is the more common term. For several reasons, namely:

• the word “Asatru” is a modern invention
• the word means (or is supposed to mean, I’m not even sure if it’s proper Icelandic) “follower of the Aesir” or “one true to the Aesir”. The Norse deities are comprised of two tribes, the Aesir and the Vanir. There is, in my opinion, a tendency within modern heathenism to focus overmuch on the Aesir and ignore the Vanir (which is reflected in a lot of fiction about these deities, too…). So, given that and given that the deity I’m currently closest with is a Vanir, I’m not really comfortable with that title.
• Finally, there are a few unsavory, in my opinion, individuals that run groups with “Asatru” in the title or on their main page, and I don’t want to be associated with them.

For more discussion on the different terms for heathenism and why some people refer one term over another, check here.

My beliefs in a nutshell:

I’m a hard polytheist. “Soft” polytheism is when a person interacts with the gods as individuals but thinks they’re all part of some greater “god” or “force” – facets of it, if you will. A hard polytheist, like me, feels that all of the gods are distinct individuals. This means I also believe that, say, Zeus or Brigid or Thoth or Quetzalcoatl exists, I just don’t necessarily work with them.

I’m also an animist. Quoth Wikipedia: Animism is a philosophical, religious or spiritual idea that souls or spirits exist not only in humans but also in animals, plants, rocks, natural phenomena such as thunder, geographic features such as mountains or rivers, or other entities of the natural environment. In heathenism, these spirits are generally referred to as “wights” or “vaettir” (they’re different forms of the same word). A very large part of heathenism is showing respect for the local land wights – some people put more emphasis on this and ancestor veneration than on interaction with deities. For me, it’s more like the wights are my close neighbors – interaction with them on a daily basis is a fact of life, so it’s certainly a good idea to be on good terms. The gods are like friends from out of town who don’t stop by “in person” every day. Ancestor veneration is also important – we feel that our ancestors watch out for us and since we wouldn’t be here without them, we make sure to remember and honor them.

That covers the very basics – an in depth overview could take ages! If you want to learn more about my beliefs in specific, I’ll be happy to answer questions in the comments, or you can check out this website for a lot of links/information. I will give you a heads up and say that when looking for information online, there’s a good chance you’ll run into a racist group at some point. They are very unfortunately out there, but don’t represent the heathen community as a whole.

I’m pretty out of touch as far as online sources for general paganism information go, but there’s a few books that look good and have good reviews: Which Witch is Which?, Paganism: An Introduction to Earth Centered Religions, and Drawing Down the Moon. You should be able to find one or all of these at a local library (don’t forget about interlibrary loan). If not, they’re easily ordered online through Amazon, or can probably be ordered through most book stores.

When reading about paganism, you need to have a good BS detector. There is a lot of crap out there. This is one reason to read as much as you can – you’ll get a knack for which authors are full of it, which ones tend to be a mix of good and bad, and which ones are generally trustworthy. One rule of thumb? Lewellyn, an…alternative? publishing house, is not known for great scholarship or accuracy, and most of the stuff they publish (with a few exceptions) is crap. I would personally avoid most things that label themselves “new age”, as well, but that is coming from someone not interested in eclecticism and whose beliefs are fairly old age

So! There’s my overview. Like I said, kind of long, but what can ya do, right? If you have any questions, I’ll be happy to answer them in the comments.