Can someone tell me about paganism

Im kinda with someone that's a pagan and I just want to find out more...

 

Paganism is a big word... it has lots of meanings. The best way I can sum it up as that BASICALLY its just getting back to the original pre-christianity religions(with the except of Wicca which is recent... and any other new ones that has came about).

Example would be Asatru which is the new revival of the old Norse religion... you know Odin and Loki and such.

There is various tribal beliefs, and it depends on the pagans. for me instance I have a lot of Cherokee beliefs because my ancestors were Cherokee.

Some are witches some are not. Some worship many gods, some worship just one, some worship none. Some have some really cool theories as to what "god" is.

Some pagans combine beliefs of different established spiritual paths... like one could be a Druid and Buddhist... and still consider themselves pagan. They usually learn the term ecclectic pagan(thats what I consider myself)

MOST pagan paths get you back down to nature... earth religions... that bring you closer to the mother. Although, not all of them are like that.

Any particular questions? I dont have a lot of knowledge on all of it, but Zoomie, Cerridwen, and Heron really do.

 

Paganism is really broad, so it'd probably be best to talk to them about. Then go from there.

www.religioustolerance.org/witchcra.html is a good overview of wicca.

 

paganism is the umbrella that covers the many tribal religions of the world and her history, and the religions inspired by them.

 

Yeah I guess that ^^^ is a good way to sum it up.

 

Romans and Greeks the Greeks really started it . including lots of homo erotic "most of the art articfacts destroy by the catholics later on".

 

Where the hell did you pull that from?

 

ah prolly just another of them well read (gag) younguns,,,,

but to the original post,,, wouldnt talking to the person you are with(there ideas n beliefs etc,,, since it is a huge subject anyway) benefit you more than just trying to figger it out on a computer??? yes it is nice to learn from other people as well but wouldnt it be best to use the pagan thing as a focal point in communication and growing in your relationship???

 

READING GREEK HISTORY ..

 

pagan is like infidel. a word created by nutjob religions who think that everyone who doesnt believe like they do needs to be labeled and die.
thats why i dont like the word

 

The third chapter focuses on Classical Greece (480-323 BCE) and shows that here too, Homosexuality and bisexuality were not only considered perfectly natural, but were acclaimed at every level of society. Many Greek writers, playwrights and philosophers not only practiced homosexuality and pederasty, they praised it and held it up as an ideal. Plato was a notable exception who held boy-love as an ideal as long as it was not consummated.

In Thebes, a general argued that pairs of man/boy lovers would make great warriors because they would fight for one another's safety and would fear cowardice in the eyes of their beloved. He created the "Sacred Band of Thebes" which became the most powerful army on earth, and which made Thebes the greatest military power.

Chapter 4 turns to Rome, where homosexuality was more constrained: it was considered fine to have homosexual sex with a slave so long as the free man was dominant, but it was shameful to have homosexual sex with a free born person or as the passive partner. Crompton notes that homosexuality was seen as part of the "will to power" and a type of dominance. He also notes that the famous Roman poet Ovid wrote many homoerotic poems, though he decried Lesbianism as unacceptable.

Chapter 5 turns to the early Christians, and here everything changes. While homosexuality was not a central issue in early Christianity, Paul's Epistle to the Romans began 2000 years of virulent prejudice against homosexuality.

Clement of Alexandria created the "Alexandrian rule" which held that "pleasure sought for its own sake, even within marriage, is a sin..." He also held that it is a sin for men to shave.

For the first two centuries of Christianity, however, Roman custom continued to accept homosexuality, and Plutarch wrote that the "mortal reflections of the divine [derive from] young men radiant in the prime of their beauty."

Beginning with Constantine, however, Roman law changed, and became much harsher in its persecution of homosexuals. It was around this time (390 CE) that the understanding of the story of Sodom changed and in the City of God Augustine described Sodom's destruction as a result of homosexuality among the populace.

Saint John Chrysostom "ranks as the most influential of (Christian) Greek fathers, second only to Augustine" and he instituted organized persecution of homosexuals as a Christian obligation. He denounced male love as "monstrous, Satanical, detestable, execrable and pitiable." (He also denounced Jews as "sensual, slippery, voluptuous, avaricious, possessed by demons, drunkards, harlots and breakers of the law.")

Chapters six and seven focuses on the medieval period Throughout this period homosexuals were persecuted and murdered relentlessly in Christendom. Medieval Islam, however, held a more ambivalent attitude. Like Judaism and Christianity, it prohibited homosexuality, but Moslem cultures were pervaded by homoerotic poetry and art. Nonetheless, the theologian Malik of Median whose "school of jurisprudence became the dominant one in Spain and North Africa, endorsed the death penalty" for homosexuality. Crompton states, "Muslim religion paradoxically forbade, allowed and exalted homoerotic desire... sexual contact was forbidden, but the man who admitted to love for another male might still be respected."

St. Aquinas endorsed Augistine's opinion that homosexuality is the "worst" of sexual sins, and specifically stated that consensual homosexuality is worse than the rape of a woman (because such rape might lead to procreation). By the same logic, he held that masturbation was worse than rape, because of the loss of the seed.

France at this time began to consign homosexuals to the flames and mutilation was common. English law was severe but not as barbaric as France or Spain.

Chapter 8 turns to Imperial China (500 BCE to 1849 CE). Crompton shows that homosexuality was a central aspect of Chinese culture for nearly 2,000 years.

He traces canonical anecdotes about homosexual love through Chinese history, and tells three famous anecdotes (the story of the peach, the story of Lord Yang and the story of the cut sleeve). Each of these involve emperors with male lovers. The first emperor confirmed by historians to take a male lover was the "Yellow Emperor" a central figure in Taoism. The first ten Han emperors also had male lovers according to the famous historian Sima Qian.

During the Ming dynasty, homosexuality was a central part of the culture. Xie Zhaozhe wrote in the 16th century CE, "in today's Peking there are young boy singers who go to all the gentry's wine parties... everyone uses them." He goes on to describe rampant, explicit male prostitution at every rank of society.

A shocked Portuguese missionary wrote that for the Chinese "unnatural lust was neither forbidden by law, nor thought to be illicit, nor even a cause for shame." Crompton writes "Chine, indeed, provides us with the longest documented period of tolerance in human history - two thousand years extending from 500 BCE to the fall of the Ming dynasty in 1644.

Chapter 9, Italy in the Renaissance shows that "Greek Love" became more fully understood, at least among the intellectuals of the Renaissance, ,but this came at the same time as an increase of efforts to suppress homosexuality, and a surge of unprecedented violence against offenders. Crompton states "In the end, more men and women fell victim to homophobia in the three centuries from 1400 to 1700 than in the Middle Ages."

At the same time that a record number of homosexuals were being tortured, beheaded and burned, Donatello was creating his homoerotic sculpture of David that stands as a landmark of Renaissance art; the first free-standing nude in a thousand years. "For the first time since antiquity we are asked to admire the beauty of a naked image." This was followed by homoerotic art by Botticelli and Michelangelo.

Michelangelo attempted to "present himself as a lover of male beauty who was Platonically chaste" but the record documents that he was an active bisexual, as were Cellini and Carvaggio.

Chapter 10 turns to the Inquisition. This is, of course, the most painful part of the book to read. While the horrific deeds of the Spanish Inquisition are detailed, there is little that is surprising. What is interesting is that the disgust for homosexuality was used by Spanish leaders to justify persecution of the American Indian tribes, some of whom tolerated or actively incorporated homosexuality.

Chapter 11 discusses France from 1517 to 1715 and chapter 12 is on England from 1533 - 1702. Crompton states that legal oppression was "fiercest in Spain, severe in France and Italy and rare in England, and seem to have been almost totally lacking in such northern states as Russia, Denmark and Sweden. The myth in England, for over two hundred years, was that homosexuality did not exist in Britain and was entirely a Continental phenomenon. While this drove homosexuals underground, it did avoid the persecution seen in Spain and France.

The final chapters discuss homosexuality in ancient Japan and then provide an historic overview of the role of homosexuality in civilizat

 

Louis Crompton has written a magisterial, eloquent, and exhaustive history of gay and lesbian history in his 2003 book, "Homosexuality and Civilization." The book traces the history of attitudes towards gay men and women from antiquity to the Enlightenment (its only shortcoming was the lack of anything past the nineteenth century). This book is a real toud d'force, covering literature, philosophy, history, and artefacts throughout the ages. Crompton is at complete odds with Boswell's two tomes on homosexuality, clearly laying the blame for most homophobia on the doorsteps of Christianity. Not until Augustine of Hippo, Clement of Alexandria, and John Chrysostom does homosexuality become a perversion that is meeted with some harsh, even lethal, opposition -- all because of the Story of Sodom and Gommorah, which ironically has nothing to do with homosexuality, but which the early Church Fathers decided was the lynchpin of God's wrath toward the unrighteous homosexual -- indeed, not just the homosexual, but any society that countenanced it. The Catholic Inquisition was matched only by the Protestant Reformation in its zeal to liquidate any form of same-sex love by a misreading of the Sodom story, and by a single verse from Leviticus -- a Code which most Christians reject or ignore categorically, yet from a single verse comes some of the most perverse reprisals against the gay community.

Crompton's book is more like a textbook of all things homosexual prior to the 20th century than it is a thesis about a particular worldview of homosexuality. Homosexuals in almost all societies have enjoyed some of the most insightful and keen minds, beginning with ancient Greece and persisting throughout the modern era. But for all the accomplishments of gay men and women, the gay person has always been at the forefront of progroms to purge society of God's ire. Gays have always been blamed for anything that has gone wrong in almost every society -- except in ancient Greece, where same sex love facilitated military heroism. Retracing same-sex love from the "Iliad" through Plutarch, one sees a tolerant attitude convert to antipathy in the writings of the Christian Church Fathers -- almost always citing Leviticus 20:13, and starting with the adoption of the Christian faith as the national religion of medieval Rome in A.D. 390.

There have been many an outstanding book on the topic of homosexuality, including John Boswell's two tomes, Dover's "Greek Homosexuality," and David Greenberg's "The Construction of Homosexuality." But none of these other works compares in eloqution, spectrum, or detail of Crompton's excellent survey. This is a book for every gay person's and historican's library; an exellent reference point for many of the people who have borne reproach for same-sex affinity; and a world view largely of Christianity's hostility. For all its wealth of information and eloquence, this book is highly recommended.

 

Romans and greeks didnt start paganism.

Ive read about homosexuality in their culture tho.. and that is true.

But paganism came around when man first came around...

 

whats with all the homosexual argument? Yeah the greeks were way into that, but whats that have to do with paganism?

Your post was the size of an essay, but you said nothing to support your point.

 

And greek history says that pagansim started with them?

Greek paganism was nothing more than the remnants of
old animism and the Olympian gods of the government.

I cant argue Greek specifics with you, but as far as
Indo-European origin, linguistics and religion go,
i can tell you for a known fact that you are
horribly wrong.

 

No one get Heron away from his favor water hole. But i know hes not theres in winter time.

 

The word "pagan" originates from the Greek word "pagos," which means "rural." Though its usage changed with time, it gained prevalence under Roman rule, when the soldiers called civilians "paganus" and early Christians looked down on people who didn't go to church, calling them "pagani." To differentiate today, these pre-Christian peoples are sometimes called "paleopagan," with modern versions of paganism occasionally referred to as "neopagan."

The earliest written European records from around 1500 B.C.E. reflect the origins of paganism and come from people on Crete who looked to gods to explain the mysteries of nature. Poseidon, the god of the sea, earthquakes and storms, was born during these years. Other gods followed, known today as the 12 Greek gods, including Zeus. These gods had practical functions in everyday life and acted like humans, so people could relate to them. Nature also dominated religious imagery of the time. A single tree frond was an icon in early Cretan sanctuaries. But this Hellenic religion was banned from the Middle Ages to the Ottoman occupation.

In 212, after the Second Punic War ended, a Roman order went out decreeing all religions must be registered. No one was to worship in public unless their religion had been approved by the chief government pontiff. Today in Greece, things aren't that different for people seeking to worship freely. The Greek Orthodox Church became Greece's official religion in the fourth century, and has repressed other religions ever since. In his March 1997 article in the journal Ratio Juris, Charalambos Papastathis argues that "the cohabitation of an established Church and non-established ones is bound to generate unfair discrimination and abridges religious tolerance, which is a European achievement and an indispensable part of Western political and constitutional culture."

With 98 percent of the country's population recognized as members, the Greek Church has the power to keep two laws on the books that severely restrict other religions. These two laws that were enacted during the Dictator John Metaxas' rule in 1938 still govern today.

The first prohibits converting Greek Orthodox followers to other religions. Greek Law No 1363/38, with amendment Law No. 1672/39 states: "Anyone engaging in proselytism shall be liable to imprisonment and a fine between 1,000 and 50,000 drachmas; he shall, moreover be subject to police supervision for a period of between six months and one year to be fixed by the court when convicting the offender."

 

i dont think the original poster wanted an etymology lesson.

As to your "written records" you speak of, it obviously reflects a false
origin of "paganism"

What of the La Tene and Hallstat cultures?

What of the Teutonic culture and religion?

What of the Indo-European core beliefs? (which is seen in your greek paganism)

What of Old European shamanism of 40,000 years?

What of the African animistic beliefs of countless millenia?

What of South East Asian animism?

Or Siberian shamanism?

or the beliefs of the American tribes?

You are a fool, a well read fool, but a fool none the less.

(Oh, and we have no need for obvious cut and paste.
You barely got out a sentence to me without sounding
like you failed English as a second language, no way
you typed those well spoken paragraphs.)

 

Donatello didn't create the David, MICHAELANGELO DID!!!

YOU GOT THE WRONG NINJA TURTLE THERE !!

 

Daayyummm....Pwned!