Post by LONGGONEDEADFORUMS on Apr 9, 2004 18:03:04 GMT -5
-: Modern Pagans :-
The central beliefs of modern Pagans differ in specifics yet share many fundamentals. Deity is seen as imminent rather than transcendent. Experience is preferred over doctrine. It is believed that there are and should be multiple paths to the Divine. There is no prescribed creed, but there are a number of beliefs shared by most contemporary Pagans, summarized at the end of this pamphlet.
-: Contemporary Pagans :-
While there is no set of beliefs shared by all Pagans, most would agree that similarities far outweigh differences. There are a number of beliefs held by the vast majority of modern Pagans. Some of these are:
1. Divinity is seen as immanent.
2. Divinity is as likely to manifest itself in female as male form, the God or the Goddess, in the interconnectedness of all life.
3. Multiple paths to the divine exist, as symbolized by many goddesses and gods. These are often seen as archtypes or gateways to the unconscious.
4. We respect and love Mother Earth as a living being, Gaia, of which we are a part.
5. The physical world, as an emanation of the divine, is good and to be enjoyed by all living beings in love and harmony.
6. Ethics and morality are based on avoidance of harm to other beings, including Earth as a whole, which mandates environmental activism as a spiritual responsibility.
7. Human interdependace implies the need for community cooperation.
8. The solar and lunar cycles and the cycles of our lives are celebrated. This leads to the maintenance and revival of old customs and the creation of new ones.
9. A strong commitment to personal and planetary growth, evolution, and balance are vital.
10. One's lifestyle must be consistent with one's beliefs. The personal is political.
11. A minimum of dogma and a maximum of individual responsibility in all things are goals to stive for. Thus a healthy skepticism is to be fostered, and ideas are not to be accepted without personal investigation of their validity.
12. Messiahs and gurus are to be avoided. The mediation of another being is unnecessary for an individual to commune with Deity. Power-from-within is preferred to power-over.
13. All beings are personal emanations of the Divine. Thou art Goddess, thou art God.
The central beliefs of modern Pagans differ in specifics yet share many fundamentals. Deity is seen as imminent rather than transcendent. Experience is preferred over doctrine. It is believed that there are and should be multiple paths to the Divine. There is no prescribed creed, but there are a number of beliefs shared by most contemporary Pagans, summarized at the end of this pamphlet.
-: Contemporary Pagans :-
While there is no set of beliefs shared by all Pagans, most would agree that similarities far outweigh differences. There are a number of beliefs held by the vast majority of modern Pagans. Some of these are:
1. Divinity is seen as immanent.
2. Divinity is as likely to manifest itself in female as male form, the God or the Goddess, in the interconnectedness of all life.
3. Multiple paths to the divine exist, as symbolized by many goddesses and gods. These are often seen as archtypes or gateways to the unconscious.
4. We respect and love Mother Earth as a living being, Gaia, of which we are a part.
5. The physical world, as an emanation of the divine, is good and to be enjoyed by all living beings in love and harmony.
6. Ethics and morality are based on avoidance of harm to other beings, including Earth as a whole, which mandates environmental activism as a spiritual responsibility.
7. Human interdependace implies the need for community cooperation.
8. The solar and lunar cycles and the cycles of our lives are celebrated. This leads to the maintenance and revival of old customs and the creation of new ones.
9. A strong commitment to personal and planetary growth, evolution, and balance are vital.
10. One's lifestyle must be consistent with one's beliefs. The personal is political.
11. A minimum of dogma and a maximum of individual responsibility in all things are goals to stive for. Thus a healthy skepticism is to be fostered, and ideas are not to be accepted without personal investigation of their validity.
12. Messiahs and gurus are to be avoided. The mediation of another being is unnecessary for an individual to commune with Deity. Power-from-within is preferred to power-over.
13. All beings are personal emanations of the Divine. Thou art Goddess, thou art God.