Paganism Essay

In Native American witchcraft, amulets and charms play the central role. Practitioners of one region dress similarly as well as use same kind of totems to have a sense of unity with each other. For them land is considered as deity that provides them with objects necessary for witchcraft and magic. These objects come in many shapes and forms. These may include herbs, stones, feathers, bones etc (world of Wicca, 2014).

Religions across the globe have their own distinctive rites and rituals, idols, traditions, and values. Each have in common a desire to explain something unexplainable by common wisdom, or attributing some aspect of life to some higher power. Many religions have at their heart etiological stories, which explain some sort of natural phenomenon through the physical manifestation of their deity or deities. From high winds and thunderstorms to love, fertility, and the sun, such religions focus on the physical world in this life. Other religions try to explain the "next" life or the afterlife. These religions usually give a moral code to live by, with stricter adherence to this code offering a better afterlife.

Kachowism is a religion based off of lightning. The religion is found wherever there is thunder forecasts all year round in villages, on mountaintops, but mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, especially in Australia, Brazil, and New Zealand.

Witchcraft is a religion. Wicca is one type of Witchcraft, but the term "Wicca" is occasionally applied to Witchcraft in overall. In the United States, most people who practice this religion call themselves Witches or Wiccans. It is an earth-based religion and in some ways is similar to Native American spirituality. Wicca (sometimes called Wicce, The Craft, or The Old Religion) is based on an ancient religion of love for life and nature. The religion of Witchcraft or Wicca is recognized by most state governments, the federal government, and the United States Armed Forces. The courts have recognized the right of even prisoners to practice this religion on an equal basis with other religions. In ancient times, people appreciated the great forces of Nature and celebrated the seasons’ cycles and the moon. They saw spirituality in the sun and moon and in the Earth Herself. Basically, in all life.

There are three key patterns seen in most Native American religions they are the human relationship with nature, framing of time and space and respect for gods/ancestors. The human relationship with nature known as animism, everything is seen as part of the same reality and every object has a spirt, is a practice where there is little distinction between humans and animals. Time and space is sacred, cyclical,

Due to the wide range of habitats in North America, different native religions evolved to match the needs and lifestyles of the individual tribe. Religious traditions of aboriginal peoples around the world tend to be heavily influenced by their methods of acquiring food, whether by hunting wild animals or by agriculture. Native American spirituality is no exception. Traditional Lakota spirituality is a form of religious belief that each thing, plant and animal has a spirit. The Native American spirituality has an inseparable connection between the spirituality and the culture. One cannot exist without the other.

     Wicca and Pagan are two religions, which have many similarities as well as many differences within each area. Wicca is a sect of Pagan in which each has their own variations on the religion. A good way to put it; all Wiccans are Pagan, but not all Pagans are Wiccan. Witch is a term used for any practitioner of Wicca. The Webster's II Dictionary defines witch as 1. A woman who practices sorcery or is believed to have dealings with the devil, 2. An ugly, vicious old woman; hag. Wicca is described by the American Heritage Dictionary as the cult of witchcraft. Pagan is the religion under which many different religions are practiced. Webster's II Dictionary defines pagan as one who does not

Traditional Native American ceremonies are still practiced by the tribes. Theological belief systems are still held by many of the native people. The spiritualities spirit may accompany adherence to another faith, or represent a person's primary religious identity. While much Native American spiritualism exists in a tribal-cultural continuum, and as such cannot be easily separated from tribal identity itself, certain other more clearly defined movements have arisen among "traditional" Native American

animism- These were Native North Americans that believed that the natural world was full of spiritual power. Tried to get a better sense of the world throughout dreams, visions and ritual that satisfied guardian spirits that would guarantee successful hunts and other good fortunes. Women’s connection with spiritual power was that their bodies’ reproduction abilities was linked to the earth’s fertility, whereas men’s spiritual power was invoked in hunting and war.

The following paper will talk about Wicca and Paganism as a religion within the United States. Wicca is a diverse community as a religion, but is not yet considered by any Supreme court case but some aspects such as traditions are recognized by the federal and state courts. This will be further touched upon further later on.

There are many who are Wiccan today that do not believe that the origin of their religion is in Witchcraft; while others believe that these religious practices are part of the foundation of Wicca. Because paganism was not an organized religion and was primarily passed on through oral traditions, there is questionable historical evidence to support a direct connection between the two.

The Pagan religion has been around for forever and is thought to originate from Europe. Paganisms traditions place an importance or homage for nature. Most Pagan groups can trace their roots to around the 1960s. Paganism is not a traditional religion because it does not have any official ideology, but it does have some familiar traits. Growth in the Pagan religion is thought to be based off of the cycles of the earth and the earth’s ecological status.

Shamanism is a mix of magic, folklore, medicine and spirituality that evolved in tribal and gathering communities thousands of years ago. Shamanic faith presumes that everyone and everything has a spirit which is a part of a greater whole, and that spirits affect all events, including illness and disease. In the tradition of Shamanism it is believed that certain people named shamans exhibit particular magical specialties at birth; the most common specialization is that of a healer. A Shaman is believed to have the ability to communicate with the ethereal

Mysticism is a word we find in many books that relate to religious experiences. Mysticism is interpreted as searching for spiritual truth and wisdom through the unification with the Divine. Many Christians today believe that the words associated with mysticism like meditation and mystic are not coherently related with Christianity, but more with many Eastern religions. Eastern religions are definitely known for their mysticism, but it is believed to not be a part of Christianity. Mysticism is actually a vital part of Christianity in ways that are more spiritual rather than only being engaged with Christian rituals. Mysticism is the faith that spiritual reality is believed to be from human knowledge and their senses. It searches for truth

When this word “myth” is used, the term is usually related to a fable, invention or a fiction story. Over the years, many scholars started approaching the study of myth differently. These scholars have approach myths in a way their meaning was traditionally regarded. In many traditions these myth are true stories and never refer to as false stories. ( http://ancienthistory.about.com/cs/grecoromanmyth1/a/whatismyth.htm )